“Are you telling me you’re going to betray one of your own because he doesn’t meet some arbitrary intellectual standard?” asks Cisco (Carlos Valdes). “Ah, so you do understand unlike your simple friend…auf wiedersehen,” replies Heir Wells in season four episode 21 of The CW series The Flash.
The episode begins with Barry (Grant Gustin) waking up in the middle of the night and checking on Iris (Candice Patton) who’s sitting on the floor in their living room surrounded by papers and photos. Iris tells Barry she wants to write an article and post it on her blog warning the world of DeVoe’s plan to make everyone simple-minded. Barry, surprised by Iris’s idea, isn’t sure it’s the right move but doesn’t say anything.
At S.T.A.R. Labs, Team Flash isn’t sure why DeVoe hasn’t launched his satellites yet. Barry suggests their best move is to shoot the satellites down when he does launch them. Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) reminds Barry that with one of DeVoe’s meta powers he can control any tech they try to use. Iris suggests they brainstorm and try to find a way to do it without using tech. Harry (Tom Cavanagh) tells Cisco he’s sure he could predict DeVoe’s next move if he consults the Council of Wells.
Harry and Cisco connect with the German Wells who quickly figures out that Harry is now truly “simple Harry” because his thinking cap backfired. He refuses to help. Cisco suggests to Harry they seek the help of another council, the Council of Harrisons, since there are so many in the multiverse.
Joe (Jesse L. Martin) checks in on Caitlin who’s still trying to figure out a way to bring back Killer Frost and gives her a short pep talk, telling her that when he’s working a missing persons case and is getting nowhere he tries to come at it from a different angle. This gives Caitlin an idea.
Caitlin suggests to the team that they join forces with Amunet Black (Katee Sackhoff) because her powers shouldn’t be affected by DeVoe’s. Barry, Iris, and Joe are not fans of the idea of asking help from a criminal, but Caitlin reminds them they worked with Snart and Killer Frost before and both are criminals. The team reluctantly agrees and sets out to find her.
The Flash and Caitlin speed over to Amunet’s old hideout but only find Norvock (Mark Sweatman), Amunet’s right-hand man who tells them he hasn’t heard from her in months since a deal went bad. She might be dead.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Team Flash looks into Amunet’s past and finds her non-meta identity, Leslie Jocoy, in the hopes of finding her. Joe and Caitlin go to where Amunet as Leslie last worked to see if she’s laying low there. Barry has a hallway chat with Iris about her article telling her he’s not sure if it’s the right move. He reminds her the Team usually keeps things like this to themselves. Iris counters saying she believes it will help and that they have an obligation to warn the public. She heads off to finish her article.
Cisco and Harry meet with the new Council of Harrisons to seek help. It’s made up of Sonny Wells, the French Poet Harrison, HP Wells, and the playboy Wells who was kicked out of the other council. Annoyed, Harry’s reluctant to seek help from the council which he calls the “Council of Rejects.” Cisco pushes and after the new council hears about Harry’s accident with the cap, they agree to help.
Joe and Caitlin find the place Leslie worked at which looks to be a little store. As Joe and Caitlin look around, Joe tells Caitlin he knows she wants to team up with Amunet to help her with getting Killer Frost back. Caitlin admits that Amunet had a piece of tech that helped her control Frost and hopes to get her hands on it to bring Frost back. Joe asks why she didn’t tell the team and she admits she was afraid they would say no.
Joe notices a back door that opens to another room and he and Caitlin go through to discover an underground casino. Caitlin quickly sees Amunet as a dealer and heads over to talk. Joe flashes his badge and tells everyone he’s CCPD and to get out because he’s shutting things down. Amunet gets ready to fight, creates her meta-powered metal glove, and flings metal shrapnel at Caitlin and Joe. However, Joe already signaled The Flash. The Scarlet Speedster races in and grabs the shards before they get near Joe or Caitlin. “We don’t want to fight. We want your help,” says The Flash.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Amunet is not sure she wants to team up with The Flash but Caitlin reminds her that DeVoe’s mind-wiping plan will happen to her no matter where she goes in the world. Amunet insists on The Flash unmasking himself because she already knows he’s the speedster she almost bought from the ex-warden from Iron Heights. Barry complies and with a little more encouragement from Caitlin, Amunet agrees to help but she needs Team Flash to help her find her large stash of special metal shards that were stolen from their hiding place.
Caitlin takes Amunet aside to her medical bay and tells her she needs the transgenetic splicer Amunet used on her before to bring back Killer Frost. Amunet agrees to give it to her if Caitlin and Frost will do one more job for her. Caitlin, desperate to get Frost back, agrees. Amunet tells Caitlin the splicer was stolen along with her metal shards.
The Flash and Caitlin go with Amunet to look for clues at her big storage locker. Barry uses his CSI skills to discover the venom used to destroy the lock. Amunet recognizes that venom and that it was her right-hand man Norvock who stole her goods.
Team Flash is trying to find the metal shards using their satellites but so far nothing. Barry tells the team that Norvock has left Amunet’s old hideout. Caitlin, becoming more and more impatient, keeps snapping at Iris about tracking the shards. Joe tells her to reveal to the team why she’s so obsessed. Caitlin admits to them her deal with Amunet to do a job for her if she got the splicer and got Killer Frost back. Upset and feeling as though she’s lost Frost for good, Caitlin leaves the cortex to pout.
