"Whoa, what happened?" "DeVoe."
Held captive in a special wing of the prison, Barry must organize a breakout with some of the very crooks he's put away. Meanwhile, a run-in with an old "friend" makes Ralph worry he hasn't left his criminal past behind.
Tropes
- Accidental Murder: Amunet didn't mean to kill the guards, but her fainting makes her release her magnets and stab the guards.
- All Your Powers Combined: Apparently, a major part of DeVoe's plan is absorbing the powers of all the bus metas.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: The judge residing over Barry's case get's called out this time by Cecile on living in a city full of supernatural events and still not believing the impossible.
- Arc Words: "Out of my head" with multiple significances.
- "Going out of my head" is the song Cliff and Marlize first danced to and realized they were in love.
- Marlize recalls the song as nostalgia for happier times, and as a way to block Clifford's telepathy...to keep him "out of her head"
- Clifford takes thoughts and powers out of other people's heads.
- Ralph was out of his head with guilt, fear, and remorse that he let all his friends down, as predicted.
- Asshole Victim: DeVoe kills Wolfe just because, but few will feel sorry about him.
- The Atoner: Becky regrets her crimes and is the only one to defend Barry after his identity is revealed.
- Back for the Dead: The incarcerated bus metas show up again in this episode...and end up dead after DeVoe absorbs their powers and transfers his mind into Becky's.
- Bad "Bad Acting": Ralph posing as Warden Wolfe is so unconvincing that Amunet sees right through it.
- Bittersweet Ending: Good news: Ralph, using DeVoe's appearance, convinced the judge that Barry didn't kill him, and Barry is set free. Bad news: it turns out that DeVoe is explicitly going after the bus metas, DeVoe takes Hazard as his new body (after killing the other prison metas and Wolfe), and Team Flash realizes that Ralph is in danger.
- Body Surf: DeVoe, who had already transferred from his own body to Dominic's, now transfers again into Becky's.
- Brought Down to Badass: Even without his powers, Barry is able to quickly hatch an escape plan thanks to his cunning and scientific acumen. This even applies to the other metas, as Ramsey/Kilg%re is able to use his hacking skills to open the final lock of the metahuman wing.
- The Bus Came Back:
- Bus metas Kilg%re, Hazard, Dwarfstar, and Black Bison all return. Three of them are killed and Hazard becomes DeVoe's new body.
- On a meta level, this is the first time Neil Sandilands has appeared on the series since the winter finale when he started switching bodies. Keep in mind he is technically a main cast member for this season of The Flash.
- The Cavalry Arrives Late: Cisco and Catlin arrive to help Barry...only after DeVoe had killed Wolfe, stole the powers of the imprisoned bus metas and took over Becky's body.
- Chekhov's Skill:
- Cecile's new powers prove invaluable to learning of Wolfe's evil plan.
- After spending the episode practicing to shapeshift his whole body then failing at a critical moment, Ralph nonetheless is able to perfect his new powers by impersonating DeVoe and get Barry acquitted at his appeal.
- Curbstomp Battle:
- Becky is able to easily trounce Black Bison, Kilg%re, Dwarfstar, Amunet and Wolfe and his men with her powers.
- DeVoe does the same to all the Bus Metas, including Becky.
- Death by Secret Identity: Wolfe, who figured out Barry is the Flash and tried to profit from it, is killed by DeVoe. Also happened to the other bus metas (whom Wolfe exposed Barry's secret to) when DeVoe steals their powers. Wolfe's men, who were present when he outed Barry, are all accidentally (and conveniently) killed by Amunet.
- Deus Exit Machina: Ralph is conspicuously absent in the party sent to rescue Barry from Iron Heights. His absence is excused later, in that he was actually practicing to impersonate DeVoe. That rescue party is an example in of itself, since Vibe and Killer Frost's presence could have easily resolved the conflict even before DeVoe flew in, but they showed up too late.
