TV Review: "Goldfaced" and "Cause and XS"

So, I'm a couple episodes behind on reviewing The Flash... Luckily, it's just a couple. There's been three episodes since, but as we're an Elongated Man blog and Hartley Sawyer didn't appear in the exciting but uneven "King Shark vs. Gorilla Grodd," we'll skip that one.

Ralph featured heavily in "Goldfaced" as he and Barry (Grant Gustin) infiltrate the metahuman underground to get a device that'll stop Cicada. However, they are quickly fitted with power-dampening cuffs and made to help Goldface (Damion Poiter) and his men steal a device capable of 3D-printing organ replacements. Our boys are able to convince us that if The Flash were to get cancelled, they'd be quite capable of leading an action-oriented police drama.

Meanwhile, Iris (Candice Patton) sneaks into Cicada's home and he (Chris Klein) returns to find her there, leading to a confrontation. Also, Sherloque (Tom Cavanagh) begins dating Renee Adler (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) despite the criticism of his ex-wives. Barry and Ralph and Iris' plots were great, the Sherloque one, not so much.

In "Cause and XS," Barry goes into the Speed Force for an hour to complete the metahuman cure, leaving Nora (Jessica Parker Kennedy) as the resident speedster to protect the city. Also, Cisco (Carlos Valdes) has a date! However, that night, Cicada breaks into Iris' office. When Nora goes to rescue her mother, Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) is killed, forcing Nora to run so fast she resets time to just after Barry left. However, despite what she does, one of the S.T.A.R. Labs crew is killed by Cicada, or Cecile (Danielle Nicolet).

This was particularly interesting for Elongated Man fans as there is a shot of Ralph stretching his arm across his office to reach a bottle of Gingold.

The Groundhog Day-like plot proved to be the basis of a good episode, just spoiled by a baffling moment right at the end.

And while it doesn't feature Ralph, "King Shark vs. Gorilla Grodd" is worth a watch for an impressive fight scene as teased by the title.

Viewers in the US may view these episodes at no charge during a limited availability window on the CW website and app. With the current licensing agreement, the entire fifth season of The Flash will be available on Netflix in June, 2019. Digital versions of the episodes may be purchased on iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Vudu, Google Play and other retailers of digital video content. Blu-Ray and DVD copies of the season are expected to be available for sale in or by September, 2019.

Non-US viewers should check their local listings, the websites of the channels that air The Flash, and digital video retailers