Spoilers The Flash - Season 4

[JD]

Sad news.
I finally got caught up with the season today, and it's been OK, not one of their best, but still enjoyable so far.
Ralph has been a fun addition to the cast, seeing him use his stretchy powers on a regular basis is really making me want a Fantastic Four TV series.
DeVoe has been a pretty interesting villain so far, it's nice to finally get a non-Speedster big bad.
As for the last episode, I do agree that Barry's release was way to quick and easy, but I'm glad they got Barry out.

 

[Commander Richard]

Poor Izzy. I really felt for her just like Ralph did. I wonder if they'll get her and the others back somehow.

 

[Christopher]

Izzy was a fun character (very loosely based on Isaac Bowin/the Fiddler, a Jay Garrick nemesis from the Golden Age), and rather beautiful, but her power was too similar to Black Canary's. I don't even know why they bothered to have that bit of technobabble talk where they analyze how her power works -- just say "It's like Dinah's Canary Cry." In the comics, the Fiddler's powers also include hypnotizing people with his music, but I guess DeVoe already has enough mind-control abilities.

What I don't get is, why did they approach Izzy as civilians to start with? They must've known she'd have no reason to trust them. They should've just shown up as superheroes from the get-go. "Izzy Bowin. Come with us if you want to live."

So it seems like Ralph has been keeping up his DeVoe impersonation for the police. I was wondering about that.

Barry coming to work with Ralph as a P.I. is a fun idea. I hope we get to see it play out some, have them work a couple of cases together.

 

[The Realist]

DeVoe is officially on my shit list now. I really liked Izzy, and would have loved to see more of her -- but of course, as soon as Ralph promised she'd be safe, I knew she was doomed. Like Commander Richard, though, I'm hoping they might find a way to restore her consciousness, since she's not dead-dead like the other bus metas DeVoe absorbed.

 

[Christopher]

Like Commander Richard, though, I'm hoping they might find a way to restore her consciousness, since she's not dead-dead like the other bus metas DeVoe absorbed.

Her body may still be alive at the moment, but she's probably going to deteriorate even faster than Becky did, because she's now got even more dark matter in her system. (Although since she isn't as tiny as Becky, the dark matter may not be quite so concentrated, so it might cancel out.)

 

[Gryffindorian]

Too bad Virtuoso was assimilated by DeVoe. I was really hoping she would be the key to defeating him because her sonic attack destabilized him somehow.

 

[Christopher]

Too bad Virtuoso was assimilated by DeVoe. I was really hoping she would be the key to defeating him because her sonic attack destabilized him somehow.

Virtuoso? Her nickname is The Fiddler, though DeVoe coined that sobriquet mere minutes before killing her.

(One Wikipedia consult later...) Ah, I see. Virtuoso is a new female character in the comics who inherited the Fiddler's powers.

 

[Guy Gardener]

So Ralph is last because he is indestructible and immortal.

He's so stretchy, that Ralph can drop 5 pound to make new bodies for the other bustrippers... Although DeVoe has a time machine that we saw a couple episodes, and if they are in a timespace fold, that in itself is a time machine if they ever wish to exploit the fold.

 

[Romulan_spy]

I like that we saw the cerebral inhibitor that Savatar mentioned.

I do still wonder why DeVoe does not just take The Flash's body. I know it is because our hero needs to be around to oppose the villain. Also, if DeVoe did get The Flash's body at this point in the series, he would be unstoppable to early. But from an in-universe point of view, it makes no sense.

I dislike the superhero standoff trope. With superheroes that rely on strength, it might make sense. But I don't think it makes sense for a speedster. The entire strength of a speedster lies in their speed and in the element of surprise. Just walking up to the villain and standing there to talk defeats the whole purpose of the power. I wish Barry would learn this. Stop trying to talk down the villain and then getting your ass kicked when you do try to use your speed because the villain had time to use a nasty trick against you!

With the collection of powers that DeVoe now has, he seems near unstoppable already. It really makes you wonder how our heroes will stop him. I suspect that The Mechanic will betray DeVoe or something like that so Team Flash won't directly be the ones to stop DeVoe.

I like the concept of a villain that can swap bodies. But I miss the actor that played DeVoe in the beginning. He brought a certainly gravitas and menace to the role. The female actresses that play Lady Luck and The Fiddler are certainly easy on the eyes but I am not sure they do the character of the Thinker well.

Last thought, The Fiddler was a bit stereotypical as the country music star, with the thick southern drawl and the sad backstory.

 

[Christopher]

I do still wonder why DeVoe does not just take The Flash's body.

Because he's not a bus meta. Barry pointed out at the end of the prison break episode that DeVoe only targeted the four bus metas in Iron Heights, not the metas created in the original accelerator explosion like Peek-a-Boo, Mirror Master, and the Top. For whatever reason, he's only able to assimilate the 12 metas created in the bus event. So Ralph is in danger (along with Fallout and the remaining three unidentified bus passengers), but not Barry, Cisco, or Caitlin (or Dinah), and probably not Wally either.

Hard to say about Jesse, though, since she was empowered by Barry emerging from the Speed Force, similarly to the bus metas. But I'm assuming the DeVoes somehow managed to manipulate Barry's emergence this time to achieve the effects they desired, so only metas created in this event are "digestible" to the Thinker.

 

[tomalak301]

I like the concept of a villain that can swap bodies. But I miss the actor that played DeVoe in the beginning. He brought a certainly gravitas and menace to the role. The female actresses that play Lady Luck and The Fiddler are certainly easy on the eyes but I am not sure they do the character of the Thinker well.

Last thought, The Fiddler was a bit stereotypical as the country music star, with the thick southern drawl and the sad backstory.

