One the heels of last weeks two-episode crossover between The Flash and Arrow, Tuesday nights winter finale reestablished a couple of storylines that will propel The Flash into some interesting territory when it returns in 2016. Before we get to those, Barry and company need to deal with the return of Trickster (Mark Hamill) and Mardon aka the Weather Wizard (Liam McIntyre). Warning, spoilers ahead…
As the episode opens we see Harrison Wells running for his life from Zoom. It’s a dream-like sequence but will have severe consequences by the time the episode ends. At S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin and Jay continue to work on closing the breaches that allow other metahumans access to Earth-1 and stop Zoom in the process. It is quite clear the chemistry that exists between the two as pointed out so indiscreetly by Cisco.
While this was happening, over at Iron Heights Prison, the Weather Wizard breaks out Captain Cold and The Trickster. His agenda: kill the Flash. The Trickster is onboard with this plot but not so much Captain Cold. Cold breaks into Barry’s home and warns him. Barry believes that there is a sense of honor in him to do such a thing as to tell him of Weather Wizard and The Trickster’s plan. Mardon’s return to Central City is especially personal for Patty whose father was killed by him some time ago and to this day, she feels both guilty and full of vengeance that could ultimately cloud her judgment.
One of the storylines that I mentioned earlier that gets a huge boost is when Iris tells her father that Francine, her mother, was pregnant with his child when she left them. And that she gave birth to a boy named Wally. Yes, Wally West. Joe is left devastated by the news. He walks away, needing time to process what he has just heard. As Joe deals with fact that he now has a son, back at S.T.A.R., Cisco concocts a plan of using the Weather Wand to stop the Mardon and Trickster once and for all.
With Trickster impersonating Santa, he hands unsuspecting kids boxes for them to open on Christmas morning. What they don’t know, is that each box contains a bomb. This devious plot is done to make Flash choose between his own life and the countless families that will die should the bomb go off. Always selfless, Barry is more than willing to give up his own life and Mardon has his way with him before handing him over to Trickster to finish him off.
With help from Jay and Cisco, Harrison devices a plan to stop Mardon’s bombs from going off using a drone. The drone picks up the signature whereabouts of each bomb and they get swept away into the one of the breaches that appears in the sky. Cisco notifies Barry in time for him to quickly disarm and tie up Trickster and use the weather wand against Mardon rendering him useless. Patty then arrives at the scene and uses Cisco’s boot device to immobilize Barry while she seeks her revenge on Mardon. Barry pleads with Patty to not do this. He tells her that her father wouldn’t want her to throw her life away, that Mardon wasn’t worth it. She lowers her weapon and instead, arrests Mardon.
With the Rogues back in prison, the episode wraps up with the introduction of Wally West showing up at the house and meeting Joe and Iris for the first time. And later, Harrison and Zoom have another meeting where Harrison is reunited with his daughter Jesse. This reunion is short-lived however. Zoom takes her back and demands an answer from Harrison regarding a proposal that was made during that dream-like sequence at the beginning of the episode. A reluctant Harrison agrees to help him steal Barry’s speed.
It’s a well-done ending to what has been a solid sophomore season thus far. Let’s see what 2016 bring with it.
May the Dork be with you,
JPB
The Dork Knight
