“Look, I love Inception as much as the next guy, but sending Barry into DeVoe’s mind…” says a very concerned Cisco (Carlos Valdes). “His mind is the only one fast enough for the linking process without any harm,” replies Marlize (Kim Engelbrecht), cutting off Cisco and reinforcing her idea to send Barry into The Thinker’s mind to stop him in season four episode 23 of The CW’s The Flash.
As the season four finale begins, the Enlightenment has started. It’s causing chaos and havoc across all of Central City and most likely the rest of the world. (The episode never bothers to show other parts of the world being affected, which is a bit of a disappointment.) The sky has turned purple and dark, and all technology has stopped working. Cars are stopped dead in the streets, cell phones won’t work, computers are down, and the power all across the city is out.
At S.T.A.R. Labs, Team Flash is working on trying to get their back-up power source up and running while trying to come up with a new plan to stop DeVoe. Joe (Jesse L. Martin) and Cecile (Danielle Nicolet) arrive telling the team it’s chaos out there and that they were on their way to the hospital when it started. It seems Cecile is close to going into labor. A few seconds later, Iris and Marlize show up with an idea on how to stop DeVoe.
Marlize tells Team Flash the only way to defeat DeVoe is for them to send Barry’s consciousness into the mind of DeVoe and search until he finds the good part of DeVoe – the man Marlize fell in love with – so he can take control and stop The Thinker from his plan. Barry (Grant Gustin) asks Marlize if she believes a good part of him still exists and she says yes. So, a reluctant Team Flash has Barry sit in The Thinker’s hovering chair and use its cap. Cecile uses her telepathic powers to help send Barry into DeVoe’s mind and keep him connected with the team. Cisco nicknames the process “1-way brain radio.”
It works and Barry arrives in the mind of DeVoe which looks like the intersection where the bus got exposed to the Speed Force and Dark Matter. There’s a portal nearby and Marlize tells Barry this is the nexus of DeVoe’s mind. He has to lead the good DeVoe, once he finds him, through the nexus for him to take over. Barry sees the evil DeVoe in his hover chair looking as though he’s searching for him. Barry briefly hides in the bus and then speeds off to Marlize and Clifford’s house hoping to find the good DeVoe there.
Barry arrives but finds the house completely empty. He tells Team Flash this and Marlize is surprised. Of course, this is when Cecile has another contraction and loses connection with Barry. Marlize tells Team Flash they need to stop her from having the baby now because when she gives birth, she’ll lose her meta powers. If Barry is still in DeVoe’s mind, he’ll be trapped there. Luckily, Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) knows of a drug that will slow down the contractions and give them more time. Cecile grabs her arm and in a different voice says, “Thomas knows she’s been this way all the time,” which briefly freaks out both Caitlin and Joe.
Cisco remembers Harry (Tom Cavanagh) had thought of how to find Marlize, so he thinks Harry might have an idea of where in DeVoe’s mind Barry should go next. Cisco finds Harry in Cisco’s workshop staring at his thinking cap. In perhaps the most moving and emotional scene of this season, Harry, who can barely speak now due to the damage to his brain by the dark matter, reaches for the cap and struggles to get out the word “help.” Cisco says he won’t let Harry fry what’s left of his brain which causes Harry to slam down his fists and force himself to say, “Help…please.”
Cisco puts the cap on Harry’s head and turns it on. At first, Cisco thinks the cap isn’t doing anything to help Harry but when he reaches to take it off, Harry stops him and says, “Where DeVoe first fell in love with Marlize, tell Barry to go there. He’ll find him there…okay.” Harry then tells Cisco there’s just one more thing and hugs him hard before sitting back down. Harry starts mumbling things about stars exploding and Cisco tells him as he takes the cap off, “I won’t lose anyone else today. I won’t.”
