Saturday, February 22, 2020

The Flash Season 6, Episode 12: A Girl Named Sue

This week on The Flash, we get the welcome return of Ralph Dibney (who hasn't shown up since Crisis On Infinite Earths, Part Three), plus we FINALLY get the long-teased first appearance of his soon-to-be love interest, Sue Dearbon.

Sue was first hinted at back in Season 5's Legacy, and has been mentioned many times since. so it's nice to finally see her in the flesh. She and Ralph have a fun chemistry together, and I hope she sticks around. Even if the cast is already bursting at the seams.

Iris is still trapped inside the Mirror Dimension, but this week she meets a playmate in the form of the new, gender-flipped Mirror Master. Even though Iris doesn't know that yet, but everyone in the audience does.

Cisco's AWOL again this week, as actor Carlos Valdes is still using his built-up vacation days, or whatever the hell's going on. Caitlin takes a rare leave of absence this week as well, no doubt due to actress Danielle Panabaker's real-world pregnancy.

UPDATE: In my review of the previous episode, I wondered how Goldface could be alive and well and seemingly none the worse for wear, when the last time we saw him he'd been electrocuted and molten gold was streaming out of both of his eyes.

A helpful reader pointed out Cisco's line in Marathon, in which he stated that thanks to the Crisis, "A bunch of our old villains are back, with fresh paint jobs!"

I assume one of these villains was Goldface, whose "fresh paint job" involved not being electrocuted and eyes that weren't melted out of his head.

For many years now, any time there's a major plot hole in The Flash, fans could hand-wave it away by shouting, "Flashpoint did it!" Now wherever there's an unresolvable issue, they can instantly blame it on Crisis.


The Plot:
Picking up from last week, Iris is still stuck in the Mirror Dimension. She watches helplessly as Mirror Iris continues cuddling with Barry. Suddenly a woman appears behind Iris and asks if she's real. Iris recognizes her as Eva McCulloch— the presumed dead wife of McCulloch Tech CEO Joseph Carver.

Eva says she's been trapped inside the Mirror Dimension for the past six years. She was working on a portal into other dimensions when the Particle Accelerator explosion hit, somehow knocking her into a nearby mirror.

Iris says she was pulled into the dimension somehow, and there's now a duplicate of her running around in the real world. Eva says it's a fractal clone or something, but doesn't explain why there's not a double of her. Hmm... Anyway, she says there's no way out of the dimension, and Iris is now trapped with her.

In his office, Ralph (who must not be a very good private investigator) is still searching for the missing Sue Dearbon. Just then he gets an alert that Sue's used her credit card to rent an apartment in Central City. He rushes to check it out.

Meanwhile, Barry's uncharacteristically sore from his battle with Amunet and Goldface last week. Iris is working on a story about Black Hole, and for some reason has the plans for the Mirror Gun they used to try & take down Cicada last season. She asks Barry to retrieve the gun from the Starchives so she can study it. He refuses, fearing the dangerous weapon could accidentally fall into the wrong hands. Iris is visibly pissed with him, but drops it.

Ralph checks out Sue's apartment, and hears glass breaking inside. He opens the door and Sue knocks him to the ground just as the place explodes. He takes her back to his office, where he explains he's been trying to find her for months. She says she's been on the run from her arms dealer boyfriend John Loring, who's trying to kill her after she stumbled across his client list.

Ralph wants to inform Sue's parents and the police, but she begs him not to. She says Loring will kill her parents if they find out, and says he has moles in the CCPD. Ralph promises he'll catch and arrest Loring, so she'll be safe. She agrees to stick with him.

Back in the Mirror Dimension, Eva tells Iris she's tried and failed to escape 1,322 times. Iris says they freed the original Mirror Master years ago by freezing a mirror to absolute zero. Amazingly Eva
 who's a quantum physicist never thought of this. She says it's worth a try. 

Eva uses liquid nitrogen from her lab to freeze the large mirror in the middle of the room. Unfortunately it ends up shattering, and Eva slumps in defeat. She says she watched her husband Joseph mourn her and move on with his life, and there's no hope left.

Barry arrives at CCPD, where Joe has him reexamine a cold case at superspeed. Barry finds new evidence that the victims were killed by a fire started by UV rays, implying that Ultraviolet and Black Hole were involved. Joe says there are many such cases, and he fears Joseph Carver has a mole in the department.

Ralph and Sue stake out Loring's warehouse HQ and take photos. Suddenly a guard appears and attacks Ralph. Sue knocks out the guard with some sweet martial arts moves. They hightail it out of there and regroup at Jitters. Sue says the evidence they need is in Loring's ledger, located in his warehouse office. She says they can sneak in when the guards change shifts. Cecile enters and congratulates Ralph on finding Sue. She "reads" Sue with her telepathic/empathic powers, and says she and Ralph are a lot alike.

At STAR Labs, Mirror Iris sneaks into the Starchives looking for the Mirror Gun. Just as she spots it, she's surprised by Nash, who claims he's taking inventory for the AWOL Cisco. She lies and says she was looking for Nora's journal, and asks Nash not to tell Barry she was nosing around. 

Nash is too distracted to listen, as he sees a vision of Harry Wells standing behind Mirror Iris (much like he did last week). This time Harry speaks, saying it must be difficult for Nash to live in the present when he has so much "unfinished business." Mirror Iris leaves, and Nash stares at the copy of Harry Wells' journal that he took from the Starchives.

