A member of Team Flash is out to try to clear her name in season seven episode seven of The CW’s The Flash. The episode begins with Barry (Grant Gustin) speeding home to discover that Speed Force Nora (Michelle Harrison) has made breakfast for him and Iris (Candice Patton). As Barry pours the orange juice, he glitches and speed vibrates, breaking the container.
Breakfast is cut short when he receives an alert about a crime. Speed Force Nora wants to tag along but Barry tells her he’ll be fine, claiming a crime scene is not the place for her.
Over at S.T.A.R. Labs, Cecile (Danielle Nicolet) goes over the charges the State has against Frost which include one count of assault, one count of attempted murder, and two counts of kidnapping. (These are crimes she committed back in season three when she teamed up with Savitar against Team Flash). Frost (Danielle Panabaker) insists she’s not that person anymore and has grown. Cecile agrees but she and Caitlin (also Panabaker) tell her that Kramer (Carmen Moore), who is ex-military, seems to be determined to catch her. Her best bet is to lay low for a while.
There’s a break-in at IVO Laboratories, an experimental microchip was stolen, and the company van driver was killed in an icy fashion. Barry and Chester (Brandon McKnight) are still collecting evidence when Kramer arrives and assumes the crime was committed by Killer Frost. Barry politely argues that the make up of the meta DNA on the ice left behind does not match up with Frost’s. Kramer still wants to arrest Frost but does admire Barry’s technique working the evidence.
Speed Force Nora shows up sensing Barry’s elevated stress and offers to help with the crime scene. Barry thanks her but claims he doesn’t need any help. He glitches and power speeds around the area but quickly gains control again. He tells Speed Force Nora he’ll see her back at home.
Meanwhile, Chester calls Allegra (Kayla Compton) to fill her in on Kramer hunting Frost for the new crime and to warn her to make sure Frost stays at S.T.A.R. Labs. Instead, Allegra tells Frost knowing she’ll try to clear her name on her own. Allegra offers to go with her, but Frost says to stay put and cover for her while she goes to get information from a bar where she worked.
Frost visits the bar and talks to Mark (Jon Cor) the bartender to find out what he knows about any new metas in town. He flirts with her a little while, making her the perfect drink using his knowledge of science and mixture. She sees a news report on TV stating the CCPD is offering a large reward leading to the arrest of Killer Frost. Of course, every bar patron comes after her so Frost is forced to take them on. She wins easily and Mark helps by knocking one of them out. He tells her about a new meta focused on tech and that she might be able to find him at a warehouse called Wieringo Mills.
Over at Barry’s CCPD lab, he and Chester realize it’s going to take hours – if not a full day – to go over all the evidence with the computer. Speed Force Nora shows up and offers to help check it in a matter of seconds. Chester thinks it would be great, but Barry says they have to do it the right way to make sure to clear Frost of the crime.
Barry’s powers glitch again and he speeds out of control around the room, accidentally destroying some of the evidence they’d collected. Angry, he yells at Nora who tries to tell him she was just attempting to help. He reminds her he didn’t ask for her help and doesn’t want it.
After Nora leaves, Barry tries to salvage the evidence.
Frost heads to the warehouse and finds a sensor that scans her and the rest of the warehouse, revealing it’s empty. She realizes Mark gave her bad intel but isn’t sure why.
Joe (Jesse L. Martin) and Kramer show up at Caitlin’s apartment and arrest her because Kramer’s convinced she’s Killer Frost. Joe reluctantly handcuffs a surprised and nervous Caitlin.
A little later at the CCPD, Cecile tells Caitlin that Kramer got an anonymous tip that Caitlin is Frost. She also tells her the tests they ran will show she has no cold powers and she’ll be free and clear. Joe apologizes to Caitlin, explaining he didn’t where the tip was going to take them. He then goes off to talk to Kramer.
Joe confronts Kramer, calling her out on her less than by-the-book methods of hunting Frost and stresses that Frost is one of the good guys now. She’s saved Central City by working right alongside The Flash for the last few years. Kramer refuses to listen, adamant Frost is still a criminal and must pay for her past crimes.
