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.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 4, Episode 19- Fury Rogue

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



Plot

With only one Bus Meta remaining - the radiation emitter called Fallout - Barry needs help moving him to a more secure location where The Thinker can't get him. This calls for the help of an unexpected ally and who could be more unexpected than Citizen Cold - Len Snart's heroic counterpart from Earth X? Unfortunately, when they retrieve him, the Nazi Black Siren of Earth X comes along for the ride. Meanwhile, Cisco begins to grow suspicions regarding Harry's use of The Thinking Cap as Harry is reluctant to let him build a second one.


Influences

Mad Max: Fury Road (title and general chase theme)


Goofs

For the past few episodes, Cisco was the one character warning everyone else about how dangerous The Thinking Cap was. Now, suddenly, he's all about using it and wants to use it himself.

 Apart from needing Black Siren on the loose to add a further complication to this episode, there is no good reason why Barry couldn't have taken out Black Siren before he and Citizen Cold left Earth X.

Despite having an apparent mad-on for everyone involved in overthrowing the Nazi Regime on Earth X - especially Citizen Cold (whom she followed to another Earth just to kill him) - she is content to just take Citizen Cold's cold gun and leave him and The Flash unconscious in a gutter rather than shooting them with the cold gun, blasting them with a Sonic Scream or doing... well, anything that would result in them dying!

Why isn't Black Siren incapacitated by Fallout's radiation?

See The Boomerang Factor for details how the heroes were made ineffectual during the final fight with Siren-X.

One big question this episode raises that will probably be ignored by The Flash and Arrow - doesn't the capture of Siren-X pretty much screw up Black Siren's efforts to pose as Laurel Lance? She made a rather big show of coming back to Star City claiming to be held captive for two years and now a metahuman who looks just like her shows up trying to blow up a police station in Central City? That should attract attention and raise questions that Joe can't deflect. We know Snart didn't take Siren-X back to Earth-X with him, so where is she? Did ARGUS take her? Is she in The Pipeline? We don't know! But someone should have noticed a second evil Laurel Lance running around Central City.


Performances

Wentworth Miller. 'Nuff Said!


Flash Facts

The title of the episode is a pun on the movie Mad Max: Fury Road.

Katie Cassidy - who plays Black Siren on Arrow - appears playing the Black Siren of Earth X, aka Siren-X.

Apart from being a literal Nazi and having super-hearing powers and wearing a mask, there doesn't seem to be any difference between Siren-X and her Earth Two counterpart. Citizen Cold says that she's the only surviving member of The Reichsmen. An elite assassin gone mad, she had an unrequited love for The Dark Arrow, and is out to kill everyone involved in his death - Citizen Cold especially.

Iris says that ARGUS has a secure facility in New Brighton that should be able to contain Fallout and keep him safe. In the DC Comics Universe, New Brighton is a borough in Central City that is primarily residential and commercial in nature, housing the main Central City Rail Station.

In the DCTVU, New Brighton is a city on the other side of the state from Keystone City.


Technobabble

The excessive infusion of Dark Matter into Harry's neural system has disrupted the area of the brain where general intelligence and executive function occur. This is inhibiting his ability to integrate new information, or, in simple terms, Harry is losing his intelligence and will eventually need to relearn everything he ever learned.

The Thinker has not suffered any decline in his metabolic processes since his transference into Ralph's body. He claims that Ralph's elasticized cells could contain the power of another bus full of metahumans.

The Siren-X can use her powers to disrupt a Vibe portal long enough to hold it open so she can use it before it closes.

Caitlin is working on a modified radiation hazmat suit to keep Fallout's core temperature from rising to the point of detonation.

Harry blames the failure of the second Thinking Cap on a hyper-limiter valve.

Cisco notes that the second Thinking Cap was made with promethium ion diodes. Harry claims these probably overloaded the cap as well.