That night Ralph & Sue sneak into Loring's warehouse. They're spotted by guards again, and barricade themselves in Loring's office. They don't find the ledger, but Ralph locates a safe deposit box key. Sue says that'll do, and they escape onto the roof. As the guards approach, Ralph grabs Sue and stretches them down to street level. Sue realizes Ralph's the Elongated Man.

Back at Ralph's office, Sue reasons that now that Loring knows they have his key, he'll hurry to empty his deposit box. She wants to immediately break into the bank after hours to get the ledger for herself. Ralph says he won't commit a crime for Sue, but will help her get the ledger and turn it over to the police. She reluctantly agrees.

Back in the Mirror Dimension, Iris tells Eva not to give up hope. Eva says she's glad the mirror broke, as she's tired of looking into a world she can't have. As she rants and raves, a shard of the broken mirror begins jiggling, then shoots across the room into her hand. They're both stunned, and Iris says they may have found their way out.

Meanwhile, Joe meets with the president of the Central City Mercantile Bank and says he has word that someone's planning to rob the place. The president says the vault is electrified, just as Joe's partner tasers him unconscious. The partner pulls off an incredibly lifelike mask, revealing she's Sue. "Joe" then morphs into Ralph, who used his stretchy powers to impersonate him.

They enter the vault and the two decide this is the absolute perfect time to talk about their lives. Sue says she grew bored with the socialite scene and is still trying to figure out who she is. Ralph says he was a cop, but became lost when that career ended.

Sue then uses the key to open the safe deposit box. Inside is a smaller box, which doesn't look like it could hold a ledger. She opens it and pulls out a massive diamond. She then locks Ralph in the vault and electrifies it.

Ralph realizes she played him like a fiddle— blowing up her own apartment to make him sympathetic, pretending she and her parents were in danger, etc. She admits it all, and adds that she doesn't even know John Loring— their "relationship" was all part of the ruse. She says she'll keep his true identity a secret if he doesn't tell her parents she's a thief.
Sue then exits the vault, and sees Loring and his thugs waiting for her. Sue says she's a police officer, but Loring doesn't believe her and prepares to fire.

Ralph tries to get through the electrified bars of the vault, but can't because the script says so. He then looks up and sees the sprinkler system, so he changes into his costume, squeezes into the sprinkler and through the pipes, and comes out in the lobby between Sue and Loring.

Loring and his men begin shooting, and Ralph wraps a giant fist around himself and Sue. Suddenly the gunfire stops, and when they look out they see Ultraviolet has taken out Loring and his gang. Ralph attacks, but Ultraviolet blasts him and knocks him unconscious.

Sue and Ultraviolet then fight hand to hand for a bit. Ralph comes to, and Sue slides the case over to him and scampers off. Ultraviolet comes for Ralph, but he opens the case and reveals it's empty. Furious, Ultraviolet unleashed a mighty blast to cover her escape. Just then Loring and his men revive and threaten Ralph.

Suddenly the Flash zooms in and cuffs Loring's gang. The real Joe arrives, and the president tells him that Ralph robbed the vault. Barry says it's a case of mistaken identity, and Joe explains. Ralph tells Barry he's not gonna let Sue escape that easily.

At STAR, Ralph can't believe he let Sue play him like she did. Barry tells Mirror Iris that he & Joe found evidence linking Black Hole to more murders. He hands her the Mirror Gun, saying he trusts her and it's important that she take down Carver & Black Hole. Mirror Iris takes the gun, kisses Barry on the cheek and walks off... secretly smiling.

Back in the Mirror Dimension, Iris tells Eva she must have a connection to the mirror. Eva concentrates, and the broken shards raise off the floor and fly back into place on the wall, reforming the mirror. Eva wonders how she did this, and Iris says they'll figure it out.

Iris then looks through the mirror at Barry, who's reading in their apartment. He stops and glances over at the mirror as if he senses something, then goes back to his book.

In her hideout, Sue scans the diamond she stole, which reveals the Black Hole logo engraved inside it. She says, "Game on."

• Last week I half-jokingly said that Barry definitely gonna have sex with Mirror Iris (since it was Valentine's Day and all). Now I'm not so sure. In this episode the two of them are positively chaste. At one point Barry tries to kiss Mirror Iris goodbye, but she presents her cheek rather than smooch him on the lips. Late in the episode she pecks him on the cheek instead of the lips as well.

Is Mirror Iris repulsed by Barry, and is doing her best to keep him at bay? Or are the writers doing this in an effort to minimize the damage to Barry & Iris' relationship? As things stand now, when Iris inevitably gets out of the Mirror Dimension and confronts Barry, he can say, "It's not that bad! All I did was sort of kiss her!

• Inside the Mirror Dimension, Iris picks up a book and notices the text is backwards. Makes sense I guess, since she's in a reflection of the real world.

A second later she then looks at a clear dry erase board that Eva McCulloch scribbled equations on and says, "Everything is backwards."

I laughed out loud when she said that line. I get what they were going for here, but... it's a clear board. All she had to do was walk around to the other side of it and voila! No more backwards writing!

• For someone who's supposed to be a smart & savvy reporter, Real Iris makes a poor showing in this episode.  

 She sees a mirror version of herself has taken her place in the real world, but doesn't think it's odd that Eva McCulloch doesn't have a corresponding reflective twin.

— When Eva demonstrates the power to telekinetically control the mirror shards, she's amazed rather than suspicious of this sudden ability.

