The Flash S05 EP02 Spoiler Review

(Cicada looking eerie) (Image Source)

It's has been a week since the last episode of Flash and so that means another episode crossed the small screen and pushed us further into season 5 and its story, and whoo, this season sure feels like it is moving fast! There is a ton to unload from this episode, from the obvious furthering of Cicada and Caitlin's stories, to other things such as Nora, Cecil, and Cisco's side stories. With no time to waste, here is my review of the second episode of Flash's season 5!

This episode felt smaller than the last (the one before this was the season premier so no real surprise) but it was still a really fun time, and this episode seemed to make a point that this season would be much different than the others. Outright, Nora confesses to everyone that she isn't really stuck in the past and shows them all the future newspaper about Barry vanishing for good so that they're all on the same page. No more secrets seems to be a good direction for this season and so far it has been refreshing with Nora's confession to Barry last episode and now her confession to everyone in the beginning of this one! We also got to see Barry and Iris both back at their jobs which hasn't been really seen for the past few seasons, but it seems we'll have plenty of it now which is great! Point: this season is shaping up to be more different and new than I previously thought. The start also gave us a look at what happened between Gridlock and Cicada at the end of last week's episode, with Cicada killing him with the lightning bolt shaped dagger and then returning to what seems to be his job as a janitor. Unmasked, Cicada was shown to be a regular, albeit creepy, guy. While this is just what I gather from a short opening scene, it would be a new take on the big bad to have him be just a regular guy, and could provide a new dynamic for how the big bad is handled for this season.

Parenthood was a big point of the episode too with both Cecil and Barry learning what that means. Cecil's story definitely fell to the back of my interest but it was still nice to see Joe get to be Dad Joe and say the perfect things to let Cecil know that she doesn't need her powers to be the perfect mother because she doesn't have to be perfect, and he helped Barry realize that Nora acting out is only because she wants to impress him. It was a sweet scene, and ultimately lead to Barry and Nora being able to connect more. Their scenes in this episode were also great and I'm continuing to absolutely love Nora. She's energetic, quirky, and just fun to watch as she messes up and derps her way through each episode. She isn't a perfect hero, she gets defeated in round 1 by this week's metahuman and accidentally hits Barry with a bolt of lightning, but that's the fun in watching her grow and learn from her dad how to be a hero.

Caitlin's story continues to be compelling, and for a while in this episode she was helping Ralph to try and cheer Cisco up after his breakup with Gypsy. It was a funny series of events watching them do their best to make a killjoy Cisco happy, from giving him Ralph's list of 27 steps to get over a break up, and giving him a new makeover from Ralph's own stylist. It ultimately paid off to the bigger story however with it being revealed that Caitlin's over-eagerness to help Cisco move on wasn't only because she cared about her friend but also because she didn't want to focus on the fake death certificate. The thought that her father was alive and out there sent Caitlin thinking he didn't want anything to do with her, and as Cisco finally moved on from Gypsy he helped her to realize that it was better to know for sure than to keep wondering. That lead to Cisco's vibing the death certificate and the revelation that Caitlin's mother had something to do with the forged death certificate! 

This week's metahuman was Block, who could compress air particles around people and crush them into flesh cubes which is super gross. While I'm not totally convinced that she could conceivably stand against the Flash and XS, it was a fun new power and let Nora have her first supervillain takedown. The episode then took a dark turn though as Cicada arrived on the scene and impaled Block, leaving XS to run her to the hospital while Barry, Ralph, and Cisco faced him alone. While it might sound like an easy fight, Cicada's blade showed itself capable of ripping powers from metahumans and the now de-powered heroes were easily defeated in hand to hand combat with Cicada. It was a gruesome fight, and would have ended with Barry's death had Nora not returned when she did and shouted, "Dad!" in horror. This left Cicada still for a moment before silently shuffling away to let the heroes live for another day, and while the episode didn't go into why Cicada chose to leave them alone, it is surely something that will be explored in another episode. Returning to STAR labs, the team had regained their powers once again, and Iris' journalist work from earlier in the episode leads them to connect this new foe to Gridlock's death at the start, and the end stinger reveals that Nora knows who Cicada is.

Oh boy, I really liked this episode. Season 5 is really proving to be a strong season in my opinion. It makes a lot of sense that Nora would have knowledge of Cicada, being from the future and studying the Flash museum, which makes for a cool plot point and means that we'll be learning more about Cicada very early on this season! The ending fight scene with Cicada was very cool to see, especially with how early on in the season it is for them to be meeting and learning about the big bad! It feels like every plot point is on full steam ahead between this and Caitlin's story with her dad, and I'm very interested in seeing where this season leads and what new revelations episode 3 will bring!