5 Things We Still Need To See In ‘The Flash’ Season 2

‘The Flash’ is unlike any television series we’ve seen before. It’s a loud, proud superhero show; in Season 1, it doves in, unashamed, into its comic book source material, and it hasn’t let up since. The writers have taken full advantage of the Flash’s fantastic rogues gallery from all eras of the Flash, from the Golden Age Jay Garrick stories, to the Silver Age Barry Allen days, to the incredible Wally West era of the 90s. So as far as source material goes, I think we’re good. But that’s not a bad thing, because ‘The Flash’ has made us care about its cast. I care more to see what happens to Barry, Cisco, Joe, Irish, Harry, Wally, and Caitlin more than I want to see Gorilla City; and that is saying something. Nevertheless,  even though much of ‘The Flash’ has been relentlessly well-done wish fulfillment for fanboys, there are still five huge things I still want to see before this season ends.

#5 – Mirror Master

I wanted to write about the Rogues we haven’t seen before, but then I realized: we’ve seen almost all of the Rogues in one form or another. The only one that’s left is the one with the coolest power (which isn’t saying much, because let’s face it: the Rogues have some pretty lame powers): Mirror Master. He was featured in legendary DC Comics writer Geoff Johns’ epic inaugural run on The Flash (Wally West, not Barry Allen); in the story, he discovers another dimension, the Mirror Dimension, that allows him to travel through any mirrored surface. This is what we need to see, especially since this season has dealt so heavily with alternate realities. Maybe the Mirror Dimension could play a part in how Barry and the team finally take down Zoom.

#4 – A Stronger Story Arc For Caitlin

After the uncalled-for character death in last week’s ‘Arrow’, the CW has to start treating its female characters better, especially ones with huge potential. I don’t want to get into spoilers, but as our TV editor Andy pointed out, she didn’t even get a chance to reach her potential. Caitlin has been sidelined to some degree this season, and after seeing that happen on ‘Arrow’, I don’t want to lose her. She’s a super fun character who’s grown a lot, but she needs a story beyond just… her boyfriends keep dying. For example, in the comics, she becomes Killer Frost. Boom. There’s your story for Cailtin! You’re welcome, ‘Flash’ writers; I’m sure you hadn’t thought of that one!

#3 – Vibe

I’m going to be honest: I don’t know much about the DC Comics’ Vibe. But I do know his television counterpart, Cisco Ramon, and he’s one of the reasons I tune in every week. He’s got a down-to-earth sense of humor that keeps the characters grounded in the midst of telepathic gorillas and time-traveling demons. In the comics, Cisco’s powers are a bit more basic than they are in the show: he can simply create shock wave-type vibrations. In the show, he uses a much more complicated version of this power by tapping into the “vibrations” of the time-stream. It’s almost like if the Flash discovered he could run fast enough to go back in time before he knew he had super-speed. Cisco’s evil Earth-2 counterpart hinted at Cisco’s potential, so I’m hoping that Cisco, resident supervillain-namer and costume-maker, suits up before the season ends.

#2 – Wally West Doing… Well, Anything

I love ‘The Flash’, and even if this season hasn’t been as tight as its first, I have no complaints. Except Wally. He is so boring. You know how I said this series is extremely faithful to its source material? Well, not Wally. He’s nothing like his comic book counterpart (which I would have mentioned earlier but it would’ve ruined my introduction). Here’s the problem: the modern version of Barry Allen, in the comics, animation, and in ‘The Flash’, has the same personality as the Wally West version of the Flash, who took over after Barry’s death in the comics. So what happens to Wally’s personality? Your guess is as good as any; even the writers don’t know how to make him interesting. Maybe it’s just the actor that hasn’t jived with me, but there are so many other differences, too. The comic book Wally, at least during Geoff Johns’ run, was a blue-collar, lighthearted mensch from Keystone City who loved his girlfriend and had strong family relationships. But on ‘The Flash’, this kid’s a moody engineering genius who likes to race cars and eat Chinese food with his estranged father. Hm. Let’s get this kid a suit, ASAP!

#1 – The Rogues

The one thing that I absolutely need to see before this season ends, or at least before I die, is the Rogues assembled properly. In the comics, Captain Cold led a group of villains known as the Rogues, who operated by a very specific and very interesting code of conduct. We know from earlier episodes of ‘The Flash’ and ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ that Captain Cold abides strictly by his code, and he holds his comrades accountable (especially Heatwave). We’ve seen Cold team up before, but never quite to the extent as he does in the comics. I’d love to see him get all the bad guys together and try to gang up on the Flash, while also struggle to get everyone to get it together. If you’re familiar with Geoff Johns’ run on The Flash, this probably sounds familiar, and you can probably tell I’m a huge fan of that series by now, but it’s because it worked. The story kept going; it felt truly serialized, and that’s largely due to the intrigue of the Rogues.

I’m sure we’ll see one or two of these things happen this season, but it’s almost inevitable that my entire wishlist will come true before the series ends. ‘The Flash’ has always done right by its fans, and, no matter where it goes, I’m going to keep up. I mean, come on, at the very least, we’ve got Kevin Smith directing an episode in a couple weeks!

‘The Flash’ returns next Tuesday, April 19, at 8/7c on The CW.

Alex Ward

Alex Ward

Alex Ward is a writer and high school teacher from Cleveland, but to write for Heroic Hollywood, he must become… something else. Twitter: @tiboonda