The Flash Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 1 - All's Wells That Ends Wells

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


Plot

When the latest attempt to restore Barry's speed fails, Nash proposes a dangerous plan. Meanwhile, Iris comes to a startling realization in the Mirror World, as Cecile has a disturbing encounter with The Top.


Influences

The Flash comics of Joshua Williamson (The Black Hole organization, mention of Meena Dhawan.) and the Geoff Johns (The Top's new power set.)


Goofs

The retcon that Mirror Master has always been a mirror clone created by Mirror Mistress and the retcon that The Top was always the brains of their operation are not explained very well.

Iris' apparent transformation/death in the final scene of 619 amounts to nothing, as this episode opens with her perfectly fine apart from continuing to hallucinate and suffering from migraines.

Why did Joseph Carver save a video file that proved his story about his wife dying and being replaced with an evil mirror duplicate on a portable hard drive in a file labeled FOR EVA and not ever show it to any of the authorities he was asking for help who had no reason to trust him last season? (There was no reason since Barry just unquestioningly agreed to help him.)

Given that Black Hole is meant to be a secret group, why do their jets have the group logo painted on them?


Performances

Grant Gustin does a fine job impersonating the various versions of Harrison Wells.

The scenes of Nash coming to terms with his death and the roll-call of Wells saying goodbye are a brilliant swan-song for Tom Cavanagh and would be a worthy end for his tenure on the show if, indeed, we thought he truly were done with The Flash.


Flash Facts

 As the episode opens, Chester is reading a physics textbook by Dr. Meena Dhawan. This is a nod to a character from The Flash comics of Joshua Williamson, who was briefly a love interest and ally of Barry Allen, before becoming taken over by the Negative Speed Force and becoming the Negative Flash.

The first fight between Barry and Mirror Mistress as the episode opens begins at 2nd Street and Walczak. This is likely a nod to The Flash writer Katherine Walczak. It then moves to 3rd Street and Certo, which is likely a reference to The Flash writer Lauren Certo.

This is the first episode to feature a new title card sequence which includes Allegra and Chester as part of the team. Ralph Dibny is notably absent from the new sequence.

The map of Central Ctiy which Barry uses to chart the Black Hole hideouts Eva hit mentions several districts from The Flash comics.  These include Leawood, City Center, University Town, Westminster, Petersburg, Englewood, New Brighton and Lawrence Hills. The general layout of the map also roughly resembles the map of the city featured in the 1990 Atlas of the DC Universe, save that the Arrowverse version of the city has a large river bisecting the city in a North-South direction, just to the west of City Center.

The new Harrison Wells variant introduced in this episode, Harrison Orson Wells, is a clear tribute to legendary actor/producer/director Orson Wells.

The Top's new empathic power set is taken from the Geoff Johns run on The Flash, where the original Top, Roscoe Dillon, had his power set changed to develop "mind over matter" telepathic abilities which he used to change the personalities of the other Rogues, pushing them to reform. For Rosa Dillon, this translates into empathic powers like those of Cecile Horton.

Sherloque makes reference to a villain known as the King Tut Killer of Earth-66. This seems to be a nod to King Tut - a Batman villain from the 1966 Batman show., who apparently became murderous despite the villains of that universe being relatively non-lethal.

Allegra starts calling Chester Chuck for short. This is a reference to the Chunk nickname Chester was originally given in The Flash comics, where he was a fat guy whose power was generating black holes.


Technobabble

Barry's costume now has a nanotech hood that covers his face with a touch. 

The fusion sphere powers the Artificial Speed Force. It absorbs whatever touches it while it is active, so it should not be touched while it is turned on, as it fuses the atoms of whatever touches it, bringing about complete molecular degeneration. (An important safety tip Nash relates to Chester.)

Multiversal particles made of synaptic energy, taken from every version of Harrison Wells in the multiverse, exist within Nash Wells. These particles could be used as a power source for the Artificial Speed Force but an organic receptor is required to contain them long enough for the fusion sphere to absorb them, due to the volatile nature of the particles.

Multiversal particles oscillate at certain frequencies of light. Nash theorizes that Allegra can use her powers to transfer the particles from him and into the fusion sphere. 

Chester uses the Mobile Gideon to confirm that an abundance of multiversal particles inside Barry's mind are causing his cerebral cortex to overload.

Chester says he can build a particle magnet that can contain the particles long enough to charge the fusion sphere so Nash doesn't have to die.

Chester fashions a vest covered with ionic circuits which can contain the multiversal particles as Allegra shifts them from Barry back into Nash.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Nash, Allegra and Chester are watching Barry stir, after he was zapped by the multiversal particles. He groans and they all sigh in relief... until he starts speaking with a French accent.)
Barry/Sherloque: Hello. Qu'est Ce qui Se passe? What are you all doing?
Chester: Uh, since when do you speak French?
Barry/Sherloque: Since always, no?
Allegra: Why is he talking funny?
Nash I think when the particles left the Fusion Sphere, they transferred to Barry Allen.
Chester: So all the brainwaves of all the Wellses who've ever lived...?
Barry/Sherloque: Are inside Monsieur Allen's mind!

(Harry Wells has taken over Barry's body.)
Barry/Harry: What happened to the J.V. squad?
(Nash grunts dismissively.).
Barry/Harry: Why are you moping around here instead of helping them?
Nash: Oh, they don't want my help.
Barry/Harry: Right? 
Nash: Mm. Frankly, I don't blame them.
Barry/Harry: Garcia found out the truth?
Nash: Yeah. You know what Cisco said after Crisis? He said, "An infinite number of Harrison Wells, and we're stuck with the one who killed the Multiverse." And every day I ask myself, why? Why am I the one left standing?
Barry/Harry: So who should've gotten the slot? One of us bozos?
Nash: (sighs) You're not bozos. I only called you that because I find the Wells very annoying... Present company excluded. But you know what you are? You're a daily reminder that even though we may all look the same, we're not the same. Because you're all good men. And I'm... I'm not.
Barry/Harry: So you're a selfish jerk. You think that I wasn't? That we all weren't? Hell, when I met this team, I was working for Zoom. H.R. lied. Sherloque... kept secrets. We all came here broken men. Thanks to Team Flash, eventually we learned to be better. That's why I believe in you, Nash. There's a good man in there somewhere. You just need to dig him up, let him breathe. 

(Nash has touched the fusion sphere and is charging the Artificial Speed Force)
Barry: Nash, please. I can't let anyone else die for me. I've already lost so many people.
Nash: Do you know what I feel right now, Allen? Pride. Honor. It's been so long since I felt those things. And it's not just me. The Council feels it, too. And we've made our decision. We're doing this, Allen. (groans)  Is it charging?
(Chester runs to the controls to check.)
Chester: Yeah, the Fusion Sphere is charging. 
Barry: How can I be the Flash without a Wells on this team? 

Nash: You've always been the Flash. You always will be... with or without me. 

(Nash grunts and an energy halo circles his head. When it dissipates he smiles wide. It's HR Wells.)
HR Wells: Hey, B.A. How's it going? (chuckles then sees Barry is tearing up)You're so fast. No, no, no. B.A., don't be upset. This... this is not goodbye. It's just... till our next communion. 
(HR Wells grunts and another Halo appears. This time when it dissipates his expression is cool and dispassionate. When he speaks, he has a French accent. It is Sherloque.)
Sherloque Wells: Not great, hmm? Our current situation, huh? But... it will be.
(Sherloque grunts and the halo appears again. This time when it dissipates, Wells refuses to meet Barry's gaze and speaks in a sarcastic growl. It's Harry Wells.)
Harry: Allen... you know, when I came to your stupid Earth... (chuckles) With its good burgers... I was a broken man... Lost, angry, blah, blah, blah, and you showed me... how to be a better person. And I'll always be grateful for our friendship. Now... (sighs) Run. Barry... run!


Continuity

Barry has been kept in cryogenic suspension as much as possible to preserve what Speed Force energy he has left. As the episode opens, he is down to 1%.

Barry is awoken when Chester detects a fractal anomaly at 2nd Street and Walczak. She is quickly detected moving to 3rd Street and Certo.

Mirror Mistress confirms that her fractal photons move at the speed of light.

Mirror Mistress attacks a warehouse on 199th street that is a hideout of Mirror Master (Sam Scudder) and The Top. They last appeared in an alternate future in 319.

Mirror Mistress seemingly kills Sam Scudder, but reveals to a stunned Top that he was one of her fractal duplicates - the first one she created.

Barry is knocked out and arrives at the warehouse to find The Top in shock next to the shattered remains of her boyfriend.

Iris hallucinates a "take out world tour" dinner date with Barry that includes Big Belly Burger, a hot dog chain with a bag labeled "I LOVE GOTHAM," coq au vin from Paris, sashimi from the Arctic and the funnel cake from the Kansas State Fair. This last item was apparently recommended by Superman.

According to Barry, Eva hit nine sites the previous evening and was gone before he could get to them each time.

Sam Scudder and The Top were apparently working for Black Hole and one of their pins was among Scudder's remains.

The Top and Mirror Master reportedly broke out of Iron Heights sometime within the past year.

Ralph Dibny is in hiding with Sue Dearborn, having gone deep off the grid after being framed for the murder of Joseph Carver.

Caitlin is still in the Arctic with her mother, having left for a while in 619.

Cisco is still in Atlantis, after leaving to get a part for the perpetual motion machine he thinks he can use to open a path to the Mirrorverse in 618.

