The Flash Season 7, Episode 12: Good-Bye Vibrations

Sorry this review's so late guys, but it was unavoidable. The CW's still airing all three of their shows that I watch at the same time, making it nearly impossible to keep up. Plus my local station, in its infinite wisdom, pre-empted this episode for a fraking storm warning, forcing me to hunt down an alternate method of viewing it. Add in the typical work & life demands on my time, and you get a late review. I'll eventually catch up, but it's gonna take a while.

This week on The Flash it's the end of an era, as yet ANOTHER major character leaves the fold for good. That's right— Good-Bye Vibrations marks Cisco's exit from the series.

As I said a while back, Cisco's departure doesn't come as much of a shock, as actor Carlos Valdes has had one foot out the door for several years now. His appearances have become more and more sporadic the past couple seasons, so he's finally making it official this week.

Apparently the producers knew he was on the way out, as they spent much of last season grooming Brandon McKnight, aka Chester P. Runk, to become Cisco's technical and spiritual replacement.

A few weeks back I predicted that Cisco and his gal pal Kamilla would ride off into the sunset at the end of the season finale. Welllll, turns out I was half right. The characters are leaving together, but they're checking out about six episodes early.

Cisco's exit doesn't bode well for the series, as I fear his departure will be keenly felt. Chester's a likeable and amiable presence on the show, he's most definitely no substitute for Cisco.

Plus the ratings have been slipping steadily and drastically all this season, and his absence is probably gonna chase off even more viewers. The show's already been renewed for an eighth season, but beyond that... who knows. 

Honestly I think it's time to just end the show. It's been a fun ride so far (for the most part), filled with more ups than downs. I'd miss it if it went away, but all good things come to an end and all that. I'd rather it go out on a relatively high note than hobble along for another three or four seasons and become a sad and pale imitation of itself.

But this is The CW we're talking about, so we know that'll never happen. After all, they're the network that never knows when to call it quits (I'm lookin' at you, Supernatural!). They'll keep it going until the entire original cast has been replaced with new characters.

As for this episode, ehh... it was most definitely a mixed bag. I liked all the character stuff involving Team Flash reacting to Cisco's departure. Those scenes were all fine, and very well acted. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if the cast's reactions were all genuine, and reflected how they really felt about Valdes leaving.

Outside of that though, there's no traditional plot and no actual villain. The episode introduces Rainbow Raider 2.0 as the ostensible antagonist, but then in the third act it's revealed she's actually trying to help people and is just misguided. Meaning Team Flash is left with no one to fight. Heck, Barry doesn't even have a chance to trot out his "Defeat The Bad Guy With The Power Of Love" schtick that he's used all season!

In fact the "metavillain" subplot is so pointless and inconsequential that I wonder why they bothered with it at all. I wish they'd dropped it altogether and just spent the entire episode on the gang dealing with Cisco and Kamilla's departure.

By the way, as I said, the alleged Big Bad this week in Rainbow Raider 2.0. As her name implies, she's the SECOND version of this character to appear on the show, as the first one debuted way back in Season 1.

Then rumor has it that Barry & Iris will be getting a visit from Bart Allen (aka Impuse), who's their speedster son from the future. Hmm. That sounds familiar somehow....

So Rainbow Raider 2.0, and yet ANOTHER speedster child from the future. Are the writers just fresh out of ideas this year? Are we really gonna start recycling old plots from the show's heyday now? 

Lastly, this is some Heavy Duty Nitpicking, but hey, it's what I do. About this week's title— I get what they were going for, but it just sounds harsh & clunky to me. Wouldn't something like Good-Bye Brations have worked better?

SPOILERS!

The Plot:
At STAR Labs, Cisco & Kamilla call a meeting with Barry, Iris & Caitlin. After much hemming and hawing, they announce they're leaving Central City— the very next day! Cisco's lined up a job in Star City, working for ex-ARGUS Agent Chip Cooper at CEMA (the Cosmic Emergency Management Agency). Kamilla will join him once her exhibition in Miami (which isn't a job) is done.

