What I’m Watching: The Flash

The Flash: Season 2, Episode 3 “Family of Rogues” (B+)

This show does a great job of turning its villains into heroes and then back again, offering up a number of characters whose allegiances blur the lines and change continually from episode to episode. Initially, Captain Cold was one of Barry’s fiercest enemies, particularly because of his association with a certain hothead, and only since Leonard found out Barry’s true identity and kept it secret has their relationship become a bit less icy (pun most certainly intended). I’m actually more fond of his sister Lisa, whose relationship with Cisco is simply terrific, relatively genuine even though both of them put so much subtext into every conversation they have that indicates resentment on Cisco’s part and deviousness on her. Neither Snart sibling compares to their awful father, Michael Ironside’s Lewis, who was evil enough to put a bomb in his own daughter’s head to compel his son to help him with a robbery. Shooting Barry after he did his part in the job was a poor move, and fortunately Barry used his speed to save himself and get the upper hand. It’s good that Lewis is out of the picture since he was a formidable threat, and now it’s a matter of controlling Professor Stein’s apparent revival of Firestorm and an Earth-Two version of Harrison Wells who has just materialized in Star Labs. And on a more earthly note, Iris is probably going to be pretty broken up for the foreseeable future now that she’s learned that her mother is actually still alive.