Sometimes heroes aren’t born, they’re made. Or their DNA has switched around and given abilities for an episode. Either way, Iris becomes something more for Team Flash, and for herself. A “bus meta” trying to help people by taking powers from dangerous metas accidentally switches Barry and Iris’s DNA, granting Iris the speed of the Flash. Will she be enough to protect Star City?
The Flash S4 EP16 ‘Run, Iris, Run.’
Director: Harry Jierjian
Writer: Eric Wallace
What You Need To Know:
Near the beginning of this season, Barry was found and ripped from the speed force he willingly gave himself up for. But in this event, things changed. A bus full of people were affected by the speed force’s opening, and created the… ‘bus metas’. Very clever. Anywho, DeVoe’s plan’s were revealed; he’s after the bus metas and their abilities. Why? That is still unknown. But Team Flash has been working their hardest to find the bus metas before DeVoe can get his hands on them; just a reminder…work stress is real. Watch this season of the Flash, and you’ll understand. Barry is going through all of this and taking it hard. The question is, how far will he be able to make it without going ‘Savitar’, if at all?
(Oh, and of course then there is Iris; if you didn’t know…she’s the annoying side character who is also Barry’s wife who like, does nothing. )
What You’ll Find Out:
Team Flash went through a hiccup last week, or at least Barry did. The whole city was threatened by terrorists, and he made it through without breaking down. It was an amazing episode, though this one kinda starts back up with the typical CW ways.
This episode begins with Harry and Cisco hard at work. Lately, the bus metas have been the only things on the team’s minds, but Harry knows DeVoe is the real target. Outthinking the Thinker is what he wants, and he’s going to get it. I really enjoy the personal time Cisco and Harry have been getting lately, but I have a bad feeling Harry’s need for beating the Thinker is going to lead down a bad path.
As the episode goes on, we get deeper into the Team trying to locate bus metas, but we also get a glimpse of one. A man with supreme pyromania (and I don’t mean Heat Wave) threatens to take out a bank if anyone tried to stop him from taking what was inside the vault. Classic bus meta, right? Nope, wrong! There is another, a calmer hostage among the many trapped in the bank, who knows he can do something about this. He had powers too, and he used them. The dapper-dressed British robber shoves the hero to the ground, but in doing so, loses his flames. The heroic citizen runs out before the police arrive, leaving the whole situation a mystery.
Joe and Cisco are on the case, scanning for dark matter energy that the fuel the bus metas’ abilities. After a short interrogation and Cisco poking fun at the attacker, who was ironically known as Erik Frye, they find out he isn’t a bus meta. There was something that made his powers disappear, and Team Flash wanted to know what!
A neat thing about this episode is it didn’t rush the whole Iris getting powers thing. It built up to it slowly but surely, which I enjoyed. Something else was, Iris wasn’t the only one who got to stand out. Harry found a way to out-think the Thinker; he was going to use the same thing DeVoe used to become the Thinker. The ‘Thinking Cap’, as Mr. Ramon likes to call it was the source of DeVoe’s coming up. If Harry could duplicate it, he could match or even excel in brain power ahead of the Thinker.
Unfortunately, Harry and Iris aren’t the only TWO who get attention. After finding out the Pyromaniac, or whatever wasn’t the bus meta, the Team comes to a fork in the road. But someone was happy; Ralph. Ralph has become somewhat of a hero of late, and I have come to really enjoy his character. Then, there was his dive back into the selfish, prideful ways of Ralph Dibney. He is scared for his life, him being a bus meta and all, and DeVoe basically snatching and killing the previous ones. He has every right to be, but he becomes somewhat sleazy and selfish in this episode, which are NOT traits of a hero.
Iris decided, as team leader (wait, when did that happen? Team leader? Um…okay), that she needed to talk with Ralph. She does, but the outcome leads to the main arc of this episode; Ralph discourages Iris with words the fans have been saying since she came on the show. She was useless, hiding behind a desk while others risked their lives. She acted brave, but Ralph felt the same as we do…that she really wasn’t anything.
I have to say, not a fan of Iris, but I can’t stand people who discourage and degrade others. I felt genuinely bad for Iris in this one-on-one, and felt what she goes through may not be much, but it’s all there is for her.
