The Flash, S3 Ep04 – The New Rogues

Three seasons in and we’re still feeling the consequences of season one’s particle accelerator explosion. “The New Rogues” introduces us to two new meta humans, Sam Scudder/Mirror Master (Grey Damon) and Rosalind Dillon/Top (Ashley Rickards), who both have a grudge against Leonard Snart/Captain Cold. Unfortunately, due to the events of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow their desire for vengeance will not be easily satisfied. In addition to pitting The Flash and Jesse Quick against these two new metas, “The New Rogues” delves deeper into Barry and Iris’ romantic relationship, Caitlyn’s newfound powers, and sees Team Flash search for a new Harrison Wells to complete the team.

Mirror Master and Top

Mirror Master doesn’t seem to be the most formidable opponent when facing The Flash. Only when teamed up with his partner in crime, Top, is he able to trick The Flash and toss him into a mirror halfway through the episode. That being said both of these Metahumans’ abilities are unique and provide something we’ve never seen in the series. Mirror Master can literally leap from anywhere using any reflective surface while Top can induce vertigo in her opponents.

With the exception of their abilities, though, these two don’t make for the most compelling villains. After the two realize Snart is off the table they resort to simply stealing money. No compelling motives. They’re just typical run-of-the-mill bad guys, which is fine since there is a lot in this episode that doesn’t focus on them.

Much of “The New Rogues” deals with Barry and Iris’ romantic relationship and finding a way to comfortably share their love for each other in the presence of Joe. This leads to some of the episode’s funnier moments when Barry speeds away from Iris when Joe comes through the front door, and when Barry attempts an awkward conversation about the subject with Joe. By the conclusion of the episode Barry comes to the conclusion that he should move into his own place, which would probably be the best thing.

After Barry gets trapped in a mirror it’s up to the rest of Team Flash to figure out a way to get him out. After some brief scientific technobabble they figure the best way of getting Barry to phase through the mirror is to freeze it. When Cisco and Wells’ new cold gun doesn’t due to trick, Caitlyn secretly finishes it off with her own abilities allowing Barry to escape. I’d like to finally hear what’s going through Caitlyn’s mind as she continues to hide her abilities. You would think the best thing to do would be to come out with the truth, so the rest of her scientific team could either figure out a way to suppress her abilities or take advantage of it. My only guess is she’s afraid she will turn bad like her Earth-2 counterpart.

Captain Cold hologram

One of the strangest ideas “The New Rogues” brings to the table is the introduction of a new Harrison Wells from Earth-19. When the team realizes Earth-2 Wells will be returning home they come up with the idea of finding another Wells from any Earth in the multiverse to complete their team. After some humorous first auditions, including Steampunk Wells and Mime Wells, they finally settle on the one from Earth-19. Some jealousy ensues from Earth-2 Wells, but he eventually goes with it and Cisco even refers to him as irreplaceable to calm his nerves. Some credit has to go to actor Tom Cavanagh for his alternate and humorous takes on Wells.

Earth-19 Wells is a bit funnier and definitely a change from the multiple Wells we’ve seen in the past. Still, I think it’s a pretty terrible idea to go and trust a brand new Wells outright considering what has happened in the past. That being said it looks like next week’s episode touch on that front.

Overall, “The New Rogues” was a fun and somewhat humorous episode of The Flash that featured some lackluster villains as far as their motives were concerned. “The New Rogues” also featured some brief, much appreciated appearances from Wentworth Miller’s Leonard Snart in his pre-Captain Cold era and as a Captain Cold hologram which ultimately tricks Mirror Master into being caught. Additionally, it’s fun to see Jesse Quick come into her own and fight alongside Barry, and even though she has returned to Earth-2 her return to Earth-1 from time to time would benefit to the series.

Next week’s episode will see The Flash take on a colossal monster that looks like something straight out of a Godzilla-type movie. and judging from the brief shots we see in the trailer it doesn’t look half bad. Check out The CW’s official trailer for “Monster” below and feel free to let us know what you thought about “The New Rogues” in the comments.