Flash 506 2

Caitlin finally gets to spend some time with her father. Photo courtesy of FlickeringMyth.com.

Please Keep In Mind That This Article Contains Potential Spoilers For “Snow Pack” and Events That Occurred Prior

The Flash has had a rough time recently. It just can’t seem to get all the elements of an episode just right—and hasn’t been able to for awhile. Yes, sure there have been episodes here and there that were strong across the board—however that’s not usually the case. The maddening thing is that with “Snow Pack”, there was so much good. More so than the show has had in a few installments. But then there was just the one plot line that dragged things down. There’s always something. Why don’t we start there?

The Caitlin/Killer Frost storyline was terrible. I try my hardest when reviewing to not tear into something to much unless I really feel that it deserves it. This is one of those cases that I’m just going to have to let loose. Everything about this plot line was uninteresting. The writing for it was bad and facepalm worthy, the acting was bad, and most things about it were consistently cringey. What are some examples you may ask? The family having the nickname “Snow Pack”! The father just wanting to have a “(n)Ice family”. Caitlin’s father magically taking over just in time to save the day, while also claiming to have banished his ice alter ego just like that (none of this was even hinted to be close to a possibility with him prior). Her father giving a terrible speech about surviving, and then dying seconds later in the most laughable and worthless way. I just don’t understand how the show has yet to produce anything substantially worthy out of the endless possibilities that their storylines posses.  

The Flash — “Snow Pack” — Image Number: FLA519a_0238b.jpg — Pictured: Danielle Panabaker as Caitlin Snow — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW — © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved

To make matters worse was the unbelievably TERRIBLE, and completely RANDOM entrance of Cicada. Who arrived at just the perfect moment to grab the device, kill the father, and escape. It made no sense. Nothing about it was natural, while everything about it was forced and contrived. Cicada’s entire purpose there story-wise was to kill Caitlin’s father—in a completely anticlimactic and unsatisfying way. It’s like the writer’s then remembered that Cicada actually had to be there for a reason, so they were like “Yea, I guess she can use this device to further her own agenda.” Not even Team Flash seemed to care too much that she was just suddenly there.

Now with all of that out of my system, I can easily say that the rest of the episode was actually pretty damn good. I mean the installment started out with it’s strongest moment: Barry and Iris’ heated argument about Nora. It was legitimately both of their best performances of the season.  I wish we got to see more of this episode explore their disagreement past just this one conversation. Next time the two were together, things were solved pretty tamely (and quickly). Had we had one more conversation at the end of the episode with that same emotional energy—it would have been perfect. But even as it is, it was good.

The Flash — “Snow Pack” — Image Number: FLA519a_0135b.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Danielle Panabaker as Caitlin Snow, Grant Gustin as Barry Allen and Jesse L. Martin as Detective Joe West — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW — © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved

This disagreement led Iris to rebel and, with the help of Ralph, find her way to the future in an attempt to bring Nora back. Now we all knew that it wasn’t going to be so simple, but really the best part of the whole thing was getting to see Iris interacting with Thawne. That’s something we haven’t seen for a long time, and it wasn’t disappointing to see their tense conversations about Nora—someone who Iris has released may have become very important to Thawne as well. It’s also fun to note that Iris and Ralph don’t get many solo scenes together, so odd pairings is always a good move to freshen things up.

When it comes to Nora, the show took an unexpected turn with her character—one that I’m actually a fan of. She is going to the dark side. Yes, I know the Negative Force isn’t helping, but it still feels like the natural next step after her family’s abandonment. Pair that with Thawne’s methods, and they don’t mix well. It’s really interesting as well, because Nora and Thawne share a lot of intriguing similarities. Both looked up to the Flash and everything that he was, and both were betrayed in some way: Thawne by fate itself, and Nora by her father. These betrayals led them both down a reverse path. I’m really looking forward to how their story progresses. At this point, I’m not sure if it’s something I want resolved this season, or for Nora to become their next Big Bad.

The Flash — “Snow Pack” — Image Number: FLA519a_0086b.jpg — Pictured: Jesse L. Martin as Detective Joe West — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW — © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved

Clearly. besides everything having to do with the Frost Family, “Snow Pack” delivered some really good stuff. More about Thawne was explored, Nora’s descent into darkness is progressing at an alarming rate, and we were given some great emotional scenes between different characters. Cicada is still out there doing something though, and I guess Caitlin’s mom is now a Meta. Really the show just needs to find a way to finish the Cicada storyline, and focus on what’s important: Nora.

Bonus Note:

  • I REALLY enjoyed Ralph taking that moment before he left the future to get that long look at Thawne. Here Ralph is getting his first look at the devil—at least according to everyone on Team Flash.
  • I still don’t really see (or care all too much) how Cicada ties into all of the end season storyline. I mean we now know that Cicada wasn’t even her main reason for coming to the future—it just kind of happened.
  • Also, how cool is it that we finally have the Negative Force proper.
  • Theory: What if, in an effort to make a Cicada somewhat important to the plot this late in the game, Nora’s descent into darkness is cemented by her killing Cicada. She’s had it or for Cicada for a long time, and with her channeling all of those feelings and urges, that could be the next step.

You can catch new episodes of The Flash when they air on The CW network every Tuesday at 8pm EST