In the lab, Sherloque works to translate more of Nora's journal and determine who her accomplice is.
Nora vibrates through a door and leaves for the future. Thawne says that Sherloque doesn't know that he's helping Nora because if he had found out, he would have told Barry. He assures Nora that he can fix it and says that Nora only has to nudge Sherloque toward his weakness: love.
At Iris' office, Barry rearranges the furniture at superspeed. Iris continues working and explains that she's busy working to gain readers. There's a review article about how boring Iris' work is compared to other sites like Spencer Young's Spyn Zone. Barry assures her that she's a real journalist and doesn't want to write like Spencer, and says that she wants to write about Cicada. Barry tells her to call her if she needs him, and Cavanaugh heads off to investigate her hunch.
Later at STAR Labs, Caitlin works on the cure as Barry and Ralph look on. She explains that that the pituitary gland metabolizes dark matter, manifesting meta powers. If they negate the dark matter in the gland, they negate the powers. However, the cure takes a minute to have effect. Caitlin says that Van Horn Industries created a Neuro-Stasis Field Generator that can negate any living organism within a field. The device was stolen, and Ralph says that he thinks where they can look.
Ralph and Barry meet with Earl Cox, who says that the device is circulating in the black market. Amunet's boyfriend Goldface has taken over for her, and he's avoided the CCPD for years. Once Earl tells them to say Big Raf sent them and leaves Ralph's office, Barry worries that they're making a deal with the devil. Ralph tells him that the ends justify the means.
Nora takes Sherloque to Jitters to show him a new tea, and he says that he's busy working on a mystery. She asks for details but Sherloque refuses to share with her. Sherloque agrees to get a cup of tea to go, and Nora remembers how Nora told her how to alter the timestream by planting a cup of coffee. She engineers a cup of coffee to be knocked over, and when a woman slips on it, Sherloque catches her. The woman, Renee Adler, offers to buy Sherloque a scone to thank him. As she orders, Sherloque deduces that she had ballet training and she invites him to continue deducing her personal background. When he goes into a lot of detail, Renee assumes that he's been stalking her and walks off. Nora comes over and tells Sherloque that she thought she was really into Renee. She advises him to find a way to apologize and offers to help.
Barry and Ralph go to the coordinates of the black market and Caitlin monitors them. Ralph says the pass phrase and the ground opens up beneath them. They drop into an underground lab and Caitlin loses contact with them. The armed guards put power-dampening bracelets on Barry and Ralph, One man, Carver, says that the bracelets are rigged with explosives and ask who sent them. Ralph says that Big Raf sent them, and Carver welcomes them to the market. As Barry and Ralph look around, Ralph says that he'll find the device while Barry tries not to look like a cop or a superhero. Once Ralph leaves, a dealer tries to sell Barry a gun that will burn through CCPD police armor. Barry tests it and the dealer chuckles in pleasure. When Barry offers to buy all of them, the dealer says that there's a limit and he'd have to get permission from Goldface. dealer triggers a silent alarm.
Iris interviews Brent Osmack, a union manager, and asks if Orlin ever said anything about what he was up to. Osmack refuses to comment and Iris asks if Orlin threatened him. She talks about how he wrote articles that encouraged people to speak out against DeVoe, and Orlin gives her the address of Robbie Byrnes, Orlin's cousin.
Ralph pulls Barry aside and asks what he's doing. Barry explains that he's trying to buy the guns so they don't kill criminals, and Ralph tells him not to blow their cover. Ralph takes Barry to the lounge to meet with Goldface. Carver comes in and whispers to Goldface, and angrily tells Ralph to shut up when he tries to rush the deal. Goldface then says that he figures that Ralph is scum but Barry isn't, and that worries him. He asks who Barry is, and Carver shoves Barry to the ground and holds a gun to his head.
Barry finally says that he's nobody with no arrests and no convictions, and describes two crimes that he supposedly committed. he calls himself "The Chemist", stands up, and tells Goldface to stop wasting his time. Satisfied, Goldface takes a seat and says that he has a big job and needs someone to cover his tracks. In return for Barry's help, he'll sell him the Field Generator. Barry has to steal a 3D printer capable of making human organs at Ivo labs.
Iris goes to Orlin's address and breaks into the house after nobody answers her knock. Orlin comes in and sits on the couch, getting out his meal. He hears a noise and grabs his dagger, and advances on Iris' position. There's no one there because she's slipped around the corner.