I too miss the original Thinker. One thing I was thinking watching this episode was the chemistry between Marlise and Becky was just not there at all. I still think the episode flashing back to Season 1 might be my favorite episode of the season because it really gave backstory to not just Devoe, but just that relationship between him and her and how they became connected at the hip. Now it really does feel like it's a matter of time before Marlise breaks away and starts helping team flash.

This episode did great things for Ralph though. He's been played as comic relief, but I do like what they have done with the character, with a few missteps here and there. It is interesting that now both Flash and Arrow feature characters that have personal vendettas but after the side step to Iron Heights, the season feels back on track. At least we saw Flash doing Flash things.

 

[Snaploud]

Wells seems to have a chip on his shoulder about not being 'smart enough.' Hopefully he won't do something irreversible like recreating Devoe's super-intelligence.

 

[Scout101]

I dislike the superhero standoff trope. With superheroes that rely on strength, it might make sense. But I don't think it makes sense for a speedster. The entire strength of a speedster lies in their speed and in the element of surprise. Just walking up to the villain and standing there to talk defeats the whole purpose of the power. I wish Barry would learn this. Stop trying to talk down the villain and then getting your ass kicked when you do try to use your speed because the villain had time to use a nasty trick against you!

I understand that they have to tell a story, and having an invincible hero would just lead to a lot of time with them having coffee at Jitters, but yeah, it's something that hurts your brain if you bother to think about it.

The Flash can move so fast now that he is essentially stopping time. He's able to move around have a chat with his wife, go sit back down, and no one can tell he even twitched. Apparently next week, he can do it long enough that we'll have part of an episode all happening within the blink of an eye.

How do you ever lose to a bad guy with that power? How do people keep getting away from him?

He could literally move fast enough to casually walk over, beat the hell out of DeVoe, drag him out of the chair, drop him in a meta cell, return to the fight scene, and DeVoe's words would still be echoing in the conveniently empty parking lot they were going to fight in. DeVoe can have all of the powers in the world, but with exactly 0.00000001 seconds to use any of them, it's the same as being powerless. Instead, casually walk up to the guy, have a conversation, ask him not to do the thing, and then try and go superfast a second after it's already too late. Maybe try that first next time, as it's your only superpower?

I liked that they're trying a non-speedster as a villain, and occasionally they've had success showing that outthinking Flash is a decent counter to the speed, but now that they're falling back into powers and physical confrontations, DeVoe should be instantly defeated by someone that can slow time to a halt.

 

[Christopher]

The Flash can move so fast now that he is essentially stopping time. He's able to move around have a chat with his wife, go sit back down, and no one can tell he even twitched. Apparently next week, he can do it long enough that we'll have part of an episode all happening within the blink of an eye.

I think the idea is that he can only speed up to that extreme when he pushes himself to the limit due to dire need. Of course, the problem with the idea that he's generally slower and only reaches that speed in emergencies is that they often do gags where he speeds off to some other city or country and returns in seconds. But those are cases where Rule of Funny is meant to apply and one can presume a certain amount of poetic license is being taken.

 

[Scout101]

I get it, but even when you take the extremes out of it, it's still not a fight now that DeVoe is trying to physically do things rather than lay traps and outthink Barry. Literally the nanosecond that DeVoe appeared, before they chatted and before he created the barrier, Barry could have easily strolled over and removed him from the chair and been halfway to a holding cell. Instead, he stopped to chat, hung out a minute, and then waited for DeVoe to erect the shield he couldn't get through. I KNOW it's tv, gotta tell a story and whatnot, but it's really tough when the good guy has god-like powers. They did well by showing how DeVoe was outwitting Barry earlier, had it all planned out, had ways to stop Barry from using (or wanting to use) the powers, but now he's just another powered villain, and speed isn't one of the powers, so he shouldn't have time to USE those powers if barry was paying attention and wanted the season to end a couple episodes early.

Kinda like the old Batman vs. Whomever arguments. Yeah, given infinite time to plan and develop gadgets, Batman can be a formidable foe. The second Batman moves beyond that and tries to punch or otherwise attack someone with actual super powers, it's all over. Smart, calculating, all that good stuff, but when push comes to shove, the other dude is Superman and can literally incinerate you by looking at you if it comes to it. And can move as fast (ish) as the Flash. It's super strength, speed, flight, etc. vs. a dude with neat bat ears on a cowl...

 

[Nerys Myk]

As a long time fan of the JSA I like that several of the bus metas are from the Injustice Society.

 

[Christopher]

As a long time fan of the JSA I like that several of the bus metas are from the Injustice Society.

Judging from Wikipedia, it looks like Hazard and the Fiddler are the only ones out of the bus metas so far, though the Thinker himself was a member too. (As were Shade and the Rival, whom we saw last season as part of the Flashpoint arc, and Vandal Savage and Per Degaton from Legends season 1. And Count Vertigo, whom we saw in Arrow.)

 

[E-DUB]

Well, in the original "Flash of Two Worlds" comic, Barry and Jay disassamble the Thinker's "thinking cap" before he can move.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Judging from Wikipedia, it looks like Hazard and the Fiddler are the only ones out of the bus metas so far, though the Thinker himself was a member too. (As were Shade and the Rival, whom we saw last season as part of the Flashpoint arc, and Vandal Savage and Per Degaton from Legends season 1. And Count Vertigo, whom we saw in Arrow.)

Yes the Thinker was an original member of Injustice Society. The shows take on Brainstorm is more like ISA member Brain Wave than the comics version. Makes me wonder why they didn't use him.

 

[JD]

I'm sad the DeVoe managed to steal Izzy's body, I liked her a lot and I was looking forward to her and Ralph getting together. This was a great episode for Ralph, he's been a fun comic relief character so far, but this one really brought a lot more depth to the character.
The stuff with Harry and Cecile was fun to.