The Flash "Fast Enough" Review

As Season One comes to a close, Barry is given a Sophie's choice! (SPOILERS!!)

High Points:

• A whole season of twists and turns led to the most dramatic Flash episode yet. Barry was presented an impossible choice and it's ramifications led to many heart to hearts.
• Grant Gustin is a star. He is Barry Allen. He has captained the best superhero show on TV and deserves more praise than I can give him.
• Easter Eggs Galore! When Barry connected to the Speed Force several visions from the future appeared. The first was everyone's favorite superhero tourist attraction, the Flash Museum. Then the second and much more surprising one was our first look at Caitlin Snow as KILLER FROST! Then later on Jay Garrick's helmet that popped up. Hot damn we got teased a lot about what is gonna happen with the future of this show.
• Eobard Thawne revealed his master plan to Barry. 
• The final showdown was pretty sweet.
• I've making a joke for weeks that Eddie should Looper himself and make sure Eobard never existed. Well I can tell you that it still surprised me when it actually happened. Reminded me a lot of Tommy's sacrifice in the season 1 finale of Arrow. BUT Eddie was sucked into the wormhole. That could mean we aren't done with him yet.
• Cisco was affected by the particle accelerator! Could we see Vibe and Killer Frost in Season 2?
• The cliffhanger opens up a ton of possibilities for Season 2.

Eddie Thawne be like...

Low Points:

• For a finale, the action was segmented to only the final 15 minutes.
• Ronnie and Caitlin's wedding felt kinda shoehorned into the story. Could have done without it.
• Season 2 hasn't started yet.

At least it wasn't like a Game Of Thrones' wedding

Verdict: The Flash is the best superhero show on TV. It's inaugural season was a blast to watch and the finale capped off all the emotional story threads and gave us tons of hints of where the future of the show is headed. I'm keeping it short and sweet, "Fast Enough" gets a 9.5 out of 10. Can't wait for October.

Thanks for reading! Did you like "Fast Enough"? Did Eddie make the right design? Let us know in the comments or tweet at us @Caped_Informers or me @cstrand73. And make sure to tune in for our weekly Arrow, Flash, and Daredevil reviews.

The Flash "Rouge Air" Review/Thoughts

On this week's episode, Barry decides to leave the thankless superhero life behind in exchange for a luxurious career in human trafficking, plus we get the dynamic duo we have all been waiting for: the Amell cousins.

Episode Description: When the Reverse Flash rigs the particle accelerator with a mysterious device that threatens the lives of the people in the pipeline, Barry must seek help from an unlikely source: Captain Cold. 

High Points:

• I liked that Well's wheelchair ended up being more than just a clever disguise. Plus it explains why the Reverse Flash is still so much faster than Barry even though he is having trouble accessing the speed force.
• The old "hide right underneath their noses" trick. Well played Eobard, well played.
• This week's moral dilemma with the pipeline prisoners really pushed Barry into uncharted territory and I enjoyed seeing him have to make a deal with his nemesis. And in a shady bar nonetheless!
• Leornard Snart would listen to Foreigner's "Cold as Ice" 

For Captain Cold: A Man who Truly is as Cold as Ice

• Ferris Airfield? Barry mentioned it was abandoned because a test pilot went missing so they shut it down. Hal Jordan's father died in a plane crash out of Ferris Aircraft. Coincidence? NO. Green Lantern confirmed. (Don't hold me to that)
• Screw all other relationship nonsense. I don't want, I need Cisco and Golden Glider to happen. I even have their celeb relationship name picked out: Lisco. (Lisa + Cisco)
• The ol' double cross from Captain Cold only solidifies how cold this man can be. Plus the ensuing battle was fun because it was like a big reunion-style brawl featuring Barry's season 1 enemies 
• That last battle!! All sorts of fun to watch The Flash, The Arrow and Firestorm all team up to take on the Reverse Flash, plus every character had their struggles and successes over the course of the fight
• The Reverse Flash has the suit ring! It was just an extra detail in an otherwise full-on action packed sequence, but still when that suit came of his ring I felt things of a generally sexual nature
• Oliver asks Barry for a favor. Sounds like we are going to see the Scarlett Speedster play a role in the closing episodes of Arrow.

Low Points:

• S.T.A.R. Labs really needs to invest in a deadbolt. Seriously, anyone and everyone in Central City just waltzes through the front door on a regular basis. Iris walked in on Barry with his mask off, Captain Cold just helped himself inside. You would think a high-tech lab would have some sort of system in place to prevent all these unwarranted visits
• Eddie has once again proven to be a huge waste of time. I just keep waiting for the bigger picture with him. Some sort of transformation, some sort of deeper connection between him and the Reverse Flash. So far he is just a meaningless pawn. Maybe something will happen with him in season 2 but season 1 is coming to its conclusion fast and he has done nothing but act as the "reason" Barry and Iris can't be together all season. 
• There is only one episode left until I don't know what to do with myself on Tuesday nights...

Verdict: Tonight we got a taste of Arrow in more ways than one. Barry and the gang find themselves in a really tricky situation where the law isn't willing to help them in their highly illegal activities. We get a lot of that vibe on Arrow with Oliver's vigilanteism, but on The Flash, more often than not the CCPD wants to work with the Flash as much as they can. So it was an interesting change of pace to see the S.T.A.R. Labs gang have to operate completely outside of the law. And where do you go when you need to accomplish such a dark and seedy task? Why to Captain Cold's dark and seedy bar of course! I remember a time when I was not 100% sold on Leonard Snart in this show. Now I love the relationship that has been built between him and Barry. Barry and Eobard Thawne have a hero-villain dynamic going on, and that is in no way a bad thing. But The Flash and Captain Cold have an arch-rivalry forming and I love that. I want to see The Flash and Captain Cold constantly struggling to get the edge over the other time after time. Sometimes Barry walks away victorious, sometimes Snart leaves with the upper-hand, and sometimes there is just no clear-cut winner. The two have already clashed four times this season so I think it is safe to assume they will keep challenging each other into season 2. Plus it looks like next time the Rouges will have some new recruits. Snart helped those meta-humans escape and Weather Wizard was looking pretty thankful for it. Will Cisco be forced to make him a weather gun? Or perhaps, a weather wand?? Only season 2 will tell. However, the Flash/Captain Cold team-up was another interesting chapter in their rivalry and it offered both new moral dilemmas for our heroes while also setting the stage for a fight that essentially payed homage to the first season of Central City baddies. 