— Worst of all, Iris knows she was physically yanked into the Mirror Dimension, but doesn't suspect the realm's sole inhabitant!

Taking these things into account, it's pretty obvious that Eva is the new Mirror Master, yet this fact sails far over Iris' head. I suppose I should cut her a bit of slack here, as she's distressed and distraught by her situation. Still, you'd think she'd have picked up on at least one of these clues.

• Barry pretty much takes a back seat in this episode, as the focus is split between Iris, Mirror Iris and of course Sue Dearbon. He does show up long enough to complain that he's sore from last week's battle, which implies there's definitely something wrong with his powers and connection to the Speed Force.

• I like Sue quite a bit (even if she does dress like Negan)! She's fun, intelligent and feisty, and makes a perfect foil for Ralph. I'm looking forward to them eventually becoming a couple, as they were in the comics.

Sue Dibney, wife of the Elongated Man, made her comic book debut in The Flash #119, way back in 1961 (!). She and Ralph were one of the few married couples in all of comicdom. They were a team in the Nick & Nora Charles mold (ask your grandparents, kids!), trading quips as they traveled the globe and went on crime-fighting adventures together.

Comic book Sue wasn't an accomplished cat burglar though, as Arrowverse Sue seems to be. I'm assuming The Flash writers threw that in to prevent her from being a damsel in distress, and also to give Sue a redemption arc before she eventually marries Ralph.

• Ralph discovers that Sue's very obviously used her credit card to rent an apartment in Central City. He visits the building, intent on finally finding her. As he approaches her door, he hears the sound of breaking glass coming from her apartment. He opens the door and Sue yells "Get down!" and tackles him to the floor. A second later an explosion destroys the apartment.

How the hell does any of this work? I get that Sue knew Ralph would find out about the apartment and come looking for her. And I understand she rigged the explosion herself, to generate sympathy from Ralph.

What I don't understand is how she knew just when he'd come looking for her. He barges in when he hears breaking glass in her place. Did she somehow see him coming and start breaking glass so he'd hear? She must have, else she would have had to stand there breaking glass all day as she waited for him to arrive. She's lucky it wasn't the landlord or someone else who opened the door right as she set off the explosion!

 John Loring, this week's sort-of villain, is a gender-flipped reference to the comics. In 2004's Identity Crisis miniseries, Jean Loring was the ex-wife of the Atom. In an insane effort to win him back, Jean tries to convince Atom that a villain is targeting the loved ones of the Justice League. She secretly attempts to scare Sue Dibney, but ends up accidentally incinerating her (!). As if that wasn't enough, Sue was pregnant when she was killed! Modern comic books, ladies and gents! Come for the fun and escapism, stay for the gruesome torture porn!

There is a Jean Loring in the Arrowverse, but she was the Queen family lawyer over on Arrow.

I'm hoping that John Loring's appearance in this episode means the writers are just paying homage to Identity Crisis, and have no plans to adapt the awful storyline.

• Ralph sneaks around Loring's warehouse, taking incriminating photos to use against him. One of Loring's thugs appears, grabs Ralph's camera and throws it to the ground. Later on Sue says it's too bad the photos were destroyed, as now they have no evidence against Loring.

The implication here is that the thug wrecked Ralph's camera. But it looks like the only thing that happened to it is the telephoto lens snapped off. The camera looks unharmed. Plus it's probably a digital camera that stores photos on a flash drive, meaning the photos are perfectly fine and could easily be retrieved and used.

• After the thug breaks the camera, he begins beating Ralph senseless. Is that even possible? Can Ralph really be hurt that way? Wouldn't a punch just bounce off his rubbery skin? Or is he normal the majority of the time, and has to activate his stretchy powers?

• Cecile runs into Ralph and Sue at Jitters. As Ralph introduces them, Cecile uses her telepathic ability to "read" Sue.

Are Cecile's powers on the fritz? She scans Sue, but doesn't pick up on the fact that she's a liar and a thief and is using Ralph. All she says is that Sue and Ralph are "emotionally identical." You'd think at the very least she'd sense some small level of deception on Sue's part. I guess her powers are plot specific.

• Wow, Baby Jenna actually shows up for one second in this episode! You know, Joe & Cecile's kid, who I was convinced the writers completely forgot about this season? 

As near as I can tell she hasn't appeared onscreen since Season 5's Cause And XS, which first aired almost exactly a year ago!

• In the Mirror Dimension, Iris gets an idea and says:

Iris: "We just need one way out of here, Eva."

(She glances at the mirror on the wall.)
Iris: "That's it. Sam Scudder."
Eva: "Who?"
Iris: "He was one of the bad guys. He trapped... someone in a mirror a few years ago. And my friends got him out by bringing it to absolute zero."

Iris is referring to the events of Season 3's The New Rogues here. In that episode, Sam Scudder, aka the original Mirror Master, shoved Barry into a nearby mirror and trapped him inside it. Jesse Quick, who was still on the show at that time, too the mirror to STAR Labs, where Team Flash tried to figure out how to free Barry from it.

Harry (who was also still on the show at that time) suggested they cool the mirror to slow down its molecules, which should allow Barry to vibrate himself out of it. They hooked up the mirror to a "molecular decelerator" and chilled it, but unfortunately it didn't get cold enough.

While no one was looking, Caitlin sneaked over to the mirror and used her (then) secret cold powers to lower the temp of the mirror even further, allowing Barry to escape.

