In ‘The Flash’ recap, Barry stages a prison break to free the meta-humans before Amunet Black can sell them to the highest bidder…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
It was only a matter of time before Barry Allen was released from prison but the latest episode of ‘The Flash’ ended up with one of the most creative ways to get him out from behind bars.
Of course, Barry’s freedom didn’t happen until the end of one of the strongest episodes of the season because for the majority of the time he was teaming up with the same meta-humans he’s been putting in jail all season long after learning that Warden Gregory Wolfe has been selling them to Amunet Black for a profit.
That also means Katee Sackhoff is back for another deliciously devious appearance as Amunet Black this week while Ralph is suffering from a crisis of conscience after starting to believe that it’s only a matter of time before he lets his friends down.
Remember before he was a superhero in training, Ralph had been a rather unscrupulous sleazy private detective who was more than willing to step over the line to solve a case. Now as he’s trying to become a hero, Ralph is figuring out with each passing week that there’s more to that job than just slapping on some spandex and stopping a bank robbery.
Plus ‘The Thinker’ returns this week but for the first time he’s beginning to look vulnerable due to a rift in his marriage and failing to predict how Barry and his friends would finally free him from prison.
With that said, let’s recap the latest episode of ‘The Flash’ titled ‘True Colors’…
Prison Break
With Barry locked away in a special meta-human wing at Iron Heights prison, he realizes that Warden Wolfe has been secretly selling off the criminals to Amunet Black, who then auctions them to the highest bidder. The latest group Wolfe offers includes several of the meta-humans Barry captured from the bus that was bombarded with dark matter when he re-entered from the Speed Force including Kil%ore, Dwarfstar, Black Bison and Becky Sharpe, the woman who had the lucky touch.
Wolfe’s prized possession is Barry Allen, who he reveals to Amunet as a speedster but doesn’t divulge his true identity as the Flash.
Barry knows that time is running out before all of these meta-humans are sold on the black market so he decides to stage a prison break to escape before Amunet can take possession.
Meanwhile, the rest of Team Flash gets clued into what’s actually happening in the prison when Iris and Cecile come to pay him a visit to discuss his upcoming appeal hearing when the warden tells them that Barry’s not available because he’s been placed in solitary confinement after getting into a fight. Of course, Warden Wolfe doesn’t know that Cecile now has mind reading powers and she discovers that he’s actually working with Amunet Black to sell off the meta-humans in custody including Barry.
Back at Team Flash, everybody is trying to figure out the best way to free Barry from captivity while Ralph runs into an old friend waiting for him at his old detective office. The shady friend wants Ralph to help him with some sort of scheme, but the hero in training shoots him down and says he’s trying to live by the letter of the law now. Ralph’s friend believes this is just another case of him letting down the people who need him the most.
Sadly this starts getting into Ralph’s head but his angst over the interaction also reveals a new trick that he can pull by morphing his body to mimic anybody — including his friend that he was just berating in front of the rest of Team Flash. Ralph’s new ability gives the team an idea to have him morph into Warden Wolfe, go pay Amunet Black a visit and call off the sale of the meta-humans, thus saving Barry from being sold to the highest bidder.
Barry isn’t waiting around for anyone to rescue him, however, as he pulls off his best MacGyver impression by stealing some batteries from a hapless maintenance man and concocts an acid solution that allows him to escape his cell, free all the other meta-humans and even gain entry into a sewer drain that will hopefully allow them to escape to a part of the prison where their powers will begin to work again.
Barry and the other meta-humans escape — at least temporarily.
Going Out of My Head
While Barry attempts to orchestrate his escape, Clifford DeVoe and his wife Marlize are starting to run into some marital problems about his nefarious plans and what comes next for them. When Clifford took over the body of Dominic Lanse, he also gained the ability to read people’s minds and he’s been doing that more and more to his wife lately.
That causes even more problems as Marlize begins thinking of a song on a constant loop to keep Clifford from reading her thoughts.
As for Team Flash, they send Ralph into meet with Amunet Black in an attempt to call off the meta-human sale and at first everything seems to be going rather well. Ralph gets past Amunet’s guard dog before finally getting a meeting with her.
Unfortunately, Ralph can’t seem to hold it together long enough to get through the meeting before his face starts morphing back to normal and Amunet realizes this is all an elaborate ruse meant to fool her. Thankfully, Ralph escapes but once he’s back at STAR Labs he decides not to help them in their next endeavor to break Barry out of jail because he doesn’t want to let his friends down again.