                     The majority of the episode focused on Barry's human transportation dilemma so the battle with The Reverse Flash at the end seemed a little but rushed into. That being said, the battle itself was awesome. Not only did the Amell cousins tag in as The Arrow and Firestorm but we got to see everyone do a little facing off with The Man in Yellow. It was a true, blue team effort that brought down Eobard Thawne. Now I won't say there isn't part of me that wants to see Barry ultimately triumph over The Reverse Flash on his own. It has been the story of The Flash vs. The Man in Yellow all season so it would be incredibly satisfying to see Barry beat him without relying too heavily on Oliver and Ronnie. In fact, at times it seemed like the real action was between Oliver and The Reverse Flash rather than the Flash. However, the battle was still fantastic and the season isn't over yet so there is still time for a one-on-one face-off. Plus on an interesting side note, we learned that Oliver lives to be 86. So SPOILER ALERT: Oliver doesn't die at the end of this season or any season. Also, if Eobard knew that from the history books than Oliver Queen must have done something worth noting in said history books. Maybe like being a member of a certain league pertaining to themes such as justice?

Or maybe it was a classic political sex scandal..Who knows?

All-in-all this was another great episode. I personally think some more time could have been dedicated to overcoming The Reverse Flash but I love it when Snart and the Rouges are in town as well. Eddie and Iris also broke up but enough going on about that, because if it isn't Cisco Ramon and Lisa Snart then it isn't love. An 8.0 out of 10 is in order for The Flash's second to last episode of the season.

Thanks for reading the review! Who do you think will be in the Rouge's season 2 line-up? What did Oliver do to get in the history books? Let us hear your thoughts in the comments below and on twitter @Caped_Informers. Also be sure to check back here regularly for more reviews, articles, and news about your favorite comic book shows and movies. The Flash has its season 1 finale next week at the same time: "Fast Enough".

An Observation About Oliver Queen: Like I said before, there were parts of the final battle where Oliver was truly the star of the fight, like how he slowed the Reverse Flash down the first time and then proceeded to beat the living shit out of him with his superior hand-to-hand combat skills. However, the part that really stuck out to me was when Oliver ended up being the one who got the last shot in. It instantly reminded me of another epic battle that Oliver managed to sneak a final shot in at the end:

And if you haven't seen this whole 2-part movie do yourself a favor and watch it

Either Oliver Queen demands on delivering the final blow in his battles or he is by-far the biggest kill stealer of all time. The point I am getting at here is that I would never play a one-person shooter with this guy.

Flash "Grodd Lives" Review

Grodd is God on an all new The Flash. (SPOILERS!)

Episode Description: Barry and his team at S.T.A.R. Labs must deal with the fallout from their failed plan. But in order to distract them, Wells releases the telepathic Gorilla Grodd, who kidnaps Joe. Meanwhile, Iris West (Candice Patton) confronts Barry about his alter-ego as The Flash.

High Points:

• Gorilla Grodd was on TV! Never thought I would see one of my favorite Flash villains come alive on this show. He has been hinted at for weeks, but tonight was his night. Big props to Andrew Kreisberg, Greg Bertlanti, and Geoff Johns for having the balls to believe a telepathic gorilla could be done right on TV.
• Hello there General Eiling! Did not expect to see you alive again. Grodd made you his puppet for three months and I would think that would maybe teach you a lesson about not being such a massive asshole, but the second you get out of your trance you still have that douchey charm. Same old Eiling.
• The Thawne Family reunion continues to be entertaining. Eobard is really giving Eddie a kick to the dick every time he talks to him. Calling him the least memorable Thawne, then showing him that he isn't gonna get Iris. Sucks to be Eddie Thawne right now.
• The old Ice Cream Truck that is secretly carrying gold routine. Classic.
• Grodd's telepathic powers were showcased very well. Whether it was mind controlling Eiling or just straight up mindfucking people, the gorilla was a formable foe.
• Cisco is a bigger cinephile than Michael Bolton.

• The special effects for Grodd were damn impressive. I don't blame Joe West for almost shitting his pants around the beast.
• Grodd stopped Barry's Falcon punch like a boss.
• Dr. Wells' is a modern day James Franco. The man understands the bond between man and beast. Smart move sending his gorilla buddy after his enemies to further his endgame.
• Barry Frank Underwood's Grodd with a train.
• Eobard/Wells' endgame is upon us.
• Grodd will be back!

Should have known the consequences of Tebowing, Grodd.

Low Points:

• Still wish Iris learned about Flash's powers through researching him for an article or something. She just seems to be handed everything on this show. She got handed a nice boyfriend. She got handed a job at a newspaper. Now she just gets spoon fed Barry's secret. Make Iris work for something!
• I'm done with secrets creating this much tension on CW shows. Arrow has overused it and now Flash needs to let it go as well. No one ever looks from the other person's perspective who kept the secret. Every person who gets lied to is instead extremely pissy. Get over it. 

You know what, Iris...

Verdict: What could have been a filler episode before Eobard's endgame gets put into fruition was anything but that. Grodd had been teased all season and when he finally got his chance in the spotlight  he serenaded the crowd to tears of joy with his own rendition of "A Moment Like This". Expect this telepathic Gorilla to factor into Season 2 heavily. Grodd is only getting smarter and by next year who knows what else he will be capable of. As for Eobard, him taunting Eddie was equally entertaining. The guy is in full villain mode now. No more Mr. Nice Guy.
         Overall I'm gonna give "Grodd Lives" a 9.0 out of 10. For great use of a Gorilla.

Thanks for reading the review! Are you on Team Grodd? Can ape be man's best friend? Let us know in the comments or on twitter @Caped_Informers. Be sure to check back regularly for more reviews, articles, and news about your favorite comic book characters. The Flash returns same time next week with "Rogue Air".

Was Grodd there that night too?????

The Flash "The Trap" Review/Thoughts

On this week's episode of The Flash, the curious case of Harrison Wells is blown wide open and all the beating around the bush about his true identity comes to a screeching halt.

Episode Description: The S.T.A.R. labs gang develops a trap in an attempt to expose Dr. Well's connection to Nora Allen's murder. Meanwhile, Eddie meets resistance from Joe when he announces he plans to propose to Iris. 