Cecile takes up The Top's defense, in the hopes that she can get her to tell her where the Black Hole tech she and Sam Scudder were moving is.

Chester and Nash connect a fusion sphere to the Artificial Speed Force. This leads them only needing to find a fuel source to power the ASF.

Another new Wells variant is introduced: Harrison Orson Wells, who was a legendary film and stage director, actor and producer on his Earth.

The Council of Wells solved the problem of how to power the ASF. This information is conveyed to Nash by Harry, HR, Sherloque and Harrison Orson Wells.

The synaptic energy of all the Wells can be used to power the ASF, but Nash has to die in order for it to work. Naturally, he's less than thrilled about this plan and tries to think of an alternative. 

Iris is confronted by another version of herself in the Mirrorverse, as she thinks to try and use a laptop in her apartment to send a message to Kamila. This Iris is wearing the same dress Iris wore while working as a barista in the first episode.

Mirror Mistress discovers a video file labeled FOR EVA on a portable hard drive in Joseph Carver's office. She almost opens it, but then closes the file before she can do so, as she remembers Joseph Carver telling her that she was not his wife and that his wife died six years earlier in 619.

According to The Top, Mirror Master handled all the details of their business dealings with Black Hole. Cecile detects that this is a lie.

The Top's record shows that she ran a psychotropic drug ring while in Iron Heights.

Cecile determines that The Top wasn't really sad about her past crimes but was projecting a false emotion to her.

The Top reveals that beyond causing other people to experience vertigo, she's a powerful empath who can project emotions onto other people and sense the emotions of other people. 

The Top claims that she was the real brains of her gang and that she was made a better offer by Mirror Mistress after Mirror Master got involved with the Black Hole and got in way over his head.

The Top is apparently okay with her boyfriend having been a mirror clone, because she has been given more power and money working for Mirror Mistress then she ever had pretending to be Mirror Master's ditzy girlfriend.

The Top was placed in charge of the next step of Mirror Mistress' plan, but refuses to tell Cecile what it is.

Allegra brings Nash some coffee while he's reading up on organic receptors.

Nash has a revelation about how to power the ASF while talking to Allegra, whom he thinks can use her powers to contain the particles after blasting them out of him with a focused light burst.

Chester points out that multiversal particles are too chaotic to be contained under normal circumstances, but Barry elects to trust Nash.

The particles refuse to be contained and hit Barry when he moves to push Allegra out of the way. This results in the Council of Wells taking control of Barry's body.

Barry manifests Sherloque Wells, HR Wells, Wells the Grey and Harry Wells.

The Barista Iris claims to be a product of Iris pushing her mind too far and snapping.

Iris runs into another version of herself - the one who was killed by Savitar in a potential future. This one taunts her, saying she is insignificant and destined to be a victim.

Chester references 613 and when Grodd and Barry's minds became interlocked to describe what is happening with all the Wells inside his mind. The only thing keeping him alive while this occurs is his speed-healing.

When Chester mentions needing an organic receptor, Allegra recalls what Nash was studying earlier and puts two and two together regarding why he was trying to push her to use his powers instead of sacrificing himself.

Allegra calls Chester Chuck. He later decides that's an okay nickname.

Nash admits that he's afraid he can't be as good as the other Wellses. Harry tells him that none of them were really good men until Team Flash changed them.

Iris meets another version of herself - one who resembles the older Iris of the alternate future of 2049.

Iris realizes the different versions of herself are Eva in disguise trying to break her will.

Cecile projects all her repressed fear on The Top and gets her to confess to planting a bomb on a Black Hole private jet carrying lots of their technology, which will explode over Central City.

Nash sacrifices himself to charge the Artificial Speed Force.

Harry, HR and Sherloque get a chance to say goodbye to Barry before Nash dies.

Barry regains his speed and is able to get the bomb off the Black Hole jet before it explodes.

ARGUS is later able to capture the Black Hole jet once it lands.

Allegra keeps the photo of Nash with her alternate universe self and regrets never really getting to know him.

Barry says that he'll call Caitlin and Cisco and let them know that Nash is dead.

Allegra writes a story about The Flash stopping the bomb.

Iris attempts to send an e-mail to Kamilla and Singh.

Eva watches the file on Carver's drive and sees the real Eva McCulloch die. This causes her to realize that she is a fractal clone as well.


Untelevised Adventures

Mirror Master and The Top escaped from Iron Heights at some point in the past year.


The Bottom Line

A lackluster start to the season, made tolerable only by the scenes centered around Nash Wells and his sacrifice. Yet even those moments are underwhelming, since there's no real emotional resonance with the death being witnessed by Barry and "the JV Squad" with no Cisco to snark at Harry one more time or Joe acknowledging HR's passing. The scenes with Iris are  utterly pointless. The scenes with The Top and Eva are confusing and it's greatly disappointing that Eva's motivations have basically been reduced to her being utterly insane and not really human. This Mirrorverse storyline can't end fast enough.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 8 - What's Past is Prologue

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



Plot

Team Flash comes up with a plan to stop Cicada, but it requires time travel and Barry showing Nora some parts of his life he'd rather not revisit. Meanwhile, Sherloque approaches Cisco with his concerns over Nora and Caitlin discovers a surprising asset to use against Cicada.


Influences

Every show that's ever had a clip show. Back To The Future (Ralph plays Huey Lewis' "Back In Time.")


Goofs

Barry and Nora are running around the past in their civilian clothes with none of the usual problems when a speedeter runs above a certain speed (i.e. catching on fire.)

After the Speed Force Transmitter is broken, why doesn't Barry take it to Harry Wells before he lost his intelligence? (Well, we wouldn't get to have Thawne in the story otherwise...)

We are told that Cicada fought Supergirl and a number of other metahumans with no trouble. How is that possible if, as this episode suggests, his powers only work on metahumans created by dark matter exposure?  (Perhaps his meta-tech works on aliens and magicians as well?)


Flash Facts

The episode title comes from William Shakespeaere's The Tempest. Act II, Scene 1.

When Eobard Thawne meets Nora, he makes several guesses as to who she is. These include Jesse Chambers (maybe Lawrence) and Danica Williams.

Jesse Chambers was the real name of Jesse Quick in the comics, though her mother's maiden name was Lawrence and she did go by Jesse Lawrence for a time.

Danica Williams is the name of The Flash from Justice League Beyond.

When Thawne realizes Nora is Barry's daughter, he guesses that her name is Dawn. In the Pre-Crisis DC Comics Universe, Barry and Iris had twins - Don and Dawn Allen - who inherited Barry's powers and became known as The Tornado Twins.

The Gideon AI in The Time Vault in 2014 recognizes Nora West-Allen as XS and says that she is the fifth recruit for the rebooted Legion. In the original DC Comics Universe, The Legion of Super Heroes was rebooted for the first time in 1994 and XS (who, in this reality, was Barry Allen's granddaughter Jenni Ognats) was created specifically for the new team.


Technobabble

Nora suggests creating a weapon more powerful than Cicada's dagger, akin to a super-charged magnet. Cisco says they don't have anything that powerful as the old STAR Labs satellite was was made of a heavy-duty, micro-composite alloy.

What Nora's suggestion requires is an indestructible alloy with super-magnetic properties and the ability to negate dark matter.

Eventually, they realize they could make such a thing out of a piece of Savitar's armor, the Speed Force transmitter Zoom used to steal Barry Allen's speed and the exact same energy released during the STAR Labs Particle Accelerator explosion.

They then need to plant the item near the hospital where Grace Gibbons is resting so it will be accessible in the present. This is known as a time hack.

Nora tells Sherloque that the language in her journal is a special time language she invented that is used to record events regardless of changes in the timeline. That way, no matter what happens on her trip to the past, she'll be able to remember what she learned about her father.


Dialogue Triumphs

Sherloque: Look, as always, I respect your spirit, Barry Allen, but as long as Cicada has his dagger to dampen your powers, there's no stopping him. 
Barry: So let's destroy his dagger.
Ralph: How are we gonna do that? Unless we have some kind of... power-dampening dagger power dampener hidden away in storage?
Cisco: We don't. But if we did, we'd come up with a much better way of saying that.

(As Barry and Nora begin to run around the pipeline building up speed to time travel, Ralph reaches over and turns on his music player.  "Back In Time" by Huey Lewis and The News begins to play. Iris, Caitlin and Cisco slowly turn to look at him with disapproval.)
Ralph: What?! When am I gonna get the chance to do that?

Thawne: You know what's funny about your dad, Nora? He hates me. Hates me with a passion. And yet ... a version of him, this Savitar, is a much bigger jerk than I ever was.

(Cicada is moving in on The Flash with his dagger. Everyone is downed except Caitlin, who had her gun knocked away. There is no one to stop him. Until...)
Caitlin: No!
(Caitlin changes into Killer Frost in a second and unloads a full icy blast into Cicada, sending him flying into the side of a van, crumpling its wall.  Cicada picks himself up, looking confused as to why his dagger isn't working on this metahuman.)
Killer Frost: Let's dance, cricket freak.

(Nora stops running in front of a cell in Iron Heights prison in 2049. We see a figure looking at a video screen opposite the glass cell wall.)
Nora: We need to talk
(The figure shuts off the monitor and slowly turns around.)
Thawne: Yes, Nora.
(The figure steps out into the light, revealing himself to be Eobard Thawne, in the guise of Harrison Wells.)
Thawne: Yes we do.

