Barry is put on trial for DeVoe’s murder and Team Flash move Heaven and Earth to try and save him. But when a radioactive meta manifests, they find their attention divided.

There’s a lot going on here and a lot of it is very good. The Flash has a strong cast, a clear sense of self and a cheerful willingness to break its central premise in fun ways as often as it can. This episode is no exception, and Lauren Certo and Kristen Kim’s script cleverly fixes the plot to Barry’s new found, and colossally welcome, maturity. He knows going in what the others figure out; there’s no way he can win this. Seeing him wait for them to discover that, especially a truly great scene with Iris, is some of the best material the show has produced so far this season. Gustin is excellent as this newly grounded Barry and Candice Patton, finally being allowed to play an adult, excels in every scene she’s in.

That willingness to kick things over is best expressed through Joe and Ralph. In a season highlight moment, Joe has Ralph help him break into DeVoe’s home. Ralph figures out that it’s to plant evidence to exonerate Barry and draws the line. His speech to Joe, outlining exactly how long it will take for his life to collapse and how inevitable that collapse is if he goes through with it, is flat out stunning. Hartley Sawyer delivers it with Ralph’s usual crumpled informality but there’s steel behind every word and every word lands. Jesse L. Williams’ reaction, entirely silent, is one of the most emotionally complex and nuanced things this show has ever done. It’s all great, chewy, character led stuff.

It’s a shame then that the rest of the episode never takes off. Fallout, the radioactive metahuman who isn’t aware of his powers, is a great idea given absolutely no room to grow. Instead he transitions from tragic misunderstood victim to throwing nuke bolts at Barry and Caitlin across about 4 minutes of screen time. Worse, the episode’s most ludicrous moment sees Cisco and Wells track him down, only to realise they’re tracking a nuclear waste truck.

One that’s unguarded.

And they flag down.

And is being driven by Fallout.

And they let go.

This whole plot is a deeply unlovable combination of rushed and obstructive. Because every minute we spend with Fallout is one we don’t spend at the world’s fastest court case. What could, and maybe should, have unfolded over two or three episodes is resolved in one and you can almost smell the burning rubber as it sprints towards the finish. It’s understandable, and God knows I’ll always be there for non decompressed storytelling but this plot and Fallout continually trip over each other and the episode suffers as a result.

Verdict: This is never less than watchable and often very good. But it’s also a step change and one that the show struggles to make. With it out of the way, and the interesting new twist in place, hopefully it’ll be back up to speed next week. 7/10

Alasdair Stuart