• As always, whenever I see "Starchives" written out, I can't help but read it as "Star Chives." Mmmmm... they're good on baked potatoes!

• Mirror Iris sneaks around the Starchives and finds the Mirror Gun. She picks it up out of its protective case, and we see it's nestled in a form-fitting recess in a block of foam.

I dunno why, but this made me chuckle. Apparently in addition to all his many other duties, Cisco likes to painstakingly carve perfect shapes out of foam in which to store high tech devices. He's quite the talented guy!

• Last week when Nash began hallucinating doppelgangers, I wasn't sure if he was seeing Harry Wells or possibly Harrison Wells, aka Eobard Thawne. Based on evidence in the past few episodes, I decided it was most likely Harry.

This episode would seem to confirm that, as Nash visits the Starchives to swipe a copy of Harry's diary.

By the way, did Harry have this cover printed up himself? Or is it possible Cisco found one of his diaries after he left Earth-1 and had it professionally bound? I'm guessing it was Cisco. No one would ever refer to themselves as "Harrison 'Harry' Wells."

• So Ralph and Sue sneak into Loring's office and swipe the key to his safe deposit box. Sue wants to immediately break into the Mercantile Bank's vault and use the key to steal Loring's ledger. Ralph tells her that would be theft, and says he won't commit a crime for her.

Hate to break it to you Ralph, but you already committed a crime when you busted into Loring's office. That's called breaking and entering. Not to mention the fact that you and Sue took his key. That's known as theft. Doesn't matter that Loring's a criminal it's still stealing.

Then in order to avoid committing a crime, Ralph and Sue disguise themselves as Joe West and a lady cop (respectively) to get into the bank vault. Yeah, that's called "impersonating an officer" and is also illegal. 

For an ex-cop and private detective, Ralph has a very tenuous and spotty knowledge of the law.

• In the third act, Ralph and Sue disguise themselves and infiltrate the Mercantile Bank.

Where the hell did Sue get an ultra-realistic Mission: Impossible-style full head face mask? It can't be Ralph's because he seems taken aback by it. So why doesn't he ask her why she has such a thing?

• Once again, Ralph uses his powers to disguise himself as Joe. This is the second or maybe even third time he's done this. I get that his features are malleable, but I still don't understand how he changes the color of his skin. Maybe his cells are like that of a cuttlefish.

By the way, when Ralph changes from his Joe disguise back to himself, he conveniently does so off camera. I guess there wasn't enough money in the budget for a morphing effect. Seems like something the scene needed though viewers who don't know about this particular aspect of Ralph's powers are gonna be confused as to where Joe went!

• Sue plays Ralph like a cheap fiddle, as she steals a massive diamond from Loring's safe deposit box and locks Ralph behind a barred gate. When he tries to get through the bars, he finds they're electrified.

OK, I'm calling bullsh*t here. There's absolutely no reason why Ralph couldn't have flattened his entire body to the thickness of paper and slipped between the bars unharmed.

Don't believe me? Welp, just a few seconds later we see him squeeze into the sprinkler system, travel through the narrow water pipe and emerge from the nozzle in the ceiling outside the vault.

If he can crawl through an inch wide water pipe, he can damn well slip between iron bars that are eight inches apart.

• I love this scene in which Ralph protects Sue by covering her with an enormous gloved hand. It looks like a scene straight out of the comics, and is a perfect example of wonderful Silver Age insanity.

Also, note that the bullets are bouncing harmlessly off of Ralph's hand here. Remember above when I mentioned the thug beating up Ralph? If bullets don't do him any damage, then why would a punch in the nose knock him out?

• Nice to see that before he escaped from the vault, Ralph not only donned his costume but took the time to carefully apply the black makeup around his eyes that forms the bulk of his "mask."

• Apparently Sue shops at the same store as Black Widow over in the MCU. Seriously, her catsuit could not look more identical to Natasha's if she tried.

• Early in the episode, Mirror Iris comes up with a flimsy reason for wanting the dangerous Mirror Gun from the Starchives. Barry says nope, as he's afraid it could fall into the wrong hands. Later on he relents and hands the gun over to Mirror Iris. She thanks him, and as she walks off she secretly flashes the audience an evil, self-satisfied grin. It's actually kind of chilling.

• In the tag scene, Sue scans the diamond she stole and sees it's embedded with Black Hole logos. I have no idea what's going on in this scene or what it means. Is John Loring connected to Black Hole? Is he working for them? Is Joseph Carver using some sort of mirror tech to create duplicates of valuable items, then keeping the real things for himself? I dunno. We'll find out in the next few episodes.

This Week's Best Lines: 
Not surprisingly, they all involve Ralph!

Cecille (to Ralph): "When I left last night, you were standing here staring at the exact same board, same as the night before. Honey, don't you think maybe it's time you got a little help?And a shower?

Ralph: "Where have you been? A..and why did your apartment explode in my face?"
Sue: "Yeah, hate it when that happens."

Ralph: "So you mind telling me how you know martial arts?"
Sue: "My parents sent me to Kyoto for a summer. Trained with a blind sensei. Taught me everything I know."
Ralph: "Really?"
Sue: "No! I trained with a guy named Frank at a YMCA."

Sue: "How how did you become the Elongated Man, anyway?"
Ralph: "I was brutally experimented on by a covert organization for years. They forced me to consume rubber-based polymer compounds."
Sue: "Seriously?"
Ralph: "No. I rode a bus."
(In case you've slept since Season 4, Ralph was one of Clifford DeVoe's bus metas.)
(Ralph and Sue sneak into the bank and search the vault for Loring's ledger. Sue locates it inside a 3" square box.)
Sue: "Found it!"
Ralph: "Must be a tiny ledger."

