The Flash Episode Guide: Season 4, Episode 13 - True Colors

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

With Warden Wolfe aware of his secret identity, Barry finds himself on the auction block along with all the other metahuman criminals in Iron Heights Prison when Blacksmith comes to bargain. As Barry debates revealing his powers while leading an escape, a figure from Ralph Dibny's past leaves him wondering just how much he's really changed despite his new gig as a superhero.


Influences

The Flash: Iron Heights by Geoff Johns and the television series Prison Break.


Goofs

The whole idea of sending Ralph in to impersonate Wolfe with his fledgling shape-shifting powers seems incredibly ill-advised. Particularly when Ralph was able to successfully break into Iron Heights Prison once before and it would be a heck of a lot easier to plot an escape plan with a stretchy private-investigator with contacts on the inside than to use him as a face-man to con another criminal, leaving Team Flash with the original problem of having to arrange a prison break.

Blacksmith recovers from the knockout gas in record time.

Despite Killer Frost's pep-talk, Ralph doesn't show up for the prison rescue.

Wouldn't somebody notice that Barry Allen is back in his old cell after being moved? 

It seems unlikely that the CCPD DA's office wouldn't demand that "DeVoe" submit to immediate DNA scans to prove his identity, given then have just as many prior experiences with metahumans who could shape-shift.(Everyman from 119, for instance) as they do people who showed up alive after seeming to be dead. Then again, Barry should have been able to prove his innocence given that his body should have been free of any wounds corresponding to the DNA that was supposedly found under DeVoe's fingernails from where he gouged his attacker during a struggle.


Performances

Richard Brooks seems to be having a fun time as Ralph disguised as Warden Wolfe.

The scene between Danielle Panabaker and Harley Sawyer as Killer Frost gives Ralph a pep talk is the high point of the episode.

The final scene of Sugar Lyn Beard as The Thinker, dancing with The Mechanic, is just plain creepy and a great turn for the Hazard actress.


Flash Facts

The character of Warden Gregory Wolfe first appeared in The Flash: Iron Heights special from August 2001. Driven by a near-psychotic hatred of the criminals he was tasked with guarding, Wolfe's tactics were loathed by the CCPD and The Flash, but tolerated because Wolfe proved to be the only warden capable of containing most of The Rogues placed  under his control. Even so, The Flash stepped in when he discovered Wolfe actively torturing metahuman inmates, such as forcing the radioactive Fallout (who turned himself in to face manslaughter charges after accidentally killing his family) to serve as a living nuclear reactor to power the Iron Heights facility.

The comic book version of Warden Wolfe was a metahuman himself, possessing a power to initiate painful muscle spasms that could incapacitate even the most powerful of metahumans. He could also use his powers to force muscles to relax.

The DCTVU version of Warden Wolfe has been revealed to be as corrupt as his comic book counterpart. Rather than being a fascist who abuses his authority, however, the TV version of Warden Wolfe is a crooked cop willing to make bargains with criminals like Blacksmith to profit himself.

Ralph Dibny is able to smell Earl Cox long before he gets to his office. While it is possible that Earl Cox has particularly foul body-odor, Ralph Dibny's powers in the comics include an enhanced sense of smell even before he stretches his nose.

While Ralph Dibny had some shape-shifting powers in the classic Silver Age Flash comics, these were limited to reshaping his face by stretching certain features and reshaping his body to look fatter, more muscular or taller. He disliked doing this, however, because it hurt to force a shape for too long and he couldn't hold fine details long enough to maintain a deep cover. It also proved ineffective for quick disguises since he was unable to change his skin tone or hair-color.

The New 52 version of Ralph Dibny from Secret Six had full shape-shifting powers, being a natural wiry redhead who transformed into a muscular brunette when he adopted the persona of Big Shot.

Ralph's difficulties in walking after successfully shifting shapes seem to be a nod to the difficulties the Silver Age Elongated Man had with disguising himself.

Ralph orders a Gingold on the rocks while undercover as Wolfe. This is the soda from which Ralph extracted the formula that gave him his stretching powers in the classic comics.


Technobabble

The ventromedial prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain where beliefs and doubts are formed.