Caitlin created a cocktail of atomized DTPA and potassium iodine. With any luck, if the Fallout containment suit fails, the solution should flood the thyroid with enough non-radioactive iodine to offer them some protection from the radiation. This protection will only last for 2-3 hours.

The Fallout suit also prevents Fallout from being tracked by satellite due to his radiation signature.

Caitlin's tests determine that there is still a cryogenic anomaly in her DNA even without any traces of Dark Matter. This means that there is still a trace of Killer Frost inside her - she just has to figure out how to get her to appear.


Dialogue Triumphs

(The Thinker pulls up a display for some manner of device.)
The Mechanic: We start today?
The Thinker: Yes.
The Mechanic: But we have time, my love. Could we not spend time together? (purring) As husband and wife? I think
The Thinker: Mmm. That is... that is your first mistake. Leave the thinking to me.

Citizen Cold: War's over. Bad guys and girls lost. Nazi regime's been dismantled. And The Rebellion's in charge now. Why don't you turn yourself in? Save us the Tom and Jerry? Find some other misguided cause to get all aggro about?
(Cold hears and noise and fires a blast too late, being knocked to the ground by a sonic blast.)
Siren-X: Not this night. I will fight until every last one of you finds the same fate as my brothers and sisters.
(Before Siren-X can finish him off, there is a golden burst of lightning as The Flash carries Citizen Cold off to where Vibe is waiting on the far side of the room.)
Citizen Cold: Your timing is impeccable.
The Flash: We need your help on our Earth.
Citizen Cold: Right now? I'm kinda busy.
Vibe: With what? Dying?
(Citizen Cold turns around, toward the sound of Black Siren's footsteps.)
Citizen Cold: Touche.

Citizen Cold: So. You're trying to stop a guy who thinks he's smarter than everyone and his true-believer lover, who are hell-bent on achieving their evil machinations at any cost? (pause) Well, that's right up my alley!

Barry: Winning this battle might just win us the war.
Citizen Cold: Here here! Let's all make sure we keep our heads in the game, so we can stay safe out there.
(Everyone else breaks up as Barry walks up to Snart.)
Barry: I know what that was about.
Citizen Cold: It was a good speech, Barry. Just making sure you heard it, just didn't give it.
Barry: What's that suppose to mean?
Citizen Cold: If you don't confront your feelings, they will confront you.

(Caitlin explains how she's adjusting to Killer Frost not leaving her post-it notes anymore.)
Citizen Cold: Do you miss her?
Caitlin: It's not that. It's just that... we were starting to become close lately. And I know how crazy that sounds considering we're talking about someone who actually lived inside of me!
Citizen Cold: I'm on an alt-Earth transporting a human bomb with an escort who can literally run back to the future. Your story is the least crazy thing I've heard all day.

(Citizen Cold is explaining everything he knows about Siren X.)
Iris: So she has the same powers as Black Siren?
(Citizen Cold looks confused.)
Iris: The Laurel Lance of Earth Two.
Citizen Cold: And Earth One's Laurel Lance?
Barry: She died.
Cisco: She was the second Black Canary after her sister.
(Citizen Cold looks confused.)
Cisco: Who also died and came back. But as White Canary. Because-
Barry: Cisco!
Cisco: ... it's complicated.

Cisco: Harry, how could you be so stupid?
Harry: 'Cause I felt so stupid!
Cisco: We all feel stupid right now!
Harry: Yes, but you're Vibe! Allen's The Flash! Who am I? My only job is to be smarter than all the villains who want to hurt this team and without that I'm nothing! I am about to lose the only part of me that has any value to this team. The only part of me that matters! And so, yeah! I destroyed The Cap! So you wouldn't make the same mistake I did.

The Mechanic: You really don't see it?! You can calculate near-infinite outcomes across multiple Earths, but you cannot account for how someone is feeling?

Citizen Cold: Barry, trust me. There's no outrunning grief. (pause) That was a pun. I'm sorry.

Citizen Cold: Well, look at that. Something old. Something new. Something borrowed. Something... navy.


