Things are looking very bad for “The Flash” lately. Not only has his most recent girlfriend Patty Spivot left him, but behind his back Harrison Wells is working with Zoom to steal his speed and most likely kill him. It’s about to get worse as his most dangerous adversary is back from beyond. Meet me after the super speed jump for my thoughts on “The Reverse-Flash Returns!”

Out of Time

Much like River Song, The Doctor‘s wife, sometime companion, and murderer, the Reverse-Flash is a creature of time travel who doesn’t always encounter his archenemy in linear order. In fact, the Reverse-Flash’s first meeting with a Flash occurs decades after the first time we see him in the comics. In other words, he may always have originated in the 25th century but his journeys to the 20th and 21st century may not have occurred in chronological order. Time travel is a bitch, and an imprecise science.

Let’s review what we know about the TV version. Eobard Thawne, after many battles with the Flash, came to the past to murder Barry Allen’s mother, and lost his speed. He took over the identity of Harrison Wells and accelerated the creation of the Flash so he could steal his speed and return to his own time. In their final battle however, Eddie, his ancestor killed himself, and with no heirs to continue the line, the Reverse-Flash ceased to exist.

Paradox

Of course, everyone remembers the Reverse-Flash, so he must have existed. Right? Yeah, this is why people say time travel makes their heads hurt. It’s full of paradoxes. If he didn’t exist – who killed Nora Allen? Who killed Harrison Wells? Who killed Simon Stagg, and probably dozens of others? And who caused the accident that created the Flash?

The Reverse-Flash has to still exist, and he has a past and a future. It may just be out of order to the rest of us who can’t time travel. Like in the comics, there is the very strong possibility that Barry just hasn’t met Thawne for the first time yet. That’s exactly where they’re going with this. Despite Harry’s convoluted explanation (he should have gotten Professor Stein to do it, he explained the multiverse sooo well), this is the Thawne who has yet to meet the Flash, and yet to murder Nora Allen… that last act being what they call in the Whoniverse, a fixed point in time, unchangeable.

Complications

As we open, trying to take his mind off the troubles mentioned in my intro, the Flash is playing Good Samaritan and saves a runaway truck with a fun super speed stunt, taking its wheels off. Honestly, as an old school Flash comics fan I would be happy with a whole show of that stuff, but that’s not how TV rolls.

As much as they’ve dragged it out, Patty still hasn’t left yet and Barry, in his usual prick fashion (has he been taking lessons from Oliver over on “Arrow“?), gives her the cold shoulder. Also, Team Flash discovers the dead Turtle, and Harry turns his intellect toward helping Cisco learn how to use his Vibe powers. It works, and he sees… yeah, you guessed it, the Reverse-Flash.

Vibrations

This being the young pre-Harrison Wells Reverse-Flash, Matt Letscher is back in the yellow and black costume. His plan is to kidnap our old friend Tina McGee from Mercury Labs and help him get home – using the same tachyon technology Harrison Wells was after in the first season. Cisco vibes in and sees him kill her once she’s done.

The goggles Harry built for Cisco not only allow him to focus his powers, but also resemble those worn by Vibe in the comics. The good news is the Flash saves Tina and stops Thawne, but the bad news is that by imprisoning the Reverse-Flash here, they’ve altered the timeline. Certainly Cisco introducing himself to the villain did not help, as he begins to cease to exist himself…

Days of Our Wests

As much as I love this series for its terrific superhero action, and it’s, in my opinion, the best superhero show ever done, the soap opera aspects get to me sometimes. I realize it’s a CW audience that until their recent superhero wave was more used to a young soap opera loving demographic, but I guess I can’t have everything. This week a lot of that focus is on the Wests as Francine is dying. It’s bringing Joe and Iris and Wally together as a family finally.

And then there’s Barry, who sort of qualifies as an honorary West, who continues to deny to Patty what’s really going on even after she figures out that he’s the Flash. We really have to keep Barry away from that Oliver Queen, bad influence. Patty, while on the train to Midway City, has the last laugh however, when she calls Barry saying there’s a man with a gun – and the Flash shows up seconds later. Smart. I almost wish she was staying around now. I think Barry thinks so too as he lets down his vibrational guard so she can see his real face. Shame.

The Future

The only way to save Cisco is to send the Reverse-Flash home. I dislike the wonky logic at work here, but that’s what they do, and Cisco recovers. Much like the villain discovering the Flash Museum in the comics, Harry explains that this is the secret origin of the Reverse-Flash, that this is how he learns about all of them, and thanks to Barry who drops the hint about killing his mother – how Thawne knows what to do next. Stupid stupid stupid. Never talk to time travelers about their future and what they will do in their future.

And then there’s poor dying Jay Garrick. Caitlin tries to find his Earth-One doppelganger so she can heal him using identical cells, and can’t find him. A name change happened but Jay already had the idea and found him – but the cure won’t work because Jay’s cells were mutated by his speed. The kicker is that his doppelganger’s name is Hunter Zolomon…

Comics fans know why this is such a big deal. Hunter Zolomon is a police profiler who specializes in the Rogues. He is also a man who hates the Flash very much. In the comics, he becomes the villain known simply as… Zoom! Cue climatic music, and exit stage left…

Next: Tar Pit!

As the Flash joins forces with Harry Wells to close the breaches to Earth-Two, they run afoul of a new super-villain – Tar Pit. Meet me after the super speed jump for my thoughts on “Fast Lane,” and more of the drag racing Wally West.

Iron Heights

Despite the Flash’s long history and the wide variety of criminal enemies, a known and established prison for those foes is a fairly new construct. While a mainstay of the television Arrowverse, Iron Heights really hasn’t been around that long, a decade or so at most really. Iron Heights Penitentiary was initially created by Flash writer Geoff Johns as a multifaceted plot device.

Johns wasn’t just giving the Flash his own Arkham Asylum per say, he was creating a complex storyline of a prison that mistreated its inmates, and also giving the readers, in those inmates, a sneak peek at several new villains to appear in the comic in upcoming months. Among these new criminals were Double Down, Murmur, Girder, and Tar Pit.

Tar Pit

Joey Monteleone was the younger brother of a crime lord in Keystone City, Central City’s twin city, and was serving time in Iron Heights. While imprisoned there, he learned that he had the metahuman ability to possess or inhabit inanimate objects. Monteleone’s body would remain in his cell at Iron Heights, but he would be elsewhere. Eventually his mind became trapped in the animated form of a hit tar pit… thus becoming the monstrous Tar Pit.

Now transformed, Tar Pit was a creature of molten asphalt with a burning touch, incredible strength, and the ability to throw hot tar. He made an enemy of the Flash, joined various super-villain organizations, including a second version of the Rogues. Here on TV in the Arrowverse, played by Canadian actor Marco Grazzini, Tar Pit is just as deadly.

Tar Pit, like most TV Flash foes, is a victim of the particle accelerator. He’s been in the ground since then, trying to reform, and is now out for vengeance on the guys who dumped him in tar before the accelerator blew up. The reformation allows Grazzini to get some acting in before he goes all CGI hot tar, which looks pretty awesome. Too bad the CGI is only shown briefly.

Daddy Issues

The soap opera subplot of Wally West continues. Joe keeps trying to bond and Iris is worried about the drag racing being dangerous. At dinner, Wally shares his love of speed and wanting to be an astronaut just like Barry did. In her mini-crusade, Iris does an expose on the guy running the drag races, Clark, another target of Tar Pit. Still, it was nice to see Iris actually doing some investigative journalism for once. Too bad it may get her killed.

Meanwhile Barry has been trying to work with Harry on closing the breaches, not realizing that Wells has found a way to steal his speed to give to Zoom. That minute theft of speed results in Iris taking a shard of glass in the shoulder at the drag race. Soon after, Wells confesses what he did, and Joe beats him and throws him in a cell. Later Joe kicks some butt when Team Flash takes on Tar Pit again. It’s about time Joe stepped up.

The Earth-Two Harrison Wells, just like the Reverse-Flash who wore his face last season, has betrayed them all. Barry is the voice of reason however, like a real hero, thinking of others and what they would do, if they themselves were in Wells’ shoes. The decision is made – Team Flash is going to Earth-Two to save Jesse and stop Zoom…

Next: Earth-Two, Deathstorm, and finally… Killer Frost!

This is it, this is the episode of “The Flash” we have been waiting for since Jay Garrick first showed up, or maybe since we first saw his helmet last season – Barry and Team Flash are going to Earth-Two! Meet me after the super speed and extradimensional jump for my thoughts on “Welcome to Earth-2!”

The Prep

As we open, the Flash is using the tech that he and Harry built to close all of the fifty-two breaches to Earth-Two (save the one at S.T.A.R. Labs). Harry especially, as well as everyone else, is prepping to make the trip to the other Earth to save his daughter Jesse from Zoom. There’s a weird sense of dread, as if it’s not just Zoom they’re facing, but a whole world of danger.

And perhaps they are. It’s been established, at least in flashback, that this television version of Earth-Two is more advanced, cleaner, and brighter – although other depictions suggest that Zoom has ruined that. We’ll soon see. I do have an objection to the team going through the final breach. There’s Barry, Cisco, Harry – what, no Jay? Wouldn’t two natives be better tour guides than just one, especially one who betrayed you?

The Journey

Our heroes are warned not to let anything they see distract them as they enter the breach. This journey isn’t just the extradimensional jump or the speed force, it’s fanboy heaven. Right off the bat, we see Supergirl (on whose series the Flash will appear next month) and John Wesley Shipp in his Flash costume from the 1990s CBS series. There’s also a goateed Oliver Queen (or is it?) as Green Arrow as a bonus.

Just to ramp up the suspense, the gateway on our side shorts out, trapping Barry, Cisco, and Harry on Earth-Two. As they finish their magical mystery tour between Earths, they/we also see an angry Grodd, Jonah Hex (who will soon be appearing on “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow“), and a Legion of Super-Heroes Flight Ring! Yep, fanboy and fangirl heaven.

Strangers in a Strange Land

Barry and Cisco’s first taste of Earth-Two is one of wonder. The world is more advanced, in a rayguns and rocket ships, Tomorrowland as imagined by Walt Disney, almost sepia tone kind of vibe. So yeah, like us, they too are in fanboy heaven. The first person they run into is a colleague of Harry’s named Henry Hewitt. Sound familiar? Yep, he’s Tokamak from “The Fury of Firestorm,” but a good guy here on Earth-Two. Did everyone else hear Mayor Snart mentioned on the news?

And then it gets weird. After seeing his nerdy doppelgänger on the news, Barry kidnaps him so he can be him undercover at CCPD and possibly get some clues on the whereabouts of Zoom. Starting with the golden mural that depicts military rather than a mythological Justice League, there’s also Captain Singh as a pimp, Deadshot (who Barry recognizes, but have they actually ever met?) as a detective, and Iris as a detective who’s married to Barry.

Evil Twins

It almost seems as if this is the Earth-Three from the comics as opposed to any other version of Earth-Two. On Earth-Three, the heroes were villains and vice-versa. Columbus discovered Europe and actor Abraham Lincoln shot President John Wilkes Booth just as two for instances. And the Crime Syndicate of Amerika, resembling the Justice League, murdered all the heroes (and other villains), and took dominion of the planet.

One of the Crime Syndicate’s members was called Deathstorm, an evil version of Firestorm that Robbie Amell is back here on the series to play with glee. Accompanying him is the villainess we’ve waited for since the very beginning of this show – Caitlin Snow in her comics identity of Killer Frost finally! They drop in on Barry and Iris, out for an evening at Jitterbugs (Jitters as a jazz lounge) to see Joe sing. Although Jesse L. Martin has a fabulous voice, this Joe hates Barry. Good thing Barry has Killer Frost and Deathstorm as distractions, and they both serve Zoom.

Fire and Ice and…

After Barry tries to reason with Killer Frost (why would anyone think that would work?) and Deathstorm toasts Joe, Barry leads the two villains outside where the real fight starts. I absolutely love that Barry uses the helmet from a statue of the Earth-Two Flash as a defensive weapon, awesome.

When Detective Iris gets a clue as to the two villains whereabouts, she and her partner Floyd Lawton (an inept and cowardly version of Deadshot), and Cisco with a way to stop Killer Frost, go to confront them. It’s not the dumbest thing any of them have done to be sure, but what awaits them is truly sinister. Deathstorm and Killer Frost don’t work directly for Zoom, but through Reverb… Cisco’s doppelgänger.

Meanwhile Back on Earth-One…

Meanwhile back on Earth-One there’s a new super-villain in Central City gunning for the Flash called Geomancer. In the comics, Adam Fells, also known as Geomancer, was a foe of Sand from the Geoff Johns era of JSA and later was a member of Johnny Sorrow’s Injustice Society who regularly battled the Justice Society. I was amused that this notably Earth-Two background villain with earth elemental powers was the one attacking Earth-One while our heroes were trapped on the opposite Earth.

To save Central City, Caitlin concocts a new version of Velocity-6 (originally conceived by Vandal Savage in the comics) to grant Jay the speed to fight the villain, but it doesn’t quite cut it. We learn the new info that it was the use of this drug that was killing Jay. Slowly the showrunners are darkening the Jay character and I don’t like it. It seems to have started with that bad haircut. I was more than a little disappointed in this choice of villain also – too similar in power set to both Sand Demon and this episode’s Reverb. The only thing I did like about Geomancer was the fact he was smart enough to realize the Flash was AWOL, and that Jay uses his helmet as an offensive weapon. Helmets are cool (said with Matt Smith flair).

To Be Continued…

While it’s back to the drawing board on Earth-One for both the breach and a new Velocity formula, things are much grimmer on Earth-Two. After Reverb (who in the comics was actually Vibe’s similarly powered brother) tries to recruit Cisco with a plan to usurp Zoom and take over Central City. It’s such an obvious call back to join the dark side that even Cisco makes a Star Wars joke. When Deathstorm and Reverb gang up on the Flash, the party ends quickly as Zoom shows up to deal with them. Is there any Earth where Robbie Amell lives?

Zoom takes Barry away and puts him in a cell where he can see Jesse, and there’s also another inmate with an iron mask tapping on the walls. Who could that be? And I’m also staying with my guess of the Earth-Two Henry Allen as Zoom. The offhanded mention of Henry earlier in this episode made me wonder, and the glimpse of the otherworldly 1990s Flash proves that someone who looks like him has experience with speed. Or could it be the Earth-Two Barry? He could be just as evil as our Barry is good…

This was probably the best episode of “The Flash” in quite a long time. Was there a dry eye anywhere when Barry talked to his mom? That this show can still produce this kind of emotion while delivering the type of superhero fantasy action it does, to me, is amazing. And we got another Atlantis reference, could we be seeing something or someone else special before we leave Earth-Two? And was I the one who saw the speed dials on Barry’s Earth-Two phone? Yep, Bruce (Batman), Hal (Green Lantern), Diana (Wonder Woman), and… Eddie… Thawne?

Next: Escape from Earth-Two!

