The Arrow-verse shows this season – aside from Supergirl – all seriously whiffed on the big bad until about 2/3 of the way through. This isn’t a good thing; all three shows felt off in the early months, especially around the mid-season mark, when lots of things got shuffled on each show. The Flash has finally started to give DeVoe some motivation, and has used Marlize as the device to deliver a lot of information. Is it working? Read on to find out.
1. Marlize
Over the past few weeks, the show has tried to shine a light on Mrs. DeVoe, Marlize, and show her as, perhaps, the lost conscience of Clifford. This episode really doubles down on that, showing us a truncated version of their lives together, and how Clifford’s maniacal thoughts long pre-date his power, and how Marlize initially, and again now, pushed back against that.
The characterization of both DeVoes has been rather cold, and this episode did a little to thaw that out, but not enough. If it did anything for them, it showed just how extreme Clifford is, and how Marlize still isn’t quite there. The end of the episode, where she traps Clifford in a force field of some sort, begins to sow the seeds of her turning to Team Flash for help. It was a predictable moment, but one that feels necessary for the season’s endgame.
2. Anti-technology?
I find the whole ‘anti-technology’ standpoint of DeVoe pretty insane, given what we’ve seen from him this season. Everything he’s done, up to and including this episode, hinges on technology. Now, I know that you can be against something and still use it (I know many folks who decry the rise of cell phones who can’t get off their device to save their lives), but it just seems like an odd trait to all of a sudden dump on a character. This would’ve been an easy thing to work in from the earliest episodes with DeVoe in it, but that was never done.
Plus, how much more compelling would that have made this struggle? Team Flash works out of a science lab dedicated to building technology to help the world. This would have added a natural reason for Clifford to hate S.T.A.R. Labs, even blaming his own condition on the faults of Wells and co. That would have been a far more compelling season, instead of the scattershot weirdness we got.
3. Trouble in Para-Vibe
Well, this is a bummer. Cisco and Cynthia called it quits this week, in part because Cisco wants more than she can give him. It gave some beautiful, emotional moments for Carlos Valdes, an actor who can handle anything this show throws at him. While I was never really convinced that DeVoe would’ve killed Gypsy, that also added a personal touch to the Cisco side of the story, and helped to make the stakes feel that much more important.
Side note: love that little shot on Earth-19 and, what I believe, was old footage of John Wesley Shipp as the Flash.
4. Cecile gets something to do!
In a season that seems like it was tossed off and not really well thought out, the Cecile storyline finally makes some sense, and seems like there was actual forethought there. With her ability to hear Harry’s thoughts before they disappear, she has a role on the team that no one else can take. It also means that, if somehow DeVoe’s plan works, she might be the one to save everyone. As Cisco said, Harry’s condition seems reversible, so if everyone somehow had the same condition, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll all be that way forever. If Cecile is somehow the low-key hero of this season, I’ll be impressed.
5. The mystery speedster
So, the mystery speedster is totally Barry and Iris’s daughter, right? I’ve often said that the Barry Allen on The Flash is really the Wally West from “The Flash,” and so this fits right in line with Wally’s kids being speedsters. Of course, we know that Barry and Iris have kids, too, due to Bart Allen a couple of generations later, but Wally’s kids were important parts of the Flash comics that Barry’s never were.
Plus, that would explain why the sight of her parents would send her running – either due to some sort of paradox situation, or simply out of emotional distress.
What did you think of this episode? Let us know in the comments!
