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Five Thoughts on The Flash’s “Rogue Time” [Review]

By | March 25th, 2015
Posted in Reviews | 7 Comments

Well, we all knew that the show couldn’t possibly top last week’s meta-mind fuck – and it didn’t – but this week brought back the Rogues, had some nice moments of Ramon family bliss (and non-bliss), and showed us, once and for all, just how much Wells hates people talking about him behind his back. Let’s dig in, and mind the spoilers.

1. Oh, Cisco

Cisco is the heart of this show, and seeing him killed last week was only slightly better than seeing him forced to choose between Barry and his brother. What is so funny about Cisco being so beloved is that his comics counterpart, Vibe, is one of the most insulted and disliked characters in all of comics. The producers here, however, have really figured out how to write him in a way that feels true to his character, and yet constantly shows his depth.

Seeing him with his brother tonight revealed a major piece of the Cisco puzzle. His brother is clearly the favorite in the family, even with being a bit of a loser. This shows why he, like Barry and Caitlin, really needs his S.T.A.R. Labs family. Which, of course, makes the true nature of Dr. Wells even more tragic. But we’ll get to him in a little bit.

2. The Start of the Rogues (Proper)

One of the problems I had with the show’s treatment of Captain Cold was how cavalier he was with killing others – that seemed, to me, to be a perversion of the Rogues that just made them like any other villains out there. But no, what makes the Rogues so special is that they are, for lack of a better term, more or less decent people. Seeing Captain Cold realize that he can steal without killing, and vowing to do just that, was a huge character moment for him.

By rooting Snart in his family, and adding a healthy level of self preservation into the mix, allows the character to continue to be an adversary of Barry’s without turning him into a monster. This show has plenty of heartless killers – it is nice to see a little nuance with the Rogues.

3. I Love Gold

I am all for the show adapting characters that might not translate right over from comics, but this is a little silly. The reason Lisa Snart, in the comics, was the Golden Glider, was because she was a figure skater, and would glide on air. The producers seem to have missed this, and just focused on the “gold” part of her name. So, instead of having powers of any kind, or giving her a figure skating background, it is just decided that Cisco can make her a gun that coats people in gold (?). Let’s unpack this a bit.

Cisco creating a heat or cold gun is quasi believable, if only because people can create heat or cold relatively easily. In my kitchen, I have multiple items that can do both, and I don’t need a degree in science to do so. If, however, I had the ability to just flat out make gold, well shit, that would be a different story. What sort of equipment did Snart have in his home office to allow Cisco to build that gun? “Please, feel free to use my scrap metal, my pool of molten gold, and the fridge is stocked with Diet Mountain Dew.”

I know we are watching a show based on a funny book, but that felt particularly Batman ’66ish to me.

4. The Start of Eddie’s Heel Turn

Sure his punch was later rescinded, but this is where it starts: the jealousy, the anger, the brute strength – this is where Eddie inches towards supervillain. The consensus appears to be that he will be some variation on Zoom, which seems to make a lot of sense. If he’s injured fighting Grodd, just wait and see.

5. Parallels

This episode did a nice job of being the mirror image of last episode’s – in that one, lots of good and bad, status quo-changing events happened, only to be erased. Here, a bunch of minor events happen, but they are equally changing to the status quo, and there’s no way to go back. The scene, of course, that is the most interesting is the one between Wells and Cisco at the tail end of the episode. It took place in the same room as Cisco’s death last week, and featured Wells saying, essentially, the same thing: that Cisco is like a son to him. Of course, this time didn’t end with a vibrating hand through the heart.

Continued below

The show, thus far, has been great at showing what possibilities exist in small events. The idea of the multiverse, and an ever expanding one at that, is very, very much a part of the show’s DNA.

Unfortunately, so is “Flashpoint,” apparently. 50+ years of comics history was trashed when Barry attempted to go back in time and save his mother’s life, the exact plan he described here. If he does that and suddenly everyone is wearing a high collar, I quit.

Tell me what the most disappointing “Flashpoint” change the show could make in the comments!


//TAGS | The Flash

Brian Salvatore

Brian Salvatore is an editor, podcaster, reviewer, writer at large, and general task master at Multiversity. When not writing, he can be found playing music, hanging out with his kids, or playing music with his kids. He also has a dog named Lola, a rowboat, and once met Jimmy Carter. Feel free to email him about good beer, the New York Mets, or the best way to make Chicken Parmagiana (add a thin slice of prosciutto under the cheese).

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