Dialogue Disasters

Black Siren X: A nuke is a terrible thing to waste.

Black Siren X: CCPD. Home of the brave. Land of the dead.


Continuity

Harry discovers that using the Dark Matter powered thinking cap has damaged his brain's ability to absorb new information and will eventually erase his mind completely.

Barry and Iris go to see Dr.Sharon Finkel about Ralph's death.

Iris still has her arm in a sling following her injuries in the last episode.

The Mechanic is happy without needing to be drugged, much to The Thinker's surprise. She credits this to it feeling like he had gone away when he was in the other Bus Meta bodies.

Cisco has the idea to build his own Thinking Cap. Harry reluctantly agrees to help him with it.

Tracy Brand's lab is revealed to be in Keystone City.

Team Flash decides to retrieve Citizen Cold from Earth X, as they can use his cold gun to keep Fallout from going into a nuclear meltdown.

Citizen Cold last appeared in L310.

We discover that the Nazi regime on Earth X has been overthrown. The Rebellion is now running the world government and is in the middle of cleaning up the Nazis, like Black Siren, who refuse to surrender.

Citizen Cold did propose to The Ray, as he said he would during his last appearance. They are getting married in one day.

The plan is to transport Fallout in the special suit Caitlin made, with Leo Snart's cold gun as a back-up to keep Fallout's temperature down, to a special ARGUS facility in New Brighton.

According to Cisco, the Thinking Cap inspires a tingling feeling like his conditioner working when active.

The Mechanic wears The Thinker's favorite dress to please him. He tells her to change into something more appropriate.

Highway 14 is the most rural route between Keystone City and New Brighton.

18,322 rebels died fighting the Nazis on Earth X. 3,679 were under Citizen Cold's watch.

Neil Borman (aka Fallout) makes his first appearance since 410.

The Sonic Scepter is not powerful enough to disturb The Thinker in Ralph's body. He is, however, affected by Black Siren's sonic blasts.

Harry finally confesses to Cisco that he used The Thinking Cap while it was powered by Dark Mater.

The Thinker predicted everything that happened in his confrontation with The Flash and Citizen Cold - even the arrival of Siren-X. The only thing he did not account for was Barry freezing up at the reminder of Ralph's death.

Siren-X tries to use Fallout to blow up CCPD HQ.

Fallout is taken into custody by ARGUS and moved to a different off-the-grid black ops site.

It is unclear what happens to Siren-X. Leo Snart doesn't take her with him when he returns to Earth-X, so presumably ARGUS took her into custody as well.

Cisco invites all of Team Flash to his wedding.

Cisco gives Leo Snart a Inter-Dimensional Extrapolator, identical to the one he gave Supergirl, in case Leo ever needs to travel to Earth One.

Leo Snart also takes the spare costume belonging to Captain Cold.

Harry agrees to tell the team about his losing his intelligence, but not today.

Barry makes another appointment with Dr. Finkel to discuss Ralph's death.


Location

Earth X - An Unnamed Warehouse
Tracy Brand's lab in Keystone City
Highway 14, between Keystone City and New Brighton.


The Fridge Factor

Even on a world where she's a born and bred Nazi super-villain, Laurel Lance still isn't free to be evil on her own terms, driven crazy by her unrequited love for Oliver Queen. Yay co-dependence!


The Boomerang Factor

Barry could have easily taken out Black Siren when they came to pick up Snart from Earth X. But since she's needed to add tension to the story, he didn't.

Tasked with finding a truck on a remote rural freeway, it never occurs to Barry to... run along the freeway and see if he can catch up to it. This becomes even more maddening when it turns out that Siren-X drove the truck back to Central City where Cisco's usual tracking software should have found it long before she got to CCPD HQ.

Barry somehow manages to run head first into a sonic-blast.

Caitlin grabs a hold of the cold gun that Siren-X dropped... and uses it on Fallout, who is already being blasted by Citizen Cold, instead of the unoccupied Siren-X.