Last week’s journey to Earth-Two began as a trip through the looking glass and quickly turned to nightmare for Team Flash. Now Harry, Cisco, and some unexpected allies must rescue Barry from Zoom. Meanwhile on Earth-One, how will Jay stop the Geomancer? Meet me after the extradimensional super speed jump for my thoughts on “Escape from Earth-2!”

Unlikely Allies

With Zoom on the hunt for Wells, Harry and Cisco ally themselves with the Earth-Two Barry and Iris. The plan is to find Killer Frost. Their thinking is that if this Caitlin cared about her Ronnie as much as ours did, she might not be so happy Zoom killed Deathstorm, and thus might help the good guys. It’s a hell of a chance, but they’re taking it.

Earth-Two Barry is a bit of a sniveling coward, which would go with the reversals we’ve seen in some of the doppelgängers, but I wonder if it’s not just a disguise. Our Barry has two identities, why wouldn’t theirs? I keep thinking about how Joe disliked him so much, and how he said he was so selfish. Is there something we’re missing here?

The Tapping Man

Barry and Jesse are trapped in cells in Zoom’s lair, with one other prisoner, a man in an iron mask who keeps tapping. Eventually Barry and Jesse break the code of the tapping and it turns out he’s trying to communicate one word to them – Jay. Is he looking for Jay? Is he Jay??

Could it be that this is really Jay and who we’ve been seeing as Jay is an agent of Zoom? What if the reason that Jay has been so powerless and ineffectual is because he’s not Jay at all, and he’s been a prisoner of Zoom this whole time? Could that bad haircut have something to do with it? Or might this other Jay and Zoom be one and the same?

Geomancer

Meanwhile on Earth-One, Geomancer continues to challenge the Flash, only this time, he’s targeting the ‘new’ Flash with the silver helmet. Caitlin has jumped up the Velocity-6 formula to a Velocity-9, which not only gives Jay longer speed but also starts to regenerate his damaged cells. We’re revved for a rematch between Jay and Geomancer, but we’re cheated out of it.

Geomancer collapses a building and we get to cheer as Jay-Flash saves folks from that, but the encounter we wanted never happens. Instead, Geomancer attacks S.T.A.R. Labs, and despite all the damage, it’s Caitlin that stops the villain with a convenient MacGuffin gun. Jay is sleeping conveniently off-screen.

Thawing Killer Frost

After a quick but cool shootout in the woods with Killer Frost, she joins up with our cross-Earth team in their assault on Zoom’s lair. Much like the brief battle with King Shark the journey up the cliff to the villain’s hideout also happens off-screen due to special effects budgets, still the verbal description makes up for it. The talking continues as Killer Frost is turned against Zoom.

But it’s unconvincing talk talk. I didn’t see why Barry needed his sniveling counterpart to encourage him to phase out of his prison. It seems far too easy. Killer Frost turns just as Cisco thought, and the good guys escape, not without loose ends however.

The final breach is closed, taking Jay, possibly killed by Zoom with it. Wells and daughter Jesse are now here on Earth-One, and Caitlin has lost another love. And what of the tapping man? Is he Jay? Wally? Someone else? This is far from over…

Next: The return of King Shark!

When King Shark showed up at the end of an episode of “The Flash” earlier this season, viewers went nuts, now he’s back and sharpening his teeth for our hero. Meet me after the jump for jaws vs. speed with my thoughts on “King Shark!”

King Shark

In the comics, King Shark first emerged as a villain in the Superboy comics of the 1990s. His origins suggest either a savage mutation of man and shark or the son of the actual Hawaiian shark god. Huge, bestial, and murderous, he’s one of the few super-villains to leave dead superheroes in his wake. King Shark is bad news.

On television, King Shark is one of the Earth-Two metahumans sent by Zoom to kill the Flash, and a, wait for it, victim of the particle accelerator. In their first encounter, the creature nearly killed both Patty Spivot and the Flash before being dispatched by the high tech weaponry of the Earth-Two Harrison Wells. We learn in this episode King Shark was handed over to A.R.G.U.S. for study and imprisonment.

Scars

We open however seconds after we left off in our last episode with the final breach being closed to Earth-Two. As it snapped shut we all saw Zoom’s hand burst through Jay’s chest and pull him back to Earth-Two. Caitlin is shattered of course, losing her second love in a row. But she’s not the only one affected by the events of the last two episodes.

Wells proposes a Fight Club option to deal with what happened on Earth-Two. Don’t talk about it, don’t tell anyone about it. No mention of being married to Iris, Joe being dead, and especially Caitlin becoming the evil Killer Frost. Of course that cat doesn’t stay in the bag long, and Caitlin being moody and snapping at Cisco has more than one person worried. She’s acting cold.

Shark Hunt

When King Shark escapes from A.R.G.U.S., still with a murder on for Barry, John Diggle and Lyla from “Arrow” come calling to warn him. Barry’s happy for the diversion from his Earth-Two troubles, and Team Flash jumps at the chance to join the shark hunt. Unfortunately he finds Barry before Barry can find King Shark.

The monster drops in on the Wests at home, tearing the roof off the sucker in a terrific CGI scene. It only gets better as Barry changes to the Flash and leads the shark into the street. This is CGI well worth it. This scene along with the finale on the water are just amazing, some of the best of the series.

The Wests

There’s a growing subplot of Wally and Barry failing at bonding as brothers. It feels like the showrunners are trying to shoehorn Wally into this series no matter who likes it or not. Maybe if Wally gets doused in electrified chemicals and gets a red and yellow costume he and Barry will have more in common.

One thing is sure, the inclusion of Wally has seemed to make the West family more cohesive and stronger. And is it just me or are they running out of cold puns for Caitlin and speed puns for Wally? And speaking of Caitlin, the Killer Frost revelation seems to have made her stronger as well.

In Memory of Jay Garrick

And speaking of stronger, I liked the end with Barry vowing to return to Earth-Two and defeating Zoom. It restored my faith in Barry as a real hero, like the character in the beloeved Flash comics of my youth. I loved Jay’s helmet being put on display, perhaps the first exhibit in a Flash museum.

Meanwhile on Earth-Two, we get the revelation we’ve all been waiting for… the identity of Zoom. Moments after the end of the last episode Zoom drops the body of Jay on the floor in front of the cell of the tapping man. He then takes off his mask to reveal Jay Garrick! But if that’s Jay, who’s the guy we’ve been thinking was Jay all this time? Is Zoom the Jay Garrick from yet another Earth? Well, it does make sense if Hunter Zolomon is his Earth-One doppelganger. And is the tapping man Wally? Questions, questions…

Next: We have wait for March 22 for “Trajectory” and… a female speedster? Could it be Jesse Quick?

There’s a new female speedster in Central City – Trajectory – and not only is she making the Flash look bad, she’s letting him take the rap for her misdeeds. Why is she doing this, causing mayhem and destruction wherever she goes, and how can she be stopped? Meet me after the super speed jump for my thoughts on “Trajectory.”

The Earth-Three Theory

A theory was floated recently by Ric Croxton over on the Silver Age Reviews Yahoo! group that may be the answer to what we saw at the end of our last episode. Zoom was finally revealed as Jay Garrick, causing everyone to wonder what was going on. How could Zoom be Jay Garrick? Because, we haven’t been seeing Earth-Two, we’ve been seeing Earth-Three. Zoom is the evil Jay Garrick of Earth-Three and the man in the mask, the knocking man, is the Jay Garrick of Earth-Two, the beloved Golden Age Flash.

Think about it. When Stein originally explained Earth-Two, he didn’t just theorize two Earths, but several, an infinite number – he even specifically named an Earth-Three. It’s been there in front of us all along. In the comics, Earth-Three is the reverse world where Columbus discovered Europe, actor Abraham Lincoln shot President John Wilkes Booth, and the evil Justice League calls itself the Crime Syndicate. Eeeevil. We are looking at opposites in the doppelgangers – Harry Wells, Killer Frost, and Deathstorm, who in the comics was even a member of the Crime Syndicate! We have never seen Earth-Two before, only a misnamed Earth-Three.

Team Flash Night Out

As we open this episode, Barry is back on his getting faster kick only with more honest reasons. He needs to be faster, so he can cross over to ‘Earth-Two’ and to stop Zoom. Speaking of which, Jesse notes that on her world, Beyoncé is a senator. I guess that one could go either way, so no comment. It’s decided that some downtime is needed, so Team Flash goes out for a night on the town.

Jesse can only go with if she wears one of Harry’s metahuman alert watches. At the club I laughed aloud when Barry kept tripping it, but then Wally and Iris show up. Did Wally trigger it when they were introduced?? Add in a little overprotective Daddy Wells, and things get dark. And then the new female speedster showed up, and robbed everyone.

Trajectory

Now despite how Team Flash reacts in this episode, female speedsters are nothing new. I’ve talked about Jesse Quick and Ms. Flash before, and there was a Joanie Swift back in the Golden Age who briefly teamed with Johnny Quick. Both Red Trinity and Blue Trinity had female members, and then there’s this episode’s speedster, Trajectory. Eliza Harmon was part of the same metahuman project of Lex Luthor that produced Everyman. Her metahuman power was of course, super speed. She could not control her speed without the use of a drug called sharp, and hailed from the same town that raised another speedster, Impulse.

Here on television, she’s still a speedster, but there’s a different drug involved this time, the Velocity-9, not Sharp. This Eliza Harmon works for Mercury Labs and synthesized her own very addictive and personality disassociating V-9. A former colleague of Caitlin’s, she is more full of denial than all of ancient Egypt, and bit more crazy. She’s full of crazy, and wants to frame the Flash for her path of crime and destruction.

Faster and Faster

Trajectory’s origins as well as those of the Velocity-9 get Barry a bit worked up. All this time he’s been trying to get faster, for reasons both right and wrong, and here’s this short cut that no one told him about. This brings up one of the big differences between the Flash of the comics and the television Flash. Grant Gustin’s version of the character not only carries the weight of the world on his shoulders, but gets all emo about it as well. In my estimation this is one of the most unlikable bits here.

Previously the television Flash brought the joy of the comics characters to the small screen. Barry always enjoyed using his powers, he gloried in it, was happy, was stable. And he also did all this stuff on his own. On television, “The Flash” follows the pattern formula of “Arrow,” and one also used in “Supergirl,” which will be crossing over with our scarlet speedster next week. They have team support, and one would think, with all this support, Barry could relax a little and share the burden, right?

Mad Speed

Trajectory comes calling at S.T.A.R. Labs, demanding V-9 and stabs Jesse with it to make sure it’s the real thing. How long before we get Jesse Quick now? Wells said afterward they got the drug out of her system, but come on, do we really believe that? One of the subplots this episode is the strained relationship between Harry and Jesse – she hates his darker side, his desperation, and ever decreasing morals. He’ll do anything to get what he wants, and it spooks her so hard, Jesse runs away. I wonder if she’ll be a speedster when she comes back?

When the evil speedster first shows up at S.T.A.R., she traps the Flash in the Pipeline. After she takes off, all it takes to free our hero was the press of a button by Cisco – are you telling me he couldn’t have done that while Trajectory was there?? It’s an interesting side note that Trajectory’s on-purpose destructive powers are so similar to Ms. Flash’s accidental side effect destructive powers from the comics. After injecting herself with all the V-9, Trajectory speeds off, burning herself up, and leaving only her costume in a swirl of blue lightning. My first thought was Cobalt Blue, but then I realized at the same time team Flash did… Zoom.

Zoom!

The connection is made. Zoom is powered by Velocity-9, and thereby is dying from the same cellular degeneration that was plaguing Jay, and just killed Trajectory. That’s what the blue lightning represents. Cisco reveals that he’s been ‘vibing’ on Zoom lately, every time he gets near Jay’s memorialized helmet. Knowing that speedsters can appear in two places at once, when Cisco verifies that Jay is Zoom, they know it’s true. I’m sure we’ll soon find out if the theory I talked about at the start of this review is true or not.

Miscellaneous

As always there’s a touch of the melodrama and soap opera in the mix, and the subplot this time almost seems completely separate from the main story. Iris’ new editor at Picture News, Scott Evans, has a hate on for the Flash, and he also wants to date Iris. She doesn’t seem to mind, once she figures out that’s what he’s after. He tells a story of a corrupt mayor as to why he distrusts heroes. I almost thought for a second it sounded similar to the Top when he possessed a Senator… Either way, I hate the idea of Barry or Iris with anyone but Barry or Iris. That whole love that transcends time and space, love and death, etc., you know?

“Bad Flash”? Wow, since “Vixen,” Cisco has really been off in his naming. Please don’t tell me one of my favorite characters has lost his best super power! And did anyone else notice some minor tweaks made to the Flash’s costume? Maybe we will get those yellow boots sooner or later after all.

Next: “World’s Finest” with Supergirl!

And then next week right here: “Flash Back!”

So while other DC Comics superheroes, who shall remain nameless, are fighting amongst themselves at the box office – some are making friends and teaming up. I’m talking about Supergirl and the Flash, who crossover from their competing networks to battle the combined forces of Livewire and the Silver Banshee in the current episode of “Supergirl.” Meet me after the extra-dimensional jump for my thoughts on “World’s Finest.”

World’s Finest

As with when Green Arrow and the Flash first teamed up over on the CW and used the title of a DC Comic where Batman used to team with other heroes (Brave and the Bold), this teaming of Supergirl and the Flash borrows the name of World’s Finest Comics, a DC title where for over forty-five years teamed Superman with Batman on a regular basis. Notably, they were not fighting each other in each issue… because they were best friends. My, how times have changed…

Anyone who reads my reviews of “The Flash” here at Biff Bam Pop! knows that one thing I enjoy about the series is its joy and how much Barry loves his super powers and helping people. “Supergirl” is a TV series that shares those qualities in their characters, and it’s also why I love the show so much, and probably why I’m excited for the girl of steel and the scarlet speedster to be teaming up. It’s also pretty exciting to see the Flash jumping from the CW to CBS so easily. I can remember as a kid how when “The Bionic Woman” moved to NBC, she couldn’t team up with “The Six Million Dollar Man” any more because he was still on ABC. Stupid networks…

The Villains

Both of our baddies this episode are foes of Supergirl, probably because it’s her show. But now if we’re being truthful, Supergirl hasn’t faced all that many enemies who weren’t already villains of Superman’s. It’s a sad state of affairs, occurring throughout this first season with Bizarro, the Master Jailer, the Toyman, Non, and returning adversary Livewire – they are all Superman villains. Even Maxwell Lord, who isn’t specifically a Superman foe, I don’t think has even met Supergirl in the comics. I know she doesn’t have many, but how about a Supergirl foe or two?

Livewire, who first fought Superman in his DCAU animated series then translated to the comics, is returning for revenge this episode. A shock jock with electrical powers, she is being paired with the Silver Banshee, yet another Superman foe at first, this one from the John Byrne era. Besides a rather nasty death touch, and super strength and endurance, the banshee also has a sonic scream not unlike that of the Black Canary. Her character had been introduced on “Supergirl” a few episodes back, as a competitive assistant with Kara at her job.

