TELEVISION EPISODE REVIEW: The Flash S4 EP21 'Harry and the Harrisons'

Team Flash conspires against DeVoe with the aid of a retired villainess, Amunet Black; Harry consults a league, a counsel if you may, or Harry’s to come up with a solution to his intelligence problem. The results?…Not great.

The Flash S4 EP21
‘Harry and the Harrisons’
Directed by: Kevin Mock
Written by: Judalina Neira and Lauren Certo

What You Need To Know:
A well-known, though seemingly forgotten villain, makes her way back into the limelight. Amunet Black, a meta who can shift metal shards to her will affected by the particle accelerator explosion returns. Amunet has been quite the thorn in Team Flash’s side; though Caitlin has come to her in need before, desperate for help with the whole Killer Frost thing, she put Barry on the market in meta-trafficking, she kidnapped Caitlin. She’s a bad guy, alright? DeVoe is still out there, and he has the technology to send up satellites that will send out a wave of dark matter, affecting the entirety of humanity’s intelligence. With one of his powers being technopathy, no piece of man-made tech can stop this from happening! Team Flash is deep in a dark hole, and they are desperate to pull themselves out.

What You’ll Find Out:
This week on The Flash, recruiting a villain and wasting time talking to alternate versions of Harrison the agenda for stopping DeVoe. Jumping right in, Team Flash reminds viewers of DeVoe’s plan to use super satellites to channel an immense amount of dark matter to affect all of humanity’s minds, such as the way it affected Harry’s due to the Thinking Cap.
They know the only way to stop this would be to take out the satellites or take out DeVoe. Taking out DeVoe is already NOT an option, but the satellites? Maybe…

Technology manipulation is one of DeVoe’s strong-suits now, so taking it on with a piece of tech isn’t the smartest way to go, right?
An answer to that is figured out by Caitlin, thanks to Joe’s advice. Caitlin has been going through a lot since she lost Killer Frost. She’s been desperately trying to find a way to get her newfound friend back. It’s put her in somewhat of a mood. But, thanks to Joe’s advice to looking at her problem from another direction, she figures out something new. They didn’t need tech to take out the satellites, once DeVoe made his final move…they needed a meta. DeVoe hasn’t been heard of since last Team Flash saw him. He has what he needs, but he’s not acting. Why? Well, Team Flash doesn’t know, but I think we do. (Cough cough, MARLEZE LEFT HIM, cough cough)
Another point touched is Harry’s need to gain his intelligence back. Te Thinking Cap took what was his, and now he struggles to even find the correct words to use in a sentence. A while back, the Counsel of Harrys was made, for help looking for a replacement H.R. Cisco and Harry consult them through the episode, looking for help on taking down DeVoe (which has been Harry’s goal this entire season, with no prevail).

Amunet Black is sought out for her help; her ability to launch shrapnel projectiles could help is taking out the satellites. Now, why her? Why not Barry, who can generate lightning blasts that would probably be much more effective? There are many other options that go unexplored that really leaves the situation in an odd place; Amunet is their ONLY option? No way. But, it was a fun way to bring the character back, after she seemingly was defeated when Barry and the other metas broke out of their prison so long ago. She makes her return after Team Flash finds her running a Gambler’s club under the streets of Central City.
There is an alternative motive though; Caitlin sought Amunet before for help controlling or even ridding herself of Killer Frost. Amunet was able to “splice” Killer Frost away, allowing Caitlin to be free of her. Caitlin thought, not only could Amunet help her get Killer Frost out, but help with the satellites. There you go, the answer to my previous complaint…Caitlin needed Amunet personally, so suggested her as an ONLY option.

Amunet complies pretty easily, and brings all kinds of sass and snark, as well as charm, into the episode. The character served as an annoyance in her previous pop-ups; Team Flash somehow was unable to beat her, which made the team seem very weak. Now? Well, she serves as a companion and aid, so her chemistry with Team Flash, as well as mother-like mentorship to Caitlin served finely through the episode.

We don’t hear from DeVoe in this episode, because it is actually turning focus more towards the smaller problems again. I often complain about how they seem to turn back and forth, from one thing to another, ignoring seemingly important items. This episode handles, not only the DeVoe problem but takes Caitlin into consideration and Harry as well. Though, Harry really only receives advice on his heart and learning empathy, rather than actual smarts.

Caitlin and Amunet have a rather special relationship; Amunet acts as the mother Caitlin never had, and Caitlin looks at her in this way. The bond is something pleasing to see and actually brought across rather genuinely. Amunet agrees to aid the Team, but needs more than the small pouch of shards she had on her; she needed her entire stash to aid them. Unfortunately, her stash had been ransacked while she was away, and someone had taken not only the shards she had, but the splicer Caitlin wanted. In an attempt to find the thief, Flash, Amunet, and Caitlin search Amunet’s…train car. Of all places to hide your things, not BAD.
They find a substance that they presume melted the seal to the large cart. Acid? No…but an organic material indeed. One familiar to Team Flash and Amunet; it was from an old coworker of Amunet’s…Norvak.
Norvak has made an appearance before, even earlier in this episode when Flash confronts him looking for Amunet. Is he anyone important? No.
Amunet is on the trail for revenge, and Team Flash aids her in finding Norvak. But, where could he be? This was the new question of the day.