The Bottom Line

Proof that even a Wentworth Miller guest spot can be spoiled by the inclusion of Katie Cassidy. It's not all bad but the sad truth is that Siren-X's role in this episode feels entirely tacked on and only serves to cause the rest of Team Flash to be dumbed down to accommodate her cartoonish antics.

It's a crying shame though because there are so many scenes that are magical, particularly Citizen Cold's interactions with the team. Though this is reportedly going to be Wentworth Miller's final adventure as any version of Leonard Snart, the door is left wide open for his return if his schedule frees up enough. Unfortunately, the fate of Siren-X is also left open. (In fact, they don't even bother saying what happened to her!)

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 4, Episode 18 - Lose Yourself

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



Plot

With the discovery of the final Bus Meta, Team Flash may have a way to get into The Thinker's pocket-dimension hideaway. This leads Ralph to considering crossing a dangerous line in the bid to stop him, as Joe becomes concerned about an increasingly erratic Harry.


Influences

Return of the Jedi (the whole idea of beating the bad guy by not killing him, Ralph's "you already saved me." line to Barry.


Goofs

Barry's talk about there always being a better way than killing your enemies comes off as rather hypocritical given that every single one of his confrontations with his major enemies to date has ended because of someone else killing them.  Reverse Flash in Season One?  Eddie Thawne killed himself to erase him from history... for all the good it did. Zoom? Killed by Time Wraiths after Barry attracted them by creating a Time Remnant who killed himself. Savitar? Iris West straight up shot him!

The green-screen effect of Ralph running from the dinosaur skeleton is of very poor quality.


Performances

This is Hartley Sawyer's best turn yet as Ralph Dibny. I could quite happily watch a spin-off centered around him instead of another season of The Flash at this point. Naturally, this is the point at which they kill him off.


Artistry

The final shot of an empty glass on Ralph's desk is a powerful one.


Flash Facts

The title of the episode comes from the title of a song by Eminem.

Ralph makes reference to being able to use his powers to go to the bathroom without leaving the couch. While Ralph Dibny in the comics wasn't quite so lazy, he did stretch his neck to continue talking to his wife in another room while he was using the bathroom... much to her disgust.

Edwin Gauss a.k.a. The Folded Man first appeared in The Flash Vol. 2 #153 (October 1999). Considered the greatest mind of his generation, Gauss was a physics major at MIT determined to prove Albert Einstein's theories regarding The Unified Field Theory correct. Using resources stolen from tech billionaire Norman Bridges, Gauss constructed a suit that enabled him to fold space-time around him, transforming himself into a two-dimensional or four-dimensional state. This enabled him to become invisible to three-dimensional beings by flattening himself or becoming impossible to surprise as he can see in all directions in his fourth dimensional state. He was also able to teleport through space at will. 

The DCTVU version of Edwin Gauss is a metahuman with the same powers as his comic-book counterpart. He was something of a hippie who appeared to be high when he paid for Ralph Dibny's fare on their bus, speaking of walking paths in colorful terms.

Gauss describes The Thinker as "this bald dude in a Professor X floaty chair." This is a nod to Professor X aka Charles Xavier - the wheelchair-bound leader of Marvel Comics' X-Men.

Ralph makes a reference to Marvel Comics' Thor, referring to Barry as "Thor, Son of Odin" after Barry beats him up.


Technobabble

Cisco designed a new scanner that detects dark matter anomalies.

Edwin Gauss' residual dark matter signature on the bus suggests that he was there one second and gone the next.

Harry builds a sonic scepter - a tuning fork that replicates the powers of Izzy Bowin. Harry claims to have laser-shaved it down to the last angstrom. The best part about it is that since it is non-electronic, it cannot be influenced by Kilgore's powers.

Harry scripted a sub-routine on the pocket-dimension predictor that he thinks will enable them to predict where DeVoe will appear next.

