Spoilers for The Flash Season 5 episode 5, "All Doll'd Up."
Iris is pretty much the best person ever (in case you didn't know already). In tonight's Iris-centric episode of The Flash, she dives off a building with the key to save a falling Barry, who is wearing a power dampening bracelet. It was incredible, and the highlight of the episode by far. Cisco's powers still aren't all the way back yet, and his condition is concerning. The team's search for Cicada persists, and they are having better luck with tracking down Caitlin's formerly dead, missing father.
The Caitlin mystery leads team Flash to Professor Stein's office. Apparently Caitlin's father, Thomas Snow, knew the longtime Flash scientist. Cisco vibes a vision of Thomas working on an ice formula that spelled the name Khione (insert some serious science talk that went over my head). According to Wells, Khione is a god of ice and snow. This suggests Thomas clearly knew his daughter had a "Killer Frost" inside. The next step is finding where he is, and the only clues are Tannhauser Industries and Caitlin's mother.
This week's villain, Rag Doll, definitely had the creep factor going for him. Peter Merkel (played by Troy James) is the son of billionaire. There was a falling out with his family, and now he's a contortionist who blows up buildings and steals stuff. The character debuted in Flash Comics #36 (1942) and was created by Gardner Fox and artist Lou Ferstadt. In the comics, he was born triple jointed. In the show, he gained the power in the "enlightenment" or satellite explosion.
Iris throwing herself off a building to save Barry from Rag Doll will make "All Doll'd Up" one of the most memorable moments in Flash history. Elongated Man had a pretty wild assist in the final battle, swinging through the streets Spider-Man style, but not having Elongated vs. Rag Doll did feel like a cop out given their matching skillset. The most intriguing mystery heading into midseason is still the reveal of Killer Frost's origins over the whole Cicada serial-killer situation, which barely got any screen time. But all that doesn't really matter because the episode made time for Iris' perspective and the season is better off for it.
Any thoughts on "All Doll'd Up"? Sound off in the comments.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Autumn Noel Kelly started as a staff writer for Newsweek in 2015. She covers anything in the comic book world—TV ... Read more
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