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The Flash 4.20 Review – “Therefore She Is”

May 1, 2018 | Posted by Daniel Alvarez
The Flash - Therefore She Is Image Credit: The CW
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The Flash 4.20 Review – “Therefore She Is”  


We are now 20 episodes into The Flash’s fourth season. The endgame is coming, and today’s episode, “Therefore She Is,” builds toward it. Last week’s installment featured a fun team up with Barry and Snart. It wasn’t filler however; as in the end, Marlize was obviously questioning DeVoe’s plan. We see that dynamic here. There is a lot to appreciate in “Therefore She Is.” Finally, we learn what truly motivates DeVoe. Meanwhile, the Cisco/Gypsy relationship meets a sappy end. But that isn’t enough to detract from an overall engaging story.

An ongoing thing in Therefore She Is is the flashback sequences into DeVoe and Marlize’s past. We’ve seen a few flashbacks in a previous episode, all very interesting. (One of the best parts of the season was the flashback to when DeVoe was hit with the Particle Accelerator, so much excellent dialogue in this sequence.) The flashbacks serve two purposes. One, to detail how DeVoe and Marlize met; and two: to show what has driven to DeVoe to this point. The first flashback shows the meeting between the couple: Marlize cares about humankind and is for technology, meanwhile DeVoe is more pessimistic, and soon we earn he has a disdain for technology. The relationship builds organically for the most part in the flashbacks. This is thanks to the stellar performances of Kim Engelbrecht and Neil Sandilands playing their respective characters. Marlize is constantly smiling, showcasing passion for her love of helping people, and her love for DeVoe. There is no other actor who would be able to portray DeVoe’s character of a man who passionately hates technology; he blames it for all the bad things in the world.

The greatest of the flashbacks may be when Marlize finds DeVoe’s “manifesto” in a box. When DeVoe returns home, Marlize passionately displays her disdain for DeVoe’s notes. DeVoe defends the writing and tries to convince Marlize that he’s right. DeVoe is a unique villain, and his hate for technology is expertly shown. The irony the writing throws at the viewer is that DeVoe talks in the first flashback about corruption. In the modern day, that corruption DeVoe spoke against has obviously infected him.

Now you may be thinking: why does Marlize end up working alongside DeVoe? That is shown in the next two flashbacks. Marlize is working on a device that could benefit mankind. But, militia attack her place of operations, killing innocent people, all to acquire that device. This ultimately makes her change her mindset and agree with DeVoe that technology is ultimately harming the population. It is honestly hard to picture her changing her mindset, but the writing does an admirable enough job in getting the viewer to understand her switch without it feeling too forced.

The scenes in the modern day with the couple are also excellent. Perhaps the best is when they enter a facility to acquire a solar panel. Sandiland’s DeVoe is the same character as in the flashbacks, but he’s also slightly different. In the modern day, Sandiland portrays him with an arrogance that wasn’t there in the flashbacks. This makes sense, because by now DeVoe has become even more detached from humankind, and by the end of the episode, we see him so far gone because now he wishes to be the sole person with intelligence in the world. Marlize obviously has turned more antagonistic than in the flashbacks. But as we see, she is still kind at heart, while DeVoe is not.

While DeVoe is the major part of the episode, Team Flash also appears a lot. One of the most exciting scenes was the coordinated attack on DeVoe. It worked seamlessly for a bit, with Iris giving orders from the base on which character to do what. Viewers who have mocked Iris as being the leader in the past can at least agree that she looked solid here. One big development is that the whole team now knows about Harry’s condition. Cisco’s unveiling of it was a compelling scene. Harry whines a bit, but in this case it’s actually written well as opposed to sounding like a whiner from the last episode. The scenes with Cecile and Harry were fun; their dynamic is one of the most genuine and funny of the show. Also, she helps Harry write down DeVoe’s plan: wipe out the population’s intelligence.

One major subplot was the Cisco/Gypsy romance. As seen three episodes ago, Cisco was presented with a job offer: become a collector. Of course, that would mean leaving his friends on Earth-1. Ultimately, Cisco decides he doesn’t want the job, but he still wants to be with Gypsy. Gypsy says she also didn’t want him to have the job, but that she’s fine with the way things are. The way things are you see, is that they would visit each other on occasion. Cisco is not fine with that, because he wants to be with the woman he loves. He has a point; what’s the point of a romantic relationship that stands still and goes nowhere? The answer, is no point. In the end, Cisco sees Gypsy off. Gypsy shares some “emotional” dialogue about Cisco treating her as the only woman in the galaxy. Despite that line of dialogue though, they still decide to say goodbye to their relationship. This sequence was one of the most sappiest things I’ve ever seen, and just felt empty. What was the point of even having their relationship to begin with? Just to break it up and have Cisco mope afterward, like this is a romance drama?

On some last notes, Caitlin seems determined to bring back her Killer Frost persona. This is sort of understandable, but the way Caitlin tells Iris, “No, I will” in that she wants to get Frost back herself, came off as uncharacteristically mean. We’ll see where this goes in the final few episodes. The first cliffhanger is that Marlize steals DeVoe’s chair, outright going against the villain. The implications of this are fascinating to consider. Will she go to the heroes? Will she enact her own plan? Either way, having Marlize be a wild card now is an interesting development. The final cliffhanger features the mysterious cheerful girl who has made scattered appearances throughout the season, starting in Crisis on Earth-X. The big development is that it’s revealed she is a speedster. We should hopefully learn who she is in the final few episodes of the season.

Overall, Therefore She Is is one of the season’s strongest episodes. We finally learn what drives DeVoe, and how he met Marlize. These two characters are portrayed by incredibly talented actors. The action is solid, and the writing is consistently good. The only negative part is how the Cisco/Gypsy romance ends. The Flash’s fourth season has been up and down in terms of quality, but if this episode is any indication, we should have a fantastic climatic end to the season.

9.0
The final score: review Amazing
The 411
"Therefore She Is" is a fantastic episode. We learn more about about DeVoe and Marlize. The flashback sequences are fascinating. Meanwhile, team Flash has some compelling sequences. The climax of Cisco's relationship with Gypsy is annoying, but it's a small thing when compared to everything else in this episode.
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