Well, this was originally going to be two separate reviews but DOOM had some log-in issues so I couldn’t post until today (mucho thanks to Editor-in-chief John for fixing the issue) so I guess it’s another double-bill of reviews but I did write a full review last week so I guess I only have to do half the work?

Well, if you wanted something half-arsed, look no further than Gone Rogue because OH BOY, the good will that was going to run out eventually. For a split second, I thought something dramatic was going to happen but here we are; a couple days late and little-to-no motivation to continue this show outside of obligation.

Did you know that this episode is the first of this show to feature the word Rogue in the title and not have Wentworth Miller? Because I certainly felt his absence! These jobber Rogues (yeah, I love Troy Jones/Phil Lamarr as Ragdoll but still…) aren’t really a threat and for saying she’s on a dark path, Nora still acts like she’s a lost puppy.

The one moment I actually applaud the episode for is when Cisco is laughing in her face at this pathetic excuse of a heel turn and she goes full ThawneWells vibro-hand on him. That is good stuff! She’s using knowledge of a former ally’s trauma to get her way in the most sadistic way possible! It’s great character work and it’s fucking wasted in this episode!

It reminds of that one scene with FutureBarry/Savitar where it seems like he might actually be open to being talked down but then he reveals it was for shits and giggles (and padding to fill out the episodes) and I’m feeling just as pissed because Nora hasn’t turned heel at all. She’s just using these techy Rogues to rob a place with a meta-dampener.

Flash Fact: McCulloch Technologies, and the Mirror Gun, is a reference to Evan McCulloch, the second Mirror Master. Additionally, the Jenni Ognats identity is a reference to the comic incarnation of XS who is a member of the Legion of Super Heroes.

So yeah, naturally the Rogues betray Nora forcing her dad to step-in and save her in, admittedly, a fun twist using image inducers. The Rogues are beaten and jailed and, naturally, the West-Allen family are reunited and now using Thawne’s plan to stop Cicada II.

Speaking of; Cicada II is related to this episode in a way because she steals the meta-cure from frozen base Cisco developed it in. I can’t remember how she knew where it was but they were more focused on making light of Ralph’s original status as Caitlin’s love interest before Danielle Panabaker put the kibosh on that plot.

But yeah, the meta-cure, coupled with the ice mcguffin from last episode, can be used to spread the meta-cure across Central City and we see Cicada II modifying the device to do just that… while her beloved uncle watches on. I honestly didn’t twig this was just her psychosis until this week’s The Girl With The Red Lightning.

The penultimate episode of the season starts to kick into maximum over-medium pace and we get the final confrontation with Cicada (can’t believe I didn’t come up with ‘Shecada’ or that it took this long for the show to) as she tries to activate her ultimate weapon that will kill every meta in the country.

It’s a pretty small-stakes end to the season-long big bad but everyone on Team Flash gets to have a go and there’s a couple interesting choreographed spots but the aftermath is the real meat.

Also, shout-out to Killer Frost with the best burn of the season!

Throughout the episode, Ralph is wondering aloud about what Thawne’s plan is because if “his plans have plans”, then what the hell does all this mean? And it’s a legit question, shame it’s brought about AFTER we see that Thawne’s timer has run out so it’s obvious that this has all been to spring him. I’m shocked. SHOCKED.

Well, not that shocked. But I’ll probably need this plan explained to me because this time travel plot is ropier than Avengers: Endgame’s explanation! Ha! Topical…

Nora with the Good Lightning is a better episode than Gone Rogue objectively but I was still mostly non-plussed, as all this rushed build-up reeks of last season’s fucking about until the penultimate episode formula. Which is a shame because I should be hyped for Thawne’s return but that was always inevitable and I’m certainly not invested in the Nora/Shecada plot soooo…

I dunno, next week’s finale is going to be an interesting watch. I have to wonder if they’ll finally go back to a speedster villain season since these two were interesting premises that ultimately fell on their respective arses and with a lot of chatter with people leaving after this season, we’ll have to see what the future holds and what will become of The Flash’s Legacy.

