The Flash Season One: Rouge Time

The Woman With The Golden Gun

As Barry deals with the consequences of time travel Captain Cold and Heat Wave return to wreck havoc in Central City however this time Cold has brought along his little sister; Lisa Snart AKA Golden Glider (Peyton List).

For a whole week I have been wondering how well they where going to deal with the consequences of time travel and I think this episode proved that it was handled really well. I have read comments that some are disappointed that all of last episode's developments are gone now but I myself really didn't mind because that is how I expected time travel to work in this. Firstly I didn't mind too much that Weather Wizard was defeated in a few seconds because he is such a major member of the Rogues (and played by a well known actor) that I am sure we will see him again soon. Next Wells did a good job of explaining the dangers of time travel and I liked how similar things happened this episode but turned out differently such as Iris rejecting Barry and Wells telling Cisco he is like a son to him but not killing him in the end. Plus Barry's actions did lead to the death of Mason who uncovered more than he should of; I both liked and disliked this because it was cool we got to see Reverse Flash phase through objects (a skill Speedsters have in the comics) but I did like Mason and it is a shame he is out now when he hasn't been in it for that long. Finally this also gave Eobard Thawne a chance to remain Wells for a little bit longer now however that might not last for long with Barry now suspecting him but I doubt he is going to just come out and say something straight away. As for the other Thawne Eddie may have apologised for punching Barry but maybe there was more to it than just Iris, maybe he was affected by the change in the time line?

Always great seeing the Reverse Flash 

Now this episode also saw the return of the Rogues and it is always great to see Captain Cold and Heat Wave and I really liked the debut of Lisa. I liked the banter between her and Cold and how she tricked Cisco (can't blame him though) however if I am honest her gold gun was a bit silly which she does not have in the comics. I also liked the pact Cold made with Barry because it is similar to the way the Rogues work in the comics in that their main goal is The Flash and that they once killed a member for killing a civilian. This was also a Cisco heavy episode again and we actually got to find out more about his family which is something I wanted to learn more of for ages. I liked the rivalry that existed between Cisco and his brother and that Cisco, despite complaining about his brother a lot, still cared enough about him to reveal The Flash's identity. Who could really blame him because Cold was really damn brutal with his torture but Carlos Valdes did an awesome job of showing how much Cisco was tearing himself up over it. My only gripe with the Rogues and Cisco arc of this episode is maybe there could have been more action, the casino scene was basically the only one.

"A few more members and we can have our own biker gang; The Rogues"

Overall I think this was a great follow up to the last episode and it is always good when Cisco has the central spotlight.

SCORE: 7/10

Highlights: Return of the Rogues and debut of Lisa
                   Showing the consequences of time travel
                   Cisco heavy episode

Let - Downs: The gold gun
                      The death of Mason
                      Could have used some more fights

The great screenshots of the episodes where provided by the great site Screencapped. You can look for yourself from the link below;

 

 





http://screencapped.net/     

The Flash Season One: Revenge of the Rouges

The Song of Ice and Fire

Captain Cold returns to Central City with Heat Wave to steal a priceless painting but instead kidnap someone close to The Flash. Meanwhile Barry is training harder so he can take on Reverse Flash and begins to doubt himself because of how Captain Cold bested him last time, Iris also deals with the aftermath of Barry's confession. As you might have noticed I am shortening the plot explanation because anyone who reads my reviews have already watched the episode and it takes a lot time anyway, this way I can go straight to my thoughts.

Moving on to the episode it was great to see the return of Captain Cold because Wentworth Miller is having quite the presence on the show and definitely feels like his Captain Cold is going to be a real nemesis to The Flash (Well's words). Then there was the introduction of Heat Wave who is the complete opposite of Captain Cold which is why I felt the two worked well together. Captain Cold was a lot more calm and the one to come up with the plans while Heat Wave was a fire - obsessed hot head. I liked every scene they where in and their battle with The Flash at the end was just awesome; Flash running on the buildings while they're firing their heat and cold guns at him was just so cool. I have said before that I really enjoy villain team ups and this one was a great beginning to The Rouges and it definitely isn't over as the ending implies. It seems next time we see Captain Cold and Heat Wave they will be accompanied by Lisa Snart AKA Golden Glider who looks to be equipped with a grapple gun, so I am defiantly looking forward to seeing more of these characters.

