Fury Rogue ties up the loose end created by the lack of Fallout’s involvement in The Thinker’s grand scheme. Kinda. Ultimately, I think this was just an excuse to bring Wentworth Miller back and I will never complain about that!

The crux of the episode is Barry not really grieving since Ralph’s death and while I joke that Barry is an emotionless robot who doesn’t care about anyone other than himself, Grant Gustin can be incredible at conveying emotion and he gets to show that towards the end of the episode.

Nice to see Katie Cassidy take a break from her stint on Arrow as an evil Black Canary to… play the same thing but from the Nazi Earth… Okay, sure, seems like they didn’t really need her but cool, Katie Cassidy soon becoming the new Tom Cavanagh.

Speaking of, the fallout of Harry’s dark matter experiment is laid bare as he’s told he will lose his intelligence and soon have to relearn everything he knows. While we don’t really see that in effect, we see Harry try his best to stop Cisco repeating the mistake while trying to keep it secret. It’s not his best performance, really.

Wentworth Miller gets the lion’s share of the jokes, puns and emotional chats because we’ve got him, it’d be a shame to waste him and he performs spectacularly. The Leo Snart character allows Miller to be both playful and deadly serious in a way the original Snart wasn’t. Great to have him back, shame to see him leave again.

Marlize’s slow face turn continues as she realises that while her husband has returned to his old face, the problems with his new personality persist and no amount of her seduction can change that. The man she loved has gone and we’ll probably see her team up with Team Flash in the last couple episodes of the season.

Caitlin is investigating Killer Frost’s disappearance and her feelings about losing her other half. Not much time is spent with her but what is makes clear that while Killer Frost is gone, she’s still part of Caitlin, who vows to find a way to unlock her abilities once more.

Over all, an average-but-good episode that advances the characters more-so than the plot. Next week, we see the return of Gypsy and another speedster in Therefore She Is.

We’re into the second half of the Crisis on Earth-X crossover event and they don’t let us the majority of our heroes are trapped on Earth-X while Supergirl is going under the knife of Eobard Thawne.

Stakes are high and we catch-up with our heroes in a concentration camp which is surprising given that the Nazis have won… I imagine there’d be some resistance but I thought they would have a less WWII-y mindset and be more akin to The Empire from Star Wars. Those purely Empire worlds are pretty idyllic from what I remember but hey, it’s Nazis, gotta have ze camps. Surprisingly, Earth-X’s Quentin Lance is in charge with an accent that can’t decide if it’s going full-Nazi-stereotype or British-people-playing-Germans-in-war-films.

There we meet Ray Terrill, Earth-X’s exclusive hero – The Ray. Russell Tovey, who you may remember from Doctor Who, Sherlock, and Being Human, is kind of an odd duck since he’s from Earth-1 but somehow got transported to Earth-X and is in a relationship with Leo Snart (Earth-X’s Captain Cold). That’s pretty much it in terms of character. Unfortunately, with everything else going on and with bigger character moments, Ray comes up short.

Leo Snart is a much more jovial rendition of the Snart we’re used tobut is every bit the hero ours was. Wentworth Miller is always welcome to come back in my eyes but with this being his swansong (though he seems to be staying on The Flash until the mid-season finale apparently), he does a fair amount ingratiating himself with the Earth-1 heroes and even sharing a scene with Mick, where we find both have lost their partners.

In terms of action, we get a fight to secure our heroes’ way home with Flash and Ray fighting Red Tornado, a weapon unleashed by Resistance Leader Winn Schott, which is weird because the poster had Tornado on the Nazis’ side and I thought that would be a connecting point to Freedom Fighters: The Ray but I guess not? Odd. Still, the design they use is a marked improvement to the awful suit used in Supergirl’s first season.

There’s also fight between the captured Team Arrow, Cisco, the Legends and Metallo while they rescue Kara which is pretty cool and then we have the final battle which I marked out for super-hard because this kind of line-up is rarely seen in the West but is a staple of Japanese Super Sentai/Kamen Rider shows. It tickled me just right. Sure, it devolves into a schmoz immediately but we have several key points to cover.

Flash Fact: The Gideon equivalent on Earth-X’s Wellenreiter is voiced by Susanna Thompson, who long-time Arrow viewers will recognise as Moira Queen, Oliver’s mother!

Barry. Lets. Thawne. GO! This is why you get all the bad things happen to you, Barry! Because you’re god damn idiot!