On to more pressing matters, in the video recordings taken at the bank, Team Flash figures out there was another man behind it. Someone who came in contact with the robber and siphoned his powers somehow. Bus meta? You betcha! Barry is ready, but Iris is too. She decided that this was her chance to go out into the field and prove that she isn’t afraid of a little skirmish. Barry agrees, supporting his wife but not entirely sure it’s a good idea. Nevertheless, Iris and Joe head for the location of Mr. Matthew Kim, a paramedic…and metahuman.
Upon Iris and Joe’s arrival, Matthew denies ever being at the bank and tries to prove he was doing what was right in his situation. Of course, he tries to prove so by holding a knife to Iris’s throat. Gotta say it went from strong Iris to helpless Iris. Then again, when there is a knife to your throat, what else can you do but secretly dial your husband’s phone and call upon The Flash?
Barry arrives immediately, and Matthew insists he is right for doing what he did, but his actions are nothing more than desperate attempts to flee. Barry does what he does best, and runs. But this time, he slows down. Not like last episode where he HAD to slow down mentally to figure things out…he literally slowed down. He came in contact with the man, who was touching Iris. Long story short…Barry loses his powers, and Iris finds them.
The transfer of DNA shakes both Barry and Iris, though in different ways. We see Barry not handling his power transfer well, but get a different reaction from Iris; excitement. Having these powers, though they know it will be temporary if they can get to the meta first, is exciting for Iris. Through running the course Barry usually ran, Iris showed happiness, perhaps feeling this was a blessing for her. But, Barry doesn’t feel at all the same. Eager to reverse the effects, Barry shows his worry. Perhaps for himself? Perhaps for Central City losing an experienced hero? Or perhaps for his wife, gaining abilities she didn’t fully understand.
Everyone takes these events in their own way. Cisco comes up with a name for their DNA switching meta thanks to Caitlin’s scientific findings. The meta defuses other metahuman’s powers from their DNA, and Cisco names him Melting Point. Yeah, that doesn’t really make sense, but okey-doke! Then there is the big bomb dropped; what if they can find a Melting point and bring him to their side? Good idea, just the problem is finding him before DeVoe.
Like I said, I enjoy the fact they aren’t pushing Iris and her newly-bestowed speed down the viewer’s throats. They handle it with steady scenes and slowly build up to moments with Iris. Barry trains Iris through speedy runs on the treadmill, which she can’t seem to slow down on, and fails. A failure for her wasn’t much, but in the moments she was spending with Barry, she sensed something; he was upset. He reveals that, though Melting Point switched their powers, everything felt like DeVoe.
DeVoe was in some way causing Barry to fall, and Barry was getting tired of it. He is stressed, he’s worried, and his wife now has his abilities, which is a major setback. But Iris doesn’t hesitate to remind Barry that DeVoe hadn’t taken everything from him; he still had her by his side. And it was true. Through the worry that haunted Barry, through the burning question: What if he never got them back? Iris was there for him, just like always.
I half expected this episode to turn Iris from “We are the Flash” to “I am the Flash”! They could have really ruined this episode, which I didn’t have any doubt that they were going to. But I was proven wrong. They actually made it tolerable to watch Iris become something more, even if only for a single episode. It was pleasing to see and not gut-wrenching. I was pleased with how they handled it, which is funny, because the farther I get into this season, the more I find myself saying that.
Most moments like that don’t last very long, and so it came to an end with a blaring siren; trouble. A fire had started and grown, trapping multiple people in a building, with no way out. How perfect was this for a first mission? Iris goes into leader mode, direction Caitlin, and Cisco to handle the situation, forgetting that the Flash wasn’t really gone. She realizes, maybe this is her chance? Her first chance to prove herself? Taking charge, she agrees. With a quick switch of clothes…that’s right, she switched her STAR Labs sweatshirt with Caitlin’s plain, greyish-black clothes. Now that’s a bit weird, but they shrug it off. And, thanks to Jesse Quick (Why? I don’t know), Cisco brings out a specialized face mask, and Iris is on the case.
I really REALLY wished they would have name-dropped or referenced Impulse, or Iris West, from the comics. It would have made for a neat little nod and make me happy in the process. But, alas, they did not.
Iris was a natural, arriving in time to free the five people trapped in the building. As for the flames? Well, the natural human instinct is an odd thing. Sometimes you have complete control of a situation. Other times, even when you know the answer, you choke, and you fail. Iris does this, taking Barry’s advice and creating wind tunnels with her arms to such the oxygen from the room. She knew this of course, but she wasn’t used to being under this kind of pressure. So, in trying to extinguish the flames, the building’s integrity begins failing. A part of the ceiling falls, stopping Iris and trapping her at the same time. Phasing through was the only option, but she couldn’t. With so little training, phasing wasn’t possible. Every inch of the building was failing, and about to collapse, and Barry didn’t know what to do.
