TV Review: "Subject 9"

The Flash returns from its Olympics break with Team Flash now being protective of Ralph as it's become clear that DeVoe (portrayed in this episode by Sugar Lyn Beard) is swapping into the bodies of the bus metas to maintain his body and pool the powers of the metas together. Team Flash and DeVoe find another meta, Izzy Bowen (Miranda MacDougall), an aspiring country music singer with sonic powers. After a brief face off against DeVoe, Team Flash takes Izzy under their wing to help her prepare for the next time they face the villain.

Meanwhile, Harry Wells (Tom Cavanagh) returns from Earth-2 and takes Cecile's (Danielle Nicolet) problem of hearing Joe's dreams as a pet project as he develops a device to help control her telepathic powers. But perhaps the device might help Team Flash as well. In addition, Barry (Grant Gustin) is put on indefinite suspension from CCPD.

"Subject 9" was teased by the CW's promo department that Ralph would decide to stop being a hero when he discovers that DeVoe wants his powers (with the side effects of effectively killing Ralph). However, that didn't happen in this episode at all. What we did get was Ralph stepping up in defiance of this. He acknowledges that his life is in danger, but he keeps on anyway. His interactions with Izzy suggest a lot of character development since the first time we saw him.

Certainly, this is not an episode that stands alone, but the character beats made it feel like much more than just a filler episode until the finale.

Viewers in the US may view "Subject 9" at no charge during a limited availability window on the CW website and app. With the current licensing agreement, the entire fourth season of The Flash will be available on Netflix in June, 2018. Digital versions of the episode may be purchased on iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Vudu, Google Play and other retailers of digital video content. Blu-Ray and DVD copies of the season are expected to be available for sale in or by September, 2018.

Non-US viewers should check their local listings, the websites of the channels that air The Flash, and digital video retailers.