Originally Aired: 5/12/15
Season 1 Episode 22
“Rogue Air” is DC storytelling at it’s best: grandiose stories, characters, and teams coming together to confront insurmountable odds through sheer will. Even more impressive is it managed to provide truly team worthy moments and DC world building while reminding audiences why they love Barry Allen so much. Whether you have been reading the character since the start of the silver age or only watching the character since this past Fall. While this episode isn’t the season finale, it provided a heart pounding conclusion to the Reverse Flash story, with the exception of the loose end that is the innocence of Dr. Henry Allen.
Even when Barry and the S.T.A.R Lab’s team pending showdown with the Reverse Flash should be their main focus, Barry steers the group to focus on saving the meta-humans trapped underneath of S.T.A.R Labs where Eobard Thawne is attempting to reactivate the particle accelerator at the expense of his former prisoners. Pushed to the point that he was willing to enlist the Snart siblings of: Captain Cold and the recently named by Cisco: Golden Glider to transport villains to safety via Ferris Air. Here and later in a heart felt conversation between Joe and Barry we are reminded of what makes the Barry Allen Flash so unique and enduring through the risk he is willing to take just to ensure the prisoners safety. No matter the person, Barry unlike the Arrow is never willing to spare a life, exemplifying that it’s compassion not speed that makes Barry Allen one of the greatest heroes of all.
As the man formerly known as Harrison Well’s descends to his previous place of employment, we approach a showdown/team-up that Warner Bros. and Zack Snyder can only dream of in future DC film’s. Suddenly it is Flash, Firestorm, and of course the Arrow versus the current fastest man alive in a pulse pounding showdown that allows each of the heroes to have their moment. The fact that the Flash show-runners are able to capture the grandiose and complimentary spirit of the Justice League without any of the DC trinity speaks volumes to development of the CW/DC television universe, and should leave fans very optimistic heading toward the Legends of Tomorrow spin-off series.
From Hal Jordan Easter Eggs to Ray Palmer developed nanite arrows this episode does a lot in the fan service department. While I realize this was not a perfect episode, as the majority of it felt well done, but not transcendent. The epic showdown between Barry, Olly, and Ronnie Raymond against the man that I still want to call Harrison Well’s delivered so much as a climatic action set piece I could not keep for welling up inside as the Flash Show-runners reminded me once again of why I love this the superhero genre so much.