High Points:

• Finally getting some more details from that newspaper. (How and when the Flash disappeared, the author of the article, etc.)
• "You are also The Flash. Founding member of..." -Gideon. (The Justice League? Gideon were you about to say the fucking Justice League??)
• Very interesting piece of information that Barry created Gideon. Pieces are starting to fall into place and make sense on the current end of the time stream, but there is still so much about the future Eobard came from that we don't know
• Wind funnel arms! Another classic Flash move in the repertoire. Now we just need to see some helicopter action:

I expect to see Barry flying alongside Firestorm and Atom by season 2

• The inner struggle that Barry is having with accepting Wells as a mentor but also knowing his true motives was very palpable in tonight's episode
• Cisco's dream sequence was cool, even if it was just a reiteration of what happened in the "Out of Time" episode.
• Joe's flashback to the hospital really captured the "deal with the devil" vibe between him and Wells
• The S.T.A.R. Labs team had a pretty solid trap planned out, but Harrison Well's trap was just a little bit better. They all must subscribe to Traps Illustrated

The authority on modern trap-setting

• Eddie: "So this has all been about me?" Eobard: "Not a chance". Has nothing to do with anything but it brought a smile to my face
• Harrison's flashback to an unconscious Barry was really interesting. We got a real taste of what their dynamic was like before Eobard got stuck in the past but there was still a lot left ominously unanswered. Even when his identity is completely out of the shadows, Eobard Thawne still proves to be a very enigmatic villain.

Low Points: 

• For an honest cop just trying to make the city a better place, Joe really sticks to his "put 2 in the chest" method of police work. 
• I am not buying Iris's realization at the end of the episode. That electric shock doesn't seem like viable grounds to make a connection between Barry and The Flash. I get static shocks touching people and things all the goddamn time and you don't see me jumping to conclusions. I mean Barry even said he would bring Eddie back, which was almost identical to what he said to Iris about Joe in the alternate timeline. They could have easily done a weird timeline flashback thing there and I would have readily bought it over the electric shock thing
• As funny as I thought Eddie and Eobard's exchange was, I am still waiting on how Eddie truly plays into all this..

Verdict: The Flash is roaring down the homestretch for this season and we are still learning things about Eobard Thawne. Up until now the focus has been entirely on trying to figure out who Harrison Wells really is. Now that we know the answer, the question has shifted to what is the story with Eobard Thawne? Tonight we got some hints both from the opening and the closing sequences. We know that Gideon really belongs to a future Barry Allen and somehow came to fall into the hands of Thawne. We also know that in the future, Thawne and Allen have squared off a number of times and that The Flash disappeared in 2024 during a battle in the streets with Thawne. Likely that is when the two traveled back in time. We also saw Thawne find it ironic that he ended up being the one to create The Flash this time, which means originally Barry didn't become the Flash until 2020, when the real Harrison Wells originally created the particle accelerator. So we are slowly getting details to form the entire story of The Flash's and Thawne's complicated relationship but there is still a lot to be answered in the coming weeks. On a semi-related side note, we also learned that The Flash was a founding member of something by the year 2024. Now I am not going to say we should expect a fully formed Justice League by season 9, but I am going to pray for it every single night for the rest of my days and hope a miracle happens. 

CW's The Super Seven. I'd watch

                Tonight we also learned that not only is there still more to learn about Eobard Thawne, but that he is a formidable opponent in more ways than just being a faster version of The Flash. It turns out that he made sure that he was aware of everything going on with everybody from the very beginning, and his counter-trap using Everyman as a ploy was a clever ruse that caught me completely off-guard. Which means that yes, for the briefest of moments I was actually starting to think that all this build-up ended with Joe dropping the Reverse Flash like a hat and calling it a night. Luckily we have a villain on our hands who is as calculating as he is fast, which makes me even more excited to see how these next few episodes play out. Besides the opening scene and the last handful of minutes of the episode though there was not too much to talk about. Cisco's dream sequence was cool but it was literally just a recap of things we the viewers already knew. Couple that with some out of place Eddie-Iris-Barry love triangle action and you got a good chunk of tonight's episode. I am also still waiting on Eddie's purpose to shine through. Wells said he took him as "insurance", so what does that mean? Does he want to keep Eddie safe because he needs the Thawne bloodline to live on in order to eventually be born? Do you think the S.T.A.R. Labs crew will reach this realization and send Joe in to put two in the back of Eddie's head? Seems a bit out of character for all or any of them but hell who knows. Drastic times am I right? This long-awaited Wells confrontation episode scores an 8.0 out of 10.

Thanks for reading the review! What do you think will happen in these last few episodes? What is your opinion on Iris's choice to hyphenate? Let us know in the comments or on twitter @Caped_Informers. Be sure to check back regularly for more reviews, articles, and news about your favorite comic book characters. The Flash returns same time next week with "Grodd Lives".

The Flash "Who Is Harrison Wells?" Review/Thoughts

The focus of the S.T.A.R. Labs crew shifts to figuring out who Harrison Wells is this week and we get a bonus trip to Starling City as well as a crafty shapeshifter terrorizing Central City. An interesting mix for an interesting episode.

Episode Description: Barry works on stopping a metahuman named Hannibal Bates, a.k.a. Everyman, who is a shapeshifter who commits crimes by taking the forms of innocent people. Meanwhile, Joe and Cisco travel to Starling City to investigate the car crash that killed Dr. Well's fiancee.

High Points:

• Start the episode off with a quick zip over to Coast City for some pizza (Coast City is the home of Hal Jordan. Potential foreshadowing?)
• I really enjoy how the Flash/Arrow cast crossovers are becoming more and more of a casual event that everyone can get in on. 
• Cisco's fan-girling over Black Canary was an entertaining addition to the episode plus his role in working on Sarah's sound bombs was exciting for two reasons: 1) At long last we will get The Canary Cry! and 2) Another glimpse of Cisco proving his Vibe-like mastery of sound wave technology
• Everyman may have just been another "villain-of-the-week" type, but his shapeshifting escapades were both tricky and entertaining at times, making him a slightly better character than other villains that have come and gone on this show.
• I enjoyed the fight between The Flash and Everyman. Granted it was completely one-sided but we don't see Barry pull out the high-speed punches too often and he was all about that approach tonight. 
• Every time the Flash's heroism gets recognition from the Central City Police I get excited for the future grand opening of The Flash Museum (It's gunna happen)
• I found the scene between Harrison Wells and Joe to be interesting. I may be reading into it way too much but Harrison mentions both checking in on Eddie (his "distant relation") and then ominously brings up Joe's wife, a character who has not been mentioned or alluded to at all this whole show. Could have all just been fluff, but I'm willing to bet there was more to that exchange than meets the eye
• The discovery of the real Harrison Wells by Joe and Cisco!
• The discovery of Eobard Thawne's secret room in S.T.A.R. Labs by Cisco, Caitlin and Barry!!
• The discovery of the newspaper headline from the future by Barry!!!

The original Daredevil suit was partially yellow...Coincidence?

