The Flash returns to his normal life after Crisis on Earth-X, but it’s not so normal anymore. First of all, Barry and Iris are married. And secondly, DeVoe is still watching Barry’s every move. Before the big crossover, Clifford DeVoe admitted to being the one who created the samuroid to lure Barry out of the speed force and thereby creating 12 new meta-humans. The big question is, why?
The team has also been dealing with Caitlin’s extracurricular activities during her time away from STAR labs. While trying to find a cure for Killer Frost, Caitlin got mixed up with a dangerous woman named Amunet Black. Amunet is very persistent and unforgiving. She went away easily, but we know that’s not the last we’ve seen of her.
Read the Full Recap of THE FLASH, “Therefore I Am”
In “Don’t run” it’s the holidays and what better way to celebrate by decorating the Christmas tree with Harry (Tom Cavanagh) and Cisco (Carlos Valdes). I mean, they fight about everything. And to add to the frustration, Ralph Dibney (Hartley Sawyer) keeps talking about Killer Frost. Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) isn’t too happy that they guys have been hanging out with Killer Frost and she’s more fun.
And then there’s DeVoe (Neil Sandilands), who can’t even button his sweater because his body is deteriorating so fast. Marlize (Kim Engelbrecht) comes in to help him. She is sad because she knows their time is limited. He tells her that the voice may be different, but the words are still his. What? Anyway, he tells her to not be afraid. He will stand beside her soon.
Barry (Grant Gustin) and Iris (Candice Patton) are back from their honeymoon and opening gifts. They get a knife set with one knife…who does that? Iris says Barry hasn’t been using his powers since they got married. She thinks something is wrong, but its not. Barry says when first got his powers, he felt a peace. He feels like that all the time now and he doesn’t have to run with Iris.
Harry finds Caitlin at Jitters. They talk about how she is handling her alter ego. Harry tells her that she’s special and her friends would rather be with her than Killer Frost. Amunet Black (Katee Sackhoff) burst into the shop to say hello. Caitlin turns to Killer Frost, but Amunet puts a power dampening bracelet on her to stop Frostie from emerging.
At the same time, Iris and Barry are returning forty toasters that Mick Rory gifted to them. Yeah, he stole them. Barry is hit with a laser beam out of nowhere. The Thinker reveals himself to Iris. He shoots at Iris and Barry quickly gets her to safety. Barry attacks the Thinker. The Thinker grabs onto Barry and they disappear.
Iris rushes back to STAR labs to tell the team about Barry. She sees that Harry is hurt and asks what happened to him. Joe (Jesse L. Martin) tells her that Caitlin has been taken too. She asks Cisco to vibe Barry to make sure he’s still alive. Something is blocking Cisco and knocks him back. He is okay, but says he won’t be vibing anything for a little while. They have to find both Barry and Caitlin and fast!
Related: CW Crossover Recap: Crisis on Earth-X, Parts 1 and 2
Barry
The Thinker traps The Flash in an invisible force field back in the Thinker’s lair. Barry tries everything to get out, but the forcefield is too strong. The Thinker says he wants to teach Barry that there are no happy endings. Barry goes over everything that has happened…the samuroid, the speed force, the new metas…all of this for what? The Thinker won’t give up his ultimate plan just yet.
The doorbell rings. Barry can see the video feed from the house and sees Joe at the front door. The Thinker leaves to meet him. He tells Barry that he needs to learn to lose every once in awhile.
Clifford DeVoe answers the door. Joe says his son is missing and he wants to know where he is. DeVoe tells him that he hasn’t seen Barry. He knows Joe isn’t alone and tells Harry to stop hiding. DeVoe suggests that Barry ran away from home. Joe gets angry, but Harry stops him from doing anything. DeVoe says he will add Joe to the restraining order if he has too. Joe tells him that a restraining order wouldn’t keep him from getting him if he hurt Barry. Joe says he’s getting a search warrant. DeVoe is more than happy to let them look around.
Barry continues to try and get out of the barrier. Marlize tells him that he’s only hurting himself by trying to escape. Barry thinks DeVoe wants Barry’s powers. He says Marlize doesn’t have to help him. She says she isn’t a helper, she’s his partner. He tells her that she is sacrificing her marriage. She knows what she is sacrificing. Would Barry give up the same? She say they already know the answer because DeVoe is smarter than Barry. (What?)
The Thinker returns to check on Barry, but he’s not in the force field. He turns off the barrier and The Flash appears. The Flash was moving so fast, the Thinker couldn’t see him. He runs out of the barrier and tells The Thinker that his brain may be smarter, but The Flash’s body is faster. The Thinker goes to push a button and The Flash stops him. He presses another button and they are transported over Central City.
Caitlin
Amunet Black takes Caitlin back to an old hospital. She has a new meta that she is selling. There’s just one problem. Amunet accidentally hit him with a piece of nickel and it’s stuck in his neck. (Amunet has the power to manipulate nickel alloy.) She needs Caitlin, not Killer Frost, to extract the nickel so she can sell the meta. She refuses at first, but the Amunet says she will just pull out the nickel herself. Caitlin then agrees to do the surgery so the man doesn’t die. Amunet tells Caitlin, if he dies, then so does she.
The man, Dominic Lanse (Kendrick Sampson), wakes up. Caitlin tells him what’s going on. He finishes her sentences for her. She figures out that he has telepathic abilities. He was on the bus that created the other 5 meta that Team Flash has already found. Dominic says his powers only work when he’s close enough to see someone.
