‘The Flash’ season 3, episode 7 review: Julian, Alchemy, and the greatness of ‘Killer Frost’
We had a pretty good feeling that Tuesday night’s new episode of “The Flash” was going to be amazing just based on the title alone in “Killer Frost,” and it wasted no time getting things going. We saw the culmination of last week’s epic battle of Barry Allen vs. Savitar, and it did not go well for our hero. The Flash would pretty much be canceled right now were it now for Caitlin and Cisco popping up through a portal and Caitlin temporarily freezing the god of speed long enough so that Barry could free himself from his grip.
There were a few remnants of what happened between Team Flash and Team Alchemy, namely Wally West lying in a cocoon, and then also one straggler Joe was able to apprehend among the bad guys. He took it upon himself to be Bad Cop, but didn’t really get any answers. From here, Caitlin went in and became Worse Cop … or Killer Frost. Take your pick.
Caitlin gets Frosty – Dr. Snow’s first move was kidnapping Julian Albert after her interrogation, feeling like he could use him in order to further determine the whereabouts of Alchemy via his algorithm skills. Apparently, Julian = Google. His response to hearing the word Savitar certainly gives us some credence to the idea of him being involved in some way.
In a confrontation with Barry, Caitlin revealed what her true endgame is right now: Getting rid of her powers before she becomes even worse. Suddenly, we understand what iteration of Killer Frost the show is going for here! Remember, in some iterations of the comics she’s not necessarily a villain in the purest sense; sometimes, she acts merely out of a hope for survival.
The most devastating part of all of Caitlin’s actions was her, after temporarily freezing out Barry due to an injury, making it clear to Cisco and everyone at STAR Labs that Dante was alive before Barry went back in time via Flashpoint. The most powerful wounds are emotional ones, and this one could take a considerable amount of time in order to properly heal.
The next move – While Barry was indisposed, Cisco took it upon himself to try and track Caitlin down, and with that he was at the very least able to stop her from doing anything to one of Alchemy’s disciples — who, by his admission, was only a vessel for the teachings of Savitar. Apparently, Killer Frost is destined to be a powerful super-villain and someone capable of what are, in his mind, “great things.” Caitlin didn’t love that, and she didn’t love Cisco trying to talk her down.
Unfortunately, emotions got in the way of the team trying to do their job here. Cisco didn’t want to hurt her, and a clearly-still-injured Barry didn’t want to, either. In having Killer Frost basically freeze-kiss Barry, the writers both came up with an effective solution to stop him in his tricks temporarily while also making the entire SnowBarry fandom explode.
What Caitlin didn’t anticipate was that eventually, Cisco would decide that enough was enough, blasting Caitlin with enough of his Vibe energy that she was able to be temporarily subdued. The team locked her away, while Killer Frost in the process proceeded to taunt him extensively. It took a classic Iris West pep talk to make Barry start to see the light a little bit again.
Wally West is back – Hey, here’s some good news: Wally’s back! Well, the bad news is that Joe may have cut him out of the cocoon a little bit early, and we’re not entirely sure he knows how to use those speed powers just yet. He was clearly shaken and in need a little bit of help … and unfortunately, the best person to help them was Caitlin Snow. Here’s the issue: Would the team get Caitlin Snow, Killer Frost, Caitlin Frost, or someone in between? Not exactly the sort of person you want to go to for help, but we understand the move given what Barry had in mind: He dared Caitlin to kill him, but when she didn’t, we had our proof that there was a good person still underneath. She just had to figure out how to properly control it.
All of a sudden, normal Caitlin was back! Maybe this was a little fast, but hey, it’s an hour-long show with a lot of other stuff to get through. They also used some tech to try and suppress the powers.
After Barry found Wally, the good news is that he was okay! Actually, he was crazy-excited and eager. He wants to of course go out and battle meta-humans, but at the same time, he needs to undergo some tests first. Who wants to bet that we’re going to see Wally try to skip school on those?
Julian’s got demands – Now that happy times are over, more sad times: Cisco’s not sure he can forgive Barry for what he did. There was already a raw wound there, and now we’ve seen that stepped and trampled on. Also, Barry went to speak to a suddenly-conscious Julian about what happened, and try to convince him not to turn Caitlin in for what she did. (Dude had a pretty good reason to, though, right?) Luckily, his mission was accomplished, but there was one condition: Barry had to quit his job, since he had in Julian’s mind “no moral compass” … or, was he getting too close to uncovering the truth? More conspiracy theories galore! Anyway, Barry’s now on the unemployment line.
Julian’s got … an alter ego? – At the tail end of the episode, we got the sense via Savitar that Julian WAS in fact Alchemy, albeit a rather reluctant one ordered by Savitar to put on the mask.
Overall – “Killer Frost” was a pretty killer episode, no? there were many great reveals, an awesome interpretation of the title character, and significantly progress on the main story. The best episode of the season, despite us probably not getting enough Killer Frost for our liking. Grade: A-.
Next week – Be sure to head over to the link here for some more details on the upcoming crossover event! “The Flash” is going to be where things really start to get going. (Photo: The CW.)