Tuesday, January 20, 2015

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 1, Episode 10 - Revenge Of The Rogues

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.


Plot

In the wake of The Reverse-Flash's attack, Barry has become obsessed with becoming faster and taken Dr. Well's lead on focusing on a strict training regiment. If nothing else, it's taking his mind off of Iris moving out of her dad's house and in with Eddie Thawne. Unfortunately, Leonard Snart has become increasingly bold in trying to lure The Flash out of hiding. And with his new partner - arsonist Mick Rory - Captain Cold is hoping to expose The Flash to the world at large before giving the Scarlet Speedster a bad case of "freeze or burn".


Influences

The Flash #140
(first team-up of Captain Cold and Heatwave) and The Flash comics of Geoff Johns.  The title itself seems to have been inspired by a Final Crisis tie-in - Rogue's Revenge.


Goofs

Barry's sudden leap that FIRESTORM is an acronym is somewhat contrived.

One wonders why the cops on the scene don't try shooting Captain Cold and Heatwave while they're distracted and looking up at The Flash as he runs along the sides of the surrounding buildings.

Granting that Barry's costume is a modified fire-fighter's suit and that his speed makes him resistant to the effects of Captain Cold's freeze ray, it still seems unlikely that Barry could endure what is meant to be absolute zero AND absolute hot for as long as he does with no adverse effects.


Performances

As in 104, Wentworth Miller steals the show as Captain Cold. But Dominic Purcell holds his own as Heatwave. Carlos Valdes is given a rare chance to stretch his wings beyond being simple comic relief and proves capable of delivering a number of touching speeches sans technobabble.


Artistry

Geoff Johns and Kai Yu Wu deliver a mostly solid script. The exception to this is the scenes centering upon our titular Rogues, which are straight-from-the-comics perfect.

The special effects for this episode are top notch.


Flash Facts

Captain Cold's new partner in crime is a pyromaniac arsonist by the name of Mick Rory.  In the comics, this was indeed the name of the man who became the villain Heatwave.  Both characters are experienced arsonists who suffer from pyromania.

On the show, Snart gifts Rory the STAR Labs flame gun.  In the comics, Rory was an independent super-villain who built his own flame-thrower before joining The Rogues.

As on the show, it was Captain Cold who brought Heatwave into the gang of super-criminals known as The Rogues.

As on the show, Captain Cold and Heatwave don't really like each other much, with Cold disapproving of Heatwave's mania regarding fire and Heatwave disliking Cold's cool, business-like manner. Still, the two work together recognizing the benefits their partnership has to offer.

Iris has a stuffed turtle toy named McSnurtle the Turtle. This is a reference to a rather obscure funny animals comic character about a super-powered turtle - The Terrific Whatzit - who dressed in a costume based on the design of Golden Age Flash Jay Garrick.

Barry had a red and yellow backpack as a kid, which matches his costume as The Flash.

Barry is revealed to have collected comic books as a kid.  In the Silver Age Flash comics, Barry Allen was also a comic collector.

The rich couple who bought the painting Fire and Ice are named Osgood and Rachel Rathaway. They make mention of no longer having a son. This is a reference to Hartley Rathaway who eventually become the super-villain The Pied Piper.

The reason for The Rathaways disowning their son is probably due to Hartley being gay.  The Pied Piper was one of the first openly gay characters in American superhero comics.

In trying to discover what happened to her fiance, Ronnie, Caitlin seeks out a man named Jason Rusch. In the comics, Jason Rusch was one of the people who became a host for the Firestorm Matrix.  Originally, he absorbed the powers of the original Firestorm when Ronnie Raymond died.  In the New 52 reality, Rusch is a brilliant science-minded high-school student who become forcibly bonded to football team captain Ronnie Raymond to form the hero Firestorm.

Jason Rusch co-wrote the 800 page paper about F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. with Dr. Martin Stein. In the comics, Dr. Martin Stein was a physicist who - after being caught in a nuclear accident - joined together with high-school student Ronnie Raymond to create the matter-manipulating hero Firestorm. In the New 52 reality, Stein was the scientist whose work was responsible for merging Ronnie Raymond and Jason Rusch together to become Firestorm.

Mention is made of Hudson University being the college where Rusch and Stein worked on the F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. project.  In the comics, Hudson University was the college that employed Dr. Stein when he became one-half of the Firstorm matrix.