Low Points:

• I wasn't feeling the floating liquid thing this time. I get that it happens when certain shit is going down like when time barriers are broken and when the particle accelerator exploded but it seemed out of place in this context. I get that there were tachyons on the scene but they were literally just digging up a body on the side of the road. Didn't seem overly floating-coffee worthy..
• Could Barry really not have put 1 and 2 together when "Eddie" came to the door? For a brilliant scientist he suffers from some pretty massive lapses in judgement from time to time..
• I am a bit lost on what to think about Eddie these days. Ever since we found out that he is not the Reverse Flash but rather a distant relative of Eobard Thawne, I have been curious to see how he plays into the story. There seems to be moments of cooperation and potential friendship between him and Barry but there is also definitely tension between the two characters as well. Hopefully Eddie will pan out into something more consistent than this on-the-fence frenemies bullshit that is going on right now so I can finally establish a solid opinion on this guy.

Verdict: The S.T.A.R. Labs team split up this week to cover more ground as Cisco and Joe went to Starling to do some investigating while Barry and Eddie hung back in Central City to deal with a shapeshifting problem. I for one am a big fan of relaxed the crossovers between the two shows have become. Don't get me wrong, it is always fun when The Flash has to team up with Ollie or Ray to take down an evil that is too much to handle alone, but it is also great to see that Joe can swing by the Starling City police department, get some help from Quentin Lance and then offer up some family advice in exchange. Is it as thrilling as watching Ollie and Barry fight Captain Boomerang? Not really. But does it show a deeper level of connectedness between the two shows than just the guys in the suits teaming up? Hell yes. Plus it allows for each show to draw solutions to their respective problems from each other. Example: We have a Black Canary running around Starling City without the "Canary Cry". So we could either beat around the bush about that unforgivable fact in Starling City for a few more seasons, or we could get Cisco Ramon on the case to do what he does best: weaponize the shit out of things. Joe West, a true family man, needs an inside look at the crash site in Starling City where Tess died and Officer Lance has been struggling with familial issues for the entire back-half of this season. Why not get them together and have them scratch each others backs? It's a universe building business we subscribe to when we tune in to these shows nowadays, and I am very fond of the idea that it can be built in ways both big and small. 

                  On the Central City front this week we got Barry and Eddie teaming up to find a metahuman that can take on the form of people he touches. They really decided to stay on a family-friendly path with this villain because much like his namesake implies, the original Everyman was able to shape-shift into people only after he ate a part of them. I guess the The Flash just didn't think their audience was ready for full-blown cannibalism in an otherwise light-hearted show. Plus you can't really have a no-namer like Everyman come in swinging darker and grittier shit around than some of the headliner villains have on this show. 

"The Reverse Flash doesn't eat his victims? What a bitch" -Everyman

However I wasn't bothered by that choice. Everyman ended up being a pretty decent villain of the week who was both clever in his shape shifting game (the "help I'm a kidnapped child" card works every time) and entertaining  in his attempts to portray the people he was imitating. I respected his acting choice to play Barry Allen as aloof yet sexually aggressive as well as his shoot-first, never ask questions take on Eddie Thawne. It's that type of brass-balled method acting I like to see from my villainous thespians. I also liked the growing tension between Caitlin and Barry over the episode. We discussed last week that Caitlin didn't seem very comfortable in siding with Barry and Cisco over Wells and this week only added to that claim. However, she was there when they wheeled in the body of the real Wells and she did see Eobard's man-cave for herself so I find it difficult to believe she will continue to side against Barry. So perhaps this is not the beginning of the Killer Frost transformation we had hoped it was. However, with so much else going on in this show right now with The Reverse Flash at large, and Gorilla Grodd prowling the sewers, and Firestorm off learning how to be Firestorm, there is plenty to keep us occupied until that transformation naturally flows into the story arch. Until then, the stage is set for these last handful of episodes this season. Barry's hunch about Dr. Wells is now a straight-up fact and he saw the newspaper headline forewarning his future disappearance. I suggest we all buckle down and prepare for some time-traveling, tension breaking, speedster style action heading our way in the next few weeks. As for this week, the Flash gets an 8.0 out of 10.

Thanks for reading the review! Do you think there is a chance Caitlin could still side with Wells? Do you think you personally could have handled graphic, on-screen cannibalism in a CW show? Let us know in the comments or on twitter @Caped_Informers. Be sure to check back regularly for more comics news, articles and reviews. The Flash returns same time next week with "The Trap".

The Flash "All Star Team Up" Review/Thoughts

This week on The Flash, a source of evil so powerful threatened Central City that one superhero was simply not enough to handle it. That's right folks, The Scarlett Speedster teamed up with Arrow's very own Ray Palmer this week to protect Central City from the dangers of...BEES!!

Episode Description: Ray Palmer and Felicity Smoak drop by S.T.A.R. Labs to get some help with the A.T.O.M. suit while Mercury Labs is terrorized by Brie Larvin (a.k.a. Bug-Eyed Bandit) and her army of robotic bees. Meanwhile, Barry struggles with who he can trust in the wake of his discoveries about Dr. Harrison Wells.

High Points:

• Barry and the Central City Police teaming up to take on everyday petty crime. A stark contrast to what is going on in Starling City right now with Oliver and his city's finest. 
• I found Joe's comment about where Caitlin and Cisco's loyalties lie very interesting. Especially because Cisco may end up being the super-hero Vibe someday, and Caitlin could still very much end up being the villain, Killer Frost..(Could this be what sets them on their paths apart?)
• Bug-Eyed Bandit's bees were experts at making horror movie style entrances. Especially coming out of the mouth of that guy's dead body... 
• I enjoyed the bromance that was forming between Ray and Cisco. Perhaps that will carry over when the Atom heads his own show?
• Cisco has memories from the alternate timeline! 
• The Atom suit was awesome this week. We have seen it do some stuff on Arrow but this was one of the first times we actually saw it in full-on action. Now we just need to see it shrink
• And it looks like we may get that sooner than later: "It seems I need to go smaller" -Ray Palmer
• We got a glimpse of the Felicity Smoak we all know and love. The one who hacks computers like a boss and is funny doing it, not the trophy in a three-way superhero love triangle
• Cisco taking the bee for Ray. In the words of The Reverse Flash, I have grown quite fond of Cisco over the course of this show and I like the attention and character development he gets. 
• That last scene did a lot to support my prior suspicions about who Caitlin and Cisco will side with. 

Low Points:

• Bug-Eyed Bandit was just another throw-away "of the week" villain who turned out to be nothing more than a disgruntled employee who is really good with tech and computers. And had a weird thing for weaponizing bees...

