'The Flash' Recap: 'When Harry Met Harry...'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

​When I think back on season three of The Flash, I’m always reminded of the fact that this predominantly dark season always had a silver lining to it, in that, this was the year that Barry Allen truly became a hero since a good chunk of last season explored what makes a hero tick on a fairly regular basis. I make mention of that today, because for the most part in television, large story arcs such as that, rarely find their way into future seasons. Events or moments are often the focus of a throwback if you will, but last night, this series resurrected that notion in wonderful fashion.
 
Because, ‘When Harry Met Harry…’ allowed for Barry to become a true mentor and inspiration of sorts, and while I fully understand the fact that he was of course, the man that Wally West looked up to last season, let’s never forget the fact that Wally was a good man at heart to begin with, one that wanted to make the world a better place, a stark contrast from what we’ve seen so far when it comes to Ralph Dibny. After all, while dear Mister Dibny wants to be good, he often leaps before he looks, resulting in sometimes hilarious but always disastrous consequences, which made his journey with Barry this episode a satisfying one indeed.
 
Because at long last, Ralph finally shed his doofus and jerk persona to do the right thing for a change. Granted, it took some serious poking and prodding from Barry to make that happen, but it was quite lovely to see Mister Allen really work to reach Ralph, and take the proper time to teach him what it means to be a hero and when the big moment finally arrived for Ralph to do the right thing, my goodness, for the first time in his short history on the show I was able to actually like Ralph completely and see him as a genuine hero, one that did everything is his power to make Central City and the Flash proud.
 
However, while the feel-good portion of this story was a joy to watch, there is an evil supervillain still waiting in the wings and in order to stay ahead of the bad guy for a change, Harry worked with several other Harrys from other Earths to discover the whereabouts of DeVoe and well, this whole sequence was pure genius thanks to Tom Cavanagh’s comedic timing and acting skills. But more importantly, their hard work did pay off. Because Barry and Joe were able to walk right up to the front door of the home of one mister Clifford DeVoe, only to discover he is a man free from any super powers or bionic abilities, he’s just a man in a wheelchair.
 
Which in turn brings up all kinds of fascinating questions and the biggest one on my mind is, have they uncovered the villain before he has become a villain? If so, then Team Flash has inadvertently stumbled upon a temporal causality loop, one that Barry will no doubt work to free himself and DeVoe from in order to avoid conflict and bloodshed. Either way, Barry and his once and future nemesis have met face to face at last, and one has to wonder what will happen going forward to turn Mister DeVoe from average citizen into the mastermind that is the Thinker and it should be fun to see how it all unfolds. Until next time.

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