The Flash took last week off, which puts us one week closer to “Crisis.” It’s natural for there to be breaks in new episodes, but this season feels more urgent. That’s just going to happen when your main character has a countdown timer to his death. November’s more than halfway over, and Barry’s hoping to prepare Central City for life without him before it ends. Not only that, the show has to get its plot to the crossover point on time. That’s probably why this one opened with a pretty big plot dump. Nash Wells tells Team Flash that The Monitor isn’t who he appears. He is apparently a cosmic con-man. Nash thinks if he can get to where the Monitor’s hiding and kill him, he can prevent the Crisis. Somehow I don’t think that’s the case here.
This is a much more comedic episode for the series, even for the lighter turn it took after Season 4. Barry’s been preparing his teammates to take over protecting the city while he’s gone. This week, it’s Ralph’s turn. And what better way to tell a story about Ralph Dibny than a James Bond pastiche? With tuxes and everything. Joe finds a lead on Ralph’s missing persons case, and Ralph wants to check it out immediately. Barry, planning to announce Ralph as Central City’s official protector the next day, tags along. He wants to make sure Ralph gets back in time for the press conference.
Grant Gustin as Barry Allen, Carlo Rota as Remington Meister and Hartley Sawyer as Dibney — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW
That leads to some hilarious botched spy moments. Ralph is typically the comic relief on this show, but he gets to play the suave hero here. Barry, out of his element, is the bumbling sidekick. The role reversal is a ton of fun, and it’s interesting to see the show force Barry to think on his feet at normal speed. Ralph is in his element here. He’s done this before, or at least has watched enough Bond movies to convince everyone he has. Barry tries the suave act, but his awkward nerdiness gives him away every time. At first, that’s an asset. He’s enough of a distraction that Ralph is able to steal a VIP pass that gets them a table with the party’s host, Remmington. Once there though, Barry’s awkwardness is more of a liability.
They play a game of Mahjong with Remmington in a scene that leaves me even more confused as to how that game works. Barry gives the game away immediately by mentioning the name of the woman they’re trying to find. Ralph does a decent job of covering, but Remmington knows these two aren’t supposed to be here. Strangely, he doesn’t throw them out. He has his associate, Ultraviolet (remember her?) watch them. The fact that they’re still allowed to be there seems awfully suspicious of Ralph, who decides to do a little snooping. Barry does too, busting out his Flash suit and powers against Ralph’s wishes. They don’t find any evidence of Ralph’s missing person, but they do find something else. Remmington is auctioning off a satellite armed with missiles that can destroy entire cities.
Alexa Barajas Plante as Ultraviolet — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW
This episode plays with Bond tropes like a kid plays with new action figures, and I love it. The Flash and Ralph are both captured and tired to chairs, back to back. Remmington gives an entire Bond villain speech outlining his entire plan before pointing a laser directly at them. It’s cheesy as all get out, and that’s what makes it so fun. It even upends the trope a bit. Ralph gets the idea to have Barry fling his cuff link at the laser to disable it. Instead, it makes the thing shoot wildly everywhere. Barry notices the pattern though, and is able to maneuver their restraints in front of a blast so they can escape.
This episode was directed by Killer Frost actress, Danielle Panabaker, and she did an excellent job. Not only does she have a flair for comedy, she can direct the hell out of an action sequence. Barry interrupts Remmington’s auction by acting drunk. He’s enough of a distraction that Ralph is able to shut off the device before it makes an example out of Central City. He and Ultraviolet have a normal-speed hand-to-hand punching match that looks like it came out of an old swashbuckler. There are no superpowers used here, and that’s what makes the fight so great. Barry defeats Ultraviolet by cutting a rope and dropping a lighting grid on her. What really counts though, is that Barry is mostly here to assist. He distracts Remmington momentarily, but Ralph gets the final blow. And he’s the one to self-destruct the satellite and save Central City. That’s what this episode is all about, after all: Showing that Ralph can be the hero.
Danielle Panabaker as Killer Frost — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW
With a main plot this fun, it’d be hard for the rest of the episode to live up to it, which is why it mostly doesn’t try. And that’s OK. The rest of the episode mostly deals with Chester, the YouTuber from the season’s first episode. His atoms have finally stabilized and he’s awake now. The bad news is, he’s been declared dead. Cecille fixes that and gets all his documents in order, but her empath abilities tell her he needs something else. When she tells him about her powers, Chester immediately points out that it must have been a huge conflict of interest when she was a DA. That’s a lot faster than Joe picked up on that fact. Is Chester the smartest person in Central City?
Either way, his story was refreshingly light. The Flash is about to get really heavy for the next few weeks, and a small slice-of-life story like this is what the series needed. It’s good to remind us, before “Crisis,” that this show can have fun. Chester’s big dilemma is he doesn’t know how to ask out Natalie, the barista at Jitters. Cecile tries to help him do it, but all the stress she’s dealing with gets her wires crossed, and she senses the opposite of what Natalie’s feeling. It’s basically Cyrano de Bergerac, only her advice sucks. In the end, Chester decides to face his fears and just ask Natalie out. She says no. And he’s OK with that. In the grand scheme of things, rejection isn’t that bad. God, it’s so nice to see a nerdy character on TV with a healthy view of relationships.
Tom Cavanagh as Nash Wells and Kayla Compton as Allegra — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW
Surprisingly, the opening scene with Nash didn’t really lead to much. He enlists Allegra from episode two to use her ultraviolet powers to help him find The Monitor. She’s nervous about using them at first, but in the end, she does. We don’t see what happens after that. Honestly, I’m kinda OK with that. The show has the next few weeks to dig into the monitor stuff. Literally and figuratively. I like that it keeps things simple for this one. Especially since that cliffhanger sets up some dire times to come. After Ralph accepts recognition as the city’s hero, a bloody, monstrous Ramsey shows up in his office and attacks. The reveal was so well-done, it was actually a shocking moment. Now, I don’t think Ramsey’s actually killing Ralph here. The show has been hinting that his missing persons case will lead to something, and this would be an unsatisfying ending to that. Still, Ramsey’s attack has me legitimately worried for him. Always good when a show leaves me feeling anxious for a week.
The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on The CW
Previously on The Flash:
- The Flash Season 6 Episode 5 Recap
- The Flash Season 6 Episode 4 Recap
- The Flash Season 6 Episode 3 Recap
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