Hazard recognizes that Barry has a fracture of either the fourth of fifth metacarpal from when he injured his hand punching a technician.


Dialogue Triumphs

Joe: Wolfe is trafficking metahumans? Is everybody crooked in this town?
Cisco: He always did look smug in those Italian wool suits. (pauses) Oh my God! He's literally a Wolfe in sheep's clothing!

The Mechanic: Wolfe and Amunet's latest criminal undertaking throws an annoying wrench in our plans. What shall we do?
The Thinker: I don't know.
The Mechanic: (slowly turning to him) You... you don't know?
The Thinker: My mind is consumed by a near infinite web of variables, more plentiful than there are atoms in an exploding star. (smiling) So, for the moment, I do not know.
The Mechanic: I fail to see the humor in this.
(There is a pause as we hear a faint wooshing noise.)
The Thinker: I heard that. In your mind - a flash of stimuli racing through your ventromedial prefrontal cortex, where belief is formed. And doubt.
The Mechanic: (testily) I don't have any doubt. And if you had asked instead of reading my mind then you would know.
The Thinker: I do know. As for your earlier inquiry, it's not about what we are going to do. It's about what Barry Allen is going to do.

(Caitlin holds a mirror up to Ralph. He has successfully changed into the spitting image of Warden Wolfe.)
Ralph: Wow! Sweet chiseled cheekbones! I did it! Wow! Maybe I can save Barry!
(Ralph stands up.)
Ralph: Oh... uh-oh.
(Ralph suddenly falls over and winces.)
Ralph: Uh - little help?
Caitlin: (To Cisco) Next we need to work on his motor skills.

(Hazard looks disgusted as she tries to avoid walking into sewage. Dwarfstar accidentally splashes her as he moves past her.)
Dwarfstar: Oh! My bad, Tiny. Hey, soon as we get out, I'll steal you a brand new pair of Timmy Choos.
(Hazard smiles a bit.)
Hazard: It's Jimmy. I'm a size 6. You're so sweet.
(Hazzard giggles as Kilgore rolls his eyes.)
Black Bison: If you want to use your powers for something useful, you could help me steal back some native artifacts.
Barry: If you two plan on going back to crime, you might as well just turn around. The Flash will just run you back here. Same goes for all of you.
Kilgore: Don't look at me. I'm reformed. From now on, I only commit legal crimes.
Hazzard: Legal crimes?
Kilgore: The stock market!

(Barry asks Hazard what she's going to do when she gets out of prison if not commit crimes.)
Hazard: I don't know. Using my powers just hurt those around me. My good luck just jinxed everyone else. (thoughtfully) You know, you seem to really care about people. Not like the type of person who'd... take someone's life.
Barry: I didn't kill that teacher. I wouldn't take a life. You know, not every meta uses their powers to hurt people. Some use them to help others. To protect people. Our powers don't decide who we are. We do.

Killer Frost: So you screwed up? Get over it!
Ralph: You are a mean lady!
Killer Frost: I'm just telling you what you need to hear.
Ralph: Yeah, well I'm not going to miss you when you leave.
Killer Frost: Leave? Is that what this is about?
Ralph: Well, yeah. Everybody leaves Ralph Dibny eventually. That's how this whole thing works. I screw up big time and, tch, they take off. (Ralph collapses on his couch.) This time, the people who are going to leave are actually my friends.
(Killer Frost scoffs)
Ralph: They're the first ones that I've had in a real long time.
Killer Frost: That's stupid.
Ralph: Yeah, well I wouldn't expect you to understand. You kidnap and stab all your friends.
Killer Frost: Right! I'm the queen of letting these people down. But you know what? They're still here. No matter how much I disappoint them, they still show up for me. I don't really understand it, but I think that's part of this whole friends thing. So, unless you do something worse than kidnap and stab them, I think you're going to be just fine.
Ralph: You really think so?
Killer Frost: Yes. I do.
Ralph: Huh. You know... that actually wasn't a bad pep talk.
Killer Frost: Well, it's your turn next time. If I ever decide to go full villain again, you can give me the lame heart-to-heart.