"I owned you missile!"

As for the rest of the episode Barry had some really great character development where he was conflicted between the advice of his father figure West and his mentor Wells, all the while he had to deal with the defeat at the hands of Reverse Flash and confessing his love to Iris. I did really like that the defeat is still haunting Barry which is shown with his constant training and siding with Wells but I feel that the Iris subplot was brushed aside. I guess I am a bit glad they didn't linger too long on it but all they did was just not talk to each other all episode and then they seem to get over it at the end; felt like the writers was just rushing it. Two other characters who where great where Cisco and Caitlin; Cisco had some strong material when dealing with the police and handling the backlash from them for the S.T.A.R labs explosion and his shield design was cool. However the CCPD where kind of useless this episode because Eddie was the only one he did anything in the fight at the end. As for Caitlin her Firestorm subplot is really getting more interesting now and I hope we continue to find more information about it with every episode because this also gives her character a storyline of her own. Plus this also introduced the character Jason Rusch (Luc Roderique) who does play a significant role with Firestorm in the comics.

"Can I have your attention please"

Overall this was an awesome episode to have after such a long wait because of the mid season break and I am really looking forward to future episodes that involve more of the Rouges.

SCORE: 8/10

Highlights: Captain Cold and Heat Wave
                   Barry's conflict
                   Strong Cisco and Caitlin subplots

Let - Downs: The awkwardness between Barry and Iris seems to be over completely now
                      The CCPD wasn't that effective this episode

The great screenshots of the episodes where provided by the great site Screencapped. You can look for yourself from the link below;

 

 





http://screencapped.net/  

The Flash Season One: Going Rogue

The episode begins with Barry testing is multitasking skills against Caitlin, Cisco and Wells; he beats the first two but loses in chess against Wells. Meanwhile a armoured truck is being robbed by an unknown group and Barry quickly rushes to the scene, he manages to stop the robbers but they get away because Barry was busy getting a guard who was shot to the hospital. When the police arrive Barry says to West that he saw the leader's face and West identifies him as Leonard Snart (Wentworth Miller), son of a dirty cop and professional thief. Later Iris tells Barry she has started a blog on The Streak but before Barry can talk her out of it they run in to Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) who has arrived from Starling City to check on Barry.

"Do you really think you can beat me at table tennis now?"

Snark meanwhile kills a member of his gang because of his slip up in killing a cop but says he has figured out The Streak's weakness. Barry shows Felicity is power and even takes her to S.T.A.R labs which is permitted because she works with the Arrow, elsewhere West is still having a hard time accepting his daughter dating his partner. Snark later receives a high powered flamethrower and a cold gun from a janitor who works at S.T.AR labs and kills him with the cold gun, now becoming Captain Cold. Iris and Eddie later invite Barry and Felicity to trivia night and are surprised with how much they have in common however back at S.T.A.R labs Cisco discovers that the cold gun is missing which angers Wells who orders him to find it. Captain Cold later uses his cold gun to break into a museum to steal the diamond at the beginning of the episode, Barry arrives but is shot by the cold gun that slows him down and makes him fail to save a guard.

Badass!

At S.T.A.R labs it is revealed that the cold gun can slow down Barry's speed and regenerative abilities and that Captain Cold isn't a Meta - Human. However Barry is furious to learn that Cisco designed the gun to stop Barry in case he didn't become a hero, Barry can't believe they never trusted him. Captain Cold later steals the diamond and Barry rushed to stop him, West and Eddie arrive first with Eddie managing to save West. Captain Cold then destroys a train and Barry uses his speed to save all of the passengers but is shot by the cold gun. Barry is saved however when Cisco and Caitlin, after a pep talk from Felicity, arrive to save him with a fake cold gun, Captain Cold still escapes.