(A Caption Box reads Earth-90 as we see the aftermath of a war and numerous people in costumes lying on the ground, dead. Eventually we come to a figure in a somewhat familiar red suit crawling on the ground toward a large book that is glowing purple. A figure walks over and picks the book up before he can reach it.)
The Monitor: You failed.
(The figure in red pulls himself up to his knees. It is The Flash. Not the Flash we know, but definitely The Flash.)
The Flash: (gasping) Why are you doing this?
The Monitor: You did this to yourselves. And now... all of you will perish.
(The Monitor opens the book and light pours from it. As he does so, The Flash stands and runs toward the camera, as a familiar theme to older comic book TV show fans plays, as we zoom in on his chest symbol....) 


Continuity

Ralph and Sherloque determine that Orlin Dwyer grew up somewhere in the American Midwest, was in and out of the Juvenile Offenders program as a teenager and went off the grid before emerging in Central City a few years earlier. He works part time at Szrek Chemicals. His boss says he keeps to himself, is kind of a lonerand gave a fake address on his application. He was given custody of his niece, Grace Gibbons, after her parents were killed by a metahuman.

Cisco determines that the best dates for Barry to attempt to retrieve what they need are May 23, 2017 (The date of the final battle with Savitar where his armor was destroyed in 323), August 19, 2016 (the day Zoom drained Barry's speed in 218) and the night of the Particle Accelerator explosion. (December 11, 2013, as seen in 101.)

Sherloque asks Cisco about the code in Nora's journal. Cisco says Barry was writing in the same language when he left the Speed Force in 401, but Cisco was only able to translate one sentence of it - "This house is bitchin'." This turned out to be the first thing Nora said upon visiting Joe West's house in 423.

A Time Wraith shows up because there are three versions of Barry Allen at one point in time. Barry distracts it while Nora retrieves the piece of Savitar's armor they need.

Nora is stunned to see that Savitar was another version of Barry Allen and that Iris West killed him.

Nora sees Iris comforting a disheartened Barry after he's lost his powers.

Barry runs Harry Wells in STAR Labs. It is Barry who gives Harry the idea to try and track Jesse Wells by taking advantage of the fact that people from other Earths have different vibrational frequencies.

Barry stops Harry from destroying the Speed Force Transmitter.

Before Barry and Nora can escape into the time stream, Zoom senses them and chases after them. They are able to evade him and send the Time Wraith after him, but the Speed Force Transmitter is broken in the process.

Barry realizes they have traveled slightly further back in time, to the events of 217, when he traveled back a year to get training in going faster by Eobard Thawne when he was still masquerading as Harrison Wells.

Thawne repairs the Speed Force Transmitter for Barry and Nora. It is suggested by the way Thawne acts toward Nora that he knows who she is and is just playing dumb to that fact.

As Barry and Nora sneak around STAR Labs, they go past Grodd's cage.

Nora had no idea why Eboard Thawne was her dad's arch-enemy or that he had killed her grandmother.

Dr. Ambres is revealed to have been the doctor on duty when Barry Allen and Harrison Wells were brought into the hospital on the night of the Particle Accelerator explosion.

Barry vibrates the weapon they've created into the middle of a column in front of the hospital.

Cicada's command of his danger has a great enough range that he can affect it even after it has been vibed into space.

It is determined that Cicada's powers do not effect metahumans like Killer Frost who were created without being exposed to Dark Matter.

Cicada flees before Killer Frost can totally immobilize him.

Sherloque asks Nora about the code in her journal. She says it is a time language she invented that can be used to record events regardless of changes to the timeline.

Sherloque was able to translate one sentence of Nora's journal - THE TIMELINE IS MALLEABLE

Nora goes back in time to see Dr. Henry Allen and Nora Allen on their last night together.

Nora is revealed to have been using Gideon in The Time Vault to send her journal entries forward in time to someone else.

Nora goes forward in time to 2049 deliver a message personally to the person she is sending information to in the future. The person is revealed to be Eobard Thawne, still in the body of Harrison Wells, who is incarcerated in Iron Heights Prison.

The final scene on Earth-90 was also shown at the end of .S408.


Location

Earth-90.


The Bottom Line

Lackluster as a 100th episode and fairly flat as a mid-season finale. Everything of importance happens in the last 15 minutes and nothing really changes apart from us having a more specific idea of why Nora can't be trusted and how Cicada will ultimately be beaten. Still, that teaser for Elseworlds.... wow!

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 4, Episode 23 - We Are The Flash

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




Plot

With The Enlightenment underway, Team Flash acquires an unexpected ally to help them stop The Thinker. Will it be enough?


Influences

The film Inception (projecting someone into another person's mind, directly referenced by Cisco), The Matrix trilogy of films (Ralph and Barry fighting multiple Thinker clones resembles Neo's fight with Agent Smith) Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (referenced by Harry and Cisco with the famous "friend" speech between Kirk and Spock being quoted) and the Johns/Goyer run of JSA and The Flash comics of Geoff Johns (the holographic Thinker.)


Goofs

Captain Singh knows that Iris is behind The Flash Blog, despite it being established last week that she was posting to it anonymously. (Perhaps Joe told him about the blog?)

While not really a continuity gaff, it is still worrying that the mayor of Central City is willing to give Barry Allen his job back because of information posted to an anonymous blog, but not on the recommendation of his former boss or the basis that he was completely innocent of the crime of which he was accused. While what we've seen of the new mayor indicates that she is wholly obsessed with appearances and publicity, one would think the revelation of a murder victim appearing in court to defend the innocence of the man he once claimed was stalking him would be a bigger deal than some blog that only has a few thousand total views proposing that a respected college professor is a super-villain!

The Mechanic claims that there was a time when Clifford DeVoe was nothing but good and truly wanted to help the world. That claim is directly contradicted by the flashbacks in 420, which revealed Clifford DeVoe to be a cynical, misanthropic Luddite.

In earlier episodes, The Thinker claimed that he had to leave The Flash alive for some reason. In this episode, he claims it was because, with Barry now in his head, he had the capacity to take his powers and gain access to The Speed Force. If that was DeVoe's ultimate goal, why not just take Barry's powers like he did The Bus Metas at literally any other time before now that Barry was at his mercy?

As cool as Ralph and Barry fighting the hordes of Thinkers is... why didn't Barry just run for the Nexus dragging Ralph behind him in the first place?

Shouldn't Ralph have all of the powers that The Thinker stole from the other bus metas now?

Wouldn't it make a lot more sense to have Barry evacuate the site of the STAR Labs satellite impact and have Cisco focus on breaching away the larger mass of the satellite? (Of course then we wouldn't get to see the daddy/daughter sonic team punch...)


Performances

The moment where Cisco and Harry hug as Harry burns out the last of his brain with the Thinking Cap to help Team Flash one last time is magical and a great bit of silent acting for both Tom Cavanagh and Carlos Valdez.


Artistry

The lighting and lens flare effects used to create the world inside The Thinker's brain are quite effective at establishing an otherworldly effect.


Flash Facts

The idea of The Thinker existing as an electronic artificial intelligence is taken directly from the JSA comics of David Goyer and Geoff Johns. Here, the Justice Society of America developed an artificial intelligence to oversee the state of the art security system for their new base. Mister Terrific personally designed the system, which was based around the reformed Clifford DeVoe's "thinking cap" technology. Unfortunately, the AI achieved sentience, went evil and created a holographic form similar to what we see in this episode. It would return several times to fight the Wally West incarnation of The Flash and Cyborg and also served in The Injustice Society.

The mystery speedster woman, who first appeared as a waiter at Barry and Iris' wedding is revealed to be Nora West-Allen, their daughter from the future. This character seems to be loosely based on Nora West II - a future speedster and daughter of Barry Allen, who goes by the code-name Cruise. Cruise was first introduced in Justice League #26 (Vol. 3) (October 2017). Physically, she resembles the New 52 version of Iris West.

A more famous daughter of Barry Allen and Iris West is Dawn Allen. She, along with her twin brother Don, inherited their father's powers and went on to be known as The Tornado Twins. They first appeared in Adventure Comics #373 (October 1968).

The Flash show-runners confirmed that they decided to go with Nora being the future daughter rather than Dawn Allen, because it seemed more likely that The Arrowverse version of Barry would want to name his daughter after his mother.


Technobabble

Using Harry's cerebral inhibitor as a baseline, The Mechanic is able to construct a "one-way brain radio" that will amplify Cecile's telepathy so she can put Barry inside The Thinker's mind, used in conjunction with The Thinker's chair.

Barry's mind is put into The Thinker's amygdala - the part of the brain that connects emotional significance to memories.

The contractions Cecile experiences as she goes into labor put a strain on her trans-cranial link, disrupting Barry's connection to The Thinker. Caitlin is able to counteract this with the inhaler she gave Joe last week, which contains the drug terbutaline, which can be used to slow contractions.

Kilgore's power to control technology also gave him the power of technological reincarnation - i.e. backing up his brain as a digital intelligence. The Thinker was able to transplant his mind into his chair using this power. The Mechanic is able to overcome this by destroying the power source for the chair.

It is revealed that the strange picture-language Barry was writing in at the start of the season were symbols that could be translated into a binary programming polynomials. These were used, in conjunction with The Thinking Cap, to reprogram Harry Wells' brain. This is the same language used by the mystery speedster in her journal in 411. (There's a rather fascinating post about this on reedit.)


Dialogue Triumphs

Vibe: (determined) I won't lose anyone else today. I won't.

