This Month On THE FLASH: Cicada Adds Depth To XS’s Arrival

The Flash has become a staple for using time as a plot device. Time and, well, time again, showrunners Greg Berlanti, Geoff Johns, and Andrew Kreisberg have defied the laws of physics and manipulated the space-time continuum throughout the series to either save a beloved character, defeat a villain, explain a tragic death, or introduce a new character. Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) does this, among other ways, by using the Speed Force, a cosmic energy force which serves the purpose of moving space and time forward and grants all speedsters their powers.

Season 5 of The Flash utilizes the third usage of the time-travel plot device. Last season, in the devastating aftermath of Clifford DeVoe, or The Thinker (Neil Sandilands), viewers were introduced to the newest member of the Allen family, Nora West-Allen (Jessica Parker Kennedy), Barry and Iris’s (Candice Patton) firstborn child.

Nora was that mysterious speedster who helped Barry punch The Thinker’s satellite out of Central City’s blast radius and save the day. Who is Nora, then? She is XS from the comics. The minor changes that Berlanti, Johns, and Kreisberg have made is they’ve switched her name to Nora from Dawn, and made her an only child instead of one half of a twin.

DeVoe was such an apocalyptic-level-type villain, that Season 5 of The Flash dials back on the drama, initially, and zeroes in on some rather entertaining speedster family dynamics within the Allen family. Sure, they battle pedestrian villains along the way, but they aren’t nearly as severe as The Thinker. That is, until, Cicada (Chris Klein) comes along; the perfect villain for a father-daughter crime-fighting duo.

Now, Cicada is rather intimidating in his villainous attire, trademarked overcoat and all. However, when Klein is revealed as the face of the villain, it’s significantly less effective. Not only is he an actor limited in range for a villain with such an emotion arc as Cicada’s, but the American Pie actor’s clean cut look starkly contrasts the rugged appearance of the villain seen in the comics. Klein is not a poor actor, by any means, but he certainly comes off as an odd choice for the central villain of Season 5. Though, that isn’t to say he might not surprise as the season progresses. The shining star of this season is, unequivocally, Kennedy, whose energy is infectious and a welcome breath of fresh air among the seasoned cast members of The Flash.

Season 5 is far less political than its multiverse earthly counterpart, Supergirl, this season. In fact, The Flash has always been the least political, and most lighthearted, show in the Arrowverse. Aside from one almost-liquor store shooting with a perpetrator using the newly-coined meta-technology, The Flash mostly offers some much-needed, good, old-fashioned escapism. The standard cheesy lines aside, which, let us be honest, most viewers have come to revel in, the continued fine writing this season doesn’t falter.

Episode 1 – “Nora”

Once Nora explains to Team Flash how she came to be in Central City circa 2018, the crime fighting crew can focus on trying to get Nora back to the future so as to not mess up the space-time continuum. However, as soon as Wally, or Kid Flash (Keiynan Lonsdale), tracks down the Legends to obtain Nora’s blood sample, he finds that it contains negative tachyons. In layman’s terms, that means that the particles in Nora’s DNA that allow her to run fast are slowing her down due to them consisting of the dark matter that occupies the space-time continuum. Thus, enter Nora and Team Flash’s central conflict this season: Nora needs to fix the tachyons in her body in order to enter the Speed Force again and travel back to the future.

Speaking of dark matter, without Star Labs’ satellite, they can’t scan dark matter or detect meta-humans via facial recognition anymore, making them more vulnerable to threats. Gridlock is the villain on the loose in Episode 1. Previously defeated in one try by The Flash, Nora disrupts this potential eventuality. So, why does Nora travel back to 2018, then? Well, The Flash vanishes in the future in the line of duty, leaving her without a father for most of her life. In losing her husband at the hands of his powers, Iris becomes over-protective of Nora, given that the young speedster inherited his powers. As a result, they don’t exactly see eye to eye. Meanwhile, Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker) learns some confusing news about her father.

