TV REVIEW: Why The Flash’s “Revenge of the Rogues” is the Show’s Best Episode Yet

By Justin Carter

It’s been too long since we’ve seen Barry Allen and Team Flash saving Central City. Thankfully, Andrew Kreisberg and Greg Berlanti make up for it with what is definitely one of the best episodes of The Flash to date.

Wentworth Miller returns once again as Captain Cold, this time aided by his old partner Mick Rory. Rory was an arsonist who worked with Cold once in a job that went bad and left him with third degree burns over his body. Miller’s old Prison Break cast member Dominic Purcell takes the role of Rory, and it feels like barely any time has passed between seeing the two of them together again on screen.

True to his Cisco-patented codename “Heat Wave” is eager to use his fire gun to its full potential and demonstrates a pure, reckless energy that works nicely with Miller’s precise coldness. At the end of “Going Rogue” earlier in the season, Snart revealed that he had another gun and was looking to reunite with an old friend. He and Rory make terror around Central City, hoping to antagonize Flash into a showdown. But Barry’s decided to devote his time to amping up his speed so he can take on the Reverse Flash again. This doesn’t mean that Barry doesn’t don the costume at all this week; when he faces off against Heat Wave and Cold, he learns that being slow is just as useful as being fast. The various ways that Team Flash comes up with defeating his enemies continues to be creative, but it’s a safe bet they won’t work the second (or third) time around.

Much of the episode is devoted to Barry struggling with being inactive while Cold and Heat Wave keep trying to goad him into action, so the other members of Team Flash get to pick up the slack. Joe is still doing his cop thing, and Wells is doing his cryptic mentor thing, while Cisco gets to create shields for the cops to use against Snart. The show is slowly building towards him becoming Vibe by showing him feel guilt for Snart’s cold gun, and sooner or later he’ll start doing some super heroics himself. Even though he’s in Flash’s Rogues Gallery, it wouldn’t be surprising if the show ended up turning him into a nemesis for both Barry and Cisco. Definitely fun, at the very least.

Caitlin’s role is for a moment the person who gives Barry the Emotional Speech of the Week, and then she’s right back to looking for Ronnie. Firestorm is two people in the comics, and she meets the second half of that future hero, Jason Rusch. His appearance is brief, but he does namedrop another character important to the Firestorm canon, Martin Stein. Ronnie’s insanity and constant repeat of “Firestorm” can’t mean anything good when the word is revealed to be an acronym relating to Rusch and Stein’s project. Her meeting with Jason ends with more questions than answers, and also with her getting captured by Snart and Rory, who challenge Flash to a fight at sundown.

The good news is that over the holidays, The Flash got renewed for a second season. If this and the past nine episodes are any indication, there’s no signs of things slumping anytime soon. Like Snart, the show has a carefully thought out plan, and it’s hitting it all with continued success.

Additional Notes

• Also renewed on the CW: basically all of their shows. What a world we live in where the CW has consistently great television and hits like Jane the Virgin and The Flash.
• “Sort of like an extreme heat wave…Heat Wave!” “Stop doing that.” Totally inappropriate moment, but Cisco isn’t in the wrong for thinking of the codename then and there.
• According to Cisco and Wells, Ghostbusters is surprisingly scientifically accurate. And funny.
• I wonder how much money it cost for that drone Barry destroyed at the beginning. And how much the other two were when they’ve got lasers.
• Central City knows that Flash exists now, meaning that all he has to do is mess up just once, and the whole city turns on him.
• Snart and Rory are busted out of their transport to Iron Heights by the former’s sister. Not exactly a prison break, but I’ll let it slide. The writers had to, given who they casted.
• Snart calls Flash the “Scarlet Speedster,” which was way cooler of a moment than it should’ve been. He also had the most comic book-y line of the week, “How would you like to die: the flame, or the frost?”
• There was a decent sized amount of puns this week. Not all of them were hits, but they didn’t get into Batman & Robin territory, and that’s really all you can hope for.
• Next week is the Pied Piper. Yes, seriously.