While Caitlin and Cecile are waiting for Caitlin to be released, they receive a phone call from Frost who tells them to get away from the north wall. They realize she’s going to try to break Caitlin out and they both tell her to stand down. While talking to Caitlin, Frost realizes it was Mark who set them both up. She decides to confront him.
Barry returns home and Iris talks to him about Speed Force Nora and the obvious distance he wants to keep between her and him. He confesses he doesn’t see his mother when he sees the Speed Force but just a cosmic entity who he doesn’t fully trust. Iris pushes, as she always does, and encourages Barry to give the new Speed Force a chance because it’s more human than just an entity.
Barry gets a message from Chester about a new lead on the ice meta and joins Chester at S.T.A.R. Labs. Chester explains the dark matter and ice they collected have artificial dark matter, meaning the killer/thief isn’t a meta at all. They check on Allegra to see how Frost is doing and she confesses she’s out and about trying to catch the new meta. Allegra tells Barry that Frost said she was going to a bar where she used to work. Barry knows the location so off they go to help her.
Frost returns to O’Shaughnessy’s Bar and confronts Mark, asking why she shouldn’t live up to her name. “Because Caitlin wouldn’t like it,” answers Mark. Mark then begins a short monologue about how he has studied her for months. He scanned her at the warehouse with his device so he could make some cold blast bracelets. He goes on about almost dying when he was a kid by breaking through the ice and when he was revived, he felt it was the biggest and most powerful rush he ever had. Mark believes the power of cold and what it can do is wasted on her.
“Bring it on, Mark, if that’s even your real name,” says Frost.
“That was my name but you can call me…Chillblaine,” replies Mark. (Cisco would cringe at that meta name.) The fight is on with Frost using icy blasts and Chillblaine using his icy bracelets to do the same.
During their fight, which at times looks more like a weird dance, it becomes clear that Mark and Frost find themselves drawn to each other. Chillblaine hits Frost in the face with some quick-drying ice, blinding her. He gets behind her and grabs her in a hold. She forms one of her icicle blades and stabs through herself to stab him. He falls to the ground, seriously wounded.
“That’s something your bracelets can’t copy…ice healing,” says Frost.
The Flash and Allegra speed in with The Flash speed-wrapping Chillblaine’s wound. Frost shows her two friends a recording of Mark’s confession of setting her up. Before they have a chance to get it to the CCPD, Kramer and a whole army of cops pull up outside the bar demanding Frost surrender in two minutes. Allegra tries to think of a way they can help her escape and Barry says he’ll go out as The Flash and explain how Frost is innocent. Frost turns down the offers, believing it’s time for her to take responsibility for the four crimes she committed while with Savitar. Allegra tries to talk her out of it, but Frost’s mind is made up.
Frost looks at Barry who asks her if she wants him to talk her out of it and she says no. Frost walks out of the bar and surrenders to the CCPD.
Barry arrives home and updates Iris on Frost’s situation, explaining she’s going to plead guilty to her past crimes. Iris asks how Caitlin’s handling it and Barry admits he’s not sure, especially with Caitlin just getting used to Frost as her own person.
Speed Force Nora shows up and Barry apologizes for yelling at her. He suggests they get to know each other since it’s clear she’s different from the old Speed Force he’s used to.
The Flash Season 7 Episode 7 “Growing Pains” Review:
Suspenseful and featuring some well-choreographed fight scenes, season seven episode seven finally focuses on the hunt for Frost for her past crimes. Still left unclear is how the Governor and Kramer are aware of the four crimes. Team Flash protected Caitlin/Frost in season three from letting her crimes against them be known, so the only crime that should be on the books is the kidnapping of Julian.
The strongest element of the episode was hands-down Danielle Panabaker’s performance as the ice queen who’s determined to prove she isn’t a “thug” anymore and is a real hero that Central City and Team Flash can count on. Panabaker shows the growth of the character who’s still brash and cocky but genuinely cares about her friends and protecting the city.
With Frost in custody about to go on trial and Team Flash about to go looking for the three evil forces without her, Central City could be in for some very dark and threatening days ahead.
GRADE: B-
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