Barry & the others are shocked at first, but then heartily congratulate the two of them. As they walk out of the Lounge, Kamilla says it went better than she expected, as Cisco looks a bit disappointed.

Sometime later, Cisco shows Chester the STARchives, saying it's been ages since he took inventory. Chester gushes at all the gadgets and tech filling the place, and Cisco says he's leaving it all to him— except for his box of nerdy t-shirts. Chester asks how the others are taking the news, and Cisco says surprisingly well. In fact he thinks they're taking it a little too well. He reasons that they just haven't had time to process the situation yet.

Cisco goes off to pack up his stuff, and discovers Barry's already done it for him at super speed. Caitlin enters the room and Cisco asks how she's holding up, and says he's there for her if she needs to talk. She says she's fine, then calmly asks for his ID badge and access codes. Stunned and more than a little hurt, he hands them over.

Meanwhile, a woman named Carrie Bates meets with a loan officer at a Central City Bank. We see she's a meta, and uses her powers to make him "happy." He then gleefully gives her a check for $10 million in cash and quits his job.

The incident triggers an alert at STAR. Barry & Caitlin are puzzled by the report that money is missing but not stolen. Caitlin somehow gets a medical scan of the loan officer, and sees his serotonin levels are off the chart. They determine the meta has the power to make victims euphoric and highly susceptible to suggestion. Caitlin says the effects will wear off after twenty four hours.

Just then Cisco walks by, hears the two discussing the incident and is hurt that they're briefing without him. He insists on solving one more case with the original Team Flash.

At the bank, Team Citizen interviews witnesses of the "crime." While there, they see Cecile meeting with a Detective Finn, which they find odd.

Back at STAR, Cisco determines that Carrie has the same powers as their old enemy Roy G. Bivolo, aka Rainbow Raider. He says they should be able to use the prism device they used against the first Raider to defeat this new one.

Just then there's another alert, and they detect Rainbow Raider 2.0 at an art gallery. Flash and Mecha-Vibe arrive on the scene, just as she's exiting the gallery. Mecha-Vibe uses his prism on her, but unfortunately it fizzles and shorts out. Rainbow Raider 2.0 zaps a bystander to create a distraction, forcing the Flash to deal with it. While he's away, she whammies Mecha-Vibe as well, allowing her to escape.

Elsewhere, Iris & Kamilla interview new photographers. Iris says the day was a total bust, as they didn't find a single decent candidate. Kamilla says she thinks Iris passed up several suitable people. This causes Iris to snap at her for some reason, and Kamilla walks out.

Barry returns Cisco to STAR, where he begins singing and being a general nuisance. Barry tells Chester to keep Cisco in the STARchives until the euphoric effect wears off.

Suddenly there's another alert, and Caitlin detects Rainbow Raider 2.0's van at Ferris Air. Barry zooms off to confront her. Just then Cisco gets away from Chester, enters the Cortex and projects images of laser cats on the Flash's eye screens, effectively blinding him. He runs into a van just before Caitlin gets Cisco to shut off the animation. Rainbow Raider 2.0 then appears and zaps the Flash, telling him to enjoy himself elsewhere.

Barry rushes back to STAR, where he and Cisco sing and breakdance— much to Caitlin's annoyance. Fortunately Chester enters and zaps them with a new device he cobbled together, which cures them of their euphoria.

Barry figures Rainbow Raider 2.0 went to Ferris Air to steal an experimental new blimp with a cloaking device (?). He asks Cisco if he can get with his new boss at ARGUS to figure out how to defeat the blimp's cloak. For some reason this sets off Cisco and he storms out.

Cut to Cisco sitting in his now empty office, staring at a photo of the Original Team Flash. He then goes to the Lounge, where he tells Barry & Caitlin he knows they're trying to get rid of him and they should say their goodbyes now. Barry & Caitlin both admit they messed up, and don't want him to go. They say they just put on a brave face so they wouldn't start blubbering uncontrollably. Cisco realizes he was wrong and they all embrace.

Once that's done, they try to figure out Rainbow Raider 2.0's plan. Chester looks her up, and says she was fired from six collection agencies for canceling people's medical debts. Barry figures she's playing Robin Hood and stealing money to give it back to people who need it.

