Title: The Flash Season 4 Episode 2: “Mixed Signals”
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction, Superhero
Platform: TV – CW
Director: Alexandra La Roche
Writers: Jonathan Butler and Gabriel Garza
Rating: TV-PG
Release: October 17, 2017
Cast: Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes, Tom Cavanagh, Jesse L. Martin
Feature image: Source
[Spoilers]
“Aww, Jon Snow died. Oh, he’s alive.” Barry Allen – The Flash
A realtor is showing an apartment [it looks like Felicity’s] to a rich asshole, Kurt Weaver (Ryan McDonell). He buys it and gets on the elevator alone. The elevator goes out of control and kills Weaver. Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) is at home and decides to do some “Risky Business”. Barry speed watches the TV shows he missed while he was in the Speed Force, “Aww, Jon Snow died. Oh, he’s alive.” Iris West (Candice Patton) comes home and finds out that Barry has done all of the wedding stuff. She isn’t happy about it. Before they can discuss it, Barry gets a call to go to the crime scene. Barry: “Hey!” Captain Singh (Patrick Sabongui): “Mr. Allen, six months and…five minutes late.” Barry: [laughs] “Sorry, Captain Singh! Thank you again for granting me that extended sabbatical, but I’m back and ready to work! What can I say it’s a beautiful day! Sorry…what are we dealing with?” The police have called Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes) for his technical expertise. Cisco: “Fellows, so sorry, I’m late. The curls were not cooperating the morning.” He determines that a hacker hacked the elevator. At STAR Labs, Iris discusses Barry doing all the wedding stuff with Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker). Caitlin relays to Iris that when she and Ronnie’s relationship changed from a work relationship to a dating relationship they went to counseling. Iris: “Barry and I have known each other since childhood. You know. We don’t need therapy. I mean, we’re Barry and Iris, right?” Caitlin: “Right.” Iris: “Thanks, though. I mean, I don’t have anything against it, it’s just–” Caitlin: “You’re Barry and Iris. Gotcha.” Someone is arriving to the lab unannounced. Iris and Caitlin arm themselves and Wally West (Keiynan Lonsdale) joins them. The unannounced visitor is Gypsy (Jessica Camacho). She has a date with Cisco. Caitlin has to suppress Killer Frost from appearing.
Tim Kwon (Donald Henry) is driving his Tesla when the mysterious hacker takes control of it. Iris tells Barry and Wally to help him. Barry says he can do it alone and speeds off. Iris gives him some directions but Barry ignores them. Because he ignores Iris, the car is ready to crash; Barry takes the car apart to keep Tim Kwon from dying. Back at STAR Labs, Cisco determines that the hacker is a meta. His computer virus is organic. Iris suggests to Barry that since they are working together now, they should see a therapist. Barry doesn’t want to, but his actions with the car doesn’t leave him with a leg to stand on. Iris and Barry are in Dr. Sharon Finkel’s (Donna Pescow) office. Dr. Finkel: “These notes are just for me. No one is judging you guys!” Iris: “Yes, we know.” [laughs] Barry: “Well my dad died too! Just for your notes…”
Dr. Finkel: “So Barry…Iris filled me in a little bit about the two of you on the phone before! Getting married?” Iris: “Yeah, it’s been a long road getting here!” Barry: “Mhm!” Iris: “First us growing up together and then I was engaged to someone else.” Dr. Finkel: “Oh, OK!” Barry: “That’s worth a write down? He is actually dead too!” [chuckles] Dr. Finkel: “Oh, you two have had to deal with a lot of trauma!” Iris: “Well…” Barry: “No, not uhm…” Iris: “Eddie…and Ronnie.” Barry: “I mean a little…” Iris: “My mom. H.R.” Barry: “Not too much.” Iris: “Laurel.” Barry: “Some.” Iris: “Snart.” Barry: “We’ve been to a few funerals.” Iris: “Yeah.”
“Then, how could you leave me? You left me, Barry. You just left me. Standing there alone. How could you do that?” Iris West – The Flash
Cisco looks through his old tech magazines and he finds a connection between the victims. He sees the meta hacker in the picture, Ramsey Deacon/Kilgore (Dominic Burgess). Kilgore goes to the police station, where Joe West (Jesse L. Martin) is interrogating Tim Kwon. Kilgore gets a bomb disposal robot to drop a grenade to kill Kwon. Joe calls Barry at his session and he quickly leaves. Iris: “You’re gonna write down that he ran out of here, aren’t you?” Dr. Finkle: “Yes.” Barry catches all of the grenade fragments. Joe [to Kwon]: “Must have been a dud.” Cisco has to cancel his date again, Gypsy’s not happy but she acts cool. Caitlin explains to Cisco that he is in trouble. Barry goes back to therapy and his and Iris’ real issue comes up. Iris: “Then, how could you leave me? You left me, Barry. You just left me. Standing there alone. How could you do that?”
Shelia Agnani (Aliza Vellani) the female programmer in the group picture is at home. Joe and Wally are in their car watching her. Tim Kwon shows up and tells her that they shouldn’t have cheated Deacon. Kilgore walks in, Sheila acts like a total bitch to him. Kilgore messes with her insulin pump. Wally hears her gasping and speeds in and gives her a glucose injection. In the confusion, Kilgore kidnaps Tim.