Captain Cold tells The Flash to meet him at the corner of Porter and Main. This is likely a reference to comics artist Howard Porter, who worked on The Flash with writer Geoff Johns.

Leonard Snart's "sis" who helps him and Mick Rory escape at the end of the episode is Lisa Snart.  In the comics, Leonard Snart's younger sister became a super-villain called The Golden Glider.


Technobabble

The remnants of the door to the vintage car warehouse that Captain Cold and Heatwave broke into indicates that the door had zero viscoelasticity when it hit the ground- i.e. steel shattered like glass.

Cisco and Dr. Well coat the ballistic shields used by CCPD's SWAT teams with a compacted heating ribbon designed to repel temperature attacks - particularly Absolute Zero temperatures like those generated by Captain Cold's freeze ray.

S.C.U.B.A. is an acronym for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.

F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. is an acronym for Fusion Ignition Research Experiment & Science of Transmutation RNA & Molecular Structures.

Transmutation is the process of altering the structure of an element by unzipping its atoms and rebuilding it to create an entirely new element.

Heatwave's gun generates Absolute Hot (aka Planck Temperature) the same way Captain Cold's freeze ray generates Absolute Cold.

Cisco is able to find where Caitlin is being held captive through a combination of analyzing traffic-stop cameras to track Cold's vehicle and then figuring out which warehouse has the heat turned on.


Dialogue Triumphs

Dr. Wells: Look, Barry.  Cisco and I will work with Joe and the police to devise a way to catch Cold. Yes, I said it, Cisco. As soon as it came out of my mouth, I heard it.

Barry: I told Iris.
Joe: You told Iris you're The Flash?
Barry: Oh, no.  No, no, no, no. Sorry, no.  I told her how I felt about her.
Joe: Oh God.
Barry: Mmm-hmm.
Joe: What did she say?
Barry: Well... still moving in with Eddie, isn't she?

(After being asked why the police should trust STAR Labs' tech to protect them)
Cisco:
 You're right. You're right. You shouldn't trust us. What happened a year ago - that was out fault. And we can't change the past. As much as we wish we could. But tomorrow is a different story. Tomorrow is a different thing. We just want the chance to make things better.

Heatwave: (to a group of cops) Why do they call you people The Heat?!  I'M THE HEAT!

Cold: Give me one reason I don't kill you right now.
Heatwave: It's gonna be hard to find someone else to listen to your winning speeches.
Cold: You lost it out there. Just like the last job. You lost focus. Became obsessed.
Heatwave: I'm obsessed?  What about you? You're usually counting the seconds. Got the whole planned out.  Dotting T's. Crossing  I's. But all you care about now is The Flash.

Wells: (To Barry) I hope we're not enemies.

Dr. Wells: So, potentially, these two guns could cancel each other out.
Cisco: Yeah. But to do that you'd have to make them cross streams.
Barry: You mean like Ghostbusters?
Cisco: That film was surprisingly scientifically accurate!
Dr. Wells: And really quite funny.


Continuity

Barry is now fast enough that he can outrun a heat-seeking missile, grab a hold of it, and throw it before it explodes. Dr. Wells notes his reaction to stimuli while moving at super-speed has improved dramatically over the past month.

Cisco officially dubs "the man in the yellow suit" The Reverse Flash, pointing out the man named himself in 109.

The painting that Captain Cold and Heatwave steal is named, appropriately enough, Fire and Ice.

Cisco reminds everyone that he built Captain Cold's gun, as we discovered in 104.

Jason Rusch mentions having just gotten hired at Mercury Labs, last seen in 109.

Either Leonard Snart or Mick Rory is capable of hacking a television broadcast signal.

At the episode's end, Cisco reclaims the Freeze and Heat rays on behalf of STAR Labs.

Though nothing definite is said about abandoning the Anti-Flash squad Eddie Thawne formed two episodes earlier, it is made clear that many of the cops have a positive opinion of The Flash.

The existence of The Flash is outed to the public of Central City.

Iris moves out of Joe's house as Barry decides to move back in.


The Bottom Line

The episode is a little slow to start and some moments of the final battle are a little goofy, even allowing for the fact that Flash comics in general tend to be a bit silly.  Nevertheless, its an enjoyable episode made more enjoyable by all the cliches that are blown apart as the story proceeds. No cops living in fear of our hero. No secretive war to save a city that doesn't know he exists. The Flash is out in the spotlight and a friend to all, as he should be.

No comments:

Post a Comment