Barry follows Harry’s suggestions and at Oxford he discovers a picnic blanket and a song playing on the radio but no DeVoe. Barry tells Team Flash DeVoe’s not there when he hears a familiar voice call out to him saying, “Rookie?!” It’s Ralph (Hartley Sawyer) whose consciousness is still alive in DeVoe’s mind. Barry hugs Ralph, happy to see he’s still alive. Barry quickly brings Ralph up to speed about why he’s in DeVoe’s mind and Ralph tells him he hasn’t seen the ‘good’ DeVoe, just the evil one in the hover chair always taunting him. Just then DeVoe’s evil persona arrives and warns Barry he’ll never escape from his mind. Barry and Ralph speed away to continue their search for the good DeVoe. Ralph suggests they check out DeVoe’s classroom.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Cecile tells the gang DeVoe is coming after them. She read his mind when he got close to Barry. There’s a loud bang and it’s DeVoe entering the cortex. As he tries to get to them, he runs into the force field his chair creates that Marlize activated to protect everyone. He says they’ll still be Enlightened and Marlize replies, “You’ll have to find us first.” She sends the team through a portal to, of all places, DeVoe’s lair.
In The Thinker’s mind, Barry and Ralph get to the classroom only to discover the good DeVoe is sitting in his old chair…dead. Ralph’s upset and thinks they’ve lost. He suggests Barry return to his family and spend whatever time he has left with them. Barry declines, reminding Ralph they’re his family, too. Barry remembers DeVoe is using Ralph’s body and realizes that’s why he keeps berating Ralph. If Ralph gets out through the nexus, DeVoe will lose control and Ralph will get his body back, essentially killing DeVoe. Barry and Ralph head back to the intersection where he started in DeVoe’s mind.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Cecile begins to have stronger labor pains and DeVoe finds them in his lair. He freezes Cisco, Caitlin, and Iris in place while Joe pulls his gun. DeVoe starts to use his powers to get Joe to turn the gun on himself but Joe’s anger and his love for Cecile is stronger and he’s able to turn the gun back on DeVoe. Joe’s victory is short-lived because DeVoe uses his powers to send Joe up in the air and then slams him down to the ground. DeVoe then turns to face Cecile.
In The Thinker’s mind, Barry and Ralph start heading to the portal but are confronted by an army of clone DeVoes. The Flash and the Elongated Man work together but find the army of DeVoes can outthink their every move. Ralph tells Barry not to think about what he’s going to do but instead think about something he loves while fighting. It works! The super duo is able to put down the first wave of the army of DeVoes, but soon more show up. Barry tells Ralph to hold onto him as he superspeeds through the new army of DeVoes and through the portal out of DeVoe’s mind.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, DeVoe is just about to kill Cecile but then stops and starts struggling with his thoughts. Barry, seated in the hover chair, opens his eyes and walks over to DeVoe. “No!” screams DeVoe. As he collapses, he touches the back of his hover chair. “How did you beat me?” yells DeVoe, now lying on the floor. “I didn’t. We did,” answers Barry. “This is not my will!” screams DeVoe as he starts to change. “Nope, it’s mine,” says Ralph’s voice as he returns to his body’s original form. Smiling, Barry helps his friend off the floor.
With DeVoe seemingly defeated, Marlize overrides the last command given to the S.T.A.R. Labs satellite and that stops the Enlightenment with only minutes to spare. Central City goes back online and all the dark energy is gone.
Cecile’s water breaks and as Caitlin takes her and Joe into the medical bay, DeVoe’s chair activates. It seems just before Ralph regained control of his body, DeVoe transferred his consciousness to his hoverchair. He makes a last attempt to terrorize Team Flash but Marlize, with a tear in her eye, says goodbye to her husband and pulls the energy force out of the chair, effectively killing DeVoe once and for all.
Team Flash still has a problem because DeVoe created a dead man’s switch that now causes the huge satellite just on the outskirts of Earth to start to plummet toward Central City. The team has three minutes to save the day.
Cisco and Ralph head out to get people clear of the falling debris while Barry uses his superspeed to try to destroy the satellite. As Ralph and Cisco are saving Central City citizens, Barry starts building up enough speed to deliver a super-sonic punch to the satellite to destroy it. Marlize warns Iris this might kill Barry, but they don’t see any other option.
