The Flash 5x16 : Failure is an Orphan review

Be warned there will be *SPOILERS* involved in this review. With that being said let's get into it.

Finally after weeks & weeks of trying The Flash delivers a really interesting and well thought out Cicada centered episode. And not only is it a great Cicada episode but it's one of the best episodes this season in my opinion. Beginning in 2049 we see Nora and Eobard Thawne talking. He brings up a photo in his cell of The Flash's final meeting with Cicada that is fast approaching. He says Nora has done well and soon they will have defeated Cicada. He has something else to say though as he says the timeline is changing or someone is trying to change it. He says something..or someone is trying to break through the timeline and is coming. Godspeed perhaps?? or The Red Death?? either way it's gonna be crazy if time bending and timeline manipulation is involved. Back at Star Labs we see Iris and Barry in the hallway. Iris on the phone walks into the main room with Barry who sees Nora crazily trying to find Cicada's location. Barry and the others don't know that their final confrontation is coming with Cicada but Nora seems to go into overdrive mode here as time ticks by. Sherloque, Caitlin and Cisco says that Barry and Iris have created a monster in Nora which was funny. At Jitters and Nora is super excited to see that she's gotten her very own coffee. The X-Spresso. Barry and Iris suggest spending more time with their daughter but at each turn she kinda turns them down in the most polite way possible because as we know time is still ticking down on that final Cicada confrontation.

Joe West returns to work. With files mounting up on his desk he notices a pattern between the Cicada and the doctor who we've seen is helping him throughout the season so far. Cecil enters the room and after talking a bit they both agree to question the doctor on what she exactly knows with the help of Cecil's powers of course. So at the hospital both Joe and Cecil question her with Cecil hinting to Joe whether if she is lying or not. They eventually let her get back to work as they have no motive really but later after talking with Barry Joe agrees again to interview the doctor this time at the CCPD building. They eventually break her and she tells them everything. Including a location on Cicada but not before she drops a big bombshell. Grace (Cicada's niece) is a metahuman. We already kinda knew this though I mean a good few episodes back when Nora entered Grace's mind we saw the dark matter infused in Grace's head afterwards. So earlier in the episode The Flash and Killer Frost attempted to get Cicada to agree to taking the meta-human cure. He denied it of course even though Flash tried to talk him around. He punched Barry took back his dagger and jumped off (ugh I can't stand it when he jumps off, makes it feel so anti-climactic) so after getting his location from the doctor thanks to Joe Flash pays Cicada a visit or in this case Orlin Dwyer. Flash even removes his mask to reveal his identity to Orlin. And after saying how much his daughter means to him Barry convinces Orlin to take the cure which will rid both him and Grace of their meta-human abilities. 

The episode ends back at Star Labs where Orlin does indeed take the meta-human cure. He does have some requests first however, once he takes the cure his chest would will open so he says he won't take the cure unless the doctor who has been helping him all season is there to patch him up. The team agrees and the curing process gets underway. Everything seems to be going smoothly, Caitlin gives him the cure, Barry gets his powers back while in the daggers presence and things look good. It's short lived though as Cecil, Nora and Sherloque talk in one of the back rooms all the lights go out in the building. Pretty soon after Cicada jumps through the window and along with some fancy powers manages to string everyone up against the wall with just her hands. Further in the building Killer Frost patches up Orlin's wound but not before Cicada enters the room and honestly this scene was one of my favorites this season. Cicada absolutely destroys everything and everyone in it's path and goes to find Orlin's body which is being guarded by the doctor. Cicada murders the doctor in cold blood before taking the body. Back at the main room of Star Labs Nora is shaken and confused at what just happened. They should have beaten Cicada but who was that person?? Sherloque says it's someone much worse before the episode finally comes to a close at Orlin's house. So just who was the Cicada who showed up at Star Labs?? well she removes her mask to reveal herself as Grace. Who is all grown up oddly enough. She says ''I missed you Uncle Orlin'' before it fades to black. So that person we saw a few episodes back in Grace's mind attacking Nora was this Cicada I presume. Overall though I really did enjoy this episode a lot. The narrative was good and the flow of it all felt natural. The Cicada reveal of it being Grace who by the way seems extremely more powerful than Orlin as Cicada was interesting and just who is trying to break through a new timeline? it's all heating up now and with less than 8 episodes left I hope it's an explosive ending to a season that's been a major improvement over season 4.

★★★★