Crossing the Streams

For most of the second season of “The Flash” has been concerned with threats from another Earth, supposedly Earth-Two, and travel back and forth has been a thing, and a problem. On Barry’s first trip to what might be Earth-Two, he saw visions of other Earths, including Supergirl and her world, and now, here he is.

Now we don’t actually know what happened on either side of the Flash’s journey to Supergirl’s Earth, but we can guess. Barry is wearing the tachyon device first seen back in “The Man in the Yellow Suit” and used to amplify the speed of a speedster. While wearing it, Barry could most definitely achieve the velocity to travel across dimensions, and it’s been noted he’s been trying to get back to Zoom’s Earth. Perhaps we’ll find out tomorrow evening on “The Flash.”

Starting Gate

We begin the episode like it’s any other episode of “Supergirl,” here’s what went before, and the pick-up of last time’s cliffhanger. In this case it’s Siobahn discovering her Silver Banshee powers and being examined at the D.E.O. (Department of Extranormal Operations). The only hint that this might be a very special episode is the hashtag at the bottom of the screen, #SupergirlXTheFlash.

As it turns out, Siobhan is not an alien, which is what Supergirl usually fights and what most of the threats on this show usually are. She might be metahuman, something this world in the DC TV Multiverse hasn’t heard of. Nice appearance by the female Professor Hamilton, I wonder if her first name is Emilia or Emily?

Speed Date

Siobhan isn’t happy with her time at the D.E.O., nor is she happy with current beau Win. Stalking off, she continues to be bothered by a ringing in her ears and hallucinations of her as yet unidentified Silver Banshee persona. When she snaps, she visits CatCo and blows Kara out a window with a sonic blast. As she falls, the weirdest thing happens…

The Flash pops out of nowhere, complete with his own theme music, and saves Kara from the fall and speeds her to safety outside the city. Even though they don’t know each other, have never heard of each other, they can tell they have something in common, and more than wardrobe. Oh boy, is the Flash ever on the wrong Earth…

The Blur

Barry slips seemlessly into the muted soap opera that is Supergirl’s life, injecting jealousy into the already unstable Kara/James/Win triangle. Of course the soap is nothing compared to what Barry has on his own show, life, and network. In fact, one of the episode’s best lines comes from Cat when addressing Kara, Barry, James, and Win, “You look like the attractive, yet non-threatening, racially diverse cast of a CW show.”

Cat then names the new hero The Blur. When Barry suggests The Flash, Cat says it sounds like his super power is jumping out of an alley with an open trench coat. Hmmm… where is Cisco when you need him? Coincidentally The Blur is what the man of steel was called the Daily Planet in the old “Smallville” before becoming Superman. Nice touch.

Unholy Alliance

After a visit with her aunt, Siobhan finds that her powers are a family curse, one that can only be broken by killing the person that wronged her. But how can she kill Kara when Supergirl appears to be protecting her? “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Siobhan returns to the DEO and frees Livewire. Smart cookie, this Silver Banshee.

Of course the good guys have their own alliance in place. The Flash fits in well with the D.E.O., and together they are able to find Livewire. The two heroes go after her, but are confronted by two super-villains. Lack of planning and being ready for the unexpected get our heroes trashed. Livewire and the Silver Banshee are quite a dangerous pair, makes one wonder how Supergirl would handle them alone…

Happy Endings

Almost like a student exchange program, the Flash, in his short visit, is able to give this show many of the things and tied up loose ends it has needed. He gives romance advice to Kara, he gives superhero advice as well, he helps National City’s police department set up a way to hold metahumans, and he shows that Cat isn’t as dumb as she seems when it comes to secret identities. This was a good team-up for both parties involved.

Even the thing about the people of National City not trusting Supergirl is solved. There are shades of Superman II running through it, but I’m glad it happened, and also glad that in the aftermath of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, I’m not the only one who remembers that Superman’s true weakness in the eyes of his enemies is that he cares. So does Supergirl. That’s what real heroes do. This was awesome. I’m can’t wait for more “Supergirl,” more of “The Flash,” and more of them together…

One of the ongoing storylines this season has the Flash trying to get faster so he can stop Zoom. His dimension-jumping adventure last night with Supergirl may have been about exactly that. The Flash’s new plan is to travel to the past and have the insidious Harrison Wells, alias the Reverse-Flash, teach him to be faster – all this and the Pied Piper… and maybe even the Black Flash too. Meet me after the time travel jump for my thoughts on “Flash Back.”

The Plan

We open on Barry wanting to go faster as he had last night, yet no mention of Supergirl. Although he was also using his brain (like last night as well). Even though he’s surrounded by a team, it’s nice to see the forensic scientist in him using his head to solve problems on his own, like in the comics. Barry uses that brain of his to come up with a plan.

Barry is going to travel back in time to last season and learn from Harrison Wells AKA Eobard Thawne AKA the Reverse-Flash how to get faster. The target point in time aligns with the episode “The Sound and the Fury,” when Team Flash was in the middle of fighting the Pied Piper. So once he’s brushed up on what was going on and what everyone knew then, Barry takes off to the past.

Nothing Ever Goes as Planned

Barry screws up right away once he arrives in the past, by interfering with the mission against the Pied Piper. He just keeps slipping up, from wearing the wrong uniform back in time (seriously how hard was that to forget?) to showing Wells a formula that past Barry couldn’t possibly have come up with on his own.

With the appearance of the Time Wraith (more on that in a moment), Wells knows this Barry isn’t his Barry but one from the future. Wells steps out of his wheelchair, a move that made both me and The Bride flinch, and clocks Barry. He awakes chained to the wheelchair in the Braille room, begging for his life from a Harrison Wells who now knows who he is and what it means that he’s there. Luckily Barry can lie on the quick, as opposed to when he has time.

The Black Flash

When Barry traveled backward in time, he picked up a passenger, a pursuer, something Wells calls a ‘Time Wraith.’ These creatures hunt speedsters in the speed force, especially those that manipulate time. When Barry says he traveled through time before and never seen one before, Wells says his luck has run out. This thing won’t stop until it’s ended him.

The Time Wraith resembles a creature from the comics called the Black Flash. This monstrosity stalks the speed force and serves as the spirit of death for speedsters. The Black Flash as seen in close-ups in this episode looks like Barry in a black Flash costume (thus the name) but worn by a skeletal figure. Yeah, as Cisco nailed it, it’s pretty much like a Dementor from Harry Potter.

Time Travel Makes My Head Hurt

As I said, Barry plays fast and loose with the timeline despite all of the warnings his present day Team Flash dish out to him. All that tutoring was for naught, he doesn’t listen to a bit of it. And so we end up with two Flashes running around, the Pied Piper helping the team in the present day, Cisco learning where Ronnie is (this one hasn’t played out yet), and of course the tearjerker video of Eddie that Barry gives to Iris.

One can’t help but wonder what else Barry’s trip to last season has wrought in the time stream. Did it cause the Reverse-Flash to make back-up plans? And did Barry use the tachyon device after this or before this to get to Supergirl’s dimension? This series acts like it didn’t even happen. Either way, this was a fun episode. And I loved the bit where Cisco once again asked if the white circle was his idea or because they’d seen the future.  Do we really have to wait three weeks for more?

Next: The origin of Zoom!

Sometimes something drops into your lap, be it by legitimate means or otherwise, and you just have to run with it, run like The Flash. That’s right, we here at Biff Bam Pop! Have seen the pilot episode of CW’s “The Flash,” as have many folks, with it being leaked online recently, and shown at the San Diego Comic-Con this weekend.

Meet me after the super speed jump for my spoiler-filled thoughts. And yes, that’s your only warning, from here on in, there be spoilers…

Background

The Flash has been around for nearly 75 years. With his scarlet lightning bolted costume, he is the iconic speedster hero of comics, and probably in the top five superheroes of the DC Comics Universe. There have been many other speedsters in comics, it’s true, but Flash was the first and the greatest. Feel free to pout in the corner, Quicksilver, no matter how cool you were in the last X-Men movie.

There have been several Flashes and different takes on the character in seventy-odd years, as one would expect. The Flash in this series is Barry Allen, police scientist in Central City, who first emerged in the Silver Age of comics. The version of Barry we’re getting seems to be a mix of the New 52, the 1990 “The Flash” TV series, with of course a whole new spin on it all.

Arrow

This version of the Flash has its origins as a back door pilot on the CW’s hit series “Arrow.” Conceived as a two-parter that would then lead to a spin-off series, the powers that be later decided the show would have its own official pilot as the character proved so popular. Ain’t nothing wrong with that. Since then, Barry Allen has remained a subplot on “Arrow,” and one suspects the two shows will continue to be linked in the coming season.

On the “Arrow” episodes “The Scientist” and “Three Ghosts,” Barry Allen, played by former “Glee” villain Grant Gustin, comes to Starling City investigating some unusual crimes. He’s got a motive, he’s not quite telling the truth, and he’s got a thing for Felicity Smoak. A short romance blooms and eventually Barry becomes an honorary member of Team Arrow. Membership is usually given after Arrow’s identity is blown is front of folks.

Origins

At the end of the second episode Barry returns home to Central City, just in time to see the particle accelerator demonstration that had been talked about ad nauseam in the background of “Arrow” for a while. What we’ve learned is that Barry is hunting metahumans, those with special powers, which led him to Starling City and the victims of mirakuru. As we see Barry’s creepy serial killer newspaper clipping wall, there is an accident at the particle accelerator, one that causes a freak storm, and sends a freak lightning bolt into Barry’s lab splashing electrified chemicals onto him.

From both the “Flash” pilot, and from the ongoing subplot of Felicity being worried over on “Arrow,” we know that Barry lies in a coma for nine months, before awakening in the pilot. Now does the above event sound familiar? It should. Lightning bolt hits chemicals that splash on police scientist who’s always late and grants him super speed – yeah, that’s it, the origin from the comics, perfectly. They added the particle accelerator, but we’ll find out why later. Still I love this.

That’s Me!

The opening of the pilot is full of happiness, fun and color, so unlike Arrow. We come in from above through the clouds over the twin cities of Central City and Keystone City. Then we hear Barry Allen’s voice. See that red blur? That’s me! That too. There I am again. It’s fun like that, full of optimism, sunshine and fun. That’s what the Flash is about. This isn’t the nineties, he isn’t some dark knight in red, he’s the Flash, damn it, and this is an adventure. Come along!

Grant Gustin is a joy as Barry Allen. I had mentioned he played one of the baddies in “Glee,” a ‘mean boy’ out to get our heroes. When I initially heard his casting I was in disbelief. This was not Barry Allen. He wasn’t blonde, or even redheaded like Wally West, he was dark-haired like John Wesley Shipp in the last TV series, my least favorite part, his hair. And besides, he was that little shit on “Glee,” this was no hero. However, it only took ten minutes into “The Scientist” to know that Gustin was perfect for this role. He is enthusiastic, optimistic, and enjoys being the hero – he was the perfect Silver Age Flash.

The Mardon Brothers

Before the accident we get to see Barry in action on the job, and being late. Barry is damned good at his job. We didn’t used to know what a police scientist was in the Silver Age but now in the age of CSI, it works well. This really makes me wish DC Comics had done a Central City C.S.I. comic right around the time of the terrific Gotham Central. Another missed opportunity, DC!

The crime scene being investigated is one left behind by the Mardon brothers. If that name sounds familiar to you comics folks, Mark Mardon is a very dangerous member of the Flash’s Rogues Gallery who goes by the name of the Weather Wizard. First using a weapon called the Weather Wand to control weather, later that power was internalized. However, of the two brothers, it’s Clyde who causes all the trouble here.

Thanks to Barry’s clues, Detective Joe West and his partner Fred Chyre (from the comics by Geoff Johns) track the Mardons to their hideout, but Chrye doesn’t leave the scene alive. At least one of the Mardons, Clyde (where is Mark?), returns nine months later (some sort of reference to birth possibly?) with weather conjuring powers and starts robbing banks.

Flash Family

We’re also introduced to some of our cast. Candice Patton plays Iris West, Barry’s soul mate/love interest from the comics, and Jesse L. Martin plays her father the aforementioned Joe West. It doesn’t bother me at all that the two characters are now African-American rather than Caucasian like in the comics, but the switch from absent-minded Ira West to top cop Joe West was odd. I liked old Ira from the comics.

Now for the weird part. The Wests raised Barry after the murder of his mother and incarnceration of his father (I’ll get to that in a moment), which makes the relationship between Barry and Iris weird and awkward. In the comics, they are destined to be together, even time, death, and the destruction of the multiverse can’t keep them apart. Here, it seems, a weird Greg/Marcia connection just might be all we get from this coupling.

S.T.A.R. Labs

The accelerator goes up, explodes, sending a wave of energy outward, causing the weird lightning that hits Barry. Notably it also hits the Mardons’ plane. Barry is out for nine months (again the birth time thing) before being awoken by Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face.” He’s with two people who are known to comics readers, Vibe and Killer Frost. Of course, they’re not them, at least not yet. Cisco Ramone becomes Vibe, a hero who can generate, control and even cross over dimensional vibrations. Crossing dimensions is also a Flash trick. They should become buddies.

In the comics Dr. Caitlin Snow becomes Killer Frost, one of the most dangerous foes of Firestorm, a character possibly set to appear this season on “The Flash.” Her cold generation powers are very similar to one of the Flash’s arch-foes, Captain Cold. He is another character that like Firestorm has been cast for this season. Closed by FEMA, these two, along with Dr. Harrison Wells (all that are left of Central City’s S.T.A.R. Labs), have taken care of Barry in the wake of the accident.

Harrison Wells

Wells was left disabled and using a wheelchair after the accident. The explosion caused a storm cloud that irradiated the city with anti-matter and dark energy, dimensional barriers were broken… Who knows what happened and what/who was affected. There’s Barry, and as I said, the Mardons’ plane flew into it. We know some of those affected. One assumes this will be where many of the heroes and villains will come from in this series. I just hope it doesn’t strike a ‘freak of the week’ pattern like the early “Smallville” seasons.

Who is Harrison Wells? I’m a fan of the Back In A Flash Podcast. They talked about the pilot a couple episodes ago, and came to much the same conclusion about Harrison Wells that I did. He is much much more than he claims to be. I’ll get to that at the end of this review. As River Song on “Doctor Who” is so fond of saying, “Spoilers…”

The Return of Barry Allen

Once he escapes the tender and well meaning clutches of Cisco, Caitlin, Wells, and Lady Gaga, Barry goes to see Iris first, of course, and it’s at the diner that he experiences the slow-motion super speed vision first seen in the hero’s origin story in Showcase #4. It looks just as cool in live action. He determines to find out what else he can do.

