The Flash Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 22 - Infantino Street

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



Plot

With only twenty-four hours to go until Iris's death at the hands of Savitar, Barry is more desperate than ever. He has an idea on where to get a power source for Tracy Brand's Speed Force Bazooka but it will require the expertise of a master thief to acquire, leading Barry to seek out the help of Captain Cold. Meanwhile, Vibe gears up for his own fateful battle with Killer Frost.


Influences

The Flash: Terminal Velocity


Goofs

The last episode ended with Barry seeming to have some idea about where to find a power source for the Speed Force Bazooka and a teaser shot of King Shark with some alien technology. This episode starts with Barry completely clueless about what they will do until Cisco detects the alien technology in ARGUS using STAR Labs satellite.

Barry thinks to have where Iris is being hidden kept secret from him so Savitar won't know it but doesn't think about how Savitar will know all about his plan to build the Speed Force Bazooka four years early?

Where the heck is Julian Albert while all this is going on?


Performances

Grant Gustin is genuinely terrifying as Savitar.

Wentworth Miller steals the show as Leonard Snart, as per usual.


Artistry

The cold-open, set to Aurora's 'Murder Song', is a brilliant scene on every level. Direction. Cinematography. The non-verbal acting. Everything fits together perfectly.

However briefly, it's always a treat to hear Jesse L. Martin sing.


Flash Facts

The episode title - and the name of the street where Barry saw Iris die when he traveled to the future -  is a nod to artist Carmine Infantino, who co-created Barry Allen and drew a number of classic Flash comics, including The Flash Of Two Worlds story where Jay Garrick and Barry Allen first teamed up. He also co-created the character of Doctor Alchemy.


Barry makes a reference to the movie Taken, when he describes Snart as having "a particular set of skills."

One of the cells Snart and Barry pass in the ARGUS high-security wing is labeled with the name Cheetah. This is presumably a reference to a DC Comics super-villain best known for her rivalry with Wonder Woman. Given the close proximity of Gorilla Grodd and other bestial villains, it seems likely that this is the Barbara Ann Minerva incarnation of The Cheetah.

The third Cheetah - and the incarnation best known to modern audiences - is Dr. Barbara Ann Minerva, who first appeared in Wonder Woman #7 (August 1987). An ambitious and selfish woman, Dr, Minerva was an archaeologist who became magically cursed. Details differ as to what god did the cursing depending on whether one goes by the pre-Crisis, New 52 or Rebirth origins but the end result is the same regardless. Dr. Minerva was trapped in the form of a were-cheetah. This version of the Cheetah had super-speed and super-strength of a level high enough to go toe-to-toe in a fight with Wonder Woman.


Technobabble

During the Dominator Invasion, ARGUS acquired a piece of technology from the ship that crashed in Central City.

ARGUS headquarters is covered with meta-human power dampeners. These will prevent Barry from just running in and out of ARGUS to steal the Dominator technology.

Additionally, ARGUS HQ is equipped with surveillance cameras, eye-scanners palm-print scanners, heat-sensors and laser-sensors. Cisco notes this is just what he was able to find out about the first floor of the building.

ARGUS HQ uses key cards, retinal scanners and a verbal password to let people past the front desk. Not even the director is exempt from this requirement. Cisco makes a fake key card and contact lenses to get bast the scanner.

Barry uses HR's personal transmogrifier to make himself look like Lyla Michaels.

The alien technology is kept in an ARGUS cell behind a 25-ton door that can withstand a 30-megaton nuclear blast. Additionally, the door is protected The Montgomery 3000 - an advanced lock that is not only bomb-proof but also requires the voice-prints of three different people reciting three different passcodes. According to Cisco the whole system cost 10 million dollars to build.

Most sharks are cold-blooded. Some, like the Great White Shark (which is what King Shark is, in part) are partially warm-blooded or endotherms. This means that sufficiently cold temperatures (i.e. anything below 53.6 degrees Fahrenheit) can make a shark fall asleep.

The Philosopher's Stone is made of calcified Speed Force energy.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Lyla Michaels has agreed to meet with Barry and Cisco but requires they explain what they need.)
Cisco: Soooo... we're building a cannon.
Barry: Right!
Cisco: Bazooka... thing. It's a sort of trap.
Barry: In order to turn it on, we need something to power it. Something extremely powerful and regenerative.
Lyla: Okay...
Cisco: Yeah, so, I tasked our satellite to look for anything that might have our specific power requirements. And - wouldn't you know it? We found something that has exactly what we need. (laughs exaggeratedly) And it's right there in that building! Crazy, huh?!
Lyla: I really don't think you should be spying on me, Cisco.
Cisco: (smile fading) Is it spying if we're friends?

Barry: I wanna recruit you for a mission.
Snart: I'm already helping a bunch of idiot do-gooders. Sorry. I'm up to my fuzzy hood in teamwork.
Barry: (cheerfully) Would it help if I said please?
Snart: No. And you already have a bunch of superhero types in your life. Why ask me?
Barry: Well, you have a... particular set of skills.
Snart: (nodding) Great movie. Last time we tried to be buddy-buddy it didn't work out so well. For you. Why trust me now?
(There is a long pause as Barry bites his lip.)
Snart: Spit it out, or I'm going to step onto that ship and pretend like this conversation never happened.
Barry: (hesitating a moment longer)  Iris.
Snart: Oy! The girlfriend.
Barry: Fiancee.
Snart: Mazel Tov. What about her?
Barry: If you don't help me, she's going to die.
Snart: True love. That's your pitch?
Barry: (shrugs) It's all I've got.
Snart: And I assume saving your girlfriend requires us doing something... less than lawful?
Barry: We need to break into ARGUS and steal an alien power source.
Snart: The Flash? A thief?
(Snart looks to one side and waves his hand as if "weighing" the option.)
Snart: That's my kind of mission. One condition: My rules.
Barry: Your rules.

(Killer Frost watches Savitar repairing his armor.)
Killer Frost: Pretty badass. Very god-like.
Savitar: (scoffs) Well... "dress for the job you want."

(Killer Frost questions if Savitar is ready to kill Iris at the appointed time.)
Savitar: Well, it's either her or me. If she doesn't die, I'm never born.
Killer Frost: Right. But... behind that pretty little face of yours, you still remember everything that Barry does. So you remember growing up with Iris? Falling in love with her? Kising her? You sure you're ready to end her life?
(Savitar stands, slowly and deliberately, looking Killer Frost right in the eyes.)
Savitar: What I remember... is being created as a disposable life. Something to be thrown away when Barry Allen was done with me. He didn't care about me. Why should I care about his love?

Snart: There are only four rules you need to remember. Make the plan. Execute the plan. Expect the plan to go off the rails. Throw away the plan.

(Barry has just knocked out two ARGUS guards.)
Snart: My, my, my. Getting rather violent in your young age?
Barry: Yeah, what were you doing?!
(Snart shrugs his wrists and holds up the handcuffs that were binding him a second ago.)
Snart: Magic.

(Barry and Snart have reached a cell in the high-security wing of ARGUS. They can see the technology through a window in the door. Barry gets on the radio as Snart moves to look at the lock.)
Barry: Hey - uh, so... we found it.
(Cut to STAR Labs. Cisco and HR are listening on the comms.)
HR: Jack! Pot!
Barry: (over the radio) But there seems to be some kind of signal interference at the end of the hall and the lock is The Montgomery 3000.
Cisco: (sighing) The Montgomery 3000!
HR: Is that bad?
Cisco: Well, we're looking at a 25-ton door that can withstand a 30-megaton nuclear blast. And aside from being completely bomb-proof, The Montgomery 3000 can only be unlocked by a voice-recognition system, necessitating three different passcodes from three different people. And as if that weren't already enough, the thing costs ten million dollars to build!
(Cut back to ARGUS HQ where Barry looks crestfallen... until he hears a click behind him. He turns and we see Snart standing by the now open lock panel, smirking.)
Snart: 37 seconds. I must be out of practice.
Barry: (To Cisco) Well... ARGUS should ask for their money back.

(As Barry and Snart enter the fog-shrouded room holding the alien technology, Barry jumps as he hears King Shark growl before remembering that the beast-man is asleep.)
Snart: Reminds me of 'Jaws'. They didn't show the shark because they couldn't afford to make it look good.

Barry: Tell me, Snart. Did you think I had it in me? To leave you behind?
Snart: I wasn't sure. Always known you had the potential to be as ruthless as they come. Your history made sure of that, same as mine. Who knows? Maybe that's why we get along? You see the good in me. I see the bad in you.
Barry: Maybe.
Snart: Piece of advice. Stop trying to beat Savitar at his own game. Your goodness is your strength. And call me sentimental, but The Flash should remain a hero.
Barry: (offer a hand) Take care of yourself, Snart.
Snart: (taking the hand and shaking it) No strings on me.
(Barry runs off as Snart turns and walks to The Waverider, shaking his head.)
Snart: (confused) No strings on me?


Continuity

Infantino Street was identified as the site of Iris's murder in 309.

Cisco is seen reviewing a text from Felicity Smoak, reporting that she can't think of a power source for the Speed Force Bazooka that will work either.

Iris makes a video for Barry while he's out getting her caviar.

