The Flash is back this week after an eventful four episode crossover, Flash Fanatics! This article will cover the midseason finale of The Flash on The CW. The following review is for  season four mid-season final, episode nine “Don’t Run.” Here is the recap for the four way crossover. If you did not watch the Legends of Tomorrow episode, then you missed out on two major events.

RECAP

Barry and Iris were just about to have the happiest day of their life until the soldiers of Earth X barged in. The Nazis, along with Overgirl, Dark Arrow, and Tommy Merlyn (Prometheus) all crashed the wedding, leaving the team to scramble back to Star Labs with an unconscious Prometheus. After a Heartfelt conversation between Oliver and Tommy, Tommy committed suicide and the leading three set out to face their doppelgangers. In a strange turn of events, Barry’s doppelganger was actually Eobard Thawne from Earth One. The team was captured after their third encounter with the Nazis, but was saved by the Freedom Fighters of Earth X. Martin Stein sacrificed himself in order to save the life of Jefferson Jackson. Firestorm was left separated forever and the heroes took down the Nazis. Barry let Eobard retreat to his original time period after refusing to kill him,  so it’s likely we will see him return later on this season or in the future. Barry and Iris got married at the ending along with Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak.

At the wedding, we also got to see the future daughter of Barry and Iris, Dawn Allen. While I have no idea how she will be incorporated into this season, I hope her son Impulse will eventually pay a visit to his grandfather while he is in his prime. Citizen Cold also stuck around rather then going back to Earth X so it’s likely we will see him return to in order to help Barry in some way.

Episode 4×09 Review “DON’T RUN”

Clifford Devoe continues to slowly move each pawn out of the way in order to move the king in his long game of chess with Barry. Devoe finally confronted Flash while he was out shopping after his wedding, with his new wife and long time character, Iris West. Originally, I was worried that The Flash would have a rough transition when making their new main villain a person who was not a speedster, but Devoe continues to prove himself worthy of taking up the mantle. Devoe is deceptively menacing. He’s a metahuman with a growing disability with no hope for a cure. His thinking cap may be slowly keeping his mind in tact by prolonging his brain’s natural powers, but his condition is bound to get worse and eventually put him in a permanent disabled state. His teaching background and knowledge of history makes him far more interesting than the majority of the villains that have appeared in the Arrowverse. It helps add more personality to him. Devoe is also one of the very few villains that are at a major disadvantage due to the lack of an ability to fight without any tech. It will be interesting to see how he will manage to defeat The Flash through pure thoughts rather than brute force.

The cinematography of this episode was phenomenal. Typically, Gotham is the DC TV show to receive praise for its award winning cinematography, but The Flash had a surprisingly competitive episode. There was several different camera angles and lightning effects used throughout the episode that certainly helped them stand out. Devoe’s lab, in particular, was the most impressive with its several lens flares and misleading direction that almost made it look like a puzzle. The abandoned hospital that Caitlin was taking to also gave off a rather eerie tone with its edgy looking design and aging look. It’s always nice to see a different directors take on an episode and this one was certainly more creative although he had a limited amount of resources to actually work with. While it may have been nowhere near the quality of Gotham on FOX, it was still visually impressive for its tight budget. Speaking of a tight budget, the CGI in the episode has vastly improved over last season. Season four has been consistent with its special effects and tonight continued that trend. The battle between Barry and Devoe was an improvement from the typical fight scenes we receive every week. The choreographers have continued to branch out and it just keeps getting better.

Meanwhile, Caitlin Snow was captured by Amunet in need of an experienced doctor who can heal an injured metahuman who has telekinetic powers. Amunet has been selling metahumans on the dark web and the black market. The metahuman she had to help was Brainstorm, a character who will have a massive importance later this season. This subplot was used just to introduce the character of Brainstorm. Amunet has been a very underwhelming villain, but luckily she has taken up barely any screen time. There are ways to improve her storyline, but it’s already too late since its we will not be seeing her for a lengthy amount of time. Ralph Dibny, on the other hand, will be staying for the rest of the season. He has continued to slowly sink into the team overtime and has become a welcomed addition to the team. I cannot wait to see what they do with him in the next half of the season. Perhaps we will finally see him receive his first real suit rather than his field prototype.

Overall, this was definitely one of the better episodes of season four and overall one of the most visually impressive episodes of The Flash. Besides the Cailin Snow subplot that could have been improved, this episode was certainly worth the watch. Devoe will continue his fight with Barry on January 16th. Until then, you can enjoy the teaser here and you can read up on the next plot line through one of my personal favorite issues of The Flash comics, “The Trial Of The Flash,” a storyline where Barry snapped the neck of the Reverse Flash and was forced to stand up for his action of murder. Sadly, if you’re  looking for a physical copy of this story then you’re completely out of luck since it has been out of print for years. There are plenty of videos online that cover the story if you’re interested in doing some research on the next half of the season.

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Predictions

Clifford Devoe has switched bodies, but it’s likely that his brain disease has transfered over to his new body. Devoe is a character famously known for never being able to overcome his several disabilities, but rather keeping up with them by constantly using odd techniques in order to prolong his life. I’m expecting the return of the thinking cap later this season because his new body will most likely not be able to withstand his condition.