Barry quickly learns that it isn’t just his heartbeat and his vision that move at super speed. He gets used to it fairly quickly, also adding super fast healing to his reportoire of powers. His S.T.A.R. Labs team run tests on him at an airfield, clocking him at 200 mph. While running he gets a flashback glimpse of his mother’s murder. Whether that was time travel manifesting or the speed force pulling at him, we will soon learn I suppose.

Eddie Thawne

Eddie Thawne is a name to conjure with, especially if you read the comics. A character named Eobard Thawne was also known as Professor Zoom, and as the Reverse-Flash, perhaps Barry’s, and later most Flashes’ most deadly foe. A criminal in the 25th century, Thawne uses an ancient costume of the Flash’s to replicate the accident that gave him his powers and became a speedster himself.

The Reverse-Flash travels back in time to at first befriend the Flash, then attack him, then destroy him and take everything away from him. Thawne tries to take Iris from him, and succeeds in killing her once. And then, he gets really diabolical and travels back in time and murders Barry’s mother, sending his father to jail for the crime. We see this happen here in the pilot. It’s only lightning and yellow blur, but we comics fans know who it is. Here on this series, Eddie Thawne is a cop, too good to be true, and Iris is with him, since Barry had his accident. Yeah, that is soooo creepy when you know the real story of this psychopath.

The Suit

Just as Amanda Pays was the Flash’s one woman science team/sidekick in the 1990s series, here the hero has three in his support team. Cisco makes Barry a red suit with headset, bio-sensors, made of a reinforced tri-polymer to resist heat and friction. Of course after his superhero name is chosen (by Stephen Amell’s Arrow in a cool cameo that proves he can be light and smile) and Barry succeeds in his first mission, the suit also gets lightning bolts.

I like the red, I like the texture, I could do without the old timey football helmet chin-strap, but that’s okay. This is cool, and just about the only thing that could make it cooler would be for Gustin to wear one of the exact costumes from the comics. I’m content. I can’t wait to see it in actual action. It looks good, I believe Grant Gustin is the Flash.

The Weather Wizard

In Barry’s first encounter with Clyde Mardon, the effects are spectacular. When Barry tells Joe West, the man puts him in his place, telling him to stop living in a fantasy world. No one controls the weather, there was no lightning storm in his living room all those years ago either. Barry hits bottom, and needs to prove himself.

Suited up, with the support of Caitlyn and Cisco, and the encouragement of Wells, Barry takes on Clyde Mardon. In the comics, the Flash running counter against one of the Wizard’s tornadoes is pretty simple stuff, but here in live action special effects, it’s damned impressive. I love this show. The only thing that could have made this better would have been a costumed villain, but something tells me they’ll be a second Weather Wizard seeking revenge for his brother’s death.

Father Figures

As a fan of John Wesley Shipp and the original TV series, it’s good to see him again, and especially in the role of Henry Allen, Barry’s father. I loved that show, more than it deserved to be loved, but in hindsight, it was pretty cool for its time. And Shipp is really good here. You can see that he revels in this part, both a juicy role, and a piece of his past. I hope the jail meeting scenes at the end of the episode continue.

Somehow the weird unmasking effect that continues to happen on “Arrow,” where more folks on the show know the hero’s identity than don’t, happens here at the end of the Weather Wizard fight. In the midst of battle, that mask, that looks so hard to get on and off, gets off and Joe West, Barry’s other father figure learns it’s Barry in the red suit. I like this, and the two should make a good team in the future. I just hope the number of folks in on the secret identity doesn’t continue to grow.

Easter Eggs

There are more than a few Easter eggs in the pilot. There’s Linda Park (Wally West’s future wife) on the TV doing news, Barry tests the suit at a Ferris Air field (Ferris being the jet company Hal Jordan Green Lantern flies for), and of course, the ape cage twisted open at S.T.A.R. marked Grodd. Gorilla Grodd is one of the Flash’s more formidable foes, and he’s also a talking, intelligent, telepathic, telekinetic gorilla with super-strength and mind control bent on enslaving, or destroying mankind.

There’s also the guest appearance by Arrow. I think it’s kinda cool it’s nighttime in Starling City and day in Central City. It’s like the Gotham/Metropolis parallel. I look forward to more crossovers. Coming this season is also Simon Stagg, which possibly means Metamorpho, and as I mentioned, Firestorm and Captain Cold.

The Future

Like a Marvel after-credits sequence, Harrison Wells at the very end of the pilot goes to a sealed secret room at S.T.A.R. Labs, easily gets up out of his wheelchair (perhaps indicating super speed healing?), and activates a futuristic looking holographic device. It’s a newspaper made of light, with the headline “Flash Missing Vanishes in Crisis and is dated ten years in the future. Added Easter egg for the comics folks who know the ‘Crisis,’ it also says the red skies vanish as well. Could Harrison Wells be Barry Allen from the future? Or maybe even Professor Zoom as some folks believe?  What do you folks think?

“The Flash” premieres on The CW on Tuesday evening, October 7th, 2014, and don’t forget to check out my reviews of the series right here at Biff Bam Pop! and also listen to the Back In A Flash Podcast as well.

In the pilot episode of “The Flash,” first seen over the summer, and in a couple of episodes of “Arrow,” we have witnessed the secret origin of our scarlet speedster. Forensic police scientist Barry Allen has been imbued with super speed and has determined to become Central City’s new costumed defender. In this second episode, Barry gets a baptism by fire as a new villain opposes him. Meet me after the jump for my thoughts on “Fastest Man Alive.”

Speed Casting

First things first, the internet has been flooded week after week since “The Flash” was announced on the CW of casting news of character after character. It almost seems like an empty week without at least one “Flash” news story. One wonders if there will be any surprises left for the season with so many characters cast and revealed. Already seen are the Weather Wizard and his brother, Vibe and Killer Frost (still in their civilian identities of Cisco Ramone and Caitlin Snow), and briefly glimpsed in the pilot was the Reverse-Flash, and also potentially his secret identity, Eddie Thawne.

The first image of Wentworth Miller III as Captain Cold.

One of the most well known facets of the Flash mythos in the comics is his Rogues Gallery, a loosely organized society of his costumed enemies. Among those already cast are Captain Cold and Heatwave (reuniting stars from Fox’s “Prison Break”), the Pied Piper, and Girder. Non-Rogues, but still just as villainous, we will also be seeing Wade Eiling and Simon Stagg. There is also quite the Easter egg from the pilot of a coming appearance by Super Gorilla Grodd.

Flash Firestorm

In this week’s episode we meet Michael Smith who plays Danton Black, a man who can clone multiple copies of himself. Speaking of tonight’s villain, known in the comics as Multiplex, his comics origin follows a suspicious theme in this season of “The Flash.” Multiplex is most known as the archenemy of another comics superhero called Firestorm, and it seems as if the showrunners are more than a little obsessed with Firestorm. Perhaps, a “Firestorm” series will be launched from “The Flash,” just as “Arrow” birthed “The Flash.”

Witness the evidence. Multiplex is heavily drawn from Firestorm’s origin, and is literally his opposite number, created from the same nuclear explosion. Just as Multiplex is one man who can become many (fission), Firestorm is two men who become one (fusion). In the pilot it is mentioned that Caitlin lost her fiancée in the particle accelerator event. Her fiancée is Ronnie Raymond, who will be played by Stephen Amell’s brother Robbie, and also cast is Victor Garber who will play the scientist fused to him as Firestorm. I should also add that in the comics, Caitlin’s alter-ego of Killer Frost is also a major enemy of Firestorm’s. The set-up is all here, it’s just a matter of time.

Bright and Shiny

Nice new intro, a la “Arrow,” but then Grant Gustin’s voiceover turns it on its side. He’s having fun, we’re having fun. After years of TV superheroes being dark, grim, and gritty – it looks like we old school comic book fans are getting what we always wanted… fun four color superheroes on our TV screens, and based on last week’s ratings, we are not alone in our desires.

I will take bright and shiny over grim and gritty any day. In the opening scene The Flash saves several people from a fire. Almost as cool as finally seeing our hero in full costume, is seeing the good guy do right, and the good guy win. And best of all, Gustin as Barry makes it fun. He’s no brooding Oliver Queen, that’s for sure, and I love it!

Simon Stagg

Stagg Industries has already been established as existing in the DC TV Universe over in “Arrow,” but this is the first time we actually see its CEO, Simon Stagg, played by veteran character actor William Sadler. Comics fans will recognize Stagg as the freakish superhero Metamorpho’s constant nemesis. This is not a good man by any means, even if he has the same flash of purple from the comics.

In the comics, Rex Mason falls in love with Stagg’s daughter, but the old man decides he’s not good enough for her and tries to have him killed. The ‘accident’ turns him into an elemental monster, yet the daughter still loves him. And so, Simon Stagg continues to try to destroy Metamorpho on a subtle and continual basis. Stagg is worst kind of villain, because of his money, and his daughter’s love, he always gets away with his brand of evil.

Caveman Hungry

Here in the television version, Stagg is getting a Man of the Year award for his work in cellular regeneration, when the event is attacked by six gunmen. They all look alike (notably dressed in a casual homage to the comics Multiplex costume) and move alike. Barry tries to apprehend them but he gets the woozies and has to stop. Turns out, just like in the comics, Barry and his super speed metabolism are hungry.

Multiplex is after Stagg because he was hired by the old man’s bodyguard Mr. Java. This is a cool update because in the comics, Java is Stagg’s dimwitted Neanderthal servant. When Java confronts Danton Black for blowing the hit, we see the villain become multiple and beat him to death. Java always was a thug, but he didn’t deserve that.

Family and Flashback

Just as “Arrow” had what I’ve called ‘Flashback Island,’ where viewers were shown events that formed young Oliver Queen into the man he is today, “The Flash” is doing a bit of the same. We get to see Barry as a kid, interacting with pseudo-sister Iris and pseudo-dad Joe. It appears to have always been a rocky relationship with Joe, but there is love, and care. And it’s care that causes Joe to confront Team Flash at S.T.A.R. Labs.

More callbacks to the comics have Iris pursuing journalism. In the comics she was a reporter for Picture News, just this side of being as obnoxious as Lois Lane, but never quite getting there. There is a great scene where Barry tells her everything between the ticks of a second. This is the magic that makes this show great. We also see just a little bit more of Rick Cosnett’s Eddie Thawne. I know he has the Reverse-Flash’s family name but they are making him such a slimy Eddie Haskell type that it must be a red herring, right?

Crisis Prevention

Barry’s support team is still semi-supportive. Cisco is all in on the superhero game while Caitlin is getting waaay colder and meaner, and Harrison Wells is not only a bit more bitter about being in a wheelchair (although we know that may or may not be true), but he also refers to himself as a pariah.

Comic fans will know that Pariah is a pivotal character in DC Comics’ Crisis on Infinite Earths, which was hinted at the final scene of the pilot, and in which the comics version of the Barry Allen Flash dies to save the Multiverse. Just saying. And speaking of the Multiverse, this fanboy loved that the ‘Cisco-ed’ treadmill looked a lot like the Cosmic Treadmill from the comics.

Confidence and Catastrophe

In the end Joe joins Team Flash, and his believing in Barry gives our hero the advantage he needs to beat Multiplex. Thanks, Cisco, much better than ‘Captain Clone.’ And Joe just doesn’t join that team, he joins Barry in his quest to free his father as well. Their relationship is something I’m looking forward to seeing more of.

The Flash’s other foster father Harrison Wells is into something a bit more sinister. Throughout the episode he keeps showing up places out of nowhere as if he had speed of his own. And in the final moments of this episode, he confronts and murders Stagg. “The Flash is a secret that must be kept.” Who is Harrison Wells?? I think we can rule out an older Barry Allen now… so the question is… which Reverse-Flash is he?

Next: Could it be… The Mist?

When Glenn asked me to guest blog and write a review about The Flash, I thought, what could go wrong?  I mean, it’s about a guy who can travel at the speed of light… the show couldn’t be more than 30 seconds long, right?  I should be able to hammer out a post in like a minute, then it’s back to obsessively reading 20 year old back issues of X-Men on my Marvel Unlimited app trying to figure out exactly how many times Jean Grey actually died.  Find out what I thought about Central City’s Big Red blur after the break.

Episode three was another fun affair.  As Glenn noted in last week’s review, this is a fun show.  The cast is playful as a roomful of puppies, with a great working chemistry.  In episode three, we’re introduced to “The Mist”; a former death row inmate who we later discover was executed the night of the particle accelerator incident.  The same comic book quasi-science that gave Barry Allen super-speed gave the condemned Kyle Nimbus the ability to transform into a living cloud of cyanide gas.

The Mist sets off on a mission of revenge, first killing off all members of the crime family that turned against him, then the judge who condemned him to death, and finally going after detective Joe (Jesse Martin), who originally arrested the former hit man.  Luckily, Barry (who had an early confrontation with the Mist) arrives to save the day, injecting Joe with the antidote whipped up by adorable STAR scientist Caitlin Snow (the equally adorable Danielle Panabaker). I had hoped Barry would defeat the Mist by doing some sort of centrifugal whirlwind thing, but ultimately he prevails by simply exhausting him until he couldn’t maintain mist form, and then knocking him out with one super-speed punch.

We also had a plethora of subplots, as each character revisits what happened on the day the of the particle accelerator accident, Iris and Eddie reveal their relationship to Joe, we get more hints – mostly super-villain smiles and menacing chuckles – that Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh) may not be on the side of the angels, and Barry wrestles with the idea of breaking his father out of prison (side note – I love how the current crop of superhero shows never fail to shout out to the medium’s past…John Wesley Shipp – who starred as the Flash in the ill-fated 1990s version of the show – playing Barry Allen’s father?  Perfect!)

The series overall looks like it’s doing a great job mining the same gold that Smallville mined for the WB over a decade ago.  The same forces that brought in the savoir also spawn a collection of villains, a young, beautiful cast of twenty-somethings works together to defeat evil as well as work through every day drama, and a young man slowly learns how to become a hero.  All in all, an episode so enjoyable, it seemed to pass in a …(wait for it)…flash!

I guess I deserve this….

This is it. After three adversaries that weren’t quite Flash foes, we finally get one who truly is. For Superman, there is Lex Luthor, for Batman, there is the Joker, and for the Flash – there’s Captain Cold. Let’s find out together how the television version of this major super-villain pans out on “The Flash.” Meet me after the jump for my thoughts on “Going Rogue.”

The Rogues Gallery

The appearance of Captain Cold is very important because among superhero rogues galleries, there are very few that match up to the Flash’s. Batman, Spider-Man, and Dick Tracy all could be said to have more monstrous or diabolical, but the Flash’s Rogues Gallery is diverse, colorful, and dangerous. And what makes them the most dangerous of all is their penchant to work together as a unified force against their superhero enemy. Happily, several have already been cast for the TV series.

Originally created as the Colors of Evil, these criminal characters were meant for a completely different hero by Carmine Infantino, Captain Whiz, who was intended for life in the comic strips. Together – Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Weather Wizard (the real one, not his brother who was seen in the pilot), the Pied Piper, Heat Wave, Captain Boomerang, the Top, and the Trickster, among others, and a few legacies – make a close-knit team of villains who will at times defend the Flash, in order to have the sole honor of killing him themselves.

Captain Cold

More often than not, Leonard Snart also known as Captain Cold, is seen as the leader of the Rogues. Armed with an overlooked and underestimated scientific intellect and a nuclear powered cold gun, Cold lives by a peculiar but honorable set of rules. No drugs, no killing unless it’s deserved, fiercely loyal to his comrades, and to the Flash – the latter in that no-one-kills-the-Flash-but-me type of loyalty. In the comics, besides leading the Rogues, he was also a member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains, and, believe it or not, recently the Justice League, in a mad scheme to rob them.

Greed and honor is what makes Cold tick. In his previous live-action TV incarnation, he was a hit man, but here, as played by Wentworth Miller III of “Prison Break,” he is a logistical genius, a criminal mastermind, and a cold blooded killer. And he knows the ‘streak’ (I guess ‘blur’ was already taken over in “Smallville”) is not a rumor, it’s a man.

Fun and Fanboy Heaven

I loved the opening, with Barry on his day off. The S.T.A.R. Team is testing his super speed ability to multitask, specifically play ping-pong, chess, and Milton Bradley’s Operation, all at once. This is part of what I love about “The Flash,” it’s fun. This show is bright and colorful and fun.

And even when it gets serious with an armed car robbery by gun toting and liquid nitrogen using thugs, it’s still fun. Barry is careful, smart, and a thinking hero. I like that. We’re not seeing that so much in the comic book superhero television and movies of today. And oh yeah, it’s Leonard Snart and company robbing the Blackhawk Squad Security truck for the Kahndaq Dynasty Diamond. Fanboy heaven.

Felicity Smoak

Felicity Smoak from “Arrow” makes a guest appearance, probably because things aren’t going so well romantically with that show’s title character. Perhaps she intends to rekindle what she had with Barry. Me, I’m a fan of Emily Bett Rickards, so I don’t mind her showing up here in Central City.

Iris seems happy to see an adorable nerd interested in her ‘brother’ and tries to make a double date with her and Eddie Thawne. Yeah, the last thing Barry wants. And Eddie, the more I see of him the more I think he’s just the unfortunate great great granddaddy of the Reverse-Flash, not Professor Zoom himself. And speak of the devil, I was creeped out when Wells knew who Felicity was too.

Tower of Babel

Speaking of Wells’ dark side, we see him losing it over a missing weapon that Cicso built, the cold gun that Snart eventually gets his hands on. Cisco built it to stop Barry just in case – kinda like that brilliant Mark Waid JLA story “Tower of Babel,” where Batman creates protocols to stop every Leaguer in case they ‘go rogue.’ An enemy, Ras Al Ghul, uses them to defeat the team, just as Cold might here.

When Flash and Cold clash, the gun gives Snart an exceptional advantage, and a man dies. Cisco says he’ll have to live with that and Barry corrects him, no, they will all have to live with it. Another thing I like about this show, Barry isn’t just fun and smart, he is a hero, and knows what’s right and what’s wrong. And as a side note, there was also a heat gun… which of course ends up in Mick Rory‘s hands at the end of the episode…

The Cool, The Hot, and The Lukewarm

The best part was when Captain Cold showed up wearing the blue parka. It was almost as if he stepped out of the comics. And his attitude and serendipity at becoming a new kind of criminal was awesome, especially his smirk when Cisco named him. The fight between Barry and Snart was everything a Flash/Captain Cold clash should be. I also loved the treadmill that looked suspiciously like the Cosmic Treadmill.

I wasn’t so thrilled at stealing the hero’s weakness from Superman II, and even less so at Barry and Felicity’s bemoaning their romantic situations. They could have bonded better on the train I thought, maybe just the kiss. But if these are my only complaints, “The Flash” is still the best show on television.

Next: another Firestorm foe, Plastique!

After the last episode of “The Flash” with a wild ride with Captain Cold, filled with all sorts of good Flash-iness, we’re reverting back to Firestorm foes, although Plastique is one of most dangerous of the bunch. Meet me after the super-speed jump for my thoughts on “Plastique.”

Plastique

Codenamed Plastique, Bette Sans Souci was originally a human bomb of the terrorist variety with bombs strapped to her body when she first encountered Firestorm. Later she was genetically engineered and developed the actual superpower to manipulate and direct explosive forces, blowing up anything she could point at basically. She always struck me as a bit of psychopath, and was usually on someone else’s payroll.

The mercenary life seemed to suit her as she was involved with the Suicide Squad for some time, and may well be in this version as well because the Suicide Squad is a big part of the Arrowverse from which “The Flash” was spun off. Later Plastique fought Captain Atom, and then they became romantically linked, and eventually married. I guess he likes crazy chicks. Notably, this is not Plastique’s first foray into live action, as she was an adversary in “Smallville.”

The General

Also springing from Captain Atom comics is General Wade Eiling, who is basically DC Comics’ version of Marvel’s General ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross, frequent adversary of the Hulk. Eiling is just a bit more evil, where Ross usually means well. He is cast well as perennial heavy Clancy Brown, known for years as the voice of Lex Luthor in the DC Animated Universe. It would take almost that long to mention the list Eiling’s crimes against various heroes of the DC Universe. He is not a fan of metahuman vigilantes, unless they are on his side, and doing his bidding.

Perhaps his most notable crime against the heroes was placing his brain inside the mindless monster called the Shaggy Man. The Shaggy Man was an artificial creature, immortal with impossible regenerative powers that would make Wolverine blush, who had fought the Justice League to a standstill on many occasions. With a devious mind behind all that power, The General, as Eiling called himself after he shaved, is nearly unstoppable. Since his melding with the Shaggy Man, Eiling has become a powerful figure in the villain community.

New Powers

We open in a bar with Barry closing his circle of friends. He’s chilling with Cisco and Caitlin at the same bar with Iris and Eddie. It’s good that now everyone knows everyone, one less secret on the show that’s supposed to be the bright secretless daylight side of the Arrowverse. Barry learns fairly quickly that alcohol doesn’t affect him because of his super speed metabolism. I love that when Caitlin wants to take blood and test this new power, Cisco immediately jumps in to help by getting more shots.

Of course, alcohol immunity isn’t the only new power on the books here. When Plastique, played by Kelly Frye, who certainly looks the part and the purple hues of her wardrobe definitely bring the comics costume to mind, blows up an office in a skyscraper downtown, Barry tests his limits once again by running up the side of a building. This episode also features Barry altering his voice, and running across water. Much like the running against a tornado stunt he pulled in the pilot, this is something we comics fans know the Flash can do – but man oh man, is it amazing to actually see!

Tuesday in Central City

A human bomb? As Joe says, it must be Tuesday in Central City. As it turns out Plastique is a metahuman that can blow things up by simply touching them. She even does it to Barry’s Flash uniform, good thing he’s a super speed stripper. General Eiling who has a decidedly unfriendly past with Dr. Wells, they had once worked together trying to create soldiers with ESP powers. Meanwhile, Barry, being the good guy again, brings her back to STAR Labs to try to help her. This is a nice change of pace, a switcheroo on comics readers, yes, but perfectly in sync with Barry’s character. He really wants to help people.

Eiling comes after Plastique of course, having hit her with a tracker and followed her to STAR Labs. After a chilling confrontation Eiling and Wells, the rest of the crew takes it out back to test Plastique’s powers. With Eiling’s soldiers running about in the building I have to wonder why they wouldn’t have discovered the Mist incarcerated there. Outside, Caitlin and Cisco have learned that Bett was changed by the particle accelerator accident just like Barry. Later, Wells convinces her, in a very chilling scene, to kill Eiling. Hmmm… first Simon Stagg, now Wade Eiling…

The Streak

In a not-so-subtle but still important subplot, Iris is getting obsessed with The Streak, the urban legend name for the Flash, and is now taking credit for her blog. Not only is Joe determined to make her stop, but Barry is starting to worry that enemies might start to target her, thinking she knows who the Flash is. It doesn’t help that they came face to face earlier in the episode, while Barry was doing that Golden Age Flash vibrating face trick so she wouldn’t recognize him.

In order to make her stop writing about him, Barry pays her an after hours visit at Jitters in costume. When he insists she stop the blog, Iris turns the tables on him, and tells him she’s doing this blog for Barry. The Streak’s existence is proof that everything Barry’s been talking about all these years – the impossible, is possible. We are all as crushed as Barry is. Damn, these writers are good.

The Obvious

Perplexed with what to do, Barry talks to Joe about it. Barry suggests that he just tell Iris, after all, he tells Iris everything. Joe laughs, no, not everything. Yes, Joe knows. He’s known Barry has been in love with his daughter for as long as he could have known what love is. Thankfully Joe isn’t put off by it, as most folks would be by this weird Greg/Marcia relationship. I’m still put off by it a little bit, but then again I also know that in the comics that Barry and Iris are true soul mates that not even time, space, and death itself can separate.

I hope that Joe will relent and let Barry tell her, even though that’s not how it happened in the comics. And you know me, straight edge fanboy that I am, if I want it, you know these TV people are doing a fantastic job to have convinced me. Or, perhaps the Flash could reveal his existence to the world… that just might solve this problem as well. I think it might end up being the latter answer.

I Ran

In the end, Eiling kills Plastique, and it turns out she’s not the villain she was in the comics. I have to wonder however if she might have lived? It would seem quite a waste not to include her in the aforementioned Suicide Squad over in “Arrow.” As Flash foe Captain Boomerang is on his way over on that show, it might be nice to have the comics line-up of that team mildly intact.

There’s a nice moment as Team Flash is back in the bar drinking to Plastique to the sounds of a lounge lizard version of A Flock of Seagulls’ “I Ran (So Far Away),” such an apt song for this series. When Eiling confronts Wells once more at STAR, we learn that the General knows what’s up with the accident, and we also find out, via flashback, what the experiment they were working on so long ago was. A gorilla named Grodd. Yeah, baby. This is going to be sooo cool…

Next: Girder!

In the last episode I speculated that one way to stop Iris’ interest in ‘The Streak’ would be for The Flash to reveal his presence to the public. Based on the title of this week’s episode, that may very well be the answer that will be pursued. Meet me after the jump for my thoughts on “The Flash Is Born,” and the television debut of the Rogue known as Girder!

Girder

A founding member of the second Flash’s Rogues Gallery in the comics, and now considered generally one of the Rogues, Girder is a fairly unique character in the Flash comics. He was introduced as an inmate of Iron Heights, a super-powered criminal who had no known past with the Flash. He was just always there when we, the readers, were first told about the metahuman prison. And when Iron heights first appeared in the comics, it should be noted, it was not a nice place. Prisoners were mistreated, abused, and in some cases, their powers were put to use to power the prison itself.

Girder, created by the show’s executive producer Geoff Johns and artist Ethan Van Sciver, is a creature made of living iron. Tony Woodward, a very bad man pre-metahuman abilities, was a worker at a steel plant and who fell into a vat of molton iron including scrap from a failed S.T.A.R. Labs experiment, and eventually became Girder. Imbued with super-strength and impervious to harm, except a bizarre tendency to rust, he became the criminal Girder.

Rooftop Interlude

Our opening has a refreshing twist to it. Barry isn’t doing the voiceover about miracles, it’s Iris, and it’s from her blog, “The Streak Lives.” Seconds after she hits send on her last entry, the Flash kidnaps her to a rooftop and once again tries to convince her to stop writing it. This second attempt is just as useless as the first.

Iris just won’t stop. Candice Patton tries with limited success to channel Margot Kidder from the first interview scene of Superman The Movie. Barry won’t have it. He only relents once to tell Iris to call him anything but The Streak. I would have thought the name thing was cemented by Arrow in the pilot, but I guess not. The conversation is interrupted by the appearance of Girder.

Bully

In the television series, Girder, as played by Greg Finley (formerly of “Star-Crossed” and “The Secret Life of the American Teenager”), has a bit more meat to him, besides different looks and origins. The effects of his power come across more like the T-1000, with patches of metallic appearing on his skin when in use. When they first meet in the episode, Girder easily beats Barry down, multiple fractures in his hand alone in trying to punch the criminal. He was not prepared to encounter another metahuman, and paid for it.

While Barry heals at S.T.A.R. Labs, he seems to think that he knows his attacker somehow. Girder looks familiar. Tony Woodward in the DC TV Universe has a past with Barry Allen. He’s a bully that used to regularly beat the crap out of him as a kid. Girder even has a tagline, “Looks like you were born to take a beating!” As it turns out, he’s another particle accelerator victim, who fell in a vat of molten scrap.

Learning to Fight

Cisco and Caitlin try to help Barry by teaching him to fight a Girder-like opponent – a fighting robot dummy to be precise, one that looks a bit more like the comics Girder than T2 Finley notably. Barry is not a good fighter, and the dummy dislocated his shoulder. This brings on a flashback of Joe trying to teach young Barry to fight. When young Iris cleans his clock, Joe tells him sometimes it’s better to run from a bully.

As if that weren’t humiliating enough, he’s called away by Eddie, to sort through clues at the Girder crime scene. Eddie wants to play nice, be buddies, confesses that he was at first threatened by Barry and Iris’ closeness. If Eddie’s not Reverse-Flash, this is getting old. The good part is that the trail leads them to Garrick’s Wharf in Keystone City, a double nod to the Golden Age Flash.

The Man in Yellow

Meanwhile, speaking of other Flashes, Joe visits Harrison Wells. Proof of how dangerous Wells is lies in the fact that I as a viewer fear for other characters when they are alone with this guy. Joe is seeking help to find the murderer of Barry’s mother, the man in yellow, someone Joe now believes is a metahuman with powers like Barry’s. Oh boy, if Joe only knew.

We comics readers know that in the comics, Nora Allen was murdered by the time-traveling Reverse-Flash. Looking at the evidence, Wells concedes it could be possible, but that it was also fourteen years before the particle accelerator accident – how could there be metahumans before then? Without referencing Mirakuru or other oddities of the Arrowverse, it’s a reasonable conflict.

Supersonic Punch

Just like everyone has been telling her, Iris’ blog comes back to bite her on the butt. She hets her blog backfire when Tony Woodward comes to Jitters to visit his old school friend, Iris, especially to ask her about her blog and its subject matter. Does he suspect that The Streak is Barry? Maybe, but he certainly has Iris’ number, crushing her phone and indirectly issuing a challenge that gets Barry his second beating at Girder’s hands.

Of course our baddie goes back to see Iris, and no extra police detail is going to stop him. Luckily, Barry has been fight training with his new buddy Eddie, and Cisco theorizes a mach one punch will take Girder out. Barry and Girder have a showdown at the old school, and bad guy gets taken out by Cisco’s supersonic punch. I think Cisco was more happy it worked than anyone. His enthusiasm makes this show most weeks, bravo Carlos Valdes.

