The Flash' latest episode, "Gone Rogue", is just the latest one in a long line of episodes that fails to properly recreate Barry Allen's Rogues' Gallery. For all the success The CW series has had in bringing various aspects of the comics to life, it has never managed to do justice to the gang of high-tech thieves who make sure Barry's life is never dull.
The Rogues stand as something unique in the world of comic books for several reasons. Unlike other villainous organizations, like the Sinister Six or Masters of Evil, the Rogues were not designed to be a standard supervillain team, forming organically as various Flash villains accidentally found themselves robbing the same target and ing forces to fight the Scarlet Speedster. As such, the Rogues are more of a social club than an organized criminal enterprise, with the going solo or working together as it benefits them. Despite this loose organization, the Rogues are remarkably disciplined in action. They are also notable for having a strict code of conduct which forbids casual drug use as well as the use of lethal force, except in self-defense.
The Flash's "Gone Rogue" episode saw Nora West-Allen forming her own gang of Rogues. Needing the help of some skilled thieves and criminals whose powers weren't dependent on a metagene, Nora recruited the The Flash and the Furious."
The Flash has hinted at establishing the Rogues several times since the pilot episode, which pitted Barry Allen against the show's first version of the Weather Wizard. Amunet Black, who had formed her own gang of Rogues in the comics.
Ironically, the difficulties The Flash has had in bringing its greatest group of villains to life may lie in the care the show has taken in crafting its villains as individuals. The show has done a phenomenal job of casting its core villains, recruiting talented actors like Wentworth Miller, Dominic Purcell, Peyton List, and Mark Hamill, among others. Getting that many actors together for a single episode could prove difficult, logistically, and giving them all a chance to shine would be an even greater challenge for the show's writers, who already have their hands full balancing a large ensemble of heroes. This means fleshing out villains inhibits the writers' time to depict them as part of a supervillain team, one as simple and recurring as the Rogues. Top-name actors may not be willing to show up for one episode here and there, after all.
Another issue that The Flash has in properly portraying the Rogues is that all of its season-long storylines so far have been focused upon lone villains rather than them as a collective. More effort has been devoted to building up the likes of Cicada or The Thinker as a one-man wrecking machine than considering the dangers posed by an organized union of low-level criminals working together and playing it smart. This might not be as visually exciting as Barry Allen having to fight yet another evil speedster who can somehow outrun "The Fastest Man Alive," but a season focused on the Rogues' Gallery might be an interesting change of pace.