The Flash (TV Series) The Trial of The Flash (2018) User Reviews

The Flash - S04E10 The Trial of the Flash

[j_forbesy · 9/10 · 18 January 2018]

The Flash has returned to our screens and the show has hit the ground running in the second half of season 4. The second half of the season is when the show really gets into the meat of the season and this episode wasted no time doing it.

If you split this episode into all the aspects of what makes a good episode, all of those aspects would receive fantastic marks. The writing of both the story and dialog was fantastic, each character has some form of moment to be reflected on, the editing was outstanding, especially in the final scene, and the overall acting was solid by all the cast.

Getting into some story points, I loved how Barry was convicted. To often on shows like this, a problem is introduced and us as the audience question how they will get out of it, which then leads to a simply solution that fixes the problem before it becomes a massive thing. This is different. We know Barry will get out at some point, it wouldn't be The Flash without it, however his release seems further away after this episode.

An scene in this episode I want to focus on is the one with Joe and Dibny when Joe wanted to plant evidence. Dibny is a character that I have really enjoy so far this season however this is by far my favourite scene with him. The way they built up his mistakes when they introduced him into this show have now paid off because we get to see his acceptance into his mistakes and how he doesn't want to see Joe go through the same thing.

My favourite aspect of this episode however, as previously mentioned was the final scene. The contrast between the judge handing down Barry's verdict and Captain Singh giving The Flash an award was fantastic to see because they are two completely different images of the same person. I mentioned in my review of the latest Supergirl episode that I liked what these shows focus some time on the person behind the mask, and this moment was one of those times they did exactly that. To the public, The Flash is a hero, but to be that hero, the public identity of Barry Allen had to be tainted.

Overall, a fantastic episode of The Flash. No doubt this show has some ups and downs some times but it is episodes like this that blow me away as a fan and it heightens my love for the show even more.

9/10

Defending The Flash - The Trial of The Flash was incredible doesnt deserve the hate

[ivo-cobra8 · 9/10 · 15 March 2018]

What the hell people? The Trial of The Flash was a good episode this show sticks to the basics. I am a fan of the old show and I am a fan of The Flash I can say the old show did had The Flash on the court room too and so did this episode. I know Episode Run, Iris, Run got a lot of hate, I haven't seen the episode and I know Iris West is really annoying person time to time and the show is losing their fans. I hated her character in the first episode but than I just got used to it she is overprotective and kind.

The Trial of The Flash was an okay episode. I love how The Flash risked is freedom and everything to stop a meta human Neil Borman / Fallout (Ryan Alexander McDonald) from nearly releasing the radiation inside of him, trying to kill everyone in Central City and Cisco Ramon sent it all to Earth Fifteen. I love how Barry stopped time in the courtroom and stopped Iris West from reveling his secret. I love that Barry goes to jail as an innocent man like his dad. I love the ending we see Barry seeing his dad's cell Henry Allen I love that. In my opinion Season 4 is improvement over Season 3 less boring and dramatic like previous season was. I hope they don't screwing up. 9/10

A little bit of action and a lot of emotions

[horror_1849 · 9/10 · 17 January 2018]

Quite an episode this; definitely a strong way to come back after a few weeks' break. The case against Barry Allen was strong and there was nothing team flash could practically do to prove his innocence, and I am glad that the show respected that rather than bail him out from some weird angle no one saw coming. I like how they attempt to turn the case around by proving that DeVoe's wife was having an affair only to have it blow in their faces. There were more things they could have done with the trial, like put Dominic Lanse on the stand to cross-examine Marlize's claims, or at least verify that they indeed first met at the event that she claimed they did, but ultimately it had to be a conviction for Barry and so the show decided not to go with more courtroom scenes. Instead, team flash had to deal with a (non-hostile) meta and eventually have The Flash show up to finish it off for them. While this side-story might seem irrelevant when its playing, it sets up the final few minutes of the episode where The Flash is honored by the police department for his bravery and at the same time Barry Allen is being sentenced for life. Overall a good episode with a little bit of action and lots of emotions, none of them unnecessary. The only reason I'm taking a star away from my rating is the cringeworthy scene where Barry stops Iris from revealing his identity and for some reason he is able to communicate with her.

That Ending Though.

[desairaj · 10/10 · 17 January 2018]

Best episode of season so far and Probably best acting of Grant Gustin after FAST ENOUGH. Its good to see that the series is finally on track. Hope they will continue this trend.