Really like it when they slow - mo for his speed

Later when Felicity says her goodbyes Wells tells Cisco to never create anything like the cold gun ever again while at the police station West accepts Iris seeing Eddie. While Felicity is on the train Barry speeds in and they discuss the reason why they aren't together, he then leaves after they kiss. The episode ends with Captain Cold meeting an old accomplice and pyromaniac Mike Rory (Dominic Purcell) asking him for his expertise. He gives him the high powered flame thrower and Mike accepts becoming Heat Wave.

Now this could be the best team up of villain in live action ever!

Even though I know that there is a crossover episode coming soon called The Flash vs. The Arrow I guess you can call this the first one because of Felicity who played a larger role in this than Oliver did in the first episode (that was really just a cameo). I am really glad to see Felicity in this because she is such a great character; like Barry she is just a really likeable nerd and she is funny and has a sense of light hearted humour. She also plays a major role in this episode, she wasn't there just for the sake of it, and I liked how she compared Barry and his team to her, Oliver and Diggle. Also I just want to point out that Barry has made a major mistake not wanting to be with Felicity, I mean did you see her in that black dress!!

You should guest star more often Felicity

For another star in this show is Captain Cold and he is one of my favourite DC villains and they have truly done him justice in the show. He is just really cool in this and he puts up one hell of a challenge for Barry and great casting Wentworth Miller for him as well, he was great as Chris Redfield in Afterlife. His cold gun was just awesome as well and it is great that someone now has a weapon that is a TRUE weakness against The Flash, just like Cisco explained cold beats speed. Plus the end of this episode has me super excited for future ones since Captain Cold is recruiting Heat Wave, they usually partner up in the comics and I know they are going to cause mayhem here.

"The only thing that can save you now Flash is if a team of nerds show up"

Another part of the episode that I really liked was the conflict between Cisco and Barry and the fact that the cold gun was created as a counter measure for Barry. I kind of agree with both of them on this; on the one hand Cisco did have to prepare in case Barry did go crazy with his power but then again he still never told Barry about the gun even though he proved wasn't crazy and it cost a guard his life. I am glad they patched things up in the end, all thanks to Felicity who uses her own experience working with the Arrow.

"Forget The Streak my name is The Flash!!"

Small other things I want to mention is that I am glad the issue with West being okay with Iris dating Eddie is resolved because you see that in everything about cops, partners and their daughters and I didn't want it to drag on. Also Wells can be damn scary in this in the way that he kind of threatened Cisco about the cold gun. Since Wells has a way to see the future maybe he has already seen the damage Captain Cold will do and is angry at Cisco for allowing it to happen. One other small thing is that when they tested Barry's multitasking at the beginning and he lost against Wells, will that be significant in future episodes?

They learned now never to p*** Wells off

Overall this is defiantly my favourite episode so far and just proves that The Flash is off to a fantastic start. It had a great guest appearance by one of the best characters in Arrow and a great villain who isn't even a Meta - Human yet still beat The Flash. I am going to give this a perfect score because there isn't anything in this episode that I didn't like.

SCORE: 10/10 

Highlights: Felicity Smoak guest appearance
                   Captain Cold and possible team up with Heat Wave in future episodes
                   Everything else

The great screenshots of the episodes where provided by the great site Screencapped. You can look for yourself from the link below;

 

 





http://screencapped.net/        

Revolution Season One: Chained Heat

Back with another Revolution review, this time on its second episode; Chained Heat.

This episode starts off with a flashback one week after The Blackout and the Matheson family are ready to leave the city for the countryside. We get a look at one of the damaged streets, it is pretty deserted but there are fires and destruction everywhere.

