The Flash 1.16 “Rogue Time”

I expected this episode to turn out differently but I’m still satisfied. With all of the wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff from last episode, I thought there would be more time travel. It’s all good, though, they laid down an excellent foundation for the Rogues and the dangling threads from the previous episode were snipped off fairly quickly. Cisco got some front and center screen time with his brother, which confirms a suspicion about Cisco that I’ll hip you to later in this review.

Spoilers and Flash Facts to follow.

Well, Barry blundered his way to a punch in the mouth with Iris. First rule of relationships; NEVER tell your partner that you know what they’re thinking. EVER. This isn’t a rule that applies to a specific gender, no one like to be told what they’re thinking. After Barry tried to heat things up, naturally he was rebuked. Time travel is no excuse to act like smarmy twit. Violence isn’t really my first option but I don’t blame Eddie for taking a swing at Barry. That said, I’m glad Caitlin Snow came up with an impromptu excuse to smooth things over. That would have been a lousy subplot to sit through in the weeks ahead.

Cold and Heatwave made a glorious return and remove some competitive crime from the table in Central City. That was wonderful! The Rogues should be every bit as famous as the Flash. Their ranks are growing along with their rep as The Golden Glider, Cold’s sister, Lisa Snart, joins the group. With her addition, could The Top be far behind. Time will tell.

The Rogues’ threat level amped up to bright red as they kidnapped Cisco and his brother, Dante. Furthermore, they now have an amazing advantage as Cisco revealed the Flash’s secret identity to Cold to save his brother. At this point, Iris might be the only person left in the dark. I can’t blame Cisco for his decision, I’d have done the same thing. So would you. For a character that usually provides comic relief, Cisco has been forced to make some hard choices in this opening season. Cisco is truly the most three dimensional character in the series.

About that theory concerning Cisco. I believe that eventually, big changes are in store for Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow. Caitlin’s name and her relationship with Ronnie Raymond suggest a fairly obvious transformation into Killer Frost, Firestorm’s greatest enemy. I wouldn’t expect Caitlin to become “evil” but a “love denied” aspect to their relationship, cold vs heat, would be fascinating. As for Cisco… He shares the name, and now a brother of the same name, as a character named “Vibe”.

Back in the 80’s, the comic book version of the Justice League disbanded, leaving Aquaman in charge. He move the League to Detroit and recruited some new members, one of which was Vibe, a sassy Latino with the power to create vibrations so strong that he could cause earthquakes. Not a bad power. Sadly, he activated his talent by breakdancing, pop-locking actually.

I swear to God, I’m not making this up.

He wasn’t very popular. Go figure. He might have been forgotten completely but he became the first member of the JLA to die on duty. The Flash died prior to Vibe but he was “retired” from the JLA at the time so, that doesn’t count. Fast forward to the 2010’s and Vibe was reimagined, even starring in his own series for a short time. Would they do this to our beloved Cisco? I don’t know but I wouldn’t put it past the writers. They’ve been taking risks with the status quo since the beginning and I applaud them for it.

Back to this episode. The Rogues have a new status quo: Cold has agreed to leave Flash’s closest friends alone and he agreed that no one else dies during his capers. I love this. Of all the villains in the DC Universe, Flash’s Rogues have the highest sense of honor while still being complete scumbags. I prefer that kind of super-villain. It lightens things up . Seriously, at what point do we have to blame Batman for every life the Joker’s taken? The Flash shouldn’t live in that world.

That leaves us with Wells. He killed Cisco in the previous episode. Thanks to time travel, that was reversed and Wells made a better choice. Wells spent the episode warning Barry of changing history. He makes a good point, and one that will be better illustrated in the episode where we finally see Barry save his mother (I believe that is absolutely the plan), but Wells isn’t protecting the future, he’s protecting his own past. Just as the writers intend, it’s getting harder and harder to like Wells. Our sympathies for this character are eroding.

Good. It makes him an excellent villain!