But I kinda got what I should have. The ongoing problem, as I’ve stated before, with these crossovers is that they are always severely limited by a TV budget and that sadly rears its ugly head in the final part of what has been an otherwise stellar crossover event.

Hell, the fact that four shows can interweave a narrative on consecutive nights in the week is accomplishment enough but when it came to the big punch up at the end, it kind of fizzles out.

Logically, I knew it would but in my heart I secretly wanted this to turn into an Avengers moment. Which leads me to wonder how the CW expects to get away with letting Kara can call them ‘Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’. Kiiiiiinda Marvel’s schtick, DC. Stay in your lane.

But for what it was, it was awe-inspiring to see the S-shield, lightning bolt, green quiver and assorted other gimmicks, weapons and powers stand shoulder to shoulder. It’s the kind of thing I watch Super Sentai and Kamen Rider for, the big-ass group shot and, oddly, that’s what this fight reminds me of. Just a mindless brawl with the assembled heroes to satisfy those who care about that sort of thing.

What these shows really excel at during crossovers are character moments and humour and this certainly delivers in spades. The ensemble cats of Legends had been relatively quiet in the preceding episodes but here they get the spotlight for some genuinely funny bits.

Like Steel debuting his goofy costume that makes no sense in terms of his power set and is just there to reference the comics!

Or that sly Superman Returns nod we all hoped would be in there!

If there’s one genuine misstep for me, it’s the resolution for Diggle and Cisco in terms of the Flashpoint Fuckery. I don’t feel it’s really earned. Cisco’s especially because he’s with the Legends when he fucks with time and we all know that the Legends get a mulligan on any time shenanigans. But like the shows said: it’s illegal to hate Barry Allen.

But when’s all said and done, we got a Justice League on TV that doesn’t look terrible and with a diverse and dynamic roster who are all genuinely likeable so I can only clap my hands at this momentous miniseries for bringing us something that is very much in the spirit of DC Comics.

We get the promise that this certainly won’t be the last time these characters interacts and that’s a great thing because the more this group of shows manage to one-up the movies, the more money will be thrown at them and that can only be a good thing.

Rogue Time is the companion to Out of Time and bucking the trend, doesn’t spend the entire time retreading the same ground. There is some repeat performances, which are re-acted superbly, but the crux of the story lies with The Rogues.

Making her first appearance is Lisa Snart aka Golden Glider. Cold’s sister is played by Peyton List, another lead cast member from The Tomorrow People who made the jump to the Flarrow-verse (the other being Robbie Amell). She’s flirtatious and just as deadly as her brother and she’s definitely a fun character I hope to see again but, ultimately, she’s outshined by Miller.

God damn, do I love Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell! They make a perfect double-act and just like their first outing together, you can tell they are having a blast in these roles. Purcell doesn’t get quite as much to do but what little he does is very entertaining. Miller is gloriously funny. His attitude, his speech pattern and his general presence makes me smile just by being on screen. There is a FANTASTIC one-on-one with Barry toward the end after Snart learns Barry’s identity that cuts to the core of the Cold/Rogues vs. Flash dynamic. It’s a cat and mouse game. Cold is having fun and is quite content to keep playing with The Flash but concedes that he can do so without killing. They part on reasonable terms, Snart promising to keep Barry’s secret. For now.

Time travel-wise, Wells’ every line of dialogue and every expression is a delight to watch because WE KNOW WHAT HE DID and it feels almost as if he does too! Still, he reiterates his fatherly affection toward a shaken Cisco (who gave up Barry’s identity to save his shit-bag brother) and offers some genuine advice to Barry about time travel, though he does so with barely contained contempt. One thing bugs me though and that’s the attack on Mason Bridge. Did Wells know about his beef BEFORE the time jump, like, before he had to deal with Cisco or is it some residual temporal awareness that comes with his trip through time? I think it’s the former, in all honesty but any chance to make Wells seem like some omnipotent time-killer is welcome.

Stinger is Barry admitting to Joe that he was right about Wells all along after he sees a news report about Mason Bridge disappearing. This surely marks the turning point and we’ll soon be facing off against Wells in a battle of wits and speed. Next week, we’ll see the return of an iconic character in Tricksters.

The Flash races back to our screens after its Christmas break and it truly hits the ground running with Revenge of the Rogues!

In the fallout of Barry’s encounter with the Reverse-Flash, the team are helping him step-up his training, all the while Wells is being a sneaky fuck and yet, an utter delight to watch. I still stick by my theory that he’s not truly the Reverse-Flash but the show makes it REALLY hard to keep that theory going.

More fallout from last episode is the Barry/Iris situation and I think Joe’s reaction sums up mine pretty well. I know I harp on about it all the time but still, I don’t think Barry and Iris have chemistry and, at this point, I don’t see her as a legitimate love interest. Barry has better chemistry with Eddie than he does Iris (and the slashfics I’ve written the Tumblr posts I’ve read make a compelling argument). I thought about and do you know who Iris is at this point in the show? She’s Lana Lang. That’s right, I’m pulling the Smallville card and when you think about it, this is the same schtick we saw there but unfortunately, Iris is the canon love interest for Barry so we’re not getting a later season Lois Lane deal. Oy.

The one relationship that continues to blossom is Barry and Joe. Again, said it before and I’ll say it again, Joe West is the best TV dad ever. Love him to bits. Kudos to the writers and to Jesse Martin for delivering an outstanding performance.

Enough waffling with side-stories, the main event are the titular Rogues! Wentworth Miller reprises his role as the cool, calculated Leonard Snart (aka Captain Cold) but brings in his polar opposite; Mick Rory (aka Heat Wave) played by none other than Dominic Purcell! The Prison Break brother duo is back together and puns abound as they deliver performances that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Christian Bale might deem over the top. These pair ham it up to the nines and chew every bit of scenery they can wrap their jaws around and it is simply spectacular!

Flash Fact: The hot & cold duo’s caper to steal a painting is actually slyly introducing the next Rogue. The Rathaway’s, while disembarking with the painting, dimiss a message from their son. Hartley Rathaway will be appearing next episode as The Pied Piper!

The intial Rogues first appearance is engaging, humorous and just as exciting as I expected and they translated well, considering the limitations of TV budget. Team Flash’s plan to deal with them results in a nice little about Ghostbusters that I loved and Cisco gets a fair bit of development and screen time as he comes up with counter-measures for the weapons he designed. Caitlin’s off investigating Firestorm, which leads her to Jason Rusch (the second Firestorm) which is a nice nod to the comics.

Stinger for this week is an ironic shot of Snart and Rory in prison jumpsuits being transported to Iron Heights, but not before their transport is attacked and Leonard Snart’s sister frees them with what looks like a duplicate cold gun.

Revenge of the Rogues is a fantastic return for the show and it only seems to be getting better with each passing week. Let’s hope SHIELD can match up when it returns in March but we’ll be back with The Flash next week with The Sound and the Fury!