Blacksmith: Step aside, boys. Mommy needs to work.
(Hazard looks at Blacksmith intently as Blacksmith touches the gun of one of Wolfe's guards, pushing it out of her way. The gun suddenly misfires, dropping a knock-out gas canister on the ground.)
Blacksmith: Oh, you have got to be kidding me.
(Wolfe and his men begin to fall to the ground as Blacksmith staggers.)
Blacksmith: Not again.
(Blacksmith stumbles as bits of metal shoot off her gauntlet, taking out all of the guards still standing.)


Continuity

Warden Wolfe has a secret ward for metahumans built on the ruins of the first Iron Heights, completely camera-free and off the books.

Blacksmith last appeared in an active capacity 409, though she appeared briefly in the stinger at the end of 412 talking to Warden Wolfe.

Kilgore is seen for first time since 402.

Hazard is seen for the first time since 403.

Black Bison is seen for the first time since 406.

Dwarfstar from 412 returns.

Earl Cox has a distinctive odor of Drakkar Noir, onions and liverwurst.

Harry Wells is absent in this episode, having gone to Earth Two to check on his daughter, Jesse.

Ralph is discovered to have the ability to use his powers to shape-shift, after he accidentally changes into an exact replica of Earl Cox while describing him to the rest of Team Flash.

Cisco says that it took him some time to learn how to clear his thoughts to use his Vibe powers and that Ralph should clear his head before trying to shape-shift.

The DeVoe's song is "Going Out Of My Head", first recorded by Little Anthony and the Imperials in 1964. It was the first song they danced to shortly before their first kiss on June 27, 1997 at 8:13 pm in the countryside in the small hamlet of Boar's Hill. It was also the evening The Mechanic realized she wanted to spend the rest of her life with The Thinker.

The Thinker's telepathy has difficulty reading The Mechanic's mind when she is thinking of music.

Dwarfstar, Kilgore, Black Bison and Hazard now know that Barry Allen is The Flash.

The Thinker's new and improved chair generates a metahuman power negation field and can teleport.

The Thinker kills Dwarfstar, Kilgore and Black Bison after absorbing their powers. He then projects his mind into Hazard's body.

The Thinker kills Warden Wolfe.

Barry's calendar shows that he has been in prison for 19 days.

Ralph impersonates DeVoe in court, claiming that he just woke up in his home alive and well but that he remembered someone stabbing him and saying something about a frame job before he passed out.

Barry notes that DeVoe only killed the bus metas when he could have gone after The Top, Weather Wizard, Peek-a-boo or any of the other metas in Iron Heights.

The Thinker uses the tears of The Weeper to drug The Mechanic and put her in a romantic mood when he can't read her thoughts following her objections to Warden Wolfe's death.


The Bottom Line

A profoundly stupid episode that rushes to restore the status quo of the series. A few golden moments work (the Killer Frost/Ralph scene, Hazard making the decision to be a hero, the creepy final scene with The Thinker in his new body with The Mechanic) but ultimately so much of the episode is pointless filler up until the last 10 minutes amazingly restore everything back to the way they were four episodes ago.

It does manage to make you feel really bad for Hazard, however, so it accomplishes that much. But Blacksmith manages another miraculous, nonsensical escape, Warden Wolfe - one of the best villains in the comics - is killed off for no good reason and everyone continues to treat Ralph like the red-haired step-child of the team when positive reinforcement has been the only thing that's helped him improve.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 4, Episode 12 - Honey, I Shrunk Team Flash

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

Cisco and Ralph get cut down to size when they confront a metahuman with the power to shrink what he touches. As Caitlin and Harry work to restore them, Joe must deal with his own metahuman menace at home - a newly telepathic Cecile! Meanwhile, in Iron Heights, Barry discovers that Big Sir is innocent of the crime that sent him to prison and puts Team Flash to work on proving it.


Influences

The Atom comics of Gail Simone (general goofy tone and the character of Dwarfstar), The Shawshank Redemption (Barry makes reference to it, the general theme of Barry trying to help Big Sir, Big Sir's eventual escape), The Simpsons episode Lisa The Iconoclast (the use of the word "embiggen"), the movie Ant-Man (the fight scene with Cisco and Ralph piloting a drone and Dwarfstar throwing objects at Iris and Harry as he enlarges them) and the movie Honey, I Shrunk The Kids (title, general goofy tone)


Goofs

As Cecile points out, it beggars belief that the metahuman criminal of the week also just happens to be the robber for whom Big Sir was mistaken for 15 years earlier. We don't care what Harry says about how there are no coincidences.

