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FLASH SPOILER Review: Episode 3×04 – “The New Rogues”

The Flash (3×04) – “The
New Rogues”
Written by:         Benjamin Raab & Deric A Hughes
Directed by:       Stefan
Pleszczynski
Hey! Here’s
something we haven’t had in a while. A flashback to the night of the
Accelerator Explosion to introduce our villain of the week.  This week it’s the cliché Bonnie and Clyde
couple… Sam Scudder and Rosalind Dillon. 
That’s fine, it’s not about where you start but where you finish so I’ll
give a pass to a pair of prominent Flash Rogues being introduced this way, but
it’s a short pass.
While Sam is
trying on suits and Rosalind is looking on approvingly in walks someone else I
haven’t seen in quite a while, Leonard Snart. 
He’s not that happy with them spending their cut so soon after their job
and drawing attention but Sam doesn’t care for all Leonard’s rules. A big fight
scene starts but we all know how this ends, Accelerator goes boom.  Energy wave and Sam is gone.  Flash forward to present day and a demo crew
is getting ready to level their hideout. 
One of the workers stands up a mirror that was knocked down that night
and out comes Sam looking for answers. 
Dun, dun, duh!
Over at STAR
Labs, Barry and Joe are showing the rest of the team the security footage of
The Rival’s execution.  They’re all
pretty sure it was Alchemy but there’s nothing solid so while Joe leaves to try
and find something solid the rest of the gang sets it aside for now.  Up next, Jesse wants to get some training in
but Wells has resolved his overbearing father issues for the moment so he’s
ready to go back to Earth 2.  However,
Jesse convinces him she needs more training so she and Barry head down into the
Accelerator tunnel for some tag. 
Jesse’s good
but still green so Barry gives her some pointers, essentially the same things
Oliver taught him when he was getting started. 
After they change back into their street clothes, Jesse convinces Wally
to head out with her and did I say Wells “resolved” his overbearing father
issues? Because not really.  Iris heads
out so Cisco, Caitlin and Barry try to take this time to convince Wells to stay
on Earth One because what’s Team Flash without Harrison Wells?  Wells may have a solution for that.
At the
Police Station, Joe meets up with the District Attorney Cecile Horton and it’s
time for my favorite game; Good news/Bad News. 
Good news! She offers up everything could find on Doctor Alchemy!  Bad news! It’s closer to nothing than
something.  But that’s okay because: Good
news!  She gives Joe a look that says
that she wants to climb him like a tree! 
She even gives him old “Let me know if there’s anything I can do for you”
line.  Detective Ladies Man is on the
case!
Back at the
West Home, Barry and Iris are trying for a little romance but seem to settle
for making out on the couch.  And as
anyone can tell you, per the official rules of making out on her dad’s couch it’s
all fun and games until dad comes home. 
Barry and Joe make it awkward and Iris is understandably upset.  Don’t you have an apartment, Iris?
So we’re
about ten minutes in and I’ve started to forget what the plot of the week is,
so it’s a good thing we switch over to some evil nightclub/blind pig and find
Snart’s old henchman (the one who was with Leonard during the flashback.)  Sam finds him using his mirror powers and
tries to get him to tell him where Snart is. 
Unfortunately for Sam, and me, Snart is missing (He’s apparently dead
and I’m assuming this happened on Legends
of Tomorrow
and that it was a big deal.) 
So Sam, being the villain this week throws him through a mirror down on
to the street.
Surprisingly,
the guy lives and makes a police report so now Barry and Joe are on the
case.  But, as we established last week,
Barry is dead set on talking about his personal problems at work.  Barry, the manager in me is ready to fire you
but I think Joe is probably ready to kill you. 
You have to feel for Joe, his daughter is dating his foster son.  The only other guy on TV I know with these
kind of problem children is Tywin Lannister. 
It didn’t turn out well for him… 
Lock the door to the bathroom Joe.  Just in case.
Back at STAR
Labs, it’s time to reveal Wells’ big plan. 
He’s going to have Cisco open a breach and he’ll send a super-duper math
problem designed to find them another Harrison Wells with the know-how required
to defeat evil.  Simple really.  So simple that we can skip over to Jesse and
Wally hanging out and apparently, all the ladies love the West Men because
Jesse throws caution to wind and kisses Wally.  Wally is a little put off by the whole “you’re
from another universe and leaving soon” part so he’s not all that receptive.
We return to
STAR Labs where Barry gives Cisco, Caitlin and Wells the background on Sam but
before Cisco can name him, Wells jumps in with “Mirror Master.”  They do a quick run through of Mirror Master’s
known associates and it turns out Rosalind has powers now too.  She can give people crippling Vertigo, Cisco
gets his redemption by dubbing her “The Top.”