“It’s like he doesn’t know he’s a dead man.” Gypsy – The Flash
Cisco and Gypsy discuss why she is angry. Gypsy: “It had to be today.” Cisco: “Why today?”
Gypsy: “Because today is 1/1/1 day!” Cisco: “1-1-what?!” Gypsy: “1/1/1 day!” Cisco: “What is that?!” Gypsy: “1/1/1 day on my Earth is…it’s the day that you celebrate with the one you love! Alright?! It’s one soul plus one soul equals one soul.” Cisco: “That is…so zappy.”
Gypsy: “Yes it’s zappy, it’s stupid, it’s smoopy, but there is something about you that makes me want to do stupid smoopy things. And I hate the word smoopy and people who use it.” Cisco: “Wow that is the sweetest and angriest thing you have ever said to me!” He apologizes and promises to make up for the day. 1/1/1 day triggers an idea and he runs off. Gypsy: “It’s like he doesn’t know he’s a dead man.”
Back at home, Barry and Iris discuss what Iris had said. She explains that she had to lie to people about why Barry was gone, and she knew that they knew that she was lying. Iris is upset that Barry didn’t discuss it with her before he left. Barry was afraid that Iris might have talked him out of it. He’s the Flash; he has to think of the city and protect it. Barry: “Sometimes it’s not about us.” Iris explains to Barry that once she got her ring, it was about them. Iris: “It’s about us. You are not the Flash, Barry. We are.”
Cisco calls, Kilgore is streaming Tim Kwon’s confession. He, Shelia Agnani, and Kurt Weaver stole the program Kilg%re from him and made billions off it. “It’s like Silicon Valley if Richard went nuts and started killing everyone at Pied Piper,” Cisco says about Kilgore. “I feel like he’s got a more anarchist, Gilfoyle vibe,” says Barry. Cisco and Caitlin have created an antidote to mess with his abilities. Cisco uses his satellite to track Kilgore’s location. Wally and Barry zoom over there to rescue Kwon. Kilgore is able to take over the tech in Barry’s new suit. He has the suit shoot Wally. Kilgore starts activating different functions of the suit. Barry is able to get away and uses a pay phone to call STAR Labs after Kilgore cuts off his comms. Iris tells him to throw lighting at himself to short circuit his suit after Kilgore activated the self-destruct function. The scientist, Cisco and Caitlin advise against it, but Barry does what Iris suggests. It works and he saves Kwon and hits Kilgore with the antidote.
“I wasn’t the only one. So, good luck gentlemen! Think Central City is about to have its hands full.” Kilgore – The Flash
Cisco and Gypsy finally have their date, and they both look great. Cisco jokes about their two world’s holidays. He tells Gypsy to let him know when it’s important; he’ll make up for it if he has to miss it. Joe, Barry, and Iris visit Kilgore at Iron Heights. Barry: “That particle accelerator explosion four years ago, you were living in Silicon Valley. So if you weren’t here that night, how did you get your powers?” Kilgore: “Oh wow! You are not going to believe it, it really was something though! A real life-changer! And do you two wanna know the best part? I wasn’t the only one. So, good luck gentlemen! Think Central City is about to have its hands full.” The Thinker (Neil Sandilands) and his associate The Mechanic (Kim Engelbrecht) observe Kilgore in Iron Gates. Kilgore is in prison where he wanted him. We see a board that has space for 11 more people.
Barry and Iris go to therapy. They go because their relationship has changed from a purely romantic one, to a romantic work one. There are more problems than that. Both have to readjust to each other after Barry’s six-month absence. Barry has to adjust to the new team dynamic, with Iris being the leader during his absence. Iris is upset that Barry takes everything upon himself, like doing all of the wedding stuff. He means well, but she doesn’t want to be left out. Barry also has a problem of listening, he completely ignores Iris during the car rescue and nearly gets Tim Kwon killed. Iris is also still hurt that Barry left in the first place. It was something he had to do, but she would have liked to have been more involved in the decision. So basically, they have the same problems most couples have, minus a supervillain or two.
Gypsy comes to Central City to celebrate 1/1/1 day with Cisco, a St. Valentine’s Day from her Earth. Cisco is too busy having fun solving the Kilgore situation. With an assist from Caitlin, he finally takes the time to spend time with his ladylove. “You just had to fall for the girl in head-to-toe leather, didn’t you?”
Kilgore is connected to the Thinker. We don’t know how yet. The Thinker wants him in Iron Heights, and he has 11 more metas he wants to join him. We don’t know who they are and how they became metas yet. We really don’t know anything about the Thinker yet or what his plan is.
This was a hilarious episode, with Barry and Iris’s therapy session and Cisco and Gypsy’s date. The show is making a concentrated effort to get away from the gloom of last season and so far, they are succeeding. Barry’s new suit was funny, especially after Kilgore took it over. The raft function of the suit was visually funny. The action scenes were inspired, especially when Barry takes the car apart on the run and when he catches the grenade fragments. I really enjoyed this episode.
Grade: A-
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