Snow Pack does a fairly decent job of carrying on with the good will last week’s episode earned with me. Granted, I don’t care about Caitlin’s family drama, no matter how much of a proxy it’s meant to be for Barry’s situation, but it’s not terrible and everything outside of the Snow Family plot is great too.

Plus Thomas Snow spends most of the episode looking like TV’s Frank and that genuinely amuses me.

Flash Fact: The title of the episode and Thomas Snow’s pet name for his family is a homage to the Mud Pack, a collection of the various Clayface characters from Batman’s rogues gallery.

The immediate fallout between Barry and Iris is great, bad in context for them as a couple, but great for me because this is an actual issue that they have to argue about and I’m eating it up like it’s tiramassu! Yeah, it’s fixed by the end of the episode (strangely, by Thawne urging, no less) and while I do agree with Barry’s stance, it’s brilliant to see Iris take him to task and be just as wrong as Barry at the same time.

I’m wondering if Thawne is actually being genuine or if corrupting Nora was the plan all along as Barry fears because, damn it, Thawne is a charismatic MFer.

He does seem sincere in his words to Nora and Iris but every time they’re not looking at him, he looks like he’s barely keeping in a shit-eating grin. I know I rail on Tom Cavanagh being in the show too much but I’ll stan his Thawne performance all day long!

And we get Nora turning full heel and travelling back to the present by tapping into the Negative Speed Force, using her darkest emotions and all her pent-up anger. I would say that this is unnerving but look at that eye effect, it’s so goofy looking, and it’s not going to improve when we see her change-up her look for something a little darker next week.

Just a quick chat this week because, honestly, I’m knackered from work and the stream I used was a ball-ache to get running but I liked this episode overall so it’ll be interesting where we go with seemingly two big bads in the form of Nora and Cicada II.

They’re not gonna team-up just yet but we are getting the ropiest assortment of Rogues next week as Bug-Eyed Bandit, Weather Witch, and Ragdoll join Nora because she’s Gone Rogue.

The inclusion of ‘Back in Time’, not once but twice, is one of the greatest moments this show has ever had and I will gladly fight anyone who disagrees. It’s perfect for the situation, perfect that Ralph would choose it, a 100% belter of a song. Fight me.

The concept of Barry and Nora travelling back through time to collect all the pieces needed to build a power dampener for Cicada’s dagger is really cool and offers a whole host of interesting scenarios and afford some cameos by previous villains which is pretty dope.

Granted, Tom Cavanaugh is not only still on the cast but is directing the episode so it wasn’t hard to get him but Teddy Sears and Tony Todd returning as Zoom and Zoom’s voice was a nice little surprise!

But yes, Tom Cavanagh returns to reprise his role as Eobard Thawne/Wells and Tom knows what to do with his best role and it shows. Between a fantastically sadistic Thawne, to enraged…

To this delightful little wink to the audience (fuck you very much, Tom)… Tom does a fantastic job and I can’t wait to see what his future role means for The Flash, long-term.

I’ve had a sneaking suspicion that Nora had some involvement with Thawne for a while, since she seems to showcase an ability similar to his; slowing down time around her rather than accelerating to super speed like Barry. I’m sure someone has already suggested that she’s really Thawne’s daughter but I think that’d be a bit too simple for this show. Stupid enough for someone to have suggested at one stage though.

And Nora’s presence throughout the episode is pretty damn good, seeing first hand that her dad got his shit rocked on multiple occasions by guys smarter, faster, and deadlier but still come out the other side. It still shakes her but hopefully this means she’ll be less of a nark about Barry being a hero.

Naturally, the plan goes to shit when Cisco breaches Cicada’s empowered dagger into orbit rather than another dimension but hey, it’s the middle of the season, we can’t get rid of the big bad this early so we’ll make Cisco utterly stupid, instead. Thankfully, Frost reemerges (despite appearing last week) and puts the snow boots to Cicada, her powers unaffected by Cicada’s dagger.