In the knick of time, the man who could open breaches at will breached back with Iris. Good job, Cisco! Relieved, Iris is welcomed back with a hug, and a thank you extended from Barry to Cisco. The mission wasn’t a failure, but it wasn’t a success either.
Thanks to her powers, Iris’ leg heals in hours, leaving the Team somewhat unsteady, and unknowing what to do next. Ralph is the first to speak out of Iris’ experience, bashing her down with negative words. She saved people, but she needed saving. She wasn’t a hero. Knowing this, they look to Caitlin, hoping for a way to get Barry ‘back on his feet’. Caitlin reveals, without Melting Point, it wasn’t possible to reverse the affects.
* Cue solemn music * Iris looks to be a speedster until further notice. This shakes Barry up, as well as Ralph, and oddly Harry. Another one-on-one moment occurs between Harry and Cisco this time. Cisco knows that the Thinking Cap is essential to their mission to end DeVoe’s plans, and without Harry the team couldn’t handle future events nor help with present events. So, Cisco agrees to help Harry, which he refused to do before due to caring about Harry’s sanity. Again, the little side stories are somehow always so enjoyable. To see Harry and Cisco make up and work together was satisfying, and giving the audience a well-deserved answer to finally matching or even outwitting DeVoe…I’m going to say it again, VERY pleasing.
The next moment is a defining, special one. It leads to what becomes of Iris and her self-confidence. Running IS peaceful, and Iris thought it’d help her through her thoughts of uselessness. Barry is there to stop her though, and talk. Running is fine, but talking is better. Barry figures out Iris thinks she needs to prove something to the team. That she needs to prove the powers she has grants her a place on the team that is more than what she had before; Iris didn’t doesn’t though. Not just to the team, anyways…she had something to prove to herself. That she wasn’t only capable of standing around, looking pretty, doing what anyone else could. She wanted to prove she wasn’t useless. She was a mild-mannered reporter once, one that risked her life to grab a story. Then, it all stopped and she became another face in STAR Labs. She wanted the feeling of usefulness back.
And who can blame her? I felt like this moment was made for the fans, and for Iris. Everyone feels pretty much the same about Iris. She meant something once, but now? Now she didn’t have it anymore. She didn’t contribute, she meant nothing other than saying nice things to Barry and of course someone for Barry to fall on. But SHE needed more, as did we the viewers, and this moment I felt spoke to me. It showed even Iris felt the same, and that she alone wasn’t enough. But how can I say that? She leads a team of metas, she’s learning, and now she has come another step up thinking this is her chance to prove herself? Maybe so…
And so my point is made again; moments like these never last, because before their conversation can be finished, the alarm sounds. Matthew Kim, or Melting Point, has been found.
(By the way, her suit is just the clothes she was wearing when she and Joe first encountered Matthew Kim in the hospital.)
The man who had these fire abilities was going a joy run. He reveals, when Matthew tries to stop him, that when he was shoved to the floor by Frye in the bank, he touched him and transfered Frye’s lost powers to him. This was actually an interesting twist, though miniscule and pointless to say the least, it was all for Iris, so anything too big wouldn’t have fit.
Iris is faced with a similar predicament she faced in the burning building; fire. This time, overwhelming heat surrounded her, and the man showed off his new ability. Quickly, Barry suggests the obvious; she needed to run around it and create a vortex, reducing the oxygen. It was the only way to extinguish the mass of flames …but it was too hot. Iris had so little experience, that her excuse stayed the same. Running too close could burn her, and risking that wasn’t safe. Was it a suitable excuse? Sure. But a little underwhelming.
What isn’t underwhelming is what comes next. The project of Harry’s that he has worked day and night on, it was their only hope. Well, NOW it was; now that the punk candle-lighter has created a thermal cyclone! The Thinking Cap was Harry’s project, and he’d use it to save Iris and the people the thermal cyclone was threatening. And so he places it, and in seconds, over four-thousand possible ways to solve this problem came to mind…and only one would work. How convenient.
The event was occurring beside the Central City Bay, again very convenient. THAT was the answer, though. Running fast enough on the bay, while stimulating a certain pattern would create a tidal wave, which would wash over the cyclone and extinguish it. This was a risk, Iris herself doubted the possibility. What if she couldn’t do it? What if the water damaged the city or hurt people? These questions were all plausible…but the latter was a fiery cyclone burning through the city. So she only had one option. She had to be fearless, and Barry knew it. He knew she had to do this, and he needed her to know. She needed to do one thing;
“Run, Iris, run.”
