It was a month since fans of the CW’s The Flash were left with a huge cliffhanger in the midseason finale. Now, the Scarlet Speedster and his crew at Star Labs are back in a flash for the second half of its freshman season. (Note: This is a spoiler alert for those who are not caught up with the show!)
When we left off with Barry Allen, he finally fought the man responsible for the death of his mother. His identity in the post-credit sequence for that episode was revealed as none other than Harrison Wells (played by Tom Cavanaugh), one of Barry’s mentor figures. Many comic book fans recognized The Man in the Yellow Suit – a psychotic figure who is Flash’s nemesis Reverse Flash. But since many people donned the mantle of Flash’s opposite. the question is, which Reverse Flash is Wells portraying?
Although Barry is unaware of his identity and Wells’ intention, this puts Barry on the path to train harder once they cross paths again. We will see how this plays out towards the end of the season; Wells is an interesting character who’s very mysterious and keeps the audience guessing as to who he really is and what he is planning to do next. However, Wells keeps providing some guidance for Barry in his journey and seems to keep testing his abilities by helping him inch closer to his heroic destiny. He also states in this episode “We are not enemies.” This is a character to keep an eye on as the season goes on. Is Wells really there to help Barry, or hurt him?
As always, Grant Gustin is fun to watch as Barry Allen and his alter ego. He really understands the character and the passion he has for the material which shows through each episode. This episode in particular is where he really shines. He deals with the dilemma of trying to balance being the hero and worrying about who the bigger threat is while protecting the people he cares about. It may come across as Spider-Man philosophy, but it does work in Flash’s case. In fact, it is part of what makes him human. No matter how much pain he goes through, Allen’s sense of hope and optimism allows him to keep moving forward.
Barry’s other father figure, Joe West, played by Jesse L. Martin, is a Central City police detective and Barry’s adoptive father. They had some touching moments with one another throughout the season; this episode showed some great character moments between the two. Towards the end, Joe’s daughter Iris, Barry’s love interest from the comics, moves out with officer Eddie Thawne (who has fans speculating he is the Reverse Flash too) while Barry decided to stay and bond more with Joe. This was a touching moment because it felt like a natural father-son interaction as they continue to inspire one another to become better people since the show took off. In a way, it felt like a “help me help you” kind of vibe.
Iris (played by Candice Patton) has feelings for Barry indeed, and Barry revealed in the midseason finale that he in fact loves her. She felt conflicted because she knew him when he was adopted by her father and they were close to one another since. The problem is she is dating Eddie, Joe’s partner on the force, and Barry has a bit of jealousy towards him. Eddie has originally had this idea of arresting the Flash because he feels that he is dangerous. That all seems to have change in this episode when they saved each other and it looks like they may have trusted each other. We will see how this love triangle and the relationships carry out as the season progresses.
Barry’s friends at Star Labs are arguably the most supportive among the supporting cast in all the current comic book shows at the moment. Caitlin Snow (played by Danielle Panabaker), who would become the villain Killer Frost, has a nice arc going on as she is on a mission to find her missing fiance Ronnie Raymond (played by Robbie Amell) aka Firestorm. This allows us to feel her pain and loss as the man she loved so much was thought to be dead, is in fact alive and now is a metahuman. This ties into her connection with Barry because they both lost people they loved so much and they both have a common goal of trying to solve or reconnect with what’s been haunting them in their past.
Cisco Ramon, who the fans know as Vibe, is the comic relief of the group played by actor Carlos Valdes, serving as fellow geek alongside Barry. He was there to lend a hand with the characters in this episode. He was training Barry to test his speed in the opening sequence of this episode to combat Reverse Flash. He also helped Barry and the police force take down the threat of the week as he’s done in previous episodes. Cisco/Vibe has been a fun character, always there to help lighten up the group during the most dramatic times. He also comes up with awesome and hilarious nicknames to every villain and metahuman the group encounters and even figures out how to beat them. Barry has had plenty of help and support from both Caitlin and Cisco and it’s great to see them all come together to give each other a hand. They all just gel together and help one another this season.
The best part about this episode, is in fact, the villains of the week. This episode titled Revenge of the Rouge, featured classic Flash Rogues members Leonard Snart aka Captain Cold (played by Wentworth Miller) and Mick Rory aka Heatwave (Dominic Purcell). The actors were excellent as the crazy duo, allowing them to rekindle the chemistry they had together on Prison Break. Miller played Cold as a villain that is cold (no pun intended), calculating and a guy who was obsessed with the Flash, which allows him to “up his game.” Purcell played Mick as a hothead whose obsession with fire both conflicts and compliments Cold’s method and theme of fire and ice. These guys were having a lot of fun playing the bad guys, and it showed. The interactions between them were spot on because although they are close friends, they do clash with one another over their rules of conduct and getting the job done. The writers have nailed this relationship down with perfection. In episode four, Going Rouge, Flash faced off with Captain Cold in epic fashion that included a jaw dropping train sequence that played out like a movie.
In this episode, we were treated with the same feeling from Cold’s last TV outing with two action sequences. The first one was the Star Labs team training Barry to prepare for his encounter with Reverse Flash. He was able to use his speed to cut through the obstacle by pushing it to the max to stop his enemy and really live up to his nickname: The Fastest Man Alive. Another sequence was the final battle as Flash took on both Snart and Rory in the middle of Central City with the public beginning to take notice of The Fastest Man Alive. As any fan would know, Flash will become the protector of Central City someday. It felt like old times as comic fans would be treated to an awesome fight sequence. The visuals of the Flash’s speed and both Cold and Heat Wave’s guns blended so well on TV that it sticks out perfectly. Watching Flash go toe to toe with these two or any member of The Rogues is always the best part about the Flash. We will see more future members down the lines.
Fun Fact About the Episode
Barry pulled out a few comic book issues out of his backpack and one of them contained a Batman issue. Barry is actually a huge comic fan in the books himself as the first Flash, Jay Garrick, was his inspiration to become the Flash. This was a nice nod to the comics. Another nod was at the end when Cold and Heat Wave were captured by the police. They were busted out by Leonard’s sister Lisa aka Golden Gilder. As mentioned before, The Rogues are here to stay and they are a huge part of the Flash Mythology.
Episode Verdict
Overall, this episode was just absolutely entertaining and that is just the best way to sum up the series: It is just a superhero show that is fun! The love, passion and care the writers have for the characters are shown through each and every episode. The acting is just top notch as the actors just love playing their respective characters. Most importantly, this show is just unapologetically aware of how wacky and campy it really is and that’s how it should be, especially for a character like the Flash. So if you love the CW, the show Arrow or even if you are a comic book fan in general, this is the show you should be watching. This show is an example of how a superhero series or even The Flash movie should be done. If you’re not caught up on this show, start now! This show is an absolute blast as DC Comics has hit another home run on television with The Flash.
The episodes continue tomorrow, Tuesday January 27 @ 8pm Eastern time on The CW Network.
