Arrow Episode Guide: Season 6, Episode 22 - The Ties That Bind

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


Plot

With his plan to put Oliver Queen in prison thwarted, Ricardo Diaz decides to just kill Green Arrow and all of his former allies. The heroes of Star City must put aside their differences to finally join forces against their common enemy.


Influences

The Green Arrow comics of Judd Winick. (Invincible bad guys who are far more clever than the heroes.)


Goofs

Lyla says that she can't bring in ARGUS to help with the fight in Star City because what Diaz is doing is a law enforcement matter outside of their jurisdiction. While this does make sense from a legal and logistical standpoint (The CIA is not allowed to get involved in affairs on American Soil, to give a real world example), surely Ricardo Diaz is a person of interest as a known associate of the cyber-terrorist who recently threatened Star City - a matter which ARGUS could act on?

For that matter, surely as the Director of ARGUS, Lyla knows who to contact at the FBI, the DEA, the ATF or countless other government agencies that would be empowered to arrest Diaz legally? (It might have been easier for Lyla to say she'd have to coordinate with the FBI to operate and it would take too long or for Oliver to point out there's no way to know Diaz didn't have connections in the local FBI as well.)

Kirk Acevedo goes full Shatner with his pauses and line breaks in this episode. (Why would she tip off Queen (pauses) and then DRAAAAG OUR AAAAAASES (pause) out of the fire?)

Diaz surviving the explosion at point-blank range and going flying down a staircase into a stone wall is complete and total bullshit.

Lyla doesn't have authority to bring ARGUS agents in force to deal with Diaz yet somehow orders a forensics team to investigate the ruins of Helix?

Why do The Quadrant leaders agree to a meeting with Diaz on his own turf with none of their own bodyguards close at hand?


Performances

Honestly, the whole heroic ensemble is on point this week, but we'll given an MVP shout-out to Juliana Harkavy, who gets the first chance in far too long to show how awesome Black Canary is and should be played.


Artistry

All the opening action sequences are amazing.


Trivia

As is tradition for the penultimate episode of every season of Arrow, the title is taken from a Bruce Springsteen song. As usual, the song ties into the theme of the episode, as The Ties That Bind is about someone who has been trying to stand tough on their own because they're afraid of the pain that relationships with other people can cause.

The Arrow logo card at the end of the first segment once again only shows Ollie's arrowhead symbol and not the rest of the Team Arrow symbols.


Technobabble

According to Dr. Schwartz, all signs of the nerve damage, loss of arm strength and loss of motor control that John had in his injured arm are gone.

Helix Dynamics now owns a polyrase inhibitor. Felicity and Curtis had to take out three loans to get it.

Diaz's "necklace" is a GRV-657 Solid State Drive. Felicity describes it as a military grade data storage device with dynamic encryption.

Felicity reprograms her sniffer to specifically couple with the digital signature of Diaz's drive.

Felicity determines that the encryption on Diaz's drive is Corto Maltesian in origin. She guesses the drive is carrying Diaz's books.

The SCPD use a tricelic gas in order to drive Team Arrow out of the Helix hideout.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Open on a thug urinating in an alleyway. Black Canary comes up behind him.)
Black Canary: I'll give you the courtesy of putting that back in before we start this. 
Thug: (smirking) Does it have to be in that order?
(He starts to turn around, but Black Canary kicks him in the stomach, knocking the wind from him.)
Black Canary: You work for Ricardo Diaz.
Thug: (still smirking through the pain) Who?
Black Canary: You want to play that game? Good.
(Black Canary grabs the thug by his shirt.)
Black Canary: I need to blow off some steam.

(John runs into the hallway towards the sounds of the shots. He sees Lyla with her guns drawn, one aimed toward each end of the hallway.)
John: Lyla!
(John runs towards her, and grabs her, spinning around as he shoots a man who was coming from the other direction.)
Lyla: I had him!
John: I know you did, honey.

(Three of Diaz's men have their guns trained on Black Canary's back. She has her hands up.)
Thug: One bullet. Back of the head. You won't even feel it.
Black Canary: (smirking) You know the cool thing about sound waves?  They bounce.
(Black Canary lets out a Canary Cry against the wall in front of her. It echos and knocks her and the thugs back, but she's able to roll with the force and comes up in a roll as the thugs are sent flying and knocked out on the other side of the alley wall.)

Oliver: If we just press ahead like this.. we are going to die out there.
Felicity: We haven't worked together in months.  You know Diaz isn't expecting that, at least.
Oliver: But he's planned for everything. Us getting back together? Working as a team? It's a start, but this guy's got an army.He's got the officials. He's got the police.  He's got everything.
Curtis: Please tell me there's a "but" coming at the end of this pep-talk.
Oliver: Anatoly Knyazev.
Rene: I thought he hated your guts?
Oliver: I think we've come to an understanding. I also think he might be the one move Diaz does not see coming.
John: Well, Oliver, if that's our tactical advantage, we need to press it.
Oliver: Let me set a meet with him, ok? Let us make a move off of his intel. But until we have it, I want you guys to stand down, and... I'm asking you to trust me. I know that that trust does not come easy after everything that has happened. Let's put all of that aside... and get this done.