- Didn't See That Coming:
- How was Wolfe to know that Barry's lawyer would be able to read minds and throw a wrench in his plans?
- Even the Thinker is flabbergasted as well as he decidedly did not see Wolfe selling the metas to Amunet.
- Marlize is flabbergasted when her husband shows up at Barry's appeal.
- Dirty Coward: When the metas have Wolfe cornered, he reveals Barry is the Flash to save his own skin.
- Disaster Dominoes: What happens when Hazard uses her powers to stop the other metas, as well as Amunet and the Warden.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Ralph gets frustrated after screwing up posing as Warden Wolfe, going home and getting drunk there.
- Dumb Muscle: Rundine proves what an idiot he is this episode several times, and he is not even strong enough to help the group in any way without his powers. As Black Bison puts it, no brains and no brawn.
- Enemy Mine: Barry helps the metahumans he's imprisoned with escape from being sold to Amunet, but when they find out he's the Flash, they all turn against him except Becky.
- "Eureka!" Moment: When Killer Frost makes a comment on becoming 'Full Villain', this inspires Ralph on how to free Barry from prison: impersonate DeVoe and show up at Barry's appeal hearing.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Once again Marlize is appalled by her husband's actions — she did not approve of him needlessly killing Wolfe.
- Eviler than Thou: Once DeVoe appears, Amunet immidiately retreats, Warden Wolfe gets killed and the villainous Bus Metas get killed by him.
- Evil Versus Evil: The climax has several evil factions facing off against each other: the bus metas, Amunet and Wolfe, and finally DeVoe.
- Exact Words: DeVoe promises his wife to erase every doubt on her mind. He later does so...by spiking her drink with Weeper's tear-drugs.
- Fan Disservice: DeVoe bodyjacks Hazard, puts her body in an Amunet-like new outfit, then gives his/her wife date-rape drugs and starts dancing with her. If Marlize conveniently happened to be bisexual and attracted to her husband's new body, that would just be plain ol' fanservice, but this gives fans a romantic scene between two attractive women in the worst way. Especially since DeVoe clearly doesn't trust his wife anymore and drugs her drink with the Weeper's tears.
- Foregone Conclusion: The moment Ralph learned how to shapeshift; it was clear that that was going to be used to get Barry free.
- Forgot About His Powers: Team Flash should already have disguise technology that H.R. brought with him from Earth-19, yet Ralph's new superpower is treated as a godsend by them.
- Gender Bender: One that doesn't technically involve a transformation: DeVoe's new body, after the male Dominic and himself, is the female Becky Sharpe.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: Becky is the one adamant about starting anew among the escapees, and even protects Barry from her fellow inmates; unfortunately, DeVoe comes in and jumps bodies from Dominic to her.
- History Repeats:
- Know When to Fold 'Em: After DeVoe makes his presence known, Amunet bails.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Marlize had every chance to walk away before Clifford's plan destroyed their marriage. She refused. The result is she's bitterly unhappy in her marriage as Clifford is no longer the man she fell in love with and now he's using the Weeper's tears to keep her in line.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": During Barry's "Welcome Home" party, he shares his revelation to his team that DeVoe is specifically going after the bus metas to absorb their powers and kill them for his own ends. They personally know a bus meta: Ralph.
- MacGyvering: Barry breaks himself and the other prisoners out by stealing batteries from the maintenance work and using his science knowledge to create a makeshift acid on the locks.
- Mind over Manners:
- Cecile has gotten over her giddiness at having a power and although she has not learned to control it, is aware that acting on what she learns is hurting people she cares about. She has learned to not blurt out every thought she hears.
- Clifford's arrogance began growing before body jacking Dominic, but even after Marlize describes discomfort with him reading her mind, he does it anyway, and acts to override her fears and doubts when he once would have respected them and talked to her.
- Mind Rape: Clifford sees that Marlize is no longer entirely on board with him between his uninvited mind reading and having killed Wolfe, so he/she spikes her drink with Weeper tears to force her love for him to amplify unnaturally.