The Thinker: In this place I do as I please, Mr. Allen. I must say the fact that you thought I wouldn't have calculated you and your team making this feeble attempt is somewhat... insulting. There will be no defeating the big bad this year, Mr. Allen. See.. you are in my mind now. And there's no escape.
(The Thinker fires an energy blast from his chair. Barry grabs Ralph and runs for it.)
The Thinker: Run, Mr. Allen. Run.

Ralph: Allen, listen to me. I'm stuck here. But you're not. You should go. Be with your family for whatever time is left.
Barry: No. No. Okay, first of all, it's our family. And I'm not leaving you behind. There's got to be another way.
Ralph: Allen, you said the only way to save the world is by finding the good that's left in DeVoe. It's right here. With a hole in its chest.
(Barry thinks about this and then looks up at Ralph, realization visible on his face.)
Barry: It's not the only good left in him.
(Barry grabs Ralph and carries him to just down the street from the Nexus of DeVoe's mind.)
Ralph: Why the breaks? Are we there?
Barry: Almost.
Ralph: (looking to the Nexus) So that's the Hellmouth?
Barry: That's the nexus of DeVoe's mind. Marlize said we can take control of him if the good in DeVoe passes through it.
Ralph: Allen, we know that's not possible anymore.
Barry: Why do you think he's keeping you alive?! I couldn't figure it out, but think about it! If you get out, you take back control of this body. Because it's yours! That's why he won't let you leave! Once you get out, DeVoe will cease to exist! All you have to do is make it through that portal, and you''ll regain control. Remember who you are, Ralph. A hero.
(Ralph nods and closes his eyes. There's a sound of stretching rubber and Ralph is in his Elongated Man suit.)
Ralph: Let's go get control

The Thinker Hologram: I told you that The Enlightenment would come for you, Marlize, and it will. Remember I thought of everything. Even this moment.

The Mechanic: (barely holding back the tears) Good bye, my love.

(Without another word, The Mechanic walks around the back of The Mechanic's chair and pulls out the power supply shutting down the hologram.)

(Cisco puts his hand on Harry's shoulder as Harry seems dazed following the procedure to restore his mind. Harry looks up at Cisco.)

Harry: Don't worry. You have been... and will always be... my friend.

Cisco: (quietly) Khan.

(Harry winks and the two smile. Barry grins widely as Iris smiles politely as Harry and Cisco both bring a fist to their forehead.)

Both: Kill them.

(The two laugh and hug as Caitlin bites her lip, clearly happy but also clearly thinking this is a bit silly.)

Cisco: Oh my God!

Iris: Star Wars.

(Barry's face drops and he shakes his head.)

Continuity

As the episode opens, Captain Singh is calling Barry to tell him that the Mayor of Central City has agreed to give Barry his old job as a CSI back.

Captain Singh specifically credits Iris' blog and everything she wrote about Clifford DeVoe bringing about his rehiring, though it is unclear how he knows Iris is behind the blog when it was confirmed in the last episode that she posts to it anomalously.

The Thinker uses Kilgore's powers, in conjunction with his satellites, to shut down most of the electronics on Earth.

The title card for this episode, rather than the usual red streaks and yellow lightning motifs, features crackling synapses suggesting thinking.

Caitlin has all the materials needed to deliver a baby in STAR Labs' medical bay.

The Thinker is revealed to have predicted that Harry would build his own Thinking Cap and attempt to augment his intelligence further with Dark Matter. Through this, The Thinker used Harry as a guinea pig to see if his plan to use Dark Matter to decrease the collective intelligence of humanity could work. It also allowed him to use STAR Labs resources to siphon off the Dark Matter he needed.

The Mechanic explains that The Thinker specifically created The Bus Metas to give him the unique combination of powers needed to counter any of Team Flash's allies. This is why Barry can't call Supergirl or Green Arrow or The Legends for back-up.

The nexus of The Thinker's brain manifests as the opening to The Speed Force from which Barry emerged near the 405 CC Metro Bus.

Barry checks The DeVoe's house in Central City first for signs of Clifford DeVoe. He finds it empty of furniture or any kind of decoration apart from an empty picture frame with cracked glass.

When Cecile touches Caitlin, she says "I found Thomas. He's been this way all the time." Caitlin seems to have some idea what this means but shrugs it off when Joe asks her about it.

Harry uses his Thinking Cap one last time to make himself articulate enough to tell Cisco that Barry should go to the place where Clifford DeVoe first kissed his wife to try and find the good that is left in The Thinker. This leads Barry to Ralp Dibny.

Ralph and Barry find the good part of Clifford DeVoe in his classroom, dead of a wound to the chest.

Barry determines that The Thinker had to keep Ralph's consciousness alive in order to keep his body alive. This means that Ralph should be able to pass through the nexus and reassert control over his own body.

Iris refers to Joe's line about strength, without faith, meaning nothing from 401.

Ralph is able to fight The Thinker by clearing his head and thinking about something he loves - i.e. shrimp. Barry does the same thing by thinking about Iris.

Cisco recognizes the random words Harry says as being identical to the stream of words Barry said when he first emerged from The Speed Force in 401.

Caitlin assisted with several births in medical school.

The Thinker briefly returns as a hologram through a back-up of his mind stored in his chair. The Mechanic destroys it by pulling out the power supply of the chair. Before it "dies", however, the hologram is able to take control of STAR Labs computers and pulls their satellite, "Sally" out of orbit, by increasing its mass by 1000 fold, setting it on a collision course with downtown Central City.

The mystery speedster is seen running behind Barry as he attempts to punch the falling STAR Labs satellite, helping him to atomize it with a supersonic punch. Barry realizes, after the fact, that another speedster was there helping him.

The Mechanic develops a treatment to restore Harry's mind. She says it is the first of many things she must make amends for.

Iris offers The Mechanic a place on Team Flash. She declines, saying she is going to go somewhere she can use her talents to help people in need, like she did before she signed on with her husband's crusade.

The Mechanic's treatment is able to restore Harry Wells' to an average level of intelligence. Harry says he thinks his mind and heart are in balance for the first time in his life.

Iris gets Star Wars and Star Trek confused.

Harry elects to return to Earth Two and rebuild his relationship with his daughter, Jesse.

Wally West arrives just in time for the party celebrating the birth of Joe and Cecile's daughter.

Joe and Cecile's daughter is named Jenna Marie West.

Wally says that he thinks he found what he was looking for and that being a Legend has helped him to become comfortable with just being himself and not worrying about being in Barry's shadow.

Iris says she doesn't want to have children for quite some time.

The line "This house is bitchin'" from 401 is revealed to have been said by the mystery speedster.

The mystery speedster is revealed as Nora West-Allen - Barry and Iris' daughter from the future.

Ralph and Cisco remember seeing Nora at C.C. Jitters in 411 when she paid for their coffee.

Caitlin remembers Nora spilling a drink on her in 415.

Joe and Cecile remember Nora delivering a gift to them in 420.

Wally makes reference to Nora having posed as a waiter at Barry and Iris' wedding in S308.

Nora wears the jacket from Iris' costume from 416.

Nora makes reference to having screwed something up with the timeline.


Location

The pocket dimension The DeVoes created.


The Bottom Line

A surprisingly solid conclusion given how uneven the season as a whole has been. There are quite a few logic gaps and plot holes, but very few things that can't be hand-waved. We have Ralph back, which is good. We don't get any resolution to Caitlin's storyline, which is, sadly, par for the course for her, it seems. Still, with Blacksmith still at large, we may see Caitlin having a larger role in things in Season 5, which would be welcome... assuming they decided to bring her back, which is a big if.

Sadly, the big lead-in to Season 5 - Barry and Iris's daughter from the future has followed in her dad's foosteps in breaking reality by changing the past - was wholly predictable and doesn't suggest that the show will be treading any new ground next year. Then again, given how badly trying to break the mold this year went... well, maybe another season of dealing with paradoxes won't be so bad.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 4, Episode 22 - Think Fast

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




Plot

When The Thinker attacks the ARGUS facility holding Fallout disguised as John Diggle and starts using him as a battery to fuel The Enlightenment, it falls to Team Flash to stop him. The problem is that after the death of Ralph Dibny and Caitlin's depowerment, Barry is reluctant to risk the lives of his friends any further. But The Flash can't face The Thinker alone... can he?


Goofs

As the episode opens, Barry, Cisco and Irish are checking space launch facilities for signs of DeVoe... apparently having forgotten that with his gravity control powers, DeVoe shouldn't have trouble getting his satellites into orbit.

It's a bit weird that Caitlin refers to Ronnie as her fiancee since they did get married. (Albeit it for only the better part of a day.)

Caitlin tells Dr. Finkel that her father died of ALS, yet in 211, it was said that he died of multiple-sclerosis - a similar but distinct condition. (Perhaps this is another thing that was changed by Flashpoint?)

Caitlin says that Melting Point's DNA powers could allow him to trick a DNA scanner. There's no evidence of this from anything we saw Melting Point do in earlier episodes. Perhaps it could be done, but he'd need to have a sample of the person's DNA for that to work.

Barry suggests absorbing electrical current to boost his speed. It has never been suggested that he is capable of doing this while in Flashtime.

Iris West is officially the worst reporter/detective in the world if she has to be told that the best way to find someone in hiding is to search territory that is familiar to them... or their apartment.

So... ARGUS just stands by and does nothing for 12 hours as a metahuman terrorist takes over one of their secure facilities and begins trying to push a living nuclear bomb towards exploding? (I am beginning to see why Oliver Queen didn't think to call them in to deal with Ricardo Diaz over on Arrow sooner.)


Performances

David Ramsey has a brief but fun moment playing the disguised DeVoe.

