THE FLASH Season 4 Episode 10 Review: Law Without Order


THE FLASH picked up mere hours after the game-changing cliffhanger it ended on last year, with Barry finding himself framed for the supposed murder of the alive and villainous Clifford DeVoe. Interestingly, rather than—as some might have expected after ending on such a giant question mark—trying to keep fans guessing about whether or not Barry would be wrongly convicted, it’s made very clear early on that Barry has next to no chance of getting off. Instead, the show decided puts its focus on the emotional toll that Barry being put on trial has on his family, especially his new wife Iris. Choosing to frame the story this way ends up being something of a double-edged sword for the episode.

The show has never really spent much time dwelling on the kind of law enforcement that doesn’t involve wearing spandex or rogue metas, so there’s a certain exciting newness to a courtroom setting that makes it an immediately intriguing setting to watch Barry navigate. But the show makes little effort to mimic any real type of legal proceeding, and Barry’s unwillingness to fight back against the charges and risk exposing his double life means that every scene in court is more or less an unrelenting beatdown for our heroes. Seeing Barry’s life, career, and friendships fall apart all at once goes a long way towards making the Thinker a very personal foe for Barry, a welcome departure from the cold detached adversary he was portrayed as during the first half of the season; however, we don’t really learn anything new or progress the plots through these attacks. 

Barry himself doesn’t even undergo any real change or crisis of faith during the whole ordeal. His almost unnerving serenity was a fascinating departure from the brooding paranoia DeVoe brought out in him in their previously, but it was also a one-note attitude that didn’t really waver throughout the episode. The only one who seemed truly changed by the event was Iris, who struggled to understand why Barry would place his secret identity over his own freedom. In many ways she’s been thrust into the role of an angry and grieving family member furious at the way the justice system has failed their loved one… in other words exactly where Barry himself was at the beginning of his series (which the show isn’t particularly subtle about pointing out). 

There have been a lot of intentional callbacks to Season One recently, but this new role reversal is the first one with dramatic potential that can last outside of a standalone scene. I particularly liked how Iris’s outrage led to her locking horns with Marlize DeVoe. In many ways, she’s as much of a dark counterpart to Iris as Thawne or Savitar was to Barry, and it’ll be interesting to how their grudge plays out moving forward. Marlize’s exact role in everything is hard to suss out at this point, but I’m betting her loyalty will be what makes or breaks the Thinker ultimately. It seems particularly telling that even as the DeVoes’ masterplan seems to be succeeding, their marriage is showing obvious strain, while the newly wedded West-Allens are even more committed to one another than they were at their wedding, despite their extraordinary circumstances, as showcased during their utterly gorgeous stolen moment the two have when Barry temporarily freezes time. 

On a slightly unrelated note, I’m willing to bet my left sock that the reason Barry’s abilities suddenly don’t affect Iris is because she’s pregnant, and acting as a carrier for speedster powers. We almost certainly caught a glimpse of their future daughter during the ceremony for their wedding, and Barry’s speed force induced prophecies seem to be coming true one by one. I suspect that it won’t be properly till the springtime, but it’s something to keep an eye out for. 

Experimenting with a new tone or setting is always a bit hit and miss for a show, but it’s heartening to see THE FLASH edge out of its comfort zone. Even with the trial wibbles, the most boring moments were far and away the ones related to the completely irrelevant meta of the week subplot, showing once again that the show’s marriage to its formula is its own worst enemy. But the fact that it was the new material and not the tired formula that was put front and center is a cautiously optimistic sign of things to come.

Written by Kaitlin Roberts, THE FLASH Beat Writer


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