The Flash Review: Episode 1×10 – “Revenge of the Rogues”

Our Favourite Trouble-Making Duo Is Back With Their Sights Set On The Flash

This week on The Flash, Barry is working harder than ever to strengthen his speed abilities with the help of the team at S.T.A.R. labs. He wants to stay focused so he can be ready to take down Reverse-Flash but his plan to stay out of the line of fire is frozen in its tracks when Leonard “Captain Cold” Snart and Mick “Heat Wave” Rory resurface with plans to rob and bait The Flash to come out and play and of course get killed or defeated or whatever it is super villains want. While this is happening, Caitlin continues on her path to discover the truth about Ronnie’s transformation by following a lead on what exactly “Firestorm” is. But her search is interrupted when she has to be this week’s damsel-in-distress by getting kidnapped by Captain Cold and Heat Wave. Will Barry be able to get these two villains to turn their guns on each other so their respective beams will be cancelled out? Will Barry and Iris be able to work out the awkwardness hanging over their relationship? How will the city react to this very public display of the Flash’s abilities? Let’s get to discussing!

Ladies With A Lot Going On

One of the most stunning plot developments in the mid-season finale was that of Barry’s declaration of love for Iris to Iris herself. Sadly, this episode didn’t give us quite as much as we’d have liked to see of the inner musings of Iris but even with the lack of outright material, Candice Patton still managed to emote a great deal so viewers could ponder what it is that Iris is thinking about. Though we’ve enjoyed the work Patton has done thus far, we still firmly believe that she should be given more material. It read to us more like longing than anything else though this could have been at least partially wanting to smooth things out since Barry and Iris were shown to be acting rather awkwardly with each other. The reconciliation was nicely written and executed and the knowing expression from Joe beforehand was pure excellence from Jesse L. Martin. We have to tip our hats to the writers for throwing in that Freudian slip for Iris about future arguments with Eddie, as it was a nice nod to the clear-as-day end-game for these two. Also, call us ridiculous if you want, but we need to mention the line between Iris and Eddie regarding how they met. Him saving her from a mugging sounds glaringly cliched and unoriginal, especially considering the calibre of writing that the writers of this show have maintained thus far so this makes us believe that their mentioning it is something that will be re-explored later and perhaps this “mugging” was something more… perhaps orchestrated? We’ll put a pin in this for now but we’ll be dropping “I told you so”s if this plays out as such.

“You know I’ve never had a roommate. But it did occur to me that if we ever get in a fight, I can’t just storm away and go home because, home will be with you.” ~ Iris West
“Are you predicting many arguments?” ~ Eddie Thawne

Caitlin’s continued pursuit of her love, Ronnie, proved to be an interesting arc that brought us that much closer to Firestorm being more thoroughly introduced. There was a nice flair of mystery as Danielle Panabaker played detective well. Also the mention of Martin Stein, who is the other half of the Firestorm character in the comics, was a nice teaser nugget for viewers. Our only real gripe about the arc was that just as it was getting interesting, it was halted for Caitlin to be a damsel in distress. Only 10 episodes in and already we’ve had both Iris and Caitlin be kidnapped but at least when Iris was the “damsel,” she ended being the one to knock out her captor. Yes, Iris’ backstory has shown her to have gotten that sort of training by her father (which makes that whole mugging story regarding Eddie all the more strange, but I digress), but this show does not exist in a vacuum. In the scope of superhero media, and media content in general, the ‘damsel in distress’ trope is beyond archaic. We’ll let this one slide but if it happens again, we’re going to have a serious problem on our hands. Let Caitlin keep playing detective because that is when she really shines!

The Boys Are Back In Town

This episode marked the return of Leonard Snart and Mick Rory and though the plot may have been a bit lighter than it could have been, seeing these two on-screen offered plenty for us to enjoy. Clearly whomever made this brilliant casting decision was a fan of Prison Break and knew that the only thing better than Wentworth Miller or Dominic Purcell is the phenomenal powerhouse they become when acting alongside one another. But this is not another brotherly-love relationship, as we saw how quick they were to turn their guns on each other when they began to butt heads about their differing criminal goals. It was a nice jolt to shake the viewers up and only tightened the grip their arc had on us. But let’s delve just a tad deeper into why we love these two, shall we?

“Your partner’s a real hot-head.” ~ Joe West
“That’s funny.” ~ Leonard ‘Captain Cold’ Snart
“You know what’s hilarious, Snart? We got you.” ~ Joe West
“Congratulations.” ~ Leonard ‘Captain Cold’ Snart

All of the dialogue for these characters, whether they’re talking to each other, someone else, or even to themselves was spot on. Both Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell nailed the mannerisms of their characters. Miller’s smooth delivery and even the ease with which he moved his body was just what Leonard Snart needed. As for Dominic Purcell, much of his mannerisms could have come off ridiculous if he had given anything less than 100% effort. From the grunting, the growling, and the lovey-dovey professions to fire, “God, you’re beautiful,” it all could’ve been hilarious but Purcell makes it entirely believable. All of the madness of this character and the volatility was highly exciting to watch. Also, the fact that the painting had to be called “Fire & Ice” of all things… there may come a day when we tire of the Fire/Ice puns and references, since this isn’t even our only Fire/Ice duo (Killer Frost and Firestorm being the other), but today is not that day. If these two were to make their return in next week’s episode, it still wouldn’t be soon enough.

