“Harry, no one is going to like you until you like yourself,” says Cisco (Carlos Valdes) to Harry (Tom Cavanagh) who’s still venting about dealing with his annoying doppelgangers in season four episode six of The CW’s, The Flash.
As the episode begins, Barry (Grant Gustin) and Ralph (Hartley Sawyer) leave Jitters and a mugger comes up behind them with a gun. Barry tells Ralph this is a perfect training opportunity for him because muggers are basically “101” lessons for superheroes in training. As Ralph keeps suggesting different ways he could disarm the perp with his new elastic powers, Barry suggests they move it along.
The mugger gets impatient and shoots Ralph, but his stretch powers end up sending the bullet back at the mugger, hitting him in the leg. On the ground yelling, the mugger shoots again only to have the bullet bounce back hitting him this time in the rear. Barry yells at Ralph to stop shooting him but Ralph defends himself saying he didn’t and that the mugger did this to himself. Barry speeds the would-be mugger to the hospital.
In The Thinker’s lair, his assistant The Mechanic (Kim Engelbrecht) comes up to him looking to have an argument. It seems she’s concerned Barry and his team are getting close to discovering which DeVoe out of the thousands in Central City is him. The Thinker (Neil Sandilands) tells her it’s not important and that she shouldn’t worry because he knows every move they’re going to make.
Barry enters S.T.A.R. Labs to find Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker), Harry, and Cisco have pulled an all-nighter trying to figure out which DeVoe’s the one who’s been manipulating them and who made sure they would create more meta-humans by bringing Barry out of the Speed Force. Harry decides it’s time for him to bring in some of his friends to help. Caitlin and Cisco are surprised to hear Harry has new friends and they look forward to meeting them. Barry wants to also try to identify and locate the other meta-humans who were on the bus. Caitlin suggests using hypnosis on Ralph to see if he can remember seeing anyone that way.
Barry and Iris (Candice Patton) take Ralph to their former therapist and once he goes under, he quickly sees the Weeper and a young woman wearing a jacket with a bison on the back.
The woman in Ralph’s memory is Mina Chayton (Chelsea Kurtz) and she makes a statue of a panther come alive to kill a man for the case he’s carrying.
Joe (Jesse L. Martin) and Barry get called to the crime scene the next day and it’s not long that Barry figures out the nearby panther statue did the killing. The statue’s mouth matches the wounds and there’s blood on its teeth.
Barry takes a sample of the statue to S.T.A.R. Labs and has Caitlin analyze it. She says it’s a normal statue, but she did find traces of the dark matter on it. She believes one of their new metas has the power to bring inanimate objects to life.
Cisco brings chips, salsa, and beer to meet Harry’s new friends but is surprised and disappointed to discover Harry’s “friends” are doppelgangers of himself from other Earths. There’s Harrison Wolfgang Wells, H. Lothario Wells, and Wells 2.0 who is sort of a cyborg. None of the three Wells likes Cisco, so they insist he leaves so they get to work with Harry.
Ralph gets a new suit from Cisco that will stretch with him. The suit has a hooded mask attached to protect his identity. Ralph’s not excited about his bland-looking suit but when the team gets a lead on where the meta’s likely to show up next, he suits up and goes with Barry to try to catch her.
Mina’s posing as a journalist to get close to the rich owner of one of the bison pieces she needs in order to restore an ancient necklace she wants to return to her people, the Sioux. She has one of his artifacts – a suit of armor – come alive to attack the owner. The Flash and Ralph show up, but Ralph ends up getting knocked through a glass door by the knight who then targets the owner who screams for help. The Flash, who had Mina cornered, has to let her go to save him from the animated knight. Mina escapes, something that bothers Ralph since The Flash could have stopped her.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, the Council of Wells is arguing and not really accomplishing anything. Harry insults the three and ends the meeting. Harry tells Cisco, who happened to check-in at the wrong time, that it was a bad idea. Cisco tells Wells the reason he’s not getting along with the other Wells’ is because he sees parts of his personality he doesn’t like. Cisco reminds him of all the great parts of himself and insists that if he’s going to get along with them, he must accept them – flaws and all.
Barry tries to explain to Ralph that being a superhero is always about saving lives first, even if it means letting the bad guy get away. Ralph mocks him and doesn’t accept that rule.
Ralph’s disdain is made evident when The Flash and the hero-in-training go up against Mina again while she takes on an armored truck carrying another piece of the Sioux bison necklace. A caveman statue attacks the guards, so The Flash takes on the deadly statue while Ralph uses his stretch powers to grab Mina’s fleeing car. As he stands there holding the car in place, the caveman breaks a power line while fighting with The Flash and innocent civilians are in danger of being electrocuted.
A winded Barry yells for Ralph to get the people out of harm’s way, but Ralph refuses to let Mina escape and uses his powers to cause her to crash into a parked truck. Since Ralph disobeyed The Flash’s order, a young girl trying to get away from the power line is seriously injured.
