“Rogue Time†is the second half of the outstanding episode from last week which introduced time travel. Time travel is such a tricky idea to work with because no two instances are the same. Luckily, “Rogue Time†did a great job of accurately showing the ripple effect Barry’s actions had on future events, while allowing us to delve further into a side character.
The first couple scenes of this episode show Barry reliving parts of his recent past. His eerie comedic timing by mimicking characters as they were speaking was quite unnerving. As we know, actions are never without their consequences.  Wells catches on to what has happened and gives Barry a stern warning not to talk to him about what already happened and not to do anything differently. But, how could Barry simply let a tsunami wreck Central City? Of course he can’t and foils Weather Wizard’s plans for revenge, but at what cost?
As you know in the last episode, Cisco dies at the hands of Reverse Flash/Wells, but he doesn’t have an excuse to miss his brother’s birthday this time around. Caitlin joined him, and we got to delve further into Cisco’s life outside of S.T.A.R. Labs. Dante, Cisco’s brother, is the “wonder child†of the family. Although, this fact is just slightly blurred as we find out later in the episode. After Dante hits on Caitlin and says that Cisco is, “loyal like a dog,†you can see why he wanted to avoid that situation entirely. So, after a rough time at the party, Cisco meets up with Barry at a bar, and to his and Barry’s surprise, a cute blonde is flirting with him. Quite hilariously, Barry assumes she’s flirting with him. But, it’s clear that she is up to something, considering she is really throwing herself at Cisco. They go to her place, and it’s all fire and ice from here on out.
She reveals herself as Lisa Snart, the sister of none other than Leonard Snart. The trio, both of the Snarts and Heat Wave, hit up a casino earlier but didn’t steal anything. Now, they need weapons for a heist they are about to commit. Leonard Snart, being the brains of the operations has Mick Rory (Heat Wave) kidnap Cisco’s brother for an added incentive. Whether the brothers are close or not, they are still family afterall, and Cisco doesn’t really have a choice. He makes the weapons, in crazy record time, even creating a golden gun, literally, for Lisa. Here is where we get some nice banter between the brothers, and we learn that things aren’t so peachy in the Ramon household. Dante is only the golden boy because his parents still treat him as a boy since he still lives at home. And ever since grade school, Dante has been jealous of Cisco. So to prove his worth, Dante attempts a very uninspired escape attempt and is taken down quickly. But Snart is after more than just weapons; he tortures Dante until Cisco reveals who The Flash is.
A great scene occurs between Barry and Cisco when he explains that he seems like a failure for putting those he loves in danger. But, in true superhero fashion Barry shoulders the blame for putting Cisco in the situation. The next scene, which begins eerily similar to the fatal one from last week, takes an interesting turn in this week’s episode. Wells explains how Cisco is like a son to him, that they all love him at S.T.A.R. Labs and his decision to give up Barry’s identity was what any human would have done. Thankfully, Wells didn’t reveal his identity and kill Cisco. Although, I feel that he didn’t because he was interrupted by Caitlin and Barry.
https://youtu.be/Lkij00xF5Kc
As for the love triangle that was forming between Barry, Linda and Iris, you can rest assured that it is all but demolished. Linda broke it off with Barry, and both were genuinely okay with it, which was nice to see. And then he completely threw himself at Iris and, as you would assume, her feelings aren’t mutual. It was clever of them to have her be taken aback by his advancements, and Eddie even punches him during an investigation for coming onto Iris. Wells explains that emotions and feelings permeate to the surface during times of tragedy, exactly what happened in last episode. So, in his attempts to “fix†everything, it all went downhill. It is really setting up that superhero complex where the hero has to save everyone else but never has his own problems in the forefront.
As for the Snart problem, Barry puts that to a hold, for the moment. You see, Snart isn’t much worried about money; he simply does it for the thrill. In a way, Snart has the best personality traits for a villain; he just wants to cause chaos and is extremely smart. He is so smart that Barry says that if he’s that good then he doesn’t need to kill anyone. Snart actually agrees. The entire reason Barry doesn’t take him down to the holding cells is because if Snart is imprisoned he will broadcast to the world that Barry Allen is The Flash. Is this typical to all masked heroes and heroines? Yes, but the way the lines are delivered by Wentworth Miller were quite creepy. So, they agree to settle their differences, for now.
The Rogues are such an interesting group of villains because they aren’t superhuman at all. Some may hate this fact, but thus far, their humanity makes them seem more of a threat to Barry. And, they are infinitely smarter than any previous plodding villain. Yes, they do follow the stereotypical comic character tropes, but they do it so well, especially Wentworth Miller whose snarkiness is great.
Of course we can’t have a stunning episode without Reverse Flash. This time he kills Mason Bridge because Mason was writing the story about Wells’ involvement in the disappearance of Simon Stagg. Wells, as Reverse Flash, puts his fist through Mason, killing him, and he fries the hard drive with all the information on himself. It is such a great scene that further cements Reverse Flash as the deepest villain in any comic TV universe at the current moment.
The end of the episode shows Caitlin coming up with a false side effect called lightning psychosis which is the reason why Barry has been acting so weird. It’s definitely a cop out, especially considering we’ve never heard such a thing mentioned up to this point. Other than that, the episode was quite enjoyable. And, it’s nice that Barry finally admits to Joe that Wells may not be who he thought he was.