Bad Idea Theater

I’m not sure which is the worse idea. There’s Barry revealing his face to Girder once he’s imprisoned in the particle accelerator basement. If he was worried about Iris before, he really should be now. If Girder ever gets out, and come on, we all know this prison will be compromised sooner or later, it’s going to be dangerous for all of Barry’s family. And speaking of the makeshift prison, the folks at the Back in a Flash Podcast brought up a terrific point recently – how are the prisoners taken care of? How are they fed? Cared for? If it’s Cisco and Caitlin, their lives are in jeopardy as well.

We also get the answer to what the episode title means as Barry and Iris make up, and have a chat. He suggests the name Flash for The Streak in between wanting to tell her who he really is. Come on, Barry, telling Iris you’re the Flash is so much better an idea than telling Girder. They are both trouble, but one is so so much less.

Stop

Speaking of making up and stupid ideas, Joe makes peace with Wells, after discovering that he is not a suspect in Nora Allen’s murder (or is he?). Joe had made some implications about Wells’ whereabouts at the time of the murder, as he had only arrived in Central City a month before it happened. Wells rattled off a name, Tess Morgan, and told Joe to look it up. Apparently Wells’ wife, who died, and he was in mourning. Notably, like ‘Harrison Wells,’ there is no ‘Tess Morgan’ in the comics that I know of.

Later as Joe is reviewing evidence in the case at his home, he witnesses a phenomenon he had only heard about secondhand from Barry. His living room is filled with lightning and a man in yellow spins through, sweeping up all the evidence, and leaving only one thing on his case board – a picture of Iris, a knife through her, and the words Stop or else. A message has been sent very clearly…

Next

We are hurtling rather quickly toward the upcoming team-up/clash between Arrow and The Flash, and Iris mentioned a metahuman composed of living non-consuming fire (Heat Wave?). Until then however, next week brings “Power Outage!”

The one thing that the Flash does that not many other superheroes these days do is he enjoys his powers. He’s happy to have them, and loves using them. Super speed is not a curse for Barry Allen; it is a blessing. But what happens when suddenly, just when he’s getting used to them, he is stripped of his super speed? Meet me after the jump for my thoughts on “Power Outage.”

The Nature of The Flash

Anyone who knows the comics knows that the Flash has a particular legacy. Through his very skill set and power set, the Flash can travel through time, and across dimension. The multiverse is his playground. There have been occasions where he’s hidden in the future, faced enemies from alternate futures, and even died through time itself – all to save lives, even entire universes. As I’ve said before, if you know the comics history of Barry and Iris, you know theirs is a love that surpasses time, space, dimension, and even death itself.

The Flash’s deadliest enemy, Professor Zoom the Reverse-Flash, is a being similar to the hero in this way. He was inspired by the Flash in his own far 25th century, eventually warped to evil purposes and a streak on revenge on Barry, an endgame that murdered his mother. This final attack, which we have seen on the TV series, in the comics created not just another dimension, but another universe – the Flashpoint continuity – which was subsequently erased. This is the nature of the Flash, the legacy of super speed, and the curse of time travel.

Flashpoint

In the comics, Flashpoint was the bridging story between the old DC Comics Universe and the current New 52. They even made an animated feature based on the comics. The Reverse-Flash taking his ultimate revenge and murdering Nora Allen crushed the time stream, and created a whole new continuity where things weren’t just altered, they were maddeningly changed. Much like the fabled butterfly effect, the death of Nora Allen damaged the entire timestream.

The world was ravaged by a global war between Atlantis and Themyscria, and with Aquaman and Wonder Woman at odds, no Justice League was ever formed. Thomas Wayne became Batman to Martha Wayne’s Joker when their son Bruce Wayne was murdered. Those were just some of the really weird stuff that came about. Deathstroke was a pirate, Captain Cold a hero, and Superman a Area 52-like alien held captive by the government. To return the timestream to its normal flow, the Flash had to make one sacrifice – his mother had to remain dead. Ever the hero, Barry allowed it. It was into this world that a young hero named Farooq was introduced.

Farooq

Alternately known as Blackout (no, not that Blackout), Farooq is a new character for the Flashpoint storyline. He is among the metahumans gathered by Cyborg to stop the war between the Atlanteans and the Amazons. As far as I know, and I could be wrong, but I don’t believe that Farooq exists in the present New 52 continuity, which makes him a rather odd choice for inclusion in the TV series.

In the comics, he had no names other than Farooq or Blackout, was given no origin, wore a simple facemask and barely a costume, and had astonishing control over electricity, making him a very dangerous metahuman opponent. Here, played by Toronto actor Michael Reventar, Farooq Gibran is more of an electrical vampire, whose powers were of course caused by the particle accelerator explosion. That origin is getting to be a bit too handy, much like the meteor villains of the week on “Smallville.”

Easter Eggs Immediately

Last time the opening voiceover was by Candice Patton’s Iris West, and this time it’s Tom Cavanagh’s Harrison Wells doing it. He is adding a journal entry in his future room via a possible artificial intelligence he calls Gideon. She could be just like Siri on our iPhones, or she could be something even more sinister. Two thoughts – could Wells be either Dr. Megala from the old Captain Atom (he does have a history with General Eiling), or maybe Thomas Oscar Morrow, enemy of the Justice League and the Justice Society, who frequently could look into the future, like Wells does here?

Wells’ journal entry talks about how Barry is depending more and more on his speed during everyday activities. We watch Barry get ready for work and help folks out in the long coffee line as Wells talks. Then we get the goodies. Barry is mugged in an alley. Funny dialogue and situation follow, but that’s not the coolest part. The coolness are the posters in the alley where it happens. We again see Blue Devil II – Hell to Pay, but we also see an ad for a Nighthawk and Cinnamon movie. These are characters from DC Comics’ old west, who may or may not be past lives of Hawkman and Hawkwoman.

Paradox and Blackout

After a first encounter with Farooq, besides getting zapped nastily, Barry is drained of his super speed. Barry is crushed, Joe is worried who will protect Central City from metahuman criminals, and Wells… well, he’s concerned that the future has been altered. There’s no trace of the Flash in it. He’s really starting to panic when things get much much worse.

Able to work out that the particle accelerator accident changed him, Farooq has come to visit S.T.A.R. Labs looking for Harrison Wells. In his assault on the building, he manages to blackout all of Central City. No Flash, no power, can it get much worse? Oh yes, yes, it can.

The Clock King

“The Flash” is firmly part of the Arrowverse, a shared television continuity begun over on “Arrow,” and one of the crossover points is Iron Heights prison. As Farooq attacks S.T.A.R. Labs, William Tockman, played by Robert Knepper, is being transferred from Iron Heights and held at the Central City police department. Known as the Clock King he is Green Arrow’s Silver Age archenemy and one of Arrow’s more dangerous foes.

Here, the Clock King has taken advantage of the power failure to break his bonds and hold the precinct hostage, including Joe and Iris. It’s nice that we get to finally see character actor Patrick Sabongui do more with Captain David Singh than a walk on and a few one liners. It gets even more desperate when Eddie is shot, and the clock is ticking…

Desperation

Just like in the Flashpoint comics, where a powerless Barry Allen must reenact the accident that gave him his powers to do it again, that is Wells’ plan as well. The best part is the treadmill will be used to do it, looking more and more like a Cosmic Treadmill everyday. Meanwhile, Barry, always wanting to do the right thing, always wanting to help people, tries to talk to Farooq. It doesn’t work of course but I’m glad Barry tried it. At least he’s still a hero.

On the opposite end of heroism, Wells is so desperate he releases Girder to distract Farooq, killing Barry’s old nemesis in the process. Wells is so desperate he’s showing his hand openly to Barry, Cisco, and Caitlin, doing everything but walking. But how desperate is he really?

Confrontations

While everyone involved wishes the Flash had been there, the police standoff with the Clock King is resolved by Iris and Joe, showing not all heroes have to have powers. Back at S.T.A.R. Labs however, Farooq corners Wells saying he doesn’t care about anyone who was killed in the particle accelerator accident. And then it happens.

Wells rattles off a list of names of those killed – Ralph Dibny, Al Rothstein, Grant Emerson, Will Everett, Bea DaCosta, and Ronnie Raymond. For the uninitiated, those are the civilian identities of the Elongated Man, Nuklon/Atom Smasher, Damage, Amazing Man, Green Flame/Fire, and one half of Firestorm. A blueprint of the future perhaps?

The Insidious Doctor Wells

Barry and Wells make up unsatisfactorily, although it is probably in character for Barry, being the nice guy that he is. Wells has his requisite bad guy episode ending, in taking DNA from Farooq so he can see how he was able to steal the Flash’s powers. One could suggest it might be so he could also give someone else those powers – maybe the Reverse-Flash. If Wells is Morrow, could he be controlling Eddie Thawne through some sort of hypnosis and he is the Reverse-Flash? He is a Thawne after all.

What gets me is when Farooq is attacking Barry, Cisco, and Caitlin… Wells never once gets out of his chair, no matter how intense the danger. Just how far was he willing to take that charade? How much does he need them, and need them in the dark?

Next: The Flash Vs. Arrow!

This is the crossover event we have been waiting for since “The Flash” spun off from “Arrow.” This is it, not just a team-up, but a clash of titans, the two giants of the DC Comics Television Universe together in one two-night event. Done often in the comics these shows are based on, the crossover event is a rarity in television, so be prepared for something special. Meet me after the jump for my thoughts on part one, “Flash Vs. Arrow!”

Clash

Other than being a favorite of the showrunners, it should be noted that launching “The Flash” out of the “Arrow” TV series is a bit of an oddity. In the comics, other than both being longtime Justice Leaguers, and both being one-time partners of Green Lantern – The Flash and Green Arrow have not had all that much crossover time at all in the comics. A mutual partner and a common membership do not a friendship make. I’m sure they got along, but friends? That might be pushing it, as in the original comics, I think they might have been politically opposed. In the 1970s, not a big thing, but now, they might as well be enemies.

And based on the title of this episode, enemies it might as well be. In the Arrowverse, shorthand for this CW TV continuity, Barry Allen and Oliver Queen are as different as they are alike. Arrow has to be Arrow. Oliver is driven by responsibility, by guilt, by vengeance in some cases. He’s very serious and determined. Barry on the other hand is fueled by hope, fun, and a need to help people. His responsibility, guilt, and vengeance are there too, but superseded by his passion to be a hero and have fun with it. They’re on the same side, but really they couldn’t be more different.

The Rainbow Raider

The villain of the week, for this first part of this crossover event at least, is both a rather silly and a rather dangerous character from the Flash comics of the 1980s – the Rainbow Raider. I’ve talked briefly before about the Colors of Evil, well, this guy was kinda a one-man Colors of Evil. Color-blind artist Roy G. Bivolo (yes, seriously, sigh, these are comic books after all) had these high tech goggles that allowed him to inflict emotions on people based on different colors of the spectrum he could bathe them in.

Yes, the Rainbow Raider is a silly villain, a throwback to the 1960s in the 1980s, but with a potentially deadly powerset if written right. Later they changed his name to the less embarrassing Chroma. Once he was killed, others took on his names. It seems as if the television series might be giving this villain his due. Based on the spectrum of emotions that power the Green Lanterns and their brethren, the Rainbow Raider’s powers could be very dangerous. And there’s nothing like a little mind control to set unsteady friends on a collision course with one another. Boom, Flash vs. Arrow.

Spectrum of Emotion

Did Barry really just say the feels? Wow, I feel old. Our opener has our new metahuman villain, Prism for TV, played by Canadian actor Paul Anthony, who was also in the Soska sisters‘ American Mary, hit everyone in a bank with red eyes while he robs the vault. Red being the color of anger, everyone gets mad and attacks each other. This follows the pattern of the colors of the Lanterns I mentioned before.

With “The Flash” pushing the coming of Firestorm and “Arrow” prepping for the Atom, I have to wonder if a television reboot of Green Lantern might be next? The colors matched with the emotions are what the Green Lantern mythos are all about. Red is anger, orange avarice, violet love, indigo compassion, yellow fear, blue hope, white is life and black is death. We only see red here, so maybe it’s too early for Green Lantern.

The Arrow

When the Central City PD track Bivolo to his lair, Arrow shows up to save the day along with the Flash, with very Robin Hood flair. The “Nice mask” comment is priceless and icing on the cake. Team Arrow is in town tracking a boomerang killer (read Captain Boomerang) and thought that the folks at STAR Labs might be able to take a look a one of the boomerangs.

Both Joe and Harrison Wells disapprove of Barry’s friendship with the Arrow. He’s a murderer and a vigilante they say, neither a good friend nor a role model. Joe even goes so far as to say he wants the Arrow out of Central City immediately. Sounds like Barry might have to play rebellious son again to Dad, but what does the mysterious Dr. Wells have against Oliver?

Girl Talk

Oh Felicity. I’m going to get yelled at for being sexist but my affection for Emily Bett Rickards is known, but the best part of the episode is when Flash runs Felicity to STAR Labs at super speed. Her blouse catches fire and she has to tear it off. Ahem. Let’s just say Ms. Rickards is a very pretty young lady. And the best part about Felicity on “The Flash” is that she keeps Barry’s mind off of Iris.

When Iris meets Oliver she is smitten, announcing to Barry that Oliver Queen is on her ‘three list,’ guys she could get away with sleeping with while with Eddie. I love the bit here that’s also in the previews about Oliver’s arms being twice as big as Barry’s. And ‘three list,’ is that what the kids are calling it these days? A three list? We always called it a freebie list. Well, at least she didn’t say the feels.

Trust

A lot of folks are having an opposite impression of Arrow as opposed to Oliver. Wells drills Felicity to find out who he is. Joe is not happy about the team-up, or the Arrow’s methods. And the Arrow himself is not so thrilled to be working with the Flash as well. This is, much like the comics relationship of the Flash and Green Arrow, not a relationship made in heaven. I could always see Clark and Lois and Barry and iris getting together for dinner outside of JLA meetings, but Barry and Iris and Oliver and Dinah… something tells me that would always end in a fight.

Now the bad news, one of the Flash’s encounters with Bivolo ends with our hero infected with red anger, an effect it takes him a long time to process, making Barry take out his anger on his friends old and new, and finally on Eddie Thawne. He attacks him in front of Iris, before the Arrow arrives to take the brunt of the Flash’s rage. The fight between the two heroes is about what we would imagine, some nice special effects, some surprises, but it’s a tribute to the writers and their characters that we viewers are more worried about Iris’ relationships with both Eddie and the Flash after this.

Character Bits

Is Captain Singh gay in the comics? If so, I was unaware. I do want to see more of him. I love that he’s doing the whole Jules in Pulp Fiction my-girlfriend-is-a-vegetarian-so-that-makes-me-a-vegetarian thing. It also gave fry fanatic me a peek at what Big Belly Burger fries look like. Yeah, I know, I’m the only one on Earth who will catch that Easter egg. I dug the comment about the secret ingredients in BBB being grease and salt.