- Misplaced Retribution: Sylbert Rundine/Dwarfstar, unlike the other bus metas, was not (directly) captured by The Flash, yet still turns on him once Wolfe reveals his identity.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: Ralph learns to copy appearances this episode as a way of releasing Barry. This is not only a new power for him in this show's universe, but also for the character overall since the comic book version of Elongated Man can only shift his body around, but not copy appearances. It is, however, something Plastic Man can do, a character he does blend traits with.
- Noodle Implements: Mina snarks about how Rundine plans to escape using a lunch tray and a crowbar.
- Oh, Crap!:
- When Ralph shows up after changing back to his normal appearance, he reads the room and worriedly asks why they are looking at him like he's a dead man walking. He doesn't know exactly why they are worried about him yet, however.
- Subtle, but Marlize was showing legitimate shock over DeVoe jumping the gun on their plans and killing Wolfe.
- Overly Long Gag: Ralph takes quite some time to realize he shapeshifted into Earl Cox."That's him, that's him. That's him!"
- Plot Hole: When Ralph inadvertently shapeshifted into Earl's form, Catlin somehow knew Earl's name despite Ralph never saying it.
- Power Copying: DeVoe uses his chair to steal the powers of the bus metas, and to transfer his mind into Becky's body. Since DeVoe could've just as easily broke into the meta-human prison wing and stole the powers of his entire Rogues Gallery, Barry realizes there must be a reason he wants these specific abilities.
- Power Parasite: This was already implied when DeVoe took over Dominic's body and kept the latter's telepathy and his own Super-Intelligence, but seemingly confirmed when he takes over Becky's body and still keeps those other powers in addition to his new ones.
- Psychoactive Powers: Ralph's shape-shifting. He's only just learning to do it, so whether it remains an issue is up in the air. But Ralph's emotional state and/or connection to his target makes a difference.
- Ralph knows Earl Cox well and currently is full of resentment and denial about what he told Ralph about failing his friends. Perfect disguise.
- Ralph is afraid of Amunet and has stopped thinking "the ends justify the means" with regards to the law. Consequently, he's terrified and anxious about dealing with her and impersonating an officer of the law, and his Wolfe disguise is an unstable mess he can't hold together.
- Genuine feelings of friendship and gratitude to Barry and Team Flash, plus no small amount of dislike and disgust toward DeVoe and the frame up he pulled on Barry: another perfect disguise.
- Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: Right as the judge is about to throw out Barry's appeal, DeVoe suddenly appears in the courtroom, revealing that he survived his being stabbed, and that Barry wasn't the one who did it. It's a good thing Ralph learned how to shapeshift this episode.
- Redemption Equals Death: Becky goes along only to avoid being sold. Barry's general good heartedness gets to her and when Amunet attacks, she makes a stand, getting a moment of Badass, chain-reaction defeating the bad guys present. Then DeVoe shows and when he's done bodysnatching all the metas except Barry, she is the body he chooses to keep.
- Revenge Before Reason: Most of the bus metas decide to attack the incapacitated Barry once Wolfe reveals his identity, rather than working with him to try and actually escape Iron Heights. On the other hand, Wolfe just told them Barry just plans to catch them again, and they may figure it's better to get him out of the way now.
- Revenge by Proxy: Wolfe sets the bus metas against Barry by revealing him as the Flash. This includes Rundine, who wasn't even captured by the Flash, but rather his teammates.
- Sanity Slippage: It's a subtle case, but The Thinker has gone from frustrated with his lot, to smug about having eluded a painful death, to gloating at having framed Barry. It gets worse once he has telepathy. He begins thinking he knows best, and starts acting independently of the plans he and Marlize made together. Now he's murderous and mind rapes. His intellect has wiped out all the morality and ethics he once had.
- Shout-Out: Becky mentions that she is sick of prison jumpsuits, literally saying "Orange is not the new anything".
