THE FLASH - Season 5.13

REVIEW:  THE FLASH – SEASON 5, EP. 13:  “Goldfaced”

In an effort to thwart Cicada, Barry and Ralph go undercover and into the black market to find a device that will allow them to bring Cicada down, and come across the man known as Goldface, who’s running the show.  Meanwhile, our intrepid reporter Iris tries to get a lead on Cicada’s whereabouts, only to get herself caught in a sticky situation.

We’re in the lab where Sherloque is hard at work trying to connect the dots between Nora and her “mystery” accomplice (Eobard).  She races to the future to talk to Eobard, letting him know that Sherloque is on to her.  Eobard tells her to find a way to misdirect him---using his weakness.  Which, in Sherloque’s case…is love.

Barry is trying to play interior designer at home, while Iris is busy getting her paper started.  She’s frustrated because she’s had critics online calling her out on her writing skills.  Barry assures her that she’s a legit reporter.  Eventually he agrees that she can investigate and write about Cicada.  She’s off to get some information.

Back at the lab, Barry, Ralph, and Caitlin are looking for ways to find out how to stop Cicada.  Caitlin explains that the brains of twins are different in their cortexes (or something to that extent), and if they can use the cure, they can take Cicada down.  However, they need to be able to contain Cicada long enough to inject the cure.  But they know they can’t even get close to him.  Caitlin knows of a weapon that can immobilize him, a field generator.  Ralph knows of that, and several other weapons, that were stolen.  Ralph knows of a guy that has underworld connections.  They talk to Ralph’s old partner, Earl Cox, and he tells him about Goldface.  They then head into town, and eventually call out the password, and they get sucked down into a place where they’re cut off from Caitlin with no communication.

Nora drags Sherloque to Jitters, in order to occupy his mind and throw him off her trail.  She sets up a meet and greet with a woman, who happens to slip on some coffee spilt onto the floor through Nora’s design.  This woman falls into Sherloque’s arms, and she’s grateful.  She says her name is Renee Adler.  She offers to buy him a scone, and as they begin to talk, Sherloque goes into detective mode, and over does it.  The woman accuses him of being a stalker and takes off.  He’s a bit bummed, but Nora offers to help him out with making it up to her.

Ralph and Barry are in the market, snooping around, looking for the field generator.  Ralph tells him to not be too “cop like” and let him handle the situation.  Barry comes across a guy who’s selling guns that can destroy cops even through their protective gear.  Barry makes an offer to the guy after a demonstration to buy them all off of him, which raises a red flag to  Goldface,.  The guy says he’d talk it over with Goldface, and see if they have a deal.  Ralph comes back, and tells Barry NOT to go overboard, but it’s too late, he’s gotten Goldface’s attention.  Goldface offers a chat.

Iris is interviewing Dwyer’s boss about him, and though he’s reluctant, fearing for his life, he tells her about a problem with his paychecks.  He gives her a name to follow down…Robbie Burn.

Back at The Market, Goldface inists on knowing who Barry and Ralph are.  They are both held at Gunpoint, and Goldface demands to know about them.  So Barry says he’s the one that blew up a wherehouse, and robbed the Central City Mint last month.  He has no record because he leaves red herrings behind.  He makes up a name---The Chemist.  Goldface backs off, and says he’s got a deal for them.  Steal something for him, and they’ll get what they’ve come for.  He wants a 3-D printer from a lab that prints out organs.  Then he can sell them on the black market.

Iris manages to locate where Dwyer had some of his paychecks sent.  It’s dark and dank, and as she looks around, someone’s watching.  She’s at Dwyer’s, and he comes upon her.

Back at STAR Labs, Nora has invited a few of his ex-wives to try and help him with this new woman.  But, the plan backfires, and they now know what Earth he is on (since he was so good at hiding his location), and they want their money or he’s in trouble, because Breacher will come for him if he doesn’t.  Nora feels bad, and she knows she screwed up again.