Caitlin says she thinks she has determined what triggers her transformation into Killer Frost.  When her body enters a fight-or-flight state, catecholamines (aka The Stress Hormone) are released into her system. Analyzing her brain chemistry, Caitlin determined that the dark matter reservoirs in her body were primarily focused around her adrenal glands. Guessing that adrenaline triggers her transformation, Caitlin can now give herself a shot of epinephrine to trigger it without Cisco or Harry trying to upset her.

Cisco says that Gauss' powers have given him access to his own pocket dimension. Every pocket dimension is unique unto itself. He guesses that DeVoe needs Gauss' power so he won't be dependent on his chair to create his own safe space anymore.

By simply tracking the two lanes of identifiers, cross-referencing the fluctuation migration patterns and the temporal displacement in the energy app, Harry is able to create a map of Edwin Gauss' pocket dimension activity.

Harry has a set of quantum decryption keys he can use to unravel any sort of hacked code.

Iris has an explosive concealed in her earring which she had Cisco make for emergencies. She uses it to blow the sealed door out of the lab.

The Mechanic fights with some kind of electrified katana.

Null's powers could be used to increase the pull of gravity as well as negating it. The Thinker uses her powers to make The Flash weigh as much as a cement truck, rendering him unable to stand.


Dialogue Triumphs

(After Ralph suggests killing DeVoe.) 
Barry: Ralph, you think we're going to kill DeVoe?
Ralph: The way you're saying that makes me think I'm supposed to say no?

Ralph: Uh, thanks.
Edwin: (bowing his head) Namaste, hermano.
Ralph: (cringing) Nama-stay in the back of the bus.
Edwin: (laughs) Funny fat dude.

Caitlin: (reading Killer Frost's note) Thanks for the badass new jacket. I got some blood on it. Don't worry!  It's not ours.
(Caitlin chuckles as Iris looks disturbed.)
Caitlin: (composing herself) I guess her humor is sort of an acquired taste.

(Team Flash stands ready as a portal opens, expecting DeVoe to emerge. Instead, a funny looking man with long hair clad in a robe, slippers, pajama pants and an over-sized T-shirt emerges. He is whistling happily and moves to a mailbox, placing something inside it. The team just look to each other as Barry finally decides to speak.)
The Flash: Edwin Gauss?
(Gauss spins around, startled and falls backward, another portal opening, which he disappears into.)

Cisco: I'm sorry, but that's too big even for your britches, Harry.
Harry: My britches are plenty big, okay? I fill my britches!
(Barry blinks at this. Caitlin looks at Ralph as if to say "Are you going to comment on that?")

Ralph: Unwashed flower child? Have you seen this man?
(Ralph holds up a picture of Edwin Gauss)
Hippie: Nope. I've seen the soul that belongs to this man. (laughs) Dude's aura is a trip!
Barry: Wait, so you know Edwin Gauss?
Hippie: Sure do. Round here we call him "The Folded Man"!
Caitlin: Folded Man?
Hippie: He is everywhere... and nowhere. (shrugs) But mostly he's around here.

Barry: Look, I know you're worried about DeVoe. About what he might do to you. But there are some lines we can't cross-
Ralph: Wow. You really don't know as much as you think you do, Rookie.
Barry: I know what killing DeVoe would do to you. You would be throwing away everything you've done to become a better man, to become a hero. You've got to realize that!
Ralph: You... are a moron.
Barry: Ralph-
Ralph: I am not afraid of DeVoe! Or what he might do to me. I am afraid of what he might do to you... and Iris. And Caitlin. And Cisco. Joe. Harry. Cecile. DeVoe has taken out everyone who has gotten in his way. And Team Flash? It will always be in his way.
Barry: (in realization) This was never about protecting yourself...
Ralph: I know that killing DeVoe would mean throwing away everything I've done to become a hero. But aside from my mom, this team is the only family that I have ever had. And I would throw myself into a furnace to keep them safe. (determined) DeVoe cannot have them. They are mine.
Barry: What about what we want?  You may not care about losing who you've become, but we do. We like hero Ralph. (sighs) Please don't take him away from us.

