‘The Flash’ Season 5 Episode 6 Recap and Review: “The Icicle Cometh”

By
Kevin Finnerty
-
The Flash Season 5 Episode 6
Grant Gustin, Danielle Panabaker and Carlos Valdes in ‘The Flash’ season 5 episode 6 (Photo: Jeff Weddell © 2018 The CW Network)

“We’re going to get you out of here. We’re going to give you your life back,” says Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) to her father, Thomas (Kyle Secor), after locating him with the help of Barry and Cisco in The CW’s The Flash season five episode six.

Episode six begins with Cicada (Chris Klein) at Jitters when his lightning bolt blade starts to glow as a metahuman passes by. He follows the female meta to her car and they fight. She wounds him, but he ends up killing her.

Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Team Flash is splitting into groups to look for clues to Cicada’s identity. Nora (Jessica Parker Kennedy), Iris (Candice Patton), and Sherloque (Tom Cavanagh) head off together to try to find the core of where the S.T.A.R. satellite came down during the Enlightenment. Ralph leaves to visit Joe to check with FEMA about the kids wounded that night. This leaves Caitlin, Barry (Grant Gustin), and Cisco (Carlos Valdes) – the original Team Flash – together in S.T.A.R. Labs.

Barry tells Caitlin he knows they were supposed to wait until she was ready to find her dad, but Cisco used the new satellites and was able to pinpoint her dad’s last known location. Caitlin quickly asks where her father is, and they reveal he’s in the North Pole at a Tannhauser black ops site that’s been closed down for years. So, Caitlin, Barry, and Cisco bundle up in warm coats, and Cisco uses the breacher gun to get them there.

The three friends arrive during a blizzard, but Caitlin’s able to spot the site. To save time, Barry phases them in through a wall and they start looking around the seemingly abandoned site.

Cisco comments how it smells like science and Barry, bothered by the weird experiments left out, asks Caitlin what kind of work Tannhauser was involved in. She admits she doesn’t know. They enter another room and hear a voice call out “Caitlin.” They turn to see Thomas Snow, Caitlin’s dad, looking a bit frostbitten but alive. Caitlin and her father hug.

Thomas surprises Caitlin and her comrades when he tells them he knows who they are and that he’s been watching her from S.T.A.R. Labs through a one-way video feed Dr. Harrison Wells helped him set up years ago. (Is it possible Wells/Eobard Thawne knew about Caitlin’s hidden cold meta all along?!) Cisco is suspicious and starts asking Thomas questions about how he stayed alive. Thomas tells the gang he used cryotherapy to treat his ALS but it had unintended side effects. He developed cryo-malignancy that threatens to crystallize his skin and take over. He claims he quarantined himself to keep Caitlin and others safe.

Caitlin asks him back to S.T.A.R. Labs and when they arrive Thomas is amazed by the view and by traveling through a breach. Caitlin wants to run some tests on him, but Barry suggests she and her dad take a walk to reconnect. Caitlin, smiling, agrees.

After they leave, Barry asks what’s bothering Cisco and he confesses he thinks Thomas’ story is full of holes and doesn’t add up. Barry thinks they should be happy for Caitlin who just got her dad back. If anyone deserves to be happy, it’s Caitlin.

Iris and Nora are awkwardly talking, trying to figure out the best way to split up and look for clues. Nora wants to hang around her mom to see her be a badass journalist interviewer. Sherloque gets impatient with their behavior and tells them he has a plan that should work.

Caitlin and Thomas walk and chat, reminiscing about things they loved to do when she was young.

Caitlin realizes it must have been her mom who shut down the Tannhauser facility and begins to blame her for sealing in Thomas. However, Thomas confesses he wanted to quarantine himself to protect her. He blames himself for not being there for her. Thomas becomes emotional and upset, and that’s when he has a cryo-attack.

Caitlin takes him back to S.T.A.R. Labs, and Thomas explains his cryo-attack is brought on by emotion. The gang realize that’s what used to trigger Killer Frost in Caitlin, and Caitlin asks Thomas what he did to her. He confirms he had her checked for the ALS gene when she was a girl and she had it. To make sure she never developed ALS, he tried the same experiment on her he did to himself. He noticed not long into the treatment her Killer Frost persona coming out so he stopped the treatment.

Cisco asks Thomas about his alter-ego and Thomas reveals never had one. That’s why he’s suffering from his disease. Caitlin informs Thomas she should be able to make a serum from her blood that should hopefully stop the cryo-disease. In order for it to work, they need to lower Thomas’ body temperature to absolute zero. They’ll need to break into the DoD to use a machine capable of doing that.

Over at Central City Hospital, Cicada bumps into the nurse who knows what he’s up to. She sees he’s not doing well. It turns out she hates metas too for hurting so many people.

Ralph teams up with Cecile (Danielle Nicolet) because Joe’s busy at the precinct. They try to investigate FEMA records, but can’t get past a FEMA official and wind up back at Joe’s house. Ralph gives Cecile a little pep talk that does her good, and off they go again. This time they’re able to intimidate the corrupt FEMA official into sharing files which will hopefully lead them to Cicada’s daughter.

Sherloque, Nora, and Iris end up figuring out the satellite’s core is in the bay. Iris tells Nora she can talk her through running so fast she can bring the water back, the same way Iris did when she briefly had Barry’s powers. It works.

Cisco goes back to the black ops site to do some investigating and has several painful vibes. He has a vision of Thomas making skin grafts. He finds the evidence, brings it back to S.T.A.R. Labs, and accuses Thomas of being a liar. Cisco’s sure Thomas isn’t who he says he is.

