There's a reason why The Flash spinoff of Arrow. The first 4 episodes or so are just setting up some of the characters. Andyou think it's gonna be like Smallville first season where it's a "freak of the week" but then it starts developing an over arcing plot which evolves into a great story with an awesome villain.
And no there are no super powers in the first season because originally there was not going to be any powers in this series. It was going to be like The Dark Knight trilogy. But in season 2 they decided to bring in powers so they could do The Flash.
And the first season did not need powers the main villain is more than threatening enough without powers being added as a backdrop.