The Flash's "Family of Rogues" turned out to be a pretty fun episode as the character of Captain Cold was explored further. Arrow's "Restoration" proved that even with this season's agenda of making the show more light-hearted, it's still got a dark side.
Quick Recap: Team Flash discovers the world breach within STAR Labs, which Cisco dubs the "Speed Cannon." Jay begins working on it to make it possible for him to pass through it. Lisa Snart comes to the team for help, believing her brother Leonard (aka Captain Cold) has been kidnapped. Barry tracks Cold down, only to discover he is working with his criminal father, Lewis. Together they plan to steal a small amount of valuable diamonds from a high-rise building. After Lewis kills by blowing up his head using a device implanted in the guy's skull, the team deduces that Cold must be working with his father only because Lewis threatens to do the same thing to Lisa. Barry goes undercover as Lewis and Cold's new tech-wiz, much to Cold's amusement and annoyance. After Barry successfully breaks into the room where the diamonds are kept, Lewis seemingly shoots him dead, but Barry secretly catches the bullet before it hits him. He confronts Lewis and Cold as the Flash before they make off with their loot, but Lewis threatens to kill Lisa if the Flash tries to stop them. Cisco manages to get the bomb out of Lisa's body and Flash relays the news to Cold, who shoots an ice blast through his father's heart. Cold is imprisoned, but Barry tells him he believes there is good in him. Jay finishes his work on the Speed Cannon, but the team urges him to stay and continue to help them, and Jay obliges. Dr. Stein's body erupts into orange and blue flames before he collapses again. The episode ends with Harrison Wells 2.0 emerging from the Speed Cannon.
Thoughts
- It's always a pleasure to see Wentworth Miller's Captain Cold in action, so there's a big plus for this episode already.
- No Dominic Purcell as Heatwave though. Slight minus.
- Michael Ironside was casually threatening as Lewis Snart. It's a shame the character died, since it would've been cool to see more of him.
- The Barry/Cold dynamic continues to be a fun area to explore. I'm not sure how I feel about Barry's quest to bring out the good in Cold. Cold would probably make a entertaining villain than hero, but it's certainly an intriguing idea especially with his "hero" role in Legends of Tomorrow just around the corner.
- Barry's computer-wiz criminal persona was a highlight. He's been around so many criminals lately, it'd be easy for him to slide into it effortlessly.
- I don't very much like where the relationship between Cisco and Lisa. Fun to watch, yes. But it felt kind of forced.
- Jay looked and sounded like the DC version of Captain America this week. Seriously, go back and listen to Teddy Sears' voice and then listen to Chris Evans' Cap voice. Identical.
- The "Mrs. West returns" plot has a lot of meat to it, but feels out of place right now. With all this stuff with Zoom, Jay, Captain Cold, and Firestorm happening right now, it just feels unnecessary. Jesse L. Martin and Candice Patton gave great performances though during their scene together this week.
- Do laser grids work like that? I'm calling your bluff, Flash writers!
- Wells 2.0, what are you up to?
Rating: 7.9/10 ears
Next week, Team Flash holds auditions for a new Firestorm
Arrow: "Restoration" (Season 4, Episode 3)
Quick Recap: Damien Darhk hires a metahuman named Jeremy Tell,who can take his playing card tattoos off his skin and use them as projectiles, to take down the Green Arrow. While Oliver faces off against Double Down (that's the name Cisco tells Felicity to give him), Dig does some more "digging" *wink* on HIVE, tracking down Mina Fayad, the woman who hired Deadshot to kill his brother. Both of them return to the Arrow cave bruised and battered. Felicity blames their distrust of one another, since they should have had each other's backs. Felicity leaves to go to the office and demands that Oliver and Dig work out their problems while she's gone. Darhk is furious with Tell over his failure to kill the Arrow and kills Fayad as a demonstration of his power. Oliver learns about Dig's secret crusade against HIVE. The two once again track down Fayad, whom they find dead. Tell attacks Felicity and Curtis, who retreat to the Arrow cave. Felicity fends him off and Oliver and Diggle pursue and capture him, their trust mended.
Meanwhile, Laurel and Thea return to Nanda Parbat where Malcolm refuses to bring Sara back. Even Nyssa believes it is a bad idea, since there is no way of knowing what Sara would come out like. Thea seeks Malcolm's help with her bloodlust, but Malcolm says the only way to "cure" it is to indulge it. He proves this by making Thea kill several of his henchmen, and tells her she won't feel her rage for the next few weeks. A furious Thea demands to Laurel that they leave, but Malcolm says he will bring back Sara as a sign of goodwill to his daughter. Sara's body is submerged in the Lazarus Pit waters as Nyssa protests. Sara emerges feral, much like Thea did. Laurel believes it will wear off, but Malcolm says this is uncharted territory; no one has ever been brought back from the dead like Sara has. An angry Nyssa destroys the Pit and says that whatever happens to Sara is because of Laurel.
Thoughts:
- Laurels' the worst, isn't she? Everyone around her is telling her "DON'T DO THIS!!!" and she ignores them. She's still the most unlikable hero on the show, but now I'm thinking the writers are embracing that.
- It's good to see Oliver and Diggle's friendship reaffirmed this early and not dragged out over the rest of the season.
- Double Down was a pretty entertaining villain this week. The character's charm and his super powers made him a memorable crook.
- Speaking of villains, Neal McDonough continues to excel as Damien Darhk, with him being especially terrifying in this episode. I think the character deserves a break soon, though. It would be corny if he's in every episode as the guy who always hires the villain of the week.
- Jon Barrowman's return as Malcolm was also a highlight. Him tricking Thea and making her give into her rage were sinister moves.
- Felicity and Curtis got some action this week, the best moments being Felicity's wild use of the machine gun and Curtis asking "Since when are you a badass?" with Felicity's answer "Since always!"
- They'd better find something worthwhile todo wth Sara once she's inevitably back to normal. At this point, the only justification I see for her resurrection is so that she can be in Legends of Tomorrow.
- Don't get me wrong though. Caity Lotz is great as Sara. I just don't see the sense in bringing her back right now.
- That's totally Ray sending cryptic messages to Felicity, right?
- Yay! The Lazarus Pit is out of the picture! The writer in me is at ease!
- Overall, a dark, yet solid episode. Arrow's fourth season continues to look way brighter than its last.
Rating: 8.5/10 OTA's
Next week looks like it could be not just the best episode of season four so far, but one of the series' best as well.
Noah
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