Caitlin tries to get the power dampening bracelet off of her wrist. Dominic can read her thoughts about Killer Frost. She explains her power to him. She can’t use her power to save them, but Dominic can. They make their way out the door and uses his ability to hear the thoughts of others. They walk away from others and hide in rooms to avoid being detected. Amunet catches them.
She takes them back to the operating room and makes Caitlin perform the surgery. After Caitlin removes the shard, Dominic goes into shock. Amunet threatens Caitlin again. One by one, her guards drop. Amunet finally gets woozy and drops too. Caitlin reversed the anesthetic, releasing it into the air and knocking out Amunet and her guys.
Related: CW Crossover Recap: Crisis on Earth-X, Parts 3 and 4
STAR Labs
The STAR Lab satellite is overheating because it’s searching for both Barry and Caitlin. Ralph tries to convince them to let him find them. Harry returns and says they search the DeVoe house and it’s clean. Cisco is frustrated with Ralph. He blames Ralph for Caitlin being at Jitters. Cisco says he made her feel bad for not being as cool as Killer Frost. Iris tells them to cool down. Cisco goes to his lab. Ralph goes to the speed lab.
Harry tells Iris that she’s the team leader. The team leader has to make a tough call. She says she is leading. Harry says by looking for both they are overusing their resources. They can’t look for both. She has to decide whether to look for her husband or her friend. Harry says she has to chose or they risk losing them both.
Cisco finds Ralph yelling at the satellite to find Caitlin and Barry. He apologizes to Ralph for blaming him. Ralph apologizes too. He says if it wasn’t for him, Caitlin would be there with them. He says he’s out of practice of having friends and he sucks at it. Cisco says at least he’s there and helping. Iris comes in and tells the team that Caitlin is in a vulnerable state. Barry can take care of himself. She tells Cisco to turn off the speed force satellite. They are going after Caitlin.
Caitlin and Dominic get out, but Amunet wakes up. She attacks them with her nickel alloy. Ralph arrives in time to stop Amunet from killing them. Cisco hits her with a vibe and opens a breach. They grab Caitlin and Dominic and escape through the breach.
The Flash and Thinker fly through Central City in the Thinker’s chair. The Thinker tries to shock The Flash off of the chair, but The Flash vibrates so it goes through him and hits the chair. The chairs explodes and they both fall into the river. The Flash uses his flotation mode to save himself. The Flash returns to STAR Labs and to Iris.
DeVoe and his wife cleared out their house and disappeared. Barry isn’t sure where he was being held. He thinks DeVoe wants Barry’s powers. And then there’s Amunet, who is still collecting metas to sell. Ugh! It’s Christmas! They’re supposed to be celebrating!
And that’s what they do. Everyone goes to Joe’s house to decorate before Cecile comes home. When they get there, the entire house is decorated. Ralph go there early and took care of everything. It was the least he could do for his friends. He apologizes to Caitlin for upsetting her. Cisco receives a breakup cube from Gypsy. Harry tells him it’s not a breakup cube. Cisco plays it and Gypsy appears in a Santa outfit. She invites him to “jingle her bells.” Joe tells him to take it home.
Dominic shows up and meets the team. Ralph says there’s only room for one new guy on the team and that’s him. Dominic says he’s only there to brainstorm ideas about his powers. And with that, Cisco christens Dominic as Brainstorm. Ralph is jealous because he’s been there for months and still doesn’t have a code name.
Barry gets an alert from the security at the West-Allen loft. When he gets there, he gets a phone call from Dominic. Dominic says Barry is observant and witty, but incapable of seeing know how far DeVoe will go. Dominic is DeVoe!
Through a flashback we see Amunet catch up with Dominic and deliver him to The Mechanic. The Thinker says Dominic has the unique abilities will allow him to transfer his consciousness into Dominic. Using the chair, Devoe’s body dies and Dominic is gone.
Barry tells him not to hurt his family. He has no interest in hurting Barry’s family. Dominic tells Barry that he will need someone to miss him when he’s gone. He left Clifford DeVoe’s body in Barry’s apartment, saying, he has no need for it anymore.
The CCPD show up before Barry can do anything. They break into the apartment. Barry starts to run. He sees a picture of him and Iris. He tells himself, “Don’t Run.” Captain Singh (Patrick Sabongui) sees DeVoe’s body and arrests Barry for murder.
Dominic leaves to meet Marlize. She puts Clifford’s wedding ring on Dominic’s finger. He tells her it’s time to bring about the enlightenment.
Thoughts
I knew DeVoe was looking for a way to prolong his life. I thought he wanted Barry’s power because of how quickly Barry’s cell recover when hurt. It makes sense that DeVoe would use that power to make his body work again. But he completely takes over another meta’s body. Nice!
However, I still don’t know what DeVoe gains by locking Barry up? does really do anyone any good for Barry to be locked up? Captain Singh was quick to arrest Barry. He knows Barry. He knows that Barry wouldn’t kill anyone. Even if there was a restraining order.
The Flash returns Tuesday January 16 on the CW.
News Editor, Senior Contributor, and Press Editor. Coordinate breaking news, trailers and press releases. I also contribute reviews, recaps and interviews. Creator of the Indigenerd Wire, a column dedicated to the Indigenous creatives in pop culture.
GGA's resident Indigenerd, a little bit rez, a little bit classy...with a love for all things Star Wars, zombies, science fiction, and Indigenous. My ultimate goal is to start my own podcast.
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