Lyla Michaels from Arrow makes an appearance, telling Barry and Cisco they can't borrow the power source Cisco detected.

Lyla refers to the Dominator ship crashing in Central City in 308.

ARGUS HQ is said to be more secure than The Pentagon.

Captain Cold refers to the events of 123, saying that the last time he and The Flash teamed up it didn't end well for Barry.

Wally takes himself, Joe and Iris to Harry Wells' lab at STAR Labs on Earth Two.

Barry is competent enough as a fighter to take on two ARGUS agents at once and knock them unconscious without using his powers.

Captain Cold is capable enough as an escape artist to slip out of a pair of handcuffs.

Iris and Barry switched rooms when they were 16 so that Iris would have a window she could sneak out of past curfew.

Joe once stopped the family from eating out for a month so that he would have the money to go on a cruise with a bunch of famous blues singers without the kids.

Joe used to sing Junior Walker's 'What Does It Take' to Iris when she was younger.

Iris gives Joe her engagement ring for safe-keeping.

While going through the ultra-secure wing of ARGUS, Barry and Snart pass the cells of Grodd, Cheetah and Cupid. Barry guesses this is where Waller kept her Suicide Squad agents.

Barry refers to the events of 314 and how he captured Grodd.

Cupid - the murderous Green Arrow fan-girl - was last seen in A514 but was being held in Iron Heights Prison. It was mentioned in A416 that she was released from custody in exchange for her services rendered to the Suicide Squad during A317. Presumably she was sent to Iron Heights instead of ARGUS since Amanda Waller was no longer around to make use of her at that point.

King Shark was last seen in 215.

Captain Cold is a big fan of Shark Week and has a surprising amount of information on sharks committed to memory.

The Waverider was equipped with Cable TV.

HR asks Tracy Brand to join Team Flash on a permanent basis.

Snart refers to the events of L109  where he lost a hand while fighting Chronos, after seeing King Shark's hand removed by a door slamming down on its arm.

King Shark has the power of near-instantaneous regeneration.


Snart's last words in the episode - "No strings on me" - are a reference to his final words before his death in L115.

Savitar breaks Wally West's knee.

Savitar is able to resist the effects of The Speed Force Bazooka since - after escaping from the trap in the first place - he made sure he'd never be able to be trapped by the same energy again. He does this by using The Philosopher's stone, which he originally acquired after Barry threw it into The Speed Force.

As the episode ends, it appears that Savitar was successful in killing Iris and that Killer Frost has injured Cisco, if not outright killed him.


Locations

A forest in Siberia -1892.
Earth Two - STAR Labs.
Star City - ARGUS HQ.


Untelevised Adventures

At some point during their first year together, The Legends had a mission in Siberia in 1892. This is where Barry retrieves Captain Cold. We don't know precisely when this took place in the timeline of that series, but - based on Snart's reference to having lost a hand like King Shark - it took place sometime after the events of L109.


The Fridge Factor

It's worth mentioning again that Iris had no role in the second half of this season apart from being The Girl Hostage.


The Bottom Line

I'll say this for Infantino Street - I genuinely have no idea what will happen next week. I can give it credit for surprising me if nothing else. Unfortunately, the emotional center of the episode - Iris' death - still fails to feel as heavy as it should. The best bits of the episode, unsurprisingly, involve Wentworth Miller playing it cool against an agitated Grant Gustin. It really drives home how this show might be better if it had focused more on utilizing The Rogues in a capacity like in the comics rather than focusing on big over-riding arcs focused upon a single criminal mastermind. But that's neither here nor there. I admire the craft and the art that went into the episode even if I fail to feel much in the way of emotional catharsis regarding it.

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1, Episode 16 - Legendary

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





Plot

The Time Masters control of the time-stream has been shattered but Vandal Savage is still at large and he still holds Carter and Kendra hostage. Still, in the wake of Leonard Snart's sacrifice, Rip Hunter is unwilling to further risk the lives of his crew now that their destinies are their own. To that end, Rip returns them all to May 2016.

But the team aren't ready to admit defeat just yet, though Sara finds her resolve tested when she learns of her sister's death. And when a clue from Kendra sent back through time gives them a lead on where to find Savage, the team will have one more chance to prove themselves legendary.


Influences

Doctor Who (the general themes of predestination, time being rewritten and a complex story involving time-travel trickery to defeat a great evil), the Back To The Future movies (Rip's riding his ship upward after seemingly falling to his death is a nod to a similar scene from Back To The Future II, the general plot of using time travel to prevent a corrupt timeline), the movie Men In Black (Rip's knock-out device seems similar to memory-erasing machine used by the MiB) and the JSA comics of Geoff Johns, David Goyer and James Robinson (complex time travel plot, the connection between Thanagarian technology and Ancient Egypt, the surprise cameo at the end.)


Goofs

Kendra just happening to run into the soldier whose helmet wound up in Rip's collection of historical memorabilia is completely unbelievable.

Why are The Thanagarians blasting their technology into space, hidden inside meteorites? That doesn't seem like the action of the war-like race from the comics, whom the DCTVU version of The Thanigarians seem to resemble based on what little we've heard.

In previous episodes, it was too dangerous for Stein and Jax to become Firestorm on The Waverider due to the energy released when they merge. For some reason, this isn't an issue when they merge in the loading bay in this episode to practice transmuting other objects.

There's a lot of questions that are left unanswered, particularly regarding Jax's subplot. Did he manage to save his father? What did he tell his mom about his being gone for five months?


Performances

Again, Caity Lotz is the episode MVP. The scenes where Sara copes with the news of her sister's death - both in mourning with her father and in her violent reaction to Rip's refusal to take her back to stop it from happening - are the emotional high points of the episode.


Artistry

The direction, fight choreography and editing combine to make the final battle with Savage the best sequence in the show's history.

The scene in which Rip sees his wife and son and seems to make peace with them is well-shot and well-scored.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

Instead of the usual opening with Rip Hunter's voice-over, this episode opens with Gideon speaking and a quick visual recap of the first season.

Mick returns to robbery, giving Snart's cold gun to his new partner. He then kills said partner, when he proves to be even more hot-headed than Mick, killing a helpless security guard. This is something of a nod to the code of conduct utilized by The Rogues in the original The Flash comics.

In addition to rules against drug use, endangering the innocent and the use of lethal force except in self-defense, The Rogues have rules regarding their membership, weapons and one criminal making use of another's gear and gimmick. No one can take up a Rogue's identity while the original Rogue still lives. Also, simply possessing the Rogue's weapons or costume is not enough to assume their identity, even if the original Rogue is dead. This is why the second Mirror Master and Trickster had to prove themselves worthy of a place among The Rogues before being accepted.

Firestorm is able to break the bonds holding Carter and Kendra with their bare hands. In the comics, Firestorm also possesses super-strength.

In the fight with the Nazis, Firestorm accidentally transforms a German rifle into dust. Stein identifies this power as transmutation - changing the molecular properties of an object.  In the comics, this is one of Firestorm's primary abilities and perhaps the greatest power they have.

In the original comics, Firestorm's transmutation ability was originally limited to their merged physical form and inorganic material. Firestorm could, for instance, change lead into an equal amount of gold but could not reduse a human being into the basic elements making up their body. Firestorm also has to have a basic understanding of the elements involved in order to manipulate them. In the comics, this prevented Ronnie Raymond (a poor student) from being able to alter objects during the period he was able to become Firestorm without Martin Stein's scientific know-how guiding him.

This episode establishes a link between Carter and Kendra's powers and the alien race known as The Thangarians.  This link was originally created in the comics by writers Geoff Johns, David Goyer and James Robinson in their JSA series as a means of tidying up the rather messy history of the Hawkman franchise at that time. To make a long story short, it was established that the Nth Metal which Prince Khufu and Chay-Ara (later Carter Hall and Kendra Saunders) used to fly was taken from a Thangarian ship that crashed in Ancient Egypt.

This episode marks the first time Ray is able to use his ATOM suit to shrink another object. In the comics, Ray Palmer was occasionally able to shrink other objects, but he had to restore them to their original size within a matter of minutes or they would explode. Given that he was shrinking an object that was already about to explode, it is unclear if Ray's tech in the DCTVU has the same limitation.

The mystery man in the final scene identifies himself as Rex Tyler.  In the comics, Rex Tyler was the first superhero to use the alias Hourman.

The costume Rex Tyler wears appears to be based on the design of the second Hourman, Rick Tyler (Rex's son), with a primarily black color scheme and red-trimmed bracers.

Rex Tyler also identifies himself as a member of The Justice Society of America. Historically, the JSA were the world's first superhero team. In the DC Comics Universe, they were either the first superhero team on pre-Crisis Earth Two or the first superhero team in the post-Crisis DC Universe.


Technobabble

The Waverider has sophisticated hologram projectors. Rip uses this to create the illusion that he walked of the ship with the rest of the team when he first drops them off in Star City, May 2016.

When taking off, The Waverider left behind a quantum signature. Ray builds a radio beacon. Stein builds a quantum entangler. Both devices should be capable of signaling The Waverider, by broadcasting on its quantum signature.

Subspace interference and improper adjustment of temporal polarity can affect the ability of a signal to travel through time.