This moment right here? Perfect. Melissa Benoist continues to prove that she is worthy to wear the S-Shield and that a “Super” character can shine bright even when having inner turmoil, something the movies seem to be struggling with.

And then I have to talk about the thing that broke me. Two characters I’ve neglected to mention until now has been Jax and Stein, the two halves of Firestorm. Throughout the crossover, they’ve been butting heads about their upcoming break-up. The dissolution of Firestorm would leave them both pwerless but Stein could return to his family but it’s not that simple. These two have been, figuratively and literally, inseperable for the better part of two years (give or take, time travel’s weird, yo) and they have grown closer than even Ronnie and Stein did.

Jax became more confident in his own skills and ingenuity thanks to Stein and Stein became a more accepting and warmer person because of Jax’s influence. They’re so close as to consider each other family and admit to it during this event, but during the siege on the Nazi’s breach building, Stein is mortally wounded. Fusing into Firestorm to keep his partner alive, Jax starts to cough up blood back on the Waverider. The two are linked, body and soul, and if one dies…

It was after this scene that I had to stop. I don’t know how to explain it because I’m usually not overly-mushy when it comes to father-son talks (growing up sans-father will do that) but the performances of Victor Garber and Franz Dremah were powerful, heartbreaking and I genuinely cried as Stein sacrificed his life to save Jax, the son he wished he’d always had.

Martin Stein died a Legend and that sticks with the team even to the end of the crossover as it hits each of the Legends who knew him personally and to the others who have their unique goodbyes at his funeral. It was a tough sit through both those scenes, I’ll admit but they’d never end this on a down note and the story ends off with Barry and Iris.

Since they were rudely interrupted by invading Nazis, the pair decide on a simpler ceremony just to make it legally binding. Felicity points out that Diggle is ordained and Barry wastes no time messing with his day (because it’s a crossover tradition at this point) so, amongst the scenic park and Diggle’s puke wafting in the air, Barry and Iris get married. And then Felicitiy ruins the moment by spontaneously deciding to marry Oliver despite spending the last four hours not wanting to FUCK THIS IS WHY NO ONE LIKES YOU FELICITY FUCK! But yes, the crossover ends with the big two ships of Flarrow tying the knot and it’s all hunky-dory. So what is my final verdict on Crisis on Earth-X?

I loved it! Strong character dynamics, lots of action, lore-building and genuine fun makes for a fantastic four-hour superhero movie that even DC’s big budget outings can’t match. If I had to nitpick then I’d have to say that a lot of the ropey CGI, The Ray’s lack of development, alongside Kid Flash’s absence and Felicity being Felicity are some of the weakest parts of this crossover but the rest more than makes up for it.

I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did and be sure to let me know your favourite moments down in the comments but next week we see the return of Amunet Black as Barry and Cailtin are both trapped in desperate situations in Don’t Run.

Running to Stand Still hits the ground running as Harry is chased through STAR Labs and while he might have some sick slide skills, they’re just no match for Zoom; who wishes him a Merry Christmas before we cut to festive credits.

Already, this episode has got me smiling and I’m locked in for a fun sleigh ride as Mark Marden breaks out both James Jesse and Leonard Snart for a kwanza killing spree and Flash is right at the top of their kill-list. Naturally, Snart is having none of it because A) he and Barry have a deal and B)…

He’s a total sweetheart. God damn Wentworth Miller, man. He’s one of the best things about this god damn show. He gives Barry a heads-up and leaves Mark Hamill to carry the rest of the episode because Marden is just there and is tied with Patty’s character development. It’s cool, and she boots the Flash in a cool moment, but Marden’s a rubbish villain.

Hamill is going full Joker this time and he doesn’t even care. And neither do I frankly. He’s a pure delight.

Back with Harry, Zoom’s obviously gotten to him and he’s visibly struggling with his conscience. Cavanagh has all these little looks throughout out the episode that shows he really doesn’t want to but an all-too-real threat to his daughter cajoles him into helping Zoom. Cavanagh’s really on form this episode but while most of it is tense, he does get a couple lines of dickish humour.

But, obviously, the biggest thing to happen this week was the introduction of Joe’s biological son; Wally West. Keiynan Lonsdale is best known for the Divergent movie series and some show called Dance Academy. He’s not doing much but you can tell he’s going to be a big part of the season to come.

All in all, this was a far superior winter finale, not only for being Christmas themed but also because The Flash is always more entertaining to watch than SHIELD and this episode just proves it. Be sure to come back in January for more Flash Facts!

