The Flash Recap: “Elongated Journey Into Night”

The Flash is pulling an Arrow Season Five this year as the show returns to the formula which made it such a hit.

“Elongated Journey Into Night,” is another fun episode (directed by Tom Cavanagh) that introduces a popular DC Comics character, The Elongated Man. And, with Kid Flash departing last week, he’s a welcome addition to the team. Not to mention, his cocky bravado keeps with the “newer, goofier” season that was promised after last year’s finale.

Unlike The Elongated Man’s comic book backstory, Ralph Dibney is now a rogue ex-cop who has a poor history with Barry. Turns out, Dibney planted evidence at a crime scene and the rookie Barry managed to get him fired for the lies. However, the two former colleagues need to put their differences aside in “Elongated Journey Into The Night,” when Ralph ends up being the new metahuman of the week.

The private detective isn’t very happy to be at the mercy of the man who got him fired while Barry is searching for any reason to lock him up. When Barry finds out his arch nemesis is extorting the mayor after discovering the man is having an extramarital affair, he is happy to see Ralph be the “bad guy,” but it turns out the Elongated Man decides to take the high road by blackmailing the mayor “out of blackmail,” and turning down the two thousand dollars.

In the B-plot for “Elongated Journey Into The Night,” Cisco finally gets to meet Gypsy’s father, played by Danny Trejo. It’s a poor use of such a notable actor and it seems like The Flash was so shocked that Trejo actually agreed to join the show that they didn’t have time to write a party worthy of him.

Nevertheless, Gypsy’s bounty hunter father doesn’t take a liking to Cisco and decides to “hunt” him for twenty-four hours to see if he’s worthy of his daughter. There are a couple of fun moments between Harry and Cisco with the former giving the latter relationship advice, but for the most part, this storyline just distracts from the main plot.

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Hartley Sawyer is the main attraction in “Elongated Journey Into The Night,” by perfectly capturing Dibney’s bravado and cockiness without becoming too much of a joke. His heroic turn by the end of the episode feels earned and he’s a nice addition to the team.

Already, the banter between Barry and Ralph feels better than with Wally, however, the latter’s interactions with Caitlin makes it seem like The Flash already has a new love interest for her. Can she ever go a season without a focus on her love life? Or, perhaps they can focus their attention to figure out what to do about Iris because the show seems to have jettisoned her journalism career for her to do nothing but hang around Star Labs to occasionally bark orders.

“Elongated Journey,” leaves off with two bigger developments: Caitlin’s mobster debt and The Thinker’s identity. Someone carves in her door, “We miss you, come back soon” which is a lot of work for someone who just initially was shoving people around in a bar.

Next: The Flash Recap: “Luck Be A Lady”

Ralph also lets Barry know that the man who hired him was named, “DeVoe,” which is someone who the speedster was warned about a couple of times in the past few seasons. “I smell a mystery,” The Elongated Man gleefully announces while he wiggled his nose otherwise known as his signature comic book move. Looks like The Flash is in for another epic battle this season.