The Flash - S4E6 - When Harry Met Harry

Previously on The Flash, “Girls Night Out”

There wasn’t much about this episode that made sense, and even less to like. And its title refers to the smallest part of the episode, albeit the part that left the biggest effect on the characters. The meta-human/bus meta of the week is Mina Chayton (Chelsea Kurtz), calling herself Black Bison, a Native American activist who’s been trying to obtain her tribe’s stolen artifacts from various museums and collectors. Once she got the power to control effigies (specifically inanimate objects in the form of living organisms), her quest became deadly.

On the surface, Mina’s goal is an admirable one, but unless her power comes with a side of evil (like Caitlin’s), it’s disappointing to have her character also be written as a cold killer. Then again, maybe I just really wanted to root for her because rooting for Team Flash felt so gross this week, and that falls solely on Ralph Dibny.

I absolutely believe artists (writers, poets, actors, directors, illustrators, songwriters, etc.) shouldn’t be censored and no topic is off limits. And I know it would have been impossible for the show to predict this episode would air during a time when damn near every man in Hollywood — including The Flash’s own showrunner — would be outed as trash. It certainly didn’t work in the episode’s favor, either. Still, it was unsettling watching Ralph blurt out Caitlin’s measurements in the cortex and make a sexual remark about most of the women he encountered. (Also, his suit sucks.)

I understood the reason given for Keiynan Lonsdale’s absence from the show, but what we’ve been given in his place is just not cutting it. Does anyone really want to see Barry mentor someone we just met and someone who is so unlikable to the characters and the audience? They’ve not earned this with Ralph. The more we get to know him the less it seems likely that Barry would invest so much time into him. His tender moment at the end of the episode with the little girl he almost got killed fell flat as well.

As Barry and Ralph tracked Mina, Wells sought the help of other Wells from various Earths in order to figure out Devoe’s identity/location. While I’ve welcomed opportunities for Tom Cavanagh to breathe life into new versions of Wells, the inclusion here felt forced and unnecessary; only giving them something to do while the other stuff was going on, but that was blah too. The moral of the story (Wells shouldn’t be so hard on himself) also wasn’t enough to sell any of it as required. It was filler in a filler episode.

Up to Speed

Cisco’s reaction to seeing one of the Wells’ junk made me laugh out loud.

As annoying as Dibny is, he does bring out a petty, snide part of Barry that I enjoy. It’s what he doesn’t say when he lets a sentence trail off like, “One of these… a lightning bolt right in your…” that are the best.

Mina’s powers are actually awesome and could be put to some pretty creative use when she returns.

Speed Bumps

Ralph is trash. Ralph needs to go. Ralph’s ability is too silly. I miss Wally. I miss HR. I miss Julian.

I didn’t care about anything in this episode. And what makes it even worse is that I don’t feel like I was supposed to.

But Wait; There’s More

The Council of Wells figure out Clifford’s Devoe’s (Neil Sandilands) location. This was predicted by The Mechanic (Kim Engelbrecht) earlier in the episode as she panicked because Team Flash was on course for figuring it out way sooner than The Thinker had previously predicted.

When Joe and Barry show up on Devoe’s suburban doorstep, they’re shocked to be greeted by Devoe’s wife (The Mechanic) and Devoe in a wheelchair.

Are The Thinker and the Mechanic future versions of the All-American family version Barry and Joe met? And Barry better not let the wheelchair fool him. Wells (Eobard) was in a wheelchair, too.

What did you think of the episode? Leave your brief thoughts below or on our Facebook post for this review, and we’ll read them on tonight’s podcast.