Starting with the pilot episode, The Flash has been running at full speed without taking much time off to catch its breath. In this week’s episode some extra complications were thrown in the path of Barry Allen, that will alter the course of the show.

This week Allen is confronted by a criminal who has obtained a powerful freezing weapon which was stolen from S.T.A.R. Labs. Meanwhile the cross-pollination of characters between The Flash and Arrow continued this week as Felicity Smoak, played by Emily Bett Rickards, made an unexpected trip to Central City. Smoak’s quirky wit and bubbly personality fit right into the world of The Flash. This becomes clear in scenes between Smoak and the S.T.A.R. Labs crew early on. Allen and Smoak complement each other as well and this is a source of romantic tension throughout the episode and perhaps in the future.

Wentworth Miller guest stars as Leonard Snart and is sure to be a reoccurring thorn in Allen’s side. Snart is a career criminal, who in the comics, is one of the Flash’s classic adversaries, known as Captain Cold.  After getting a heist foiled by the Flash, he quickly understands the game has changed and decides that he must adapt. It is refreshing to get a villain who doesn’t have supernatural powers, but is fueled by a sense of escalation. There is a new threat, the Flash, so he decides to step his game up. Shaking up the formula made things feel more fresh and gave Snart a more believable motivation then simply wrecking havok with his new toy.

Fans of the comics will appreciate where the showrunners are taking the show, based on events in the episode and it’s title, “Going Rogue.” Snart will become the ringleader of a band known as the Rogues. A criminal super-team consisting of Allen’s greatest foes who combine their forces to stop the Flash, so they can pull off heists. The final scene made it clear that The Rogues will be adapted for the show as well.

For the first time this season there was conflict between several members of S.T.A.R. Labs. Allen was betrayed by Cisco who designed a weapon intended to immobilize Allen, if he couldn’t be trusted. which ultimately fell into Snart’s hands. The freeze gun then led to a death that Allen couldn’t prevent. Allen berates Cisco, giving a glimpse of a dignified rage in Allen, that is provoked by the loss of innocent lives. In these moments it crystallizes why he has chosen to become the hero he is.

The situational comedy between Joe West and Eddie Thawne is surprisingly amusing. Particularly when West sets Thawne straight and makes the boundaries between their professional and personal lives glaringly clear. West is proving to be the emotional core of the series thus far. Jesse L. Martin’s West is the most believable character on The Flash, which grounds the show when things are getting too fantastical. However, hopefully he won’t show up at every single crime while it’s in progress, unless he somehow has super speed too.

The ambition and scope of the train sequence is pretty jaw-dropping for network TV. It also shows that even though Allen’s is essentially omnipotent, his largest “weakness” is his compassion for others. Judging by Snart’s comments, we should probably expect to see many more scenes of the Flash having to make impossible decisions about who he has time to save. The writers also use the scene to pay off an earlier “training session” that stretches Allen’s ability to multitask and he utilizes it during the train crash flawlessly. While the tone can be light-hearted, it does help that the writers are attempting to tie up loose ends. It gives the episode a sense of closure, but hints at the growing escalation of the story and threats to come soon.

“Going Rogue” was fun and successful at continuing to build the world of The Flash. The show continues to have a strong sense of self-identity early on. The Flash is now on the map. And just like the Rogues waiting for him, we will be watching as well…

So what did you think of the episode? Are you ready for some escalation? What is Dr. Wells’ deal?  Let us know on the comment boards,  and !