A refreshing, non-repetitive episode

[Fredrick_89 · 10/10 · 17 January 2018]

The episode was great, one of the best episodes this season so far. The writing was just amazing, the way they contrasted the public's perception of Barry and The Flash at the end of the episode was just outstanding. Also, relating what Barry has went through compared to his father was great. Despite some obvious flaws, it's a TV show, and not a perfect one. The flow of the story was great. The emotions in the episode were crazy, from anger to sadness, from laughing to wanting to punch someone throughout the entire episode. I hope more episodes are like this,

Great episode. But, let's talk about due process

[jaccer11 · 8/10 · 5 November 2018]

Okay. Berry has witnesses that saw him leave his fathers house at a specific time, which didn't give him enough time to murder this guy. He arrived home and received a call (which they can look at phone records), also indicating he is not the killer. When he got home, there was a body there, which would have a specific time of death determined from CSI/Autopsy. Which would indicate that Barry could not have killed him. Also, where was the wheel chair? Where was any sort investigation? His lawyer friend sucks. This is dumb. Bye

The best episode of this season

[djsemidream · 9/10 · 17 January 2018]

Finally,an episode of The Flash which went by so quick,I was left eagerly anticipating the next one.I gave it a 9 because of Fallout scene,a few brief moments that were obviously not good(one second he's scared and doesn't know what's happening,and the other he throws radiation at Barry).Other then that,a great episode.The emotion, the realism of the verdict,Barry's calmness to protect the others,Joe trying to sacrifice his principles for his son, Ralph's speech...I wonder why there aren't at last 15 episode a season like this,an hour that goes by in a flash!

CONGRATULATIONS

[abhisheksrivastava-87290 · 10/10 · 17 January 2018]

This is the best FLASH episode till now. I am amazed how this show is going up with time. Hoping more good episodes like this.

At The Top Of Its Game

[LorenBieg · 9/10 · 20 January 2018]

This exceptional episode puts Barry Allen in a different kind of predicament. He is on trial for the murder of Clifford Devoe, the college professor with ALS who was secretly The Thinker. The Thinker framed Barry before he transferred his consciousness into the body of Dominic Lanse. The only way Barry can exonerate himself is to reveal to the world that he is the Flash. But, he won't do it. And the prosecution's case is really, really strong.

Short on meta action and special effects, this story gives the writers, actors, and director a chance to shine in their craft. The result is great drama, courtroom and otherwise. Guest actor Mark Valley brings his Boston Legal chops to the table to great effect. This show's strength is its ensemble. Everyone is strong, and the stories that work the best utilize the entire cast. Despite the outlandish sci-fi scenarios, Allen and the team might be our co-workers or our neighbors. This episode showcases that strength. The Thinker continues to grow into one of the most interesting enemies The Flash has faced. And in this instance, the meta subplot involving Fallout is somewhat of a distraction. But, it at least gives a chance for an appearance by Killer Frost along with another of this series' strengths: the best one liners in all of superhero television.

The only weak element, Allen having a private conversation with Iris using a speed ability he cannot explain, is easy to overlook because it resulted in one of the most emotional character moments. Overall, a great story, beautifully executed. I can't wait to see what happens next!

An Innocent Man

[ThomasDrufke · 7/10 · 17 January 2018]

This may be the least I have been excited for the CW Arrowverse shows to come back after winter break. Really, none of the 4 shows impressed me this past fall. Supergirl may have ended on a high note, but it's not like I expect it to stay that way. The Flash on the other-hand did have solid episodes to close off the first half of the season, but made the decision to remove Neil Sandilands as The Thinker to make room for a classic Flash comic storyline. While that was a neat surprise I guess, I still feel like it was a weird transition of actors playing Clifford Devoe.

That wasn't as distracting this week though, as the focus was clearly on the trial of Barry Allen. Similarly to Flashpoint, I had mixed feelings about the trial only lasting one episode. Maybe it's because I like courtroom dramas as a place for intriguing cinematic moments, but I was hoping to get a few episodes of the trial. But I guess the answer to those hopes was that it simply wasn't even really close to begin with. As much as Team Flash tried to push the blame of Devoe's body showing up in Barry's apartment towards Devoe's wife, there wasn't a whole lot they could do. Like the best kind of villains, Devoe certainly planned for this very moment, and he was ready at every turn.

