Jessie Robertson reviews the twentieth episode of The Flash season 5…
There are a few elements to this episode that just made me wish for better. Number one, my girl from the future, Nora West-Allen, is a villain? Well, actually no, despite the misleading TV promos. She’s actually on a very pointed mission, well, Thawne’s mission and despite interactions with her father that are somewhat odd once you know what she’s up to, her forthrightedness is masked because of her Dad’s reaction to her unlikely alliance so far. Another heated discussion between Barry and Iris highlights this again, and I’m just glad they didn’t rehash their intense argument from a week ago.
The namesake and title of the episode is “Going Rogue” alluding to the villain squad Nora puts together on short notice and lets’ be honest; this is the ‘B’ or even ‘C’ lineup; we’re never, at this point, going to see that ‘A’ lineup again of top Flash villains. It serves it’s purpose for the story and some of the villains (namely Ragdoll) feel better upon a second viewing as his effects are still both creepy and effective.
The Cisco kidnapped side story was entertaining and that’s about all I can say. To have Sherloque guess that he doesn’t want to be Vibe anymore is basically just stating the theory all Flash fans have pretty much concluded since seasons beginning. The rumors that Carlos Valdes is leaving after this season only perpetuate that but this is a comical pairing to say the least.
Besides their moment of rejection, the Caitlin- Ralph sidequest is a fruitless effort, actually making you wonder why it took them the whole episode’s length to do what they had to do and at the same point, making you glad for it. Caitlin still meanders this meta landscape with naught to do (I actually laughed when Barry told her if she needed more time to grieve for her Father, to take it and she said she’d rather be working; she’s always at the lab, always.)
To round out this week’s caper, the sense of immediacy only grips us in the final minute where Shecada’s plan comes together to the team. There’s really not many arguments that could counter me saying Cicada is easily the season’s worst big bad, and that’s even after multiple seasons of us all saying “No More Speedster Villains!” This was a pretty hard one to mess up. Nora is the only saving grace to this season.
7/10: Nora’s turnabout plays out better than it would first seem and there was some good scenes with our Rogues, even if this isn’t the team we’d really hope for.
Jessie Robertson