Anatoly: "You cannot wage revolution in white gloves." Lenin had his faults, but he was right about that.

(Felicity has just asked Lyla for advice on how to cope with Oliver being nervous about her going into the field.)
Lyla: We always knew our lives would be high risk. Eventually, we got to a point where worrying about that seemed less important than enjoying the time we had together. Even if it was on a battlefield.
(Felicity closes her eyes as if savoring the romantic thought.)
Lyla: (pauses) Also, getting divorced helps.
(Felicity's face drops.)

Oliver: You promised me you would stay put.
Felicity:Well, I didn't exactly promise -
Oliver: Fine. You promised me you wouldn't do anything stupid. You charged into a fire-fight.
Felicity:Which was a calculated risk.
Oliver:  Calculated - (stammers) Did you calculate how close Ricardo Diaz came to shooting you in the back of the head?!
Felicity: We got what we wanted.
Oliver:  That's not - (bites his lip)
Felicity:And if I'm right, what we wanted has the list of everyone in the city that Diaz controls.This could help us get our home back from Diaz, Oliver. We could actually save our city this time around. I think that's a little more important than "what ifs."
Oliver:  This is why I started working alone again.
Felicity:Yeah. You know what? I tried convincing myself that that was the right move too. But it's not. Because we're married and we're supposed to be each other's strength. So there is no "alone" for us anymore.
Oliver:  It's not that simple and you know it.
Felicity: God, I'm really going to need you to start seeing it that way.

(Dinah is trying to talk Curtis into resting.)
Curtis: He almost killed my man! What do you expect my reaction to be?
Dinah: Exactly the same as mine.
Curtis:... I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking about Vincent. I'm so sorry, Dinah.
Dinah: You shouldn't be thinking about Vincent. You need to be thinking about Nick. (sighs) Just please don't go about this the same way that I did, Curtis - blind with rage. (pauses) Remember how you had to talk me down?
Curtis: I remember my advice not really taking.
Dinah: (chuckles) Yeah. Well, you're a lot smarter than me.

(Oliver is trying to justify his keeping Felicity out of the field.)
John: The truth is you were there for her tonight. The same way she's been there for you as Overwatch. (sighs) And, look, when I said that your focus was split, I didn't mean throwing away everything and everyone that gives you strength.

(Lyla and John are moving down a corridor, Suddenly, Lyla, grabs John, throws him down and spins to shoot one of Diaz's men who was approaching them in the same way John did earlier at the hospital.)
John: I had him, honey. (kisses her cheek)

Oliver: I shouldn't have pushed you away. I should have trusted you to keep yourself safe. And I should have trusted my abilities to help keep you safe.
Felicity: Thank you.
Oliver: Yeah.
Felicity: It's good to know that after all these years, you can still learn something. (kisses his shoulder)
Oliver: Well, I still have a ways to go.
Felicity: That's true.


Dialogue Disasters

Diaz: Should've done this months ago. (The sentence that pretty much sums up everything about his "plans".)


Continuity

As the episode opens, Felicity, Oliver and William are cooking dinner together, John and Lyla are meeting with Dr. Schwartz before their date night, Curtis has taken Nick to Helix Dynamics office, Rene is watching a hockey game with Zoe and Dinah is questioning one of Diaz's men alone.

Anatoly sends Oliver a text warning him of Diaz's attack.

Nick is wounded trying to save Curtis from Diaz's men. Lyla has them sent to ARGUS Med-Bay so he can get surgery.

Nick and Curtis are officially boyfriends.

Lyla has Zoe, William, Raisa amd John Jr. sent to the NORAD bunker in Colorado.

Diaz's men are seen trashing The Bunker before setting it on fire.

The ARGUS Charter does not cover law enforcement.  What resources John has were provided by Lyla stretching the rules as far as she could.

Anatoly tells Oliver that the the SCPD has "kill on sight" orders regarding him and the rest of Star City's vigilantes and their family members.

The Quadrant is not happy with Diaz's turning Star City into a war zone in a bid to take out the vigilantes.

Curtis is stabbed by Diaz after trying to fight him one-on-one. Somehow, the team is able to get away from the SCPD and Quadrant forces carrying him.

Felicity says she can use her data sniffer - last seen in 612 - to get the information from Diaz's necklace.

Diaz's "tech kid" is a younger man named Crosby, whose grandmother is being held hostage in exchange for his cooperation.

Anatoly convinces Diaz that the spy in their organization is Lydia Cassamento, after Diaz accuses him of slipping information to Oliver.

Dinah refers to Curtis talking her down during her fight with Black Siren in 614.

Crosby is able to trace Felicity's system to the former Helix hideout used by New Team Arrow.

Diaz kills Lydia Cassamento.