Rip has a hand-held device that can knock a person unconscious by flashing a bright light in their eyes. He uses this to subdue an enraged Sara, when she's demanding he take her back to save her sister from Damien Darhk.

Chronometric Repositioning is a phenomena where temporal changes can reverberate through the timeline, physically moving an object from one place to another. In this case, Kendra's putting a note inside the helmet she recognized from Rip's room caused it to move several feet across the room in the future.

The blood of Carter Hall and Kendra Saunders is the key to unlocking the Thanigarian technology contained within the Nth Metal meteorites.  Vandal Savage contrives a way to use their blood with the three meteorites to erase time, travel back to the year 1700 B.C., restarting his immortal life as a virtual god.

Transmutation is the process by which one changes the molecular properties of an object, like changing a gun into dust or a meteor into water. It's also how Firestorm materializes their uniform when Jax and Stein merge. Stein further describes it as a literal function of mind over matter.

Stein calculates that Savage means to create a temporal paradox by destroying the Earth three times at three different points in time, during a celestial alignment between Earth and Thanagar. This action will generate a time quake that would return the Earth to the point of the first chrono-thermic reaction in Earth's history (i.e. Ancient Egypt in 1700 BC, when Savage was first empowered). The alignment points Savage muse utilize are 1958, 1975 and 2021.

It was previously said that only Kendra or Carter could kill Savage using items exposed, as they were, to the meteor's radiation. Stein postulates that the same radiation that grants Savage his immortality also makes him vulnerable while he is directly exposed to a source of the same radiation. This means that they can kill Savage without the need for a fancy Nth Metal weapon or Carter and Kendra's presence, but they have to attack while he's being bathed in the radiation of a Thangarian meteor.

Firstorm is unable to transmute the final meteor because the radiation build-up is too progressive.

Approaching the sun, the solar array on The Waverider is operating an efficiency of 12,000%. This gives them enough power to make one emergency jump back to just after they left Earth to fly into the sun.


Dialogue Triumphs

(After Rip abandons them in May 2016)
Mick: I never liked that guy.

Rip: Despite my wishes to pursue Savage alone, it seems that you're all intent on seeing this thing through to the bitter-
(Sara suddenly punches Rip and puts a knife to his throat.)
Mick: Oh! Speaking of bitter...
Sara: You knew! You dropped us off five months later because you knew!
Jax; Knew what?
Sara: You knew that Laurel was going to die! And now you're going to take me back. And I'm going to save my sister!
Rip: I'm afraid -
Sara: You should be afraid!
(There is a pause as everyone watches Sara, unsure what to do next.)
Rip: I can't allow -
Sara: (punching the wall next to Rip's head with her free hand) I don't care about the timeline! You're taking me back... NOW!
Ray: Look, Sara - I'm sure there's a valid reason why Rip-
Sara; (turning to Ray) Stay out of this!
(While she is distracted, Rip is able to slip a device from his sleeve that flashes a light and kocks Sara out. Mick moves forward and catches her before she hits the ground.) 
Jax: What the hell, Rip?!

(Rip enters into Sara's room. Sara is sitting on her bed.)
Rip: Please try very hard not to kill me.
Sara: (with forced calmness) Rip. Please take me back. I need your help. I need to save my sister.
Rip: And you know that I would do this for you, Sara, but I just can't.
Sara: (up and moving across the room) I have never asked you for anything! And you of all people should understand! You have tried everything. We - WE - have tried everything to save your family-
Rip: And I would not wish the pain of that failure on anyone.
Sara: I would rather live with that pain than this!
Rip: And that's just the thing, Sara. Look, if you were able to try and save Laurel, then you wouldn't be alive at all.
Sara: Then fine. I don't care!
Rip: When we left... when I recruited you... we altered the timeline. Now, had it remained the same, then Damien Darhk, would have... (sighs) he would have killed not only you and your sister... but your father as well.
Sara: But Rip, if- if we go back, and we take the team-
Rip: - the outcome will be exactly the same.
Sara: You don't know that!
Rip: I'm afraid that I do.
Sara: No! There has to be a way! Rip, I have to be able to do something!
Rip: I'm so sorry.
Sara: (sitting down, sobbing) I can't... I can't do this without my sister! I can't!
Rip: Oh, yes you can. You are one of the strongest people I have ever met, Sara. Laurel...Laurel may be beyond your saving. But Kendra and Carter? They might not be...

Mick: (on seeing the electrocuted Savage) Dammit! I wanted to be the one to kill him! Again, I mean!

(A second Waverider crashes in front of the team.  A man in a black and red uniform with a hooded cape emerges and approaches them.)
Man: Is this 2016?! Is this May 2016?!
Jax: Yeah?
Man: You're exactly where you said you'd be. (gesturing at The Waverider) Do not get on that ship. If you do, you're all dead.
Mick: Says who?
Man: Says you, Mr. Rory. You sent me.
Rip: I'm sorry. Who exactly are you?
Man: (pulling back his hood to reveal short-cut hair) My name is Rex Tyler. I'm a member of the Justice Society of America.


Continuity

Rip plans to return to The Refuge from 112, to return the teams' past selves to where they should have been.

Rip drops everyone off in May 2016 rather than January 2016.  It is later revealed that he did this because if Sara had been present when Damien Darhk killed Laurel Lance in April 2016, Sara would have been killed, along with Quentin Lance.

Sara learns of Laurel's death, which occurred in A418, from her father. She later visits Laurel's grave with him.

Sara's visit to Quentin in The Bunker (aka Team Arrow's current hideout) seems to take place during A422, when Quentin was watching the base while Green Arrow and Spartan were rescuing Speedy from HIVE as Overwatch was off-site trying to avert a launch of every nuclear missile on Earth.

Mick returns to robbing. He recruits a new partner, whom he gives Snart's cold gun. When the new partner, proves to be even more hot-headed than Mick, Mick sets him on fire and takes the gun back.

H.G. Wells' childhood nickname was Bertie - a fact Martin Stein knows while playing Trivial Pursuit, because of his experiences in 111.

Martin Stein was never a history buff before his time on The Waverider.

Both Martin Stein and Ray Palmer build devices to try and signal The Waverider.

Rip refers to several of the team's previous misadventures including a bar fight in 1975 (101), a bar fight in the Old West (111), putting dwarf-star technology in the hands of terrorists (102) and being turned into a scary bird monster (108).

Vandal Savage speaks German.

Firestorm is strong enough to break the bonds holding Kendra and Carter with their bare hands.

Firestorm is able to transmute a German rifle into dust by touching it. This is the first time they've used the transmutation power that is one of Firestorm's main abilities in the comics.

The Waverider is capable of traveling through time and outer-space.

The future Carter has no memory of being on The Waverider, but he does remember that his name once was Carter Hall.

Jax identifies the Meteor that Savage was stealing in 1944 as similar to the one he saw in Harmony Falls, Oregon in 1958, during 108.

Firestorm breaks Ray and Kendra's lucky vase from 109 trying to transmute it.

Savage's ultimate goal in 108 was to seize the meteor that landed in Harmony Falls.  Ray and Mick move to stop him here.

Savage's ultimate goal in 102 was to buy the second meteor with the money he made from the sale of a nuclear weapon. Sara and Firestorm move to stop him here.

Savage takes the third meteor that he stole from the Nazis in 1944 to St. Roch in 2021. Rip and Carter move to stop him here.

Savage is killed by fire in 1958, having his neck snapped in 1975 and being stabbed in the heart with an Nth Metal dagger before being thrown into an electrical generator in 2021.

Ray disables the first meteor in 1958 by shrinking it. This is the first time he is able to use his technology to shrink an object besides himself.

Firestorm disables the second meteor in 1975 by transmuting it into water.

Rip disables the third meteor in 2021 by flying it into the sun.

Rip elects to continue policing the time-stream because somebody has to in the wake of the Time Masters' depowering.

Sara decides to join Rip after a talk with her father at Laurel Lance's grave.

Stein decides to join Rip after his wife (who talked with Jax) says she thinks it would be good for him.

Rip takes Mick Rory back to Central City in 2013 so he can say his goodbyes to a completely confused Len Snart.

Mick Rory and Ray Palmer also elect to join with Rip.

Kendra and Carter decline the offer to stay on The Waverider, saying they want to see what life holds for them now that Savage is gone.


Location

Star City - May 2016
Central City - May 2016
Saint-Lo, France - 1944
Harmony Falls, Oregon - 1958
Norway - 1975
St. Roch - 2021.
Central City - 2013


Untelevised Adventures

We don't see just how Kendra was able to escape from Savage in 1944.


The Bottom Line

An action-packed hour that still somehow seems like it isn't doing enough. Good as it is to see Sara and Mick get closure, Jax and Ray kinda get shafted on their respective homecomings. I wish I could say I'm sad to see Kendra and Carter go but they were always the weakest link on the team and there's really no reason for them to stick around with Savage gone. The final two minutes, however, have be chomping at the bit for this fall. I'm not sure how The JSA is getting brought into this mix but I can't wait to find out!

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1, Episode 15 - Destiny

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



Plot

With most of the team in the custody of The Time Masters and Vandal Savage back on the way to his proper place in time, things have never looked bleaker for The Legends. But Captain Cold and The Canary are still free!