I like to imagine that this is how Brie presented her bee weapons to Mercury Labs 

• Barry was having a really hard time with these bees... I know bees are hard to outrun but even for the Flash? I was having a really hard time buying that Barry was getting trapped so easily by these bees

Essentially what Barry was like the entire episode

• I am still not a fan of Iris. I want to be because she is supposed to be Barry's girl but goddamn she can be annoying as hell. Granted she is literally the only person in Barry's life who doesn't know he is the Flash, but if Iris finds out about Barry's identity just because Eddie doesn't want them to break up I am going to be pretty disappointed in all parties involved

Verdict: The second Arrow/Flash crossover episode brought The Atom to Central City instead of the Arrow himself (probably because Oliver is busy being transported to jail) and the results were pretty cool. We got to see Ray Palmer interact and even mesh pretty well with the S.T.A.R. Labs team, and we got to see him do some pretty cool flying around and over-glorified bug zapping in his Atom suit. We have all been wondering when we were going to get to see the suit shrink down to microscopic size, and even though we didn't get it this week, it appears that the seed for future shrinkage has been planted. And in a decently appropriate fashion as well. Bug-Eyed Bandit is actually a villain who is mainly associated with the Atom because the Atom is able to shrink down to size to better combat his tiny insect robots. I say "his" because the Bug-Eyed Bandit is also usually a male named Bertram Larvin, so it was cool to see a female version. However, that is kind of where the "cool' aspects of the character started and stopped. Brie Larvin was another "of the week" villain who wasn't overly compelling. But who knows. Maybe she will make a reappearance when it is the Atom's turn to lead his own show and we will get some tiny Ray Palmer vs. tiny robot bee action (preferably on a children's play-set).

If you haven't seen this Ant-Man trailer yet you are gunna wanna click here

This week's episode seemed to be more about character and relationship development, which I am never overly opposed to. Sometimes you just gotta slow things down in the fighting crime department and build some character for the greater evils to come. We got some Barry development as he struggles with who he can trust. We got some Ray Palmer development as he makes friends at S.T.A.R. Labs and does some hero work. We got some petty relationship bullshit on the Eddie and Iris front that I won't waste another word on. But the characters I was very interested in this week were Cisco and Caitlin. Honestly, I have become quite the Cisco fan over the course of this show. When this show began I thought he was just going to be the nerdy, comic relief type character but he has turned out to be a lot more. We are learning about his sub-par family life, we are getting glimpses of his fighting capability, and we are getting hero-like characterizations from him. Now there has never been a point in my life where I have considered myself to be a huge fan of the character Vibe, but Cisco Ramon has definitely got me excited for his potential appearance on The Flash. As for Caitlin, this Harrison Wells loyalty conundrum is especially interesting for her. Cisco's memories from the alternate timeline help him to see Wells for who he truly is, but Caitlin does not seem very sold on the idea. Could this split her from Barry and Cisco and lead her down a path of evil with Professor Wells? Could this be the turning point in her character that launches her descent into becoming Killer Frost? Besides having a relationship with Firestorm, there really hasn't been much to hint at a transformation of character for Caitlin, so I am very interested to see if this difference in opinion leads to a rift big enough to cause her to go bad. All-in-all this episode was another fun crossover episode starring members of the Arrow gang, that will hopefully get the ball rolling on a shrink function to the Atom's suit. The villain was weak, but the tensions were left running high at the end of the episode with the S.T.A.R. Labs team being thrown into a "forced to take sides" scenario that may not go entirely according to plan. Only time will tell, but for now the "All Star Team Up" episode gets an 8.0 out of 10.

Thanks for reading the review! Do you think Caitlin will side with Wells over Barry and Cisco? Who was the better character: Beth from The Walking Dead or Brie the Bug-Eyed Bandit? Let us know in the comments or on twitter @Caped_Informers and be sure to check back here regularly for more comic book related news, stories, articles and reviews. The Flash returns same time next week to ask the question we have all been waiting for: "Who Is Harrison Wells?".

The Flash "Out of Time" Reviews/Thoughts

Welcome back to the weekly The Flash review! After a second month-long hiatus this season, The Flash returned this week with about a month's worth of stuff to discuss. We got a taste of just about everything this week from romance to great action scenes to the utterance of the name we have all been waiting to hear: Eobard Thawne!! Throw in a surprising time-travel based plot twist and you got yourself a hell of an episode to talk about.

Episode Description: Mark Mardon, a.k.a. Weather Wizard, returns to Central City to seek revenge on the man who killed his brother: Detective Joe West. Meanwhile, Cisco starts to become suspicious of Dr. Harrison Wells and attempts to understand what went wrong the night they had the reverse Flash briefly contained in S.T.A.R. Labs.

High Points:

• I was wondering when/how/if we were going to get the real Weather Wizard. Enter Mark Mardon, who in my opinion was a much better villain than his one-episode worthy, god-complex having brother Clyde Mardon. (Mark called himself a god as well, but at least it wasn't a defining character feature for him)
• The scenes where the Weather Wizard used his powers were awesome. Especially during his attack on the police station. He has much better control over his powers than his brother did which makes him a more formidable opponent for Barry.
• I am enjoying the Joe West/Mark Mardon rivalry. One of the things I have come to like about this show is that everyone seems to have their own personal rivalries going on, whether it is Barry and the Reverse Flash or Harrison Wells and General Eiling or even Cisco and Hartley Rathaway. It gives other characters something to do and it adds to them as characters overtime as well. 
• Harrison Wells has become the talk of Central City. First we got Joe suspecting him of murder and now we got Mason Bridge getting Iris to ask around as well as Cisco starting to look into it himself. 
• Cisco creates a "wand" that allows Barry to negate Mardon's weather powers. Sounds like another one of Cicso's gadgets could potentially fall into the wrongs hands (Weather Wizard's weather wand anyone?)
• The episode hit a certain point toward the end where suddenly shit started getting crazy. The following points highlight said craziness
• Dr. Harrison Wells reveals himself to Cisco as Eobard Thawne!! 

• Eobard Thawne then tells Cisco that Eddie is a distant relative and he shows Cisco that by using his super speed he can appear to be in two places at once! (Thus explaining why he was able to confront himself during "The Man in the Yellow Suit" episode)

• Thawne then kills Cisco! By vibrating his hand fast enough to reach into his chest and stop his heart!

• Meanwhile Barry not only gets a kiss from Iris but he also reveals to her that he is The Flash!

• And finally, Barry runs so fast that he goes back in time! And it turns out that the figure he saw running next to him in the beginning of the episode was himself!! And since Barry knew nothing of the events that unfolded between Wells and Cisco, we are basically right back to where we started!!!

