If you would like to read my review of the last episode, click here.
Synopsis: A meta who can shrink anything he touches battles Team Flash. Cisco and Ralph get caught in his crossfire and are shrunk to miniature versions of themselves. Cecile realizes her pregnancy has caused her to have temporary powers and discovers she can hear other people’s thoughts, which unnerves Joe. Meanwhile, Barry meets someone with a mysterious connection to Henry Allen. (TVGuide)
Writers: Sam Chalsen & Judalina Neira
Director: Chris Peppe
Rating: TV-PG
Running Time: 43 minutes
With Barry in jail, Team Flash was front and center in this week’s episode, “Honey, I Shrunk Team Flash.” Was it a step up from last week’s hot mess? Just a tad bit.
The episode began with Cecile and Joe preparing for the arrival of their baby–aka building a complicated crib together. It was in this moment, Cecile discovers she has powers, sort of. Through some weird circumstances (still TBD), it appears Cecile’s pregnancy has given her telepathic abilities. This becomes a source of tension between her and Joe as the episode progresses–but we’ll get to that later. During a check-up with Caitlin, they learn this ability may or may not be associated with the first particle explosion–and that they’re having a girl!
The team continued to focus on their efforts to get Barry out of jail, however, they remained at standstill in this episode. Instead, per Barry’s request, they shifted their focus onto exonerating Barry’s new prison friend, Big Sir–who was wrongfully convicted of murder. He was framed for the murder by someone who appeared to look just like him–and was coincidentally the meta-human villain in this episode.
Enter, Dwarfstar (Derek Mears). His abilities allowed him to shrink and “embiggen” items, hence the title of this episode. In an effort to confront him for the crimes of the past and present, Cisco and Ralph find themselves caught in the cross-fire and end up being shrunken.
Joe and Cecile continued to have issues as Joe grappled with Cecile’s newfound powers. With nowhere else to turn, they found themselves in therapy with the same therapist who helped Iris and Barry. The back-and-forth between Cecile and Joe got really old, pretty fast. It was a relief that they nipped that plot in the bud by the end of the episode–although Cecile was quite hilarious throughout the episode.
As if the team didn’t have enough to deal with, they now had to find a way to bring Cisco and Ralph back to their normal size. In doing so, they mucked things up and caused their cells to react in a way that would lead to them exploding. Their only saving grace would be to re-expose themselves to Dwarfstar’s energy blasts.
It was a welcome change to see this episode focus more on the supporting cast. However, Barry still made the occasional scene as he tried to help Big Sir. His persistence in doing so caught the eye of Warden Wolfe (Richard Brooks) who warned him “everyone is a monster here.”
The battle scene at the end of the episode mimicked something out of Ant-Man, as Dwarfstar continuously shrunk and enlarged things. It was quite enjoyable to watch but felt extremely short for a fight scene. But all’s well that ends well because Ralph and Cisco were “embiggened” to their original size and Dwarfstar was arrested. However, he refused to confess to the murder Big Sir was arrested for.
Disappointed, Barry delivered the news to Big Sir. Since he was unable to save him, Barry took it upon himself to do what he did best–resort to his powers. In the darkness of the night, Barry took him to Jiaju, China–away from the shackles of prison life. What he didn’t know was Wolfe had set up cameras on him to follow his every move–and discovered Barry is The Flash. We quickly learn Wolfe is not who he seems (after all, who is in this show) as he drugs Barry’s snack and whisks him away.
In the final moments of the episode, we see Barry being transported to a techy prison cell, and Wolfe making a call..to Amunet. Could Wolfe, Amunet, and DeVoe be working together? When it comes to The Flash, its almost a guarantee.
This episode was slightly stronger in plot and storyline this week, but just a smidge. What stood out the most was focusing on the supporting characters who don’t always get their time in the spotlight–particularly, Cecile. They have a lot to offer in the show so it was nice to see their dynamic without Barry around. We hope this is a sign that the series will pick up its momentum and start producing more enjoyable episodes. With Barry under Wolfe’s possession, let’s cross our fingers that the drama is just getting started.
Score: 7/10
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