Curtis had the entire Helix hideout rigged to explode. Rene gives Oliver the trigger to activate it.

Oliver blows up the Helix hideout when confronted by Diaz.

Lyla sent a forensics team into The Helix hideout. They did not find Diaz's body.

Felicity did not finish the decryption in time. There was nothing salvageable after the Helix hideout blew up.

Diaz kills another of the Quadrant leaders. The last one swears loyalty to him.

FBI Agent Samandra Watson last appeared in 607.

Watson agrees to help Oliver retake Star City in exchange for two things. The first is his saying "I am The Green Arrow." The second one is unrevealed at the end of the episode.


The Winick Factor

Averted, but this episode only goes to prove that had it not been for all the forced drama making all the various heroes fight with each other for most of the second-half of the season, Diaz would have been easily dealt with in two or three episodes, tops.


The Bottom Line

The best episode in recent memory and not just because there's no Black Siren Redemption Arc nonsense weighing it down. The only downside of the episode is the forced stupidity of The Quadrant Leaders in the final segment, the plot contrivance that prevents ARGUS from being brought in gangbusters and that most of this episode proves how easily Diaz would have gone down if it weren't for all the forced drama that drove the heroes apart and kept them from working against a common enemy. The damnable thing is I'm actually excited for the finale, though I suspect I'll wind up not liking the direction of the show as we go into Season 7.

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.

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 17 - Trinity

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




Plot

Still reeling from the revelation that Lena had kept Sam's "illness" a secret from her,  Supergirl asks James for a favor that could jeopardize his romance with Lena. Meanwhile, with all three of the Worldkillers united in an effort to block out the sun, the DEO prepares for an epic battle.


Influences

The Michael Green/Mike Johnson run on Supergirl (character of Reign and the idea of Worldkillers), The Krypton Chronicles (information on Old Krypton and The Valley of Juru) and the writings of Douglas Adams (Brainiac-5's dialogue has a very Adamsian tone to it).


Goofs

Katie McGrath's American accent falters a bit during her debriefing at the DEO.

The whole conceit of this episode - that Kara would suddenly stop trusting Lena after everything she's done to make up for the sins of her family - doesn't fly. Ignoring that Lena didn't really know anything about The DEO and their resources and what they'd do to Sam if she turned to them for help, you'd think Kara might prefer for a friend to be keeping a hold of the last bit of Kryptonite on Earth rather than chancing it winding up in some random government office's control. Especially since Lena had no way of knowing about the DEO destroying all their Kryptonite.

It's also incredibly hypocritical on Kara's part, given that she's refused to trust Lena with her secret identity. And Lena calls her on this later.

James has a point - why DID Kara waste energy flying to see him at CatCo during an eclipse when she could have just called him?

Kara asking James to try and find out if Lena has any more Kryptonite as Guardian seems doubly out of character - first for her encouraging James to play superhero when she was so dead set against it before then for her refusing to take Lena at her word and asking James to act in an untrustworthy manner regarding his girlfriend. What makes this even worse is that Alex, who understands the value of subterfuge better than anyone and is way better at it than Kara, confronts Lena directly about why she wasn't honest with everyone and is given an honest and frankly good answer.

The idea of exercise and physical exhaustion shouldn't be that alien to Kara, no pun intended. We've seen her undergo physical training with her powers negated in order to learn how to fight with Alex. And that's ignoring that Kara did age into her early teen years before she gained superpowers.

The pacing of the episode is all over the place, with a cut to the comedic banter of Winn and James breaking into Lena's lab just after Kara, Alex and Lena discover Sam and Julia in The Valley of Juru.

It's a bit convenient that when Sam wakes up in The Fortress of Sanctuary, she just happens to figure out how to use the technology that is just lying there to send out a signal of some kind.

Why doesn't Mon-El show any of the same signs of weakness that Kara does as the sun is blocked out?


Performances

There's some nice non verbal acting as Chris Wood and David Harewood regard each other while standing watch over a sleeping Kara, Lena and Alex.


Artistry

The Valley of Juru set is suitably spooky.


Super Trivia

The group responsible for creating the Worldkillers is officially identified in this episode as a group of Kryptonians who practiced dark magic. While Krypton is traditionally seen as a world ruled by science and logic in the DC Comics Universe, the world of Krypton did have its own magicians - The Wizards of Juru.

Kara also identifies the dark dimension from her nightmares this season, which the Worldkillers' human selves go to when the Worldkiller personality takes over, as The Valley of Juru.

In the original comics, The Valley of Juru was an unexplored region of Krypton on the continent of Lurvan. Some property of the valley and its mists and the craggy peaks that surrounded it made it impenetrable to Kryptonian technology but not magic. This made it a perfect home for the Luddite Wizards of Juru.

Living apart from most of Kryptonian society for generations, the Krypton Magi had dispersed into the great cities of Krypton and conducted their magical rituals in secret by the time of Jor-El.

In the Supergirl comics which introduced The Worldkillers, Supergirl found that the only thing that could harm a Worldkiller was another Worldkiller. This prompted her to use the poisonous tentacles of the Worldkiller Perrilus to injure the Worlkdkiller Deimax.  Something similar happens here with Julia, taking control of Purity, using her powers to kill Pestilence, after Pestilence deals her a fatal blow.


Technobabble

Dark magicians on Krypton had rituals that enabled them to move the moon to create eclipses (i.e. a blessed darkness)

A lengthy solar eclipse will cause the planet Earth's temperature to drop 50 degrees, at least.

Martians shared memories, emotions and experiences with their telepathy. Sometimes they could pick up the thoughts of a particularly strong mind completely by accident, like a radio broadcast.

Brainiac-5 says it will take him fifty minutes to alter his mind-reading technology to act as a broadcast device that can send someone's mind into an alternate dimension.

Kryptonian demons are black-robed, pale faced ghostly figures that swoop down upon figures in The Valley of Juru.

The vault in Lena Luthor's lab is made of acetylene-resistant cast iron. It has no internal mechanisms, no keypads and no locks.

Winn builds a pin-drop pulse-bomb that can open even Lena Luthor's vault.

Winn builds a super-suit for Alex that has magnetic gauntlets capable of pulling the ring off a person's finger from across the room. They also enable Alex to retrieve her guns if they are knocked from her hand. While the defensive properties of the suit are not described in detail, Alex is able to take a punch from Reign and survive.

Winn also built Alex a special pair of guns with bullets that erupt into fireballs capable of knocking-back and hurting Reign. They are also able to negate one of Purity's sonic screams.

A Legion Flight ring costs more than The Legion's spaceship.


Dialogue Triumphs

J'onn: So, for three weeks, you've been harboring and abetting a mass murder?
Lena: (testily) I helped a friend.
J'onn: And you didn't think to bring this to our attention?
Lena: The attention of a clandestine organization that's never formally acknowledged its existence to me? No.

(Lena tells James about her work to save Sam from Reign.)
James: And you're telling me this now why?
Lena: Because I gambled everything - my reputation, Supergirl's trust in me, my relationship with you - on fixing Sam and I failed. I really needed to hear your voice today and I didn't want you to look at me like I was a Luthor.
Supergirl: (in the distance) Lena?!
Lena: I've had enough of that today.

Brainiac-5: Let me get this straight. You want me to broadcast your consciousness into a magical dark valley dimension, using the 31st century technology which allowed me to access your mind when Reign punched you into a coma. Technology specifically designed to enter human consciousness - not alternate realms - and you want me to do this all before the solar eclipse achieves totality, which will happen in less than two hours.
Supergirl: ... yes.
Brainiac-5: Okay. No problem. Sounds fun. To The Legion Cruiser.

Lena: You want to know why I didn't come to you when I found out what Sam really was?
Alex: I'm the one who did the first tests on her. And I'm the one that told her to come to her friends about her illness. So why not just tell me the truth?
Lena: Same reason you didn't tell me you were really DEO.
Alex: You knew.
Lena: My mother's DEO Enemy Number One. Of course I knew. But it was your secret to keep. Just like Sam's true nature is hers. It wasn't my place to say anything.
Alex: Fair enough. Just tell me one thing. Is Ruby safe?
Lena: Yes.
(Alex nods softly.)

Alex: Is it going to hurt?
Brainiac-5: The chances are better than 50%.
Alex: (sarcastically) Well, that's comforting.
Brainiac-5: Really? I didn't think so. Would you like for me to count to three?
Lena: Will it help?
Brainiac-5: No. Not at all.

Supergirl: I thought I knew everything I needed to know. But you have secrets. It changes things.
Lena: Oh, right. You don't like secrets.
Supergirl: Nope. I don't.
Lena: Good. What's your real name?
(Supergirl hesitates.)
Supergirl: That's not a great question for a Luthor to ask someone in my family.
Lena: (nodding) You have secrets. I can get on board with that. I have secrets too.


Dialogue Disasters

Supergirl: (panting) Is this what it's like when humans exercise? This is terrible! Why would you ever exercise?
Alex: One foot in front of the other.
Supergirl: (grunting) This is worse than, like Kryptonite poisoning.


Continuity

Lena's full name is Lena Keiran Luthor.

Lena studied Sam over the course of three weeks in secret.

Alex refers to her analysis of Sam in 312.

Lena used Kryptonite to keep Reign subdued while she was in her lab.

Pestilence completes her transformation, with what was left of Dr. Grace Parker within her giving up without a fight.

Sam and Julia meet in the dark dimension from 316, waking up near Dr. Grace Parker's body. Kara later identifies this place as The Valley of Juru.

Julia is haunted by a vision of a young boy - one of the people she killed as Purity.

Lena tells James about how she had been working with Sam to stop Reign in secret after discovering the two were connected.

Kara enters into The Valley of Juru after passing out when she first sees the eclipse.

There is no Apocalypse in the Book of Rao but there are parables about trios of witches joining hands to create a blessed darkness.

Brainy refers to the events of 310 and the technology he used to awaken Kara from a coma.

Julia and Sam both start to lose their memories in The Valley of Juru, with Julia forgetting the name of her favorite song and Sam forgetting the name of her daughter.

Kara asks James to find out if Lena is hiding any more Kryptonite, as The Guardian.

Lena knew that Alex was a DEO agent but kept her secret because it wasn't her place to say anything.

Kara asks Mon-El to pull Alex and Lena out of the Valley of Juru if things go badly but to leave her in, no matter what.

Kara determines she can be hurt physically in the Valley of Juru after she cuts her hand on the park of the makeshift spear Alex makes for her.

Mon-El confesses to J'onn that he still loves Kara but he refuses to do anything that will hurt Imra.

James refuses to break into Lena's vault after breaking into her lab but he lies to Winn about having done so and not seeing any Kryptonite.

Sam awakens in The Fortress of Sanctuary and somehow sends a signal revealing it to The Legion.

Purity and Pestilence kill each other, as Julia Freeman briefly retakes control of Purity's body.

The Fortress of Sanctuary is destroyed, as the power of Pestilence and Purity seems to go into Reign's body.

Supergirl and Lena make peace with one another.

James tells Lena that he is The Guardian and that he broke into her lab at Supergirl's request but did not look into her vault.

Lena confesses to James that the Kryptonite she used on Reign wasn't left over from Lex's supply - she learned how to synthesize it herself.


Location

The Fortress of Sanctuary.


The Kryptonite Factor

There's a lot of forced drama based around neither Lena nor Kara being honest to one another. This is because if they could get past the whole Luthor/Super thing, the episode would end in about five minutes.


The Bottom Line

This would be a solid episode if Kara weren't so out of character or if Lena had done anything up until this point to suggest she was not 100% worthy of Supergirl's trust. Structurally, there's also some issues with the story, as the threat of The Worldkillers has been reduced to one super-powerful enemy after a single episode of dealing with the "Trinity". Then there's all the sudden tonal shifts as we go from the horror of the Valley of Juru to Winn and James snarking on each other...

Despite this, this episode still works better than this season's episodes of The Flash that have seen Barry Allen acting similarly suspicious and out of character. Chalk it up to the strength of the ensemble and everyone else being on-point, even as we want to shout at Kara to quit treating Lena like a bad guy, lest she push her into becoming one. This episode is far less than the sum of its parts, but some of those parts - Chris Wood's performance as Mon-El, all the Brainiac-5 humor, Alex reveling in her new toys from Winn - make it work far better than it should.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 6, Episode 21 - Docket No. 11-19-41-73

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




Plot

The Trial of Oliver Queen begins, with Black Siren posing as Laurel Lance acting as the prosecution's star witness! An unexpected ally may help sway the jury, but with Diaz running the DA's office and the judge in his pocket, does Oliver have any chance of getting out of this one


Influences

The Fall of Green Arrow storyline (Oliver Queen exposed as Green Arrow, facing murder charges) and the Green Arrow comics of Judd Winick (Oliver Queen forced from office after being revealed to have sponsored vigilante activities, general theme of heroes fighting each other instead of villains who are portrayed as being far smarter and more competent to a comical degree.)


Goofs

Rene's justification for suddenly wanting to help Oliver after being ready to see him die last week don't make a lot of sense, as Dinah points out. It would be far more believable for Rene to see he feels guilty for having betrayed Oliver (which he sort of hints at) than the wishy-washy "I still hate him, but I don't want to see him in prison" speech he gives.

Quentin tries to goad Black Siren into standing up to Diaz by saying that his Laurel is like Black Siren in that neither of them would tolerate being ordered around. This flies in the face of every bit of characterization we've seen of Black Siren so far, despite it being totally illogical that she should let a powerless punk like Diaz boss her around. The hell of it is Black Siren also has a point about Laurel having been kind of an idiot who got in way over her head and died because of it.

Reference is made to John Diggle's child being abducted at some point in the last four years.. Oliver abducted Lyla and left Baby Sara Diggle alone back in Season 3, but there is no story where either John Diggle Jr. or Sara Diggle was abducted. (Perhaps this was a change caused by Flashpoint?)

Diaz gets upset about Black Siren not saying Oliver Queen is Green Arrow on TV, yet he's having her held in reserve as a witness at the trial, where her saying he's Green Arrow would actually do some good in his grand plan to send Oliver Queen to prison.

There's so much irony to Diaz criticizing Black Siren for being an unconvincing actress.

Again, there's no reason for Black Siren NOT to kill Diaz once she has her breath and some distance.

It's unbelievable that Dinah and John would take the chance of attacking Diaz in broad daylight on the courthouse steps while the trial is going on, given how many cops are around.  Nearly as unbelievable as the fact that there's no media around to notice this happen!

Granting that it's possible for Diaz to have connections that let him get a hold of CIA records, how on Earth will they explain Laurel Lance - captive Assistant DA for two years - having access to those kind of records legally?

Again, we have to wonder why ARGUS isn't brought in to testify that "Laurel Lance" is a wanted fugitive from a parallel Earth after there's a threat of CIA files being turned in. It's not like the trial could get any more convoluted or crazy with the prosecution claiming that a master of disguise is impersonating a dead man to protect a superhero mayor's secret identity.

Black Siren and Quentin talk about her plan to "bury Oliver" some 15-20 feet away from a horde of reporters who are taking pictures and filming their conversation.

It's also unbelievable that nobody, except Curtis, thinks that Diaz might also be threatening the jury after also taking control of the judge and the DA's office.

Technically. since Oliver is being tried in a criminal court, Jean Loring should be requesting a Judgement of Acquittal rather than a Judgement Notwithstanding Verdict. They amount to the same thing, but a Judgement Notwithstanding Verdict is used in civil court cases.

Why doesn't Diaz kill Black Siren for turning against him once he has her powers neutralized?


Performances

Brief though it is, it's nice to see Colin Donnell smiling his way through a performance as "Tommy".

Emily Bett Rickards hasn't been given that much to do this season, but she turns in a powerfully understated performance in this episode even though she has little to do but be the dotting wife. Still, she gets some very powerful speeches.


Artistry

The muted camera tint on the opening sequence of John Diggle in Kasnia is a nice touch, putting a grey aura over everything that suits the gloomy tone of the episode.


Trivia

The episode title - Docket 11-19-41-73 is a reference to the very first Green Arrow appearance in the comics. Oliver Queen's first appearance came on November 19th, 1941 in More Fun Comics #73.

The episode's opening scene is set in Kasnia - a fictional Eastern European country which was first introduced to the DC Comics Multiverse in Superman: The Animated Series.

Jean Loring - Oliver Queen's lawyer - is quite a different character in the original comics. She was the original love interest and eventual ex-wife of Ray "The Atom" Palmer. She later went insane and became a host for Eclipso.

The episode's opening title stinger once again only has the Arrowhead symbol rather than all the symbols for Team Arrow.

The special prosecutor brought in to try Oliver Queen is said to have taken down Intergang and Bruno Manheim. In the classic Superman comics, Bruno "Ugly" Manheim was a crime boss in Metropolis and the leader of Intergang - a criminal organization who acquired high-tech weaponry from Apokolips.

Ironically, the end result of this episode is the opposite of the trial in The Fall of Green Arrow. There, Oliver Queen is found innocent of murder charges despite the evidence against him and a full confession, because the jury felt he was saving their city in the wake of an attack by the villain Prometheus who killed thousands of people in their city. The judge in the case says that he cannot send Oliver Queen to prison with a verdict of Not Guilty, but he can exile him from Star City for the rest of his life. This is, to put it mildly, a major violation of basic legal rights under the United States Constitution.


Technobabble

A pixel-level analysis of a digitally altered photograph will show almost undetectable light shifts and resolution inconsistencies that would not be present in a natural photo.

Judgement Notwithstanding The Verdict is a type of legal judgement that is sometimes rendered by the judge at the end of a Federal Civil Jury Trial. This allows the judge to override a jury's verdict in the rare circumstances in which a jury's response seems unreasonable in the face of the evidence presented. While defense attorneys often request this, it is rarely done. A Judgement Notwithstanding The Verdict can only be used to overturn a guilty verdict. A judge has no power to declare a person guilty after they have been found innocent by a jury trial.

It is revealed that Diaz has some kind of device that can cancel out Black Siren's sonic scream.


Dialogue Triumphs

(John enters into a hovel. He sees a shirtless man, his face hidden in the shadows, tied to a chair.)
Mystery Man: John!
John: I'm getting you out of here.
(John moves forward and starts to cut at the man's bindings.)
Mystery Man: (laughing) What the hell are you doing here?
John: I need your help. In Star City.

(Rene, Curtis and Dinah walk into the courtroom.)
Curtis: This looks bigger than The OJ Trial.
Dinah: How would you know? You were in, like, fourth grade?
Curtis: Yeah, but I watch American Crime Story.

Alexa Van Owen: Oliver Queen is a hero. He is. He's saved this city more times than anyone can count. But he's done it all from behind a mask, so that he could take the law into his own hands. In fact, he's taken as many lives as he's saved. So yes, Oliver Queen is a hero. But that doesn't mean he's not also a criminal.

Jean Loring: Three weeks ago, Oliver Queen was mayor of this city. In that time he has gone from being under indictment, to impeachment to being on trial. How?! How could everything go wrong so quickly for him? I think intuitively you know the answer. Corruption. It runs through this city like a cancer, compromising some city officials while discrediting others. Like...  ike the defendant. Even the anti-vigilante law that he's being charged under is the work of the corrupt men and women who are holding our city in their grip. This may sound like a conspiracy theory, but at the conclusion of this trial I'm going to ask you what is most likely - that our city's government has been compromised or that we elected a superhero as our mayor?

Oliver Queen: I'd be putting a target on my back. I'd be putting a target on my wife and son's back. I've been The Green Arrow for six years. I didn't plan on doing it forever! I thought that one day my mission wound end and I would finally, after all this time, get a chance to actually live my life! (pauses) That will never happen if I tell the whole world that I'm The Green Arrow.

Oliver: I don't want you in a position where you perjure yourself because of me.
Felicity: (sarcastically) Oh well. Let me add it to the long list of felonies I've already committed for you.
Oliver: Look, John has something planned. You don't have to take the chance.
Felicity: I will take any chance if it keeps you from being taken away from me and William.

Alexa Van Owen: If you're The Green Arrow, how come Rene Ramirez testified under oath that Oliver Queen is?
Tommy: Well, I would suspect that he was being pressured to.
Alexa Van Owen: Are you saying he perjured himself?
Tommy: Well, I don't know. I'm not a lawyer. I'm just The Green Arrow. And I am telling you I am the only man that has ever worn this hood.
Judge McGarvey: Mr. Merlyn, you are  under arrest on suspicion of murder, assault, and violation of the Anti-Vigilante Act of 2017. The bailiff will remand Mr. Merlyn into custody.
Alexa Van Owen: Objection, Your Honor! It is The People's contention that Mr. Merlyn here is not The Green Arrow.
Judge McGarvey: Be that as it may, I can't just let him walk out of my courtroom.
Tommy: (smiling) You know, if it's any consolation, my team is going to extract long before I ever get to prison. So...
Judge McGarvey: Get him out of here!
("Tommy" obligingly puts his wrists out for the bailiff.)

(Felicity says that she can take care of protecting herself and William so Oliver doesn't have to worry.)
Oliver: That's not how wedding vows work.
Felicity: Well, we didn't exchange vows. But if we did, exchange means "goes both ways." So we fight for each other, Oliver. We protect each other. We're gonna save each other.

John: Thanks again man. I owe you another one.
Christopher Chance: Yeah, well - after Kasnia, let's just call it even.
Oliver: Chris. Thank you.
Christopher Chance: Yeah. Always happy to help. Just try not to need me again... for at least... another year. Okay?


Dialogue Disasters

Diaz: (as he strangles Black Siren) When you take the stand, I want you to give the jury a much better performance than the one you've given me.


Continuity

The opening sequence sees John rescuing an unseen man who recognizes him from a hovel in Kasina. John says they need his help in Star City.

Jean Loring, Oliver's lawyer, was last seen in 615.

Alexa Van Owen is a special counsel brought in to try Oliver Queen's case on behalf of the Star City DA's office. She has prosecuted both CEOs and Serial Killers in her day and employs a team of CIA-caliber investigators that can find out anything about anyone. She has a 99% conviction rating. Loring does not believe her to be in Diaz's pocket.

Oliver is offered a plea bargain - a single count of manslaughter with a 15 year minimum sentence. Oliver refuses to take it.

Loring says that Judge McGarvey, who is trying the case, almost certainly is under Diaz' control.

Rene and Dinah have both been called to testify against Oliver in court. They agree to lie to protect Oliver, because as mad as they are at him, they don't want to see him go to prison. Rene also feels guilty about having betrayed Oliver earlier in the year when dealing with the FBI in 609.

Quentin gives a television interview where he says that Oliver is not Green Arrow, pointing out that he arrested Oliver on charges of being The Arrow six years earlier and that Oliver passed a polygraph saying he wasn't in 105.

The first witness for the prosecution is John Diggle. He is not present and a bench warrant is issued to have him brought to court.

The second witness for the prosecution is Dr. Eliza Schartz - the doctor who has secretly helped patch up various Team Arrow members. She last appeared in 615. She is an attending physician at Starling General Hospital. She refuses to testify regarding Oliver's medical history and any injuries he might have suffered, citing Doctor/Patient confidentiality.

Dr. Schwartz is asked about the events of 418 and an incident in which The Green Arrow brought The Black Canary to her for treatment. Schwartz says she was too focused on treating Laurel Lance to pay attention to who The Green Arrow was under his mask.

John arrives at the courthouse just before he is declared in contempt of court. He apologizes for being late, saying he was delayed by business out of town.

John testifies that Oliver Queen is not The Green Arrow, saying that as Oliver's bodyguard from 2012-2016, he'd know if he were running around with a bow and arrow at night.

The prosecution brings up John's abduction at the hands of Damien Darhk (409), the abduction of his child (a lost adventure caused by Flashpoint?)  and his hospitalization with nerve damage (601), saying he either runs in dangerous circles or has the worst luck ever.


Dinah is the third witness called by the prosecution. She claims to have had limited interaction with Oliver as Mayor, despite being head of his security detail at City Hall. She is later questioned about the death of Sean Sonus in 511 (over Jean Loring's objections of relevance) and pleads the 5th Amendment when asked if she murdered him.

Raisa - Oliver's housekeeper - knows that Oliver is The Green Arrow.

Rene says he will go to jail before screwing Oliver over again. He changes his mind after Diaz shows up in the court room escorting Zoe.

Rene apparently still has immunity from prosecution, but Curtis says that won't mean anything if he tries to plead the fifth or refuses to testify.

Rene winds up testifying that Oliver is Green Arrow, that he was part of his vigilante team and that he saw Oliver Queen kill and/or maim too many people to count.

Oliver tells Jean Loring that he is The Green Arrow. She suggests he confess to that and they restructure their case around proving that he doesn't deserve to go to prison and hope they can nullify the jury. Oliver refuses, saying that he'll never be able to live in peace if the world knows he is Green Arrow.

Felicity graduated Summa Cum Laude from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with Masters Degrees in Cyber Security and Computer Sciences. She is accepted as an expert witness who testifies that the photo of Oliver as Green Arrow from 601 is a fake.

The prosecution challenges the relevance of a faked photograph showing Oliver Queen is Green Arrow. Felicity responds by pointing out that there's no reason for anyone to create a fake photograph of Oliver Queen as Green Arrow if he actually is Green Arrow.

Felicity is questioned about her wedding to Oliver being rushed, occurring as it did one week before his indictment. She is also questioned about her father, The Calculator, and denies having known he was a master hacker criminal until he reformed.  She also denies having committed any cyber crimes herself.

Oliver testifies that Roy Harper was not a vigilante. He says that Roy sacrificed his life to protect the identity of a man who was alternatively called The Hood or The Arrow at that time. He says that he has learned since then that The Hood/The Arrow has taken up the name The Green Arrow. Oliver says that he is not The Green Arrow. He says he does know who The Green Arrow is but that he has promised to keep that information secret.

Alexa Van Owen acquired a photograph from Susan Williams - the reporter Oliver dated briefly during Season 5 - which shows him in Russia during his fifth year in exile away from Starling City, when he claimed to be trapped on Lian Yu.

Oliver admits that he spent part of his five years missing in Hong Kong and Russia.

The trial is disrupted by the arrival of Tommy Merlyn, who claims to have faked his death during the events of 123 so as to better hide his identity as The Hood. He confirms Oliver's story that Roy Harper lied and died to protect him.

"Tommy Merlyn" is revealed to be Christopher Chance AKA The Human Target, who was last seen in 505.

Black Siren tells Quentin that she is being forced to testify, pretending to be Laurel, and that Diaz somehow got his hands on The Human Target's CIA file to bring into evidence regarding the stunt they just pulled.

Felicity refers to how the team broke John out of prison in 504.

Oliver asks John to take Felicity and William into ARGUS Protective Custody if Oliver goes to prison.

Black Siren testifies that Tommy Merlyn is The Green Arrow. She claims that Quentin inspired her to stand up to Diaz.

Oliver is found guilty of all 26 charges against him.

Jean Loring moves for a Judgement Notwithstanding The Verdict. Judge McGarvey grants it, freeing Oliver.

It is later revealed that Christopher Chance replaced Judge McGarvey. He and John Diggle agree to call it even on the owed favors, but he does ask that he not be asked for any favors for at least another year.

It is revealed that the plan to have Chance replace the judge was all Rene's doing.

Rene and Oliver make their peace over everything that happened between them.

Diaz kills Judge McCready.

Black Siren tries to make a move against Diaz. It turns out that he has some sort of device that cancels out her sonic powers.


Location

Kasnia - 2018.


Untelevised Adventures

Apparently John Jr. was kidnapped at some point in the past. (Perhaps, as a result of Flashpoint, Oliver kidnapped John Jr. instead of Lyla when he was with The League of Assassins?)


The Fridge Factor

Black Siren finally stands up to Diaz, only to have her powers negated and be totally useless after that.


The Winick Factor

Black Siren's not killing Diaz long ago is justified by his just happening to have a device to negate her powers when she finally does turn on him. Despite this, he does not kill her.


The Bottom Line

It says a lot about a show when the most stupid and unbelievable aspects of it do not involve a master of disguise pretending to be a man that's been dead for five years in order to protect a superhero mayor's secret identity.

The fact of the matter is that this episode's biggest accomplishment is making the second half of Season Six an even bigger waste of time by having Diaz abandon his grand scheme of putting Oliver Queen in jail (something he could still presumably accomplish by having the police raid his bunker, which he should - based on this episode - know the location of) in favor of just killing him and all the vigilantes whose identities he's known for at least a year.

The one bright side in all of this is that the show is finally taking steps to bring Team Arrow back together, albeit in an incredibly rushed and half-assed way. Still, I'm beyond caring. Just as I'm beyond caring that Black Siren finally chose a side only to be rendered completely useless because it's more important to sell that Diaz as a threat than to sell her competency.

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.