What I’m Watching: The Flash

The Flash: Season 5, Episode 5 “All Doll’d Up” (B)

I’ll go ahead and say that I don’t believe I’ve seen a villain this terrifying in a long time on a TV show, even in Halloween episodes or from among the many demons recently featured on “Legends of Tomorrow.” It’s something about the way that Merkel moved with his head screwed on the wrong way that was just unnecessarily freaky, and it was strange to see him ultimately captured when Ralph pretty much swallowed him up. The horror elements of this hour really took a backseat to the plot development related to Cisco getting back to his stronger and more assured self after some nasty injuries to his weakened hands and Barry and Iris get back to a good place with their daughter. We’re getting closer and closer to the mystery of who Caitlin’s father is and what the circumstances were around his alleged death, and I hope that the payoff is good there, including the long-awaited return of Killer Frost. Each member of the team is proving their worth, including Ralph and Sherloque, and it’s good to see that unity in an episode that didn’t feature Cicada at all. Nora truly is a brat, and I think her future sayings are designed to make her more irritating. Cecile knew exactly what to do to trick her into listening to stories about her mother by pretending that they were about Barry, and hopefully our speedsters can work together to defeat their latest enemy in no time so that this whole season isn’t just about one villain again.