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FLASH: SPOILER Review 1×10 – “Revenge of the Rogues”

The Flash (1×10) –
“Revenge of the Rogues”
Written by: Geoff Johns & Kai Yu Ku
Directed by: Nick Copus
Much like the real world, several weeks seem to have passed
since “The Man in the Yellow Suit” and Barry is working harder than
ever to master his powers with the help of the STAR Labs Trio.  While Barry goes up against a Cisco-designed
drone (complete with missiles) we learn from the voice over that the confrontation
with the Reverse Flash has left Barry’s pride wounded and given him a tighter
focus on catching the man he believes murdered his mother. 
Barry takes out the drone while showing us and the Trio that
he’s is beginning to consciously react at higher rates of speed.  While Barry finishes eating after he’s destroyed
the drone they discuss the Reverse Flash and Barry’s assertion that the other
speedster still outclasses him.  But he
and Wells have an answer to that more training.
That night, Leonard Snart aka Captain Cold and his partner,
Mick Rory break into a customs warehouse holding several extremely high end
imported cars.  When Mick asks how Snart
intends to steal all the cars, Snart replies that he doesn’t intend to and the
break in was designed to draw out the Flash. 
When Snart figures out the Flash isn’t coming, he and Rory leave before
the CCPD arrive.
Back at their hideout, Mick waxes poetic about his fire
before berating Leonard for not telling him what the plan was or what they intend
to steal.  Leonard presents “Fire
and Ice” a painting that was recently purchased by the Rathaways.  Mick is unimpressed until he learns they
bought the painting for twenty five million dollars.
Barry is at STAR Labs telling the Trio about Snart’s
return.  Cisco reminds them that he still
has the cold gun he design to counter Barry in case he turned bad and Caitlin
asks what Snart would want. Barry believes Snart wants a fight and he intends
to give him one until Wells argues against it. 
He offers his and Cisco’s assistance to the Police while Barry continues
his training.  His hope is that by not
rising to Cold’s challenge he’ll leave well enough alone.
The next day at the Police Station, Iris and Eddie discuss
her moving in with him which is only three days away.  Barry arrives looking for Joe and while he
and Iris exchange awkward looks Eddie tells him Joe is up in the lab.  Joe’s been looking over Snart’s file but
Barry informs him that his work on the case ended when he completed his CSI
investigation.  He feels that the Reverse
Flash is a bigger threat and he has to prioritize.  Joe is skeptical, he points out that Barry
was the one who decided to use his abilities to help as many people as he could
but Barry deflects by offering Cisco and Wells’ help against Snart.  Joe points out that he thinks Barry’s afraid
and Barry agrees, he’s terrified of the Reverse Flash and he intends to devote
his every breath to stopping him at the exclusion of everything else.
Later at Joe’s house, he’s helping Iris pack for her move
while he tries to make sure she knows what she’s doing.  Barry arrives and Iris presents him with his
an old backpack of his, complete with old Space Ghost comics.  Joe watches the awkward exchange and Iris’
hasty exit and asks Barry what happened, Barry explains to Joe that he told
Iris how he felt and she said nothing and since then things have been strained.
Cisco is at the Station, presenting Captain Singh and his officers
a modified riot shield that is able to withstand Snart’s cold gun.  The officers are wary of trusting STAR Labs
considering the Accelerator but Cisco points out that while he can’t change the
past the STAR Labs team wants a chance to change things for the better to try
and atone.  Singh seems pleased, but he
makes sure Cisco knows his people are important to him before he leaves.
Joe and Wells watch Cisco’s presentation before Joe points
out that he knows Barry’s only avoiding Snart because of Wells.  Wells believes it’s Barry’s call but Joe
believes that Barry needs to help people any way he can.  The two part on a tense note.
Caitlin is still at the lab trying to track down a lead of
Ronnie and Firestorm Barry arrives and he and Caitlin talk about how awkward
things have become between he and Iris. 
Caitlin tells him about her relationship with Ronnie and that being
jarred out of their comfort zone will ultimately lead to a better, more honest
relationship between him and Iris.  Barry
then brings up Caitlin’s talk about scuba diving with Ronnie and that perhaps
Firestorm is not a word but an acronym.
The look up FIRESTORM and find an eight hundred page paper
by Professor Martin Stein on the subject of (this will be the only time I ever
write this out in full by the way) “Fusion, Ignition, Research Experiment
and Science of Transmutation Originating RNA and Molecular
Structures.”  After Barry reads it,
he explains that the project was about changing things at the molecular level
and was co-written by a grad student named Jason Rusch.  Caitlin is hopeful that Rusch might know
something about what happened to Ronnie.
At the airport, the Rathaways arrive with their painting,
their assistant tries to tell Mr. Rathaway that their son, Hartley has been
calling but he tells the assistant that they don’t have a son anymore.  Before the assistant could reply, Snart and
Rory arrive and rob the Rathaways of their painting.
The police arrive and after telling Snart to
“Freeze” he opens fire (I would too.) 
They use their new riot shields against the cold gun and it works as
well as Cisco told them it would, so Leonard calls in his partner.  Unfortunately for the police, the shields
weren’t meant to go up against Mick’s experimental flame thrower and they’re
pushed back.  Heat Wave is born. 
Unfortunately, Mick’s a little too into the flames and he
and Leonard start to argue, Joe gets in a lucky shot that damages the heat gun,
Mick and Leonard get away and the police are left to tend with their injured.
Back at the hideout, Rory has finished making repairs to the
gun when Leonard confronts him.  The two
argue, each accusing the other of getting caught up in their obsession and
thereby ruining the plan.  Mick’s
obsession with fire and Leonard’s with The Flash.  Mick argues that they have the painting, they
could sell it and get away but Leonard asks about the next job and the next one
and the one after that.  They won’t ever
be set until the Flash is eliminated and to do that they need to work together.  When Mick asks how, Leonard points out that,
like them, the Flash has partners.
Caitlin meets up with Jason Rusch at Jitters and the two
discuss his work with Professor Stein. 
Jason explains that Martin’s work was brilliant but he was reckless and
they ended up skipping steps before melting a wall which lead to the university
they worked at shutting them down.  Stein
told the rest of the group he’d secure a way to continue the project but he
disappeared then the army showed up the next day and took all the research. As
Caitlin leaves Jitters, she’s abducted by Leonard and Mick.
Barry’s at STAR Labs where Wells tries to apologize for
convincing Barry not to go after Snart, Barry says he’s an adult and capable of
making his own choice.  They discuss
their growing friendship before Cisco calls them over.  Researching the cold gun flamethrower that
Rory has, he’s determined that the two weapons could cancel each other out.  Joe calls Barry away and he arrives on the
scene of Caitlin’s abduction. 
Barry is infuriated and vows to stop Cold and he and Joe
head to the Station.  When they arrive,
Eddie has found information on Mick, and he wonders why he and Snart would
kidnap Caitlin.  Singh has the answer;
Leonard has sent a ransom tape to every TV station in the city calling the
Flash out of Caitlin dies.
The police have blocked off the intersection Cold has
ordered Flash to meet them at, but it’s only when he blows past them that most
of the officer believe that he exists. 
Barry charges at the pair but with Leonard able to focus solely on his
obsession he is much better able to coordinate his attacks with Mick. 
Across town, Joe and Cisco have found Snart’s
warehouse.  They enter and find Caitlin
inside but in his excitement to get to his friend, Cisco trips the booby trap
Mick left behind and Joe manages to save her.
Returning to the fight, Barry is caught by a shot from the
cold gun and hurt.  Singh starts to order
a retreat but Eddie says they can’t let the fight spread.  He takes one of the riot shields and pushes
into the fight.  He saves Barry from a
combined blast while he recovers.  Barry
then gets Eddie out of the way before diving back into the fight himself.  He’s frustrated however, no matter how fast
he goes he can’t separate the two enough to get them to cross their weapons to
disable them both.  He and Wells decide
to take another tactic, instead of speeding up, Barry slows down and lets both
men hit him.  As they do he draws their
beams into the same path before speeding out of the way.  Snart and Rory’s guns cancel each other out
and both are blown back by the resulting blast before being arrested.
Back at the Station, Barry watches as Snart and Rory are
hauled in.  He goes to congratulate Eddie
but Thawne says it was the Flash that took them down. While Eddie hands the
guns over toe Cisco Barry begins to hear the other officers in the station talking
about the Flash and seeing him as a hero. 
 
