‘The Flash’ Episode 1.10 “Revenge of the Rogues” (7 out of 10) Starring Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Rick Cosnett, Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes, Tom Kavanaugh, and Jesse L. Martin. Guest starring Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell. Written by Geoff Johns and Kai Yu Wu. First broadcast January 20, 2015.
When we left “The Flash” six weeks ago, he had met his archenemy, the villain who killed his mother, Reverse Flash. This man in a yellow Flash suit outran Barry, outsmarted the S.T.A.R. Labs team, and was revealed (to the audience) to be Professor Harrison Wells. So this guy is Barry Allen’s mentor, he’s his enemy, and he’s pushing Barry to his limits.
This first episode after the hiatus, “Revenge of the Rogues,” opens with that process continuing. Six weeks has passed for the characters as well, and in that time Dr. Wells has been testing Barry, pushing him to go faster, be better. We’re still trying to figure out why. What’s his motive? Why would he want his enemy to be better than him? Supervillains don’t typically want a fair fight.
Meanwhile, Captain Cold is back in town. Wentworth Miller’s Leonard Snart is intent on taking revenge on the Flash. No longer content to bank heists and gallery thefts, Captain Cold is using his freeze gun alongside a new partner, Mick Rory. Rory (played by Dominic Purcell) is a pyromaniac. Not like I was when I was a kid, pouring gasoline into things that explode, but like a legit pyro who doesn’t know when to stop. This barely-controlled lunatic has a handheld flamethrower, but no real direction. Captain Cold brings him under his parkaed wing, and convinces “Heat Wave” to join him in his pursuit of the Flash. They bait him, they taunt him, they eventually bring him to a showdown, but only after some missteps and scuffles with each other.
Wentworth Miller’s take on Captain Cold is interesting…scheming, cunning, with an eye towards a big picture. Purcell’s growling menace is more muscle than brain, but there are some scenes that bring a little depth to him as well. Still a frigging psycho. Their team up was good, and will get better over time as more Rogues join the fold. More on that in a minute.
One of the central questions in this episode was this: What is Barry Allen’s role? Dr. Wells seems to think it’s some kind of pursuit of perfection–the better Barry gets, the more good he’ll be able to do for humankind. Barry and his father figure Joe West think that he should be spending more time fighting crime on the streets of Central City, and all the S.T.A.R. Labs tests can wait for better moments. It sets up conflicts between Dr. Wells and Detective West, and puts Barry in the middle. There’s history between Wells and West, and hopefully that will play out over the course of future episodes.
Her fiance doesn’t seem as dead as he did a year ago
One of the ongoing story arcs has Dr. Caitlin Snow coming closer to finding out what really happened to her fiance Ronnie. He can burst into flames, he can fly, but he’s still not turning up. He doesn’t seem as dead as he did a year ago. When he was dead. This episodes gives her a few more bread crumbs — she finds out that “Firestorm” is an acronym that I didn’t write down. Plus typing F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. is a pain in the ass. It involves taking substances apart at the atomic level and rearranging them into new elements, new molecules, new objects.
She meets Jason Rusch, who was part of the Firestorm project, and gets some clues about the disappearance of Professor Martin Stein, who’s also been involved in the Firestorm shenanigans. If you know the superhero Firestorm, he’s a “gestalt” hero that has different people fused together into one character. So it’s Ronnie Raymond’s body, semi-haunted by the disembodied spectre of Dr. Stein. Jason Rusch has also been in the mix. It’s all kind of a mess, and I’m relying on the Flash writers to fix it up. I have faith in them.
The other major development for the Flash is that the final battle between himself, Captain Cold, and Heat Wave takes place in the middle of Central City. On the street, in front of cops, reporters, my mom–everyone. He’s no longer an urban myth, no longer a hero who is just a rumor. He’s the Flash, and he’s the defender of Central City. It’s something Oliver Queen hasn’t done with “the Arrow” in Starling City; I’m looking forward to how this changes the series.
It’s something Oliver Queen hasn’t done with the Arrow in Starling City
The end of this episode seems to wrap up the story of the Rogues, but of course they’ll be back. There are traditionally about eight members of Flash’s Rogues Gallery, if you don’t include Gorilla Grodd and Reverse Flash. Which you don’t. The real Rogues are like this perverse family of villains with a code of honor, with attachment to each other, with an obsession with the Flash that supersedes their pursuit of money. We’ve already got Captain Cold and Heat Wave, Captain Boomerang, we’ll meet Pied Piper next week, and although one Weather Wizard was killed in the first episode of the series, his similarly-powered brother will make an appearance later in the season. Casting has been announced for the Trickster (Mark Hamill!)(faints) and Golden Glider…we just need a few more to complete the set. Captain Cold is usually the leader of this gang, and Wentworth Miller’s take on him has the brains and the strength to pull it off. If the writers and producers stay the course, we’ll have a Rogues Gallery worth the name.