The team tracks down one of the remaining two bus metas in this episode of The Flash. But when Barry doesn’t think that Ralph’s taking anything seriously, he benches him. Can he stop the meta on his own? And can Harry help using his intelligence booster or do his frustrations get the best of him?
Elsewhere in “Null and Annoyed,” Breacher stops by for Cisco’s help when he loses his powers mid-fight, but it’s not for a reason that can be fixed. Can Cisco work up the courage to tell him what’s really going on or does his fear end up making things worse? Also, Marlize realizes just what her husband has been doing to her, but does it even matter? Can she find a way to escape the hell she’s in?
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It’s Not the Time for Jokes, Ralph
Despite the hours that Cisco has spent programming realistic holograms for training to fight DeVoe, Ralph would rather improv than stick to Barry’s plan: morph himself into Barry so there are two Flashes to confuse the Thinker. Instead, Ralph hides his head like a turtle. I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t work against DeVoe.
The remaining two bus metas are still out there, but Harry’s struggling to find them. Edwin disappeared the day Barry came out of the speed force, and Janet (whose handle is Null) was last at Iron Heights for breaking and entering, trespassing and burglary.
So it shouldn’t be any surprise that when she does show up, she steals a crown from a case inside a steel-plated crate by using her powers to send it up into the sky high enough to break open once it crashes to the ground. Harry is then able to track her down once her prints lead to multiple aliases, and he plugs those into facial recognition software and dons his cap. She was last seen near Ralph’s ex-partner’s place.
Ralph poses as Joe to get his ex-partner to talk, but it doesn’t really matter. Null’s still there, floating near the ceiling, and she uses her powers on Barry when Ralph doesn’t toss him the cuffs like he asks. Iris has to hold onto a rope tied to Barry’s leg to keep him from floating away.
Null’s powers affect the density of a person’s cells, like filling them with helium, Caitlin explains. It wears off, but Barry’s lucky that he wasn’t in the middle of the street when it happened because he could’ve floated away and then fallen to his death. Despite his life being on the line, Ralph keeps cracking jokes, and Barry benches him.
He can’t expect Ralph to think like he does, Iris argues, but Barry considers him a liability and goes after Null on his own after she hits a jewelry store. Though he gets the cuffs on her this time, she has a backup plan: a van up above falling to the ground. The person inside will die if Barry doesn’t let her go. She’s gone by the time Barry saves the person.
Ralph did step up while he was gone, Iris tells her husband, and he got the job done in his own way. So is Barry upset because he thinks that Ralph’s screwing around or because he’s not following his plan? When Barry finds Ralph (hanging out in the pipeline because why not, I guess?), he admits that with DeVoe so many steps ahead of them, seeing him joking makes him think he’s not taking it seriously.
That’s when Ralph explains why he jokes so much. After his father left when he was 10, he started making jokes and doing stupid gags to push his mother’s fear away, and it helped him too. When he’s afraid, he hides or he makes jokes.
Barry brings Ralph with him when Null strikes again, this time at a museum fundraiser. Barry speeds everyone out because she can use her powers on them, but she’s able to touch him and send him up, too high for Ralph to reach. Do something Dibny-esque, Barry tells him. Ralph does, cuffing Null’s ankles and then turning himself into a giant whoopee cushion to catch Barry when he falls. It works.
Afterwards, Barry compliments Ralph’s work, and Ralph attributes it to his great teacher. But Barry also learned something: that he can’t always take everything so seriously, even when it comes to DeVoe.
Someone who could probably stand to loosen up a bit is Harry, who’s frustrated for the entire episode because he’s not making as much progress with his hat as he expected to. But will that change? In the last scene, he goes into the Time Vault, plugs his intelligence booster in and accesses Gideon. It’s been over 1,000 days since they last spoke, according to Gideon. “A lot has changed since then,” Harry says.
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Age Gets Everyone
While hunting Lord Crucifer, the leader of a cult of vampires, Breacher’s powers stopped working and he couldn’t vibe blast. Crucifer got away, he explains to Cisco and Caitlin, and he blames him for the loss of his powers. Since his daughter praised Cisco’s skills, he thinks he can fix him.
However, after running a few tests, the results are not ideal. There’s nothing wrong with Breacher, and Crucifer didn’t do anything to him. He can’t blast because he’s getting older. His powers require a lot of energy, and when that energy dwindles, the vibe blasts are the first to go. Not wanting to risk never seeing his girlfriend again, Cisco decides not to tell him.
Instead, he gives Breacher antihistamines and tells him that they’ll cure him. Breacher then goes after Crucifer, and Cisco has to breach in to save him. He has no choice but to tell him the truth then, and Breacher tells him he hates him.
But Breacher does return, having returned to his Earth and finally taken a look at his reflection. He’s retired, and he’s even thinking of checking out a dragon farm on Earth-47 that he’s always wanted to visit. There’s now a position open at the collection agency, and he wants Cisco to replace him. He’ll be able to see Gypsy more if he works with her, and together they can be an unstoppable duo.
So what does Cisco say? Does he want to be the new Breacher? Cisco wouldn’t really take him up on the offer, would he?
Too Many Times to Count
Meanwhile, DeVoe only has about a week before he needs a new body, but Marlize has an idea to extend his current host’s life. When she checks the computer, she finds that the plans have already been partially designed. DeVoe tells her he tried, but his mind for engineering is nowhere near as gifted as hers. He also needs her to continue searching for the remaining two bus metas. Three, she corrects him. The Weeper’s still out there. Of course, DeVoe says, claiming that his mind must be affected as well.
But when Marlize drops her mug and begins picking up the pieces, she discovers that there was something else in her drink and analyzes it, eventually realizing that her husband has been dosing her with the Weeper’s tears.
She makes a recording warning herself of what he’s doing and that she must escape, only to find that a file already exists with the name she’s chosen. She’s recorded the video before — too many times, DeVoe informs her. He’s been using the Weeper’s tears and Dominic’s powers to alter her memory. It was why he created the Weeper; he knew that the same thing in her that he fell in love with — her humanity — could destroy them, and he couldn’t let that get in the way of achieving their goal: the Enlightenment.
And so it begins again. DeVoe drugs Marlize, and she is none the wiser.
Did this episode change your mind about Ralph and his jokes? Do you think Cisco will accept the job offer? And how much longer do you think DeVoe can drug Marlize? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
The Flash season 4 airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW. Want more news? Like our Facebook page.
(Image courtesy of The CW)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
If it’s on TV — especially if it’s a procedural or superhero show — chances are Meredith watches it. She has a love for all things fiction, starting from a young age with ER and The X-Files on the small screen and the Nancy Drew books. Arrow kicked off the Arrowverse and her true passion for all things heroes. She’s enjoyed getting into the minds of serial killers since Criminal Minds, so it should be no surprise that her latest obsession is Prodigal Son.