It's a lot to take in Larry...It's a lot to take in...

Low Points:

• Most of the major events of this episode took place within the last 10 minutes of the episode so the beginning seemed slow by comparison, with a lot of focus being put on how Eddie and Linda felt awkward during their bowling date
• It seemed like  Weather Wizard was able to get away a lot this episode. He attacked Barry twice at close range and when the attack was over it just kind of ended there. There wasn't much of an attempt on Barry's part to pursue or contain him. Mardon was just left to drive/walk away.
• Because Barry went back in time at the end of the episode, it seems like a lot of the ground that got covered in this week's episode may be erased. However, that doesn't change the fact that Harrison Wells IS Eobard Thawne. 

Verdict: Usually when I sit down to watch The Flash I expect to get smacked upside the head with some new plot-forwarding information, but tonight was just straight-up offensive barrage:

What I have come to expect while watching The Flash

What happened during this episode

Let's start with Dr. Harrison Wells confession. We learned last month that Wells was definitely the Man in the Yellow Suit when he unmasked himself to General Eiling. Now we finally got him to say the name that I have been writing without a definite face to match it to for months now: Eobard Thawne! He also displayed his ability to create a "speed mirage" which finally gives a solid explanation for what the hell was going on during the midseason finale. Unfortunately, this puts to rest the speculations of two yellow speedsters running around (at least for now), but I am very ok with that just knowing that Eobard Thawne and Gorilla Grodd are already present in Central City. We also get a quick glimpse into Eobard's motives, as he tells Cisco he needs The Flash to be able to get back to his own "world". Did the Reverse Flash travel back in time with no idea how to return hime? Did he have a way of getting back originally but something went wrong? And if he originally meant to kill Barry why did Nora end up dead? These are just some of the questions caused by a complex time-travel based storyline, and luckily for us, Barry did his first bit of time-traveling this episode! It was accidental and he only went back a handful of days but it was extremely exciting to see! However, Barry's impromptu time-travel does make it a bit difficult to seriously talk about the other events that took place during the last 10 minutes of the episode because it looks like Barry is going to get a second chance to keep things from escalating to that point. It looks like Barry will have the insight next week to stop Weather Wizard before Joe gets captured, which means him and Iris probably won't kiss, which means he probably won't reveal himself as The Flash to her. On the other side of town Cisco probably won't get the chance to fully investigate the night they almost had the Reverse Flash, which means Harrison won't have to reveal himself as Eobard Thawne to him which means Cisco doesn't have to die! So there is good and bad to come out of this alternate time-line, but whatever happens next week, it does not change what we now know to be true about Eobard Thawne. As for the other 40 minutes of the episode, there was not too much going on besides the most awkward bowling date ever and a lot of cool Weather Wizard action. I'm not saying that Mark Mardon was an overly spectacular villain but I did enjoy him as the Weather Wizard a lot more than his brother. Plus I am glad to see that the Weather Wizard will get more screen time than just one episode. He is a decently notable villain of The Flash and is a potential member of the Rouges so he deserves slightly more than taking two in the chest during the show's pilot. Also next week's episode is titled "Rouge Time" so who knows. Maybe Mark will join the Rouge's roster when they swing through town again. All in all this ended up being a very exciting episode, even if half of it was erased by Barry's time-traveling. However, I guess if we are going to start diving headlong into the time-traveling aspect of Barry's powers we better get used to having alternate timelines thrown at us. An 8.0 out of 10 is in order.

Thanks for reading the review! What are your thoughts on Barry's unplanned trip back in time? Did you shit your pants as hard as I did when Harrison Wells introduced himself as Eobard Thawne? Let us know in the comments or on twitter @Caped_Informers. Be sure to check back here regularly for more reviews of your favorite comic books shows and movies as wells as other articles about your favorite heroes. The Flash returns same time next week with "Rouge Time". 

The Flash "Crazy For You" Thoughts/Review

Barry Allen is all about pushing himself to be faster and faster so he will be ready for The Reverse Flash when the time comes. But tonight, Mr. Allen is slowing things down as he and Caitlin hit the Central City bar scene for a shot at romance.

The Musical Accompaniment for Tonight's Review

Episode Description: Barry and Caitlin attempt to balance their crime-fighting/work duties with having a social life while Cisco uses Hartley to try and discover what happened to Ronnie on the night of the particle accelerator accident.

High Points:

• Not only are we seeing Barry do his casual superhero thing, but the people he saves are starting to interact with him/thank him (that's the type of gratitude that leads to museums being built...)
• Despite what I said about Barry "slowing things down" he actually hit a new top speed tonight. They didn't say what it was but The Scarlett Speedster is getting faster!
• Every second that Cisco and Hartley were together during this episode seemed to hint at a potential Vibe/Pied Piper rivalry ("I know about vibrations too Hartley", dueling intellects, and even a physical fight on the rooftop)
• Branching off from that last point, it was kind of exciting to see Cisco throw down with Hartley even if it was for a brief moment (Who knew Cisco could throw a guy over his shoulder like that?)
• Though we had pretty much put the pieces together at this point, tonight it was officially spelled out for us that Ronnie Raymond did fuse with Martin Stein the night of the accident to become Firestorm
• Barry sensing and catching the bullet was insanely cool and unexpected. Also the resulting "I guess I'm faster than a speeding bullet" line from Barry is the second fun little nod to Superman that this show has had this season (The first being "Hmm...A Man of Steel" referring to Girder) 
• Barry is relentlessly hit on by Linda Park at the bar (Another indicator of Wally West perhaps?)
• Grant Gustin reminds us that he was on Glee before he became The Fastest Man Alive 
• After a week of kinda iffy effects, they were back on point tonight, especially the bullet catch and the scene of Barry running around in the blacked-out tunnel
• Gorilla Grodd! Gorilla Grodd!! GORILLA GRODD!!!

Look at it! Look at it! I want all of you to look at it!!

Low Points: 

• All-in-all tonight's episode was a bit slower and a bit less action packed then usual. The focus was less on Barry as The Flash and more on Barry as Barry. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it was a bit of a break in the action.
• Shawna Baez, a.k.a. Peek-a-Boo was a pretty weak villain this week. She was essentially Nightcrawler from X2 except that teleporting was literally all she could do (and she wasn't a blue mutant with a tail)
• I don't necessarily know how to feel about Barry's dad knowing he is The Flash. I don't think any immediate harm will come of it, I just think it was a bit of a forced conclusion for his dad to have come too..

