To quote Abed Nadir, “And we’re back!”. After that mixed cliffhanger, it’s finally the time to see what happened to Barry Allen in The Flash.
We pick back up with Barry being processed and pleading innocence to the captain of the CCPD. He gets out on bail and explains the issue to Team Flash. Iris makes a Chekhovian remark as she reminds everyone, audience included, that when Barry returned from the speedforce, he was talking about being innocent of a murder and this will most likely play a role later on. Barry states that, if convicted, he will not use his powers to escape and become a fugitive. Meanwhile, Joe recruits Ralph’s P.I. expertise and Clifford, in Dominic’s body, tries to convince Marlise that they are still on a journey together even with the recent “changes”.
The trial begins and the prosecutor starts making his case against Barry, painting him in a bad light and arguing that Barry murdered DeVoe in cold blood. Somewhere else, at a local bank, the B plot begins with a man whose face turns greenish and, seemingly unbeknownst to him, knocks people out as he exits the bank. At the courthouse, the prosecutors present the forensic evidence against Barry, such as the wedding knife/murder weapon and DNA under DeVoe’s nails. Joe and Cisco are called to the bank to investigate and Cisco gets a trace of dark matter from the metahuman.
During Captain Singh’s deposition, Cecille’s question is about why Singh hired Barry in the first place, to which he replies that Barry was eager to help the victims of crimes. The prosecutor then asks Singh about the numerous times Barry was late and about his “sabbatical,” implying that the captain could have covered for Barry’s second life as a criminal mastermind. This apparently leaves everyone considering this as a possibility.
Staking out the DeVoe’s residence, Ralph takes pictures of Marlise kissing DeVoe/Dominic. During a recess, Cecille tells the West-Allens that Barry could either make a deal or claim insanity, which Barry won’t accept because they aren’t true. Plus, Barry won’t testify and defend himself either because he doesn’t want to perjure himself. He doesn’t want to tell the people he is The Flash either, despite this being his best option.
Caitlin comes back to STAR Labs with the news that it was radiation poisoning that caused all the people at the bank to collapse, but since things tend to escalate around Central City, the radiation levels could lead to an atomic-bomb-esque explosion, wiping out the entire city.
Marlise is called to testify and gives a show in melodrama with tears galore, moving the jury members. Ralph arrives with the recently taken pictures, but upon presented with the evidence, Marlise conjures up a story about how she was in a lowkey relationship with Dominic and that Clifford knew and approved of it because he couldn’t provide certain physical pleasures. Even after that, Barry won’t out himself.
Iris decides to talk to Marlise and it doesn’t lead to anything but Mrs. DeVoe baiting Iris into telling the court that Barry is the Flash. As Iris tries to make her move, Barry speeds up to her and creates a sort of a bubble in time in which both of them can talk normally while everything else is stopped. Barry tells her not to do it because it would put everyone that has stood by them in the previous years at risk. In the end, Iris decides not to out The Flash, practically sealing his conviction.
Joe asks Ralph to use his powers to break into the DeVoe’s house, but he refuses when he realizes Joe is planning on planting some fibers from the West-Allen apartment there in order to frame Marlise for the murder — I guess this could be considered a re-framejob? I mean, we know that it was either Marlise or DeVoe who stabbed the corpse. Actually, what Ralph did was less of a “refusal” and more of a “speech on ethics and morality” that managed to convince Joe not to do as he planned.
The metahuman Fallout continues to obliviously make people collapse, but after a while, Barry finally catches on to it. The defense rests her case and proceeds to the closing arguments, but those get interrupted as Barry leaves the courtroom to tend to the metahuman near the point of blowing the city. Cisco and Wells trigger Killer Frost to appear so she can try cooling down Fallout, but she ends up receiving a power blast and passes out. The Flash creates a vacuum around the meta right in time so Cisco can breach the radiation to Earth-15, a place Wells claims to be deserted and abandoned. The plan works, but Barry gets burned, which doesn’t really mean anything since he has healing abilities.
The jury declares its verdict, finding the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree. As Barry goes back to the courthouse, he has a moment alone with Dominic DeVoe who continues on with his smug-ass super calculated plan that he won’t reveal. We have no idea what the fuck is going on which, frankly my dear, it’s far more frustrating that compelling.
Barry declares his innocence once again, but the sentencing is at hand. In a nicely done montage, the creative team juxtaposes the judges calling Barry “inhumane, unmoved, and with such a lack of regard for human life” with Captain Singh awarding the Flash with a medal of valor. The judge, in the end, sentences Barry to life in prison without the chance of parole.
Capping the episode, we see Barry arriving at his prison cell that, due to a phrase written on the wall, we know is the same cell that held Henry Allen at Iron Heights.
