Recap: THE FLASH S6E6 – “License to Elongate”

When last we saw our heroes, as Team Flash continues to prepare for life post-Crisis, Nash Wells (Tom Cavanagh) had invited Team Flash to what he believed to be the underground hideout of Mar Novu, aka The Monitor (LaMonica Garrett)! Nash also revealed that he knows a way to save the life of Barry Allen, aka The Flash (Grant Gustin), whom The Monitor had decreed would die in the coming Crisis! This week’s episode, The Flash S6E6, “License to Elongate,” finds Barry out of his depth as he and Ralph Dibny (Hartley Sawyer) head out of town and encounter a familiar foe, and reveals more about Nash Wells and his fascination with Mar Novu. 

For Your Eyes Only

The episode opens with Nash down in the tunnels with Barry, Ralph, Iris West-Allen (Candace Patton), and Killer Frost (Danielle Panabaker). Nash explains that he believes The Monitor is a fraud who is only trying to create fear on the different worlds of the Multiverse, and that a dimensional portal behind the wall Nash has been digging through will lead them to The Monitor. Barry tries to phase through the wall but fails, and Nash says it’s because the wall is infused with anti-vibrational eternium. He says he needs an artifact to help him illuminate the eternium in the walls so he can dig around it, and that he knows where to find one.

Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Chester Runk (Brandon McKnight) has finished his gestation period within the MAC after the events of the season’s first episode. He exits the MAC to find himself completely alone in the building, and he proceeds to play with pretty much everything he can find. As Killer Frost arrives, Chester searches the internet and discovers his own obituary. It turns out he’s been declared legally dead.

At the Central City Police Department, Barry shows Captain Joe West (Jesse L. Martin) the ‘official’ Elongated Man emblem he had made for Ralph. He tells Joe he wants Elongated Man to be Central City’s official protector after he’s gone, and that he plans to present Ralph with the emblem at a press conference the next day. Ralph arrives, and Joe gives him some info on the Sue Dearbon missing persons case that he’s been working. The information came from Midway City, and Barry offers to tag along with Ralph to Midway  to make sure he’ll be back in time for tomorrow’s press conference.

Later, in Midway City, Barry and Ralph are staking out what appears to be a high society event. Ralph tells Barry that, before she disappeared, Sue was wearing a one-of-a-kind dress that was recently seen in Midway City, and if anyone knows where she is they’ll be at this event. Ralph says it’s time to suit up, and presents Barry with a tux for the evening.

Casino Royale

Inside the event, Ralph tells Barry the people they want to talk to will be in the VIP Lounge, which is behind a velvet rope. Ralph also reveals to Barry that he’s wearing a bowtie with a camera inside it, for spy-stuff. The two split up, and Ralph begins to shmooze with one of the female guests. Barry joins them, and after fumbling to make small talk and to correctly identify the party’s host, he and Ralph are immediately made as party crashers. The guest leaves, and Ralph reveals that he managed to swipe a golden mahjong tile from the guest, and that that’s they’re ticket into the VIP Lounge.

Back in Central City, Allegra Garcia (Kayla Compton) finds Nash rummaging around the offices of the Central City Citizen. She mistakes him for Harrison Wells, and he tells her that he’s Harrison Wells’s doppelganger. He says he’s looking for an ultraviolet emitter, and determines with his detector that she’s a metahuman with UV powers. He asks for her help, and in exchange says he’ll tell her everything about the multiverse and the coming crisis, and Allegra agrees.

Elsewhere, Chester has gotten his life back in order thanks to an assist from metahuman attorney Cecile Horton (Danielle Nicolet). Chester thanks her and begins to leave, but Cecile stops him, offering to help him with anything he might need now that he’s back among the living. Chester tells her about Natalie, the barista at CC Jitters he was planning to ask out before his accident, saying he doesn’t know where she is now that Jitters has been destroyed. Cecile offers to use her empathic metahuman powers to help Chester find and ask out Natalie.

Back in Midway City, Ralph and Barry sit down at a mahjong table, where they’re greeted by Remington Meister (Carlo Rota), the host of the event. Meister sits down to play with them, introducing himself and asking what brings them to the party. Barry says Sue Dearbon, and Meister immediately clams up, eyeing them suspiciously. Barry presses the issue, and Meister calls them out for not being on the guest list for the event. Ralph smoothes things over, and Meister ends the mahjong game and leaves the table. As he walks away he signals to someone on a balcony above the floor of the event to keep an eye on them. The figure turns to reveal Esparanza Garcia, aka Ultraviolet (Alexa Barajas), Allegra’s cousin and a foe The Flash faced in this season’s second episode.

Later, Ralph tells Barry about another lead he’s found related to Sue’s dress, but Barry tries to talk him out of pursuing it, questioning whether there’s even a mystery to investigate. Ralph points out the cabal of criminals who are in attendance at the event, telling Barry that Meister is up to something. Barry again says they should head back to Central City for tomorrow’s ‘deposition,’ but Ralph disagrees and heads off to continue investigating. Barry puts his Flash ring on, just in case.

Back in Central City, Cecile has orchestrated a meeting between Chester and Natalie, telling Chester through an earpiece that she will read Natalie’s emotions and tell him what to say. Also Killer Frost is there, because she’s just hanging out. The meeting, in which Natalie delivers a bunch of coffees to Chester, goes predictably horribly, with Cecile misreading everything and Chester ultimately spilling coffee all over Natalie. Frost says Chester should’ve just been himself, and Cecile freaks out and says Chester doesn’t even know who he is anymore.