Verdict: Tonight's episode did a lot to support some of the things talked about last week concerning Cisco and Hartley. We knew they were going to have to team up and as it turned out, they wasted zero time doing so. We got to see a brief skirmish in which Cisco revealed he can handle himself in a fight, and we saw both of them best each other using sonic vibration technology. Now if that isn't a big foreshadowing of what is to come then I don't know what else that could possibly be. Speaking of things to come, are we gonna get Wally West? Because it is really starting to look that way. Last week we were introduced to Mason Bridge, a character who is usually known to be a good friend of the Wally West Flash under the name "Trollbridge". This week Barry scored the digits of none other than Linda Park, a character who has been known to end up as the wife of Wally West. I for one would love to see Wally come on the show and it almost makes perfect sense. Think about Arrow for just a second. Roy Harper made a few brief appearances in Season 1 of Arrow, became a regular character in Season 2, and by Season 3 was The Red Arrow, and even occasionally referred to as Arsenal. Perhaps we slowly but surely start to work Wally into the mix on The Flash. First via these obscure references like Mason Bridge, then the actual character himself and then keep going from there until finally we get Kid Flash. It is too early to say anything of that nature for sure, but if I were to make a bold prediction, I would say that the bricks for Wally West are being laid and therefore, so are the bricks for Kid Flash. Now I am going to segway from talks of a bold prediction to talks of a bold cliffhanger: Gorilla Grodd is chilling in the sewers of Central City! If you haven't done so yet I ask that you take this time to scroll up and take in the photographic evidence of Grodd on a CW show. We got our first good look at him tonight and I am impressed. I am also extremely interested to see how they work him into the story. We know that he is the product of an experiment that involved both General Eiling and Dr. Wells but as of right now that is it. Will he come into play this season? Are we just being reminded that he is lurking around so he can take the spotlight next season? Could Reverse Flash and Gorilla Grodd potentially team up? Right now there are so many possibilities for Grodd and I love it! I can't wait to see what they do  and if it is anywhere as intriguing as the Reverse Flash storyline has been this season then we are in for another great storyline. Despite a sub-par villain of the week, and a bit of a break in the action, we once again got handed a lot to look forward to both definitely and potentially, and I'm honestly not sure which one of those is better. In the spirit of tonight's romantic theme, an extremely sensual 8.0 out of 10 is in order.

Thanks for reading the review! Got any theories for the show's future? On a scale of 1 to apeshit, how crazy did you go when you saw Grodd? Let us know in the comments or on twitter @Caped_Informers. Be sure to check back regularly for more show/movie reviews and breaking news/stories regarding the comic book universe. The Flash returns same time next week with "The Nuclear Man".

The Flash "The Sound and the Fury" Review/Thoughts

This week on The Flash, we get a fresh new rivalry between Dr. Harrison's old chess-loving protégé, Hartley Rathaway, and his current protégé who is adamant that Han shot first, Cisco Ramon.

Episode Description: Once a friend and colleague of Dr. Harrison Wells, Hartley Rathaway returns to Central City to make Wells pay for ignoring his advice regarding the particle accelerator. Meanwhile, Iris lands a job as reporter for Central City Picture News but soon realizes she may not have been hired on talent alone.

High Points:

• Start the episode off with The Flash casually taking down the Royal Flush Gang (very cool to see Barry do some casual hero work, as well as have it be against recognizable enemies)
• We have seen him with the suit and very possibly in the suit, but tonight was the first time we saw Dr. Harrison Wells run at super speeds
• Enter Hartley Rathaway a.k.a. The Pied Piper
• I like the rivalry between Rathaway and Cisco right now. It makes me wonder if there is going to be some Pied Piper/Vibe rivalry down the line and it also adds to Cisco's character.
• The flashbacks tonight also helped to give some character-building background on Cisco as well as Wells and Rathaway
• Iris West's new job introduces us to Mason Bridge (a character who has been known to be good friends with Wally West)
• We get a very interesting scene of Harrison Wells faltering in his speed powers in which he falls to the floor and mutters "Not now". (Sounds like there could be some speed force/time stream discrepancies at work here)
• Hartley's promise that Cisco will release him soon (sounds like there could be a Hartley/Cisco adventure to find Firestorm on the horizon. Perhaps this will be the beginning of a Pied Piper/Vibe relationship?)
• Speed Force confirmed!! First time it has been directly referenced and the device that Wells is using to harness it is very fascinating since usually the speedsters can just harness it themselves 
• He mentions the machine as a "temporary fix" (Definitely sounds like there could be some speed force/time stream discrepancies at work here)

Low Points:

• The effects seemed really off tonight...Specifically during the fight on the bridge. When Rathaway pushed the cars with his sonic waves it looked very rigid and when his gloves blew up in his hands it just didn't look right. 
• The "He Wanted to Be Caught" scenario is pretty overdone nowadays. Just ask the Dark Knight... 

                                                              The Joker applauds Hartley Rathaway's scheme

• I was perfectly fine with Hartley's chess references but then he just kept going and going and going with it. It felt like they were trying really, really hard to portray him as a strategic mastermind but it started to lose it's effect really quick

                                                      How I was starting to feel after the 17th chess reference

Verdict: When I first heard that Hartley Rathaway was going to be making an appearance on the show I really didn't think too much of it immediately. However, after seeing him on the show tonight I think a lot of possibilities open up for future storylines. First off, the Pied Piper has been known to be a member of the Rouges so if and when he does get out of his prison, I am sure Captain Cold and Heatwave could find a spot for him on the team. Secondly I am loving the rivalry between him and Cisco because it gets me thinking that Vibe is going to make an appearance at some point. We knew going into this show that Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow were the names commonly associated with Vibe and Killer Frost respectively, but we weren't sure if, when and how they would become those characters over the course of the show. Now Pied Piper strolls in with his sonic technology and immediately butts heads with Cisco "Vibe" Ramon, a superhero persona who can manipulate and generate sonic waves. This is all just speculation of course, but it is starting to look like the Cisco/Hartley relationship will continue to grow via a Firestorm hunt in the very near future. Perhaps it will eventually lead to Cisco's transformation into Vibe. Either way I look forward to seeing where this renewed rivalry takes them during the course of the show. We also got introduced to another interesting name tonight: Mason Bridge. As of now we know him simply as Iris's co-worker, however a certain Mason Trollbridge has been known to be very closely affiliated with Wally West. Could he eventually be really close with Barry? Could this mean the potential to see Wally in the future? By the future do I mean in later episodes or in a confusing time travel paradox way? Who knows! One thing is for sure though, this Mason Bridge character is meant to be more than just a disgruntled employee where Iris works. We should keep an eye on him and expect him to play a bigger role at some point down the line. And now we have reached the point where I talk about the good doctor. We very clearly saw Dr. Wells do some super speedy running tonight so in case there was even the slightest doubt left in anyone's mind: Dr. Harrison Wells is officially a speedster. We also got the very exciting confirmation of the speed force tonight via an interesting chest piece that Dr. Wells was wearing during the weekly twenty second cliffhanger. We also heard him call the device a "temporary fix" and saw him falter with his powers during Rathaway's escape. It seems like Harrison is using the device to harness the speed force which is fascinating due to the fact that historically the speedsters tap into it themselves. Could Harrison Wells not know how to tap into it himself? Could he be siphoning so much of it up already to prevent time-travel by other speedsters that it is affecting his other speed based powers? (taking that one right out of the Flashpoint Paradox). Once again, Dr. Well's motives are not 100% clear, but according to him, his endgame is getting close, and I cannot wait. Tonight's episode gave us some great character development and some new names to keep an eye on moving forward. All-in-all a 7.5 out of 10 is in order.