Of course, it isn't an episode of The Flash without an unnecessary subplot. This week it was Team Flash taking on a radiation based metahuman. I don't know if this was required by CW or something, but I could not think of a reason to have the team take their focus away from Barry and fight off another meta. Even if you're saying that "crime wouldn't stop if The Flash was off the streets" or that it allowed Barry to have "one final triumph" as The Flash, it still was portrayed poorly and distracted from the plot I thought I cared about.

Then there's the whole "will Barry announce that he's The Flash" side to the episode. While I admit it would be a cool moment, there was not one ounce of me that thought the CW had the guts to do that in season 4 of this young show. I've learned this the hard way by seeing Arrow spend more than half a decade teasing that The Green Arrow's identity will be outed at some point (seriously, how many times will that be a story arc?).

However, at least they had the "guts" to conclude with Barry being sentenced for life and then put him in the same jail cell as his father. If I had to guess, this will last a few episodes before Barry's exonerated. 7.0/10

Good, but not perfect episode

[jwwalrath-227-85487 · 8/10 · 21 January 2018]

Some people really hate this one, while some really liked. I'm going to have to go somewhere in the middle.

This was a good episode, character-wise. We get to see Barry on trial and both Barry and Joe faced with moral choices on how to proceed.

The unintentional antagonist worked well as a threat, but not someone who'd grab too much attention away from the main plot.

The downside was that the entire trial suffered from Arrowverse logic in that nothing ocurred naturally and simply served as a forced way to get from point A to point B. The silliness of some points was annoying.

Overall I think this averaged out to a good but not great episode.

Poor Barry Allen...

[lassegalsgaard-45284 · 6/10 · 11 February 2018]

Here we have the beginning of another popular comicbook storyline for "The Flash," after last years use of the Flashpoint Paradox. The Trial of the Flash was a comicbook storyline that ran for more than 20 issues of the comicbook. This episode in some ways managed to take that famous storyline that smash it into a single episode that was supposed to tell that story. Obviously, the story isn't an exact adaptation from the comicbook, because of the circumstances being different this time around. The comic storyline is, in all fairness, very ridiculous and is not one of the most memorable storylines in that series, and the television show has done a much better job setting up the Trial of the Flash. The majority of the episode focuses on the trial, but there is also the usual villain of the week aspect, so the episode had a lot of things to juggle around. Unfortunately, this is not one of the strongest episodes and the writing came across as particular off this week, both for the trial and the villain of the week.

To start out with something that worked very well in the episode, I think the writers came up with an appropriately darker tone than in previous episodes. So far, this season has been way too goofy and stupid, so to see that aspect take a backseat and have the more somber elements take over was refreshing. There always seemed to be a dark cloud dangling over our characters in this episode and for good reason, as one of their best friends could go to prison. It never felt too light nor dark, but managed to create a balance between those two parts that made it a very well-balanced episode.

However, even though the writing was tonally great, I will say that the writers came across as very desperate. The writing was always against Barry and his defense, so no matter what the defendant came up with, the writing was constantly against it. I get that the writers needed Barry to go to prison to continue with her overarching storyline, but they were constantly beating Barry over the head. They also managed to make Cecile look like a horrible attorney, and I don't think that was their intentions, however, everything they had Cecile say felt like very poor arguments and I don't appreciate that, when the character has been set up differently.

The court scenes, however, did help give Dibny some purpose for once. He hasn't been to much use in these last few episodes, but it was like they finally managed to make him relevant, because they gave him a chance to use his private investigator skills in a cool way.

I also love the way they are setting up DeVoe. He is constantly coming across as someone who is superior to Barry and are always thinking three steps ahead, which is consistent to the character. He called himself the fastest mind alive, so it makes sense that he would always be prepared for anything Barry tries to do. I was also afraid that I would have a hard time bying into Kendrick Sampson taking over the character from Neil Sandilands, but I do like the way Sampson is playing him. He has a little bit more edge to him than Sandilands had, even though I still prefer Sandilands at this point.

Coming off the heels of DeVoe is the villain of the week. Because where DeVoe is a great villain, Fallout was definitely not. He felt like a very cliché villain, and we have already seen a character that ultimately became a nuclear weapon. She was called Plastique and was featured in Season One. The writers have not been too lucky with their choices when it comes to the smaller villains, so I hope they up their game a little bit on that front.