With Gridlock (Daniel Cudmore) hijacking a plane with the intention of crashing it to absorb the dark matter, Barry, Wally (Nora’s half-Uncle, for those who need a refresher), and Nora suit up, and, for the first time, viewers see the three speedsters fight crime together. It’s an exhilarating action sequence thrillingly written by Todd Helbing, Sam Chalsen, Kristen Kim, Thomas Pound, Lauren Certo, Sterling Gates, and Joshua V. Gilbert. For the first time, Nora learns to phase with the help of her father in a much-needed feel good moment. Hopefully, this isn’t the last time viewers see the three speedsters together in The Flash.

Conclusion: Strong As Ever

The Flash remains as strong as a show as its been since it debuted on October 7, 2014. Sure, the writers and showrunners takes some liberties with convenient plot devices such as the time traveling tropes. For instance, Wally casually explains that the Legends have discovered “soft” and “fixed” events in history. Soft events are ones that can be manipulated without having a massive ripple effect throughout time and space. If one messes with fixed events, “then all sorts of craziness starts to happen,” as Wally says. As Team Flash decides that Nora’s arrival constitutes a “soft” event, they decide to let her stick around. The stakes are high for Nora as she begins to train with her father; in the back of her mind, she still has to save Barry from disappearing in the future. For now, one thing at a time.

Episode 2 – “Blocked”

The episode’s title refers both to the effect that Cicada has on other meta-humans and the temporary villain of the episode. He has the ability to block their powers. The anti-meta-human villain absorbs the life-force of, well, meta-humans, in order to save his dying daughter. In the comics, Cicada is over 100 years old, and he has a cult following to help him steal the life-force specifically from people that The Flash has rescued. He obtained his powers in a lighting strike accident, and, since then, has been trying to bring his deceased wife back from beyond the grave with the assistance of the aforementioned cult following. In the television version, it looks like this Cicada has a grudge against all meta-humans.

Writers Eric Wallace, Judalina Neira, Kim, Pound, Certo, Gates, and Gilbert are likely following a common villain theme throughout the series in that Cicada was negatively impacted by the fateful particle accelerator explosion. Specifically, instead of Cicada looking to save his wife from a certain doom, it will be his daughter whom he is trying to save. This will give The Flash a leg up in the fight against him; maybe Barry can reason with the man behind the big bad lightning bolt-shaped knife: David Hersch. He doesn’t seem perturbed by Team Flash.

They aren’t initially a part of his master plan, as evidenced by the fact that he is chasing the same person as them. That’s where this episode’s temporary villain comes into play. Enter the Vanessa Jansen, or Block (Erin Cummings).

As the Moretti brothers, two local arms dealers, represent a very humanly conflict coming to a close, a meta-human scent lingers at the crime scene. As Barry struggles to find a place for Nora in 2018, he decides, since she’s a forensic CSI in the future, to hire her as his intern to crack the Moretti brothers case, much to Captain Singh’s (Patrick Sabongui) annoyance. In posing as a stranger in the CCPD CSI Unit, it’s kind of the perfect way to hide in plain sight. It also gives Nora a great opportunity to bond with the father she never got to know while they track Block. It’s a rather sweet moment when viewers hear Nora celebrate and proclaim, “I get to take down my first baddie!”

While Caitlin Snow, who, sometimes becomes the antihero Killer Frost as a result of her exposure to the particle accelerator explosion, tries to investigate her father’s apparently fraudulent death certificate, Cisco Ramon, also known as the superhero Vibe (Carlos Valdes), learns to cope with the heartbreak that his breakup from Gypsy (Jessica Camacho) caused. Meanwhile, Nora, like her father, puts the world on her shoulders. She knows, ultimately, she has to save her father, and her hastiness borders on recklessness, paralleling Barry’s formative years when he was still getting used to his super-speed.

Conclusion: Cicada, Nora, & Caitlin

The creative heads behind The Flash are slowly building an intricate familial web of mystery revolving around the characters of Cicada, or David Hersch, Nora (who knows Cicada from the future), Barry, and Caitlin and her father, who will be introduced in Episode 6. Could Caitlin’s father be Cicada? Could he be an ally of him? With Cisco in the dumps, it couldn’t possibly get worse for him, could it? Wrong, as evidenced by the title of the next episode of The Flash below.

Episode 3 – “The Death Of Vibe”

In Episode 3 of The Flash, it is revealed to the viewer that Cicada arrived early in the timeline, claiming entirely different victims with Gridlock and Block. So, that means that Nora’s arrival actually constitutes an interference with a fixed event rather than a soft event, making the ripple effect on the new future potentially more drastic than Team Flash initially anticipated. Let us take a moment and celebrate the return of the Council of Wells (at least a remnant of the old braintrust), arguably one of the more entertaining ideas the series showrunners have thought up over the past four years.

Tom Cavanagh as Harrison Wells in his many earthly incarnations is one of the strongest and most consistent supporting performances in the Arrowverse. In Episode 3, one former member of the now defunct Council of Wells recommends a new Wells from another Earth in the Multiverse, Sherloque Wells: a master detective who assists Team Flash track down Cicada’s whereabouts. Obviously, the name of the new Wells is a reference to Sherlock Holmes. So, when he tracks down David Hersch and Barry and Nora capture Chris Klein, another Chris Klein in full Cicada attire kidnaps Joe West (Jesse L. Martin) in search of Vibe. Again, Team Flash is realizing this timeline is likely more fixed than they previously thought.

That means Nora’s arrival signifies drastic ripple effects on the space-time continuum, much to the guilt of Nora. The title of Episode 3 doesn’t refer to the literal death of Cisco Ramon, but rather, a metaphorical one. Once Cisco falls for Cicada’s trap at Joe’s house, Cicada isolates him in the forest. With the stakes even higher, as Nora bears partial responsibility for disrupting the current timeline, she saves the day last-minute by staging Vibe’s death with the help of Team Flash, thus making Cicada believe that he is truly dead. As a meta-human, Cisco might have to retire his abilities until Team Flash solves the Cicada problem.

Conclusion: “Caitlin Come Find Me”

While Sherloque and part of Team Flash help Joe and Vibe, Caitlin tries to find out more about her father’s apparent death, which, after her and Ralph (Hartley Sawyer) break into his old files, she finds out was a suicide. Upon looking into her childhood with her father, she uncovers a puzzle within the suicide note that reads: “Caitlin Come Find Me.” Writers Jonathan Butler, Gabriel Garza, Kim, Pound, Certo, Gates, and Gilbert find a way wrap up the episode in a way that further intensifies the familial mysteries within the show. Caitlin’s father is likely still alive. For that matter, why did the David Hersch that Barry and Nora captured not register as a meta-human? His quarrel with Vibe and refusal to kill The Flash at the end of Episode 3 only further builds upon the mystery created in the beginning of Season 5 of The Flash.

And if that mystery wasn’t enough, the writers elude to the fact that Nora may not have been acting on her own when she assisted Barry in punching the satellite out of harm’s way at the end of Season 4. “I think Cicada’s a father,” explains Joe to Iris. And so, to add a cherry on top of the mess, the writers begin their quest to humanize the meta-human serial killer. In other news, in an exciting name drop, Nora mentioned “The League,” essentially confirming a popular fan theory that the Justice League will show up at some point in the Arrowverse.

Episode 4 – “News Flash”

With Nora now staying at her parents’ house, Iris begins to try and bond with her newfound, estranged daughter. In the midst of all this Cicada drama, writers Kelly Wheeler, Kim, Certo, Gates, and Gilbert provide a vehicle for some much needed comedic relief: the CCPD versus Central City Fire Department softball game, during which viewers see the superhero Barry Allen fail miserably in right field. Yes, you read that correctly. The Flash is wildly uncoordinated. This is also a perfect time for the writers to introduce the meta-human-of-the-day, or, in this case, a recurring character throughout the rest of Season 5: Spencer Young (Kiana Madeira).

Spencer Young is a the female television adaption on Spin. In the comics, Mr. Auerbach is the son of a media mogul who kidnaps a meta-human, Edwar Martinez, that can transform peoples’ worst fears a reality. In the “Fast Money” comic book arc, Spin harnesses Martinez’s powers to manipulate the citizens and create a mass hysteria; Spin gathers citizens at Keystone City Stadium, where a financially struggling The Flash is forced to steal their valuables, after which Spin brings Grodd (David Sobolov) into the equation.

