The Flash Season 5: 3 Ups & 4 Downs From ‘Goldfaced’

2. A Waste Of Time

While 'Goldface's main storyline proved to be little more than filler, it at least looked like it had a purpose. Barry and Ralph's undercover mission was crafted with the sole purpose of procuring a weapon that could stun Cicada long enough to allow Team Flash to administer the metahuman cure. Understandably, their desire to do the right thing ensured that they didn't go through with breaking the law and, instead, they defeated Goldface and shut his operations down once and for all.

However, this mission (the one they put their search for Cicada on hold for) yielded absolutely no results. Throw in the fact that Iris figured out how to stun Cicada without their help, and this really was nothing more than a complete waste of time.

Everybody loves a good filler episode (especially in a superhero show) and while this ticked all the boxes, it took time away from the already-underdeveloped main storyline in order to accomplish, well, nothing. We're approaching the season's final stretch of episodes, so it's imperative that each one feels like it added something to the plot. Though Iris' subplot saved this from being a complete waste, it couldn't quite change the fact that 'Goldface' felt like a complete misfire.

In fact, even the relatively solid reasoning behind the mission was problematic...