Influences

Star Wars (Snart and Sara's hiding on-board The Waverider mimics the smuggling compartments on the Millennium Falcon), Doctor Who (the general time travel trickery plot, The Time Masters act just like The Time Lords, the free will vs. predestination theme and a mention of reversing the polarity), Back To The Future (Jax working with the past Stein to fix a time machine is reminiscent of Marty McFly working with the younger Doc Brown and the free will vs. predestination theme), the film 2001: A Space Odyssey (the sequence where the crashing time-ship computers burst into song mirrors HAL's break-down), Pinocchio (reference is made to being a puppet without strings, Snart quotes the song "I've Got No Strings" from the Disney version) the animated movie Justice League: Starcrossed (idea of a Thanagarian invasion of Earth) and Neil Gaiman's The Sandman (the concept of The Oculus is basically a high-tech version of The Book Of Destiny.)


Goofs

How is it The Time Masters are able to predict The Legends going after the Oculus Wellspring but are totally unprepared for Jax's arrival from 2016 in the jump-ship? Logically, that should have been completely under the control since all of Jax's actions took place outside of The Vanishing Point.

If Rip Hunter saw Ray Palmer die trying to destroy The Oculus Wellspring, but they are able to control their destinies while inside The Vanishing Point, why didn't he try to have anyone except Ray work on disabling The Oculus computer?


Performances

Honestly, the whole cast is on-point tonight and everyone gets at least one great scene. Arthur Darvill's heart-breaking realization that even in victory over The Time Masters and Destiny, he still couldn't save his family. The scenes between Brandon Routh and Dominic Purcell in the kitchen.  The scenes between Victor Garber and Franz Drameh as they try to repair the Jump Ship. The final scene between Ciara Reene and Casper Crump. And every single moment Wentworth Miller and Caity Lotz are on-screen, but especially when they are together.


Artistry

The special effects work throughout the episode is of cinematic quality.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

Druce claims that in 2175 a group of aliens called The Thanagarians invade the Earth and only Vandal Savage's leadership can preserve the human race. In the DC Comics Universe, The Thanagarians are a war-like race of winged humanoids.

Some versions of Hawkman and Hawkgirl in the comics and other DC Comics cartoon series were Thanagarians.


Technobabble

Martin Stein must merge with Jefferson Jackson periodically to maintain nuclear cohesion.

Gideon uploaded herself into the latency core of The Waverider to avoid being wiped out by The Time Masters.

The restraints binding Kendra in Savage's timeship are made of Tiberian Steel.

Mick Rory was only given a partial induction when he was transformed into Chronos.

The Oculus Viewing Chamber is the Time Master's most powerful window into the past, present and future. It is the source of all their information on the timeline. It's existence is known only to The High Council of The Time Masters. It not allows them to view any event in space and time - it also allows them to shape time as they see fit.

Choice and Free Will are illusions thanks to The Time Master's manipulation of The Oculus. The only place in the universe where free will and choices are truly possible is within The Vanishing Point itself. Rip says this is most likely due to The Vanishing Point existing outside of Time.

As they are repairing the Jumpship, Jax says that Stein is drawing too much power from the sequestrian manifold.

Gideon establishes an uplink with the omnimatrix mainframe of The Time Masters, so that Rip and Ray can remotely disable their tractor beam.

Past Stein tells Jax not to forget to initiate the quantum attenuator once he locks onto The Vanishing Point.

The Oculus is a massive temporal computer, most likely powered by a scaled-down supernova. Deactivating the core-contained supernova should create an anomalistic event. (i.e. a very big explosion.) Ray describes the explosion as, on a scale of 1 to 10, a googolplex (i.e. 10 to the power of 1 followed by 100 zeroes)

At one point, Ray must reverse the polarity matrix of The Oculus computer.

There is a fail-safe to prevent tampering with The Oculus. In order for The Oculus to be destroyed, someone must maintain physical contact with the fail-safe lever.

Tabula Rasa is a Latin phrase meaning "blank slate". Ray quotes the phrase when referring to the status of their destinies in the wake of the destruction of The Oculus.


Dialogue Triumphs

(As Rip finishes his sales pitch to The Legends)
Ray: So what do you think?
Snart: I think that's five minutes of my life I'm not getting back.
Stein: He just showed us the entire world in flames.You can't turn your back on that!
Snart: Observe.
(Snart and Rory turn around and leave.)

Druce: You were a fugitive from justice.
Rip: You're helping Vandal Savage take over the world. I have a feeling that our definition of 'justice' may differ somewhat.

Snart: Let's get out of here.
Sara: Wait! What about the team?
Snart: Nothing more we can do for them.
Sara: You're just gonna leave Mick?
Snart: If the Time Masters are half as twisted as Mick said, there's an excellent chance Mick is no longer Mick. Now why aren't we flying yet?!
Sara: Because I'm not going anywhere! And even if we wanted to, we're in a hanger surrounded by an entire armada of timeships!
Snart: It's The Waverider! We've got guns! We can blast our way out!
Sara: This isn't Bonnie and Clyde. And I'm not going anywhere without the rest of the team.
(Snart draws his gun and aims it at Sara.)
Snart: Maybe I didn't make myself clear.
Sara: Don't do that. Don't act like you're that same cold-hearted bastard that I first met. I remember Russia. And you were the one who told me not to kill Stein.
Snart: Yeah, because you seem to have a problem with being a killer. I, however, don't.
Sara: Prove it. Shoot me.
(The two stare each other down. Suddenly, the phone in Rip's room starts ringing. Sara goes to answer it without a word.)
Sara: ... hello?
Gideon: Hello, Ms. Lance.
Sara: Gideon, you're alive!
Gideon: If by being "alive", you mean that my operating system is intact, yes.

Declan: After we're finished, temporal criminals and time pirates alike will quake at the sound of your boot steps.
Rory: Mmmm.  Well, for your sake you'd better hope that plan works. Because if it doesn't, that boot's gonna crush your skull.

Ray: What did they do you?
Rip: They showed me the truth.

(Stein allows a piece of the Jumpship to overheat after Jax warned him about it happening.)
Stein: Well... you were right.
Jax: (sarcastically) Oh, don't sound so surprised!
Stein: Well, it's not often an auto mechanic knows more than a nuclear physicist.
Jax: You know, I forgot how arrogant you were.
Stein: "Were"? Why are you referring to me in the past tense? Do you witness my death?
Jax: Relax. You don't die.
Stein: Horribly maimed?

(Snart tells Sara the story of his pinky ring.)
Snart: Three weeks of planning and all I have to show for it...
Sara: ...was a lousy pinky ring. (sarcastically) So sad.
Snart: (sarcastically) Considering i'm about to trade my life for nothing, I think I came out ahead.

(Rory is back in his Chronos armor. He enters the prison block along with Declan. Snart holds his gun on Rory.)
Snart: Put the gun down, Mick.
Declan: Chronos. Fire.
(Rory take's the safety off his gun as he has a stare-down with Snart.)
Rory: Sure thing.
(Rory turns his gun and shoots Declan. He then takes his helmet off and approaches the fatally wounded, but still breathing Declan.)
Rory: As I recall, I made you a certain promise.
Declan: No, I beg of you, no!
(We cut to Rory's face as he steps on Declan's head and a sickening squish is heard.)

Jax: Oh! By the way, I'm going to be real pissed about this whole roofie thing. But I do get over it.
Stein: Roofie thing? I- I would never dream-
Jax: Yeah, you do. (chuckles) But it's okay. It's actually the best decision I never made. (pauses) The future... you want to know what happens?
Stein: No. No. It's - it's alright. I- I know enough. The young man in front of me is proof that something must have gone right on this adventure.

(After Ray suggests destroying The Oculus.)
Sara: I'm with Ray.
Rip: If I'm going to be someone's puppet, I'm gonna be the one who cuts his own bloody strings.
Rory: And I like blowing stuff up.
Ray: We set out on this mission to stop Savage and save the world. Become Legends. Change our fates. That mission hasn't changed.
Snart: This is madness. (smirks) I like it.

Rory: The Time Masters have been known to make mistakes, you know.
Ray: But what if those mistakes were all part of the plan? Actually, I gotta stop thinking about it. The temporal implications are infinite.
Rory: That's why I don't think.

(Snart stands in the doorway of Sara's room. Sara is lying on her bed. Snart holds up his card deck.)
Sara: Not in the mood.
Snart: I was going to apologize for pulling a gun on you. But apparently I was just following a script.
Sara: Doesn't make you any less of a jerk.
Snart: Guilty. So what do we think of Rip's plan?
Sara: Does it matter? Apparently everything we're going to do has already been predetermined by Rip's former bosses.
Snart: It's funny. I always prided myself on being the guy who doesn't play by the rules. Come to find out... I'm the one being played.
Sara: I don't know. I still feel responsible for everything I've done. And it still keeps me up at night.
Snart: It's the things I didn't do that keep me up at night.
Sara: What's that?
Snart: Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's being on this ship, traveling through time. Started to wonder what the future might hold for me. And you. And me and you.
(Snart looks at her, smirking.) 
Sara: You want to steal a kiss from me, Leonard? You'd better be one hell of a thief.
(Sara gets up and leaves the room.)