The folks in the writers room place Spencer Young’s Spin in the middle of a smaller stadium in Central City, with one of the members of the CCPD falling under her spell and attempting to blow up the field, with Nora coming to the rescue. Her plan? To craft her own breaking story right as it happens before her eyes and build her increasingly popular blog. She was a junior reporter at the CCPN, but was too hungry for fame and too easy on the fact-checking, a very 2018 Republican Party spin, pun intended, on the villain. The problem? Young’s newfound fascination with Nora’s XS makes the young speedster a potential target for Cicada.

With The Flash MIA en route to Las Vegas as a result of Spin’s unfortunate persuasion, Nora is left to put out a fire at the CCPN, with the help of the female members of Team Flash including Iris and Caitlin. For the first time, viewers truly get the sense that Nora bonds with her mother. Much to Iris’s warning and dismay, Young publishes an article immediately titled “The Future Is Female,” announcing XS’s arrival in Central City. It’s a turning point in the show, one that will inevitably lead to a showdown between Cicada and, at the very least, one speedster.

When Nora attempts to scan Young, she begins to flirt with her. This is an interesting plot development. Will Nora’s crush on Young perhaps save Spin from going full supervillain? One thing is for certain, it will undoubtably inhibit her judgment in relation to Young as Season 5 progresses. Essentially, Young hypnotizes people by transmitting headlines on a big screen via her cell phone, which was turned into meta-technology when it was exposed to dark matter during the particle accelerator explosion.

Since an inanimate object can be influenced by dark matter, then, it is revealed that is how Cicada obtained his powers in the new timeline. DeVoe, or The Thinker (Neil Sandilands), flooded the satellite that Barry and Nora punched away from Central City at the end of Season 4. When it exploded, a piece of its debris, absorbed with dark matter, hit a new Cicada, damaging his lungs, hence his respirator and signature, strained, unorthodox way of breathing. The lightning bolt dagger? The debris from the satellite.

Conclusion: More Metas, More Problems

With meta-human powers essentially available at the hands of anyone with the introduction of meta-technology in the Arrowverse, it opens up a whole world of potential average people who may decide they want to change society for better or for worse. In the meantime, Nora’s bonding moment with Iris was short-lived, as she found out that Iris confronted Young about her. Furthermore, Nora reveals to viewers that Iris actually put a power-dampening device on her for most of her life. Nora’s grudge and her crush on an enemy who is, essentially, trying to break up Team Flash, will likely place her in hot water. Suffice it to say, Episode 4 is the most revealing episode of Season 5 of The Flash.

The Flash, Season 5, Month 1: Wrap-Up

Sooner or later, Cicada, Nora, and Caitlin’s father’s connection will surface. Before viewers know it, Nora will be forced into a situation in which she has to trust her mother again. The tone of The Flash in Season 5 is a welcome change from the over-serious one that anchored last season with DeVoe running the show. Granted, there is still a long way to go this season for that tone to change. Nineteen more episodes, to be exact. And it will change. Cicada is slowly becoming more of a central focus. One thing that has always somewhat hindered The Flash, and the rest of the shows in the Arrowverse, for that matter, is the quality of the costumes. They seem like, well, just that: Halloween costumes. Though a bit tacky, the attire and funky set pieces sort of add to the cheesy charm of the show.

In any case, The Flash continues the trend of adding prominent, new, women-led heroes to the Arrowverse. With Supergirl, Lena Luthor’s (Katie McGrath) character arc takes center stage this season. With The Flash, it is Nora West-Allen who emerges as the new female speedster and Spencer Young who does so, at least initially, as a villain. Furthermore, Caitlin is a more prominent character this season as she explores the case of her thought-to-be dead father. The Flash took a hiatus on the week of November 4, but is back on during its original slot every Tuesday. Episode 5 is titled, “All Doll’d Up.” The official premise reads: “Nora lets something slip about the future that devastates Iris. In an attempt to distract his wife, Barry asks Iris to team up to stop a new meta, Rag Doll. Meanwhile, Caitlin learns something about her father.”

What do you think of the storylines this season thus far? Do you like the showrunners’ new take on XS? What about their new take on Spin? How do you think Caitlyn’s dad will play into the Cicada equation? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

The Flash airs on Tuesdays at 8 PM. Episode 5, “All Doll’d Up,” aired on November 13, 2018. It is available on VOD. For more information on this season’s episode air dates, click here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oOTUP-Hpx4