Odd man out on Team Arrow was John Diggle, here with his first exposure to the metahuman Flash. He didn’t have all that much to do with two costumed heroes on deck so he became the comic relief and the voice of the audience. In this mode, he was actually the best thing about the episode. I’d hate to see Diggle reduced to such a role, but here it worked. He needs to show a bit more of this sense of humor over on “Arrow.”

Unhappy Endings

At Jitters, Oliver runs into his old girlfriend, one who didn’t think he’d see again, mostly because his mother took care of her. In the season two episode “Seeing Red” we watched one of Moira Queen’s more ruthless acts of protecting her children by getting rid of Oliver’s nameless girlfriend who had found herself pregnant. We knew this would eventually bite Oliver in the ass, just not so soon. This would make the potential Connor Hawke about six years old, right?

We finally get our first look at Robbie Amell as Firestorm. I have to say I am unimpressed. I was expecting something better when it came to his flaming hair but it’s not really there. I’m sure we’ll see him again, so maybe it will evolve into a more Firestorm-like appearance from the comics. Also, Iris kicks the Flash to the curb. Maybe she does love Eddie? The question is – will all this Flash hate translate to Eddie becoming the Reverse-Flash? We may just find out in two weeks.

In the meantime, here’s tomorrow night’s teaser:

Captain Boomerang, baby!

We saw the first part of this “Flash Vs. Arrow” crossover event last night on the CW’s episode of “The Flash,” and tonight it concludes on “Arrow.” Who is really better, the Flash or the Arrow, and how will the menace of Captain Boomerang complicate matters? Join me after the jump for my thoughts on “The Brave and the Bold.”

The Brave and the Bold

The Brave and the Bold, those are words to conjure, and an old term indeed and legendary as well when it comes to comic books. The comic series The Brave and the Bold ran from the mid-fifties through to the early eighties, acting primarily during that time as a Batman team-up title, and even inspired an animated series with the caped crusader a few years back. There have been many incarnations of the comic title since then, but one concept has always been present, the team-up, making it a perfect title for this television event – the team-up between Arrow and the Flash.

The words Brave and the Bold as a comic book title also have another meaning – it was also for a time a launching pad for new concepts and characters. The Justice League of America made their debut in the series, as did the Teen Titans, the Suicide Squad, Metamorpho, the Viking Prince, new versions of the Spectre and Hawkman, as well as the new look Green Arrow. That last bit makes the title all the more fitting for this episode, as that concept also signaled the end of Green Arrow as Batman with a bow, and the beginning of GA as a more original interesting character in his own right.

Night and Day

As we open on this episode of “Arrow” the difference between this show and “The Flash” is immediately evident. It’s like night and day, baby. The Metropolis/Gotham City parallel is very much alive and well with the cities of Starling City and Central City – it’s always day in Central and always night in Starling. As we watch Team Arrow (plus Arsenal – so where was Roy last night?) stalk the boomerang killer through the dark and gritty night, Team Flash arrives in Starling.

Now I’ve been calling Oliver’s ersatz headquarters below the abandoned nightclub the Arrowcave for a couple years now because, well, comics, I love that it only takes Cisco seconds to call it that. That’s why we all love Cisco. And the Arrowmobile. And I double-love that Roy’s calling it the Arrowcave now too. So when do we get the Arrowmobile anyway? And why can’t Roy be Oliver’s Cisco?

Captain Boomerang

In the comics, originally Captain Boomerang was a frequent foe of the Flash and member in good standing of his Rogues Gallery, along with Captain Cold, Weather Wizard, and the rest. Digger Harkness was an Aussie boomerang master and mascot for a toy company before turning to a life of crime. Like the other Rogues he based his crimes and arsenal on a specific gimmick – obviously the boomerang.

In the 1980s however, Harkness moved into a darker phase of his criminal career as a member of the aforementioned Suicide Squad, which has been a major part of the Arrowverse so far. It would be nice to have a more complete membership of the Suicide Squad from the comics on TV, especially with a movie version on the horizon as well. Here in “Arrow” Harkness is played by “Spartacus” alum Nick Tarabay, who is perfectly sinister, but definitely not Australian.

Team Titans

Now I love me some Nick Tarabay as he was one of my favorite characters on “Spartacus,” the show that also gave us Manu Bennett’s Deathstroke, and seeing him act, and in action, is enough to make up for the lack of an Australian accent. Harkness seems to have something against ARGUS, and Diggle’s on-again-off-again wife Lyla, and his attack on their headquarters brings all the boys to the yard – as in Diggle, Arrow, Arsenal, and the Flash. The brief encounter is just full of the mad hand to hand combat usual for “Arrow” along with super power antics that we usually see on “The Flash.” This was cool.

Nothing beats Cisco’s geek outbursts talking Leagues and Arrowmobiles, along with more differences between the shows than night and day. As geek cool as Cisco is with his dialogue, it is even cooler to have Team Arrow, complete this time, and Team Flash working together on this case. The problem of course is Arrow plays better by Flash’s rules than the Flash plays by Arrow’s in Starling. The worlds and night and day are not meant to cross.

Parallel Lines

Sooo unlike last night’s Rainbow Raider, um sorry, Prism, Digger Harkness does not play around, should not be underestimated, and will not be taken out off-screen as an afterthought. Digger Harkness is a serious, dangerous mercenary. He easily lures the heroes away and then invades the Arrowcave, just as brazenly as he attacked ARGUS headquarters. With only Felicity and Caitlin to defend her, Harkness takes Lyla down easily. This is no Prism, and this is not Central City.

As Harkness hatches his fairly cliché plan to detonate bombs all over the city at the same time to busy the heroes, back in Flashback Hong Kong, young Oliver faces a parallel dilemma with bombings and torture, that second bugaboo one that is dividing Arrow and Flash in the present day. In the end, despite all of their differences, the two heroes are more the same than either of them thought. And as far as finding and disarming all the bombs, much like unwinding a tornado or running across the water – it’s something we know the Flash can do from the comics, but man, is it cool to see in live action. And again, it proves another difference between the heroes – Arrow punches problems, Flash outthinks them.

Odds and Ends

This is probably the worst idea ever, but the heroes imprison Harkness with Deathstroke, hopefully not in the same cell, or we’ll be seeing a whole different kind of team-up real soon. And it may be sooner rather than later for that “Spartacus” reunion as Manu Bennett is scheduled to resume his role as Slade Wilson later this season. There are also call outs to Bart Allen, Multiplex, and the Bratva, as well as Flash and Green Arrow artists Carmine Infantino and Neal Adams respectively.

Great episode, lost of fun, but next week is the mid-season finale for both shows, and they are both huge…

Next on “The Flash” …finally the Reverse-Flash!

…and on “Arrow” …R’as Al Ghul!

This is what we have been waiting for since we first saw the pilot for “The Flash” way back during the summer – the Reverse-Flash. We’ve been teased with the same blurry image at the beginning of each episode. For newbies to the mythos, it’s the man who killed young Barry Allen’s mother, and for the comics fans, it’s the Flash’s most dangerous foe, his archenemy, the sociopathic Reverse-Flash. Tonight, he and our hero meet for the first time as equals. Meet me after the jump for my thoughts on “The Man in the Yellow Suit.”

The Reverse-Flash

Now I’ve talked about the Reverse-Flash before, but now might be the time to go into a bit more detail. Eobard Thawne was a criminal scientist in the 25th century who was obsessed with the Flash. He managed to obtain one of the hero’s old uniforms and use the residual super speed vibrations in it to gain super speed himself, doing so however, altered the appearance of the costume, reversing the colors. Yes, this is goofy Silver Age comics science, but there it is.

Alternately going by the names Professor Zoom and the Reverse-Flash, Thawne began travelling back in time to the then-20th century to clash with his idol who he quickly began thinking he was superior to. A brutal sociopathic mindset was in effect. This Barry Allen was not the hero he was thought to be, he didn’t deserve the fame, or anything he had back here in our present. Zoom wanted what was his – and began to obsess specifically on Barry’s (in the comics of the time) wife, Iris West Allen.

Revenge

This is the point at which Zoom goes from typical member of the Flash’s regular crew of super-baddies to archenemy status. Becoming more and more unhinged mentally through multiple trips through time, much like Avengers enemy Kang the Conqueror over at Marvel Comics, Thawne decided that if he couldn’t have Iris, no one would, and he murdered her. As dead as one can be in the comics, Iris was dead, and the Flash’s life spun off into a dark downward spiral for a few years.

There was a search for her killer, an overdose of angel dust in which the Flash fought his fellow Justice Leaguers, a battle where the Flash actually murdered the Reverse-Flash for his crimes, and then a trial of the century. It’s a long dark road which included neither the best ideas for the characters nor the best comics stories, but that’s what happened in the early 1980s. Eventually it was revealed that Iris had been saved at the last minute and brought farther into the future to the 30th century, and after the horrible trial in the 20th, the Flash joined her there in the future, where they lived happily every after… until the Crisis happened… and that’s a whole ‘nother story for another time.

Returns

Barry Allen would die in the Crisis on Infinite Earths (he got better, don’t ask), and his nephew and sidekick, Wally West AKA Kid Flash would take on the mantle of the Flash, continuing the superhero legacy. It is Wally who next meets Professor Zoom, and in a bizarre time twist, creates his hatred of the Flash. On Thawne’s first trip to the past, he becomes disoriented and overshoots his target, amnesiac, he thinks he’s Barry Allen and confronts Wally. Knowing that Barry is dead, of course Wally is suspicious of this return. When all is revealed, Wally attacks Zoom relentlessly – he is the man who destroyed his mentor’s life and murdered his aunt (at least as far as he knows) after all. This brutal defeat cements Zoom’s need for vengeance on the Flash for good.

This event happening before all of Zoom’s other trips back in time explains quite a bit. But as Zoom returns again and again (before his death, he is a time traveler), he becomes more relentless and murderous himself. This is the dangerous individual who creates the Flashpoint timeline by murdering Barry Allen’s mother. There would be other Reverse-Flashes, but Eobard Thawne would be the most deadly and most known.

Suspects and Possibilities

Does the name Thawne sound familiar to you viewers of “The Flash” TV series? Yeah, it should. That’s why Eddie Thawne is so disliked and hated by comics readers watching the show. Other than him dating Iris, which Barry should be doing, he’s got that name. He also has very little background that we know of, and after last week, he’s definitely got a problem with the Flash. He is our number one suspect to be the Reverse-Flash. Maybe he’s just a good liar, or maybe he doesn’t know he’s him, but he’s got the most votes.

And then there Dr. Harrison Wells. Could he be the Reverse-Flash? Many theories have been bandied about that he’s an older Barry Allen, that he’s Metron of the New Gods, T.O. Morrow, Pariah, or Hunter Zolomon (one of those other versions of the Reverse-Flash I told you about), but most often, it comes back to the Reverse-Flash. He has killed, he has knowledge that may have come from the future, and he is most certainly obsessed with the Flash. Perhaps we’ll find out in this episode…

Gifts

Despite all the doom and gloom of the previews and my lengthy introduction to all things Thawne above, the episode starts on a high note. Everything is happy and seasonal in this seemingly Christmas holiday episode. Everyone is wearing themselves on their sleeves with their gifts. Barry gives Iris a ring and Eddie gives Iris a key to his apartment. He also confesses jealousy of Barry, which Iris denies.

Caitlin gets a gift of her own in the mall parking garage – the sadly visualized Firestorm. Let me take that back. It’s her dead fiancée Ronnie Raymond, I just hope he’ll look more like Firestorm later. They can’t have been building all this time to a bad visual. And speaking of gifts, Barry learns the man in the yellow suit has returned.

Reunions

The most exciting return however is that of Amanda Pays, reprising her role as Dr. Tina McGee from the 1990s “The Flash” TV series. Back then she was Barry Allen’s confidante and his version of Wells, Caitlin, and Cisco all wrapped up in one. In that show she worked for STAR Labs but here she’s at Mercury Labs, a STAR competitor that was broken into by the man in the yellow suit. Pays looks different but she looks good, and at first glance, she’s not very nice.

While we’re in the 1990s, here might be a good place to mention yesterday’s announcement that Mark Hamill will be reprising his role from the show as well. His over the top Joker-like performance as James Jesse, the original Trickster, will be toned down a bit as he helps the new Flash crew face a new Trickster. We’ll have to wait and see how he looks. Good fun news indeed.

Clashes

There are some really good character bits that pull on our heartstrings like Caitlin and Cisco talking about Ronnie, Barry remembering his mom, and Iris and Barry talking about Eddie’s jealousy. After the first clash with the Reverse-Flash, there are more – Barry and his dad, and then Barry tells Iris he loves her.

Yeah, the Reverse-Flash beating on Barry in the stadium and talking like they’ve done this dance dozens of times before (mark of a time traveler) is the main event, but the real fight of the episode is Barry dropping that bomb on Iris. This is the real game changer, how this changes everyone’s relationships.

Firestorm?

In the background of the main event of this episode with the Reverse-Flash, Caitlin’s icy exterior has melted and she’s recruited Cisco to help her find Ronnie. Using sightings from Iris’ blog to pinpoint where ‘the burning man’ has been seen, they find him. He insists that he’s not Ronnie Raymond, but Firestorm and vanishes in a burst of fire.

To be fair, the vanishing was kinda cool, but this version of Firestorm reminds me of the subpar CBS TV versions of Marvel Comics superheroes from the 1970s. That is so not a compliment if you don’t get the reference. I’m sorry, I want a Firestorm that looks like Firestorm, otherwise why put so much effort into it? It seems like a waste.

The Trap

Team Flash, minus Flash ( forbidden because this is all too personal for him) manages to trap the Reverse-Flash at STAR Labs. All of our suspects are there, Reverse-Flash, Harrison Wells, and Eddie Thawne, but that doesn’t relieve anyone of blame – time travel, remember? It all goes well until the Reverse-Flash grabs Wells and starts beating him.

Caitlin calls in Barry, who shows up just in time to take another beatdown. Notably the Reverse-Flash takes a moment to remind Joe he’d been warned, and then confronts, but doesn’t kill Eddie. Could it be because if he did it would be a grandfather paradox – kill your ancestor and you are never born? In a disappointing moment of deus ex machina, Firestorm intervenes and chases our villain off. At least he looks cool flying, and we know why he was around.

What Does It Mean?

In the end, we have Wells in his hidden ‘Braille room’ (kudos to the Back in a Flash Podcast for the name) where he produces a ring with the Flash symbol on it. In the comics, the Flash wore a ring like this to hold his air-compressed costume, but here Wells uses it to open a secret closet. What do we have inside but the costume of the Reverse-Flash! Could it be? Yeah, it certainly looks like it, especially when Wells speaks in his distorted voice. Harrison Wells is the Reverse-Flash.

This makes a bit more sense when you consider Wells chastised Caitlin and Cisco for not telling him Ronnie was back – he was not expecting Firestorm’s interference. It also makes sense in that the force field trap had a glitch in it that made it break down – Wells helped build it, so he could have easily sabotaged it as well. Beating himself up helps build a cover, and in the end, he obtained the tachyon device he was after finally. This is bad.

