Instead of some will-they, won’t they survive cliffhanger, for the winter finale of The Flash, we got the long-awaited debut of one of the more popular characters in The Flash mythos.
Wally West (Keiynan Lonsdale) arrived late in the episode to add a new wrinkle in the Joe/Iris/Barry family dynamic. Wally’s surely going to have a few “where were you when I needed you?” moments, but his introduction was tastefully done. And I’m glad Iris didn’t keep the secret of her baby brother too long from Joe.
Emmy voters are probably too “high-brow” to even consider a performer on a comic book show, but Jesse L. Martin has continually delivered standout emotional moments all season long and he deserves some recognition.
As usual, Martin had some standout moments. First reacting in shock to Iris’ news, then confessing to Barry his true feelings about his ex-wife Francine and his reaction when Wally showed up.
The choke-up moment though came when Joe gave Barry his father’s watch as he’d mentioned to Iris he always intended to give it to his son one day. Despite knowing he had a biological son out there, giving it to Barry was a stellar character scene, which constantly sets the show above its peers.
Before Flash could celebrate Christmas, he had to tangle with The (Not-Quite) Rogues. Mark Mardon aka The Weather Wizard (Liam McIntyre) broke Trickster (Mark Hamill) and Captain Cold from prison hoping for some help in taking down Flash.
As a big fan of The Rogues, I enjoyed this mini-team up although the lack of establishing more Rogues earlier was noticeable with Captain Cold’s forced appearance and quickie cameo. His inclusion felt out of place as the show previously set up Cold’s somewhat heroic or at least decent side in Family of Rogues. That explained his decision to sit out on the revenge scheme and give Barry the head’s up of the impending trouble.
I’m still not sold on Captain Cold and Heat Wave being part of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow as I’d much rather see them leading The Rogues as a season long villain for The Flash.
Mark Hamill was a blast once again lending his Joker mannerisms to Trickster.
The Rogues’ plan to detonate bombs they distributed unless Flash gave himself up felt like a classic comic book plot, which I loved.
Payback was a theme on the crime-fighting side this week as Patty sought to avenge her father, who was gunned down by Mardon in a bank robbery.
The showrunners seem determined to make sure Barry has at least one person to keep from learning his identity. While it would have been far easier for Barry to out himself as The Flash during his numerous run-ins with Patty, I liked he was acting more like a traditional hero here.
The callback to last season’s Out of Time was a nice touch with Barry telling Cisco about his previous trip through time to stop Mardon with the help of the weather wand.
There was some great action sequences that provided some insight to how the hopefully inevitable Flash vs. a fully assembled version of The Rogues could play out. Flash running across a helicopter’s blades was pretty cool and it was a treat seeing Mardon actually using the weather wand like he does in the comics.
I was less clear on how Harry, Jay and Cisco concocted a plan to attract all of the bombs and toss them through a portal, but whatever. We got a fun Flash vs. Rogues fight so I won’t complain too much. There was a mini-cliffhanger as Zoom struck a deal with Harry to reunite him with his daughter, Jessie, provided he help Zoom steal Flash’s power. And just when Barry and the rest of Team Flash were really starting to trust him.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
The best superhero show on TV concluded the year with another remarkably entertaining outing that sets up Wally’s entry into the Flash’s world and the next step in Zoom’s plans.
