In the mid-season finale of The Flash, The Thinker makes his next move, kidnapping Barry. At the same time, Amunet reunites with Caitlin to force her into a risky operation.
It’s Christmas on The Flash! With Barry and Iris back from their honeymoon and the team getting ready for the festivities, it has all the makings of a jolly holiday. But since this is The Flash, that sentiment is ruined before it even really begins!
As Barry and Iris go over their store credit from returned wedding gifts, Barry is attacked and captured by Clifford DeVoe. He’s put in a firewall, speedster-proof prison for The Thinker’s nefarious plans. At the same time, Caitlin storms off after learning that Ralph Dibny, Cisco and Harry have been hanging out with Killer Frost without her knowledge. That leaves her vulnerable for Amunet to kidnap her, slapping on some power-dampening handcuffs as well.
For the latter plot, Amunet forces Caitlin to perform a life-saving surgery on a telepathic meta named Dominic she aims to sell to a wealthy buyer. If the patient dies, so does Caitlin. After one failed escape attempt, Caitlin performs the surgery successfully. But at the same time, she fills the room with anesthetic, knocking out her captors, and giving Cisco and Ralph enough time to rescue her.
Barry’s in tougher shape, stuck in a prison impervious to phasing, speed-lightning or any of his usual techniques. But The Flash has more tricks up his sleeve than DeVoe realizes. In a cool escape sequence, he vibrates faster than the eye could see. When DeVoe thinks he’s escaped his cell, he lowers the force field, giving Barry an opening. They wind up flying in DeVoe’s chair over Central City, where Barry phases so the chair weaponry goes through him and into itself. And Barry uses the flotation suit feature to save his life in a water landing.
So now the team can get back to the holiday celebrations, right? Not so fast. In an incredible twist, it turns out that our two respective plots were linked. That buyer Amunet wanted Dominic for? It’s none other than DeVoe himself! She quickly recaptures Dominic, bringing him to DeVoe. He transfers his consciousness into Dominic’s body, then puts his previous body in Barry’s apartment, framing him for murder. The episode ends with Barry getting arrested and DeVoe moving on to the next phase of his plan.
It’s a tense, amazing sequence that will make this year’s break harder to sit through than any of the previous seasons. With The Thinker leagues ahead of Team Flash, and Barry in handcuffs, this may be their greatest challenge yet.
Show Notes:
- There was a lot of social media buzz on Iris’ seemingly placid reaction to Felicity and Oliver interrupting their marriage to request that they get married too. When Barry and Iris are going through gifts though, she lets her opinions be known. Yeah, she’s a little bitter, understandably!
- Jitters now sells an iced mocha called “Killer Frost.” They have a weird sense of humor.
- Mick Rory got Barry and Iris 40 toasters….he definitely stole them.
- Harry thinks Cisco “tinsel to surface ratio is terrible.” This just leads to insults between the two, quoting How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
- The CW posted this funny deleted scene from this week’s episode. I see why it was excluded as it doesn’t fit the tone, but it’s definitely worth watching! Flash writers: Let Candice Patton do more comedy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IdqPpwSE2g
The Super Cinco:
- Clifford DeVoe / The Thinker – His speedster prison was well-done, his initial attack on Barry surprising, and his plan as mysterious as ever. But by the end of the episode, The Thinker makes a damaging move against our heroes, switching bodies and framing Barry for murder.
- Barry Allen / The Flash – Even when he seems trapped, never count Barry Allen out. He cleverly finds a way around DeVoe’s speedster trap and seems to take the villain down. He may be framed for murder, but Barry’s already working on a plan to exonerate himself.
- Caitlin Snow – No Killer Frost this week! It’s all Caitlin’s ingenuity that gets her out of a bind with Amunet. True, her first escape attempt with Dominic’s help fails. But her clever use of anesthetic buys her enough time for Cisco to vibe her out of there.
- Iris West-Allen – Yes, she’s still pissed about Felicity and Oliver crashing her marriage ceremony. But once Barry and Caitlin are kidnapped, she uses Harry’s advice and takes charge of search and rescue. She has the team focus on finding Caitlin, as she knows Barry can handle himself. Good call.
- Cisco Ramon / Vibe – He brings the technical know-how to the search for Barry and Caitlin. Once the team finds the latter, he opens a breach, knocks out Amunet and rescues Caitlin and Dominic. Plus, he gives the new meta his own nickname, Brainstorm.