The Flash - S4E7 - Therefore I Am

Previously on The Flash, “When Harry Met Harry”

Through flashbacks and some major stalking on Barry’s part, “Therefore I Am” took us into the lives and minds of the DeVoes. Despite his kind exterior, Barry doesn’t believe Clifford DeVoe (Neil Sandilands) isn’t a threat and isn’t, in fact, the DeVoe Savitar and Abra Kadabra mentioned as one of The Flash’s greatest rivals. The rest of Team Flash chooses to believe the evidence, of which they have none. On his own, Barry interrogates DeVoe, breaks into his home, and earns himself a slap in the face, a restraining order, and a tw0-week suspension from work.

So, what’s the real deal?

Prior to the particle accelerator explosion, Clifford DeVoe was a history teacher unable to capture his students’ attention away from their smartphones. He designed a “thinking cap” that will help him expand his mind, and his wife Marlize (Kim Engelbrecht), builds it. The only problem is finding a power source strong enough to sustain it. Enter Harrison Wells (really Eobard) and his particle accelerator. The night of the explosion, DeVoe is struck by lightning and almost dies. He’s beyond brilliant after that, but his smarts come with a price. His intellect acts as a parasite, causing major muscle deterioration throughout the rest of his body. Marlize devises a chair, along with the thinking cap, that has prolonged the inevitable, but it’s not a permanent fix. DeVoe hopes to use Barry to either cure him , but how that’s possible is still a mystery.

Up To Speed

Overall, the episode was fine. Serviceable. The Big Bad is less of a mystery and that’s a good thing. No need to stretch it out like they did with Zoom and Savitar.

Speaking of stretching things out, no Ralph this episode! Yay!

And, Wally’s back! Although, it was frustrating to hear him say he has no idea if his time away brought what he needed. I mentioned on the podcast that having his absence mean something was the least the show could do.

Sometimes the episode veered a bit too much into foolishness with everyone doubting Barry’s suspicions, and it didn’t help that he wasn’t making it easy to believe him by being reckless. Thankfully, it’s put to rest by episode’s end after DeVoe finally admits to Barry that he was right about him.

More interesting than DeVoe’s end game is his and Marlize’s relationship. She’s Iris to DeVoe’s Barry; devoted, in on his secrets, and willing to do whatever it takes to see him succeed. They’re like WestAllen if Barry and Iris had less scruples. The DeVoes don’t appear to have a real desire to hurt people, though turning people into meta-humans who hurt people isn’t exactly altruistic.

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