In 1997 a movie named “Con Air” was released, starring Nicolas Cage and telling of a flight for bad guys that went horribly wrong. In 2015, we get an episode of THE FLASH called “Rogue Air”…what could POSSIBLY go wrong this time? Turns out, that may be the least of our worries in the penultimate episode for the first season of THE FLASH!

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD

Why “Rogue Air”? Harrison Wells has found a way to rebuild the particle accelerator while hiding out deep inside S.T.A.R. Labs, and that strange metal tube he showed to Eddie Thawne is a futuristic power source that will have the accelerator working again in 36 hours. If it goes online with the metahumans still in their cells it could be fatal. So, Barry has decided to go against Joe’s counsel and attempt to fly all the metahumans to Oliver Queen’s island prison to get them out of harm’s way without endangering Central City. The trick is how to get the metahumans to the airfield…but we’ll come back to that. First…

Cisco has found out how Wells has stayed faster than Barry…there was also a power source inside Well’s wheelchair that helped store energy for Wells, energy that kept his speed well above Barry’s levels. But, there’s no time to do much with this discovery as the accelerator activates! That’s when everyone realize where Wells has been all along (shades of “the call is coming from INSIDE THE HOUSE!”). Wells escapes, releasing Peek-A-Boo as a distraction.

After they subdue Peek-A-Boo and return her to her cell, they discover the place in the lab where Eddie has been held. He tells them about Well’s real name, and that is when they learn a bit more about this strange power source and its role in Wells’ plans.

Now, as to that plan to get the metahumans out of the way…they need to get the metahumans to Ferris Air (the place that has been closed down since a certain test pilot disappeared…one more hint to a broader DCU in the Arrow/Flash-verse). But, there’s no help coming from the police, so Barry turns to…

Captain Cold!

We see Len Snart in a bar (a great nod to the comics), and he agrees to help Barry for a price…later found to be erasing every trace of Len Snart’s records from every law enforcement database. Barry agrees out of desperation, and Snart (along with his sister, who gains her Golden Glider name in this episode) agrees to help. Cisco has a power damper set up in a moving truck, and they head out with Barry clearing the way and Lisa Snart driving the truck.

Of course, this is due for a bad ending…one engineered by Snart himself! Without telling more, let’s just say that every bad guy left owes something to Snart…and we have the genesis for the Rogues Gallery in the Flash TV-verse.

In another thread with big implications, we find how Eddie reacts to the news he was given by Wells about his own future…or lack thereof with Iris, who found the engagement ring when they rescued Eddie earlier in the episode. This is THE big moment for their relationship, and all I’ll say is “it’s about time”.

It is only after all this that the big battle starts, the one we’ve seen teased in all the promos. The battle is huge…and the way we get to the conclusion of the fight is rather inventive…but whether that is REALLY the end or not is something we’ll learn later…possibly as soon as next episode.

SUMMARY: It does make sense that we spent most of an episode titled “Rogue Air” on the Rogues themselves, though from looking at the promos I must confess I was expecting the big battle with the “man in yellow” to start much sooner than it did. Still, when the battle was underway it was most impressive. I did like seeing the yellow suit come out of a ring, and the resolution for the fight was very interesting (though whether this is really a final resolution is something we’ll have to see in future shows).  I think my only criticism is that the episode was trying to be about so many things at once – a race to save the metahumans that turned into a Rogues genesis tale, the resolution of Eddie’s capture, the big moments for Eddie and Iris, and the big battle between Barry and Wells. That made the episode at times just a little disjointed, though the big moments seemed to make up for much of that for me. Overall, it’s still a good episode – and it does set the table well for what should be a most memorable season finale next week. What are YOUR thoughts? Leave them in the comments below.

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