It’s cool that Frost will probably be the lynchpin in the plan that will take out Cicada but we’re gonna have to wait a while. Cicada scampered, probably sensing the upcoming crossover (which I will be covering, don’t worry).

Speaking of, a post-credits scene has popped up throughout this week after Supergirl and Arrow and now The Flash, showcasing the aftermath of a huge battle featuring a lot of familiar heroes with one left alive…

Oh my god, it’s finally happening! That’s John Wesley Shipp, in the original costume from the 90’s incarnation of The Flash! I marked out super hard for this because A) he looks great and 2) we’ll get at least one good Flash suit in the crossover!

So yeah, Earth-90 (Heh.) is royally boned thanks to the appearance of Mar Novu, the Monitor. The Monitor is a guardian of the multiverse and comes from a race similar to the Watchers in Marvel’s cosmos, though the Monitors can be a little more hands on, as this one appears to be. Along with another party, he appears to be the main antagonist for the three-part Elseworlds crossover next week. I’m really looking forward to it!

So be sure to come back on Monday for the first of my Elseworlds reviews where we’ll be seeing a Freaky Friday situation between Barry and Ollie and the long-awaited arrival of The Bat.

Hi, guys, and welcome to Season 5 of everybody’s favourite cynical look at everyone’s favourite scarlet speedster! Season 5 hits the ground running, picking up exactly where Season 4 left off, with the arrival of Nora West-Allen, Barry and Iris’ daughter from the future!

Oh, you sweet, sweet child. Thank you for gracing us with your presence. It’s been too long since someone had some bloody enthusiasm and wonder in this show and I’m so glad that Jessice Parker Kennedy is giving Nora a tangible sense of hype just to be near Barry. She’s certainly her father’s daughter too, inheriting a selfish irresponsibility that is uniquely Barry Allen.

I do like that they retread the cryptic newspaper headline and show it’s follow-up to justify Nora’s desire to risk breaking time just to spend time with her dad. It’s very humanising and while I’m clearly biased in letting her away with it, Nora hasn’t erased children from existence with her actions. Yet. If she does, THEN I’ll lay into her just like I do with Barry.

Flash Fact: Nora’s future knowledge reveals a ton of neat easter eggs but, personally, my favourites are her future vocabulary. ‘Schway’, said during a rather awkward coffee break with Iris, is the new ‘cool’ and is actually a slang term from the Batman Beyond animated show. ‘Grife’ is from even further in the future, originating in the year 3000 and being a term associated with the Legion of Super Heroes. One of it’s members, Lightning Lad, is mention in the aforementioned coffee break and the Legion has even appeared in last season’s Supergirl!

I’m glad that Hartley Sawyer is joining the cast full-time and his numerous epiphanies throughout the episode are both hilarious and nice little fourth wall breaks like mentioning he could have died in another timeline, which he actually did, pre-Flashpoint.

I’m also digging that it seems Ralph is going to be helping Caitlin dig deeper into the disappearance of Killer Frost, even managing to show that her father’s death certificate is faked. Looking forward to seeing how this plot line develops further.

Flash Fact: The non-existent coroner, Cameron Mahkent, is the identity of Golden Age Flash villain, Icicle. A very nICE nod to Caitlin’s powers, if I do say so.

And the last thing I want to mention is the new suit, designed by my favourite Atom; Ryan Choi! I don’t like the new suit. It makes Grant Gustin look like a right lanky streak of piss and it’s so plain! Yeah, the other suits weren’t bang-on for the comic version but they looked pretty damn good! We even get to see two back-ups in this episode and they look way better than this version but I suppose it’ll grow on me throughout the season. It’s great that Barry finally has the iconic ring, though!

Overall, Nora is a brilliantly fun way to kick off the new season and I hope that the new villain, briefly seen towards the end of the episode, will be just as complex and menacing as The Thinker. Come back next time and see if the show continues to be good or if it’s going to get Blocked.