What That Bloody Flash Cliffhanger Means For The Rest Of Season 4

Barry Allen Grant Gustin The Flash The CW

Warning! The following contains spoilers regarding the midseason finale of The Flash and the trailer for the midseason premiere. Read at your own risk!

The Thinker warned The Flash he was always steps ahead of his every move, and the cliffhanger in the midseason finale just proved it. After revealing to Barry Allen he had switched bodies with the recently announced villain Brainstorm, Barry found the discarded body of the former Clifford DeVoe on the floor of his apartment, looking all bloody and murdered. With Barry arrested for DeVoe's murder, it appears the rest of Season 4 will take us to court for the trial of The Flash, which is bound to affect some other things.

It's definitely a difficult situation for Barry, considering his only real course of action for proving his innocence is admitting to the world he is The Flash. That's at least what Cecille thinks anyway, as the trailer for the midseason premiere indicates that the lawyer will pull double duty between defending Barry in court and being Joe's baby mama. Perhaps there is another way to prove Barry's innocence, although right now, it appears the defense has a large case to build if Barry isn't willing to come clean about his superhero identity.

As The Flash fans already know, Clifford DeVoe had a restraining order in place against Allen, which we now know was a slow build to his murder frame-up. There's also the subtle callback in Devoe's murder, as this isn't the first time Barry has been found shortly after someone has been stabbed in the chest. It could be coincidental, but it almost feels intentional that DeVoe staged his death in a somewhat similar fashion to the death of Nora Allen, which might look bad to a court of jurors who recognize the similarities. Bottom line, getting Barry out of jail doesn't seem like it's going to be that easy, so fans should expect The Flash to spend a lot of time in the courtroom as Barry wrestles with whether or not he should reveal his identity to clear his name.

Barry locked up could mean The Flash is off the streets unless Barry is going to be phasing in and out of his jail cell to save Central City. That doesn't seem likely considering someone would eventually notice his absence, but then again, the world is going to realize if The Flash goes missing again as well. Given that, it feels like the return of Wally West to The Flash is imminent, and some of the other members of Team Flash are going to see a lot more action until Barry beats the rap.

Will it all be enough to defeat The Thinker? That's a tough question to answer as Clifford DeVoe now inhabits the younger body of Brainstorm, and is presumably not bound by the same limitations as he was in his previous body. If Brainstorm's body can withstand the punishment of DeVoe's mind, there's no telling how much destruction he can cause before being stopped. That said, just because DeVoe is in his body, that doesn't mean Brainstorm is gone completely. If someone had say, a cerebral inhibitor, would that be able to trap DeVoe within his victim's mind? There's only one way to find out.

The Flash returns to The CW for the second half of Season 4 Tuesday, January 16 at 8 p.m. ET. For a list of all the exciting shows returning or premiering on television in 2018, visit our midseason premiere guide. For a look at what's left to be excited about in 2017, our fall premiere guide still has some shows worth watching. For a list of 2017 shows that didn't make it out of the year intact, visit our cancellation guide.

Mick Joest
Content Producer

Mick Joest is a Content Producer for CinemaBlend with his hand in an eclectic mix of television goodness. Star Trek is his main jam, but he also regularly reports on happenings in the world of Star Trek, WWE, Doctor Who, 90 Day Fiancé, Quantum Leap, and Big Brother. He graduated from the University of Southern Indiana with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Radio and Television. He's great at hosting panels and appearing on podcasts if given the chance as well.