(After Sue betrays him, Ralph mopes at STAR Labs.)
Ralph: "She played me, Iris. Like Coltrane's soprano sax."

In Stock

Yesterday I decided I needed a red flannel shirt, for reasons. I know from past experience not to waste time attempting to find something I want in a brick & mortar store in this town, so I turned to the internet for my shopping needs.

Target was a bust, as all they had were small sizes (I guess the normal, human sizes were snapped up at the beginning of winter).

I then turned to JCPenney, hoping for better luck there. Nope! Same thing. Plenty of red flannel shirts, but none anywhere close to the XL that I needed.

The news isn't all bad though. JCPenney may be all out of affordable winter clothing, but they are fully stocked with Star Trek: The Next Generation command-level uniforms! And it's about time, too! With its distinctive maroon division color, slim cut and padded shoulders, this uniform will definitely "Make It So" when it comes to fashion! It'll fit in perfectly in any office environment, from the board room to the break room! Engage!

Seriously. I couldn't find a goddamned flannel shirt in this joint, but they sell frakin' Star Trek uniforms. Is it any wonder their stock price is under a dollar a share?

Monday, February 17, 2020

The Flash Season 6, Episode 11: Love Is A Battlefield

This week on The Flash we get a dreaded filler episode, one that spends the majority of its runtime on relationships— because Valentine's Day, yo!

OK, so it wasn't all fluff. The Mirror Iris storyline was actually pretty compelling, and very well done. Actress Candice Patton definitely brought her "A" game to this episode, playing a more aggressive and ambitious version of Iris.

I loved the scene in which Barry says something feels "off" about Mirror Iris, and she scolds him for thinking something's wrong when she's simply growing and improving herself. She almost had me convinced everything was normal with that speech! 

And yes, Mirror Iris' rant was probably a jab at toxic masculinity or some such hooey, but it was done in a subtle and masterful way, rather than clubbing us over the head with it. Kudos!

We also get the welcome return of Amunet Black this week. As usual, Katee Sackhoff chews up the scenery with gusto and glee, and it's always a hoot when she shows up.

Cisco sits out this episode, which came as no surprise since he was temporarily written out last week., And Ralph's still AWOL! Jesus Christ, I'm beginning to wonder if he's ever coming back. Based on the title of next week's episode, it looks like he'll FINALLY be returning.


The Plot:
At the end of last week's episode, Iris sneaked into McCullogh Tech, where she was pulled into a mirror by two silvered hands. At the beginning of this episode, we see Iris wake up on the floor. She rubs her head and looks at the giant mirror behind her. Suddenly she hears footsteps and runs off.

The next morning, Barry's surprised to see Iris (who previously couldn't even boil water) has made him perfect pancakes and fresh squeezed orange juice. Rather than thinking this odd, he chalks it up to her finally learning how to cook. He suggests they have an early Valentine's Day dinner.

In the superfluous B-plot, Allegra arrives at the Citizen and finds Frost chilling there for some reason. Allegra grumbles about the holiday, and Frost figures she's had her heart broken. She discovers Allegra's moping over hipster doofus Emerson Fairweather, and makes it her mission to get them together. Exciting! Remember when Frost was an edgy antihero?

Cut to Barry & Iris enjoying dinner at Giovanni's. Iris orders in Italian, again surprising Barry. Just then supervillain Amunet Black wanders in, demanding that a Saul Frankel present himself and hand over his case— or she'll kill everyone in the restaurant. Frankel stands and gives her the case. She opens it and pulls out a high tech device and steals it. 

Barry then flashes his badge and attempts to arrest Amunet. She recognizes him and says if he tries it, she'll reveal his secret (HA!) identity. Barry apparently forgets he has superspeed and could zip her off to jail before she can blink, and stands helplessly as she waltzes out.

The next day Frost & Allegra see Emerson at Jitters. Frost urges Allegra to go talk to him, but before she can he begins flirting with a waitress. Allegra accuses Frost of being a terrible life coach and storms out. The Flash, ladies and gentlemen! Come for the superhero action, stay for the teen angst drama.

That night Barry & Iris stake out a pool hall, hoping to spot Amunet. Iris gets tired of waiting and barges into the hall, demanding to know where Amunet will strike next. She breaks a bottle over a bouncer's head to make a point, and the bartender tells her Amunet's next target is Ivo Labs. Iris returns to a flabbergasted Barry, who scolds her for being so reckless.

Sure enough, Amunet's at Ivo Labs, where she steals another case. Barry & Iris sneak in and observe her. Just then Goldface— Amunet's ex-boyfriend— enters and demands she hand over the case to him. The two argue a bit, and then Goldface uses his gold chain as a whip to yank the case from Amunet's hand. She then fires shards of metal from her gauntlet at him. Goldface runs out with the case, and Amunet escapes as well. Barry's upset that they got away, but Iris reveals she somehow stole the contents of the case while the two villains were fighting one another.

The next day, Barry reports that Amunet and Goldface are engaged in a gang war, which is causing havoc in the city. Iris discovers the item she took from the case is a "biome storage unit." If combined with the UV projector Amunet stole earlier, it could be used to preserve rare and fragile plants.