Barry builds up the speed, races up a skyscraper, and super jumps toward the satellite to punch it when suddenly time stops and goes backward. Barry’s back on the street looking up at the satellite and begins once again to build up superspeed to take down the satellite. He races around building up speed but doesn’t notice another speedster doing the same thing behind him.
He again races up the skyscraper, jumps towards the satellite, and delivers a super-sonic punch. There’s another speedster alongside him who also punches the satellite. Their combined power destroys the satellite.
Barry races down to the street with his Flash outfit burned and torn all over. The crowd of citizens applaud their hero for saving them. The Flash gives them a wave and speeds back to S.T.A.R. Labs to find Cecile has given birth to a lovely baby girl. Everyone at S.T.A.R. Labs is smiling and happy.
The next day Marlize gives Team Flash a power cap telling them it should fix Harry’s mind. Iris and Barry invite her to stay and be a part of the team, but she declines saying they have all the support they need. She’s going to return to trying to help the world the way she was doing before she met her late husband.
Cisco uses the cap on Harry and he screams out in pain but then seems okay. Harry quotes a Star Trek line to Cisco who laughs and hugs him. But, then Cisco realizes Harry’s acting a little off. Harry tells the Team that although it worked, he’s not brilliant anymore. Everyone’s upset, especially Cisco. Cisco believes he let Harry down, but Harry assures Cisco he did bring him back. Plus, he gave him balance between his heart and his head. Harry’s now in touch with his feelings and not just defined by his former genius IQ.
Harry tells the gang he’s going to spend time back on his Earth with his daughter, Jesse. The team doesn’t want him to leave and Iris says, “But, Harry, we just got you back.” However, Harry has made up his mind. He quickly exits, leaving everyone feeling sad and awkward about their final exchange. Harry suddenly returns and says, “I guess we should hug, right?” They all embrace in a group hug, smiling.
In the last scene of the finale, Team Flash welcome Joe and Cecile home at Joe’s house with a party to celebrate the birth of the baby. Wally (Keiynan Lonsdale) shows up to celebrate and talks to Joe about finding his place with the Legends.
Cecile announces the name of their daughter, Jenna Marie West, and Iris sits close to Barry saying soon it will be their turn to have a baby. This surprises Barry and makes him a little uncomfortable. The party’s interrupted by a knock on the door. Barry answers it and finds the mystery girl standing there. She enters and everyone recognizes her. Barry asks who she is and she reveals she’s his and Iris’s daughter, Nora West Allen, and that she has made a “big, big, mistake.” Surprised and concerned, Barry looks over at Iris and then the rest of Team Flash.
The Flash Season 4 Episode 23 Review:
Fast-paced with lots of action and some very touching moments, the season four finale titled “We Are The Flash” ends this season on a joyous occasion and with the reveal, finally, of the identity of the mystery girl speedster. This season, although uneven at times and with too many quirky and silly episodes, did succeed in bringing more heart, humor, and fun back to the series.
The stand-out performances in this episode belonged to Tom Cavanagh and Carlos Valdes, delivering powerful and emotional performances as Harry and Cisco. The scene where Harry, who’s about to become a living vegetable, struggles to use the thinking cap one last time to help Team Flash but needs the help of a reluctant Cisco is heartbreaking. The bond and love these two characters feel for each other is perfectly portrayed by Cavanagh and Valdes. That particular scene’s an unforgettable moment in the series’ four seasons.
With Nora West Allen now revealing herself to the team and seemingly creating a big problem for Team Flash, it’ll be exciting and interesting to see just exactly what problem she’s alluding to. It’ll also be fun to learn the true origin story of Killer Frost and how she’s been with Caitlin since childhood. Plus, of course, fans are already speculating on the main villain in season five. Can’t wait to find out who the team will be going up against next season!
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 21 Recap
