TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews The Flash Season 5 Episode 6: The Icicle Cometh

Sometimes…ok, often times, a preview or title name can totally spoil a plotline. And that’s exactly what happened here with “The Icicle Cometh”. I mean, those who know DC Comics, or even ones who can tell a pun when they see one will know that the Icicle part of that plotline will no doubt lead to the creation of a new character. And sure enough, Cailin’s dad was the Icicle. Which is sad because if they had been able to hide the truth more, it wouldn’t made what happened a bit more impactful.

Granted, it wasn’t without impact. You could argue that aside from Barry, Caitlin is the character that has suffered the most in The Flash series. She lost Ronnie, Zolomon and Thawne betrayed her, her mother is almost literally cold as ice, and her father was gone. So when she got her father back and was totally overjoyed, it made for a very heartwarming moment.

And I’ll give them credit, they made a logical reason for him to have survived for over a decade with no contact. But as noted above, most of it was a sham. He wasn’t Caitlin’s true father, rather, he was the split personality that was created from his experiments to cure his ALS. Which led to a great reveal of how Killer Frost was born, as Caitlin had the sickness too. And he refused to let her die.

The showdown with the Icicle was actually well played, as all of the heroes except for Caitlin were literally frozen in place. Which is a great expansion on why Captain Cold is one of his most feared villains, as Icicle said, “Cold and speed don’t mix”. Those who know chemistry knows that Ralph elastic powers are also susceptible to ice too, for rubber because brittle when supercooled.

Seeing Killer Frost return was a treat. Sure, we had to suffer through some cheesy dialogue, but having her back was important, as well as the fact that Duvoe had actually put a mind block in her rather than take her powers away. A nice stepping stone to having her back on Team Flash fully.

Speaking of which, I actually enjoyed Ralph and Cecil’s pairing, as Cecil was desperate to get out of the house, and having her get her groove back while helping figure out who Cicada was was a nice touch.

Less effective was the Iris/Nora bonding time, and Sherloque was as annoying as ever, but hey, they have to start somewhere.

What I was really surprised at though was the Cicada storyline. As we saw him take down another Meta, one who had apparently been on a bad streak of attacking people. This, and his interactions with his nurse, helps make him a more sympathetic villain, something others have certainly lacked. I wonder now though if Cicada (like Diaz in Arrow) won’t last past midseason, because now that Team Flash knows who he is, he can’t hide from them. Not for long anyway.

Some stumbles aside, “The Icicle Cometh” was a solid Flash episode in an otherwise solid Flash season. It’s not a bad thing to be good in a consistent way, but if it’s hoping to be great, some changes need to happen, and fast.