Iris is wrong - embiggening IS a word according to The Oxford English Dictionary.


Performances

Bill Goldberg has a hell of a presence as Big Sir.

It's a brief thing, but Richard Brooks - who plays Warden Wolfe - does get a quick scene where he shows the steel of the character from the comics as he warns Barry against viewing the other inmates as human beings. It also turns out to be a nice bit of foreshadowing for the end of the episode.


Artistry

The effects work for the shrinking/growing objects is top-notch, and rivals that of the Ant-Man movie.


Flash Facts

The episode title is taken from the 1989 movie Honey, I Shrunk The Kids, in which an inventor's children and his next-door neighbor's kids are accidentally hit by the shrink ray he's working on.

Iris thinks that Cecile might have inherited mind-reading powers from a mystic totem she got from her grandmother. This is a reference to Mari McCabe from Visen, who got her powers in this manner.

This episode reveals that Big Sir's real name is David P. Ratchet. In the original comics, it was Dufus P. Ratchett.

Kord Industries opens a new state-of-the-art research facility in Central City. In the comics, Kord Industries is the business owned and operated by Ted Kord, who is also a non-powered, inventor superhero who goes by the name The Blue Beetle.

The character of Sylbert Rundine first appeared in The All-New Atom #2 (October 2006) and was created by Gail Simone and John Byrne. Using the alias Dwarfstar, Rundine became "The Anti-Atom" using his shrinking powers for acts of evil. Before being given a size-changing belt by a mysterious woman, Rundine was a rapist, a serial killer and possible cannibal who preyed on the women of Ivy Town University. He became the arch-enemy of Ryan Choi - a professor at Ivy Town University, who became the second Atom, following in the steps of the original Atom, Ray Palmer.

Apart from being a metahuman who shrinks and enlarges objects rather shrinking/enlarging himself through technology, Sylbert Rundine appears to be the same sleazy sort of criminal he was in the comics, albeit it more of a thief than a killer. Joe West says that Rundine has a long history of prior arrests for breaking in and entry.

Barry makes reference to the movie The Shawshank Redemption. Based on a short story by Stephen King, the story tells the tale of two men who find spiritual redemption in prison thanks to a series of common acts of kindness.

Harry uses the word "embiggening" in describing the effect of the altered Speed Force Bazooka. Embiggen is a word first introduced to the English language in The Simpsons episode Lisa The Iconoclast. Embiggen means "to make larger". It was made up for the show as an example of a fake word that sounds real, but has since then be added to The Oxford English Dictionary. This officially makes embiggen a perfectly cromulent word. (Cromulent was another word created by The Simpsons, which means "adequate" or "acceptable".)

This episode originally aired on the same day that the trailer for Ant-Man and The Wasp was first released on-line.Ant-Man and The Wasp are two Marvel Comics heroes who have the same powers as Dwarfstar.


Technobabble

Caitlin says that Cecile's heart rate is 170 beats per minute and there's no sign of dark matter in her amniotic fluid.

Caitlin hypothesizes that Cecile's newfound telepathy is a side-effect of her pregnancy and that the changes to her body chemistry have activated latent dark matter that has been in her brain since the first STAR Labs particle accelerator explosion. She says it's something like gestational diabetes.

The camera system at Iron Heights Prison is analog-based. 

The only forensic evidence tying Big Sir to the murder at Mercury Labs was the fact that the bullet casings for the projectiles that killed the guard matched the cartridge-size of a gun that Big Sir owned. Barry notes that firearm identification like that is prone to errors and it's practically a junk science.

The Kord Industries research facility is outfitted with super-speed motion detectors, sonic-vibration defenses and laser beams that don't freeze. (Presumably these safeguard were designed to thwart Zoom, Black Siren and Captain Cold)

Caitlin notes that a lot of factors can make eye-witness testimony in a line-up situation unreliable.

Cisco identifies one of Sylbert Rundine's models as the DARPA's HTV-3X aka The Blackswift - an experimental hypersonic cruise vehicle.

