Killer Frost (The Flash episode)

"Killer Frost" is the seventh episode of the third season of The CW television series The Flash. The episode was written by Andrew Kreisberg and Brooke Roberts, with a story by Judalina Neira and directed by Kevin Smith. It was first broadcast on November 22, 2016 on The CW. The show is itself a spin-off of the show Arrow, where many characters in the series were introduced during the second season. The episode revolves around Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker) slowly losing control of her Killer Frost persona after using her powers to save Barry from Savitar. In an attempt to get rid of her powers, Killer Frost kidnaps Julian to help her find Savitar and is forced to battle both Barry and Cisco.

The episode received highly positive reviews, with critics praising Panabaker's performance and the team dynamic.

Plot
Continuing from the previous episode, Savitar has Barry (Grant Gustin) in his grasp and decides to run with him across the city, battering him in the process to demonstrate his superiority. In an attempt to save Barry, Cisco (Carlos Valdes) and Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) teleport to his location where Caitlin uses her powers to freeze Savitar, causing him to flee.

As a side effect of overusing her powers, the Killer Frost persona takes over Caitlin. Going to the CCPD headquarters, she lies to Joe (Jesse L. Martin) that Wally (Keiynan Lonsdale) has gotten out of the cocoon. Once alone, she violently interrogates one of Alchemy's followers, then abducts Julian (Tom Felton) and coerces him to find other acolytes, in order to find Alchemy and have him remove her powers.

Barry and Cisco track her down and imprison her, and after knocking Julian out, Barry attempts to reason with Caitlin. In her anger she tells him that everything that's gone wrong with everyone's lives is his fault because he created "Flashpoint" and reveals to the team who were watching them through the warehouse's security cameras that Cisco's brother Dante's death is because of Barry reversing time. The police arrive and are about to shoot Caitlin when Barry speeds her out of harm's way. Once they're both hidden, Caitlin creates an icicle and stabs Barry in the leg, ensuring that it will take him a couple of hours to heal. Eventually, Barry and Cisco find Caitlin and lock her inside the pipeline after she attacks them.

Greatly concerned and disregarding the consequences, Joe breaks Wally out of the cocoon. Wally emerges with unmanageable speed powers and he races away in a confused state. Barry offers his life to Caitlin for her freedom in a successful attempt to restore her sanity and gain her help in treating Wally. Joe and Barry locate Wally and stabilize his condition with Caitlin's serum, and Wally soon embraces his new abilities. Caitlin begins wearing power-suppressing cuffs to keep her powers and her Killer Frost persona in check.

Julian agrees to protect Caitlin from the police, but forces Barry to resign from the CCPD in exchange, believing him to be morally unfit for wanting Caitlin shielded. Julian is later revealed to be Alchemy and unwillingly working for Savitar.

Production
The episode was first revealed when Kevin Smith unintentionally revealed the title on Twitter. It was written by executive story editor Judalina Neira, executive producer Andrew Kreisberg, and producer Brooke Roberts; while being directed Smith.

Ratings
The episode was watched by 2.95 million viewers with a 1.1 rating in the 18-49 demographics. This was a 2% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 3.01 million viewers with a 1.2 rating in the 18-49 demographics.

Critical response
Jesse Schedeen of IGN gave the episode a "great" 8.0 out of 10 and wrote in his verdict, ""Killer Frost" didn't exactly hit the ground running, with the show still struggling to establish Savitar as a compelling villain. But the episode improved considerably once the focus shifted to Caitlin and her drama with Barry and Cisco. It's heartbreaking to watch Team Flash tight bonds begin to fray. If Season 3 is truly going to measure up to its predecessors, it'll need to keep focusing on those key relationships even as it fleshes out Savitar and Alchemy."

The A.V. Club's Scott Von Doviak gave the episode an "A-" grade and wrote, "The threads of a scattershot season are woven together in emotionally satisfying fashion in “Killer Frost,” an episode that finally sees Barry Allen called out for his selfish actions while also allowing him a measure of redemption for them. The hour opens exactly where we left off, with Wally encased in a cocoon and Barry in the clutches of self-proclaimed god of speed Savitar. Once again our hero finds himself pitted against a big bad speedster faster than himself, although Savitar has the additional advantage of being invisible to seemingly everyone except Barry. It takes the combined powers of Caitlin and Cisco to zap Savitar into another dimension, at least temporarily."

Chancellor Agard of Entertainment Weekly stated: "Kevin Smith makes a more-than-welcomed return in tonight’s episode, which he directed. In case you forgot, Smith directed season 2’s best episode, “The Runaway Dinosaur,” a pathos-filled hour that demonstrated he knew how to nail the show’s earnest tone. And, in “Killer Frost,” Smith hits those emotional beats again, eliciting some of the cast’s best performances. However, it’s a shame that this episode isn’t nearly as uplifting as “Runaway Dinosaur” and at times seems to continue this season’s spiral into the depressing abyss. (However, there is one moment at the end that points toward lighter moments to come)."