Joe and DA
Horton visit Rosalind in Iron Heights and she’s too busy being a would-be femme
fatale to be of much help.  Fortunately
for them and the plot, Mirror Master shows up and breaks her out of jail.  Back at the hideout, Ros and Sam try to
figure out what to do next with their cool new powers.  Well, I assume they’ll do what they do every
night, Pinky…
Back at STAR
Labs, Cisco, Wells and Caitlin have received some answers to their
inter-dimensional help wanted ad.  There
was Cowboy Wells, Steampunk Wells, French Mime Wells and lastly, Hipster-Stoner
Wells.  He seems promising.  Earth 2 Wells is unimpressed but Cisco and
Caitlin what to give him a shot.
After
another awkward scene between Iris, Barry and Joe we get to the Flash vs Mirror
Master showdown at a bank robbery.  After
some banter, Mirror Master escaped through a reflection in a window and Barry
chases him up the side of a building.  He
tries to warn Jesse off but as a sidekick she is morally obligated to ignore
instructions so she follows them.  Mirror
Master and Top split off and when Jesse tries to chase down the Top she gives
Jesse a taste of her powers then knock her off the building.  Barry is forced to make the save and gets
trapped in a mirror as a result.
Back at STAR
Labs, the gang has a tough problem to solve, Barry’s stuck and Jesse’s got a
confidence problem.  The Barry problem
seems straight forward enough, use cold to slow down the molecules of the
mirror enough for Barry to vibrate out of. 
The Jesse problem isn’t so easy but Wally’s on the case.  It seems the pep talk is somewhere in the
West family genome because Wally is able to brighten Jesse’s spirits even
without kissing.  He does that anyway.
Meanwhile,
Barry and Iris take the opportunity to have a relationship talk.  It’s probably not the best time with him
stuck but it does give him a Doctor House moment where his relationship problem
give him the idea to stop Mirror Master so it’s time for Cisco and Wells to
arrive with their magic tech to solve the problem.  Operation Freeze the mirror, isn’t a success
and even worse Mirror Master is on the move.
Unknown to
everyone else, they still have an ace in the hole.  That ace is Caitlin’s powers.  So what’s Barry’s big plan?  Trick them into thinking Snart’s back and at
the abandoned amusement park.  So while
Jesse lays out the Top with one punch, Barry leads Mirror Master through the
hall of mirrors (and racks up at least seventy years bad luck) before encircling
Sam and himself with mirrors which makes it impossible for Sam to properly jump
through the mirrors using “The Droste Effect.”  Not quite, but close enough.
The next
morning at the Police Station, Mirror Master is in jail and Barry’s explaining
his cell to Joe and DA Horton.  Horton
has decided that fortune favors the bold and she decides to cash in some of
those IOUs Joe has given her over dinner. 
Joe gets cold feet though and the story continues on.
Back at STAR
Labs, it’s time to introduce our new Wells to the rest of the group.  He comes in with a jokey attitude and his own
nickname “HR” and seems very happy to be there. 
So now it’s time to say goodbye to Harry and Jesse again but before they
go, Harry points out a potentially big problem. 
Their tech device didn’t work, and since they know someone who’s Earth 2
double had cold powers Cisco should be on the lookout.
Back at the
West Home, Barry sits down to dinner with Iris and Joe and offers up to move
out and get his own place.  Joe is
all-too happy with the idea and all but offers to help Barry pack.
Meanwhile,
at Caitlin’s apartment. Dr. Snow is unwinding after a long day with a nice hot
shower that turns freezing cold. Uh-oh. 
When she comes out of the shower she finds her lips have turned blueish…
double uh-oh.  To top it off, her hair is
turning a nice Killer Frost shade of white. 
Three Uh-ohs!  You’re out!
Hmm.  We have a problem.  Traditionally, Flash has been really good
with following a weak episode with a much stronger episode.  “Flash vs Arrow” was followed by “Man in the
Yellow Suit,” “Who is Harrison Wells?” followed “All-Star Team-Up” and “Escape
From Earth-Two” followed “Welcome to Earth-Two.”  But this week’s episode had a lot of the same
problems as last week, at least it was starting to look that way.  The last ten minutes really helped the cause,
introducing a new Wells and the Caitlin stuff helped things a lot.
One thing I’d
also like to discuss was something that may turn out to be nothing but I think
was a sign.  I think there was some
importance to Wally not being disoriented by Jesse’s use of speed with
him.  I think that this is a further of
his arc but I don’t know if it’s a good sign or a bad one and I intend to keep
an eye on this going forward.
So, much
like the pass I gave at the start of the episode, I’m giving them one last pass
but they need to get things rolling and fast or I will start to wonder if they
have the same problem Arrow had and if all the DC/CW shows have a two season
shelf life and fall apart starting in season three.
Three Things We
Learned This Week:
1)     
Barry is moving out.
2)     
Caitlin’s powers are having an effect on her and
Wells has suspicions about her.
3)     
Barry is moving out of the West Home?
Three Questions:
1)     
Is everyone from HR’s Earth a Hipster douche?
2)     
How drastic are the changes Caitlin is going
through and will Cisco notice before something goes wrong?
3)     
Did Jesse unwittingly strengthen Wally’s
potential connection to the Speed Force?

Just another guy on the internet.