Barry and Ralph are at the lab looking for the printer, and Barry feels bad that he screwed up.  Ralph tries to assure him it wasn’t his fault, but he takes the hit anyway, saying that he tried to get those guns off the street, and got overzealous.  He also realizes that he can’t be afraid to get the Flash’s hands dirty---sometimes, the ends justify the means.

Iris comes face to face with Dwyer himself, saying that she’s been looking for the owner of the house…Robbie Burn.  Dwyer says that HE is Robbie Burn.  Uh oh….Iris is in deep, and Barry can’t save her.

Iris sits down with Dwyer, and says that she is writing an article about lead in the water in his area.  He says that he hasn’t noticed.  She says that sometimes you don’t know it at first, and it can happen to little kids first.  She then asks him if he has a daughter.  Dwyer says he used to.  He then tells her that he feels fine, and doesn’t have time to deal with her.  Iris then asks him to come to her office.  He refuses and says that he wants to finish it right now.

Nora tries to reassure Sherloque that he will never end up alone, despite what one of his ex’s said.  She tells him he should focus on the now, live in the moment, and make the most of it.  She gives him much to ponder on.

Barry and Ralph arrive at the lab, ready to break into it to steal the printer, along with Goldface’s crew.  As they set up inside the van, Ralph locks Barry into the fan, saying that he was right…the Flash CAN’T get his hands dirty…but HE can.  Ralph takes off to help them steal the printer, and Barry yells at him that he can’t help him.

In the lab, one of Goldface’s men asks Ralph where Barry is, but Ralph says he’s finding a way to cover their tracks.  Inside the lab, they’re looking for the printer.  Ralph finds it.  Ralph looks at the brochure with kids in it.  Ralph then calls over to one of the guys, and eventually knocks him out.  He’s then caputured by Goldface’s men.  They head outside, and Barry manages to escape the van, and he and Ralph take out the men outside.  They then use the guns that they found at The Market, and put them on a stun setting, and go after the rest of Goldface’s mean, taking them down.  They then have their bombs activated on their wrists, and Goldface meets them outside.  He then says he’ll kill them in a conventional way.  They then shoot him, but to their surprise, they see that he’s a metahuman made of gold, and the fight is on.  They’re easily handled since their powers are dampened.  Barry notices a fuse box and goads Goldface towards him.  Goldface lashes out at Barry with one of his chains, but he hits the fuse box, and gets electrocuted.  In the process, Barry and Ralph don’t blow up, but Goldface is still alive.

Back at Dwyer’s, Iris is about ready to leave, when Dwyer notices the bag she left at the door when she came in.  He suspects she’s not who she is, and attacks.  She does what she can to fend him off early, but traps her in the kitchen.  Just as he’s about to kill her with his knife, she stabs him right in his wound.  He recoils and falls down.  Iris walks up to him and says they’re gonna beat him, and walks off.

Back at the lab, Caitlin gives both boys the okay on their checkup.  They failed to get the field generator, but managed to take down Goldface’s operation.  They feel good knowing that if they lost their powers, they can still stop the bad guys.  Barry then gets a call from Iris, and he races over to Dwyer’s house.  Cicada is gone as Barry races through the premesis.  She asks if they had gotten the field generator, but Barry says no.  But she spots a syringe on the ground, and she says she knows how to beat him.

Sherloque bumps into Miss Adler again, and she is about to leave when he tells her that he is a detective and he’s exceptional at deductive reasoning.  She tells him to prove it, and he deduces a guy who’s sitting at a table, having his coffee.  When Sherloque deduces right, she’s impressed.  She gives him her number and she walks out, but never opens the door…it opens for her.  He notices, and immediately goes to the lab, closes Nora’s file, and opens up Cicada’s again.  He starts looking through the file, and finds out that she is a meta, and he won’t let her get hurt.  In the background, Nora vibes through the wall, happy that she accomplished her mission.  You see her with Eobard talking about how their plan worked, allowing them to continue their mission.