What’s Shaking, Barry?

As far as Barry’s arc is concerned, this wasn’t one of his most memorable journeys. We’ve already covered his reconciliation with Iris but the rest of what he gets up to is more subtle. Interestingly enough, we have begun to see a divide occurring, a battle for Barry’s soul if you will. Wells is every bit the devil, pulling Barry away from helping the Central City citizens and pushing him to keep focused on strength training exercises to improve his speed. Then there’s Joe in the role of the angel, who is quick to determine that Wells is having a questionable influence on Barry, even confronting Wells about Barry’s behaviour. In the end, Joe wins this round as he tells Barry to get back out there and face off against Snart and Rory. Barry even risks his own life to draw the beams of their guns on himself so that he could guide them to turn on one another.

“My name is Barry Allen. I am not the fastest man alive. That title belongs to the man who killed my mother, but not for long.” ~ Barry Allen

A few things stood out to us in this arc. For one, Wells was prepared to get up out of the wheelchair at the top of the episode when it seemed as if Barry might not be able to stop the missiles headed his way during training. This made Wells all the more enigmatic, as it doesn’t seem to line up that he would want Barry to get stronger if they’re going to fight against one another again, and also that he’s so creepily obsessed with Barry’s well-being. We’re not entirely sure what to make of this arc. Mystery and suspense can be good but if Wells’ actions are too scattered, the character and interest in what he’s doing is going to simmer down a bit. More often than not, the writers have delivered good quality story and character developments, so we’re leaning towards optimistic that any upcoming revelations will make this all worth it but we still can’t help but feel as if we were going to get a bit more information on what Wells is up to, especially after the revelation that he is apparently Reverse-Flash. The bit of dialogue between Barry and Wells about them bringing out the best in each other was a bit strange. We need this to be built on further so we can better make sense of it.

FINAL VERDICT

Despite those few things we didn’t care for as much, we still greatly enjoyed this episode. Of course much of that is due to our shameless adoration for all the Wentworth Miller/Dominic Purcell action. The action was good, though we felt that this was more of a teaser of bigger things to come, which is understandable. It wouldn’t make sense for the writers, stunt crew, special effects, etc. to play all of their cards on these two now, or else there’d be nothing left for them to do and then they couldn’t be invited back. Make no mistake, we have a burning need for these two to come again, and again. Writers Geoff Johns & Kai Yu Wu wrote strong dialogue for both these characters and left us clambering for more with that exciting ending which teased at the introduction of Leonard Snart’s sister, Lisa (AKA The Golden Glider)! Though it’s nice to see the show-runners making use of the wealth of characters available to them, we’d like to again state our wish that Iris be given more material. Candice Patton shines bright even if she’s only onscreen briefly and we just can’t get enough of her. Director Nick Copus did good work, particularly in that sequence of Barry turning one missile onto another. Every new director has to keep up with the high-standard action scenes of the show but since Leonard and Mick aren’t currently meta-humans, the scope of their havoc was more grounded. Still, we enjoyed it… though we’d love to know what sort of chaos would ensure if these two did become meta-humans. Don’t make us wait too long, writers, to see these two back on!

Questions, Comments, Concerns…

• Yeah… I’m going to need the rest of you to stop ordering Cisco around when he’s just doing his damn job. Mmkay.
• YOU WOULD like it, Wells. #ReverseFlash
• OH MY GAWD IT’S PRISON BREAK WITH SUPERPOWERS MY POOR HEART (AND OVARIES) CAN’T TAKE IT
• None of you understand my excitement over these two being back together I CAN’T STOP GIGGLING
• No, you’re delusional if you think Captain Cold is backing down. That sweet thing wants a fight, he’s getting a fight.
• Iris predicting arguments with Eddie… that, my dear, is what is known as a Freudian slip. Because you know somewhere deep, deep down you want Barry *clicks on ‘I Will Always Love You’*
• Oh… it’s a West father/daughter scene. *braces self for feels*
• LOOK AT JOE BEING ALL PERCEPTIVE ABOUT IRIS AND BARRY I DON’T KNOW WHETHER TO LAUGH OR CRY #OrBoth #BothIsGood
• He knows they’re not fine DON’T TOUCH ME #JoeWest #CaptainOfTheWestAllenShip
• Cisco is too damn cute looking like a damn Ghostbuster in that outfit.
• Look at my babies, wreaking havoc with their fancy guns *wipes tears*
• What the heck I JUST mentioned Ghostbusters and now they’re talking about it in the show I CAN’T
• Hahaha… Caitlin’s car is awfully Frosty, wouldn’t you say? #IAmTerrible
• Not to be that person but… why can’t Barry just sneak up from behind and steal the guns out of their hands. I’m enjoying the over-the-top display but I swear these people are making it way more complicated than it needs to be.
• Oh wow, the BAEs are having so much fun handling their guns and now I’m feeling parched. *pants*
• Shut it, Barry, there had BETTER be a next time because that was too much fun! If only just to see Captain Cold all smiley and giggling. 😀 *Heart Eyes*
• Joe looking at Eddie like the placeholder he is #ICant #ThatGazeIsPureShade
• Barry being all selfless about Iris’ happiness ~ I Just. Can’t. Cope.
• Oh my lawd is this a Paolo Nutini song I’m hearing right now? YAAAAS.
• I’m not even mad because I saw those photos on Tumblr of the smooching… *sips tea*