Just then the blimp's spotted over downtown Central City, and they realize Rainbow Raider 2.0 is planning on dropping her stolen goods on the city, which will "cause chaos."

Barry says he can't speed up to the blimp, because it it contains two tons of compressed hydrogen (!), and his Speed Force lightning could ignite it. So he rounds up Allegra, who uses one of her "smoke bombs" to teleport her, Flash & Mecha-Vibe into the blimp. Flash quickly (heh) puts meta-dampeners on Rainbow Raider 2.0 before she can use her powers. 

She says she's just trying to help people who are hurting, and accuses Flash of not caring. He then says he understands what she's trying to do, and says he'll see to it she works off her prison sentence by working with Central City's Economic Development Committee (?).

Rainbow Raider 2.0's touched by the Flash's offer, meaning once again Barry defeated a villain with the Power Of Love. Unfortunately, Mecha-Vibe discovers their teleportation somehow fried the blimp's controls, and it's now heading straight for Shark Stadium— which is filled with 20,000 football fans. If the hydrogen-filled blimp crashes, everyone inside will be incinerated.

Allegra says they're moving too fast for her to teleport them out. Mecha-Vibe says he'll handle the blimp and tells Flash to get the others to safety. Flash grabs Allegra and Rainbow Raider 2.0, and somehow phases them out of the blimp without generating any lightning (?). He then zooms to the stadium, where he starts evacuating the 20,000 fans at super speed.

Cisco then rips off a panel and studies the mechanism inside. He cannibalizes one of his Mecha-blasters and uses a wire to bypass a circuit. He regains control of the blimp, and steers it away from the stadium with just inches to spare.

Later at STAR, Cisco gives Chester a flash drive with all his conceptual designs on it, and tells him he's in charge now. Chester leaves, and Cisco takes one last look around STAR Labs, remembering all the good times he's had there. He walks over to a case displaying Barry's original Flash suit and stares at it wistfully.

At the Citizen, Iris & Allegra say goodbye to Kamilla. Iris apologizes for snapping at her earlier, saying she was just upset at losing a friend. Cecile arrives for the big goodbye, and Allegra asks why she was at the bank earlier. She fumbles a weak explanation, saying she was researching a case.

Back at STAR, everyone says their goodbyes. Cisco gives Barry, Caitlin and Joe one of his famous graphic t-shirts. The gang then busts out the karaoke machine, singing Lady Gaga's Poker Face in a nice little nod to the Pilot episode.

Later than night, Cecile comes home to an empty house. She hears a voice calling her name, and when she looks in the mirror she sees herself wearing the Psycho Pirate's gold face mask. She tells her reflection, "I will find you."

Thoughts: 
• At the beginning of the episode, Cisco & Kamilla gather Team Flash together and tell them they're moving to Star City— THE VERY NEXT DAY!

Jesus Christ! Why the hell would they wait till literally the day before to tell them they're leaving? Yes, the writers tried to lampshade the situation by explaining that ARGUS needs Cisco to start working for them "like yesterday," but that's no excuse.

These people are supposed to be Cisco & Kamilla's friends. It's a given they'd be blindsided and need some time to process the news— not to mention figure out how to replace them. It just seems rude & irresponsible of them both.

• Take a good look at this image— it's the last time you'll ever see Cisco's grinning mug in the opening titles.

By the way, ever since this revamped sequence first appeared (in Season 6, I think?) it's seemed strangely familiar to me somehow. I felt like I'd seen it before, but could never figure out where.

This week it finally hit me— it's a soap opera opening! Seriously, it's so close it's not even funny!

• When Chester first enters the STARchives, he exclaims, "Sweet Sarah E. Goode!" As with pretty much all of his references, this one has to do with a famous figure from black history.

Sarah E. Goode was an inventor, and the second black woman who was ever issued a patent. It was for a folding bed cabinet that became the prototype for the Murphy Bed.