Sherloque arrives at the Cortex and Nora tells him she's asked his ex-wives for help. Four of the five wives jumped at the chance, and Sherloque says that he is behind on alimony payments and they didn't know where he was until now. Holograms of the four wives appear, and they all look like Renee. They all start berating him, and Sherloque suggests that they come to an agreement. Nora speaks up and says that she thought they were coming there to help Sherloque. They laugh at the idea and say that Sherloque gave them gifts based on reading clues. They tell Sherloque to pay them the alimony by the end of the month, and they have hired Breacher to get them the alimony. The other wives leave and the last one tells Sherloque that some people are meant to be alone. Once her hologram fades out, Sherloque walks off.
Ralph tells Ralph that stealing medical equipment was more than they bargained for. Barry figures that he has no choice but to do it, and he's the one who blew it by trying to buy the guns. He agrees with Ralph that sometimes the ends justify the means and they should just get it over with.
At Orlin's house, Orlin is going through the paper. Iris sneaks to the front door and the door creaks as she opens it. Orlin hears it and comes over, and Iris pretends that she's coming in. She claims that the door was unlocked, says that she's a reporter, and tells Orlin that she's there to talk to Robbie. Orlin says that he's Robbie. They sit down in the kitchen to talk, and Iris says that she's writing an investigative report about lead leaking into water pipes in the neighborhood. Orlin says that he hasn't noticed anything scary about the water, and Iris talks about how it's not noticeable and young children are susceptible. She asks if he has a daughter, and Orlin implies that he did and she's dead. Orlin says that it's late, and Iris asks if she can see him the next day. He says that they should finish it now.
At STAR Labs, Nora finds Sherloque making espresso and he figures that he's destined to be alone. She says that he can't deduce his way to a happy ending and has to let it come one step at a time. Sherloque considers what Nora said as she leaves.
Ralph and Barry go with Goldface's gang to Ivo Labs. Carver has pass cards and tells them to set their weapons to kill. The group goes in, and Ralph locks Barry in the back of one of their vans and tells Barry that he can do it but Flash shouldn't have to.
In the lab building, Ralph reaches the others and claims that Barry is disposing of the evidence they left in the van.
Barry finds a piece of metal to use as a screwdriver to remove the inside panel.
The gang spreads out to find the printer, and ralph locates it first. There is a file on it with photos of the babies that the hospital is going to use to manufacture organs for. Ralph knocks out one gang member when he comes over to get the printer, but Carver and his men arrive and Carver has his men take Ralph to the van. Barry arrives and knocks one man out. The other one chokes Ralph, and Barry tosses him a brick to knock the man out. They switch the guns to stun and go after the gang.
As Carver leads his men out, Ralph and Barry open fire and take out Goldface's men. They fight their way to the printer, taking out the other gang members with the guns and in hand-to-hand when they get close enough. Once the thieves are done, Ralph and Barry's bracelets arm. Goldface calls over the radio and tells them to go the loading dock.
When the two men get there, Goldface is waiting and says that he's going to kill them in a more traditional way. Ralph and Barry open fire, stunning him. Goldface gets back to his feet, revealing that he has gold under his skin. He regenerates his damaged skin and attacks them, and they fight. Goldface punches Ralph back, and Barry hits him with a metal beam. Using one of his gold chains as a whip, Goldface pulls Barry off of his feat. Ralph recovers and Goldface chokes him with his chain. Barry aims one of the guns at Goldface and taunts him into attacking him. When Goldface whips him, Barry gets out of the way and lets the metal whip hit the electrical panel behind him. The shock melts Goldface's eyes and stuns him.
Iris thanks Orlin for his information and starts to go. She picks up her bag that she left earlier, and he points out that she didn't have it when she came in. Orlin throws his dagger at her and misses, and Iris sprays mace in his face. Orlin grabs her and summons his dagger back to his hand, and Iris stabs him in the chest with a discarded brass casing. She tells him that they're going to beat him and leaves as his chest glows with dark matter energy.
Later back at STAR Labs, Caitlin confirms that Barry and Ralph are recovering. Barry says that they took down a powerful meta-human without their powers, reminding them that they can fight Cicada even when he's dampening their powers. Iris calls Barry, and the team breaches to Orlin's house. He's already left, and Iris says that they don't need the device because she knows Cicada's weakness.
Sherloque approaches Renee at Jitters and explains that he's a detective, not a stalker. He tells her that he deduced everything he said earlier, and Renee tells him to deduce things about a nearby man. Sherloque deduces the man has a dairy allergy but still likes milk lattes. The man becomes ill, and Renee realizes that Sherloque is telling the truth. He offers to buy her a tea to make up for creeping her out, and Renee says that she can call him sometime and gives him her number. As Renee leaves, Sherloque notices that the door blows open without her touching and realizes that she's a meta.
Back at STAR Labs, Sherloque goes to work on finding out Cicada, vowing that Cicada won't harm her. Meanwhile, Nora figures that her mission is successful and remembers Thawne telling her that they can finish what they started once her secret is safe.
Written by Gadfly on Feb 6, 2019