In The Flash recap, Barry travels to Earth-X to get some back up to help him thwart the latest plot from Clifford DeVoe while Harry gets some devastating news…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
Following a heartbreaking episode of The Flash last week that saw the death of Ralph Dibny, the team tries to pick up the pieces this week in an effort to stop Clifford DeVoe from executing his latest plan in his seemingly never ending mission.
Unfortunately, Barry hasn’t yet faced the reality that Ralph is dead, which isn’t doing him any good as he’s going up against a different kind of villain than any he’s faced before.
Caitlin is also dealing with a loss of her own after DeVoe zapped away Killer Frost a week ago, taking away her alter ego. After spending so much time trying to tamp down Killer Frost, Caitlin has learned to cohabitate with her yet sadly now she’s gone.
As for Harry, his tragedy is on a more personal level after he discovers the ill effects of messing with dark matter in an attempt to electroshock his brain to a level where he would be thinking with the same power as DeVoe.
This week also sees the return — and likely final appearance — of Wentworth Miller as Leo Snart/Citizen Cold, the hero doppelganger version from Earth-X as he travels across parallel universes to help Team Flash stop DeVoe — unfortunately he doesn’t come alone.
With that said, let’s recap the latest episode of The Flash titled ‘Fury Rogue’….
Aftermath
It’s been days since Ralph Dibny’s death and the entire team is still grieving his loss minus one person — Barry seems shut off to the fact that his friend and fellow hero has been snuffed out. Even in therapy sessions with Iris, Barry can’t seem to grasp the reality that Ralph is gone much less deal with his death.
Unfortunately the team doesn’t get much time to grieve when they detect several pocket universes popping up around town but before the Flash can spring into action, they all close again. A quick study of the area convinces Team Flash that it’s Clifford DeVoe circling a laboratory in town — one that belongs to their old friend Tracy Brand as she’s been housing ‘Fallout’ aka Neil Borman aka the meta-human who will go nuclear if he allows his powers to overwhelm him.
DeVoe’s proximity to that lab convinces Team Flash that he must be planning to take Fallout and use him for whatever his ultimate plan might be so they decide the only way to protect him is to move him to a secret ARGUS location where he will be safe.
To ensure Fallout is delivered safe and sound, Barry needs some backup but unfortunately Killer Frost is no longer an option after DeVoe neutralized her a week ago. Caitlin is still dealing with the loss of Killer Frost — an entity she once tried to suppress but now she’s come to enjoy as another part of her. Now she’s gone.
With options limited, Barry and Cisco travel to Earth-X to recruit their old pal Leo Snart aka Citizen Cold to bring his cold gun with him to Earth-One where he can act as backup in case Fallout goes nuclear and hopefully he can cool him back down again. What Team Flash didn’t prepare for, however, is that Leo would be battling the Earth-X version of Laurel Lance, who is the last remnants of the old Nazi regime.
Barry is able to help Leo escape her sonic scream but they don’t notice when she slips through the same breach to return to Earth-One alongside them.
Mind Over Matter
Cisco tried to warn Harry when he first built his thinking cap that injecting dark matter into his brain would be dangerous business so the Earth-2 Wells promised not to go that far. Unfortunately with DeVoe always staying one step ahead of them, Harry opted to infuse his brain with dark matter after using Eobard Thawne’s time chamber to retool his thinking camp.
Last week when DeVoe arrived in STAR Labs, Harry tried to fight back by pushing his thinking camp beyond the limit and what resulted was a huge explosion inside the time chamber.
It turns out that Harry’s mishap not only destroyed his thinking camp but the ill effects from the dark matter infusion have dome irreparable harm to his brain. In fact, Harry’s brain is deteriorating to the point where he will eventually forget everything and everyone he knows before being forced to relearn it all again.
Cisco eventually asks Harry to build him a second thinking cap so they can put their brains together in an effort to stop DeVoe. Harry tries to keep his secret while flubbing up his building of the second thinking cap but he finally has to come clean to Cisco.
Harry tells Cisco that despite his warnings, he infused his brain with dark matter and now the experiment has backfired. Now it will only be a matter of time before Harry has lost all of his memories and everything he’s ever learned as his brain is in permanent delete mode.
Cisco erupts at Harry for his lies but then promises to do everything possible to reverse the effects of the dark matter damage done to his brain. Harry promises to come clean to the team about what happened but he’s just not ready to do that yet.
A Siren’s Scream
It finally comes time to transport Fallout from his current holding cell to the new secret location with ARGUS so along with a special suit designed by Caitlin to maintain his radiation levels, the team prepares to move him before DeVoe can launch an attack.
Sadly Team Flash once again underestimates DeVoe as he predicted this entire scenario would play out and that’s when he goes after Fallout while he’s being transported.
To make matters worse, DeVoe is now even able to stop the sonic scepter thanks to Ralph’s rubber like body being able to absorb those sound waves. Just when it looks like Team Flash will be defeated, Siren-X shows up and blasts everybody with her banshee scream, knocking down Flash, Leo and DeVoe before kidnapping Fallout, Joe and Caitlin for her own plans.
DeVoe escapes back to his own pocket dimension where he lashes out at his wife Marlize as he didn’t anticipate things playing out this way. DeVoe predicted everything except the Flash not reacting when Siren-X arrived to blow up the convoy herself.
It turns out DeVoe didn’t factor in the residual guilt Barry was feeling over Ralph, which made him hesitate for a split second when Siren-X attacked. Marlize tries to explain to her husband how he has to account for human emotion, which only forces him to lash out at her even more. It’s pretty clear by now that Marlize will play some part in DeVoe’s downfall considering how he’s been treating her these past few weeks.
Still, Fallout is missing and the team needs to find a way to track him down.
A Cold Day In Hell
Siren-X arrives at the Central City Police Department with Fallout and her hostages in tow as she plans to exact revenge on this world after heroes from Earth-One were able to stamp out the Nazi regime back on her planet. She removes Fallout’s helmet to begin the meltdown process but once she does that his radiation signature is also traceable so Team Flash is able to find them in an instant.
Barry and Leo rush to the scene but they are quickly knocked down by Siren’s scream. Now Siren is aiming her banshee wail at Fallout to make him overheat and explode. Barry seems out of it until Leo finally reaches out and tells him that he needs to focus and realize that Ralph’s death wasn’t his fault.
Barry has been blaming himself for Ralph’s death this entire time and not dealing with it, which very nearly allows a villain from Earth-X to cause a nuclear explosion in town. Thankfully Barry snaps to it in time to knock Siren-X out cold and stop her from turning Fallout nuclear.
The day is saved as Fallout is cooled back down again by Leo and Caitlin using a pair of cold guns before he is finally transported to the secret ARGUS lab for his safe keeping.
Back at STAR Labs, Barry and the team say goodbye to Leo, who is preparing for his marriage to Ray back on Earth-X. Barry then schedules another therapy session with Iris so they can finally deal with his grief over losing Ralph.
As for DeVoe, he’s enraged that the Flash thwarted his plans but it seems he’s already figured out where ARGUS is keeping Fallout so he’s scheming a way to kidnap him so that he can still be used for his nefarious plan. DeVoe is also tired of emotional outbursts affecting his plan, which causes him to scream at Marlize yet again as he tells her that for now he doesn’t need her as a wife — he needs her as his engineer.
Marlize turns away from her husband — tears in her eyes — and realizes that the man she loved may truly be gone forever.
The Flash will return with a brand new episode next Tuesday night at 8pm ET on the CW