• Chester's suitably gobsmacked by the STARchives, acting like a kid in a toy store as he plays with the various inventions and gadgets inside. The entire scene's a goldmine of references to tech from past episodes. 

First up is the Speed Treadmill. I believe it first appeared in Fastest Man Alive, when Cisco built it to test Barry's speed. It's popped up numerous times since. 

Chester then picks up a bright red, modified bike helmet (with a large crack in the front).

It's the same one Barry wore back in Pilot, as part of his extremely dorky test suit.

Chester then tries to pick up some sort of blaster, but it's too heavy for him. It looks familiar, but I honestly can't remember where it first appeared. Hey, there've been close to 150 episodes at this point— no one could be expected to keep ALL those straight! If anyone recognizes the blaster, give me a shout and I'll credit you for the info.

We then see Chester playing around with the Cold Gun. Cisco created it back in Going Rogue, intending to use it against Barry if he ever turned bad. The gun was eventually stolen by Captain Cold, and it became his signature weapon.

Lastly, Chester's holding some sort of hi-tech grenade-like objects. Again, they look reeeeeally familiar, but I can't remember where I've seen them before.

• At one point Caitlin comes to see Cisco, and of course he thinks she's there to give him an emotional goodbye. Instead she coldly and matter-of-factly asks, "Can I have your ID badge?"

The idea that STAR Labs uses security badges to prevent unlawful entry may be the funniest thing I've ever heard on this show.

• By the way, the whole, "Cisco Expects The Gang To Be Upset That He's Leaving But Then Becomes Hurt When They're Seemingly Fine With It" plotline is straight out of Sitcom 101. It's the biggest, most hackneyed premise possible, but you know what? I'll allow it. It worked here, and I'm fine with it.

• Despite the fact that she doesn't appear in this episode, Frost still manages to get the Best Line Of The Week, as she texts Cisco, "You suck forever. But I love you anyway."

• So this week's ostensible villain is Rainbow Raider 2.0— a meta with the power to make people feel good about themselves, and who wears a bright striped jacket. All in an episode that originally aired during "Pride Month." Get it? DO YOU GET IT? DO YOU SEE WHAT THEY'RE DOING HERE?

Subtlety, thy name is The CW!

By the way, Rainbow Raider 2.0's real name is Carrie Bates. That's clearly a gender flipped nod to Cary Bates, a prolific writer at DC Comics. Bates worked on numerous titles there, including long runs on Superman, Justice League and of course, The Flash. He also created the comic version of Rainbow Raider, hence the reference to his name here.

• We all know that despite the fact that The Flash takes place in Missouri, it's shot in Vancouver. Every once in a while that Canadian-ness shines through— as it did in this episode. When Rainbow Raider 2.0 tells the Bank Officer to give her a check for $10 million, he says, "Of course, right away. Who should I make it oot too?"

• In order to identify the villain of the week, Cisco breaks out his trusty homemade Who's Who binder again— the one that's full of metahuman trading cards. 

I covered this tome in excruciating detail back in Season 6's Marathon, so I won't retread that well-worn ground again here. Visit that review for an in depth look at it.

I will say though that the book seen here appears to be the very same prop, and some of the pages feature the cards in the exact same order. Above is a page from Marathon. If you compare it to the one seen in this episode, the pages look identical.

• If nothing else, it was awesome to see the ORIGINAL Team Flash (minus Dr. Wells, of course) get together one last time. I really miss this smaller, core group, as well as the simpler storytelling of the show's early days.

• Team Flash gets an alert that Rainbow Raider 2.0's robbing a jewelry store, so Barry & Cisco rush to the scene and confront her.

Check out the very nonchalant valet in the background. The one who's seemingly oblivious to all the superhero action taking place just a hundred feet away! Now THAT'S a man whose mind is focused elsewhere!

On the other hand, this is Central City after all, so maybe the general public just isn't impressed by such shenanigans anymore.

• In order to create a distraction, Rainbow Raider 2.0 mind-zaps the aforementioned valet, causing him to steal a fancy sports car.

Regular readers of my reviews (both of you!) know that I like to try and find the show's various filming locations in Vancouver. Despite the fact that I've never been there, it's usually surprisingly easy.

For example, here's where they filmed the valet scene— at 70 Smithe St., located in beautiful downtown Vancouver. You can tell because of the roundabout in the background, complete with a chrome statue in the middle of it.

The piece is titled Slow, and despite how it looks, it supposedly depicts a mother panda and her cub. It was created by Chinese artist Zhang Huan, and was erected in 2017. Huan specializes in stainless steel designs.

More location fun: Central City's Shark Stadium plays a pivotal role in the third act. This is the second time this season the stadium's appeared, as it popped up a few weeks back in Family Matters, Part 2. 

The part of the stadium is played by the BC Place in Vancouver. For the past seven seasons it's also portrayed STAR Labs whenever they need an exterior shot of the building.

Oddly enough, in real life BC Place and the Slow statue (indicated here by the red arrow) are just a block or so apart!

• Cisco gets zapped by Rainbow Raider 2.0, and instantly begins bro-hugging Barry. 

Note that this scene gives us a really good look at the back of Barry's costume— which features a very prominent zipper. I dunno... somehow I expected a speedster's suit to feature something a bit more high-tech than a plain old everyday zipper. Especially a suit that was designed by a whiz kid like Cisco!

• While in his euphoric state, Cisco overrides the HUD display in Barry's cowl, making it display a Laser Cats meme. This effectively blinds Barry, causing him to run into the side of a van at superspeed. 

The van's labeled "Chipera Movers." I thought that name might be a reference to something or someone in the comics, but if it is I can't find any info on it. And yes, I know that "HUD display" is redundant.

• Barry's eventually whammied by Rainbow Raider 2.0 as well. He then returns to STAR Labs, where he shows off his impressive breakdancing skills to Cisco & Caitlin. A couple things: 

First off, it's odd how Barry's entire build seems to change during his performance. His face looks oddly different as well... almost as if he suddenly became a different person. Funny how that worked out, eh?

Secondly, this is some Heavy Duty Nitpicking, but when Caitlin asks when he learned his sick skills, he says, "Since I sped-watched seventeen breakdance videos online!"

"Sped-watched?" SPED-watched? Granted my degree isn't in English, but that sounds very wrong to me. Pretty sure he should have said "speed-watched."

• At one point Cisco runs off to pout because he thinks Barry & Caitlin don't care if he leaves. Once he's alone, he whips out a photo of the Original Team Flash and gazes at it. A couple things about this pic:

 

First off, Cisco smiles at the photo as he remembers the happier moments at STAR Labs. You know, like when Eobard Thawne killed his hero Harrison Wells and impersonated him for months, and then tried to murder Cisco by vibrating his hand through his chest. Ah, good times!

Secondly, this photo was taken back in the Season 1 episode The Sound And The Fury. In it, Barry took a "speed selfie" of the gang, by pressing the button on the camera, zooming into frame as the shutter clicked and then whooshing back to grab it before it hit the ground.

• Eventually Barry & Caitlin straighten things out with Cisco, and everyone kisses and makes up. Cisco confesses why he's leaving, giving them the same story he told Kamilla in Family Matters, Part 1. Basically he says that Psych showed him his worst nightmare— a vision of him still working at STAR Labs forty years from now. GASP!

That's it? THAT'S the horrifying vision he saw? The ghastly specter of job security? As I said a couple weeks ago, there are people out there who would kill for such stable employment. I honestly don't understand why the idea of working at his dream job the rest of his life is such a bad thing.

It almost feels like Carlos Valdes isn't acting here, and this is his way of explaining and justifying his departure from the show to the fans. 

• Cisco figures out that Rainbow Raider 2.0's after a blimp, saying, "It’s a stealth dirigible with a bleeding edge auto-navigation and a two-ton payload. And guess where it just got stolen from? Ferris Airfield."

Um... first off the words "bleeding edge," "stealth" and "dirigible" don't belong in the same sentence.

Additionally, Ferris Air has been mentioned several times on the show over the years. It's owned by Carol Ferris, who in the comics is the love interest of Hal Jordan, aka the Green Lantern.