Thanks for checking out the review. Do you think Cisco's character is starting his transformation into Vibe? What the hell is going on with Dr. Wells and his speed force machine? Let us know what you think in the comments or on twitter @Caped_Informers. Also be sure to check back on the site regularly for more show and movie reviews as well as breaking stories, latest rumors and in-depth analyses of the superhero universe. The Flash returns same time next week with "Crazy for You".

The Flash "Revenge of the Rogues" Review/Thoughts

The Flash is back everyone! After a brief month-long midseason hiatus, Barry and the S.T.A.R. Labs crew returned tonight to find that the ice-flinging Leonard Snart has teamed up with the fire-obsessed Mick Rory. One is a cool and collected strategist while the other is a hot-head who is quick to jump the gun. Sounds like every show ever that features a tidy roommate and a sloppy roommate who are forced to live together, and at times tonight it, it kind of felt that way.

Episode Description: Captain Cold and Heatwave team up to wreak havoc around Central City in an attempt to draw the Flash into battle. Meanwhile, Barry decides that dedicating his spare time to getting faster is more important than protecting his city from the dangers at hand.

High Points: 

• Barry's intense drone training session almost causes Harrison Wells to blow his disabled persona (also the drone training session itself was really cool)
• Barry's encounter with the Reverse Flash has clearly left him shaken up which will serve as a good obstacle for The Flash to overcome and will ultimately lead to more character growth over the second half of the season
• Barry flexes his latest speed-based power: Super Speedy Speed Reading
• "The Scarlett Speedster!" - Captain Cold 
• Cisco's freeze-gun proof shields 
• The fight between the Flash and the Rogues (are we going to see Eddie warm up to the Flash more? Will this effect any Eobard Thawne related transformations in the future?)
• I couldn't help but notice that when Barry and Harrison Wells met up briefly at S.T.A.R. Labs right before they found out about Caitlin, the music during that scene was strangely ominous. It made the whole scene feel like the whole relationship between them was very uncertain and I enjoyed that. 
• Dr. Martin Stein was mentioned as being a part of the whole F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. project meaning that Firestorm's second half is probably very much already in play
• Not to mention that the man Caitlin met up with to talk about F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. was none other than Jason Rusch (The Firestorm who comes after Ronnie Raymond)
• Captain Cold's sister making a cliffhanger appearance (Lisa Snart, a.k.a. Golden Glider)

Low Points:

• I couldn't help but notice that whenever Barry shows up to the crime scene nowadays, they no longer show his thought process via little side calculations and observations. Not that it takes anything away from the show by taking it out, I just found it cool during the first two episodes. 
• "Wait...SCUBA is an acronym!" -Barry Allen. (Of all the ways they could have figured out Firestorm was an acronym, happening to say SCUBA moments before should not have been the one they went with)
• Scumbag Joe West: "I'll give you two some time alone". *Sits down on the couch three feet away* 

Just remember folks, if you don't know what a word means then it is probably just a long-ass acronym for something...

Verdict: After a humbling encounter with the Reverse Flash during the midseason finale, we return to Central City to find a Barry Allen that is clearly torn up about both not being the fastest man alive, and having let the man who murdered his mother get away. The Reverse Flash is in no way the focus of this episode, but I do like to see that the encounter had a long lasting effect on Barry, and I look forward to see how he deals with it in the near future. Tonight the villain spotlight was on the Rogues, Captain Cold and Heatwave. Dominic Purcell showed us his Mick Rory for the first real time tonight given that we don't count the 3 seconds we saw of him during the cliffhanger to "Going Rogue" episode earlier this season. Unfortunately I was not overly impressed, but I also think I have an explanation. Now I understand that Mick Rory and Leonard Snart are pretty opposite personalities to begin, and in some circumstances have even been considered adversaries, but I felt like they were trying really hard to emphasize how completely opposite the two characters were. Earlier in the season Captain Cold had been established as calm, calculated and clever. Here they tried to establish Heatwave as the opposite of that, and at times he almost seemed too simple-minded compared to Cold. However, maybe I just got a bad first impression of him too. I will have to see what I feel when I see Heatwave and the Rogues return again, presumably with Golden Glider on their roster next time. Lisa Snart has been know to be romantically connected to Mirror Master, which could potentially hint at his membership in the Rogues. There have also been storylines where Lisa is killed, which then causes Captain Cold to seek vengeance, so that route becomes a very possible option as well by throwing hr into the mix. This episode also spent some time on the Firestorm part of the storyline, as Caitlin digs deeper into what happened to her ex-fiancee. Basically what we got tonight were two big names: Jason Rusch and Martin Stein. Jason Rusch is the man who becomes Firestorm after Ronnie and Martin Stein is the man essentially acts as Firestorm's voice of reason. The original Firestorm arose during the fusion of Ronnie Raymond and Martin Stein but the end result was essentially Ronnie as Firestorm with the wisdom and insight of Dr. Stein ringing around in his head. In fact, Jason Rusch's comment to Caitlin about nobody having seen the good doctor in awhile leads me to think that he is already a voice inside Ronnie's head. All in all there were a lot of name drops this week, another strong showing by Captain Cold and his ever-growing group of Rogues, and a dozen more reasons to keep tuning in each week to watch The Flash. This week's episode scores an 8.0 out of 10. 

Thanks for reading the review! Got anything weighing on your mind after this week's episode? Think you know who will round out the Rogues' roster? Sound off in the comments or on twitter @Caped_Informers. Be sure to check back on the blog regularly for reviews of other comic book shows like Arrow which returns tomorrow, as well as other comic book news and analyses. The Flash returns same time next week with "The Sound and the Fury".