Speaking of time travel, Cisco made note that Barry witnessed both yellow and red lightning when he saw his mother murdered. Could there have been a second speedster there… one in red? Perhaps there is time travel in the Flash’s future…

“The Flash” returns on January 20th, and so does Captain Cold, and this time, he has help… in “Revenge of the Rogues!”

We are finally back after the mid-season break, and still weary from his clash with the Reverse-Flash, our hero doesn’t catch a break. This is the episode of “The Flash” we have been waiting for since Captain Cold first showed up in “Going Rogue,” he’s back, and he’s brought a very special friend along from the other end of the temperate spectrum – Heat Wave! Can this super-villain team-up crush the fastest man alive? Meet me after the superspeed jump to find out!

Behind and Ahead

That last episode, “The Man in the Yellow Suit,” was a big one. Not only did we finally meet the Reverse-Flash, but now we know who he is. As verified in the final scene of the episode, and in interviews with Tom Cavanagh since, we know that Harrison Wells is the Reverse-Flash. There might be a slight question of which Reverse-Flash he is, but we know Dr. Wells is certainly not on the side of the angels. We also know that he is now in possession of a dangerous tachyon device, that possibly might lead to time travel? It would definitely fit in with the future-born villain and hints we have seen throughout the show.

We have also seen some things to come in previews and trailers. More Rogues are coming. Besides Heat Wave making his official debut in this episode, there is also the Pied Piper on the horizon, who will be Captain Singh’s partner, as in the comics. There’s also Peekaboo, a newcomer and teleporter from the last decade. Linda Park, news reporter and love interest/wife to the Wally West Flash, has been cast. And we have two Tricksters coming, one played by Mark Hamill, who originated the role on the 1990s “The Flash” TV series. Lots of goodies on the way, and I’m not even mentioning Grodd, Firestorm, and the promise of another “Arrow” crossover next year, implying renewal for both shows.

Heat Wave

“Revenge of the Rogues” features not one, but two of Flash’s Rogues Gallery, in action against our hero. In the comics, Mick Rory was a straight up pyromaniac, who later in life, after starting fires and even gigging as a fire eater in the circus for a time, saw the Rogues in action against the Flash. This inspired him, and he created the identity of heat Wave. Donning an ugly white asbestos uniform and building a gun-shaped flamethrower he called the Hot Rod, he went into the super-villain and eventually joined the Rogues Gallery himself.

Later he went straight, then went crooked again, but got a more high tech gun and a more streamlined costume, still white and drab, but not as lame as the previous containment suit design. He was always basically a ‘hot’ version of his rival Captain Cold in the comics, and even had a fear of cold literally – cryophobia. The New 52 version of the character is a bit more powerful, a burn victim who can project flames from his chest. Yeah, I kinda prefer the bulky white suit guy to that incarnation. You can’t win them all.

Reunions and Partnerships

Dominic Purcell makes his official debut in this episode as Heat Wave alongside Wentworth Miller III as Captain Cold. This reunites the two stars of the four season Fox drama “Prison Break” for the first time since that show’s cancelation in 2009. Notably it’s not the only such type of reunion in the Flash and Arrow universe as both Deathstroke and Captain Boomerang, respectively Manu Bennett and Nick Tarabay of “Spartacus,” have been imprisoned together and will likely stage their own, wait for it, ‘prison break.’

In the comics, Captain Cold and Heat Wave while cooperative in the team of Flash’s Rogues Gallery, have often clashed and just barely get along. Almost like a nefarious Heat Miser and Snow Miser, they sometimes have gone to war with each other both for the fun of it, and for the right to be the one that kills the Flash once and for all. Unlike this pairing on the small screen, these two do not get on well.

Reaction Time

As the episode opens we see a drone opening fire on the Flash as it chases him. It’s a training exercise as Barry is now obsessed with getting faster, getting better, so he can outfight the Reverse-Flash when he shows up again. The obsession even extends to his opening voiceover – he’s no longer the fastest man alive. Barry should take his own advice to get over it that he gave to Arrow, obsession is not the way.

There’s a moment when the drone is bearing down on Barry and he looks like he’s done. However he turns it around and destroys the drone, showing that he can learn, showing that he’s thinking about how to best use his powers. In that moment, Wells nearly gets up out of his chair (to save him?), but doesn’t when Barry saves himself. Wells needs Barry alive, but for what?

Game of Rogues

Captain Cold has a mission, not only to be a big time criminal, but he predicts the shape of the super-villain. He and Heat Wave are baiting the Flash, not just stealing and not just waiting for the cops, but lying in wait for the Flash. Cold is taking the game to the next level, the superhero vs. super-villain level. Geoff Johns, who co-wrote this episode, is definitely putting his mark on one of his favorite characters. I love that Heat Wave is rather hot tempered when compared to the cool calculating Captain Cold, nice touch.

The big score that Captain Cold and Heat Wave are looking at to bring the Flash out into the open is stealing a valuable painting called ‘Fire and Ice.’ Fitting, but the cooler part is they’d be stealing it from the Rathaways. Comics fans know that their wayward son Hartley (the one they claim they don’t have) is also Captain Singh’s lover, and the Pied Piper. Three Rogues in one episode? Be still my heart, not this one, but the next.

The Justice Shield

I’ve wanted to bring this up a few times but never had the chance until now. Cicso brings heat shields to the police department and demonstrates them in front of the Truth-Liberty-Justice mural we always see at police headquarters. As noted on the Back in a Flash Podcast (recommended listening) this mural was designed for the show and represents the Justice League (or Society). Check out the coolness closely.

Also notable about the scene is how the police, and one would guess everyone se as well, still don’t trust S.T.A.R. Labs after the particle accelerator accident. Hmmm… wait until they find out they’re housing super-powered criminals there too. Also while the shields will defend the cops from Captain Cold’s gun… they don’t yet know about Heat Wave. It foreshadows the police being prepared for Cold, but Heat Wave sending a few to the burn ward. Not a good showing for S.T.A.R., at least at first.

Ice and Fire Storms

The final battle, when it comes, goes from homage to Ghostbusters in trying to get Snart and Rory to cross the streams of their guns to parody very quickly. The special effects are amazing, and the public debut of the Flash, as well convincing Thawne that good guys and bad guys are really who they are is a beautiful hat trick. I disliked however that Barry couldn’t have come up with how to stop the temperature twins himself. The drone problem earlier on was a great foreshadowing of his thinking hero, had they stayed in line. And that’s what I like about the Flash, he’s a thinking hero.

While the action of the episode rages on, and before Caitlin becomes bait in the war between good and evil, she is still mooning over Ronnie, the same way Barry worries over Iris moving out this episode. She’s researching the word ‘firestorm,’ which turns out to be an acronym not a word like in the comics. Before her kidnapping, she tracks down Jason Rusch, one of Firestorm’s later personas, and learns this is all wrapped up in the disappearance of Professor Martin Stein, another persona. I’m sure this mystery will continue, but I for one must object to the super-over-complication of Firestorm’s origin… and I’m a Firestorm fan.

Awesome Easter Eggs

Super duper extra credit bonus go to Geoff Johns for the inclusion of McSnertle the Turtle, AKA the Terrific Whatsit, a super-powered turtle from DC Comics past who dressed like the Golden Age Flash and had super speed. This fanboy was in geek heaven at that reference. In the opening I love the pile of Big Belly Burger wrappers to represent all the burgers it takes to replenish Barry’s metabolism. I also love that Barry is a comic book fan here on TV just like in the comics. Porter, a cross street mentioned by Cold, might be a reference to comics artist Howard Porter, but then, none of them match up to the biggest Easter egg of them all.

In the last scene we see Snart and Rory on their way to Iron Heights prison, while Heat Wave berates Cold for his plan not working, he just smiles with quiet cool. He knows everything is just, well, cool. There’s an explosion, and then the back doors of the paddy wagon open up, and Cold says “Hi sis.” It’s Lisa Snart, who becomes the Golden Glider, the first Bronze Age entry into Flash’s Rogues Gallery. While Captain Cold is a calculating criminal, his sister is a straight up sociopath. Things aren’t looking good for the Flash. I told you we’d get three Rogues this episode…

Next: The Pied Piper!

Subtly mentioned in passing in the last episode of “The Flash,” in “The Sound and the Fury” we meet Hartley Rathaway in person for the first time, or as he’s know in the comics – The Pied Piper! In the comics the Piper has jumped between being a friend and a foe of the Flash, now we’ll see how his television counterpart plays out. Meet me after the super speed jump for my thoughts on “The Sound and the Fury.”

The Pied Piper

In the comics, Hartley Rathaway began rather simply, a spoiled rich kid obsessed with sound and sonics so much he made it his hobby and turned to crime. An expert in the field he designed weaponry that could control minds or destroy, all through sound. Later layers were added to his character. Rathaway became one of the original members of Flash’ Rogues Gallery. He was originally deaf, later cured, and he was one of comics’ first out gay characters. Like many of the Rogues, he fluctuated between good and evil over the years, either by choice or outside manipulations.

While a foe of the second Flash (Barry Allen, with the first being Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash years before) the Pied Piper, later just called the Piper, actually became close friends with the third Flash, Wally West, the former Kid Flash. When Barry returned from the dead (it’s comics, this kind of stuff happens all the time) Piper remained on the side of the angels and even began a relationship with Barry’s boss Captain David Singh, who we’ve seen in the TV series as played by Patrick Sabongui.

The TV Piper

Played by Andy Mientus, late of “Smash,” “Chasing Life,” Spring Awakening, and a handful of other Broadway and off Broadway shows, we’ve already had hints of who the Pied Piper is in the Flash and Arrowverse. He’s the son his parents don’t acknowledge, and he was also Dr. Harrison Well’s former assistant, who was also affected by the particle accelerator accident. Here, the Pied Piper is more of a jerk than a friend, or even a foe. He is certainly a complete character change from the comics, vengeful, violent, and dangerous.

The Pied Piper has a revenge on for Wells, because he knew the accelerator would blow, and instead of taking his advice, Wells had him fired. Fashion-wise I do have to say that while I’m bored by the drab hoodie outfit worn by Piper here, anything is better than the character’s original Silver Age duds, probably one of the more ugly designs in comics (shame on you, Mr. Gambi) this side of the Signalman. I also prefer the glove devices over the horn or flute weapons Piper has used in the comics. Refreshingly though, this television version of the character is certainly a viable threat.

Attack on Casa Wells

We have a terrific opening where Wells helps Barry shortcut through the city to catch the bad guys. Of course Wells was able to help Barry navigate those streets to stop them, because he himself is also a speedster – the Reverse-Flash. He knows how to use his powers. Also, look sharp for the subtle Arrow crossover as the Flash bags the bad guys, because they’re the Royal Flush Gang.

After this we see Wells assaulted in his home by a phone call and sonic waves. We see him use his speed for the first time on screen, surprisingly in a lightning-laced red blur. Wells has nice digs, as noted by his friends at S.T.A.R. and the police when they come to investigate. Various things about what Wells says about the incident don’t add up and just makes Joe more suspicious than he already was. Toward the end of the episode we learn he and Thawne are digging deeper.

Picture News

Picture News! Yes, the fanboy in me was jumping up and down. In the comics, Iris West was a reporter for Picture News, kind of a cool version of Lois Lane. She was sharp, spunky, and indeed had gumption, and while she did wonder who her city’s costumed protector was – she never obsessed on it like her counterpart, Ms. Lane. Iris of course really hired because of her blog and her connection to the Flash. She seems to be having problems at the paper similar to those 1940s worries of measuring up over in “Agent Carter.” Honestly, in 2015, it’s a bit disturbing.

Iris’ mentor at Central City Picture News is one Mason Bridge, played by Roger Howarth of “General Hospital.” That name, or some of it, should ring bells for 1990s Flash readers as Mason Tollbridge. He was the sidekick to 1930s pulp hero The Clipper (sort of a second rate version of The Shadow), and eventually took over that role for some time. The retired hero aided the Flash (Wally West) in many cases for a time. The name is a nice homage, but really I wonder if that’s where this reference will stop. Honestly The Clipper is not a cherished memory of Flash stories past.

Flashbacks

We flashback to two years ago to Cisco’s first day where we meet Hartley Rathaway and learn just a little bit more about him. He apparently was a bit of a jerk, but as Cisco notes in the present, “sometimes he could be a dick.” Yeah, I was surprised that got past the censors too. He was the wonder boy and ‘chosen one’ at S.T.A.R. Apparently, but Rathaway is not a nice guy at all, a total character turnaround from the comics. I can only assume they intended to make him seem worse than Wells so the latter could play hero later.

After an encounter with the Flash, Piper is captured and put into the Pipeline (which in the comics is where the really dangerous villains are placed at Iron Heights, but different on TV), where he threatens to blow all of Wells secrets. Our doctor confesses that yes, he knew about the accelerator, driving both Caitlin, who lost her fiancée, and Cisco away. To gain back trust, Wells calls a press conference to confess, one where he also singles out Iris West to get the scoop. Is he securing the future here, making sure she’s a star reporter? There were similar circumstances when Farooq endangered the future, I wonder…

Vibrations and Victories

I was not happy with this ending. I hate victories that the hero does not enact himself, and a victory achieved through the actions of a character we know to be the true villain, the real big bad of the show, is especially disappointing. Harrison Wells is not a hero, he is the Reverse-Flash, and I’m sorry, the powers that be will have to work much harder to make me feel for him at this point, no matter how nasty they make the Pied Piper.

We are left with several hanging chads this time out. When Piper first escapes from the Pipeline he blows up the door with Cisco in the way of a sonic device. Comics fans know that sooner or later Cisco Ramon becomes the hero known as Vibe. Did this accident affect him in ways other than a simple concussion? And when Piper said Cisco would let him out, did he really mean because he knows where Ronnie Raymond is, or because of some new powers he’s been given? Time will tell, thankfully, the show doesn’t always follow the comics.

Braille Room Epilogue

Speaking of the comics, when all is said and done, Wells is back in his Braille room again, and makes the first TV mention of the Speed Force. The tachyon device stolen back in episode nine doesn’t seem to be living up to expectations, so something will have to be done to keep his speed up. I was very surprised to see that Wells’ speed gave out on him at one point during this episode.

Perhaps it has to do with the aforementioned Speed Force. Get your wonky comic book science hats on, cuz this is going to be fun. The Speed Force is an extra-dimensional energy that is said to fuel speedsters in the DC Comics Universe. When approaching inhuman speeds or traveling through time or breaking the light barrier, it can be accessed. Perhaps because the Reverse-Flash in the comics is originally from the 25th century, Wells needs it to get home. Also it might be theorized that whatever brought him here might have messed with time, so that he’s being very careful what he changes, and is making sure the Flash is on his correct path. Time, pun intended, will tell…

Next: More Piper, more Firestorm, Peekaboo, Linda Park, and Barry goes on a date, in “Crazy for You.”