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Barry and Ralph go full 007, Central City gets a new protector in latest Flash
There’s no doubt The Flash can have plenty of fun with a gimmick episode, and seeing the Arrowverse take on some James Bond cliches was well worth the trip. It’s a full on, suave spy mission — shaken, not stirred.
Spoilers ahead for “License to Elongate,” the latest episode of The CW’s Flash, which aired Tuesday, November 19, 2019.
Ralph’s search for the missing Sure Dearborn continues this week, as he heads off with Barry to crash an elegant party to try and dig up a lead on her whereabouts. But to do it, they have to suit up. No, not in super-suits, but actual suit suits. Having Barry tag along with Ralph into this world of intrigue and spy action was a fantastic showcase for how these heroes differ. We’ve rarely gotten to see Ralph in his own world showing off his skills and absolutely killing it — here, Ralph really is a poor man’s James Bond (in a good way). It’s also a great contract to Barry’s fish out of water. Take the man out of the super suit and put him undercover, and yeah, he doesn’t exactly know what to do.
It might just be an hour-long episode, but they manage to check off all the classic James Bond tropes. We get the accented bad guy; the suits; the gambling; the smooth talking; and even a wildly complicated bad guy plan to kill Barry and Ralph, complete with a friggin’ giant laser. Though the super spy duo don’t have much luck finding Sue, they do stumble upon an arms manufacturing auction to sell off a weapons satellite capable of taking out any city from orbit — and they’re planning to erase Central City from the map as a demo.
Of course, Barry and Ralph save the day, but this time we get to see some old fashion fist fights in tuxedos, 007-style. And of course, they manage to stop the bomb with just one second left on the timer. How else do you think that would go?
The story is a great way to shine a light on just how much Ralph has grown over the years to become a selfless hero all his own, worthy of the spotlight. Barry sees it, too, and announces to the city that Elongated Man is officially a new city superhero on the same level as The Flash himself. With the Crisis looming, Barry’s looking to make the transition as smooth as possible when he potentially vanishes to save all reality. It’s been a long road, but Ralph has absolutely earned his very own superhero logo. Now he just needs his own drink at Jitters. They even turn the tables on Barry and honor him for his work as a crime scene investigator all these years. No super alter ego required.
Assorted musings
Our old pal Chester has finally finished having his molecules reassembled and tries to get his old life back, complete with a total fail to ask out the barista he’s been crushing on. But, Camille gets to use him as a trial case for her new meta human lawyer gig, and helping Chester get his life back on track gives her the confidence to get her new practice off the ground. Oh, and she invites Chester to hang around STAR Labs, so could he be a future member of Team Flash?
Our rugged new version of Wells, aka Nash, also gets some screen time this week. He teams up with Iris’ intern Allegra to use her powers to find the Eternium so he can hopefully bust open the gateway to the Monitor. He also spills pretty much every secret about the multiverse, and Barry’s secret identity, along the way for good measure.
The episode ends with Bloodwork back in the fray, jumping Ralph and seemingly throwing him off a balcony. Hopefully the newly-minted Central City guardian is alright next week.
Next week: Bloodwork tries to corrupt Barry with his freaky blood powers, with the Crisis just a few more weeks away.