Iris comes up with a plan to get close to Amunet by simply giving her the device. Barry says that's way too dangerous, which starts a huge fight between the two. Iris says she's grown as a person, and is upset that Barry can't accept that. She says she's going through with the plan and walks out. 

Iris somehow finds Amunet's hideout and offers her the device. Amunet asks why she shouldn't just kill her and take it. Iris says because she figured out what Amunet's doing. Against all reason and logic, Iris found out that a sample of Rappacini's Daughter— a rare orchid whose pollen causes telepathy— is currently being housed in Central City. Iris says Amunet plans to use the pollen to swipe bank account numbers, but she wants to use it to read Barry's mind and save her marriage. For some reason Amunet buys this ridiculous story and says the two of them are going to be good friends. 

Barry meets with Joe, and tells him something's off between him and Iris. Joe gives Barry a Patented The CW Pep Talk®, and says he & Iris will never grow apart and everything will be fine. Thrilling!

Allegra tells Frost she's been reluctant to pursue Emerson because she's afraid of how he'll react to her being a meta. Frost says Allegra never gave him a chance to decide for himself. Allegra realizes she's right, and comes to a decision. Pulse-pounding!

That night, Amunet brings Iris to a warehouse, where she sees the rare orchid houses in a protective case. Amunet says she and Goldface planned to use the flower to go on a telepathic spree together, but things didn't work out between them. Iris realizes Amunet still has feelings for Goldface, and suggests she tell him about it. Electrifying!

Amunet assembles the two devices into a holding container, and prepares to put the orchid into it. Just then Goldface and his crew arrive, and once again he uses his chain to yank the device from her hand. The two (along with their respective thugs) begin fighting once more, as Iris slips out of the room.

The Flash arrives and wraps up the various henchmen in vines. He then asks the two villains why they broke up, and they admit they had problems communicating with one another. Goldface then uses his "gold telekinesis" to hurl Barry into a wall of wooden crates, as Amunet pins him against them with two of her metal shards.

Amunet and Goldface continue their bickering, and Barry phases himself free while they're distracted. Iris suggests they destroy the orchid before either villain can use it. Barry fires a tiny bolt of Speed Force Lightning at the plant, which incinerates it. The burning pollen fills the area with purple smoke, temporarily giving Amunet and Goldface telepathic powers. The two read one another's minds, and realize they're still in love. They begin making out, as Barry and Iris look on uncomfortably. Gripping!

Later at Jitters, Allegra apologizes to Frost, saying she realizes she was just trying to help. She says she told Emerson that she's a meta and he was cool with it. She then scampers off and joins Emerson at his table. 

Nash arrives at Jitters as well, having received an urgent invite from Frost. He asks what she wants, and Frost— who's picked up on the fact that Nash has a paternal interest in Allegra— says she's a good listener if he ever wants to talk. She leaves, and Nash stares wistfully at Allegra. After a beat he turns to leave, and sees Harry Wells standing in the doorway. He blinks, and the apparition is gone.

In the tag scene, Barry & Iris relax in their apartment. He apologizes for not acknowledging her growth, and says he's proud of her. He says he was afraid they were growing apart, and Iris says that'll never happen. They kiss and embrace, as Iris stares into a full length mirror behind them.

Cut to inside the mirror, as the REAL Iris pounds on the glass, shouting,"Get away from him! Barry! That's not me! She's not me!"

• For some reason, DC Comics has always based their superheroes in fictional cities with very generic names, like Metropolis (which literally means "city!"), Gotham City, National City and Central City.

This makes it difficult, if not impossible, to figure out exactly where in the country their characters live. Is Metropolis near New York City? Is Gotham really Chicago? Who knows?

It's the same here in the Arrowverse. The Flash takes place in Central City, but it's never been clear just where it's located. Most fans assume it's somewhere in the Midwest— most likely in either Kansas or Missouri.

Well, we finally have an answer! Over on this week's Legends Of Tomorrow, there's a brief scene involving a corpse in a body bag (don't ask). At one point there's a prominent closeup of a label on the bag, indicating the corpse came from Iron Heights Penitentiary, which is located Central City, MO, USA.

As near as I can tell, this is the first onscreen confirmation that Central City is indeed in Missouri. Exactly where in Missouri is anyone's guess though— note that the tag skips the zip code and says "USA" instead.

Wherever Central City is in Missouri, it's an odd place. Despite the fact that it's in the middle of the country, many episodes place it next to a large, ocean-sized body of water. It also has a massive population of 14 million, which makes it nearly twice the size of New York City!

• Iris has always been easy on the eyes, but she was exceptionally hot in this episode. I don't know if they made a change to her makeup, or if it's simply a case of Candice Patton acting more attractive, if that makes any sense. However they did it, it worked!

Her sudden glow-up was also a subtle little hint to the audience that this is actually Mirror Iris, and not the real thing.

• Barry stops the episode dead in its tracks by asking his Alexa to make dinner reservations, in an hilariously awkward and obvious bout of blatant product placement. Seriously, this scene serves absolutely zero purpose in the episode, other than to remind us that Alexa is a thing and Barry makes enough money to afford one.

Too bad Barry doesn't have a Siri. There was a ton of similarly obnoxious Apple product placement in the most recent episode of Legends Of Tomorrow, so they'd have probably thrown one in for nothing. Plus "Siri = Iris" backwards, which would have been a subtle little clue that we're actually seeing a "reflection" of her! C'mon, guys! Do I have to write your show for you?

• At the beginning of the episode we get this establishing shot of The Central City Citizen office, located in this building.