Out for a nice stroll

Back in the present Miles is fending off a bounty hunter, who wants the reward on Miles's head (find more about that in future eps) but Miles manages to knock him out. Before he can kill him however Charlie asks Miles not to kill a knocked out person in cold blood, Miles reluctantly agrees and they lock him up in an abandoned train.

To kill or not to kill?.....

The group makes it to a market town in Pontiac, Illinois and it is here that we see that the selling of drugs like heroin is legal and we also see some Militia soldiers beating up on a citizen. Miles goes in to a gambling den alone in hope of finding a friend of his when the bounty hunter from earlier appears and captures the rest. Miles agrees to go with him but manages to overwhelm is captor and snaps his neck.

 

.....kill, SNAP!

Back with Tom and Danny they investigate a gunshot and we find out that citizens are banned from using firearms and so Tom asks the person who fired the shot to hand over his shotgun. This does not go smoothly and one of Tom's men is shot but the guy with the shotgun his killed. They also find an American flag in his house and Tom orders it burned immediately. It then changes to Monroe's camp where the sadistic Sergeant Will Strausser (David Meunier) is interrogating someone who seems to part of a group of rebels that are against the Republic. Monroe tries to reason with the man but in the end decides to stab him himself.

 

Strausser loves using knifes in conversations

Back with Charlie and the group, Miles decides his better off on his own for now and goes off to find his friend by himself. Charlie then follows him in the morning, leaving Aaron and Maggie to make their way to the rondevu by themselves. Aaron is not too worried but Maggie reveals that she keeps around a cell phone has all the pictures of her kids (who she hasn't seen since The Blackout) on it, even though it doesn't work, and is not too confident about seeing her again. Meanwhile Tom mercy kills the solider who was shot and explains to Danny that he believes the Republic is the only means of law in America now, though Danny doesn't believe him. Charlie also manages to find Miles and convince him to take her along with him.

 

This isn't going to be the first time she refuses to listen Miles

Meanwhile Aaron decides to tell Maggie about the pendant and about Grace has well and the two decide to make a detour to her house. Along the way Aaron comes to the possibility that The Blackout was man made since humanity should have been able to eventually fix everything and get electricity back if it was just a normal EMP.

 

Everyone is off on their own little mission now

Charlie and Miles manage to find who they where looking for; Nora Clayton (Daniella Alonso) an expert at making bombs and is part of a slave convoy who are tasked with pulling a helicopter. They manage to free Nora in the middle of the night but she refuses to go with them because she wanted to steal the high powered sniper rifle the warden is carrying. They agree to help her and Charlie volunteers to shoot the warden with a makeshift gun up her sleeve, even though Miles is doubtful that she can shoot a man point blank, she succeeds however when she thinks of her mom shooting a crazy man for them and Miles and Nora move in to finish off the rest. They manage to free the slaves and retrieve the gun but Miles is not happy since it is revealed that Nora is a member of The Resistance that wishes to topple to Monroe Republic and bring back the United States and Miles believes that it can not be done.

 

You just got to love the sword fighting in this show, its awesome! 

Meanwhile back at Grace's house she answers the door and is confronted by someone, whose face we cannot see, but someone she must not like because she immediately locks the door. She rushes up the stairs to her computer and the man breaks down the door and makes his way upstairs. She just manages to send the message "Randall is here" before this Randall, who has a pendant around his neck, turns on a cattle prod.

 

Who is this mysterious person?

The episode ends at the Monroe Republic capital at Philadelphia in Independence Hall where it is revealed that Rachael is still alive and is a captive of Monroe. He tells her that Ben is dead and that Danny is on his way to them, enraged Rachael attacks him with scissors but is quickly disarmed. Monroe says that now they have Danny she will tell them everything she and Ben where working on prior to The Blackout.

 

Rachael Matheson; the biggest stuck up b***h you will ever know  

That was the summary of this episode, think I managed to shorten it a bit compared to the first one while keeping all important info in.