The Thinker: You are no threat for an intellect of my magnitude.
Ralph: Please. Everyone I fight is smarter than me, but no bad guy has beaten me yet.

The Thinker: You were born for me, Mr. Dibny. And now, you will die for me.
Ralph: (pained) You! First!
(Ralph grunts and rips open his jacket, revealing the weird pattern of the Sonic Scepter embossed in his chest. Ralph pulls it out and stares DeVoe down.)
The Thinker: What is that?
Ralph: A big ol' fork, to shove up your-
(Ralph strikes the ground and aims the fork, sending DeVoe flying into the wall.)

(DeVoe begins to download his brain into Ralph's body.)
Barry: Ralph! Fight it! Alright?! Fight it!  I'll save you!
Ralph: (quietly) You already did, Barry.


Dialogue Disasters

Continuity

Ralph remembers Edwin Gauss from the bus ride, though he lies about paying for his fare. In truth, Edwin paid for him.

Caitlin is now communicating with Killer Frost through notes.

Edwin Gauss has no college history or known addresses - just a couple of backpacking photos from an old message board from the dial-up era of the Internet.

Barry, Ralph and Caitlin track one of Gauss' portals to a hippie commune.

Caitlin is stabbed by The Samuraoid from 401, shortly after she, Barry and Ralph locate Edwin Gauss.

Ralph refers to the events of 413 and how DeVoe easily broke into a maximum security facility.

Gauss likes spicy ranch Pringles.

Gauss accidentally found a way into DeVoe's lair the second time he used his powers.

Joe confronts Harry about his use of the Thinking Cap and how the way he is acting reminds Joe of his wife, Francine, and how she acted when she was using drugs.

The Thinker attacks Ralph with the animated dinosaur skeleton from 406, shrunk down by Dwarfstar's powers and released into The Pipeline.

The Mechanic refers to her conversation with Iris in 410 about what they were each willing to do for their husbands.

The Mechanic is revealed to be an accomplished sword fighter, capable of parrying multiple blasts from Iris' energy gun.

Harry has been revealed to have been using Gideon in The Time Vault to power his Thinking Cap with Dark Matter.

By the time Ralph wins free of the dinosaur, it is revealed that The Thinker has absorbed Melting Point, Null and The Folded Man.

Joe takes out the Samuaroid robot.

Iris impales herself on The Mechanic's sword to grab hold of her and trigger the teleporter on DeVoe's chair.

Ralph does not kill The Thinker despite having the chance to do so. Unfortunately, Ralph still screws up making sure the power-dampening cuffs he put on The Thinker activated properly.

The Thinker is able to use The Folder Man's powers to open a portal to absorb Cisco's vibe blasts and redirect them back at him.

The Thinker seemingly uses Melting Point's power to take away Caitlin's powers, effectively killing Killer Frost.

The Thinker now has the power of all 12 Bus Metas, except for Meltdown, and his mind resides in Ralph Dibny's body.

Barry goes to pack up Ralph's office - a chore he does alone and at regular speed.

With Ralph's powers, not only is DeVoe now immune to the effect absorbing multiple superpowers has on his body, he is also able to shape-shift himself to resemble his old self.

The Thinker now has a container full of dark matter, taken from The Time Vault thanks to Harry's tapping into it to fuel his Thinking Cap, which he will use for the next stage of his plan.


The Bottom Line

For all the complaints that people have about The Legends being a bunch of screw ups, I think Team Flash has them beat at this point. There's a lot of powerful moments here and some great acting but that still doesn't negate Barry's hypocrisy or the fact that I'd gleefully see Iris die to get Ralph or Izzy or Hazard back. I suppose that is a complement to the writing team that I feel such passion for minor characters who were created to die, but damn it I thought we'd at least see Ralph survive all of this. Funny how for all of the jokes that were added to this season, it seems to be the most joyless exercise yet.