The Flash - S4E16 - Run, Iris, Run

Previously on The Flash, “Enter Flashtime”

The Flash continues to be better than it has been most of this season with another solid episode. The few weak points were more than made up for with a fun role reversal in which Iris is given Barry’s speed.

Another bus meta, EMT Matthew Kim aka Melting Point (Leonardo Nam), has the power to take away a metahuman’s power by a touch and deposit that power in the next person he touches. He’s unaware of the latter and thinks he’s been taking away the powers of those who abuse them, like the man using his fire power to rob Kim’s bank. While questioning him about the incident, Kim gives Iris Barry’s power.

While the team works on a way to either reverse it or find Kim to make him do it, Iris becomes Central City’s Flash.

Up to Speed

Is there anything Candice Patton can’t do on this show? I hope the powers that be are thanking whatever higher power they believe in, daily, for casting this woman in this role.

Barry’s speed envy was realistic and I’m glad it played out as it did, with him realizing it was his turn to have the faith in Iris that she has always had in him.

Nice twist having Melting Point not realize he was transferring the powers, and it made for an easy to believe shift in him agreeing to help the team stop DeVoe (as well as allow them to keep him safe). I’m all for more Leonardo Nam. If you haven’t seen his work on Westworld, you’re missing out.

Another cool development was Harry having a hard-on to stop DeVoe due to intellectual envy. Now that they know DeVoe has been doing this for three years, Harry gets security footage outside S.T.A.R. Labs the night of the particle accelerator explosion and witnesses DeVoe getting his power via the thinking cap. At first, Cisco is against Harry’s plan to recreate that for himself to match wits, but he eventually gives in and it leads to Harry figuring out the names of the last two bus metas.

Speed Bumps

I wish the show (and most shows like this) would plant seeds earlier so the characters’ motivations and feelings feel authentic. Iris feeling as though she lost that fearless spirit she had as an investigative journalist is natural, but felt forced when the first we’re hearing of it is in the episode in which she becomes a speedster and Ralph womp womps all over her.

In the same vein, having the entire team be flummoxed by a guy shooting a lot of fire out of his hands just so Harry could prove his thinking cap worked felt forced as hell.

What did you think of this week’s episode? Leave your brief thoughts on the episode below, email them to feedback@projectfandom.com, or leave them on the Facebook post for this review, and we’ll read them on tonight’s podcast.