Both Grant Gustin and Carlos Valdes give powerful performances as Barry and Cisco unload on each other about their respective burdens regarding the current situation.


Artistry

The sequence of The Thinker storming the ARGUS site to Hallelujah is perhaps the best of the season. The music, the effects work and the fight choreography all work together perfectly.


Flash Facts

Barry mentions Blackhawk Island as a potential launch site for one of DeVoe's satellites. In the original DC Comics Universe, Blackhawk Island was the base of operations for The Blackhawk Squadron - a team of made up of the pilots of many nations, led my a mysterious man called Blackhawk, who flew against the Axis Powers during World War II.  The original Blackhawk comics were second only in popularity to Superman during World War II and have the distinction of being one of only four DC Comics series (the other three being Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman) to see continuous publication from the 1940s through at least the 1960s.

Cisco makes reference to The Thinker being a "one man Legion of Doom" and says that means they have to send in The Superfriends. This is a reference to Challenge of the Super Friends - a 1978 superhero cartoon starring various DC Comics heroes and villains, who made up The Legion of Doom and The Super Friends. Apparently some form of this cartoon series exists on Earth One in The Arrowverse, which is interesting as two of the main characters in the original cartoon were The Flash and Captain Cold.

The theory that Caitlin and Cisco propose about how Barry can lend his speed to other options is perfectly in-line with how The Flash's powers work in the original comics.  Wally West developed the ability to temporarily loan The Speed Force to other people. He could also drain the velocity from objections already in motion to boost his own acceleration or accelerate them using his own speed.


Technobabble

In order for The Thinker to place five satellites into a synchronous orbit around The Earth, he will need to do so from an airfield south of the 39th Parallel.

The Thinker plans to use a shrunken Fallout as he goes nuclear as a battery to power up his satellites before launching them.

The floors of The Castle are equipped with motion-activated electro-shock plates. Each plate administers a 70,000 volt shock. Their activation pattern is randomized every few hours. The plates also cause an electrical explosion when touched.

Caitlin and Cisco theorize that Barry does not just tap into The Speed Force when he moves - he generates The Speed Force, like he's generating electricity to power an aura that protects him from friction.

Barry's physical touch, while helping him to focus his ability to lend his aura to other people, is not necessary.

Caitlin guesses that they would only last 55 milliseconds of real time before they lost the aura after Barry let go of them, but they think that would be ample time to rescue the hostages while Barry chased down The Thinker.

Caitlin theorizes that the increased presence of the hormone Relaxin in Cecile's body is causing her to inhabit minds rather than just reading them, causing her to act like people her telepathy connects to. She gives her an albuterol inhaler to try and calm her down.

The Cold Gun will not operate in Flashtime, due to a need to offset the friction.

Cisco builds an wrist-mounted ice-shooter (Barry calls it The Frost Bite) for Caitlin to use in lieu of The Cold Gun. It solves the friction-offset problem of the cold gun by shooting ice. Cisco is content to call it an Ice Shooter, but Caitlin doesn't like the name.

Upon seeing Harry, The Mechanic confirms that he is in the penultimate stage of The Enlightenment and that he will soon lose his memories completely and be a total blank slate to be molded by The Thinker.


Dialogue Triumphs

("John Diggle" starts to pass through the gates into the ARGUS site. Suddenly, the phone of one of the guards goes off, playing a stream of rap music.)
"John Diggle": Modern music. (scoffs) So lacking in the harmonic resources necessary for expressiveness.
(The headset of the guard starts playing George Handel's Hallelujah instead. We see Diggle's eyes flash purple - a sign that it is really The Thinker using Kilgore's technopathy.)
The Thinker: For profundity.
(The guards began to gasp as if being choked.)
The Thinker: Timpani in Handel's orchestra weighed 140 pounds. The exact gravitational force that I am now exerting on your lungs.
(Quick cut as the guards collapse to the ground. The Thinker now has the face of Clifford DeVoe.)
The Thinker: Music Appreciation 101. This evening's recital will be conducted by... your beloved professor.

(Caitlin is trying to talk to Dr. Finkel about Killer Frost.)
Dr. Finkel: So "your friend?" Is... she with us here right now?
Caitlin: Oh no! I'm not schizophrenic. She's more like... another personality.
Dr. Finkel: Disassociative Identity Disorder. That IS usually caused by trauma and... from your history you've had quite a bit.
Caitlin: Yeah. I did see my fiancee die. Twice. And then my next boyfriend turned evil.
Dr. Finkel: I actually meant childhood trauma. Tell me about your father.
Caitlin: My dad? He was the best. Loving. Supportive. Always pushed me to get smarter.
Dr. Finkel: And how did you feel when he passed?
Caitlin: He had ALS. He was always hiding his symptoms from us. He never wanted us to see him suffer.
Dr. Finkel: Sometimes when we're young, we repress things that scare us...
Caitlin: Oh, I'm not repressing anything from my childhood! My missing friend just appeared a couple of years ago.
(Caitlin's phone goes off inside her purse.)
Caitlin: It's my adult life that's got me like this.
(Caitlin looks at her phone.)
Caitlin: I'm so sorry. I have to go. Umm... do you charge by the hour?
Dr. Finkel: (forced polite smile) For you and your friends? The quarter hour.

Joe: Okay. So, I've got snacks. I got clothes for you. I got clothes for the baby. (snaps fingers) Damn! I forgot something!
(We hear the sound when Cecile's telepathy activates as Joe heads for the stairs.)
Cecile: Joe! We are not going to need a katana at the hospital!
Joe: Okay, so you're in my head again. And it is entirely possible that we get attacked by samurai at the hospital.

(Regarding Wally not returning his calls.)
Joe: He's literally on a time machine! So he has no excuse to not show up on time to meet his new baby sister!

Barry: It takes more than ten hours to learn Super Speed, okay? You guys could die in there.
Cisco: And if you don't take us, we'll die anyway. Our brains get wiped and that's it! That's the end of our world!
Barry: No! Losing both of my best friends and having it be my fault? That's the end of my world! You may think it's worth the risk, but I couldn't live with myself.
Cisco: (angrily) Barry. You cannot sideline us because of what happened to him.
(Cisco points to the picture of Ralph among the other Bus Metas) 
Barry: All right. I don't need another therapist.
(Barry gets up and starts to leave the room.)
Cisco: Look, we all lost somebody, okay? But that never gives us the excuse to shut each other out.
Barry: I said, drop it! Alright?!
Cisco: You think you're the only one who feels bad about Ralph dying?
Caitlin: Guys...
Barry: You know he came to see me in Iron Heights? He told me he was afraid. He warned me he wasn't ready. But I pushed him anyway! I said to go back out there and do my job! My burden!
Cisco: We made the Bus Metas. We gave Ralph his powers. You want to talk about burdens?! I started this!
(Barry stammers trying to speak but Cisco keeps going.)
Cisco: I shot that bazooka! I opened up The Speed Force! And I didn't do it so that you could stand here and tell me that you're going to save the world alone! Again!
Barry: (sighs) I ... I know. I know that. And I know we're running out of time, and... I can't do this by myself, but... everybody I've tried to teach has ended up worst than when I found them.
Cisco: And what about Ralph? Was he worse? You taught him that when his back was against the wall and the world was ending around him, he could always make the choice. Make the choice to be a hero! We deserve that same choice! All we need is someone to show us how.
Barry: (looking to Caitlin, who has been quiet this whole time) You guys really want to do this?
Caitlin: It's not a burden if we shoulder it together.

(Team Flash is running through the plan.)
Caitlin: And I'll protect the ARGUS agents from the blast, using this (looking at the device on her wrist)... ice shooter?
Cisco: (nodding) Ice Shooter.
Caitlin: Do I have to call it an ice shooter?
Barry: I thought "Frost Bite" sounded good.
Cisco: Guys, it solves the friction offset problem by shooting ice. Therefore it is an ice shooter.
Barry: (raising a hand at Cisco) Relax.
Cisco: It's just not that hard!

The Thinker: "Once upon a time, in some remote corner of that universe, there was a star, upon which clever beasts invented knowing."
The Flash: You're quoting Nietzsche at me?
The Thinker: You destroyed a satellite! Top Marks... quick boy. You can destroy a thousand more and you will still march closer to The Enlightenment.
The Flash: (sarcastic) I forgot what Nietzsche said about wiping minds. I must have skipped Philosophy class that day...
The Thinker: Did I teach you nothing this year? Did nothing pierce your thick cowl?! Think of it! Or rather, don't. You'll only end up hurting yourself, so let me explain...


Dialogue Disasters

Iris: She stabbed me with a katana, Harry! Our lives are what we have to lose! We can't save anyone if we're all dead! We are going to bring her in and we're going to stop her so she doesn't hurt anyone ever again! (Truly, the noble and heroic spirit of The Flash at play here.)


Continuity

The Castle - the ARGUS Black Ops Site holding Fallout - is hidden inside of Wellbiss Paper Products, 1000 miles from anything.

The passwords at ARGUS appear to be built around the names of musicians and foods. (Elvis Banana, Hendrix Spaghetti.)

The Castle uses DNA scans to identify their agents. Presumably The Thinker uses Kilgore's powers to overcome the scanner or Ralph Dibny is capable of replicating someone on the molecular level with his shape-shifting powers.In either case, reference is made to the events of 322 and how one year earlier someone (i.e. Barry Allen and Len Snart) broke into an ARGUS base using s personal transmogrifier.

The Thinker is able to bluff his way into The Castle pretending to be ARGUS Agent John Diggle.