Barry and Ralph head to the hospital to check on the girl and the doctor tells them she’s going to be okay. Considering the seriousness of the accident, she’s lucky to be alive. Barry turns to Ralph and starts to tell him they need to talk, but an upset Ralph tells him not to and asks him to forget it. Later in Ralph’s P.I. office, Ralph admits to Barry he’s not used to worrying about other people’s safety and now as a hero he’s supposed to be worried for an entire city. Ralph asks how Barry deals with it and Barry admits to Ralph he’s not perfect and has made some bad mistakes, but that’s why he leans on his team so much. Barry continues telling Ralph if he needs someone to talk to or lean on, he’ll be there for him. He adds that he believes he has the making of a great superhero.
It seems the CCPD is not up to the task of keeping Mina a prisoner and she escapes using a guard’s name tag and a police tactile dummy. Joe calls Caitlin and Iris to let Barry know, and Barry and Ralph suit up again to go after her. They know she’s after the last piece of the necklace which is at the Central City Museum.
Meanwhile, Harry – with Cisco’s help – brings back the other three Wells’ and after a few humble/funny words, the four brilliant men start to work together to make an algorithm to figure out which DeVoe in Central City is the threat.
Over at the museum, The Flash and Ralph arrive to stop Mina who brings to life a T-Rex skeleton to hunt them. In a scene that pays tribute to the films Jurassic Park and Night at the Museum, Ralph tells Barry not to run but once the T-Rex roars they both do. A security guard happens to stumble into the action and just when Ralph has cornered Mina, he sees the T-Rex heading toward the security guard. Ralph stretches to push him out of the way and ends up getting tangled up with the dinosaur skeleton, trying not to get bit. The Flash catches up to Mina and, to distract her, tosses a Sioux antique bowl in the air. It works and he’s able to cuff her with the power-reducing cuffs.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Barry tells Ralph that Joe says Iron Heights has Mina locked away from any statues and pins. She should stay locked up this time but they can’t find the necklace. Ralph suggests maybe someone mailed it back to the Sioux people, and both Barry and Ralph smile. Ralph tells Barry he’s going to go see about a girl and leaves.
Ralph visits the little girl who’s recovering from the accident in the hospital, and entertains her by making balloon animals out of his hands using his powers.
The next day, Barry walks in to see Team Flash all together with good news. The Council of Wells has narrowed down their suspect to Clifford DeVoe. Joe asks if he should get a police team ready to pick him up and Barry suggests Team Flash should do it. “For once we have a chance to get ahead of our enemy. Let’s go get DeVoe,” says the Scarlet Speedster.
The Mechanic informs The Thinker they’re about to have guests to. He replies, “Then let’s be ready to greet them.”
Barry and Joe arrive at the address and it looks like a normal house. Barry asks if everyone is ready. Iris, back at command, says she’s set. Harry’s armed with his big blast gun and has eyes on the front door. Caitlin stands next to Cisco, confirming she and Frost are standing by. Cisco’s ready for them to give the word and they will breach in.
Barry and Joe approach the front door and Joe notices and asks, “What kind of a criminal mastermind has a welcome mat?” They ring the doorbell and are greeted by The Mechanic who’s now wearing a nice, normal dress and, smiling, asks what they want. Joe tells her who they are and that they’re looking for DeVoe. She confirms Clifford DeVoe is her husband and both men are surprised. She asks if he’s in trouble and Joe says they just need to ask him a few questions. She calls him to the door and Clifford DeVoe arrives in his wheelchair dressed in normal every day clothes, asking how he can help them. Joe and Barry stand there, stunned.
The Flash Season 4 Episode 6 Review:
Full of pop culture references and very tongue-in-cheek in tone, episode 6 titled “When Harry Met Harry” moves the series further down the road toward goofiness and at times a little too cute. Focusing on Ralph and Harry (two of the show’s more comical characters), this episode does little to move the main plot forward and instead reinstates Barry as a mentor to another fledgling hero. It also gives Tom Cavanagh room to stretch and play three new versions of Wells from other Earths for laughs.
The stand-out performance goes to Cavanagh for portraying four versions of Wells which turned out to be the comic highlights of the episode. His performance as three very different Wells – one being a warmonger, another a Hugh Hefner playboy type, and the third an arrogant artistic jerk – were all unique and very amusing.
However, the episode’s best scenes were the more serious ones with heart. In particular, the scene in Ralph’s office when Barry confesses he, as a hero, has made mistakes and that he couldn’t be a hero alone is genuinely moving. When Barry offers Ralph his friendship and counsel, it’s an example of the show’s strong writing and acting.
With The Thinker using a brilliant “hide in plain sight” disguise, it should be interesting to see how Team Flash reacts to their discovery and who will end up with the upper hand.
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 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 21 Recap
– The Flash Season 4 Episode 22 Recap