Caitlin becomes intolerant of waiting around, missing her frosty friend. Her eruptions were unlike her, and Amunet could tell she was upset. So, she decided to spring some unfortunate news on her; the splicer was a fake, of sorts. It didn’t separate Caitlin from Frost, it only made Caitlin think KF was down and out. Wait…what? But…that’s not what-…
*Inhales deeply* Cw logic be like…

Amunet calms Caitlin down, by alerting her that the splicer was fake…and this alerts Amunet of something as well; a fake. A fake location, that’s where Norvak was! (Amazing realization Amunet, truly inspirational!) *Intense eye roll*
So, one location where Amunet and Norvak would meet their customers, hidden away from “the fuzz” they used to fake out. Amunet is out for blood, and Team Flash doesn’t like it. Norvak is exactly where they expected, but has a few tricks up his sleeve. Or, should I saw, up his eye socket. His snake-like parasite whips out to defend Norvak, and takes on Flash and Amunet, while some thugs take on Caitlin and Joe who tag along. Ultimately, Amunet gains back her entire stash of shards, hidden away in Novak’s car trunk, and uses them to defeat Norvak. Cutting him to ribbons was her plan, but Caitlin saw something more in her and convinced her to NOT kill. Nice, Caity!!!
Amunet doesn’t leave without taking something for Norvak’s slimy, wicked, betrayal; she takes his snake-eye thingie.

Of course, this is Amunet we are talking about. Of COURSE she didn’t mean it when she said she’d help Team Flash. But, again, Caitlin reminds her that DeVoe would melt her mind as well with the satellites, and Amunet realizes this. So…she created a shard-ball, imbued with her dark matter. Throwing the shards would create concussive blasts that could take out the satellites. Yes, you heard me. All of this…FOR A BALL OF SHARDS!

But, it was never about any of that (well, it was), but this episode was about building characters into further understandings, making them more than side-hands. Giving us more exposure. Sure, gaining an upper hand on DeVoe was a thing, but the key point of this episode was understanding.
Harry, thanks to the Council of Harrys, learned some form of empathy, instead of focusing on his brain, he learned more about his heart. (Sappy, I know.) With this, he was able to take a step into DeVoe’s shoes, and actually use his heart(?) to figure DeVoe hasn’t acted because of a distraction, and distraction caused by something he cares about, in which the only thing he has ever shown care for…is Marleze. Again, interesting use of episode time, and interesting problem-solving. Not top notch, but apparently the best they could do.

With this found out, Team Flash is on finding Marleze. And, not to mention, Iris’s article she wishes to publish to expose DeVoe and what he plans on doing to Central City. Barry hasn’t been on board with the idea, and that’s because it wasn’t a very good one. Not only would it give DeVoe an upper hand on the people finding out about him, but it would be putting THIER lives in jeopardy. Sure, DeVoe would be exposed, but at what cost? Apparently, none, because in response to Iris’s blog post…they want to help Team Flash do whatever it takes to stop DeVoe. Some people have even seen DeVoe, walking around in the open…because again, apparently STAR Lab’s satellites and cameras couldn’t pick this up? HELLO! Hacking into the city’s security, anyone? Unless, of course, DeVoe has shut it all down, which was never really explained, why couldn’t THEY find DeVoe? Who knows…

What Just Happened:
Well, Team Flash not only found out DeVoe’s reasons behind not acting straight away but found a way to take down his satellites. Caitlin grew into a better understanding on what she needed to do to try and bring Frost back; she needed to use her brain…the brain in which has been TRYING to think of a way to get Frost out. No, wait…it was no piece of TECH could bring Frost out, just Caitlin and her brain…okay?
It was an episode of enjoyable, British baddies, obvious but entertaining plot, and serious development. Oh…wait, does that last one apply? Did we really take a step forward with any character? Maybe? Hm…

Rating: 7/10
Final Thoughts:
This episode was chock full of beautiful usages of scenery. The slow-mo captures were brilliant, and whatever episode of Flash should aim to focus on in the battle scenes. They were perfectly timed and placed, and watching Flash actually react in slow-mo set the mood amazingly. It was well-handled and amazingly shot. The acting was spot-on, no cringe-worthy moments thankfully. Amunet’s return wasn’t terrible, it was refreshing and enjoyable. The interaction with her and Team Flash was well-done. Overall, the episode was a mix of filler and importance. It helps key moments but overall was more about the lesson, which was rising above the typical. I enjoyed it, though wasn’t an amazing follow-up from last week’s, it still held some great moments.