The Flash Review: All Doll’d Up (Season 5 Episode 5)
Once again, the villain of the week takes a back seat to character development in The Flash Season 5, Episode 5, “All Doll’d Up,” and the show is much stronger for it.
The metahuman plot definitely isn’t the biggest or best part of an emotional, family-focused hour, one that finally starts digging in to Iris and Nora’s messy relationship in all its glory.
New villain Rag Doll is creepy as heck – and played by an actual real life contortionist, which helps explain some of his more horrifying body movements. (Seriously, he looks like that girl from The Ring in places.)
So yeah, visually, he’s terrifying, a fact which actually goes a long way toward covering up for the fact that narratively speaking, Rag Doll is a dud. His story has little depth and he isn’t particularly interesting, unless you count the fact that we’ll all be having nightmares about him for the rest of our lives.
(Don’t hate me, internet, but I almost feel like this particular episode was a waste of an extremely cool villain concept.)
But, if Rag Doll was the sacrifice we had to make to get such an in-depth emotional hour of The Flash, I’m willing to live with it.
The tension between the two West-Allen women remains deeply uncomfortable in the wake of the revelation that Iris purposefully dampened her daughter’s powers, largely because Nora’s blaming her mother for actions she hasn’t committed yet, but that she herself really has experienced.
(I know a divorce metaphor isn’t really accurate in her situation since Barry vanished, but it nevertheless still feels true: It’s always easier for the child to blame the parent that stays.)
Iris, for her part, is pushing back against the idea that her fate and decisions are predetermined when she hasn’t done anything, while trying to understand how she could become a person who might do some of the things Nora claims.
The thing that makes all of this so interesting is that: They’re both right. Nora should be angry about the choices her mother took away from her. And Iris should resent being blamed for something she hasn’t done yet.
But those things did happen to Nora, and despite her protestations it’s easy to see how Iris might become a person willing to do anything to protect her daughter if Barry were to suddenly disappear.
How can these two form some kind of truce and try to build a relationship now? Particularly in a world where we’ve already seen that the future doesn’t necessarily have to come to pass. (Or at least, not in the way we think.)
Though, to be fair, The Flash really hasn’t dealt with how much Nora has likely changed her own timeline already, and we probably just shouldn’t think about that because: Headaches.
At any rate, the messiness of Iris and Nora’s relationship feels perfectly realistic. And it should be interesting to see where they go from here, now that Nora realizes her mother is more than she thought she was.
(Iris’ decision to jump off of a roof after Barry was pretty awesome, just saying.)
Elsewhere, Caitlin’s search for her father continues, with the help of Cisco, Ralph and Sherloque. It’s kind of awesome to see everyone pulling together like this, simply to help get some sort of closure and/or answers for their friend.
However, what with Thomas Snow’s drawings of his daughter as a pseudo-ice goddess, it’s possible that The Flash may be making their Killer Frost origin story just a bit too complicated at this point.
But, since I never expected that the show would devote multiple episodes and emotional beats to Caitlin’s search for her father and the truth of her identity, maybe they’re going to surprise us here as well.
As long as everyone keeps supporting one another like this — well, and we get Killer Frost back eventually — I’m here for it.
One of the problems with The Flash last season was that it often felt as though the core members of Team Flash were barely friends anymore. They certainly didn’t share a lot of screentime, what with people turning evil, dimension hopping and going to prison.
In Season 5, we get to see people work together a lot more often, and their relationships feel more genuine. Even Ralph seems to fit better with the group than he ever has before.
Watching Cisco suffer through debilitating pain to help a friend that needs him; hearing Caitlin’s pep talk about how he was a hero long before he became Vibe – these are the emotional moments The Flash has been missing.
And it feels so good to have that side of the show back again.
Because let’s face it – none of us are here for the The Flash‘s rogues’ gallery of villains. We’re here because we care about these people and their relationships with one another.
Yes, let’s see them battle evil metas and despicable bad guys and thwart plots to take over Central City. But let’s also remember why they’re fighting: For each other and the people they care about.
That’s what makes people heroes: Whether they have powers or not.
Stray Thoughts and Observations
- If Sherloque Wells’ sole purpose for existing is to give me someone to dislike more than I dislike Ralph, well. Mission accomplished, friends.
- Um, Ralph ate Rag Doll, right? That’s what happened there?
- Related: Why are so many aspects of Ralph’s powers SO GROSS?
- Did I miss the part where we explained why Rag Doll was targeting Iris?
- This episode was an absolutely perfect use of Cecile.
What did you think of this episode of The Flash? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8pm on The CW.
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Lacy Baugher
Lacy is a pop culture enthusiast and television critic who loves period dramas, epic fantasy, space adventures, and the female characters everyone says you're supposed to hate. Ninth Doctor enthusiast, Aziraphale girlie, and cat lady, she's a member of the Television Critics Association and Rotten Tomatoes-approved. Find her at LacyMB on all platforms.