The Thinker somehow knows about John Diggle's injuries from A601 and the experimental microchip used to treat his nerve injuries.

One of the ARGUS scientists at The Castle is a follower of Iris' blog and attempts to post about DeVoe attacking the base.

Team Flash checks Cape Canaveral, Space-X, The Xichang Space Center and Blackhawk Island for signs of The Thinker attempting to use them as launch sites for his satellites.

Apparently, the cartoon SuperFriends exists in some form on Earth One. This was already suggested in Legends of Tomorrow's second season when Nate Heywood called the villain team made up of The Reverse Flash, Malcolm Merlyn, Damien Darhk, Heatwave and Captain Cold "The Legion of Doom" in honor of some cartoon he liked as a kid. Cisco actually mentions The Superfriends fighting The Legion of Doom, however.

Harry's memory has deteriorated to the point that he forgot about Iris's blog, forgot that she asked him to proofread her latest article and forgets Cisco's name. He also seems to be losing control of his fine motor functions, tripping over a chair he claims "jumped right in front of him."

Iris's blog about The Flash has over 400,000 views. Iris is fielding sightings of both The Thinker and The Mechanic.

Caitlin is now seeing Dr. Finkel about her separation issues with Killer Frost.

Caitlin's father dying of MS (or ALS) was first mentioned in 211.

The running gag of John Diggle throwing up whenever he is moved at super-speed continues.

Barry has apparently mastered the trick of absorbing electrical current while in Flashtime to fuel his speed.

The Thinker has six ARGUS agents (five guards, one scientist)  held hostage, suspended by his gravity control powers over the electrical plates in the entrance of The Castle.

Wally has missed over a dozen calls regarding being there for Cecile's delivery.

Cecile is apparently now imprinting on the thoughts of people telepathically. This causes her to talk like a stoner pizza delivery boy.

Harry suggests that Iris can locate The Mechanic by researching her past and figuring out where she might go to feel safe, given her apparent falling out with her husband.

Cisco and Caitlin suggest that Barry bring them into Flashtime with them and that they can rescue the hostages before they freeze up.

Cisco encountered difficulty trying to open a breach in Flashtime in 415. He has apparently figured out a way to compensate for the usual lack of time that makes creating a breach in space-time impossible (or at least very difficult.)

Cecile says she sensed Caitlin was trying to ignore something big and suggests she has to confront it.

The Mechanic is finally given a full name - Marlize Malan.

Marlize Malan was born in Cape Town, South Africa. She graduated with a PhD in inflationary theory and engineering. She was tenured as a professor of Engineering at Oxford.

Harry suggests trying to turn Marlize and use her love for her husband and desire to save him from himself to stop The Thinker.

Caitlin prescribes an albuterol inhaler to try and calm Cecile down to where she won't imprint on people with her telepathy. Instead, it causes her to become focuses on one mind, thinking that she is Joe. Joe is able to bring her back to being herself

Caitlin has a repressed memory of getting her leg stuck in her bike and falling while young and getting hit by a car.

Iris eventually tracks Marlize Malan to England.

Team Flash has one extrapolator left. Iris takes it to go to England.

Fallout dies when his body goes nuclear.

Barry's plan works and he is able to destroy one of DeVoe's satellites.

The Thinker explains that his ultimate goal is not to destroy intelligence but destroy emotion, having concluded that it is the father of all error. He says Love is the worst emotion of all.

Cisco helps Caitlin to vibe into her repressed memory. She finds out that she somehow transformed into Killer Frost as a young girl - decades before The STAR Labs Particle Accelerator Explosion.

It should be noted that the idea that metahumans existed before The STAR Labs Particle Accelerator Explosion has been explored before. In A319, Cisco discovered that Deathbolt - a metahuman brought to justice by The Atom - had been in prison in Opal City on the night of the explosion.

DeVoe utilizes the Gideon AI in the Time Vault, his stolen Dark Matter, the battery made of the shrunken Fallout containment chamber and STAR Labs satellite to begin the Enlightment.


Location

The Castle - an ARGUS Black Ops site hidden 1000 miles from anything.
Oxford, England.


The Bottom Line

Too much to cover and not enough time just about sums up this episode. Unfortunately, the best parts are the ones that have the least to do with the actual plot, to the point where the scenes with DeVoe and Barry and Iris feel like distractions from the fun bits with Joe and Cecile or Caitlin's efforts to restore Killer Frost. Even the cameo appearance by David Ramsey as John Diggle seems totally tacked on and unnecessary despite being one of the episode highlights.

Really, the biggest problem with this episode - and this season as a whole - continues to be the ridiculous lengths that the show has taken to try and make Iris into an active member of the team. Note that I have no objections to Iris helping out (and indeed I criticized the show for not doing that in earlier seasons) but she could do far more good as a reporter giving Barry Allen tips on where he could so some good than as a cheerleader on her blog.

Given that the next episode is called We Are The Flash, I doubt this will change anytime soon, particularly since this episode doesn't bother to draw any ironic parallels between Iris's thirst for revenge on The Mechanic and the path of revenge on the warlords who destroyed her work that drove her into agreeing with The Thinker. But whatever...

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 4, Episode 21 - Harry and The Harrisons

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




Plot

Team Flash recruits an unlikely ally in the battle against The Thinker, when they discover that Amunet Black is immune to The Thinker's powers. Meanwhile, Harry is kicked out of the Council of Wells for being a "dum-dum", leading Cisco to develop a different group - The Council of Harrisons.


Influences

Rick and Morty (The Council of Harrisons gag) and The Flash comics of Geoff Johns (character of Amunet Black/Blacksmith)


Goofs

Iris' plan to report on DeVoe's plan with an article is idiotic. We have no idea how big Iris's audience for her Flash news blog is, but it's unlikely to be more than a few thousand people. at best. Ignoring that, the other problem can be summed up with two words: fake news. And that's ignoring that DeVoe's technomancy powers - the same ones that require Team Flash finding organic weapons to bring down his satellites - would probably also allow him to alter a website, shut down an Internet server or do any number of things to keep Iris' article from being published.

The one thing more idiotic than Iris' plan to tell people about what DeVoe is doing?  Barry's worries that this is somehow going to make her into a target. DeVoe already knows about everyone on Team Flash and they've been powerless to stop him before. How is Iris' article going to put her at greater risk?

Regarding the metal Blacksmith manipulates - Why would a special metal heading to a military facility be transported in the cargo bay of a commercial airliner?

After repelling all the metal shards Amunet sends at him, Norvok puts his anti-magnetic gun down... even though there's nothing to stop Amunet from summoning the metal back to her, through his body!

Nobody goes chasing after Norvok after his eye is cut off?

Amunet's entire characterization seems to be built around allowing Katee Sackhoff to ham it up as badly as possible from scene to scene, attempting to play Loki by way of an impression of Michelle Gomez as Missy from Doctor Who. There is no logic to her sudden decision to run off at the end of the episode, apart from the show not being able to schedule Sackhoff for another episode this season. She reveals to Caitlin that she lied about using her tech to help her turn Killer Frost into an alternate personality, even though it doesn't profit her to do so. There's no consistency at all.

The people of Central City responding to Iris' article by writing in with reports on seeing DeVoe is stupid even within the "gee-whiz" world of comics where most people are inherently decent. Did DeVoe not see this coming somehow? Is he not bothering to disguise himself ? So many questions...


Performances

Say what you will about Katee Sackhoff's performance as Blacksmith containing so much ham it can't be Kosher, but she does seem to be having fun, which is more than you can say for most of the other actors in this episode. The one exception being Tom Cavanagh, as the various Wellses.


Artistry

Playing Here Lies Man's "I Stand Alone" in the background as Caitlin goes to try and find Amunet in the illegal gambling hall is a nice touch.


Flash Facts

The title of the episode is a play of the 1987 movie Harry and The Hendersons.

The idea of an inter-dimensional think-tank, as represented by The Council of Wells', is probably best known to fans of the show Rick and Morty. This show had The Council of Ricks - a governing body made up of the multiverse's various versions of super-scientist Rick Sanchez who took it upon themselves to police themselves while protecting themselves and the multiverse from other threats. 

The Council of Ricks was itself a parody of an idea introduced in Jonathan Hickman's run on the comic book Fantastic Four - The Interdimensional Council of Reeds. This body was made up of various versions of super-scientist Reed Richards, who gave up all ties to their world in order to protect reality.

The two new Harrison Wells that we are introduced into this episode are said to be from Earths 24 and 25 respectively. In the current DC Comics Multiverse, Earths 24 and 25 are two of the seven deliberately undefined alternate Earths - presumably being held as placeholders for any future Elseworlds that prove popular enough to become established reoccurring settings.

H.Lothario Wells - a Hugh Hefner style playboy - is said to come from Earth 47. In the current DC Comics cosmology, Earth 47 is home to Prez Rickards, Brother Power The Geek, Sunshine Superman and other counter-culture inspired superheroes. It is unknown if these characters exist in the DCTVU version of Earth 47, but H. Lothario Well's "free-love" attitude would seem to be a good fit for the ethos of the comic book Earth 47.

Norvok - the snake-eyed henchman of Amunet who comes for Killer Frost - shares a name with a comic character named Hunk Norvock.

In the original Flash comics, Hunk Norvock was a crime-boss in Keystone City whom employed Clifford DeVoe as a "thinker" who could help him find the loopholes in laws to keep him and his men out of jail. Eventually, he became paranoid of DeVoe's intelligence and tried to kill him. He was tricked into killing himself, however, and Norvock's followers elected DeVoe as their new boss.

