The Flash “Therefore I Am” Review

Episode 4×07 of The Flash picks up where 4×06 left off with the Joe and Barry meeting the infamous Clifford DeVoe. We learn a lot about who DeVoe is and how he and his wife got to where they are now through flashbacks. In the present, Barry takes his “investigation” on DeVoe a bit too far and gets himself into trouble. However, his paranoia pays off in the end.

DeVoe’s History

The thing about DeVoe is that I don’t think he’s always been this villain. I say that because four years ago, he started teaching at CCU with his wife after meeting her at Oxford. Underneath all the bad guy stuff, they’re just a normal couple where she takes care of him and they eat mac n cheese. However, that doesn’t change the fact that they are the big bad of the season.It all started four years ago when DeVoe theorized the idea of a “thinking cap” that would give him infinite thought – aka so he could basically be a literal genius and know everything. His wife built the cap for him, but they soon realized they didn’t have a strong power source. That was until the fake Harrison Wells developed the particle accelerator. So, they attended fake Harrison’s press conference. The wife even asked a question about the possibility of the accelerator not working, but Harrison quickly recognized her last name and her husband and shot down their concern. Side Note: if you’re thinking, well Barry and Iris were there, why don’t they recognize these two? Just before DeVoe’s wife asked posed her concerns, a mugger stole Iris’ bag so she and Barry went after him.

After the conference, DeVoe and his wife went to their van where they have everything set up. She knows Harrison was lying about the accelerator working, but Clifford is positive their plan will work. He puts on the cap as the accelerator starts, and gets blasted with the dark matter that gives him his power of infinite thought.Unfortunately for him and his wife, there’s a debilitating side effect. All his brain power absorbs all the energy from the rest of his body, which basically gave him ALS and is why he’s now in a wheelchair. This is where his wife comes in, though. She’s the one that designed the floating chair that connects to his brain in their lair. It’s basically expanding his life expectancy a little longer, which is ultimately enabling him to complete his plan. The thing is, I’m not sure what his plan is exactly. Did I miss it somehow in the last few episodes?

Barry’s Spidey Senses

As mentioned above, Barry is convinced that this Clifford DeVoe is the baddie they’re looking for, even when all signs say otherwise. The episode kicks off with Joe and Barry questioning DeVoe and his wife in their living room. They have all the right answers, but it’s clear Barry isn’t buying any of it, especially when he spots a painting of a samurai – which DeVoe has the perfect answer for as well. Even when Barry and Joe meet the team back at the STAR Labs, none of them found anything suspicious about the couple either.Barry is still adamant, though, and takes it upon himself to show up at one of DeVoe’s lectures at the college. DeVoe still doesn’t give anything up, but that doesn’t stop Barry from swiping his mug to run a metahuman DNA test. Unfortunately for Barry, there’s not even any sign of metahuman DNA either. He still can’t shake his gut feeling, though. Iris tries to talk him down, reminding him that they’re getting married in a week – FINALLY! 😊

Their talk gets interrupted when Barry gets called to CCPD. When he arrives, the chief, Joe and the DeVoes are waiting on him. Clifford and his wife filed a complaint against Barry after he showed up at Clifford’s lecture because they’re feeling harassed. The chief tells him to back off, but it doesn’t slow Barry down, especially when he finds the camera in the Samuroid helmet. He makes a new mystery board, and then takes his paranoia to a whole new level by breaking into the DeVoe’s house. Yup. Barry has lost it, but he obviously has good reason to… they just don’t know it yet.Barry may be able to flash himself into the DeVoe’s, but that didn’t stop him from getting caught on camera. Clifford’s wife, clearly upset and shaken, reports it to the chief and gets Barry suspended for a couple weeks. Again, this still doesn’t faze him in his quest to bring DeVoe down. He goes back to DeVoe’s classroom to confront him once again. Only this time, DeVoe doesn’t shy away from his knowledge – even confessing to knowing Barry is The Flash. “You may be the fastest man alive, Allen. I’m the fastest mind.” DUN DUN DUN! I wonder how this will affect how the team approaches this new big bad.

Time to get Married

Barry returns to STAR Labs to tell the team (including WALLY!) about how he got suspended and why. As expected, they scold him a bit for taking things too far when there’s no evidence against DeVoe. That is until Barry tells them about the camera he found in the Samuroid head and how DeVoe knows he’s The Flash. Now, the team believes Barry and feel bad about not doing so sooner. Cisco deems DeVoe as “The Thinker” as he puts him on their mystery board. They then decide that since there’s nothing they can do about DeVoe right now that “we get married.” 😊Speaking of Barry and Iris, as I said earlier, she tried to bring his obsession with DeVoe down throughout the episode – constantly reminding him they’re getting married next week. When they’re finally home, Barry confesses to her that he’s so obsessed with taking down DeVoe because he has more to lose these days. Iris becomes his voice of reason once again by noting that as time goes on, they’ll have even more to lose. Someone will always be after them, but they’ll get through it together like always because “we’re the flash” 😊

The Flash airs Tuesday at 8/7c on The CW!

GIF credit: irisgifs, valeriemperez, dailycisco