(Snart runs up to Rory, who is holding down the fail-safe for The Oculus)
Snart: Mick!
Rory: Get outta here!
Snart: Not without you, Mick!
Rory: Pretty boy said I gotta hold the stick for the ship to blow. So I'm holding the stick! Now leave!
Snart: My old friend... please forgive me.
Rory: For what?!
(Snart wacks Rory across the back of his head with the cold gun. He then puts it down and takes over holding down the fail safe. Sara runs up.)
Snart: Get him outta here!
Sara: No.
Snart; Just do it.
(Sara looks at Snart. Then she steps close to him, grabs his arm and kisses him hard. He kisses back for a moment before she breaks the kiss, looks at him a moment, then moves to pick up Mick.)

(Druce enters the room with The Oculus computer with a squad of soldiers. Snart continues to hold the fail safe even as they draw weapons on him.)
Druce: No! Shut it down!
(The computer core begins to glow with an intense blue light.)
Druce: Shut it down!
Snart: (smiling) There are no strings on me.

Ray: He traded his life for ours. He was a hero. Which i'm pretty sure is the last thing he wanted to be remembered as.
Sara: But that's what he was.
(Sara wipes away a tear quickly before anyone notices her facade crack.) 

Rory: I killed Declan. Druce is dead. The Time Masters have nothing now that their ship is completely destroyed. Yet... I still feel the need to kill someone for Snart.
Ray: Savage still has Carter and Kendra.
Rory: He'll do nicely.

Savage: I no longer need to rule the world, Chay-ara. I now have the ability to change it.


Continuity

Rory says he was able to resist The Time Masters' brainwashing the first time by focusing on his desire for revenge on the other Legends. He says most of those who aren't killed by the Time Masters' brainwashing are made completely mindless.

Rip makes reference to 104 and Druce's offer to surrender to him then.

Druce claims that The Thanagarians are due to invade Earth in 2175 and only Vandal Savage's leadership of a united Earth will be able to repel the invasion and assure the survival of humanity.

Sara makes reference to 105 and Snart stopping her from assassinating Martin.

It is revealed that all of Rip Hunter's actions were engineered by The Time Masters to help cement Vandal Savage's eventual control of The Earth.

It is further revealed that Vandal Savage killed Rip Hunter's family on the orders of The Time Masters, in order to spur Rip to take the actions necessary to bring about Savage's rise to power.

Rip Hunter saw Ray Palmer's death in the future, among the other things Druce showed him to convince Rip that everything he had done was predetermined.

Martin Stein invented the sequestrian manifold.

Leonard Snart has a silver pinky ring he kept from his first robbery with Mick. It wasn't a memento but a reminder that even the best laid plans can go sideways.

The second time Rory underwent The Time Masters' brainwashing, he resisted by thinking about The Legends. He claims he was thinking about how screwed they'd be without him but later threatens to shave Ray's head if he tells everyone he actually cares about the team.

Rory knocks Ray out and sacrifices himself so that Ray and Rip can escape.

Snart knocks Rory out so Rory and Sara can escape.

Sara kisses Snart before escaping with Rory.

Snart seemingly dies in the explosion that destroys The Oculus Wellspring.

Sara seems to be praying as the rest of the team is thinking about Snart.

Gideon is no longer able to check the timeline data due to the destruction of The Oculus. She is, however, able to check newspaper records and confirms that Rip's wife and son are still killed.

Snart planted his ring on Rory as he knocked him out.

The Time Master Savage speaks to at the end of the episode confirms that Druce is dead and that The Time Masters no longer have any capacity to manipulate time. They also cut ties with Savage, saying that time as they have foreseen it is unmoored and they can no longer say what the future will bring.


Location

Star City - January 2016
The Vanishing Point
Central City - January 2016.
The Vanishing Point - Oculus Wellspring
London 2166


The Fridge Factor

Kendra is reduced to a screaming damsel in distress, spending the entire episode either in a cell or in bondage.


The Bottom Line

Damn near flawless. The only real weak moments are - as usual - those involving Kendra and Vandal Savage. Thankfully, these moments are the smallest part of the episode and most of it is focused on the best relationships in the show amid all the action.

If this were to be Captain Cold's final appearance in the DCTVU, it would be a fitting one. I'm not quite ready to write Leonard Snart off just yet, though. Still, as far as ways to go out go, breaking reality and establishing freedom for everyone everywhere after a kiss from Canary is tough to beat.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 3 - Family of Rogues

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




Plot 

When Len Snart (aka Captain Cold) is kidnapped, Lisa Snart has no choice but to turn to STAR Labs and The Flash for help. It turns out the situation is more complicated than that, with Captain Cold being blackmailed into helping his father with a heist. Meanwhile, Joe West's wife Francine has returned to Central City. This proves problematic as Joe told everyone that his wife - a drug addict who abandoned their family - had died tragically to avoid upsetting Iris. And as Professor Stein recovers from his sudden collapse, Jay Garrick begins work on a way home.


Influences 

Various The Flash comics involving Captain Cold and Golden Glider, though the characterization seems based upon Geoff Johns' interpretation of Leonard Snart - particularly The Flash #182.


Performances

There's a lot of good duet scenes in this episode. Peyton List and Carlos Valdes have tremendous chemistry as Lisa and Cisco. Ditto Danielle Panabaker and Teddy Sears as Caitlin and Jay. And Shantel VanSanten is starting to grow on me as surely as Patty seems to be growing on Barry.

The verbal dialogues go beyond the romantic subplots, however. Unsurprisingly, Michael Ironside proves a suitable menacing foe as Lewis Snart and Wentworth Miller once again has a brilliant turn bringing Captain Cold to life. The two play off each other brilliantly as father and son. And it's always a treat to see Grant Gustin and Wentworth Miller lock horns as Barry and Len.

Vanessa Williams isn't in the episode long as Francine West but she does have a suitable presence for such an important character for what little time we see her. Hopefully we'll get to see more in the season to come.

Once again, Jesse L. Martin damn near steals the show with his scene trying to tell Iris the truth about her mother.


Artistry

The opening sequence with Barry running to save Iris as she jumps out the window of a building as her investigation goes awry is a fun little sequence all around. The writing, the direction, the effects and the performances all work in tandem. One wishes that had done more scenes like this with Iris sooner.

In fact, the writing of this episode in general is very sharp, with a number of great dialogues and some very witty lines. Even the subplot with Joe's wife - while rehashing a lot of old territory with Joe learning he needs to be honest with his daughter - proves enjoyable since we see here that Joe actually is learning to trust in  Iris' maturity.

The use of music throughout the episode and the soundtrack are both good.

The scene with Cisco having a gun drawn on Lisa and Cold having a gun drawn on The Flash is very well directed.


Flash Facts

While the "superhero saves reporter love interest who jumps out a window" trope is more famously applied to Lois Lane and Superman, The Flash saving Iris West when she gets into a tight spot while chasing a story - as Barry does here - occurs just as often in the original The Flash comics.

CC Jitters makes a custom drink called The Flash. It's a brewed coffee with an extra shot or espresso.

While never being named in the original comics, Len and Lisa Snart's father was an abusive man who beat both his wife and children. Lisa and Len's mother was largely absent and Len all but raised his sister alone.

In the original comics, Mr. Snart was not a career criminal. He was an ex-cop, who lived off of disability. Reportedly he had been kicked out of the Central City Police Department after it was determined that he was drunk on duty during the incident where his partner was shot dead.

As in the comics, Mr. Snart violently beat his children in order to teach them a lesson. In The Flash #182, he specifically discourages them from telling anyone that they love them and that showing emotion is a sign of weakness. This explains Captain Cold's cool and detached persona.

As in the comics, Len Snart is violently protective of his sister and will break his usual rules against crimes of passion to see anyone who hurts her suffer.

This is not the first time Peyton List and Michael Ironside played father and daughter.  Ironside was General Sam Lane on the Smallville TV show, where Peyton List played Lucy Lane.

David Rutenberg's body is found in a Danville Meatpackers truck. Danville is the name of a middle-class district in Central City - the one Barry and Iris west lived in in the original Flash comics.

As the heist begins, the security guards are watching a team called The Diamonds playing another team called The Salamanders.  In the DC Comics Universe, The Diamonds are Central City's Major League Baseball franchise and The Salamanders are the franchise in Keystone City.

The Flash bypassing a security system by trying every possible combination on a keypad at super-speed is another classic trope from the comics.  So is a speedster catching a bullet at super-speed and pretending to be shot to put a villain off-guard.

In the original comics, Captain Cold couldn't bring himself to kill his own father despite ample reason and an opportunity in the Rogues' Revenge storyline. Heatwave obligingly finished the job for him.

In a nod to her costume's color scheme in the original comics, Lisa Snart rides off on a golden motorcycle with a matching helmet.

Professor Stein exclaims "Excelsior!" as they successfully pass a book through the breach to Earth 2. This is the catch-phrase of comic writer Stan Lee as well as the State Motto for New York. It is a Latin word meaning "still higher" or "ever upward".


Technobabble

Professor Steins's heart-rate after he collapsed was 147 Systolic over 82 Diastolic. He claims this just a few points higher than the average range for a man of his age. That's actually a little high, with a Systolic number over 140 signifying Stage One Hypertension.

