‘The Flash’ episode 4 review: Was Felicity’s ‘Arrow’ crossover a worthy one?

For the first time in its entire series so far, Tuesday night’s “The Flash” gave us an episode that did not just feel like a procedural with superheroes added to the mix. It also had a villain in Captain Cold who was not exactly a meta-human at all.

One other obvious note of discussion here was that “Going Rogue” was the first “Arrow” crossover of any real substance. We’re not counting that Easter Egg in the pilot, since that really didn’t have to be there. It was important for the writers to establish that there was a reason that Felicity Smoak and Barry Allen are not getting together, or at least one other than “they are on separate shows, and that is far too confusing.” Felicity and Barry realizing that they had feelings for other people that outweighed the feelings that they had for each other was a nice, mature moment for the two.

Also, we appreciated just from a logistical standpoint how “Arrow” fans probably did not have to watch this in order to still enjoy that show. This was like a bonus feature, or something that adds to the knowledge of the Felicity story. It wasn’t a necessity.

With this being said, did Felicity feel a little out-of-character with some of her confidence in here? We’re talking more socially, from the “overdressing” for the trivia night to some of how she carried herself in general as the tech guru of Team Arrow. It was a little jarring, though the chemistry between Emily Bett Rickards and Grant Gustin is clear.

As for the rest of the story, Wentworth Miller as Captain Cold was pretty great, and his arrival brought us more information on Cisco, and his reckless creation of tools without prior approval from STAR Labs. He is a good villain, and one we are interested in seeing a little more of at some point in the future. After all, it was nice for there to be a villain not captured within the hour.

In the end, this was one of the better hours that the show has created. Save for Iris and Eddie, there wasn’t a whole lot of cheese in here, and we feel like Central City is starting to come into its own. We’re not there yet, but this hour for the most part established progress. Grade: B.

What did you think of “Going Rogue” as an episode? Share in the comments, and head over here if you want to preview what lies ahead now in “Plastique.” Also, you can sign up today to get further TV news in a flash courtesy of our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo via The CW.)