Caitlin learns the REAL origin of Killer Frost. Iris and Nora go on an adventure together. Cecile tries to shake of the rust and become that intimidating D.A. once again. All this and the Icicle, too! Want to know more? Follow us after the jump!

SPOILERS AHEAD!

First, an apology for the late review.  My family and I were on the road all week for Thanksgiving in the USA, and I was just able to see the episode tonight.  I will be able to post much more timely moving forward. Again, sorry for the delayed review of this episode.

We see snippets of Cicada throughout this episode, but it begins with his battle with the character known in DC Comics as Razorsharp, aka Raelene Sharp. Razorsharp actually gets in a stab to Cicada’s midsection before that meta-dagger comes back to kill her.  Cicada is seriously wounded, and we see the fallout from that throughout the episode. Strangely enough, by episode’s end he is actually getting stronger (or believes he is).

Before we hit the main plot line, let’s take a look at where Cicada got his powers. Sherloque, Iris and Nora eventually team up to find the core of the Satellite that fell to Earth.  Iris and Nora had a great time connecting, though it was very awkward at first. By episode’s end they are BFFs, and I’m glad to see that the angsty part of this plotline appears to be past us.

They bring the core back to S.T.A.R. and find the dagger-shaped hole in the shell of the satellite. That obviously explains the meta-tech dagger. They also start to figure out just who Cicada is…

And that is thanks to Cecile and Ralph. They go to a FEMA site that is strangely empty of patients, and interview the person in charge.  Cecile loses her mojo for a moment…later realizing that her empath powers are still working and that she was actually feeling his fear, not her own. When she and Ralph return, Cecile has her mojo back and gets the info she needs to track down the name of Cicada’s daughter Grace.  BTW – I’m really skimming lightly on this one – if you haven’t seen the episode go back and check this part of the show out.

The main plot line, however, is the search for Thomas Snow. They find him in a black ops site near the North Pole, but something about his story is off.  Cisco is the first to realize it, but Caitlin refuses to listen. After all, this is her dad, right?

Thomas had ALS, and treated it with an experimental cryogenic treatment. When he realized that Caitlin had the genetic marker for ALS, he gave her the same treatment. Soon after, her dual personality emerged…and not long after that, Thomas went into hiding.

Thomas’ case is more severe – and without treatment he fears dying.  He convinces Caitlin to make a serum from her own cells. That serum, if delivered at or near absolute zero, would “cure him”.

That was the thought.

Turns out, that wasn’t it.

Thomas had denied it, but he also had an alternate personality. Cisco discovers it and outs Thomas/Icicle, but the Icicle personality overpowers the team and gets away with the serum. His intent is to use that serum to kill off whatever remains of Thomas, letting Icicle take over permanently. That takes us to a Department of Defense site where close to absolute zero could be generated. When Team Flash arrives to stop him, all of them are instantly disabled by the cold.

All except for one.

Caitlin’s body temperature hasn’t changed, even in this near-absolute zero room. Just in time, she is able to summon her Killer Frost personality and stops Icicle. He gets away, but without using the serum

Back at S.T.A.R., Cisco realizes that DeVoe didn’t change Caitlin’s DNA to get rid of Killer Frost. Instead, he used his Brainstorm power to place a mental block to keep Caitlin from changing over.  Cisco brings out Harry’s mental activity dampener to allow her to work on that block…and to communicate with her alternate personality. Killer Frost is still there – but she realizes how important Caitlin and Team Flash are to her. Caitlin and Killer Frost have come to terms, and this may be the start of something big for Caitlin.

NOTES:

• This episode let the rest of Team Flash shine. Barry’s character is still there, but we mainly follow the rest of the cast, and they all performed well.
• Cisco’s character is becoming even more endearing, with the risks that he took in this episode on behalf of Caitlin.
• For once, though, Cisco does NOT come up with the meta name for Thomas Snow. That one is thanks to Nora, who comes up with “Icicle”.
• I’m glad to see Iris and Nora connecting – with Iris even mentoring Nora on how to push back the water to get to the satellite core.
• Sherloque’s character finally comes across as a bit wiser than we thought. He could have told Iris and Nora where the satellite core had fallen, but he also knew that they needed to get past the awkward stage of their mother-daughter relationship.  He sat at the edge of the water drinking tea and singing for two hours – until Iris and Nora realized where the core had fallen and hatched the plan to recover it.
• As a long time (decades long) fan of the Elongated Man, I absolutely LOVE it when his nose twitches – the sign that he smells a mystery. I know it’s just a cheap special effect…but it’s a wonderful thing to see played out on the screen.
• We now know Caitlin’s origin, and we are getting a much better picture of Cicada’s origin and identity.   That certainly starts to heat things up for the season…even if we are going to head to Elseworlds in a very short few weeks.

SUMMARY:

This was a great episode all around – I’ll give this one a 9/10.  That’s just my opinion, of course – what do YOU think? Please leave your comments below!

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