The Flash Season 5 Episode 5: All Doll’d Up Review

Ariba BhuvadNovember 14, 201855411 min

If you would like to read my review of the last episode of The Flash, click here.

Synopsis: Nora lets something slip about the future that devastates Iris; in an attempt to distract his wife, Barry asks Iris to team up to stop a new meta, Rag Doll; Caitlin learns something about her father. (TVGuide) 

Writers: Thomas Pound and Sterling Gates

Director: Philip Chipera

Rating: TV-PG

Running Time: 43mins

Airs: Tuesdays at 8pm on Space (Canada)/The CW (United States)

If you’re scared of dolls, clowns, and/or both, then this episode of The Flash is not for you. As someone that is scared of clowns and dolls, it was a tough episode to watch (maybe not that serious, but still). After a two-week hiatus, The Flash returned with a new threat known as the Rag Doll while Nora and Iris finally made some progress in their relationship.

The episode begins with Nora goofing up once again when she tries to intercept a robber on a motorcycle before Barry, and despite Iris telling her to let Barry hande lit, she turns off her comms and takes matters into her own hands anyway. While she captures the robber, she nearly causes the motorcycle to crash into an elderly couple. Luckily, Barry shows up in the nick of time and pulls them out of the way.

Back at STAR Labs, Nora and Iris get into a fight which results in Iris storming off after Nora tells her how overbearing she is as a mother. It’s annoying how many times Barry and everyone else has to remind Nora that this isn’t the Iris of the future, yet. Sure, it’s hard for her to imagine it, but she really needs to get on board with that.

Cisco, Ralph, Caitlin, and Sherloque are on a separate mission this week in trying to help Caitlin find her dad. Cisco offers to vibe but it becomes apparent that something is wrong with him and he is in pain each time he does it. The first time he vibes he sees Caitlin’s father writing something on a chalkboard and when he shares this information, they come to the conclusion that he must have worked at Hudson University.

The villain of the episode is introduced when a couple celebrating their engagement is being watched by–Ragdoll. It’s a creepy, super flexible guy wearing a clown/doll mask and he slithers out once the couple leaves the room and steals all their jewelry.

Nora finally comes to her senses after Cecile lectures her and tells her that she can’t talk crap about Iris in her house, and tells her stories that Nora assumes are about Barry, but is surprised to learn they are about Iris. She realizes Iris is a nice human being and she is jaded because of the Iris she knows in the future.

When Caitlin and co. head to Hudson University, they find out that her father knew about Killer Frost all along. She thinks this might have been why her father left, but Cisco tries to reassure her that is certainly not the case. When Cisco uses his powers again, his hands start to bleed.

Did anyone else catch that Gotham reference this week? The Rag Doll shows up at an architect’s office who is talking about the Gotham skyline, and when the Rag Doll attacks him, an alert is sent to STAR Labs. Luckily, Barry shows up in time and saves the architect and gets a glimpse at the Rag Doll.

When Barry returns to STAR Labs, the team figures out that the metahuman is a man named Peter Merkel, the son of a rich businesswoman. Later that night, Barry and Iris attended an event that Peter’s mom was hosting and try to confront and talk to her about it, but she doesn’t bite.

Caitlin finally figures out that Cisco is in pain and tells him that she found metal pieces of Cicada’s dagger on his hands, and every time he vibes, it hurts him more. As much as she wants to find her dad, she does not want Cisco to put his life in jeopardy. Awww, so cute.

The Rag Doll shows up at Barry and Iris’ house while Iris is on a video call with Barry who is at home. Barry ends up getting abducted and Iris gathers the team to try and rescue him–with Ralph coming to the rescue as the only metahuman. He channels his inner Spider-Man and takes Iris across the city as he hangs onto and swings from building to building.

They find Barry on the rooftop with power dampening cuffs and Iris leaps, yes leaps, to his rescue and pushes him off the roof and takes off the cuffs as Barry’s powers return and he gives them a safe landing. This situation takes Nora by surprise who can’t believe that her mom would do something like this to save Barry. They finally bond later when Iris tells Nora not to worry about the mom she is in the future because she wants her to enjoy who she is now.

The Flash was fairly engaging this week, and even funny (I mean, come on, that leap Iris took), and it’s just nice to see Nora finally make amends with Iris because it was starting to get really old. Until next week, folks!

Score: 7/10

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