TV REVIEW: Sibling Trouble in The Flash’s “Rogue Time”

By Justin Carter

Last week’s episode of The Flash ended in a big way. Wells revealed himself as Eobard Thawne to Cisco, who he then killed; the Weather Wizard had kidnapped Joe and was sending a hurricane towards Central City, and Barry gave Iris a kiss before revealing his identity and running so fast he traveled back in time to the start of the previous episode. Any episode that ends like that is going to give the follow-up some pretty big shoes to fill. “Rogue Time” stumbles, but overall succeeds as a follow up, and part of why it does is by showing just how much Barry’s time traveling screwed things up.

The show doesn’t entirely make things clear as to how time travel works and makes the final 10 minutes of “Out of Time” a little bit pointless. But it still manages to find creative ways work with what happened last week. Instead of Cisco, Iris’ coworker Mason Bridge gets killed by the Reverse Flash (just can’t stop murdering, can you Wells?), and Barry trying to get with Iris ends up landing him in hot water with her and getting socked in the face by Eddie. Honestly, Eddie felt more than justified punching Barry for trying to coax a confession out of Iris, especially when he broke up with Linda and immediately went over to Iris’ desk to ask her to coffee. She’s more than justified saying that he was trying to make her into the bad guy, and I’m not entirely on board with Caitlin covering his ass with a quick excuse of “it’s the side effect of being struck by lightning!”

When the focus isn’t on the romance, the show kicks into gear, as always. Captain Cold and Heat Wave return, this time with the former’s sister, Lisa (Peyton List). Lisa seduces Cisco, kidnaps him and his brother Dante (Nicholas Gonzalez), and forces him to make new guns for Snart and Mick along with one for herself that turns anything she shoots into gold. Peyton List is a fun addition to this growing list of Rogues, and she and Miller have a fun sibling dynamic. Dominic Purcell doesn’t get a lot to do as Heat Wave this time around, but he’s still growling out fire-based puns and they haven’t lost their charm. Nick Gonzalez does alright as Cisco’s brother Dante, but it does seem a bit odd that his first appearance shows him dressed so nicely and then is later on to be revealed as living at home with their parents and envious of Cisco for pursuing his passion.

Cisco and Dante’s kidnapping leads to him giving up Barry’s identity to Cold. Barry snatches Cold during a heist and the two of them have a nice chat in the outskirts of the city, and it’s surprising that things don’t escalate into a fight. Cold, of course, can’t be killed since he’s a Rogue and will reveal Barry’s identity to the world should he die, so Barry just lets him off with what is basically a slap on the wrist. Seriously, Barry may as well have just slashed the tires on his motorcycle for all the good that talk did. Still, overall, this was a solid episode of The Flash. It doesn’t entirely ignore what happened last week, and even manages to finally get Barry and Joe on the same page regarding Wells.

Additional Notes:

• Barry: “Leave Central City.” Cold: “Can’t do that. I love it here. This city is my home.” For whatever reason, that line reminded me of Craig from Parks and Rec.

• God, Lisa’s fake blonde wig was eight shades of atrocious.

• I’m surprised that when Lisa first got her gun, the music didn’t switch that “Gold” song by Imagine Dragons. Since the show has used “Uptown Funk” and “Only One” in the past, this would’ve been fitting.