 

This was a great follow up to the Pilot episode and the main reason for that is because just before I first watched it I expected the whole excitement of it to die down but I was so wrong. It still had great action, story, pacing and quality sets that the first episode had, I mean it opened up with a badass sword fight with Miles.

 

That's right people; don't mind this beating, go about your business

We also got some great new information on the overall world and the Monroe Republic, for example I don't think dollars are used anymore, instead we get gold pieces (and later diamonds) which makes me think there is more of a barter system than anything else. Also the Militia obviously run a kind of dictatorship and, from the dangers we have seen when your in between cities, they also don't care about its citizens (for example it is illegal for them to carry fire arms), they don't mind the trade of drugs like heroin and they hire bounty hunters like the Old West.

 

We also get some new information about The Blackout and how Aaron thinks that its is man made, which makes us think who would want to basically destroy the world? Aaron also points out that whatever happened on the day of The Blackout it is also preventing humanity from fixing it, so it wasn't just a world wide EMP. Also Charlie seems to grow more as a character with her resolution to kill the enemy this episode and it was funny seeing her pull a fast one on Nate.

 

Wonder what Tom's wife famous venison steaks are like?

This episode also decided to split up the group and introduce Rachael so we have some new storylines and I like this because some characters get some more screen time for themselves, like Aaron and Maggie, than they would when they shared it with Miles. It is done right in this show, unlike the latest season of The Walking Dead when entire episodes are given over to split up characters and we don't see the others for ages.

 

Some reveals in this episode too, with maybe the most important one being that Rachael is still alive and is a captive of Monroe. This was not a shock to me at all because I really doubted that they would have killed her off screen and those who have read my other reviews know I really hate her. I admit I thought she alright at the beginning but that changes quickly when they just go too far with her in later episodes. I like strong female characters such as Charlie and Nora, in anime (Ghost in the Shell, Buso Renkin) and in video games (Lightning Returns. Resident Evil) but as for Rachael they cross the line with her to annoying, arrogant and stuck up. Will go on more about this in future reviews.

 

Now that isn't going to rub off! 

Speaking about Nora she is a great addition to the cast because you will see that she proves to be very useful when it comes to making things but the most important thing about her is that she is part of a Resistance. Like with Rachael I wasn't surprised that there was something like this against the Militia but I am curious to find out more about it, how it operates and how strong it is. Thought I'd point out; why do they tattoo their members because that is a dead give away? The Militia branding themselves is one thing but should a Resistance operate more secretly, lol. Speaking about Militia we get to see a softer side of Tom in this episode as he mercy killed his wounded solider and it seems that he truly believes that the Monroe Republic is a proper form of order for this new world. Unlike Strausser who looks like he is in it for the killing and torture and we see more of Monroe he seems to be very cold and calculating and seems determined to turn the lights back on.

 

Possession of this flag in the Monroe Republic is now very illegal

Lastly we also get the reveal of the mysterious Randall who seems to have captured Grace and who also possesses a pendant. Could it be he is collecting pendants? One thing is for sure; those who has these pendants must be linked to The Blackout, why else would Ben know before hand the lights where going to go off and Monroe has Rachael captive?

 

Overall this is a great follow up to the Pilot episode and a great watch; it doesn't hold back in any of the action and the story line branches off in some interesting directions. We get the introduction of new characters, more screen time for the series antagonist and it defiantly added a more sci fi element with the these pendants. I didn't like the flashback however in this episode, it was great seeing what it was like just after The Blackout but I like the Tim Guinee as an actor and his character Ben is one of my favourite characters but they really want to portray him as a really weak person compared to Rachael which is annoying.

 

SCORE: 9/10

 

You may have noticed but for this review, and all other Revolution episode reviews, I am treating it as though it is the very first time I am watching the episode.

 

 

The great screenshots of the episodes where provided by the great site Screencapped. You can look for yourself from the link below;

 

 





http://screencapped.net/