The Flash 4.12 Review – ‘Honey, I Shrunk Team Flash’

We are now 12 episodes into The Flash’s fourth season. The status quo is certainly interesting: Barry is in prison for a crime he did not commit. Meanwhile, the team is looking for a way to proclaim Barry innocent. With zero evidence and Barry unwilling to testify as the Flash however, things are looking bleak. Last week, Ralph Dibny managed to emerge a valuable hero to the team, complete with a new suit. Today, Barry’s friendship with “Big Sir”/Dave (portrayed by Bill Goldberg) takes a focus. Of course, with the title of “Honey, I Shrunk Team Flash”, you know shenanigans are gonna occur. It’s a fun episode, though bordering on filler.

The opening features Cecile and Joe talking about pregnant life. Things seem odd though as Cecile claims she can hear Joe’s responses, though Joe isn’t saying anything. It turns out Cecile now has the ability to read minds. This leads to some humorous scenes, but also annoying. Unless her ability will be used to help take out DeVoe, there’s little point in introducing it. For example, the therapy scene with Cecile reading the therapist’s mind is supposed to be funny, but it’s filler. We could be learning more about what DeVoe is up to, like say his actual motivations. But nope, we get filler shenanigans and people shrinking.

Now to be fair, Cisco’s reactions to being shrunken are priceless. It’s also interesting to think about the timing of this episode; today in the official trailer for Ant-Man and The Wasp, a building is literally shrunken. The same thing happens in The Flash. Back on topic, yes the shrinking subplot is funny. But like Cecile suddenly getting powers, there are elements of complete filler. (Case in point with Ralph having to use the restroom.) The CW seems to have a pattern with The Flash. We have supposed-to-be-funny comedy, and characters feeling sorry for themselves needing a pep talk. There’s a long scene with Harry feeling pitiful before Cisco gives him a pep talk. We’ve seen this type of scene so, so many times on these CW shows that it just doesn’t have a real impact anymore.

As stated in the first paragraph of this review, the episode’s primary focus is on the friendship between Barry and Dave. After some convincing, Dave tells Barry why he’s been in prison. It turns out Dave did not commit the crime he was accused of. Dave is an interesting character, a good guy, but jaded thanks to being in prison for a long time. Now here comes Barry, a cheerful persona, telling Dave that there are people looking into his (Dave’s) case. The story then becomes about Barry’s team looking into who really shot the guard Dave was accused of shooting. Barry tells Dave to have hope, giving him the story of how Henry Allen was set free after 17 years. This is a great thing, because Barry, despite being incarcerated, is able to still be a hero. It should however be noted that Barry promising that Dave would be set free was a bit much. Then, with Barry asking Dave what’s he going to do when he’s free, is way too much. Barry should be hopeful and give Dave honest updates, but should not make promises like that.

On some last notes, the antagonist able to shrink our characters is Sylbert Rundine, named Dwarfstar later in the episode. He is’t bad, and his meta-human ability made for a fun climax, but that’s it. He himself is given little character and ends up being yet another “meta of the week.” After getting beaten, he unfortunately won’t confess to committing the crime Dave was accused of. After telling Dave the bad news, Dave isn’t upset, instead he’s happy that Barry managed to make him have hope gain. It’s a good scene, but would have been more effective if Barry didn’t promise Dave’s release. Because of that promise, Dave’s response feels a little forced. At night, Barry decides to race out of his cell, putting Dave at Jiaju, China – the village Dave said he wanted to go when he was released. It’s a good sendoff for Dave, and I suppose Barry kept his promise in a way. The cliffhanger is extremely interesting. The warden poisons Barry after revealing that he knows Barry’s identity as the Flash. We see Barry being taken to a sturdier cell, and the warden calls up Amunet Black on the phone. It looks like Amunet will have a big role coming up, which should be interesting.

Overall, “Honey, I Shrunk Team Flash” is an episode with memorable aspects. There’s fun action, humor, and heart. This is however sandwiched with some annoying filler. The villain has little character and motivation. The only thing that’s really accomplished is the cliffhanger. The episode is fun, but hopefully we’ll be seeing some plot heavy episodes coming up.

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

If you enjoyed the fantastic E.T. homage episode of Legends of Tomorrow, you should like "Honey, I Shrunk Team Flash." There's some fun to be had. Though, it also comes across as filler most of the time unfortunately.