Oddly enough, the building bears a striking resemblance to the St. Regis Hotel in downtown Vancouver, where all the Arrowverse shows are filmed!

It looks like the FX Team did their best to disguise the place though. They carefully painted out the St. Regis lettering next to the awning, and they erased the illuminated vertical signage on the corner altogether. They also changed the name of the "Gotham" store next door to simply "Diner." And they changed the street sign from Seymour St. to E. Metz St. (which doesn't exist in Vancouver). Nice try, guys, but I found it anyway!

• During Barry & Iris' Valentine's dinner, Amunet barges into the restaurant, looking for a man named Saul Frankel. He sheepishly stands up, and she demands he hand over the case he's guarding.

OK, at the risk of invoking the wrath of SJWs, this man does NOT look like a Saul Frankel. Just to prove it, he's played by actor Robert Zen Humpage, who's half British and half Japanese.

Apparently when he was an infant, Frankel was adopted by Jewish parents?

By the way, why does Frankel have this high tech doodad with him at a fancy restaurant in the first place? Is it so valuable he carries it with him no matter where he goes? And how the hell did Amunet know he'd be in the restaurant?

• When Amunet enters the restaurant, Barry awkwardly attempts to arrest her. She threatens to expose his secret identity if he does, which leaves him helpless and seemingly unable to act. A couple things here.

First of all, once again Barry's only as fast as the plot needs him to be. If you'll recall, back in Enter Flashtime he moved so fast he literally froze time so he could figure out how to undo a nuclear explosion. He could have easily zoomed Amunet into Iron Heights Prison before she could finish her threat, and return to the restaurant before anyone realized he was gone.

Secondly, is exposing his secret identity really a big deal? Is there anyone in Central City who doesn't know he's the Flash at this point?

• In the filler B-plot, Frost wears her Marvel Cinematic Universe disguise to Jitters. Yep, no way anyone could ever possibly recognize this distinctive known criminal now!

At the end of the episode Nash wanders into Jitters as well, and doesn't even bother with a baseball cap!

Why would he need a disguise? Well, remember back in Season 3 when HR Wells had to use his "facial transmogrification device" to change his appearance in public, because he looked exactly like serial killer Harrison Wells, aka Eobard Thawne, aka The Reverse-Flash? Remember that?

Apparently the writers have completely given up on that conceit, right? And are hoping we've all forgotten about it by now.

• Barry rendezvous with Iris at the Citizen after searching the city for Amnuet. Oddly enough, he's actually out of breath, which doesn't usually happen. Iris notes this, and asks, "Why are you so tired?" Barry says it's because he had to run so fast he was practically invisible, to keep Amunet from seeing him.

It's possible Barry's right, and he's just worn out from so much exertion. Nothing happens by accident on a show like this though, so I'm assuming his fatigue is another symptom of whatever superspeed malady he has. Remember last week in Marathon when his hand spontaneously generated Speed Force Lightning for no reason? This has to be related to that.

I'm wondering if these seemingly unimportant incidents have something to do with Oliver Queen/The Spectre "unleashing Barry's potential" at the Vanishing Point during the Crisis?

• Barry meets with Joe and tells him he's afraid he and Iris are growing apart. Joe gives him a speech about trees (?), saying, "Look, the branches, they grow from the center. They grow farther and farther away from the center, but what you have to remember is underneath, the roots? They're mirroring the branches."

Get it? The roots are mirroring the branches. You're a funny guy, Joe.

• I can't remember the episode, but at some point in the past it was mentioned that Amunet and Goldface were dating at one point.

This episode marks the first time we've ever seen them together onscreen though. The two have a different relationship in the comics, where they're husband and wife.

• Goldface is played by actor Damion Poitier. With a name like that, it's impossible not to wonder if he's related to cinema great Sidney Poitier. I looked him up, and Damion says he's "unsure" if he's related to the elder Poitier. He claims their ancestors came from the same island though.

• When Goldface first appeared in Season 5's Goldfaced, his powers and abilities were vague and ill-defined. He had a large gold chain he used as a whip and could seemingly control. And at one point his skin was torn away, revealing what appeared to be a gold skull underneath. Are his bones made of gold? Is his entire body filled with the stuff? Who the hell knows?

Sadly, this episode doesn't clear things up a bit. The chain's back and his gold manipulation powers seems to have increased. But there's no mention of any gold inside his body this time.

Also, last time we saw Goldface he'd been electrocuted by Barry, which caused molten gold to literally pour out of his eyes! Holy Shiite! After that I assumed he was either dead or at the very least, permanently blinded. And yet in this episode he's perfectly fine. Apparently he made a complete and full recovery!

• At one point Goldface uses his gold manipulating powers to hurl the Flash across the room. Just how much gold does Barry have in his costume anyway? Seems like it'd need to have a lot for Goldface to control it like that. Does the suit contain gold circuit boards? Gold thread? Are his chest emblem and ear wings made of gold? 

Amunet then pins him against a wall with a couple of her gauntlet shards. Ouch!

Eventually Barry phases through the shards to free himself, leaving his suit with a couple holes in it. Based on the way he seems fine after this, I'm assuming his speed-healing kicked in and fixed up his shoulders. 

Lastly... what happened to Amunet's shards? I'm assuming they're still stuck in the wall? She fires off quite a few shards in this episode, and seemingly never recovers them. If you'll recall, her shards are made of a special alnico alloy, and not just any run of the mill metal. You'd think she'd use her magnetic powers to draw all the shards back into her gauntlet. Maybe this happens while we're not looking.