The DCVTU version of Norvok's eye-snake is revealed to generate a hematoxic venomous mist that is strong enough to melt locks.


Technobabble

Harrison Wolfgang Wells asks Harry how the thinking cap accounts for the resonate inductive coupling of the dark matter transfer.

Cailtin describes Amunet Black's power as "psychic-powered alnico shards."

Amunet Black used a piece of black market technology - a transmodulator genetic splicer - to separate Caitlin and Killer Frost into separate personalities.

Barry determines that some kind of substance was placed on the lock pin of Amunet's storage unit to break the lock. Caitlin identifies it as a hematoxic venom. This leads Amunet to conclude that Norvock is responsible.

Norvock has some kind of special gun made that allows him to repel Blacksmit's metal shards.


Dialogue Triumphs

(H. Lothatrio Wells reads one of his poems.)
Harrison H.P. Wells: I never knew you. I never taste you.
H. Lothatrio Wells: Mmm. Taste!
Harrison H.P. Wells: I never smell you.
(Sonny wells sniffs loudly.)
Harrison H.P. Wells: Until I do. And now... I am hook-ed!
Cisco: (slyly) Hmm. Saucy. And, uh, what is this poem about?
Harrison H.P. Wells: Bread.

(Harry is cynical about the feeling-sharing exercises the other Harrisons are running him through.)
Harry: This isn't making me any smarter! 
Harrison H.P. Wells: But... aren't you smarter, Harry?  You must channel your aggression into love!
Harry: I feel like you're mocking me.
Sonny Wells: Oh! An "I feel" statement! Winner! Winner!

(The other Harrisons have signed out of their meeting.)
Harry: (sighs) Ramon, remind me again. (snaps fingers) What's another word for huge?
Cisco: (tired, knowing what is coming and dreading it.) Colossal?
Harry: Colossal. Great. Thank you. This - (suddenly shouting) was a colossal waste of time!
(Harry storms out of the room and kicks a metal trashcan. Cisco just sits there.) 


Continuity

Iris hits upon the idea of writing an expose article to tell people the truth about DeVoe's plan.

Team Flash decides the best way to deal with The Thinker's satellites is to bring them down with some sort of organic missile. Mechanical ones could be disabled by Kilgore's powers.

The Council of Wells last appeared in 406.

Harrison Wells of Earth 12 (aka Harrison Wolfgang Wells) last appeared in 406. He refuses to help Harry because he's not intelligent enough to be worth his dealing with.

Harry says that he's lost most of his science and math knowledge. He thinks languages skills will be next and he's already losing vocabulary.

Cisco suggests forming a new council from the Harrison Wells of other Earths they hadn't spoken to yet.

Caitlin is using acupuncture to try and awaken Killer Frost.

Joe's suggestion of trying another angle leads to Caitlin having the idea to contact Blacksmith about stopping The Thinker.

Barry refers to the events of 413 and Amunet trying to sell him into meta-slavery.

Barry also refers to the events of 409 and Amunet kidnapping Caitlin to perform surgery on Dominic Lanse.

Iris refers to the events of 405 and Amunet ruining her bachelorette party.

Norvock - Amunet's third favorite henchman - last appared in 413

Norvock has taken over Amunet's club and redirected it. He says that nobody has seen Amunet in months and for all he knows she is dead. Apparently she dropped out of the metahuman trafficking game after her deal with Warden Wolfe went south.

Amunet Black's real name is Leslie Jocoy.

The Council of Harrisons is made up of Harrison Wells who were rejected from The Council of Wells. The include the Harrison Wells of Earth 47, Earth 24 and Earth 25.

The Harrison Wells of Earth 47 is a billionaire inventor, publishing tycoon and general champion of free speech named H. Lothario Wells. He dresses like High Hefner, is an apparent womanizer and has the mannerisms of actor Matthew McConaughey.

The Harrison Wells of Earth 24 is nicknamed Sonny Wells. He says this is on account of his "Sunny" disposition. He dresses like a modern-day Italian gangster stereotype, with a Queens accent, dark clothing, slicked back hair and sunglasses.

The Harrison Wells of Earth 25 is named Harrison H.P. Wells. He is French, has a small mustache and wears a beret. He is also a poet, and opens the meeting with a poem he wrote about bread.

The Council of Harrisons agree to help Harry.

Joe accesses Caitlin of only wanting to find Amunet Black because she thinks Amunet might be able to help with her Killer Frost problem.

Amunet Black last appeared in 413.

Amunet recognizes Barry as the speedster she was going to sell-off, despite his mask.

Amunet is confirmed to have been working as a flight attendant when she gained her powers.

The metal that Blacksmith manipulates with her powers was in the cargo bay of the plane she was on when the STAR Labs Particle Accelerator exploded. She later discovered it was en route to a military facility. She has a larger collection of shards she keeps in storage for big jobs, but it was broken into and stolen just before Team Flash approached her.

Caitlin makes a bargain with Amunet - she and Killer Frost will do her one favor in exchange for her genetic splicer.

Amunet's storage unit is revealed to be an abandoned train car.

Harry starts to consider thinking about how DeVoe must feel rather than matching how he thinks.

Amunet reveals that her genetic splicer didn't actually do anything to Caitlin apart from act as a placebo.

Amunet guesses that Norvock  is hiding in the abandoned Reynolds substation.

Barry has to phase through Norvock's venom before it reaches his heart.

Amunet cuts off Norvovk's snake.

Amunet backs out of her deal, but does give Caitlin one compact sample of her metal - effectively one bullet.

Cisco cannot breach the bullet into outer space as his energy field doesn't extend that far.

Harry guesses the reason DeVoe hasn't launched his satellites yet - he's focusing his energies on finding his wife.

Caitlin decides the key to finding Killer Frost is within her - not out somewhere waiting to be found.

Iris publishes her article and immediately gets several leads on where DeVoe was sighted.


The Bottom Line

Somehow, the series is managing to get stupider and stupider as we limp toward the Season Finale. There's no consistency to Amunet's character. Iris' plan to tell the people of Central City about DeVoe is just plain idiotic. And the best part of the episode is the throw-away gag that has nothing to do with the plot. That's an apt description of most of Season Four, really. All the best bits have nothing to do with the story.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 4, Episode 20 - Therefore She Is

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




Plot

Gypsy arrives from Earth-19 to have a long overdue talk with Cisco about their relationship and the job her father offered him. She also gets recruited to help battle The Thinker, whose plan to bring about his so-called Enlightenment has entered its final stages.


Influences

Flowers For Algernon (the idea of a man's intelligence being artificially accelerated only for him to lose everything he gained - both for Harry and DeVoe)


Goofs

The opening scene depicts the scene where The DeVoe's first met as being set "Eight Years Ago" (i.e. 2010). Yet Episode 413 had The Thinker distinctly recalling that their first dance and first kiss was in 1997!

How is Joe allowed to bring his kids to a crime scene investigation? Especially Barry, who was still persona non grata with the CCPD by the order of the mayor last we checked?

Much as I love the idea of giving Iris something useful to do on this show, having her tell Barry to knock The Thinker out and cuff him seems kinda stupid... even ignoring that The Thinker can hear their communications with his technopathy.

How did Caitlin get to Mercury Labs almost as fast Cisco, Barry and Gypsy without breaching?


Performances

Neil Sandilands and Kim Engelbrecht do a fantastic job of playing a young couple in love in the flashback scenes. It only makes the horror of their relationship in the modern day all the more disturbing.


Artistry

The flashback scene of The DeVoes' first date is well-shot and orchestrated.


Flash Facts

The episode title is based on a declaration by philosopher Rene Descartes - "I think, therefore I am."

The first company that The Thinker robs to get what he needs for his device is Vandermeer Steel. In the original DC Comics universe, Vandermeer Steel was a corrupt technological/industrial firm run by a man named James Hancock Finch. Finch is notable for having been an enemy of Firestorm, who financed his own personal corporate metahuman team - The Captains of Industry - to protect corporate interests against environmentalist vigilantes.


Technobabble

Harry and Cisco plan to use Cisco's Vibe powers to vibrate Caitlin on a molecular level and see if that triggers an adrenaline spike that reawakens Killer Frost.

Cisco lowers the amps on the glove Harry built for him.

Harry confirms that the Dark Matter infusion into his brain is now overwhelming his synapses, slowing them down rather than speeding them up. Cisco believes the process is reversible, however.

Alloy 1771 contains gallium antimonide substrates which can harness power at 400% efficiency. As Iris explains later, this metal is being used to make experimental solar panels.

In order to co-vibe, the breachers must focus their minds on precisely the same thing. Even when successful, it still causes an odd sensation, according to Cisco.

Cecile says that when she tries to read Harry's thoughts, it is like they start to form and then the more the ideas appear, the faster they disappear. This suggests that the more Harry tries to use his brain, the faster his intelligence decreases. She later realizes that she can use her telepathy to read Harry's thoughts and see them before they disappear.

Barry deduces that The Thinker is building multiple satellites  The satellites being able to speak to one another would require a massive amount of computational power - something to triangulate communication between each satellite, like a quantum computer.

The Mechanic describes the computers at Mercury Labs as running on polynomial time computing.

Each individual satellite possess a 30 cubit quantum system, capable of redirecting concentrated Dark Matter back to Earth in 10 million megawatt bursts. This is toxic enough to effect each and every human brain on the planet and reboot them back to a simplified state.

