THE FLASH Season 4 Episode 12 Review: And We're Back in the Game

After a comedy episode that was almost a total dud, I was feeling more than a little hesitant about seeing how an ‘80s parody episode would play out, but to my pleasant surprise there was a better balance of silly antics with genuine character drama this week than what we’ve seen for most of the season. This was largely due to the focus on Cecile and Harry, two characters who have been out of the spotlight recently but were the driving forces behind the main plots. 

Cecile in particular really got to shine by playing up the peppy, motor-mouthed side of her character that too often gets overshadowed by her role as Joe’s girlfriend or The Only Lawyer in Central City; admittedly, having Cecile get temporary telepathic abilities from her pregnancy is a pretty random development (although I do wonder if it isn’t being used to foreshadow something similar happening to Iris down the road), but Danielle Nicolet sells it so well with her glorious comedic timing that I was willing to go along with it in no time at all. Her pregnancy arc has been one that’s surprised me every step of the way, and I’m very curious to see if this new wrinkle ends up being more than a one –off gag. You’d think a DA with mind-reading powers would be an instant cure for Barry’s prison predicament, but since no one seemed too concerned about the more practical implications for Cecile’s powers I’m not sure how seriously we’re mean to take it. 

Barry was not totally forgotten by the team though, as we Harry also got a chance to show off his typical bullheadedness while being oddly caring at the same time. While the ticking clock they saddled him with messed with the pacing for the rest of the episode—why are Iris and Cecile stopping to have a conversation about relationship issues when their friends only have a few hours to live?—it was still fun to see him fret over a tiny chipmunk-voiced Cisco trapped in Lego, even as they kept up their usual sniping. 

I’m not entirely sure that the show has done much to show what Harry genuinely adds much to the group, especially given how crowded it is these days, but his chemistry with the other members of the team, particularly Cisco, is so unfailingly excellent that I’m hopeful they’ll find a way to make him relevant yet. It is certainly gratifying to see how emotionally invested Harry’s become in Barry and Iris’s happiness when you consider how abrasive and closed off he was to his teammates initially, and his frustration with the others for how little they’ve done to help Barry made him almost an audience surrogate at times. 

I also appreciated that their conflict with Dwarfstar wasn’t totally disconnected to the main plot, as the Thinker’s presence still permeated the episode even if he didn’t make any physical appearances. His looming shadow helped to explain the constant lucky coincidences the team ran into without being so overpowering he took over the episode. It isn’t until the last few minutes it even becomes explicit that this did indeed fit into his larger plans for Barry, who has now exposed himself as the Flash to Warden Wolfe. 

I have to admit, I’m still unclear as to why Barry has no problem using his powers to free his wrongfully imprisoned friend after the team’s mission failed after three episodes straight of refusing to use them to prove his innocence or even to fight criminals while in prison, but I get the sense Barry’s prison arc might be coming to a close in the next week or two, so perhaps they didn’t have the space to dive into the nuances of his current MO without taking time away from the meta-human prison fight club they’re introducing, which I for one can’t argue with.

Written by Kaitlin Roberts, THE FLASH Beat Writer

Related Posts:

THE FLASH Season 4 Episode 11 Review: The Elongated Knight Rises

THE FLASH Season 4 Episode 10 Review: Law Without Order