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Another quality episode from the creative team of The Flash.  We're moving our story along, while introducing a new villain to the scene, and allowing SOME character development to occur.  

It was GREAT to finally introduce Goldface to the Flash mythos.  He's been a longtime thorn in the side of our Scarlet Speedster (as well as a certain Emerald Gladiator).  He was well portrayed, and loved that they kept his powers hidden for awhile.  But to see them on full display was pretty awesome.  And the good thing is:  He's still alive, so he'll be back around to create more trouble for The Flash down the road.  Now...I just wonder if he hooks up with Amunet Black like he did in the comics?

This episode showed what great chemistry and teamwork Ralph and Barry have together, powers or not.  Ralph has REALLY come into his own this season, and to see his connections with the underworld, his detective work, AND his time as the Elongated Man, he's been a great addition to the team.  To see him and Barry work together to take down Goldface's operation sans powers was a nice wrinkle to this episode.  It showed true teamwork, and for Ralph, his willingness to NOT let Barry sully his hands is a sign of true friendship.  Kudos to both tonight on a job well done.  They didn't get the object they were looking for...but in the end, they were willing to take the small victory in shutting down the Market, and getting those lethal guns off the street.

Iris back at being the intrepid reporter again, pulled her version of a Lois Lane, and went right after the story....and got herself in waaaay over her head.  But damn, if Iris isn't a tough woman who can handle herself.  Gutsy to go right after Dwyer, come face to face with him, and hold off his attack.  Now, because of what she stabbed him with, she knows how to beat him AND she knows he's got some damage.  The public may have liked the tabloid presentation, but that gal has NOTHING on Iris West-Allen.  This is the Iris West-Allen I'd been waiting for again.  The relentless reporter looking for the story and the truth---and helping her super hero husband nab the bad guys.  

We got to see Sherloque's ex-wives, which as both comical AND sad at the same time.  And what do you know....they ALL look alike!  So...it seems our dear detective has a penchant for a specific woman...including one on THIS Earth named---and I guess they wanted to go According to DOYLE on this one---Renee Adler.  For one of his wives to tell him that he isn't good enough to be loved was a painful thing to watch.  But thanks to Nora's pressing, we see that he's got potential in Renee----a LOT more than anticipated.  Looks to us like Sherloque found THIS Adler to be a meta---one that he will forego Nora's case in order to save her from Cicada.

Which brings us to Nora.  Again...the lies continue.  And thanks to Eobard, she manages to get him off her trail.  She knew he was fast closing in on her truth, and that was NOT gonna go over well in the long run.  So, now with him being distracted with saving Renee from the death knell of Cicada's knife, and thus giving him a chance at love once again, it keeps him OFF Nora's radar, and allows her to continue her plans with Eobard.  And, I think we're all in agreement here, that when the other shoe drops for her (and considering it's Eobard...and he should NEVER be trusted!), the backlash is going to be DEVESTATING to Team Flash....especially her parents.  So...not sure how we're going to get to that point, but when it does, it's going to be an exceptional powderkeg that blows.

Cisco was off this week...still working on the cure up North.  Cecile is busy with work, and I am guessing that Joe and Jenna are still hanging with Wally.  Will be great when we get the team back together again to finally deal with Cicada.  Oh...and I wanted to talk about the nice Easter Egg that Sherloque dropped last week about the mind machine given to him by one Jervis Tetch...the Mad Hatter.  That was cool.  I'm sorry I missed it and didn't mention it last week.  Nice they threw in a Batman baddie to help the story along.  

Well...that pretty much does it for this week, guys!  We're moving along at a steady pace, and I'm liking what I see so far.  They've done a nice job this season with the balance of storytelling, the pacing, the character interactions, and keeping all their plots in the air, and not having them go stale.  

As always, subscribe, pass the good word, and leave a comment if you can...I'd love to hear from ya!  

Until next week....keep on running!