Meanwhile, Singh approaches Cisco to express his gratitude.
The next day, Eddie and Barry are moving out Iris’
things.  Eddie has an awkward moment with
Joe and leaves and Joe decides to leave Iris and Barry alone.  Barry then tells Iris that he is happy for
her and Eddie and that while it may take time he knows they’ll be better
friends than before.  Iris takes picture
of her and Barry from Joe and leaves with Eddie. 
Joe and Barry sit down on the couch and Joe lets Barry know
he’s still welcome there.  Before Joe can
blink, Barry races out and comes back with his things.  He and Joe share a beer to celebrate.
Leonard and Mick are being taken to Iron Heights and while
Mick is furious, Leonard is calm. 
Suddenly the truck is stopped and they hear gunfire.  Leonard tells Mick it’s all part of his
plan.  The doors open and while their
rescuer isn’t revealed to the viewer Leonard smirks and says, “Hey,
sis.”
Welcome to Season 1.5! 
To be honest that was the biggest takeaway I had from this episode: The
establishment of the status quo for the second half of the season.  The characters were uncomfortable with their
new situations and a few new dynamics were established.  Most notable and enjoyable was Cisco and
Joe’s partnership.  Cisco himself had a
nice moment in the police station showing off his riot shields and later with
Captain Singh.
As for this week’s villains, Heat Wave and Captain Cold were
fun.  I liked the chemistry between each
other and Mick’s almost religious devotion to fire is as pure Heat Wave as you
can get.  Purcell and Miller worked well
with each other, likely using their familiarity with each other from Prison
Break to its full advantage.  The piece
by piece construction of Flash’s Greatest Enemies is a slow thing but I am
enjoying it.
Typical of Geoff Johns’ writing it’s the small touches are
where this episode makes its money.  Mick
establishing that he and Leonard have torn apart and rebuilt the weapons so
much I doubt it matters that Cisco has the originals, the quick now to next
week’s villain, Pied Piper, Barry collecting comics and Cold giving Barry
another nickname in “The Scarlet Speedster.”  There’s something comfortable about the way
Johns writes these characters that allows me to settle in nicely.
When all has been said and done, this is a solid return for
the show.
Three Things We Learned This Week:
1)     
Barry’s control over his abilities is improving.
2)     
Martin Stein and Jason Rusch are definitely part
of Project FIRESTORM.
3)     
Wells is still protective of Barry, which begs
the first of this week’s Three Questions.
Three Questions:
1)     
Why is Wells protective of Barry?
2)     
Is Eddie still curious as to why Cold would go
after Caitlin and might this lead to him finding out that Barry is The Flash?
3)     
Is it safe to assume that Barry is down to one
suit now?

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