On The Flash, one would be hard-pressed to find a character that doesn't have some kind of baffling family situation that is only barely comparable to anyone else in the world. Season 5 already tipped the scales with Barry and Iris' future-daughter Nora, but it'll also dip more firmly into the backstory of Caitlin's father, Thomas Snow. Formerly presumed dead, the genius scientist is most certainly still alive, and The Flash has released a first look shot at Thomas.
While we have yet to see how villain Cicada's potential fatherhood will play into this season in full, I am pumped for The Flash to finally dig deeper into Caitlin's family history. Which means I'm pumped to figure out where Thomas Snow has been all this time, along with how and where Team Flash is able to come into contact with him.
As played by Veronica Mars vet Kyle Secor, Thomas Snow looks like he's got FROST-ed tips in his hair, which are complemented quite well by the blue hue in the room. (I mean, seriously, Cobalt Blue could be hiding in plain site in that lab.) I'm getting the feeling that Thomas was hidden away and preserved through cryogenics or whatever The Flash's version of that technology is.
We know Caitlin has had her Killer Frost powers since she was a young girl, even if we don't know how they came to exist. So it stands to reason that Thomas could also have some temperature-related abilities at his disposal. As such, Thomas may have been in a deep freeze state ushered forth by his own powers without any machines.
On the flip side, Cicada's presence in Season 5 has tipped Flash fans off to there being meta-tech in the world that stands alone from the metahuman abilities that were caused by the particle accelerator explosion. Thomas may also be clued in on such advanced devices and tools, which maybe have played a role in his extended absence.
Now, we probably wouldn't have expected for Caitlin and Thomas' big reunion to be one full of music, dancing and other festivities. Still, Thomas looks pretty intense in the pic above, which brings us to another important question regarding his return to Caitlin's life: why did he seemingly fake his death and go into hiding in the first place? And how does Caitlin's mom factor into it?
Unfortunately, the episode's logline isn't going to help us on these fronts. It just states that "The Icicle Cometh" will see "Caitlin, Barry and Cisco learn something new about Caitlin's father." I'd like to learn some old things about the guy, too, if possible.
The November 20 episode will also follow Sherloque Wells and Iris as they look into aclue concerning Cicada. Good for Iris to keep putting trust in Sherloque, but why is she the one working with him in this scenario? (Group math, I know, but still.) Hopefully Barry and Iris are still on good terms after Rag Doll's arrival shakes things up for the couple.
Will Thomas Snow's arrive have anything to do with Cicada's presence, or are the two mutually exclusive? Is anything that happens on The Flash mutually exclusive from everything else? Possible, but not likely, especially with Nora around causing well-intentioned mayhem.
The Flash airs Tuesday nights on The CW at 8:00 p.m. ET. To see what other shows are kicking it in primetime in the near future, head to our fall TV premiere schedule.