• So let me see if I have Rainbow Raider 2.0's plan straight. She's not really an evil meta, as she genuinely wants to help people who need it most. To that end she steals a fortune in money, jewels and gold bars, then hijacks a blimp in order to fly over Central City and "make it rain." Holy Crap!

I'm assuming she didn't think this plan through very well. The cash probably wouldn't be an issue, but dropping jewels and especially GOLD FREAKIN' BARS on the city would cause extensive property damage, and likely kill someone! Jaysis!

Of course the episode glosses over all this, saying her plan would simply "cause chaos."

• Barry says he can't speed Cisco & Allegra up to the blimp, because it's fueled by compressed hydrogen and one tiny spark of Speed Force lightning could set it off. 

Why in the name of sanity would a modern blimp be filled with frackin' HYDROGEN??!?!? Did we learn nothing back in 1937? Cisco even says if the blimp crashes it'll "flash fry" (heh) everything in a two mile radius. 

Based on the dialogue it sounds like it uses hydrogen for fuel instead of buoyancy, but either way the resulting explosion would be the same. This may be one of the stupidest things ever featured on the show— right after Captain Cold freezing laser beams and snapping them in two.

• In order to avoid a Speed Lightning-generated explosion, Allegra uses one of her smoke bombs (that she inherited from Nash Wells) to teleport herself, Barry & Cisco into the blimp. Once inside, Barry then uses superspeed to put meta-cuffs on Rainbow Raider 2.0. Of course as he does so, we see a small flash of Speed Force lightning. Sigh...

By the way, did Cisco figure out how to replicate more of Nash's smoke bombs for Allegra? Or is she still using the finite supply he brought with him from his Earth? If so, then I guess there'll be no more teleporting once she runs out!

• Team Flash's intervention ends up making things worse, as they cause the blimp to barrel toward Shark Stadium, where 20,000 screaming fans are watching the Central City Sharks play the Gotham Goliaths.

I'm puzzled by both these team names. As I noted earlier, Central City's located in Missouri— a very landlocked state that's over a thousand miles from either ocean. So why the Sharks? Is it because King Shark's associated with the city?

Or could it be because the new The Suicide Squad movie's about to come out, which features King Shark in the cast? Is this the world's most subtle movie tie-in?

The Gotham Goliaths doesn't make much more sense. Wouldn't the Gotham Bats be a more apt name?

Maybe these this is one of those deals where a team moved to a new city, so its original name is no longer appropriate. Like the New Orleans Jazz. Made perfect sense when the team was in Louisiana, but in the Beehive State? Ah yes, Utah, the birthplace of the jazz movement!

• As I said in the intro, this is a bizarrely-structured episode with no real villain. As it turns out, Rainbow Rainder 2.0 isn't stealing for personal gain, but playing Robin Hood in order to help the poor and disadvantaged of Central City.

Then to add to the outlandishness, the Flash decides to help her out, saying, "That’s why instead of sending you to Iron Heights, I’m gonna recommend you work off whatever sentence you receive with Mayor Sampson’s economic development committee."

Seriously? Does the Flash really have so much pull in Central City that he can override the rule of law? That seems unlikely. As does the city hiring a known felon to sit on a committee that distributes large amounts of money.

Apparently the Flash is true to his word though, as during the wrapup he says the D.A. agreed with his suggestion and Rainbow Raider 2.0 is officially employed by the Mayor's office!

• Cisco says he'll deal with the runaway blimp, so Barry phases himself, Alexa and Rainbow Raider 2.0 through the bottom of the gondola. We then see them fall harmlessly to the street, hundreds and hundreds of feet below. 

I've never understood this use of Barry's power. Remember, he can't fly— he basically just runs really, really fast. So how does that keep the three of them from splattering on the pavement?

Does he kick his legs back & forth really quickly to create an updraft and slow their descent?

• Once on the ground, Barry evacuates ALL 20,000 fans from Shark Stadium. Bear in mind that there are only two minutes till the blimp crashes into the joint. And Cisco mentioned that if the hydrogen blows, it'll destroy everything in a two mile radius. Which means Barry's zooming them all at least a mile away from Ground Zero.

