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*This review contains minor spoilers*
“The Flash” season five is a bit of a mess. The new family dynamic and the return of a classic foe just can’t overcome the series’ most mediocre big bad.
The new twist this season is that Team Flash is joined by Nora, Barry and Iris’ daughter from the future. She’s a bit annoying at first, but her charm and earnestness eventually won me over. Visually, she brings nothing new to speedsters lore outside of purple lightning, so it makes it that much more important that her chemistry with the team is solid. We’re also introduced to another new Harrison Wells. This one has a French accent and likes to be called Sherloque. Initially, it’s just Tom Cavanagh doing yet another silly accent, but after a while his contributions to the team and his detective skills make him a good addition to the show.
What never works is the main villain, Cicada. No matter how many times we’re told he was never stopped, he just doesn’t see all that intimidating. Even with his ability to negate superpowers and his augmented strength, it always feels like he’s only getting away because the show needs to stretch his story out for twenty-two episodes. Plus, he has a mediocre origin, a silly-sounding evil voice, and a general lack of a diabolical plan beyond killing random metahumans. Eventually, we get a brand new Cicada, and while her abilities are much more formidable and she actually has a scary master plan, she still isn’t much better than the previous Cicada. Her origin is even less compelling, and her powers are poorly defined. It doesn’t help either Cicada that the Flash’s greatest foe returns and upstages them every time we see him. It just hurts that his motivations aren’t revealed into so late in the season.
There’s also the odd meta-cure subplot. It causes not only Sisco to uncharacteristically decide his powers are a bad thing, but even Barry acts out of character, swinging back and forth on forcing the cure on bad guys and then back to asking for their permission. On top of that, the payoff towards the main plot is surprisingly limited. (Although, a twist late in the story makes better use of it.)
While the family dynamic with the Flash and his wife and daughter gets better as the season goes on, the Frost family story falls flat. Everything with Caitlin’s dead father, the origin of her alter ego and the conclusions to all of this just don’t quite work.
“The Flash” season five suffers from one of the shows lamest villains, but is saved by a fulfilling family dynamic that connects the present to the future…and a dark influence.
** out of *****