In The Flash recap, Barry teams with Caitlin and Cisco to stop DeVoe from stealing the last piece he needs before launching the Enlightenment…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
Over the course of the fourth season, The Flash writers have worked overtime to meticulously plot out the motives and actions behind Clifford DeVoe and his ultimate plan to wipe out all intelligence on Earth.
It’s a pretty amazing feat considering there were moments during the season where it felt like the show was getting a bit off course, but each piece fit into the puzzle as we speed towards the season finale next week.
In the previous episode, Barry and the team attempted to recruit Amunet Black to help them come up with a way to stop DeVoe from launching a set of satellites that would help him bombard the Earth with enough dark matter to reset the brains of every human on Earth. While Amunet wasn’t willing to break good, she did hand over a shard bomb that would give the Flash at least one shot to bring down a satellite, which would stop DeVoe from enacting his plan.
This week sees DeVoe get the final piece he needs to power his satellites with just hours remaining until the Enlightenment begins while Team Flash attempts to figure out a way to not only stop him but save some hostages he’s using as a human shield. Add to that, Iris teams up with Harry to track down Marlize in an attempt to recruit DeVoe’s estranged wife to help stop her husband from this planned Armageddon of intelligence.
With that said, let’s recap the latest episode of The Flash titled ‘Think Fast’…
Battery Powered
The start of the latest episode of The Flash features one of the best action sequences in the history of the show and in many ways takes its cues from some very famous scenes set up during Daredevil seasons one and two on Netflix.
In this particular sequence, Clifford DeVoe uses his body morphing ability to turn into John Diggle so he can break into a secret A.R.G.U.S. facility where Neil Borman aka Fallout is being held under lock and key. DeVoe already tried to take him once this season and now he’s back for more. After gaining access to the facility, DeVoe reveals himself and then dispatches the guards in impressive fashion using all the different weapons he gained from the bus-meta humans he created and then destroyed for his own personal gain.
As DeVoe walks along to the sounds of Handel’s ‘Messiah’ while smashing, trashing and shrinking guards who dare to step in his way. Without Marlize around to insist on a non-violent approach, DeVoe is unleashed and he’s taking anybody out who stands in his way.
His ultimate goal is reaching Fallout and helping him reach critical levels with his radiation so that he’s ready to explode and DeVoe can then use that power to fuel his satellites to blanket the Earth in dark matter.
Team Flash finally gets wise to what’s happening after calling on the real John Diggle to help them find where Borman has been transported only to discover that he’s already been captured by DeVoe. To make matters worse, this A.R.G.U.S. facility was set up as the ultimate anti-meta human prison so there are all sorts of traps to ensure nobody including the Flash can break into this place.
Cisco deduces that the team only has about 12 hours until Fallout goes critical and at that point DeVoe will have everything he needs to initiate the satellite launch to engage the Enlightenment.
Meanwhile, Caitlin is still trying to break through her mental block to bring out Killer Frost again but after trying every scientific trick in the book, she now knows that her problem is psychological rather than physical. So Caitlin goes to see a psychiatrist, who suggests that perhaps she’s repressing something traumatic from her youth that may be serving as a road block to her mind being free enough to engage Killer Frost again.
Caitlin refuses to believe she had anything that traumatic from her childhood not to mention Killer Frost didn’t manifest until years later. By the end of the episode, however, Caitlin gets an assist from Cisco to vibe into her childhood where she remembers being hit by a truck while she was riding her bike one day and when she looked into the mirror, she saw a young Killer Frost staring back at her.
Of course that creates as many questions as answers because it appears Caitlin had a split personality with Killer Frost long before the particle accelerator exploded and created meta-humans in Central City.
This episode also delved into Cecile’s continued pregnancy and the mind reading powers she’s gained as a result. Unfortunately this was the weakest point of the episode as Cecile was suddenly allowing her brain to mimic the people she was reading so there were a few less than funny beats as she imitated Joe and Caitlin during the episode.
Enter Flash Time
Back at STAR Labs, Barry and the team are trying to figure out a way to break into the A.R.G.U.S. facility without triggering the multitude of traps that are there to stop them. To make matters worse, DeVoe has rigged up several guards over these deadly electric pads to serve as hostages so if anybody messes with him, his powers will fail and these guys will fall to their deaths by electrocution.
Barry figures out that perhaps by using these electric pads to super charge his speed while in flash time that he might be able to then run fast enough to get through DeVoe’s pocket dimension before he can escape. He then recruits Cisco and Caitlin to join him in flash time in hopes that they can stop the guards from being electrocuted in that split second before time shifts back to normal speed.
Unfortunately, training for Cisco and Caitlin in flash time doesn’t go well and Barry is ready to shut it down. Barry is still feeling guilty after training Ralph to become a hero, only to watch him die by DeVoe’s hand.
Cisco eventually convinces Barry that he’s going to need help no matter how much guilt he’s still feeling over Ralph while reminding him that everybody made mistakes that led to this situation including the entire team deciding to open the Speed Force to bring him back, which then allowed DeVoe to create the bus meta-humans.
With that, Barry decides to take Cisco and Caitlin into flash time so they can try to stop DeVoe from taking Borman critical and thus having everything he needs to enact the Enlightenment
Cautious Optimism
While the rest of the team is focused on DeVoe, Iris and Harry pair together to try and track down Marlize DeVoe and see if they can use her to stop her husband.
Iris gets the bright idea to look for Marlize back in the first apartment she shared with DeVoe back in England when they first met. Harry suggests that perhaps they could convince Marlize to turn on her husband, which doesn’t sit very well with Iris considering how she got stabbed by this woman and how she sent Barry to prison to help him previously.
Once they actually find Marlize, Iris begins to realize that Harry’s plan really is the best course of action because just using her as bait isn’t as helpful as having her on their side.
Marlize is finally convinced when she meets Harry and realizes that his brain is degrading down to what DeVoe wants for every person on Earth. Seeing that loss of connection for Harry is enough to snap Marlize into reality that her husband isn’t doing this for the good of the world.
He’s doing this because he’ll be able to take over with everybody too dumb to stop him.
Marlize then decides to join Team Flash in stopping DeVoe from enacting his Enlightnment.
The Final Countdown
Barry takes Cisco and Caitlin to the A.R.G.U.S. facility where they are able to break in and move into flash time to try and stop DeVoe. Cisco and Caitlin are able to stop the hostages from meeting their doom and Barry super charges himself to go after DeVoe but he can’t prevent Fallout from overheating and going critical.
As Fallout explodes, DeVoe is able to shrink down his holding cell, which will then allow him to use that charged nuclear energy to power his satellites. He takes the battery and leaves through his pocket dimension but before he can escape Barry follows him through.
Just as DeVoe launching his satellites, Barry races to stop him by throwing Amunet’s shard bomb at one of the devices, which explodes in midair. Without all of the satellites in place, DeVoe can’t enact his plan.
Unfortunately Barry didn’t think about what would happen next.
All DeVoe needs is one more satellite to start his Enlightenment so he travels to STAR Labs and the time chamber created by Eobard Thawne. Inside, DeVoe plugs in the power cell that was once Fallout and combined with his computer coordinates, he uses the satellite in STAR Labs to communicate with his other devices to start the Enlightenment.
By the time Barry arrives back at STAR Labs, he can’t break through the time chamber and DeVoe has already launched his ultimate weapon to wipe the world of its intelligence.
Will the team find a way to stop the Enlightenment before it bombards the world with enough dark matter to bring us back to the stone ages?
Tune into The Flash season four finale next Tuesday night at 8pm ET on the CW to find out!