Underground, Nash and Allegra arrive at the site of Nash’s dig. While talking about the scale of the multiverse and everything Allegra has learned, Nash inadvertantly reveals to Allegra that Barry Allen is The Flash. He tells her that The Monitor is a cosmic fraud who he’s planning to take down permanently, and when Allegra asks for more information he insists she use her abilities to map the eternium in the wall. Allegra refuses, saying she won’t be a weapon for Nash to use to hurt someone, and she runs off.

Back in Midway City, Ralph knocks out the guard watching the security cameras and accesses the guard’s computer. He discovers that the guests are in attendance to bid on a satellite called the Ring of Fire, which is capable of destroying a city from space. As he rises from the computer, he’s zapped from behind with electricity by Meister. Meanwhile, Barry (as The Flash) searches the entire building at superspeed, finding that Sue is nowhere around before being zapped himself and knocked out by Ultraviolet.

Dr. No

The Flash and Ralph awaken to find themselves bound together back-to-back by a meta-dampener. Meister and Ultraviolet enter, and Meister monologues at them, saying The Flash’s use of superspeed triggered an alarm that ultimately led to both of their captures. Ralph calls out Meister for his Bond villain tendencies, and Meister unveils a laser that he’s set up to kill the two of them, but only after Meister destroys Central City with the Ring of Fire as a demonstration for potential bidders. Meister exits, leaving them to watch Central City’s destruction on a nearby screen.

Back underground, Allegra returns to Nash’s dig site. Nash suggests that Allegra is really afraid to use her powers because she’s afraid to become like someone else, and Allegra tells him about Esparanza. He gives her a motivational speech about how she’s not like anyone else, and Allegra uses her powers on the wall, revealing the eternium inside, as well as some glowing orange lettering, which Nash takes a picture of with his gauntlet.

Elsewhere, Cecile confesses to Chester that she was projecting her own issues onto Chester, and that it was causing her powers to work the wrong way. She says she’s terrified of failing at her new career, and Chester says she didn’t fail him, and that they both need to trust in themselves. He says he’s going to embrace his new self and finally ask out Natalie, and that Cecile should embrace her new self as well.

In Midway City, Barry apologizes to Ralph for screwing up their mission. He confesses that he was planning to announce Elongated Man as the new protector of Central City, and Ralph says he’s honored. He goes on to tell Barry that both halves of his life – Ralph and Elongated Man – are important, and that the same is true for Barry and The Flash, and Barry shouldn’t forget that. The two manage to trigger the laser, using it to destroy the meta-dampener and free them. Barry says they’ll need to do things Ralph’s way in order to stop Meister.

Later, in a large theater, Meister begins the auction, presenting the Ring of Fire to the attendees. As he prepares to destroy Central City, Barry staggers out onto the stage, pretending to be drunk and distracting Meister and Ultraviolet in time for Ralph to disable the Ring of Fire control. Ralph and Meister fight, while Barry takes on Ultraviolet, and neither of them does particularly well. Meister is able to reengage the weapon, with a countdown of one minute for it to prime. Barry gets the upperhand against Ultraviolet, knocking her out with an overhead light. Meister gloats over Ralph, who he’s just pummelling with electricity, and Ralph uses the flash on his bowtie camera to blind Meister long enough for Barry to take Meister out with Ultraviolet’s ring weapon. Ralph then disables the Ring of Fire and initiates a self-destruct for it, destroying the satellite. Barry and Ralph high-five over a job well done.

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Back in Central City, Joe tells Barry and Ralph that Remington Meister’s crime ring is effectively finished. Barry says he’s sorry they didn’t find Sue, but Ralph says he’ll keep working on it. He and Barry leave to prepare for the ceremony.

Meanwhile, Chester tells Cecile that he asked Natalie out and she said no, but that he’s okay with it, having conquered his fear. Cecile shows Chester his new metahuman attorney business cards, and suggests to Chester that he should consider working at S.T.A.R. Labs.

Back at the Central City Citizen, Nash tells a resting Allegra that she did good work today. She asks why he’s being so nice to her, and he says she reminds him of someone. As Allegra lays down, Nash stops and looks back at her, somewhat wistfully, before leaving.

Later that day, at the press conference, The Flash introduces Elongated Man to the assembled press. After a brief speech in which he pledges to defend Central City to his dying breath, Ralph invites CSI Barry Allen onto the stage. A confused Barry appears, and he and Joe present Barry with the CCPD Medal of Honor, in recognition of all of the work he’s done behind the scenes for the people of Central City. It’s a damn nice moment.

Back on the balcony of S.T.A.R. Labs, Ralph gives Iris a photo taken at Meister’s party, of a man Iris recognizes. He mentions that Ultraviolet was also at the party, and Iris says she’s on it, indicating a connection between the two. Iris leaves, and after a brief moment alone, Ralph is confronted by Ramsey Rosso (Sendhil Ramamurthy), who attacks Ralph, taking the two of them over the edge of the balcony.

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After last week’s Flash-less episode, it was good to have one where Barry was once again front-and-center, and the pairing of he and Ralph made for some really entertaining interactions. It was also nice to see Ralph in his natural element as a competent private eye, as well as to see a new side to Nash in his interactions with Allegra. Just who does she remind Nash of? Is this new Wells not exactly what he appears to be? And what does Rosso want with Elongated Man? We’ll find out next week!