Episode 4×19 of The Flash focuses a lot on grief and dealing with loss while simultaneously pushing the plot of the season forward. DeVoe still needs the power of one more bus meta to reach “the enlightenment” (whatever that means) – Fallout, that guy that’s a human nuke. He’s been hiding at some secret location, but of course DeVoe knows where. So, the team must get to Fallout before DeVoe does. To do so, they call upon an Earth X friend, which unfortunately brings a new danger.
Let’s get to it.
No Time to Grieve
Picking up a few days after Ralph’s demise, Barry and Iris are back in therapy so they can talk about their feelings. Iris has no problem voicing her sadness over the loss. Barry, on the other hand, has a harder time. Dr. Finkle tries to get him to open up about his grief by listing everyone he’s lost and how complex grief is. The only thing that Barry really has to say to that is that he’s used to death. He’s basically compartmentalizing his grief.More specifically, he feels he doesn’t really have the time to grieve. They have to defeat DeVoe. Of course, Dr. Finkle doesn’t know that. Anyways, when Barry and Iris get back to the lab, the scanners detect pocket dimensions at Tracy Brand’s lab. This is where Fallout has been as she’s been trying to help him stay contained. Realizing that DeVoe is probably trying to get to him, they come up with a plan to move him to an ARGUS facility, thinking they may be a few steps ahead of DeVoe now.
Caitlin and Cisco have designed a hazmat suit for the human nuke, but they want to have something cool on hand to be safe. Since Frost is no longer with Caitlin, Barry recruits Leo Snart from Earth X for his help. When Barry shows up there, Leo is fighting Siren X, who unfortunately follows them back through the breach. As Leo agrees to help (only for 24 hours because he’s getting married) and the team sets up a plan, she hears everything and plans to cause havoc herself. Yippie.
Dr. Snart
Leo notices that Barry’s off his game. He knows it’s because of Ralph. Barry brushes Ralph’s death off throughout the episode, stating that he doesn’t have time to grieve. Snart, however, repeatedly informs Barry that he won’t be in the right mind to defeat DeVoe until he lets himself grieve. He even recalls his own grief of losing thousands of people while fighting the Nazis on Earth X.Snart also notices that Caitlin is a little glum as well. She tells him about losing Killer Frost, and he offers up some advice to her as well. She later discovers that some of Frost’s DNA in her, just no dark matter. So, maybe Frost isn’t as gone as she seems.
Siren X
So, the team suits up and successfully starts to transfer Fallout in like a big 18-wheeler or something. Things run smoothly until they start going wrong. DeVoe shows up and taunts Barry. Barry tries to use the sonic scepter, but with Ralph’s elastic body, it barely phases DeVoe. He continues to taunt Barry, causing Barry to have flashes of memories of Ralph. As to be expected, this catches him off guard.
Surprising them all, Siren X shows up and blasts Leo and Barry with her scream (idk about DeVoe) before kidnapping Caitlin, Joe and Fallout. Back in his lab with Marlize, DeVoe wonders why Flash didn’t beat Siren X. He didn’t do anything because of his emotions about Ralph. Marlize points this out to DeVoe, noting that he may be super smart and predict outcomes, but he can’t predict people’s emotions.
Meanwhile, Siren X takes Joe, Caitlin and Fallout to CCPD. She demands Fallout to take off the helmet to his suit, so everyone is exposed to radioactivity. Everyone but Caitlin and Joe knock out. Earlier, Caitlin injected the team with a serum that temporarily protects them from radioactivity, just in case something went wrong during the transport.
Let me tell you, if you thought Evil Laurel/Black Siren on Arrow was annoying, she doesn’t hold a candle to Siren X. She’s relentless with her scream. She focuses it on Fallout so that he’ll lose control and blow up CCPD. Flash, Snart, Joe and Caitlin all try to take her on, but she just knocks them down with her scream.
Barry hits his head, causing him to see flashbacks of Ralph again. Snart yells at him and he eventually gets up and knocks Siren X out. WOOT! Snart and Caitlin grab the cold guns and blast Fallout before he blows.
Losing Intelligence
Remember how last week Harry blasted too much dark matter into his brain with the thinking cap and it knocked him out? Well, it did more than just knock him out. Gideon informs Harry that the dark matter basically fried his brain and he’s losing his intelligence. So, it pretty much had an adverse effect on him.Harry chooses not to tell anyone, but Cisco makes it difficult. He wants his own thinking cap, but knowing how dangerous it is now, Harry isn’t too thrilled on the idea. The cap gets built, but Harry destroys it. When Cisco questions why, Harry is forced to confess everything. He admits that he became addicted to the thinking cap because he believes his intelligence is all he can contribute to the team. Cisco assures Harry that he’s more than just intelligence. His daughter Jesse is proof of that. This convinces Harry not to leave.
Bad Husband
It’s obvious that Clifford DeVoe isn’t exactly a decent human, but it’s becoming more and more clear that he’s also not winning husband of the year either. If drugging her with love tears and erasing her memory doesn’t make that clear, then the way he acts in this episode sure will. He constantly belittles her and her opinions. When all she wants is a date night with her husband, he tells her that her happiness/feelings are getting in the way and says from here on out she’s just his technician.
What a scumbag.
Acceptance & Kind Words
Once Siren X is taken care of and Fallout is safe in a new ARGUS location, Joe realizes that Barry has run off. He finds him in his former office crying. Apparently, Fallout trusting Barry to save him reminded him of how he failed Ralph’s trust in him. He finally realizes that he must take the time to grieve his lost friend. So, he books him and Iris another appointment with Dr. Finkle where he opens up about Ralph.Before Leo Snart leaves, he invites the team to his wedding. They appreciate the invite, but decline saying they have to focus on defeating DeVoe. However, Cisco gifts him with a mini breaching device so the couple can honeymoon anywhere they want. Snart then offers some kind parting words to each member of the team. Is it cool that I like this Leo Snart better? I don’t think this will be the last we see of him. 😊
The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8/7 on The CW!
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