Catching Up: The Flash Episode 402, "Mixed Signals"

We're only two episodes into the fourth season of THE FLASH and it is already by far and away the best season since the series began. I'm giving this episode a 5 point rating just for the RISKY BUSINESS opening sequence alone.

Barry (GRANT GUSTIN) has been keeping himself busy since his return from the Speed Force. He's so happy to be back with Iris (CANDICE PATTON) that he's taking care of all the wedding plans, cancelling appointments, and making counter decisions on the fly (which for him can be pretty fast) without needing to consult her. Which is why Iris takes advice from Caitlin (DANIELLE PANABAKER) and signs the two of them up for couples therapy! Their therapist (DONNA PESCOW, SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER) has a lot of notes to take, because most of what Barry and Iris discuss is done in metaphor and secret signals, as their biggest conflicts impact their work as Team Flash. But the breakthrough comes when Iris finally blurts out what's really the core issue at hand: If Barry loves her, how could he have left her the way he did?

Complicating their therapy sessions is the intervention of a new supervillain in town. Ramsey Deacon (DOMINIC BURGESS, A.N.T. FARM) is a tech worker with a grudge against his teammates. They stole his malware idea and made a fortune on it. (It's called malware, but I'm going to go ahead and assume they made a fortune on malware prevention software, just because.) But now Ramsey has the software inside him, giving him control over anything with technology in it. As Kilg%re, he uses his powers to take revenge on his old teammates, and it's up to Team Flash to stop his murder spree.

There's only one problem. Cisco (CARLOS VALDES) has had idle hands for the last six months and has packed so much technology into the Flash uniform (including palm-pad repulsor beams -- Tony Stark is going to be filing a lawsuit) that it becomes a simple thing for Kilg%re to take control of the suit--and the man inside it.

Barry and Iris aren't the only ones having relationship problems. Cisco is absorbed with finding solutions to their technology-based foe, to the point that he continues to blow off dates with the girl from the dimension next door, Gypsy (JESSICA CAMACHO). It's a special holiday on Earth-19 called 111 day -- one soul plus one soul equals one soul, the equivalent of our Valentine's Day, only schmoopier.

Fortunately for all involved, things are resolved and relationships get back on track. And we get to see some interesting Flash Easter eggs. If you thought they'd never pull off the "Fat Flash" (it happened in FLASH #115), you'll get to see that here, briefly, as Barry's suit goes haywire.

As with last episode, we close somewhere far away (in time and/or space, it's hard to tell) with The Thinker (NEIL SANDILANDS) and The Mechanic (KIM ENGELBRECHT). We get an idea of just how fast The Thinker can think, and we learn that he is connected to Kilg%re's origins (which had nothing to do with the particle accelerator explosion four years ago). What's more, just like Alchemy, he's created others that he now has to find, which appears to be at least a dozen if we count the open windows on his monitor. Flash is going to have his hands full this season!