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The Flash 4.19 Review – “Fury Rogue”
Image Credit: The CW
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I am definitely game if it becomes tradition to have Leonard Snart guest star on The Flash every season. Last season, Snart was brought in to help Barry steal a device from A.R.G.U.S. This time, he’s brought in to help the team escort a dangerous meta (Fallout) to a safe area. Of course, the big difference is that this Snart is the one from Earth-X, who is more of a clear cut hero. This makes for an interesting dynamic. As for the rest of today’s episode, “Fury Rogue,” there’s a lot to like. The DeVoe conflict escalates, especially the intriguing, yet tragic dynamic between him and Marlize. Black Siren, while technically a filler character, made for a fun wildcard. All in all, this is one of the most fun, and strongest episodes of the season.
The main story is on the team trying to escort Fallout to a secure A.R.G.U.S. safe house. The problem beyond DeVoe intercepting them is that they need to have something frigid at the ready to keep Fallout from overheating, i.e., Snart’s cold gun. With Killer Frost seemingly out of the picture, Barry decides to run to Earth-X to borrow Citizen Cold. This sequence, with Snart chasing the Black Siren of Earth-X, was extremely fun. By now the writing knows that Wentworth Miller’s portrayal of Snart is well liked, so he gets a lot of dialogue. (One highlight is Snart shouting for Black Siren to give up and “save us the Tom and Jerry.”) Barry ultimately brings Snart to Earth-1, but thanks to Black Siren’s screech, she manages to hold open the portal and follow. We’ll talk about her soon.
Continuing with Snart, it is interesting how different his Earth-X version is when compared to the original. Sure, the mannerisms are similar, and the core character is the same. But this Snart is completely heroic without a hint of malice. The best scene demonstrating this is his willingness to be an escort on the dangerous mission without any, “what’s in it for me?” Snart is compelling, and could easily lead his own show. Now, like his appearance in Legends of Tomorrow, this Snart is also something of a psychologist. He gets to the heart of people. His dialogue with Caitlin on the latter’s internal sadness about losing Killer Frost was nicely done. Some of the dialogue is a little heavy handed, such as in the climax against Black Siren, but overall it’s good stuff.
A major focus of the episode is Snart trying to get Barry to deal with the grief of losing Ralph. Barry spends a good chunk of the episode appearing indifferent, not really demonstrating sadness until the end, when he breaks down over the loss of his comrade. Now, I feel like there’s genuine emotion here, especially in the scene where he admits to Joe how he feels about losing Ralph. But…does Ralph really deserve such emotion? Did Ralph really leave that much of an impact on Barry? I mean, Barry even says later that Ralph taught him more than what Barry taught him. Huh? What did Ralph teach Barry? Ralph spent his character arc getting pep talks and being annoying. If Cisco or Joe were the ones that were lost, Barry’s emotional breakdown would have been more compelling, because we care about those characters, not Ralph.
DeVoe intercepts the truck in the middle part of the episode. This sequence is fantastic, and probably DeVoe’s most memorable run-in with Barry. This is why I’m glad Neil Sandilands is back to portraying the antagonist. He gives DeVoe the perfect amount of arrogance, and utilizes a mock politeness that makes him different than the other antagonists on the show. Before things can escalate more, Black Siren shows up and steals Fallout. This was great, and a fun unexpected turn of events. As stated earlier, Black Siren is just a filler character to draw out the run time, but she was fun, and her invasion of the CCPD building was a highlight.
Back to DeVoe, the most compelling parts of this episode wasn’t any action scene or trash talk; it was the villain’s interactions with his wife, Marlize. Last week we saw how ecstatic Marlize was over getting her husband’s real appearance back. Here, she wants DeVoe to take a break so they could spend “some time as husband and wife.” DeVoe however is not interested in that, and tells her to “leave the thinking to me.” This line of dialogue was so well delivered, and showcased how DeVoe views the relationship: one of control. Marlize is not giving up however. In a later scene, she returns in a lovely dress, a dress that she says DeVoe likes the most.
I’ve said this before, and I will say it again here: Kim Engelbrecht is one of the best actors on the show. Her nonverbal reactions are outstanding and feel extremely genuine. Her smile and her movements as she shows herself with her dress to DeVoe is touching. Then, as DeVoe showcases his distaste for her emotions, her nonverbal reactions perfectly display her internal sadness that the man she loves doesn’t care about her. It’s here where she truly begins to realize that DeVoe has turned into a controlling villain. I’m tempted to say that Engelbrecht’s poryraual of Marlize is the most compelling since Tom Cavanagh’s portrayal of Eobard Thawne in Season 1.
On a couple of last notes, one major subplot is Harry dealing with the implications of injecting Dark Matter into the Thinking Cap. It turns out Harry is losing his memory, and will continue losing it until it’s a blank slate. When Cisco discovers this, the dialogue between the two is compelling. Though, Harry does come off as “feel sorry for me”, something that has been prevalent in these shows. Still, Cisco’s dialogue is great, once again showcasing that he is more than the comic relief character. The culmination of this dialogue is Harry telling Cisco, “Thank you.” This especially works because it plays off of the relationship these two characters have had. The “thank you” is marvelously delivered from Cavanagh, both verbally and nonverbally. One of the developments is that there seems to still be an anomaly inside Caitlin, meaning there might be a way to bring back Killer Frost.
Overall, “Fury Rogue” is an engaging episode. It is the definition of fun, from great character banter to flashy action. But, what’s really great about the episode is the compelling moments. The scenes with DeVoe and Marlize are engaging with a tragic atmosphere. This is helped by the stellar performances, especially Kim Engelbrecht as Marlize. Meanwhile, Snart is always a blast and helps liven up the proceedings. I think the writing should have gone in a different direction with Barry. Instead of getting emotional (because let’s face it, Ralph did not earn that) Barry should have showed inner strength to put grief on hold because of the current threat. Instead, the writing wanted viewers to feel emotional alongside Barry. That just wasn’t going to work with a poorly developed character like Ralph. But, that doesn’t ruin the enjoyment of one of the season’s finest episodes.