The Flash Season 5 Episode 6
Danielle Panabaker and Kyle Secor in ‘The Flash’ season 5 episode 6 (Photo: Katie Yu © 2018 The CW Network)

Thomas claims he used the skin grafts to make sure his face and arms didn’t become frozen from the disease. Furious with Cisco, Caitlin orders him to leave.

Barry catches up with Cisco, and Cisco admits he thinks Barry’s blinded by his own happiness. He believes Barry’s spending time with his own daughter has affected him, and he isn’t seeing all the holes in Thomas’ story. “You need to look at this like a CSI, for Caitlin,” says Cisco.

Barry returns to talk to Caitlin who’s finished the serum. She warns him not to defend Cisco, Barry does anyway. He tries to convince her some of what Thomas is saying just doesn’t hold up.

Caitlin reminds Barry that Thomas is all the family she has left. “That’s not true, Caitlin. We are your family,” replies Barry, reminding her that’s why he and Cisco are trying to look out for her. Caitlin agrees to allowing Barry to ask Thomas questions after she gives him the serum. Then Caitlin quickly realizes that if Thomas takes the serum and he’s really a cryo-metahuman, it would kill whatever is left of his human side.

Barry, Cisco, and Caitlin confront Thomas and he goes full Icicle – Thomas’ version of Killer Frost. Icicle is determined to kill the Thomas part of him and he uses an icy blow of air to knock all the air out of their lungs. He’s then able to escape and take the serum with him.

Caitlin wakes up on the ground with Cisco and Barry hovering over her looking down. (The scene replicates the way Cisco and Caitlin looked down at Barry in season one episode one.) She starts to apologize for not listening to them, but Barry and Cisco wave it off. They get called to the main cortex and Iris and Sherloque show them the DoD is getting extremely cold. Thomas must be there trying to finish the cure.

The Flash, XS, Vibe, Ralph, and Caitlin rush over to stop him but Thomas has made the room so cold that The Flash and XS can’t use their speed and can’t even vibrate to warm up. Cisco and Ralph are quickly freezing to death.

Sherloque notices Caitlin is immune because Killer Frost is a part of her. Caitlin tries to reach that part of Thomas that was her dad, asking him to stop. But, Icicle tells her Thomas hasn’t existed for years.

Noticing Cisco, Barry, and the others are close to going into hypothermic shock triggers Caitlin’s Killer Frost who hits Thomas with a strong icy blast. Icicle tries to talk Frost into teaming up with him, but Killer Frost says “You’re not my family, they are. You only give a damn about me because you wanted that serum.”

Icicle keeps trying to team up by claiming they’ll be stronger together. Frost replies, “I’m strong because I have people who actually care about me.”

Frost steps on the serum and destroys it. She’s about to blast Icicle again when his alter ego comes out for a second, looks at Killer Frost and says “Caity.” That causes her to stop the attack, giving Icicle the opportunity to hit her with a cold blast. He then uses his powers to soar up into the air and escape.

Frost shoots an icicle into the machine, stopping the room from reaching absolute zero and saving her friends. Barry and Nora speed vibrate to warmup Cisco and Ralph. Caitlin tells her friends she lost her dad, but Cisco assures her they’ll get him back together. “You’re not alone anymore,” says Barry to Killer Frost/Caitlin.

Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Cisco shows Barry and Caitlin he figured out what DeVoe did to get rid of Killer Frost. He used Brainstorm’s powers to give Caitlin a mind block so she couldn’t access her alter-ego. Cisco hands her Harry’s old mental activity dampener which should allow her to actually chat with Killer Frost. Cisco believes one day she won’t need it at all anymore.

Barry says they’ll leave her to work on it and she thanks them again. Caitlin puts the device on her head and she hears Killer Frost’s voice say, “Well, hello stranger.” A surprised and happy Caitlin replies, “Hey.” Killer Frost’s voice responds, “Well, we sure have a lot to talk about.”

Back at the cortex, Barry and Cisco see that Sherloque, Iris, and Nora have brought the core of the satellite in. In other good news, Ralph and Cecile have a list of kids names who were injured and treated by FEMA on the night of the Enlightenment.

The final scene shows the nurse visiting Cicada who’s passed out at his house. She wants to treat his two wounds, but he declines the offer. He believes they’re making him stronger.

The Flash Season 5 Episode 6 Review:

Exciting, suspenseful, and emotional, season five episode six titled “The Icicle Cometh” taps into the formula that made the first season so amazing by teaming up and focusing on Caitlin, Cisco, and Barry – the original Team Flash – to search for her missing father. It’s the chemistry between Grant Gustin, Danielle Panabaker, and Carlos Valdes that makes the scenes between Barry, Caitlin, and Cisco so strong and geniune. These three have always been the heart and soul of the show, working together to stop the villain of the week while solving a mystery. This is why episode six is the best episode of season five thus far.

The standout performance goes to Danielle Panabaker as Caitlin, a daughter who desperately misses her father and who’s scared and hopeful once they’re reunited. Later, Caitlin’s shocked, hurt, and determined after discovering her father’s secret. Panabaker conveys so many different emotions in just one episode and does it brilliantly.

With Killer Frost back in the fold and new clues to track down Cicada, it shouldn’t be long before another confrontation between Team Flash and the metahuman-hating villain.

GRADE: B+

More on The Flash Season 5:




RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR