The Flash “Lose Yourself” Review

I’ve gotta say, this episode of The Flash was one of the better of the season. That being said, however, it was still repetitive, in my opinion. Team Flash finds the last bus meta. They plan to stop DeVoe. They fail at stopping DeVoe, and DeVoe gets the meta. Only this time, he basically gets two for the price of one. It’s clear that the season is coming to an end because DeVoe now has all the bus meta power. How will team Flash defeat him?

A lot went down, so let’s get to it.

Harry’s Addiction

It’s been pretty obvious in recent episodes that Harry is always wanting to use his thinking cap. Let’s be real, he’s become obsessed with using it. Remember how he promised Cisco he wouldn’t use it with dark matter because it’s super dangerous? Yeah well, he lied. That whole thing he did with Gideon last week where he hooked it up, was him infusing it with dark matter. It gives him an extra boost of smartness, I guess you could say.

Anyways, Joe takes notice of Harry’s addictive habits because he saw it in his late wife, Francine. He confronts Harry about it, but of course Harry is in denial and then goes and adds all the dark matter. Later, he pitches a fit when he can’t find it because Joe took it. Then he puts it on again (with all the dark matter) right before trying to defeat DeVoe, and it knocks him out. This issue doesn’t get resolved and it annoys me a little.

How to be a Hero

Ever since Ralph joined team Flash, Barry’s tried his best to teach him how to be a super hero. He’s done a pretty good job. Ralph’s nearly lost the ego and has learned what it means to put others before himself. He’s come a long way. However, “Lose Yourself” brings Barry and Ralph to a crossroad. After everything they’ve been through with DeVoe consistently overtaking the bus metas’ bodies, Ralph firmly believes they need to kill DeVoe. And now, Harry has built a supersonic scepter (tuning fork), using Izzy’s frequencies, that could not only knock DeVoe down, but kill him with just two blows. Barry, of course, doesn’t agree. As heroes, they don’t need to resort to killing.I must admit, I kind of agree with Ralph on this one. As much as I love Barry and his morals, the team is fighting a losing battle so far and DeVoe is only getting smarter and more powerful. Maybe it’s time to consider all their options, especially after what happens in this episode.

The Folded Man

Edwin Gauss is this week’s latest bus meta, also the last one. He’s this hippie dude that can pop in and out of/create pocket dimensions. Pretty convenient since the team needs to get into DeVoe’s pocket dimension/his lab. They track him down in the woods somewhere with a bunch of other hippies, but he doesn’t go with them without a fight. One of DeVoe’s samurai robot things joins the fight, and Caitlin ends up getting stabbed in the shoulder. No worries, though. She healed.

Anyways, while Ralph was talking to Gauss about his power, it’s revealed that he’s unknowingly entered DeVoe’s pocket dimension before. This gives Ralph an idea. Without informing the team, he convinces Gauss to take him to DeVoe’s pocket dimension with Harry’s sonic scepter. Just as they’re about to go, however, Barry intervenes. They argue a bit, Ralph sticks the scepter in his body and Barry knocks Ralph out.Later, Barry and Ralph have a heart to heart about what it means to be a hero. Ralph reveals that killing DeVoe isn’t about saving himself, it’s about saving the team. Besides his mom, he’s never cared about anyone more than them. They’ve become his family, and he’s willing to villainize himself to protect them. Aww, Ralph has come such a long way.

A Worthy Effort

While Barry and the team still don’t agree with Ralph’s idea to kill DeVoe, they do decide to try and get into his pocket dimension to take him down. Flash, Vibe and Frost jump into the lab dimension, but Marlize and DeVoe jump into Star Labs at the same time, undetected. Ralph, however, catches them at the pipeline before they can get to the metas. He’s ready to put up a fight, but Izzy/DeVoe has a trick up her sleeve – the museum T-Rex.

So, while Ralph is running from (and eventually exploding) the T-Rex, Flash, Vibe and Frost are trapped in DeVoe’s pocket dimension and the rest of the team have their own battles. Joe fights and defeats a samuroid. Iris and Marlize have a throw down over the Thinker chair. Apparently, sending it back to the pocket dimension is how Flash, Vibe and Frost can get out. Marlize holds Iris at sword point, but Iris uses it to her advantage. She pulls the sword into herself (!!), at the same time pulling Marlize onto the chair and sending it back into their pocket dimension.

After Ralph destroys the T-Rex, he rushes back to the pipeline, but he’s too late. DeVoe’s absorbed all the other bus metas’ powers. Ralph is the only one left. He’s not completely defenseless, however. He pulls the sonic scepter out of his body and knocks DeVoe down with the first blow. This is his chance to kill DeVoe. You’d think he would, but he chooses not to and slaps the meta-dampening cuffs on instead.Unfortunately, he didn’t put them on correctly, enabling DeVoe to break out of them. He grabs Ralph by the head and incapacitates Barry. Barry urges Ralph to fight it off, that he’ll save him, but Ralph has come to terms with his fate. DeVoe absorbs his power and Ralph is dead. ☹

What now?

With Ralph now gone, Barry’s definitely feeling the grief and the guilt of not being able to save him. He heads to Ralph’s office and slowly starts packing up his things. Iris shows up and tries to talk to him, but he just wants to be alone. He won’t even speed pack. When he’s done, he pours a drink, takes a sip and leaves the rest on Ralph’s desk. ☹

Back at STAR Labs, Caitlin gets Harry and Cisco to run some tests on her. She apparently came into contact with DeVoe (who has the power to take powers now), and now Killer Frost is gone. It’s sad because everyone was just starting to like Frost. She and Caitlin had even found a way to communicate via post it notes. ☹

Since DeVoe absorbed Ralph’s powers, he now has the ability to morph into anyone he wants. I don’t know why I didn’t see this coming, but he morphs into the actual Clifford DeVoe instead of staying in Ralph’s body. As to be expected, Marlize is thrilled to have her husband back. I guess he’s still taking her memory and feeding her love tears. Anyways, now that he’s absorbed all the bus metas’ powers, and stolen the dark matter from Harry’s thinking cap, they can now move forward with “the enlightenment.” Whatever that means.

The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW!