This week’s episode of The Flash suffered from a lack of depth like several episodes have in the past. It’s one thing to have a rotating list of metahumans to give Barry and his team trouble, but wasting cool characters each week is a loss for both the show and its fans. “The New Rouges”was no different.
Episode 4 gave us Mirror Master (Grey Damon), a strapping villain who can transport himself and others through reflective surfaces, and Rose, his vertigo-inducing counterpart. Dressed in 50’s era attire, these two played great homage to Bonnie and Clyde. Unfortunately, they were used as just glorified bank robbers and were never even given a chance to develop into something great. Obviously, The Flash can’t give all their villains the screen time they deserve, but it would be nice if the show could occasionally abandon their “villain-of-the-week”method and develop more than just a couple bad guys. It wasn’t just the fact these weren’t well-developed character, but their story didn’t even have a big presence in the episode. Instead, this week’s focus was on Jesse Quick, Wells, and Iris and Barry’s love life.
Last week introduced us to the newly empowered Jesse Quick and episode 4 was where she broke out. Much of this episode focused on her trying to hone her skills with help from Barry, who also struggled at the beginning. Like Barry pointed out, it’s one thing to have speed, but you also need to have a certain amount of awareness and the ability to think critically to be a successful superhero. Violett Beane does a great job playing Jesse Quick and hopefully, we’ll get to see a lot more of her.
The reason we might not, though, is because at the end of the episode she and Dr. Wells returned to Earth-2. To replace Wells on Earth-1, him Cisco and Caitlin scoured a list of doppelgangers from other Earth’s. This was an entertaining scene because we got to see some pretty funny variations of Wells. Everything from cowboy Wells to French mime Wells was an option, but they decided to recruit hipster Wells from Earth-19 for the job. It will be interesting to see how this Wells will mesh with Team Flash. Does he have an evil agenda, or is he as innocent as he seems? However, I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ve seen of Earth-2 Dr. Wells. Also, I’m certain we will get more of Jesse Quick. The show has invested too much in her character to leave her to save the day on Earth-2.
The biggest surprise this week came from Caitlin. She secretly used her developing ice powers to free Barry from behind a mirror. Later, she accidentally freezes the water in her shower which brings out more of her Killer Frost persona as her hair begins to turn blonde. It’s only a matter of time until her powers become too difficult to hide. The real question, though, is why is she is so determined to hide them? Is she scared to embrace her hidden side? Or does her emerging powers have something to do with the bigger story of Dr. Alchemy? Either way, each week we should learn a little more about who she really is.
Although this episode was pretty bland, the charming chemistry the characters have together was still there. It’s nice to see Cisco officially back to his old self, and it’s great to see the connection Wally and Jesse have with each other. Even Barry and Iris seem to be bringing their relationship along. That’s the best thing about this show. No matter how weak an episode’s story is, the show will always be entertaining because of its cast. The chemistry they have and the writing that propels them will always be there.
Score: 7/10