- Skewed Priorities: Kilg%re, Dwarfstar, and Black Bison immidiately gang up on Barry once they learn who he is, instead of taking care of Wolfe and his men, even turning their backs on them.
- Slipping a Mickey: Clifford-as-Hazard puts Weeper tears in Marlize's drink. The tears act as a love drug, and force Marlize's love amplified unnaturally so that it overrides her growing doubt and distrust of Clifford as he begins deviating from their plans and doing things without her, that she disapproves of.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: The episode's final scene shows DeVoe, now having bodyjacked Becky and drugged his wife, dancing with Marlize to Little Anthony & The Imperials "Going Out Of My Head". It's dark and chilling, to say the least.
- Spot the Imposter: Amunet immidiately sees right through Ralph when he disguises himself as Warden Wolfe.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Ralph pulls a good one: when his charade as Warden Wolfe is broken, he was chased throughout the bar by Amunet and Norvok, and they were easily gaining on him, only for them to instantly lose sight of Ralph as soon as they stepped out of the building.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Given that Barry's the reason they're all in jail in the first place, it's only natural he's wary of working with these crooks to escape.
- The Team: The Metahuman criminals work as an arguing team in order to escape the wrath of Wolfe and Amunet.
- The Leader: Naturally, Barry leads his fellow metahumans in the prison escape and attempts to keep everyone in line and avoid as many casualties as possible.
- The Lancer: Black Bison has the most common sense and reason amongst the prisoners, but her desire to commit villainy leads her at odds with Barry’s pacifist nature.
- The Big Guy: Dwarfstar focuses too much on brute force to aid in the escape and uses less common sense than the rest of the metahuman prisoners.
- The Smart Guy: Kilgore uses his entrepreneur and technological skills to hack away the escapee’s electrical obstacles and issues.
- The Heart: Hazard is well liked by the other four members and tries to prevent them from going astray during the escape. Alongside Barry, she’s the only one that wants to use her powers in a beneficial way without harming others.
- Too Dumb to Live: Had Rundine, Chaytan and Deacon stayed with Barry, DeVoe would have had less chance of harming them.
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Becky, the only imprisoned bus meta who stayed by Barry's side even after Wolfe outed him as The Flash, is bodyjacked by DeVoe.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Though she's been an uneasy ally since the start of the season anyway, Killer Frost reveals to Ralph that she does consider Team Flash friends and feels like she let them all down by her actions last season. She also gives him a surprisingly heartfelt peptalk once he reveals that he bailed on them because he feels he failed them, not because he's a coward.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Despite helping them escape jail, the bus metas (other than Becky) are willing to turn on Barry once Wolfe reveals his secret identity.
- Voice Changeling: As part of his new shapeshifting ability, Ralph is able to not only copy someone's voice perfectly but also his accent, as indicated by him suddenly breaking out into Earl Cox's Scottish brogue.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Ralph discovers his abilities include this.
- Wham Episode: In addition to significantly moving the main plot forward the climax packs quite the wallop, Barry witnesses a ferocious conflict that leaves Becky bodyjacked by DeVoe. He is still visibly shaken by this even after he's later freed.
- What You Are in the Dark:
- Hazard opts to use her powers to save Barry. A Downplayed Trope, since she was still the least malicious of the bus metas in the first place.
- After Team Flash shows up to get him out of prison, Barry refuses, insisting they free him the legal way. He even goes back to his (old) cell right as the lockdown starts.
- DeVoe shows how far he's fallen when uses the Weeper's tears as a date rape drug on Marlize after he realizes she is growing uncomfortable with how things are going.
- With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: see Sanity Slippage above.
- Written-In Absence: Harry is visiting his daughter in Earth-2.
- Xanatos Speed Chess: DeVoe's conversations with Marlize make it clear that Wolfe's deal with Amunet and Barry ultimately being freed from Iron Heights (at least this quickly) were not part of his plan, but he is easily able to account for these hiccups.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Ralph gets an inspiring speech from Killer Frost of all people.
