At the CCPD, Barry walks through the lobby and the officers glare at him. He asks Addie what's going on, and she tells him to talk to Singh. Mayor Van Buren is on the TV, and Singh says that some people think that Barry shouldn't be on the charge. Barry points out that Clifford is alive and he's innocent, but the captain warns that some people don’t believe that Clifford is really who he is. Singh says that the mayor ordered him to tell Barry to take an indefinite leave of absence, and warns that Van Buren has a lot to prove. He figures that Barry can come back when people believe that Clifford is alive and well.
At S.T.A.R. Labs, Barry tells the others what happened. Iris says that now Flash can prove that Clifford is still alive. As for the bus metas, they have four left after Clifford killed five of them. Fallout is safe and Wepper is MIA, and Ralph is with them. Barry figures that Clifford plans to drain all twelve bus metas of their powers. Ralph and Cisco return with a box from the bus depot, and Ralph explains that it's from the metas' bus. Cisco is less than thrilled that he's been put in charge of watching Ralph.
Barry agrees to watch Ralph next. There's a CD with the name Izzy Bowen on it, and they play it to discover that Izzy is a violin player. Cisco vibes the CD and sees a bar and Izzy on stage doing a mic check. He gives the others the location, and Barry insists that Ralph go with him.
At the bar, Izzy is playing the violin and dancing for the cheering audience. Clifford and Mechanic re watching, and Clifford says that Izzy is good but lacks refinement. As they argue, Clifford collapses and tells Mechanic that Becky's body is wearing down because of the dark matter she absorbed from the other bus metas. Clifford says that they must act now and he has to take over Izzy's body. On the monitors, the husband and wife see Barry and Ralph enter the bar.
After Izzy finishes her set, Barry and Ralph approach her and she flirts briefly with Flash. Barry explains that someone smart and dangerous is coming after her, but Izzy doesn't believe him. Ralph explains that she was on the bus showered with dark matter and gained powers, and the person responsible is after her. Izzy refuses to come with them, and explains that she's been looking out for herself. She emits a blast of sonic noise and when Barry and Ralph recover, they discover that Izzy has slipped away.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin confirms that Barry and Ralph are unharmed but temporarily deafened. Iris determines that Izzy unleashed a blast of molecular shrapnel. Ralph wonders when Harry is getting back from Earth 2.
Harry is getting coffee at Jitters when Cecile comes in. Cecile says that she needs coffee because Joe is keeping her awake all night with his thoughts, even when he's asleep. She explains that she can't put up with all of his noisy dreams, and Harry says that he can build something to help her.
That night, the team searches Central City but can't find Izzy. Ralph suggests that that they check Izzy's web site, and Cisco realizes that no one has checked it. Iris discovers that she's performing at Saloon Sounds, and Flash, Vibe, and Elongated Man head out.
The heroes approach Izzy and tell her that she's in danger. Clifford steps out of the shadows and greets them. Flash tells her to leave Izzy alone, and Clifford says that Flash isn't smart enough to stop her from getting what he wants. He says that she has the powers of six metas, and uses Becky's unluck power to make Vibe knock out Flash and elongated Man. Izzy unleashes a sonic blast, knocking Clifford back, and Mechanic appears and teleports away with her husband.
The heroes take Izzy to S.T.A.R. Labs and explain about Clifford and his plan. Izzy says that her powers give her a deeper connection to her powers and she's about to record a new album. She explains that she lost friends and good men so that she could get her dream. Flash says that they're going to train her, pointing out that her powers weakened Clifford. When Izzy says that she doesn't know who they are, Barry, Ralph, and Cisco remove their masks. Unconvinced, Izzy walks out and Ralph offers to convince her to stay.
Ralph catches up to Izzy and says that Clifford wants to kill him as well. He talks about how he got another shot at life after he got his powers, and admits that he's afraid of losing it all. That's why Ralph joined Team Flash, and he promises her that the team won't bail on her just like they didn't bail on him. Ralph promises that the team will keep her safe, and Izzy agrees and asks who her buddy is going to be. He says that he's available.
Mechanic discovers that Izzy's sonic blast accelerated the body's deterioration. Clifford snaps at her, pointing out that she failed him, and Mechanic says that Clifford's plan was failing. She asks if Clifford' mind is failing due to the transfers, and Clifford insists that there's nothing wrong with his mind. Mechanic says that next time she'll keep a level head and walks away.
Iris gives Izzy a fiddle to focus her powers, and Izzy trains with it on Ralph. She unleashes a blast of music that distorts Ralph's body and knocks his upper torso back. He snaps back and gasps in relief.
Harry is working in the lab when Cecile comes in and says that his invention doesn't work. He saps at her, insisting that it's foolproof, and Cecile points out that it weights ten pounds. Cecile puts it on and explains that she can't sleep with it on her head. Harry complains that she's more worried about comfort than function and starts throwing tools. Cecile orders him to stop and asks what's wrong with him. Harry says that he's frustrated, and Cecile realizes that it's normal behavior for him. Furious, she storms out.
Izzy continues training and misses Ralph. She takes a water break, and Ralph goes over to talk to her. Iris suggests that Izzy is right, but Barry figures that it's their chance to defeat Clifford. He then tells Ralph that he has to push Izzy, and tosses skeet targets across the room. Izzy smashes the first one, and Barry runs around her at superspeed with more targets. A piece of skeet shrapnel hits her arm, and Ralph goes over to check on her.
The next day, Barry is looking at photos of the bus metas. Iris comes in and says that Izzy is fine. She tells Barry that he's trying to turn Izzy into a hero but she isn't suited to that. Barry says that he saw what Clifford did to the metas and he couldn't stop it, and warns that Clifford won't go easy on Izzy so neither can he. Iris tells her husband that they can't be ruthless like Clifford, and Barry should remember that.
Harry goes to the West house and he gives her a miniaturized dampener. He apologizes and explains that he's frustrated because he can't outthink Clifford or help his daughter. Cecile invites him in to talk and asks how the dampener works. Harry realizes that if he reversed the device's polarity, it could block brain waves. Cecile realizes what he's thinking and tells him that he has to do it.
That night, Caitlin patches up Izzy's arm and Ralph says that it won't happen again. Caitlin excuses herself and Izzy prepares to leave rather than get hurt again. Ralph tells her that it's a bad idea, and Izzy points out that she hurt Clifford once without their help. When he says that it's the buddy system, Izzy tells him that he's not her buddy. She blasts him out of the way, mutters an apology, and leaves.
Harry tells the team that he can use the dampener to disrupt outbound brainwave broadcasts so they can use it against Clifford. He calls it the cerebral inhibitor, and Barry remembers his future self mentioning the inhibitor to him and Iris. They tell the others, and Harry says that all they have to do is affix it to Clifford's forehead and it will prevent him from transferring his consciousness. Ralph comes in and says that Izzy left because of Barry pushing her. Barry admits that it's his fault, and Ralph tells Cisco to find out where Izzy is. Cisco gets a vibe vision of Izzy in the warehouse district calling out Clifford. In the vision, Clifford teleports in and realizes that Cisco is watching, and cuts him off. After recovering from being blasted down, he tells the others where Izzy is. Caitlin stays to take care of Cisco while Ralph and Barry help Izzy.
Clifford tells Izzy that she's the only one to amount a defense against her. Izzy fires a sonic blasts, but Becky's bad luck causes the fiddle string to break. Flash and Elongated Man arrive at superspeed, and Flash tells Clifford that she's not getting Izzy. He speeds forward but collapses as Clifford uses Dominic's powers to give him a brain aneurism. Elongated Man tells Izzy to get out, and Clifford knocks away his hand as he tries to put the inhibitor on her. Clifford drops a unminiaturized car on Elongated Man, but Izzy applies the inhibitor to Clifford's forehead. Unimpressed, Clifford uses Killgore's power to deactivate it, and says that she can hear Harry's radio transmissions as he and the others monitor the battle.
Elongated Man breaks free and Izzy runs, but Clifford surrounds her in a force field. There's no way through, and Clifford's chair materializes. Elongated Man tells Izzy to look at her, and the chair's tentacle grabs Izzy and drains her power. Clifford transfers himself into Izzy's body, and he laughs in triumph. He tells the heroes that he'll be busy with his wife and walks away, and teleports away with the chair. Flash picks up the discarded inhibitor and looks at the grief-stricken Elongated Man.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin checks on Ralph and tells the others that he's not great. Harry blames himself for failing with the inhibitor, and storms out. Cisco says that he can pinpoint Clifford and explains that he's figured out that Clifford teleports through pocket dimensions. They realize that Clifford's lab is in a pocket dimension, and Cisco tells them that he's still working on tracking their opponent. Caitlin checks on Ralph, and Barry tells Iris that she was right and he can't rush things. Iris assures him that he'll find another job, and tells him to start things by kissing her.
The next day at Jitters, Cecile finds Harry and thanks him for the new inhibitor. He admits that he has a problem with rage when he makes mistakes, and Cecile accepts his apology. She reads his mind and says that Harry should call Jesse and resolve things between them. Harry worries that she won't come, and Cecile tells him that he won't know if he doesn't invite her.
Clifford is playing the fiddle and Mechanic applauds when he finishes. She reports that their plan is back on schedule, and Clifford figures that they only have to locate three more subjects.
Barry sits in his office and listens to Izzy's CD. Barry arrives and says that he understands if Ralph needs some time away from the team. Ralph tells him that Izzy was very special, and gives Barry a business card. He explains that he knows what it's like to get fired from the CCPD, and now Barry won't have to deal with the problem he had. Barry is astonished that Ralph really likes him, and Ralph says that they have to stand up and fight back like Izzy would have wanted. Once they find the last three metas, Ralph promises that he'll take Clifford down.
Written by Gadfly on Feb 28, 2018