And so she did. Tight formations in the water, heels digging in with each step, all resulting in a hundred-foot cyclone. And towards the city, she ran, leading the wall of water…until it found it’s mark.
Iris did it. Like usual winnings, the Team celebrated with high-fives and fist pumps. And of course, Melting Point was in their custody now…which meant one thing. The Flash and Iris were ready to be them again, and the DNA switch was reversed. The Flash was fast again, and Iris…she was fearless again. The episode didn’t end there, though. Matthew West wanted to help people, and he knew the way he was doing it was wrong. So, Barry extended the hand of forgiveness and offered him a place with Team Flash. They wanted him on the team, and they got him. One less bus meta out of DeVoe’s hands and that meant there were only two more out there somewhere for them to find.
Ralph was in a happier mood then he was, but still waltzes from the happiness; Iris follows of course. This time, though, Iris COULD understand, and she told him why. She was Savitar’s target in the past year, and she lived in fear; the fear of dying. But she had to overcome that to help. He knew what he said to her before was wrong, and that Iris WAS something, whether she was the Flash or not. But now there were two bus metas DeVoe wanted…and he was afraid. But Iris was there for him. Her words helped him, and Ralph wasn’t going to be afraid anymore.
This episode fully ends with a final look at Iris, but this time she had meaning. She was surprised with pizza from Barry in their nice, cozy-looking apartment. But she was busy; busy doing what she did best. Expressing herself, without fear, without hesitation. A blog-site was where her duties lied, I suppose. But then the question came up: “Why did you give my powers back?” Barry asked, letting her know if she kept them, the world would have been just the same. But she knew, it wouldn’t have been. A hero wasn’t defined by their powers, it was what kind of person they were; and how they could make a difference.
She had gained a new sense of belonging and gained back what she knew she was missing, even though she lost the powers. She gained something from them, and she knew she didn’t need them anymore. It was sweet of her to basically say ” I’m something without the powers”, even though we all know, deep down, we wanted her to keep them for a little while. They DID give her some more purpose than she had, but maybe keeping them wasn’t the right thing to do. But every hero needs their support, their little men who keep them going. If a leader/blogger was what Iris needed to be…so be it.
What Just Happened?
While it’s hard to sum up so many things into a single, or a few paragraphs…I’d have to say that something just happened; something that everyone could learn from. Iris knew fear wasn’t something that she wanted to live with, and with or without powers, she meant something. Ralph found that without fear, he could be someone who could save the day and that sometimes people ARE more than they appear. Cisco learned that sometimes, fear was essential, but needed to be overcome for the greater good; the greater good being the Thinking Cap.
What just happened? Well, something happens after the episode presumably ends, if you waited around for it. Cisco and Harry are back at it, with a fully working Thinking Cap. Harry was doing what he did best; thinking, but the cap began getting too strong, and Cisco shut it down for Harry’s safety. But, Harry didn’t need any more time. He knew where the other bus metas were, and he knew their names. How he actually figured that out without ANY source to lead to him finding out their identities…well, doesn’t really matter. What matters is, they can match DeVoe…they can beat him at his own game. In “Run, Iris, run”, we received a lesson that taught something to our Team; that fear is a liar and can be tamed.
Rating: 8/10
Final Thoughts:
The acting some of our side characters had, such as Matthew Kim and Erik Frye and whatever the punk guy’s name was, could have been better. I also wish DeVoe or maybe even his wife were shown in this episode; it seemed like they were supposed to be but never showed up, which I found odd and unfitting, seeing as this bus meta took out the Flash himself! I feel like if DeVoe had actually gotten to Matthew first, then a huge blow could have been made by DeVoe to Flash. But, that is all null and void.
As for the episode, I definitely didn’t feel the same as I did watching last week’s, but I still felt that impact that most every episode has left me feeling; inspired, awed, actually satisfied! Last season was hard for me to enjoy, but with this season it’s been different; with this episode, Iris grew into something more, and hopefully, she continues to and doesn’t get left in the dirt. I WANT more Iris, I WANT her to be relevant again, so I hope they continue doing good with her character. Beautiful season so far, great episode last night, keep it up CW!
The Flash airs on the CW Network on Tuesday nights. Check your local listings for times.
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