The Mechanic fractures her scaphoid during the fight with Team Flash.

The Thinker's chair can be used to accelerate The Mechanic's healing.


Dialogue Triumphs

Clifford DeVoe: The Taoists, in pursuit of immortality, discovered gunpowder. Alfred Nobel created The Nobel Prize so he wouldn't be remembered as the man who invented dynamite. History has shown us time and time again that whenever a technological advancement can be used to hurt humanity, it will be.
Marlize: You can't blame technology for the way people choose to use it, Professor.
Clifford DeVoe: You can't ignore that the best of ideas by the smartest of men often have a way of becoming corrupted.

(Cisco and Barry look at the crime scene at Vandermeer Steel.)
Cisco: Okay. So... where should we start? I'm thinking, if we can gain acc-
(Barry blurrs into motion as everything around him freezes. We see him run around the room searching drawers before stopping at a computer monitor. Screen load quickly as Barry reads through an inventory list.)
Cisco -ccess to their files?
Barry: Alloy 1771? It's the only item missing from the inventory files.
Cisco: Or I can just stand here and look pretty.

Marlize: I miss those days. I was young and foolish and brave!
Clifford DeVoe: And now you're just foolish? (chuckles)
Marlize: To agree to a date with someone I first met as they were so rudely disagreeing with my professional opinion? Foolish, maybe. (She pauses for a moment as she regards Clifford and smiles) Yeah, no one's ever challenged me like that... It was refreshing.
(Clifford leans in and touches Marlize's shoulder. Their lips are about to meet as the song "Out Of My Head" starts to play on the radio when her phone rings.)
Marlize: (laughs as she checks her phone) Ah. Maybe you are right about technology distracting us. It certainly can destroy moments.
Clifford DeVoe: (reaching over, taking Marlize's phone away.) Although... sometimes, technology can create them as well.
(Clifford stands up and offers Marlize his hand. She laughs and lets her pull him up as the two begin to slow dance to the music.)

(The Flash, Vibe and Gypsy emerge from a breach at the Central City docks.)
The Flash: Alright. It looks like we made it in time. Whatever is in this container, we can't let DeVoe have it.
The Thinker: Actually...
(The three spin around to see The Thinker standing behind them, on top of a different shipping container.)
The Thinker: It's what's in (kicks the box behind him twice) this container you can't let me have. (chuckles as he holds up a small piece of electronics) Well... what was in this container.
(The Flash charges at The Thinker only for him to open a Folded Man portal in his path. Suddenly, The Flash is standing in the middle of a snowy landscape. It is night and the Aurora Borealis are visible in the sky. The Flash shouts in annoyance and starts running back to Central City.)

(The Thinker is telekinetically strangling Gypsy.)
The Mechanic: Our plan is to save them.
The Thinker: Well, you can't save everyone, my love.
The Mechanic: Perhaps. But I won't watch you kill an innocent life again!
(The Mechanic turns around and starts to walk way. The Thinker reaches out with his free hand and grabs her with Null's gravity powers, forcing her to turn around.)
The Thinker: Yes. You will.

(Marlize has just said that she's come to agree with the logic of Clifford's manifesto.)
Clifford DeVoe: You believe.
Marlize: I believe in you. Enlighten them, Clifford. You the only one who can!
Clifford DeVoe: (taking her hand) I'm nothing without you.

The Mechanic: Initially, we set out to enlighten the world. Now you want to rule it. (pauses) I am leaving you, Clifford.
(The Thinker approaches her and bumps into a force-field.) 
The Mechanic: Nothing can get in or out.
The Thinker: You dare orchestrate an exodus on the eve of humanity's greatest reckoning? You made a vow.
The Mechanic: To my husband! But my husband is dead. The Thinker's first victim.
The Thinker: The Enlightenment will come for you too, Marlize. I will be all that remains.
(The Thinker's chair begins to levitate away.)
The Mechanic: Oh, Clifford. You are nothing with me.
(The Mechanic teleports away as The Thinker presses against the force field with one hand.)


Continuity

A flashback shows that Clifford and Marlize DeVoe met at Oxford University in while engaged in a debate over technology's ability to improve the lot of humanity.

Gypsy sends Cisco a hologram cube, asking if he's thought about the job offer her father gave him in 417.

Gypsy last appeared in 404.

Harry briefly forgets the term for The Scientific Method, though he can still name the individual steps.

Harry also calls Melting Point Null and completely forgets that Caitlin doesn't have any Dark Matter in her system, so his plan to jump-start her powers with an adrenaline spike won't work.

The rest of Team Flash learn about Harry's decreasing intelligence.

Barry has the idea to bring in Gypsy to help double Cisco's effectiveness so they can safely Vibe The Thinker's whereabouts.

Joe asks Harry to distract Cecile because he has no idea why he need to distract her from a surprise Joe is arranging.

A flashback sequence shows The DeVoes' first date, which The Thinker discussed in 413. As he mentioned in the earlier episode, the two experienced their first kiss shortly after their first dance to the song "Going Out Of My Head." We also see The "favorite dress" that The Mechanic was wearing in 418 is the dress she wore on this date.

Marlize DeVoe aced her Intro To Heat Transfer class her first year in college.

Gypsy and Cisco are able to Vibe that The Thinker will be going after a shipping container at the Central City docks with the number 16. This later turns out to be the wrong number.

Barry learns about Breacher's retirement and the job offer he gave Cisco.

Cisco says he wants to be with Gypsy more than anything but is uncertain about everything else - i.e. moving to Earth 19, taking Breacher's job, etc.

When Marlize and Clifford move in together, Marlize discovers a book Clifford wrote by hand titled "Promulgations of Our Future." In it, Clifford describes his theories on how technology is killing humanity. He says the brains of the masses must be rebooted so they forget their technological crushes.

The second and third sites DeVoe robs are Boeing Labs and The Jamison Institute.

The second time Gypsy and Cisco try to vibe together, the feedback knocks them both across the room.

Barry figures out that DeVoe is building multiples of one thing rather than one big thing. He eventually figures out that the things in question are five satellites.

It is revealed that Marlize left Clifford to develop water filters for poor villages in Kenya. Clifford called her to try and win her back, but she was reluctant until she was nearly killed in a bombing by a militia group who wanted the filter for themselves. This causes her to adopt Clifford's philosophy of technology pushing humanity towards greater depravity. She later claims that she saw the truth of his arguments then but was too afraid to admit he was right given her life's work.

Cisco and Gypsy both agree they don't want Cisco to take Breacher's job.

Cisco says that he wants to wake up next to the woman he loves. Gypsy says she is content with how things are with their distance relationship.

Mercury Labs has an entire system of quantum computers at their home base. The last mention of Mercury Labs came in 412.

Barry's thrown lightning and Gypsy's vibe blasts are shown to be able to hurt The Thinker.

The Thinker is also vulnerable to the Cold Gun, but it only slows him down - presumably because of Ralph's ability to shrug off most forms of damage.

The Thinker says that his plan requires The Flash living for a while longer.

The Collector Agency HQ on Earth 19 resembles Central City Police HQ. The usual mural of the Roman Gods is covered up by a Russian-style propaganda poster depicting Breacher and the words "Happy Retirement, Breacher!"

A woman resembling Killer Frost is being escorted by a Collector just before Cisco and Gypsy arrive in Collector Agency HQ.  We also see a Speedster, who resembles The Accelerated Man from 314, before he runs out of the shot in a burst of purple lightning.

Gypsy and Cisco officially break up.

Joe's surprise turns out to be a baby shower for Cecile.

Caitlin says that she's determined to get back Killer Frost when Iris confronts her about her going to fight DeVoe with the Cold Gun.

The Mechanic leaves The Thinker.

The mystery waiter from Barry and Iris' wedding in S308 shows up with a diaper bag for Cecile. She says Cecile looks like she'll give birth in 21 days.. just in time for the Season Four Finale. She says the bag was sent by someone thought they were special who realizes that time is precious and right now is all we have "relatively speaking". This seems to be another hint that she is related to The West Family somehow. The waiter runs off before Iris can see her. We then see the waiter vanish in a flash of lightning, revealing that she is a speedster.

Wally sent Joe and Cecile a bassinet which was apparently owned my Moses.


Location

Oxford, England - Oxford University -  (1997 or 2010?)
Kenya - ?
Earth 19 - Collector Agency HQ in Central City - 2018


The Boomerang Factor

In a bid to make Iris seem useful, Barry is portrayed as being too dumb to think of knocking a guy out at super-speed while he's helpless.

Irony or Stupidity? The Thinker hates technology and thinks people are becoming stupider because of it. So he devises a way to make himself smarter, using advanced technology, so he can create even more advanced technology to make people too stupid to use modern technology.


The Bottom Line

Apparently the writers became worried that The DeVoes were too sympathetic based on their earlier portrayal and the fans who found their relationship better realized than that of Barry and Iris. That's the only way I can explain the 11th hour reveal that The Thinker's plan to enlighten the world is actually meant to make people stupider because he's a Luddite who hates technology, even though the only reason he's still alive is because of advanced medicine and technology.

I don't mind DeVoe being a hypocrite. I mind that despite this he's still the most logical and well-developed character in the show right now and that his romance with Marlize was far better developed and more heartbreaking than Cisco and Gypsy's break-up in this episode.  I could have done with far less of Barry trying to force the two Breachers to patch up for his own selfish ends and far more of Caitlin coping with the loss of her better half.

Despite everything, I generally liked this episode if only for the contrast between the Thinker/Mechanic relationship between then and now.