The Council of Harrisons talk it over and tell Harry that what he really needs he already possesses in order to figure out DeVoe’s next move. They explain he needs to look into his heart and see what motivation DeVoe is missing. After they leave, Harry calls the meeting of the Harrisons a “colossal waste of time,” getting the word colossal from Cisco who feels terrible for Harry.
Barry and Iris talk again about her article on DeVoe and Barry tells her it’s too risky and doesn’t want her to publish it. Iris argues The Thinker is trying to rob the people of their intelligence and they should have faith in the public to do the right thing. But, she’ll leave it up to him to decide. Whatever he decides, she’ll stand by.
Caitlin’s sitting in the pipeline feeling down when Amunet comes looking for her. Amunet tells Caitlin she hates to see her so down and comes clean, admitting the splicer never really worked. Caitlin realizes that Amunet basically used the fake splicer as a placebo to get her to control Frost on her own. Amunet tells Caitlin how in awe she is of her powers and alter ego and that the answer to bringing Killer Frost back lies inside her. Amunet suddenly realizes during their talk where Norvock is.
Norvock’s doing a deal with some underworld thugs to sell them the special metal shards at an abandoned rental substation. The Flash, Amunet, Joe, and Caitlin (armed with the cold gun) speed over to stop the deal. Flash takes on Norvock who uses his snake eye and sprays him with venom, causing Barry to struggle with the poison. Amunet uses her powers to throw metal shards at Norvock, but he has created a gun that vacuums up her shards.
Joe and Caitlin go after the thugs as they try to drive away and Joe shoots at the car, causing them to crash. The two thugs come out shooting and Joe and Caitlin go for cover behind some old vehicles.
Iris tells Barry he needs to phase through the poison before it reaches his heart. Joe informs Caitlin he’s running out of ammo. She looks up and blasts the roof with the cold gun, creating a large icicle. Joe shoots it and it comes crashing down on top of the thugs, knocking them out. Amunet uses her powers again and this time, by using the trunk full of metal shards from the thug’s car, she’s able to create a head mask on Norvock, effectively trapping him. Barry phases through the poison and is okay.
Amunet’s about to kill Norvock but Barry and Caitlin talk her out of it. Caitlin’s sure there’s still good in her. Amunet does, however, cut out Norvock’s snake eye as punishment. She’s about to leave when she reminds Team Flash that now that she’s armed with her metal shards, they should just let her go. Caitlin reminds her she can’t hide from DeVoe’s plan and Amunet gives Caitlin a special ball of her shards which she says should be able to take down the satellites if used right, sort of like a special metal shrapnel grenade. Amunet then leaves in a metal tornado of her creation.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin apologizes to the team for getting so intense about Amunet. They’ve already forgiven her. Caitlin invites Joe to grab a coffee before heading back to CCPD. Harry tells the Team he knows why DeVoe hasn’t launched his satellites yet; it’s because he has lost his wife who’s on the run from him. (Seems the whole looking into his heart idea worked for Harry.) Barry tells the team they’ll start looking for her right away. He then pulls Iris aside and tells her to publish her article and that he believes informing the public is the right thing to do.
Over at Jitters, Caitlin buys Joe his coffee as a thank you for his pep talks and advice. He asks her if she has any new ideas about getting Killer Frost back and she tells him that now she knows the key to finding Frost is in her own mind.
The last scene has Barry asleep in bed. Iris wakes him up and shows him all the hits and responses she’s getting from her DeVoe story. Citizens who’ve read her article are responding with DeVoe sightings. “Let’s see you hide now,” says Barry.
The Flash Season 4 Episode 21 Review:
Filled with humor and an exciting action scene, season four episode 21 titled “Harry and the Harrisons” is entertaining but feels more like a filler episode stretching the series until the big showdown between Team Flash and The Thinker.
The stand-out performance goes to guest star Katee Sackhoff, reprising her role as Amunet the once queen of the underworld who is now in hiding just trying to survive. Sackhoff is wonderful as the slightly over-the-top Amunet who’s always looking to get herself back on top but deep down likes and has real admiration for Caitlin. Danielle Panabaker and Sackhoff have solid chemistry in their scenes together. It’s those scenes that are the highlights of the episode.
Another big highlight is the action scene late in the episode where Amunet takes on Norvock and Joe and Caitlin take on the thugs. Well–paced, choreographed, and above-average special effects made this action scene one of the best of this season.
With Team Flash now on the hunt for Mrs. DeVoe and the public trying to help look for him, it seems as though the odds are improving for our heroes to stop DeVoe once and for all.
GRADE: B
More on The Flash Season 4:
– The Flash Season 4 Episode 1 Recap
– The Flash Season 4 Episode 2 Recap
– The Flash Season 4 Episode 3 Recap
– The Flash Season 4 Episode 4 Recap
– The Flash Season 4 Episode 5 Recap
– The Flash Season 4 Episode 6 Recap
– The Flash Season 4 Episode 7 Recap
– The Flash Season 4 Episode 8 Recap
– The Flash Season 4 Episode 9 Recap
– The Flash Season 4 Episode 10 Recap
– The Flash Season 4 Episode 11 Recap
– The Flash Season 4 Episode 12 Recap
– The Flash Season 4 Episode 13 Recap
– The Flash Season 4 Episode 14 Recap
– The Flash Season 4 Episode 15 Recap
– The Flash Season 4 Episode 16 Recap
– The Flash Season 4 Episode 17 Recap
– The Flash Season 4 Episode 18 Recap
– The Flash Season 4 Episode 19 Recap
– The Flash Season 4 Episode 20 Recap
– The Flash Season 4 Episode 22 Recap