Family of Rogues has everything I love from The Flash: Wentworth Miller acting the fuck out of every scene, awesome foreshadowing, Jesse L Martin being Best Dad and cute character interactions!

Speaking of, whose sailing the Caitlin/Jay ship because they’re doing a bang-up job. Danielle Panabaker and Teddy Sears have such an awesome chemistry, it almost rivals that of Panabaker/Gustin. With Jay sticking around for a while (He went and got a new haircut and everything) , hopefully we’ll get more of these guys being cute as hell week-to-week.

On the other ship, Cisco and Lisa Snart being cute is great. These two have a fun dynamic and this week sees them take a step closer to becoming a little more than frenemies. Loved it.

Oh, Joe… Bless your heart. I have no fucks to give about the Iris’s Mother plotline (though Iris continues to be pretty good compared to last season) but if Jesse L Martin cries, so will I. Something about that man crying really gets to me.

You’ve gotta feel sorry for Michael Ironside too. He’s a perfectly capable actor but he shares every scene with Miller and thus, is little more than set dressing.

Flash Fact: Michael Ironside and Peyton List previously played a father/daughter duo on Smallville.

What a bastard of a character, eh? If nothing else, this motivation lets Miller play with Cold’s emotions a little more and god damn, it’s a powerful performance. Cold’s humour, fear, cockiness and the implicit trust that he shares with Flash, despite being enemies is fantastic. Easily the highlight of the episode.

Running Gag Week 2: Professor Stein stroking out mid-sentence but this time with a twist! The Firestorm Matrix is going bandit and the good Prof needs another partner to stabilise it! We’ll be seeing more of that next time and before we wrap up…

Harrison Wells appears through the portal like the god damn Terminator. More as this develops.

Family of Rogues is a fantastic episode but then, I’m completely biased but I think every one will find something to dig in this episode. As cool as this episode was, next week will heat things up so come back next week for The Fury of Firestorm.

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!

Going Rogue marks the big gear change in The Flash, as we go from the C-List villains to the big guns of Barry’s Rogues with Captain Cold, played by guest star Wentworth Miller.

We also get a small crossover as Felicity Smoak, from sister-show Arrow, comes to visit Barry for the first time since his coma. Emily Bett Rickards has fantastic chemistry with Grant Gustin and the two make an adorably perfect double act that could blossom into romance if they weren’t holding a candle for someone else, something they freely admit to each other in a rather touching and emotionally profound scene near the end of the episode. Throughout the episode, the pair are an absolute delight to watch and it’s fun to see someone from Team Arrow interact with Team Flash. Wells even admits to keeping tabs on her career because she shows a lot of promise, which is creepy and has a hint of retroactive foreshadowing to it given his mysterious circumstances.

Speaking of Wells, this episode marks the first time the team see him lose is usual affable nature and straight up threatens Cisco for inventing the cold gun. Cisco’s lucky Wells didn’t take off his glasses or he would have been FUCKED.

Wentworth Miller is the special guest star and is, much to my surprise, quite entertaining as popular villain, Captain Cold. They go to great lengths to establish his origins, even slyly mentioning his sister (the villain Golden Glider) and show that he used liquid nitrogen in his robberies before he even acquired the cold gun that was stolen from STAR Labs. This portrayal is pretty spot on to his comic counterpart, with set rules for his crew that are in line with his rules with The Rogues. There’s also ICE PUNS! Not quite as overt as Arnie’s seminal snow shenanigans but still a fun little nod.

I feel that this is a good point to talk about the CGI used in the show. While no where near as good as Quicksilver’s recent visual jaunt on the silver screen, the CGI works well and doesn’t distract too much though it can look very rubbery sometimes but otherwise, the running effects and the freezing effect for the cold gun were used quite well.

Post-credits scene establishes Captain Cold (who was let go, for lack of a better option) talking with an ex-partner and how The Flash is a big enough threat for him to hire a new crew for future jobs and offers the unseen man the flame gun from earlier in the show, establishing this as our future villain, Heat Wave. When going through the various weapons some guy stole from STAR Labs, there was a camera-looking weapon that I didn’t immediately recognise so my best guess is Mirror Master maybe? Hope so! Can’t wait to see more of the Scarlet Speedster’s Rogues come together in the future. Get Mark Hamill to reprise his role from the 90’s and be an old-as-balls Trickster!

Much like SHIELD, The Flash won’t be back til November 11th but rest assured, we’ll be back then to take a peak at Plastique.