Stein theorizes that super-speed and a certain level of stability are required to traverse the breaches between Earth One and Earth Two.

Jay Garrick likens the breaches to doors, suggesting that the hallway between the doors is continually shifting and collapsing in on itself. If they can stabilize the door, it should stabilize the hallways so Barry can use it.

Cisco devised a method of tracking Captain Cold's gun since he didn't have a chance to plant a tracker on it when he was kidnapped to rebuild it. The method works the same way as thermal imaging, only instead of infrared heat signatures it seeks out ultraviolet cold signatures.

Cisco added therma-threading into The Flash costume. This allows Cisco to remotely super-heat Barry's costume in order to quickly melt any icy build-up.

The biggest challenge in Lewis Snart's heist is getting past a Draycon Systems keypad.

Lewis Snart injects thermite explosive into the necks of people in order to control them.

Barry determines, based on his examination of David Rutenberg's body, that his head was removed by an explosive. This is due to the thermite residue and the perforation around the neck being too jagged to suggest a cutting implement or weapon.

Jay Garrick once again refers to purifying heavy water without residual radiation.

Cisco detects traces of thermite on Lisa Snart's skin around her neck.

Barry determines the bomb casing injected into Lisa Snart must be made of some kind of ferromagnetic material. Caitlin plans to surgically remove the bomb as Barry holds it steady with a magnet. Cisco warns against this, saying that such a concentrated bomb will explode if exposed to magnetic friction and an oxidant.

Barry, in pretending to be a techie thief, refers to a diamond Snart stole a year earlier being locked behind an Amertek Industries Phase 3 Suppression Door with a Draycon XL-1218 keypad.

The gun Cisco builds to extract the bomb from Lisa Snart has an operating pressure of over 1,000 PSI. The only problem is that the gun uses compressed air, meaning there is a risk it could set the bomb off. Thankfully, it does not.

The Cold Gun is capable of disrupting a laser grid for somewhere between two and three minutes.

Jay Garrick was able to stabilize the breach using CFL Quark Matter - negative energy density with positive surface pressure. This is a breakthrough that Earth 2 perfected that Earth 1 has not.


Dialogue Triumphs

Professor Stein: All right. No more tests today. All of you are leaving now. As am I. Cherish the gift of youth as I will go cherish my much-needed nap.

Captain Cold: You know what they say - "Live fast and die young".

Lisa Snart: The first time my father came after me I was 7. The second time I was 8. That's when I learned that a bottle hurts worse than a fist. He used to say he was trying to teach us lessons. I must have been a slower learner because the lessons never stopped.

Barry: You're a criminal, Snart. But you live by a code. It sounds to me like Lewis doesn't. Like he won't care if people die. That's why I can't leave this alone.
Captain Cold: Then everyone will know who The Flash is under that mask.
Barry: I don't care. I will take you down anyway. Both of you.
Captain Cold: We'll see about that. Thanks for dinner.
(Snart leaves the table, leaving Barry stuck with the check as the waitress walks up)

(As Barry walks into his hide-out)
Captain Cold: These visits are getting old.
Barry: Third time's the charm.

The Flash: Tell me this - what kind of man puts a bomb in his own daughter?
Lewis Snart: A very rich man.

(After Len shoots him through the chest with his cold gun)
Lewis Snart: You're working with The Flash?  I thought you hated him?
Captain Cold: Not as much as... I hate you.
(Len kneels down by his now dead father.  Barry walks over and takes the cold gun away without a struggle)
The Flash: Lisa was safe. Why did you do that?
Captain Cold: He broke my sister's heart. Only fair I break his.

Barry: What's funny is that I finally figured out your secret.
Len: And what secret would that be?
Barry: You'd do anything to protect your sister.
Len: Well, I know your secret too. Better hope I don't talk in my sleep.
Barry: You won't. Today just proved what I've always known. There's good in you, Snart. And you don't have to admit it to me. But there's a part of you that knows you don't have to let your past define you. A part of you that really wants to be more than just a criminal
Len: So I should be a hero like you, Barry? What exactly does that pay again?
Barry: It's just a matter of time. Something you'll have a lot of in there.
Len: Not as much as you think. Be seeing you.


Continuity

At CC Jitter's reopening, Iris refers to how Barry rebuilt the coffee bar at night and The Flash Day from 201.

Lisa refers to the events of 122 and how Captain Cold could have killed The Flash but didn't.

Cisco refers to the events of 116 and how he rebuilt The Cold Gun for Len Snart.

Lewis Snart's rap-sheet includes larceny, armed robbery, aggravated assault and assault with a deadly weapon.

Lewis Snart abused his daughter and son. He first hit his daughter when she was 7. She still has a scar on her right shoulder from the abuse.

Linda Park - Iris' fellow reporter, whom Barry briefly dated - is seen for the first time since 116.

Francine West was a drug addict who abandoned her family after Joe West checked her into rehab. He told everyone that she died and spent the next 20 years trying to forget her.

According to Jay Garrick, there are Big Belly Burger franchises on Earth 2.

There was also a Particle Accelerator Explosion that created the metahumans on Earth 2.

Barry uses the alias Sam when infiltrating Cold's gang.

Barry refers to Captain Cold's stealing The Kahndaq Dynasty Diamond in 104.

At the end of the episode, Len Snart is locked up in Iron Heights prison. Joe says he's already got Patty working on the paperwork to transfer Snart to the higher-security metahuman wing, even though Snart has no powers of his own.

Golden Glider remains at liberty.

According to Jay Garrick, Earth 2 has perfected the means of generating CFL Quark Matter.

Jay elects to remain on Earth 1 until Zoom is dealt with.

Professor Stein briefly manifests orange flames around his head and fists like Ronnie did in his Firestorm form. The fire briefly turns blue before Professor Stein passes out again.

At the end of the episode, we see Harrison Wells emerging from what appears to be the breach in the Star Labs basement.


The Bottom Line

A near-perfect episode, where even the weakest sections (i.e. the subplot with Joe's wife) are entertaining even if they do seem like padding. The entire cast is running on eight cylinders and the script is top-notch in every respect with a lot of great character moments and developments that show the cast is changing.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 1, Episode 22 - Rogue Air

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



Plot

With the man he knows as Harrison Wells on the loose, Barry Allen will need help in stopping The Reverse Flash. But first, he'll need to evacuate all the metahumans being held in The Pipeline before Wells reactivates the STAR Labs particle accelerator.  With the aid of the police denied Joe West and all of Barry's heroic allies AWOL, Barry will turn to the most unlikely of allies - Captain Cold!


Influences

Con-Air (the central plot involves a transport of dangerous criminals that goes amiss), numerous The Flash story-lines where The Flash and Captain Cold worked together to stop a bigger threat and The Brave And The Bold comics of The Silver Age (Arrow, Firestorm and The Flash team to fight The Reverse Flash).


Goofs

Given the problems they've had whenever one of them is left alone, leaving Caitlin in the lab alone while everyone else goes to find Wells in The Pipeline seems incredibly stupid and the only reason it seems to happen is to give Iris a chance to prove herself saving Caitlin from Peek-A-Boo later.

Ollie's presence in this episode doesn't seem to make any sense relative to the timeline in his own series.  How was able to escape from The League of Assassins just long enough to pick up some naninte-infused, speedster-neutralizing arrows from Ray Palmer and then make his way to Central City just long enough to help Barry out when he's been tightly held in Nanda Parbat for just over a month, making only one trip to the USA in that time?

For that matter, how long has Ray Palmer been working on speedster-neutralizing nanites?


Performances

Once again, Wentworth Miller steals the show as Captain Cold.

Peyton List, not to be outdone, plays the femme fatale expertly in playing with Cisco's emotions. She's almost certainly messing with him just to mess with him.  And yet, one can't help but wonder, as Cisco does, if maybe she's not totally messing with him?


Artistry

The opening scene, with The Reverse Flash's narration as we pan across the rest of the core cast is an effective opening. The images of Caitlin and Barry looking at photos of their lost loved ones as Eobard Thawne speaks of losing everything in a flash are particular effective.

The fight scenes in this episode - both the battle between with the escaping metahumans and the battle against The Reverse Flash at the end - and the special effects used during those fight scenes sets a new standard for superhero action on television.


Flash Facts

The name of this episode is a nod to the movie Con-Air, which also centered upon the transport of a number of dangerous criminals gone awry.

Iris and Eddie's address is 203-2320 Western Ave, Central City USA, 74912.  No state is given and 74912 is not a valid zip code, though the 749 prefix of a zip code is reserved for central Oklahoma. This is far and away from the general location of Central City in the DC Universe, which is usually placed in western Missouri, on the border with Kansas.

Captain Cold addresses Barry as "The Scarlet Speedster". In the comics, this is one of the alliterative nicknames for The Flash, like how Batman is The Caped Crusader and Green Arrow is The Emerald Archer.

When Barry and Snart are talking at the Saints and Sinners bar, the song Cold as Ice by Foreigner is playing on the jukebox. It's a nice audio pun regarding Cold's powers but the song - a warning to someone who manipulates people and scorns honest emotion for material wealth that sooner or later they'll pay for their crimes - seems like a message Leonard Snart could stand to learn from.