Ralph suddenly believes that his lot in life is to fail his friends when they need him the most and he refuses to put them in harm’s way by being there during the escape. That leaves Cisco and Caitlin to lead the charge to breach their way into the prison and hope they can get Barry out safe and sound.
They have to work fast because Barry’s plan to escape works rather well until the team of meta-humans gets to the prison yard where they find Warden Wolfe waiting for them. Wolfe immediately slaps a dampening device on Barry’s ankle to keep him from running away and just when it looks like the other meta-humans are going to have his back, the warden finally reveals his true identity as the Flash, which means he’s responsible for putting all of them here in the first place.
The team of meta-humans turns against Barry but it’s Becky Sharpe, who decides to use her powers for good rather than evil this time around. She’s the one meta-human in jail who feels regret for the bad things she did and Barry tried to explain to her that the power she’s possesses doesn’t define her. She’s the one who decides whether to use them for good or evil.
Well Becky turning Team Flash works rather well because she lucks her way into defeating all of the other meta-humans as well as Warden Wolfe and Amunet Black, who showed up just in the nick of time to collect her new sale items. For a moment it looks like Barry will get his freedom but that’s when DeVoe shows up to unleash the next stage of his plan.
Freedom
Before Team Flash goes to rescue Barry, Caitlin tries to convince Ralph to rejoin them but he’s just not interested. That’s when Caitlin transforms into Killer Frost to give him an unexpected pep talk. She tells Ralph that failing his friends won’t make them turn on him — after all Killer Frost tried to kidnap and kill them and they still stand by her side. She finally convinces Ralph to help but it may already be too late.
At the prison, DeVoe unleashes the tentacles hidden inside his chair as he latches onto all of the meta-humans minus Barry and begins draining them one by one. Presumably, DeVoe is gaining each person’s power as he drains the life from them and his final victim is Becky Sharpe, who Barry desperately tries to save but he can’t make it to her in time.
DeVoe not only finishes what he started but now he transfers his consciousness into Becky’s body as he takes her ability while also making another switch. Finally, DeVoe turns on the warden, killing him as well before taunting Barry one last time before flying away.
When Team Flash arrives, they can’t stop DeVoe but they at least offer to rescue Barry but he refuses. Barry isn’t going to escape prison — he’s going to get out legally or he won’t get out at all. Barry returns to his regular cell where he awaits word on his appeal hearing.
The next day, Cecile goes before the judge to present her case but there’s just one problem — she has no new evidence to suggest that Barry is innocent. Just when the judge is ready to slam his gavel down and deny the appeal, Clifford DeVoe — the original one — rolls into the courtroom much to the shock of everybody in attendance including Marlize DeVoe.
Clifford explains the shock to discover that he was alive and even better he exonerates Barry of any wrong doing in his supposed murder. Obviously if DeVoe is very much alive then Barry can’t waste away in prison so the judge decrees his sentence vacated and he’s free to go.
Marlize is shocked while Cecile and Iris are both relieved — while Ralph finally did right by his friends by transforming into Clifford DeVoe to help spring Barry from prison.
Later that night, Marlize is still concerned about her husband’s next course of action after Barry escaped and Clifford was only able to siphon off the powers from part of the meta-humans from the bus accident. There’s still no clue why DeVoe needs those meta-humans but he promises that his plan is still in motion and they will not fail.
Marlize still seems concerned and she’s not allowing Clifford to read her thoughts.
That’s when Clifford uses some of the special meta-human teardrops provided to him by Amunet Black that acts as a love potion for whoever drinks it. He slips some into his wife’s champagne as they celebrate and Marlize’s suspicions suddenly fade away as she falls victim to his meta-human potion. Now DeVoe can go about his business without his wife bothering him any longer.
And finally, Barry returns home to celebrate his release with his friends and family when something occurs to him about DeVoe’s latest actions. While he’s heartbroken at what happened to Becky and the others, Barry realizes that DeVoe was only concerned with taking the abilities from the people who were bombarded with dark matter on that bus when he returned from the Speed Force.
What is it about these people that makes DeVoe want them and why are the only ones he can use to transfer his consciousness?
Barry can’t be certain what the reason is but they now know DeVoe will be after the rest of the people involved in that bus accident including their new hero in training Ralph Dibny.
‘The Flash’ will be off for the next few weeks before returning on Tuesday night, Feb. 27 with a new episode at 8pm ET on the CW.