Ray Palmer uses dwarf-star alloy to power the shrinking capabilities of the ATOM Suit.

Rundine's power allows him to shrink the space between atomic bonds, removing the gravity particles and dark energy rather than shrinking matter to scale. The human body could not be shrunk directly - otherwise people would lack the strength to hold up their own skeletons. When Rundine embiggens an object after shrinking it, he refills it with the same combination of energy that he originally extracted.

Harry builds a reverse polarity dwarf star matrix to restore Ralph and Cisco to normal size. He mocks the name Ray Palmer came up with for the ATOM Suit and questions if "electron degenerate sub-atomizer" was taken.

Harry turns The Speed Force Bazooka from 401 into an "embiggening" bazooka. He does this with the dwarf star matter (which was still in Rundine's apartment) and improves upon Ray Palmer's schematics.

Caitlin suggests a biochemical treatment targeting the pituitary glands to cure Cisco and Ralph, like flooding them with human growth hormones. Harry says that would only speed their degeneration.

Central City has their own weather service - CCWAS - The Central City Weather Service Agency


Dialogue Triumphs

(Cecile has just read Caitlin's mind about the gender of her child, to Caitlin's shock.)
Cisco: Boy/girl. That's 50-50. Let's test your skills for real. What number am I thinking of?
Cecile: (looks at Cisco.) Three. 11. 25. Three again. Bulbasaur.
(Cisco, who has been leaning on the counter this whole time suddenly loses his balance and nearly falls out of his chair.)
Cecile: What the hell is a Bulbasaur?

(Harry is making a case for getting Barry out of prison needing to be Priority One for the team) 
Harry: As a former prisoner, I can tell you-
Cisco: No. That was gorilla prison.
Harry: Gorilla prison is worse! They throw their scat at you!

Mayor: Believe me, no one is breaking into this building anytime soon.
(Suddenly, the building is surrounded by yellow light and disappears.)
Mayor: (quietly) I hate this city.

Big Sir: What you're peddling? It's dangerous.
Barry: Wait, what's dangerous?
Big Sir: Hope. I've been in here long enough to understand that in prison, Hope is the most dangerous thing.
Barry: Wait, did you get that from Shawshank?
Big Sir: (chuckles) No. I got that from being in prison.

(Sylbert Rundine runs away down the alley.)
Cisco: Joe, he's getting away!
Joe: I think we have bigger problems.
(Joe looks down at Ralph and Cisco, who are both now just barely taller than a soda can on its side.)

(Harry sighs as Caitlin leaves to put Ralph and Cisco in the hamster cage.)
Cecile: Harry, this is not your fault.
Harry: Yeah, well it kind of - (realizing what just happened) Don't read my mind! Okay?!  What am I thinking now?
Cecile: (looking grosssed out) Oh God!
Harry: (triumphant) Great!

Warden Wolfe: Your friend may look like a man, but he's unquestionably a monster. Everyone here is a monster. And if you insist on continuing to bait them, I guarantee you... you will get mauled.

Harry: I failed! Because I'm stupid! Alright? Too stupid to help Allen's friend! Too stupid to fix you or too stupid to stop DeVoe!
(Harry is zapped by a tiny-sized Vibe blast.)
Harry: Ow! What was that for?!
Cisco: Believe me. I'd punch you in the arm if I could!
(Harry makes a back-handed slap gesture at Cisco but stops himself from swatting the shrunken Cisco.)
Cisco: Look, I know you're not used to going up against someone you can't outsmart like DeVoe, but you really are stupid if you think you're too stupid!


Dialogue Disasters

Joe: Sylbert Rundine.
Iris: Why does every villain in this city have a name that sounds like it came out of a comic book?

(Iris is walking and there's a sudden squishing noise.)
Iris: (disgusted, turning to look at her feet) Who spit gum on the floor?
(Caitlin looks down and her eyes widen in horror as she gasps. Iris has stepped on the shrunken Ralph.)
Ralph: I'm a gumshoe! Not gum on a shoe!


Continuity

Joe didn't have a crib for Iris when she was a baby. He just put her on some cushions.

Joe and Cecile are having a baby girl.

Cisco thinks Bulbasaur is the cutest Pokemon.