If my math is right, that means he's gotta move 166 people per second in order to get them all out in time. He really IS the Fastest Man Alive!

• After the threat's been dealt with, Cisco returns to STAR and takes a last look around. We're then treated to a montage of all the good (and bad) times he's had there. I can't identify ALL the clips, but I did recognize a few:

— Cisco (and Caitlin looming over Barry after he's become a speedster from Pilot.

— Cisco testing Barry's prototype Flash suit, also from Pilot.

— Cisco embracing Harry Wells (unsure of the episode).

— Cisco meeting his evil doppelganger, from Welcome To Earth-2 (I think).

— Cisco using the cold gun he developed, to use against Barry if he ever goes bad (unsure of the episode).

— Cisco meeting Gypsy for the first time, from Dead Or Alive (I think).

— The Monitor restoring Cisco's Vibe powers, from Crisis On Infinite Earths: Part 3.

— Cisco chatting with Breacher, most likely from Kiss Kiss Breach Breach.

— Cisco chatting with Kamilla, from... unknown. Memorabilia, maybe?

Maybe someday I'll do a rewatch of the entire series and try to ID all the clips. Or someone else will and post 'em online!

• Right before he walks out the door for the final time, Cisco stares wistfully at the first Flash suit he made for Barry. Which is still on display in an alcove in the Cortex, for some reason. Why the hell is this old obsolete suit still there? Nostalgia, I guess?

• One last selfie with all the current members of Team Citizen.

I feel bad for actress Victoria Park, who plays Kamilla. Thanks to Carlos Valdes' untimely departure, she's now out of a job as well— through absolutely no fault of her own. Did she want to leave too? Or is she secretly seething because her onscreen boyfriend just got her fired?

Hopefully she has something lined up and won't be unemployed for very long. 

• During Cisco's going away party, he gifts each member of Team Flash with one of his beloved graphic tees. He gives Caitlin one that reads, "Keep Calm And Han Shot First," which she says he wore on his first day at STAR Labs.

Oddly enough we didn't see his first day in Pilot like you'd think, but in a flashback scene ten episodes later in The Sound And The Fury!

• At the end of the episode, the Original Team Flash (plus Joe) have a big karaoke contest, in which they all take turns singing Lady Gaga's Poker Face. If you'll recall, that's the song Cisco used to wake Barry from his coma after he was hit by lightning (and became a speedster) in Pilot. 

It's a fun, yet bittersweet callback to the beginning of the series, and a nice little sendoff for Cisco.

• At the end of the episode, Cecile comes home to a dark & empty house. Sigh... once again, where's Baby Jenna? She's clearly not with Joe, as he's off with Team Flash. Did he leave her with Captain Singh & his husband again?

It's obvious the producers just plain don't want to deal with a baby or even a small child on the show, which is why we haven't seen Jenna since Season 6. So why the hell did they write a pregnancy storyline for Cecile in the first place? Yes, I know that's what initiated her empathic abilities, but... was there really no other way they could think of to do so?

• In the tag scene, Cecile hears a creepy voice calling her name, and sees a masked vison of herself in the mirror.

So it appears that Cecile's somehow becoming the Psycho Pirate! Which is odd, as that character also has the power to manipulate people's emotions— exactly like Rainbow Raider 2.0! Both of which are somewhat similar to Psych's abilities.

Jesus, how many psychic metas are we gonna get this season?

We've actually seen the Psycho Pirate before, as he briefly appeared back in the Elseworlds Part 2 crossover.

In the comics, the Psycho Pirate was a supervillain who wore a gold "Medusa mask" that gave him the power to control emotions. He played a crucial role in the Crisis On Infinite Earths, where he became an accomplice of the evil Anti-Monitor. When the Multiverse was eventually merged down into one, the Psycho Pirate was the only one who remembered the way things used to be.

The Psycho Pirate was in a mental institution back in Elseworlds, so maybe he's sensed Cecile's psychic powers and is somehow taking over her mind in order to escape?