• I don't know why, but I loved the scene in which Barry throws a tiny filament of Speed Force Lightning across the room to incinerate the Rappacini's Daughter orchid.

• Amunet & Goldface inhale the orchid smoke, which temporarily allows them to read each other's minds. Oddly enough, that's the last we see of them!

So... did Barry ever arrest Amunet and Goldface, or did he and Iris just leave 'em to bone one another in the warehouse? There's no mention of any arrests in the tag scene, so I guess he must have let 'em go! Our hero, ladies and gentlemen!

• At the end of the episode, Nash is in Jitters when he turns and sees a very familiar face.

At first I assumed this was supposed to be Eobard Thawne. But the more I look at him, the more I think it's Harry Wells, formerly of the Earth-2 that was destroyed in the Crisis.

It would make sense that it's Harry, since just last week Cisco was watching a holo-cube of Harry and pining for his dead friend.

I have no idea how Harry (or that holo-cube!) can still exist, since his world was not only destroyed, but retroactively overwritten when the Paragons rebooted this new Universe. I'm sure we're about to find out though.

• So Barry totally had sex with Mirror Iris, right? I mean it is Valentine's Day, after all, so it's pretty much a given. And real Iris had to watch from inside the mirror! Yikes!

There's no doubt that this incident will come back to bite Barry in the ass once Iris gets out of that Mirror. Especially when a few episodes back (in The Last Temptation Of Barry Allen, Part 1), Iris instantly knew that Barry had been possessed by Bloodwork, and wasn't himself. She's definitely gonna be pissed that he couldn't tell that she'd been replaced by a completely different person!

That's definitely gonna come up and cause a huge deal of resentment down the line. 

This Week's Best Lines:
(Iris cooks Barry a normal breakfast, instead of plopping an unpeeled banana on his plate.)
Barry: "This all looks awesome. I mean, the pancakes are really round. Excited to taste 'em... with my mouth."
(He tentatively takes an experimental bite as Iris watches.)
Barry: "Oh, my God. When did you learn to— I mean, these are really good!"
(Kudos to Grant Gustin here, as he played this scene with perfect comedic timing, stopping himself just short of insulting the old Iris' cooking.)

(Amunet steals a valuable piece of tech, and Barry attempts to arrest her, which amuses her greatly.)

Amunet: "I have the right to remain silent, which will come in handy if you don't want me letting that little secret identity cat out of its flashy red bag. So why don't we just call this a warning. I'll be on my way. No harm. No cowl."
Barry: "I'm supposed to just let you leave?"
Amunet: "Bloody right. Don't think of coming after me, 'cause if I see you, or your onesie, or any one of your frigid or bendy superhero friends, I will hold it against all of you and tell the world your real identities. Savvy?"

(This one requires a bit of setup. Barry & Iris go out to dinner, and he's surprised when she orders in Italian.)

Barry: "What... do you speak Italian?"
Iris: "Oh, well you know that story that I was writing a few months ago on Little Italy? Well, I picked up a phrase or two. Like porca miseria. It's a curse word, but it literally means "pig misery."
(Amunet then enters the restaurant, robs a diner and threatens to expose Barry's secret identity if he tries to stop her. She then sashays out of the place.)
Barry: (realizing he's been bested by Amunet) "Pig misery!"

(Barry decides to search for Amunet at superspeed.)
Barry: "I'm gonna run some sweeps of the city."
Iris: "Whoa, whoa, she said no onesies."
Barry: "Please don't call it that."

Barry: "Hey, what happened? I heard glass breaking."
Iris: "Nothing. I broke a bottle over some loser's head."
Barry: "You what!?"
Iris: "Barry, don't worry. Everything's fine. I was playing a role to get information."
Barry: "Okay, well, that was maybe crossing a line."
Iris: "I'm sure they have some sort of mob doctor in there somewhere."

Amunet: "I suppose you're here to steal what's mine. Typical."
Goldface: "What's yours? Baby, that device belongs to me."
Amunet: "Oh, here we go again with the possessive man routine. The vinyl records were mine, Keith!"
Goldface: "Since when did you like Radiohead? I had OK Computer on 180 gram vinyl with a triple gatefold sleeve!"
Amunet: (cough) "Overrated. (cough)
Goldface: "You skipped out with my Straight Outta Compton soundtrack!"
Amunet: "Oh, please, like you even knew who NWA were before you met me!"

(Nash barges into the Citizen office, where he runs into Frost.)

Nash: "Oh. It's just you. Yeah, I thought, you know, maybe it might be the you know, the girl, the what's her name? Abbondanza?
Frost: "Allegra?"
Nash: "Yeah, Allegra."
(Turns out "abbondanza" is a real word, and is Italian for abundance.)

(The Flash tries to break up a fight between Amunet and Goldface.)
Amunet: "I said no onesie."
Barry: "Okay, why does everybody keep calling it that?"

(Amunet and Goldface inhale the telepathic vapor and realize they still love one another.)
Amunet: "I should take off my gauntlet."
Goldface: "Leave it on, girl. Daddy likes the metal."
Barry: "I can't unsee this."

Frost: "The advice you gave, it really helped me get through to Allegra. It was very insightful. Almost... parental."
Nash: "You going somewhere with that?"
(Obviously Frost has figured out that Nash had a daughter who was Allegra's doppelganger.)
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