So I suppose the takeaway from “Going Rogue” is that Felicity Smoak is awesome and makes everything better, right?
After last week’s somewhat stale, formulaic entry, “Going Rogue” is The Flash’s reaffirmation that its initial promise was no novelty. It’s one of those episodes where most everything comes together perfectly, resulting in a solid hour of entertainment that’s an equal joy for comic book fans and neophytes alike. And that’s not even counting the added bonus of Felicity. Certainly, Emily Bett Rickards loses none of her charm in the 100 or so mile journey from Starling City to Central City, and the Flash creative team take full advantage of her presence.
As indicated at the end of last week’s Arrow, Felicity arrives in Central City to meet up with Barry. The two barely have time to reconnect, however, before the city comes under siege from a thief named Leonard Snart, who is able to get his hands on an experimental freeze gun and goes on a robbing spree. Four episodes in and, at last, the show introduces us to a Flash supervillain that might actually be familiar to general audiences (or anyone who watched Super Friends)—Captain Cold, played to steely perfection by actor/screenwriter Wentworth Miller.
Captain Cold’s freeze gun, as it turns out, was an invention stolen from STAR Labs, much to the fury of Harrison Wells (this time showing a dark side that’s not exclusive to the episode tag). Incidentally, the inventor of the gun was Cisco, who had designed it as a means of stopping Barry, should he turn out to be as villainous as the other meta-humans they’ve encountered. When this information is revealed, Cisco tries to explain that he did this before he got the chance to know Barry, but our hero is miffed that his colleague didn’t even bother to tell him. This encounter is made all the more heated by the fact that Barry was unable to save one innocent civilian from being killed by Cold’s gun.
If I had to ding the episode for one minor issue, it would be this aforementioned argument. Like the interactions with Caitlin last week, Barry’s feelings of betrayal given “all [they’ve] been through” is understandable, but can’t help but feel like the kind of plot beat that should come later in the series when the relationships are more solidified. Granted, Team Flash has quickly established a great rapport and even Felicity—in a quasi-meta nod to how Arrow’s first season came together—compliments their dynamic, and points out how Team Arrow had to come together “one by one.” Perhaps it’s because of this instant chemistry that the show’s writers assume they can move quickly to these inevitable beats, but it still comes across as a bit rushed when we’ve barely gotten through a fifth of the season. Then again, there was no way of knowing how massive a hit this show would be, so I suppose they were prepping, in case their season would be cut short.
What undisputedly works in this hour, however, is all of the Barry/Felicity interactions. Considering the Arrow writers spent a good majority of last year laying the foundation for an Oliver Queen/Felicity pairing, it speaks well of Grant Gustin and Rickard’s chemistry that you sometimes forget about that “Olicity.” Plus, we are treated to some classic Felicity moments, including a scene where Barry speeds off mid-conversation, leaving her to stutter, “…and now I’m talking to air…still doing it…” There’s also my personal favorite—a moment where Felicity preps herself for hacking by cracking her knuckles only to wince in pain and claim that wasn’t as “badass” a move as she thought it would be.