‘The Flash’ Episode 2.3 “Family of Rogues” (8 out of 10) Starring Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes, and Jesse L. Martin. Guest starring Victor Garber, Teddy Sears, Wentworth Miller, Michael Ironside, Peyton List, Shantel VanSanten. First broadcast October 20, 2015
Both “The Flash” and “Arrow” have a little bit of a problem kicking off this season. Namely, “Legends of Tomorrow.” “Legends” is a series spinning off of the two established series, with a midseason premiere. It’s a team show, with Atom, Firestorm, White Canary, Hawkgirl, Captain Cold, and Heat Wave all joining forces with time traveler Rip Hunter to save the world. The problem “The Flash” and “Arrow” have is that half of those characters are currently dead. Between now and January, everyone has to be alive and in a condition to join a team. Really, that will probably happen in the big crossover episodes happening right around episode 8 of both series. So a lot of the beginning of this season is going to be devoted to raising the dead and laying the foundation for the new show.
This episode is a prime example. The A story is about Captain Cold. We meet his abusive father, who’s also a criminal, and who has been a horrible person since Leonard and Lisa were just wee little criminals. Captain Cold has always been a compelling character, due partially to how Wentworth Miller plays him, and partially due to his complicated relationship with the Flash. That gets a few more levels here, as Team Flash helps Cold’s sister, and Barry helps Leonard and Dad Cold in a heist. Leonard doesn’t want Barry’s help, but he needs it. There are several times in the episode that Leonard’s wheels are turning–he’s contemplating his life, and supervillainy and superheroics…by the end of the episode he’s in prison, but he’s not the same man he was. Somehow, by episode 8, he’s going to be out of jail and (sort of) reformed. This episode lays a lot of that groundwork.
Other parts of the episode have the S.T.A.R. Labs crew developing a “speed cannon” that stabilizes the wormhole in their basement. They can cross over into other worlds, other universes. That seems to create a problem by the end of the episode. If we can step through transdimensional portals, it stands to reason that villains from other universes will be able to as well. This will get very interesting, and very ugly pretty damn quick.
We have a storyline that’s hitting the ground sleeping, with Joe West’s wife (Iris’ mom) coming home to Central City for the first time in twenty-something years. It’s not well written, and she doesn’t seem to be well-cast. That may work itself out. Refreshingly for this show, Joe tells Iris about it all in a single episode, and instead of screaming and crying and throwing a tantrum, Iris accepts his explanation and they move forward. It’s kind of how Iris handled finding out Barry was the Flash last year; she’s becoming a stronger character over time, and I’m liking her more now than ever.
Professor Stein, now half a hero with Ronnie Raymond (the other half of Firestorm) gone, is losing it. Heart problems, brain problems, his head and hands shooting great gouts of blue flame. It appears from next week’s trailer Team Flash finds a way to help him, and another piece of “Legends of Tomorrow” falls into place.
There’s nothing new about Cisco and his Vibe-powers, but he does have some nice moments with Lisa Snart, in a weird hero/villain relationship. Also he gets a nice fist-bump with Flash.
Patty Spivot, new Central City PD and Metahuman Squad member, is only in a few minutes of this episode. But I love her. She’s cute, she’s charming, she’s smart, and the chemistry between Patty and Barry makes me forget all about Iris and Linda Park and anyone else we’ve met. She’s great. We want more Patty Spivot.
Next week is “The Fury of Firestorm.” And yeah. It looks like it is.