Harry refers to his time in the prisons of Gorilla City from 313.

Harry says they have no new evidence to clear Barry and The DeVoes have not moved outside of their home, as far as they can tell, in the past week.

Barry plays poker with several other prisoners, including Big Sir and the former Mayor Bellows. Mayor Bellows was last seen in 404. He makes reference to having tried to kill Barry and Joe in that episode.

Big Sir was sent to prison for shooting an unarmed man 15 years earlier - a security guard at Mercury Labs. Sir claims that he was the same height and build as the real killer and that he just happened to be there and the police found him trying to administer first aid to the guard.

Big Sir's full name is David P. Ratchet.

The new mayor of Central City is a woman.

Technology companies in Central City are robbed at nearly 30 times the national average. This puts Central City at second place, behind Star City.

Kord Industries establishes a new research and development facility in Central City that is stolen by Dwarfstar in the middle of its grand unveiling.

Sylbert Rundine has several prior convictions for breaking in and entering.

Sylbert Rundine goes by Bert. The e at the end of his last name is silent.

Sylbert Rundine owns a 1970s Chevelle.

Cisco and Ralph are shrunk down to a height of two inches.

Iris tries calling Ray Palmer and The Waverider but isn't able to get a hold of them. She is, however, able to get a hold of Felicity Smoak, who tells her about how Ray Palmer's ATOM suit works and about the dwarf star material Ray used to power it.

The last sample of dwarf star matter PalmerTech had was stolen from a PalmerTech facility in Central City on October 10, 2017 - the same day that the bus metas were created.

The theory is that Slybert Rundine was carrying the dwarf star matter on his person while riding the bus and that it merged with the dark matter to given him the same powers as Ray Palmer's ATOM suit.

STAR Labs has a hamster cage.

Dr. Sharon Finkel - last seen in 406 - agrees to put Cecile and Joe through couples therapy.

Joe thinks about a pink elephant to keep Cecile out of his head.

Ralph and Cisco are moved from the hamster cage to the LEGO model of the crime scene where Iris was meant to die in Season Three.

Harry turns The Speed Force Bazooka from 401 into an "embiggening" bazooka.

The embiggening bazooka destabilizes Cisco and Ralph on an atomic level.

Barry says prison pudding tastes better than outside world pudding.

Big Sir dreams of going to Jiaju - a tiny village in China, very secluded. The monks who live there all take a vow of silence.

Aaron Miller was an inmate at Iron Heights who studied in the law library at Iron Heights. He tried to help another inmate with his appeal. Miller was stabbed to death after the appeal failed. 

Iris is nowhere near as good a cook as Joe, but she can brew decaf herbal tea.

Slybert Rundine refuses to make a plea deal to officially confess to the murder that Big Sir took the blame for.

Barry uses his powers to take Big Sir out of prison and leaves him in Jaiju, China.

Harry updates the big board of bus metas.  Thus far the count is eight.

1. Kilgore - technopathy
2. Hazard - luck manipulation
3. Elongated Man - stretching.
4. The Weeper - tears are a psychoactive drug
5. Black Bison - animation of effigies
6. Brainstorm - line-of-sight telepathy
7. Fallout - radiation emission
8. Dwarfstar - size control of other objects.

Warden Wolfe reveals that he had a second hidden camera installed that was always aimed at Barry's cell after he started asking questions about Big Sir's case. That camera revealed to Warden Wolfe that Barry is The Flash. The episode ends with Wolfe drugging Barry and contacting Blacksmith about having another metahuman to sell her.


The Fridge Factor

Cecile's new telepathic powers are mostly used for cracking sexist jokes about how nightmarish it would be for a man to have his girlfriend know what he is thinking.


The Boomerang Factor

Purists may complain that Warden Wolfe - a hardass who routinely tortures the metahuman inmates under his charge in the comics - is depicted here as being willing to deal with a criminal like Blacksmith. In the comics, Wolfe is a Javert figure rather than a crooked cop. 


The Bottom Line

A solid episode, surprisingly enough. The comedy stays on just the right tone and keeps switching levels before any one of the subplots becomes too annoying, though Iris still has the leadership abilities of a wet sock. The special effects work is fantastic and there's some solid performances from all involved. Well done.