When they arrive at the Ferris Air landing strip, Snart comments that he thought Ferris Air shut down. Barry confirms that they did, shortly after one of their test pilots disappeared.  This could be a reference to Hal Jordan - a test pilot for Ferris Air who went on to become the first Green Lantern from Earth.  In the comics, Jordan did briefly disappear after he was taken to the planet Oa for basic training.

In the fight with The Flash, The Arrow and Firestorm, The Reverse Flash wields a special ring that shoots his costume out of it, which he changes into at super-speed.  This is a nod to the classic Flash comics where Barry Allen kept his costume inside a special ring that allowed him to keep his costume close yet hidden where he could easily change into it at superspeed.


Technobabble

The Reverse Flash's wheelchair contains a futuristic batter that emits enough energy to power Central City. As best as Cisco can understand, The Reverse Flash was using this to power his speed and gain more power. This is why The Reverse Flash is faster than Barry Allen.

The "tube" that The Reverse Flash was working with in front of Eddie Thawne is a futurist power source that is, somehow, charging the STAR Labs particle accelerator despite not being visibly plugged into anything. Despite it being beyond his ability to manipulate, Cisco is able to guess that it will finish charging the accelerator in about 36 hours.

According to Cecila Horton, what STAR Labs has been doing with the metahuman criminals The Flash has been catching is unlawful imprisonment and attempting to move them in secret would constitute human trafficking. These are both very bad things.

Using the power source from The Reverse Flash's wheelchair and his uncle's shipping truck, Cisco is able to create an energy dampener. The back of the truck is flooded with so much energy it generates a transient pulse strong enough to disrupt a metahuman's powers.

The Arrow shoots The Reverse Flash with several arrows containing nanites programmed by Ray Palmer to deliver a high-frequency pulse that disables The Reverse Flash's speed powers.


Dialogue Triumphs

The Reverse Flash: I want you to take a moment and think about all the things that define your life. All the people you love. Your job. Your co-workers. Your home. And now imagine that one day, in a flash, all of that vanished. Would you simply accept your new life and move continue on? Or would you do whatever it takes to get back what was taken from you?  Because... I can assure you I will get everything that was taken... from me.

Joe: Let's say, hypothetically, I know a prison - of sorts - a place that can do what Iron Heights can't, where these metahumans, the bad ones, are being locked up.
Cecila: I'd be very concerned. Especially if, hypothetically, you had anything to do with it.

Joe: At what point do we become no different than the people we're fighting?
Barry: We are way different!
Joe: How?
Barry: We only break the rules to help people.

Barry: I need your help with a problem.
Snart: Must be pretty desperate to come asking for my assistance, but I'll bite.  What do you need?
Barry: Help transporting some people out of the city.
Snart: How many?
Barry: Five. Five very bad, very angry people who have powers.
Snart: Powers, hmmm?  So you want me to, what, freeze the problem? Protect you from them if anything goes wrong?  First rule of business - always protect yourself. I'm not going to help usher your enemies out of town.
Barry: Hey, they're not just my enemies.  They're yours too.
Snart: I doubt it.
Barry:  They will destroy Central City!
Snart: It's not my problem.
Barry: You said that you love it here! That this is your home!
Snart: I do. And it is.
Barry: Well, guess what? These people get loose, there won't be a city to love anymore. You won't be able to rob anyone if everyone is dead.
Snart: (pauses to consider) It's a compelling argument. But if I'm going to help you out, I'll need something in return.
(Snart begins writing something on a cocktail napkin) 
Barry: Like what?
Snart: This.
(Barry reads the napkin and snorts in disbelief)
Barry: No.  This is impossible. I can't do that.
Snart: Then I can't help you.
Barry: There has to be... Snart, there has to be something you want that I can get!
(Snart inhales deeply)
Snart: Let me think about it.

Joe:What is going on with you? You working with that killer? This isn't who you are!
Barry: Who I am is the guy who's not fast enough to stop Wells! He - he hasn't been one step ahead of us, Joe! He's been 1000!  I can't catch him! I can't beat him! But what I can do is save those people down there. Wells turned them into what they are and I'm pretty sure he doesn't care if they live or die. I do.

Lisa: Hey Cisco.
Cisco: Oh, hey... Captain Cold's evil sister.
Lisa: Awwww.... You're not still mad at me, are you? I really did enjoy kissing you.
(Caitlin spins around in her chair)
Caitlin: You kissed her?!
Cisco: Under duress. Calm down.
Lisa: I've - I've thought a lot about you.
Cisco: Have you really? (pause) Well, stop!  Because this?  Right here? (pointing to himself) It ain't gonna happen.
Lisa: (pouting as she leans in) A girl can hope.
(Lisa walks away as Cisco just stares straight ahead and Caitlin gives him a death glare)
Cisco: Really not enjoying being one of the good guys this week.  REALLY not!

The Mist: If I had my powers right now, I'd gas you all out of existence!
Deathbolt: (laughs)  And then you'd be standing in a container with four corpses. What would that get you?
The Mist: Peace and quiet.

Captain Cold (holding his gun on Weather Wizard and Rainbow Raider) How about we call tonight a tie?
(Rainbow Raider's eyes start to glow as Golden Glider walks up and points her gun to his head) 
Golden Glider: I'd power down if you don't want me to melt your face.
(Rainbow Raider sighs and his eyes go back to normal)
Captain Cold: Let's all go our separate ways.  My name is Leonard Snart.
Weather Wizard; I know who you are.
Captain Cold: Always pleased to meet a fan. Just remember who it was that made sure you didn't get thrown on that plane bound for nowhere.
Weather Wizard: You're just letting us go? (nods to Deathbolt's body) Why'd you shoot that guy?
Captain Cold: He owed me money.
Weather Wizard; Mmm. (pauses and looks at Cold) What?  You want a thank you?
Captain Cold: Who doesn't like a 'thank you'?
Rainbow Raider: (pause) Thank you?
Captain Cold: (cheerfully) YOU are so very welcome!

The Flash: You sabotaged the truck, didn't you?! Why did you let them escape?!
Captain Cold: Because now they all owe me. And something tells me they'll be a lot more use to me as part of my Rogues than rotting away in the North China sea.
The Flash: You gave me your word!
Captain Cold: (chuckles) It's true, I did. But here's the thing. I'm a criminal. And a liar. And I hurt people. And I rob them. What did you expect me to do? Not be what I am? I saw an opportunity to turn things to my advantage. And I did. Who you're really mad at is yourself. This is on you, Barry.
The Flash: Then why don't you just kill me?
Captain Cold: (shrugs) Well, I guess you owe me one now, too.  Good luck with (waves his hand around) all of this. I'm actually really excited to see how it all turns out.

Barry: I've seen the way that Oliver does things. And he's not afraid to just do whatever it takes to get what he needs and I thought I could do that too. I thought I could just use Snart but instead he used me.
Joe: You're not The Arrow, Barry. That's not the kind of hero you are.
Barry: What kind am I?
Joe: The kind that cares about whether or not those criminals lived or died. I mean, whatever Mardon, Nimbus and Shawna did, they're human beings. And you knew letting Wells use them as pawns was wrong. You know the difference between right and wrong and you weren't willing to blurr the lines between the two. That's the kind of man you are. And that's what makes you different than The Arrow. So please, no more walks on the dark side. Agreed?
Barry: (laughs softly) Yeah.


Continuity

Iris and Eddie's address is 203-2320 Western Ave, Central City USA, 74912.

Cisco points out that liquid levitates whenever something involving The Reverse Flash is nearby. He specifically cites Barry's aquarium when he was a kid (101), Wells' champagne glass on the night of the particle accelerator explosion (103) and Captain Lance's coffee right before they found Harrison Wells' body (119).  It happens again in this episode, with his orange soda as they open The Pipeline.

As the episode opens, only five metahumans are contained in The Pipeline.  They are Kyle Nimbus (103), Roy G. Bivolo (108), Shawna Baez (112), Mark Mardon (115) and Jake Simmons (A319). AKA The Mist, Rainbow Raider, Peek-A-Boo, Weather Wizard and Deathbolt.

Joe discovers Eddie Thawne under The Pipeline.  As he's helping him out, Iris discovers the ring Eddie was going to use to propose to her when he was kidnapped.

Eddie tells the rest of the core cast that The Reverse Flash told him his real name was Eobard Thawne and that they were related.  Cisco confirms that Eboard Thawne is the name that Dr. Wells gave him in his dream/vision of the alternate time-line in 120.

Barry refers to Lian Yu - the island where Oliver Queen was stranded for several years, where ARGUS built a secret prison.  This is where they sent Captain Boomerang after the events of A308 and where The Arrow keeps his worst enemies, including Deathstroke.

Joe speaks to Central City's District Attorney Cecile Horton, last seen in 119, about the possibility of police support for transporting hypothetical metahuman criminals. She refuses to consider the possibility and advises Joe, if he's involved in such a thing, to get out now.

Joe notes that Captain Singh, last seen in 120, is on his honeymoon.

Barry is able to secure an ARGUS plane after a phone call to Lyla Diggle, whom he met in A308.

Barry says that he couldn't get a hold of Oliver, who is in someplace called Nanda Parbat. This is the home of The League of Assassins and Oliver has made several trips there over the course of Season 3 of Arrow.  At the time of this episode, Oliver is in the middle of playing at being the heir of Ra's Al Ghul.

Barry finds Len Snart hanging out a bar called Saints And Sinners.

Eddie, when pressed on his aborted proposal, confessed to Iris that The Reverse Flash showed him the future and that she was married to Barry.

20 hours pass between when Cisco discovers the device charging the particle accelerator and when Snart shows up at STAR Labs.

Snart agrees to help Barry in exchange for having all records of his existence erased, both physical and electronic.

Lisa Snart makes her first appearance since 116.

Snart reveals he has kept his word about keeping Barry's secret identity a secret from his associates, including his own sister.

Cisco has an uncle who owns a refrigerated shipping truck and uses it to deliver frozen food.

Lisa Snart has a Class A commercial driver's license.

Weather Wizard recognizes The Mist and notes that he was supposed to have been executed, as revealed in 103.

Ferris Air is said to have shut down after one of their test pilots disappeared.

Cisco gives Lisa Snart a code name - Golden Glider.

Barry is able to stop The Mist by using his hands to generate a whirlwind that contains The Mist until he solidifies.  This is similar to the trick Barry learned to create a vacuum to put out an apartment fire in 120.

Peek-A-Boo escapes at the first opportunity, not taking part in the fight.

Rainbow Raider uses his powers on Caitlin, making her attack Cisco, forcing Joe to stop shooting at him to focus on stopping her.

The Mist runs off after The Flash becomes distracted, dodging Deathbolt's eye beams.

The Flash is eventually brought down after being struck by lightning, aimed by The Weather Wizard, while dodging Deathbolt's attacks.  This shows that The Flash is not immune to the effects of electricity not generated by his own powers.

Deathbolt is killed by Captain Cold.

Weather Wizard knows of Leonard Snart by reputation but didn't know Deathbolt.

Weather Wizard and Rainbow Raider escape after Captain Cold lets them go.  Captain Cold and Golden Glider are also at large.

Cisco is able to use "the light thingy" from 108 to cure Caitlin after she's possessed by The Rainbow Raider.

Oliver Queen is wearing his garb from his time as Al Sah-him of The League of Assassins.

According to The Reverse Flash, recorded history says that Oliver Queen lives to be 86 years old.

Once the Revese Flash is downed, Oliver Queen tells Barry he might need a favor.  Barry agrees to it, wherever and whenever.


The Fridge Factor

Eddie dumping Iris by telling her that everyone (i.e. Barry, Joe and himself) knows she really loves Barry REALLY doesn't come off well.  Like all the men in her life know her feelings better than she does?!  Granting that Iris does assert her right to determine her own destiny, Eddie still comes off as dismissive of her protests that the can fight the future.


The Bottom Line

Easily the most action-packed episode of the series in terms of pure superheroics so far. The only real weak point is the Iris/Eddie scenes, but only because they're a distraction from the meat of the episode. I personally have misgivings about Captain Cold ditching his thieves' code of honor in this episode but the twist is handled well enough I can forgive it simply because they've perfectly captured Len Snart as the consummate professional whose ultimate rule is Look Out For #1.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 1, Episode 4 - Going Rogue

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


Plot

Felicity Smoak comes to Central City for a visit, but Barry will have little time to enjoy it even after he escapes Iris' misguided attempts to play matchmaker. A cold, calculating bank robber named Leonard Snart is after a rare Khandaqian gem and he never gives up once he sets his eye on a target.

After The Flash thwarts his first attempt at stealing the gem in route to the museum, Snart turns his treacherous mind toward one question - how do you slow down the fastest man alive?  Luckily, one of his contacts just got a hold of a very special gun. A gun that someone at STAR Labs designed just in case they had to stop The Flash cold...


Influences

Showcase #8 (Captain Cold's first appearance), Superman: The Movie (Barry's line about train travel being safe) and more classic The Flash comics than anyone could name but mostly Geoff Johns' run on The Flash (Johns did quite a bit to develop Snart as a character and co-wrote the script for this episode).


Performances

Wentworth Miller nails the character of Captain Cold, as written by Geoff Johns.  Cool and controlled, but not without a thief's code of honor (no killing cops or guards unless they threaten you first, no harming women or children EVER) and some sense of humor (his treatment of the one boy during his tour of the museum).  If this casting and writing is a sign of things to come with this show's casting, the future is bright indeed.


Artistry

The special effects in the train-crash scene are easily the equal of those utilized for Quicksilver in X-Men: Days of Future Past.


Flash Facts

As the episode opens, Barry is testing his ability to multitask by playing ping-pong with Cisco, chess with Dr. Wells and the board game Operation with Caitlin... all at the same time.

Leonard Snart, as presented here, is almost precisely as he appears in the original comics, at least in terms of personality, intelligence and background.

At one point, Barry chuckles about the name Leonard Snart and says it's nearly as bad as Bartholomew.  Barry's full name is Bartholomew Henry Allen.

As in the comics, Snart was the son of an ex-cop, who was an abusive drunk who beat his wife and children.

At one point, Snart mentions a grandfather who used to take him to a crummy diner with a great view.  In the comics, Snart's grandfather was his one positive male role-model and he did indeed take a young Leonard to many different places along his route as an ice delivery man.  He also always bought Leonard and his younger sister ice cream.

As in the comics, Snart begins planning how to stop The Flash after one of his robberies is thwarted by Barry Allen.  However, in the original comics, Snart was caught and began plotting his revenge while in prison.

In the original comics, Snart read up on kinetic energy and thermal motion while in prison.  When he was paroled, he broke into a lab and stole everything (including a miniature cyclotron) he needed to build a gun capable of slowing molecular motion himself.  The show, more realistically, has Snart stealing a weapon capable of slowing The Flash down rather than developing it himself.

In the comics, Captain Cold wore a blue and white fur costume with a hooded coat along with a pair of skier's anti-glare glasses.  His uniform on the show is similar and maintains the same blue and white color scheme with a fur-trimmed hood and anti-glare goggles.

For the record, Captain Cold's weapon of choice is a freeze ray. Not an ice beam. That's so Johnny Snow. Who knows nothing.

The curator at the Central City Museum who contacts Joe is named Dexter Myles. In the comics, Dexter Myles is the name of the curator of The Flash Museum.

The gem Snart is after comes from the country of Khandaq - a Middle-Eastern nation in the DC Universe, best known as the homeland of the Shazam villain Black Adam.

Harrison Wells knows who Felicity is and indeed had considered her as a potential recruit for STAR Labs.

Felicity asks if Barry could run so fast that he would crumble to dust inside his costume.  This is actually what happened when Barry died saving the multiverse in Crisis On Infinite Earths.

Felicity also asks if Barry's accelerated speed is accelerating his aging. This did happen in quite a few classic Flash comics...

The man Captain Cold is speaking to at the end of the episode is named Mick.  Given the references to playing with fire, this is probably Mick Rory - the man who eventually becomes the super-villain Heat Wave.


Technobabble

Surprisingly, Cisco's talk about temperature and speed being opposites is accurate and the explanation he gives regarding how a gun that can slow molecular motion could freeze things solid is taken straight from the comics.

The Freeze Ray gives Barry a third degree case of frostbite and we're told that if it weren't for his accelerated healing factor he would have died.

Cisco's Freeze Ray is powered by a compact cryo-engine that can achieve Absolute Zero.


Dialogue Triumphs

Barry: (off-camera, while running on his treadmill) Wanna see how fast I can run backwards?!
(Loud Crash from off-camera as Caitlin, Felicity, Cisco and Dr. Wells look on)
Caitlin: Don't worry. He heals fast too.

Leonard Snart: Once the armored car called 911 we had 182 seconds before any cop could be on the scene. No one could get there fast enough to stop us. But something did. And you lost your cool. You know the rules, we don't shoot guards or cops unless it's the only option. We don't need the heat.

Felicity: Just go! Stay safe! And I'm talking to air now, which is just weird. And I'm still doing it!

(After Captain Cold destroys a door by freezing it solid)
Guard: Freeze!
Captain Cold: (pause) You want to end up like that door?

Felicity: Remember when you told me you had a little experience, liking someone who didn't like you the same way? That was Iris, right?
Barry: How did you know?
Felicity: It's the little things. The way you linger on her when she isn't looking, the smile you fake to play the part. The quiet dreams you keep to yourself.
Barry: Like you and Oliver. Takes one to know one. I'm afraid it will change everything.
Felicity: It will, but maybe that's not such a bad thing? What is wrong with us? We are perfectly perfect for each other.
Barry: Yet we're sitting here pining for people we can't have. I guess what they say is true. Opposites do attract.


Continuity

The security company handling delivery of the gem Snart is after is Blackhawk Security (A111)

Felicity says she learned about Barry's secret identity by listening in to his and Oliver's conversation from F101/A301.

Caitlin tells Felicity that it's nice to see her again.  It was revealed in A219 that Felicity, Caitlin and Cisco all met when Felicity came to visit Barry at STAR Labs while he was in a coma.

Barry mentions the metahuman villains Marton (F101) and Nimbus (F103).


The Bottom Line

Perfect.  Absolutely perfect.  The introduction of Captain Cold is perfect.  The drama between Felicity and Barry is perfect.  Easily the best episode of the series so far.