Insult to Intelligence

[AntoineMDevine · 1/10 · 17 January 2018]

This may have been the worst police investigation/trial depiction in the history of television. The plot holes are so wide a high school debate student could take them apart. No real forensics employed. No time of death to correspond with the stabbing of an already dead body. No wheelchair. No sign of a struggle. Blood on the handle of a knife Marlize/new Cliif could not have possessed, besides that fact that dead bodies don't bleed out with no heart pumping to make such a mess. Police showing up just as Barry discovers the body. Who called it in, and why would his supervisor get the call? There are other cops who don't have a conflict of interest. No breakdown of Barry's whereabouts to correspond with the time of death. No exam by the ME to determine if Barry's knife was the one used to stab Clifford post-mortem. No security tape from the entrance to Barry's condo complex. No investigation into who Marlize was kissing. And of course, a ONE DAY capital murder trial? Cecile's performance was ridiculous. You never allow a hostile witness to give a narrative response. When they try to make a speech, you cut them off. There's just so much suspension of disbelief a person can take. Barry stating, "All the evidence? points at me" is not enough. I'd file for appeal based on inadequate counsel then have a real investigation performed. He's supposed to be an experienced forensic analyst for goodness sake.

Ranking/Reviewing every Flash episode: Trial of the Flash

[lbramson · 10/10 · 12 June 2023]

Barry is put on trial after being framed in the last episode. Holy crap! First and the one of the only 10/10 episodes this season! I love that we see something we don't usually see: Barry in a predicament he can't resolve with his speed. Most of the episode takes place in essentially one location, but it works! It's works very well! This episode, much like Infantino Street from Season 3, subverts expectations. The whole thing sets up Barry getting arrested. But the audience expects some dumb solition to let him out like nothing happened, but no he actually gets arrested in the end. That makes for the best kind of episodes! Top of the list!

9.8/10-THE PEAK!!!

Wonderful episode

[itsjairusjames · 9/10 · 16 December 2019]

Acting and script was wonderful. The nuclear man seemed a bit forced but understandably so.

Too many plot holes but still the momentum is going...

[asb_deutsch · 7/10 · 21 February 2018]

Who called Captain Singh? Iris was going to telll everyone that Barry Allen is the Flash, but Barry holds her and he is able to communicate with her....both of them are doing lovey-dovey in a fraction of a second! And the "Fallout" was deemed as a necessary distraction. But the positives are Joe trying to cross the line and Barry's verdict at the end. My ratings (based on what I marked on IMDb): Season 1: 200/23 = 8.69 Season 2: 193/23= 8.23; Season 3: 188/23= 8.17; and Season 4: 68.5/10= 6.85 (This episode = 6.5/10)

getting worse

[clock_me · 2/10 · 17 January 2018]

The flash is really going down hill with this whole Iris west thing they need to kill her off because having almost all the episodes having to do about if the villains can hurt her then it will destroy the flash and Barry Allen not to mention her character is really annoying

I love the first 2 seasons but once they made iris a main character of the show by getting Barry to reveal himself to her was a bad choice name one episode where they don't talkl about having to saver her life or how it will effect his

if they dont smarten up this show ont make it past 5 seasons trust me

Another disappointment

[Y3st3rday · 2/10 · 18 January 2018]

The corpse in my apartment and the police knock on the door? I wish I had super speed to quickly remove the corpse and all the evidence! Oh, wait ... Iris will now tell everyone that I'm the Flash! I wish I had super spee .. Wait, I remember! I AM THE FASTEST MAN ON THE EARTH!

Logic missing...

[IvayloYordanov · 1/10 · 17 January 2018]

A crime upon a dead mean, going alone in somebody house, and yet the wheelchair was nobody to be found... How did he get there ? ()Isn't it all so obvious stupid ? Well this was one of the worst episode, the writhing was terrible, epic and stupid, reminding us how not to do a show ... Like the old Spiderman and the stupid truth that took 3 different movies to be told as it could be done in one, as it should have, and it is in the new line up of movies... () Arrow universe, you are lost in your stupidity...

Seriously call people out of courtroom?

[apd8 · 1/10 · 1 March 2018]

The team knows that Barry IS in the courtroom, still call him OUT for "theatrical disruptions". Not to mention "theatrical" cuts switching between the sentencing and the honoring .. drama too much?

And as other reviews said, poor reasoning and evidences to frame him. Probably consult with writers from crime series for more reasonable story?

Pathetic!

[LittleStorpingInTheSwuff · 1/10 · 23 August 2018]

From arrest to trial in one week?? Seriously??? Sure, there is a guarantee of a speedy trial, but the legal reality is that murder suspects don't go to trial in less than six months or more.

The trial itself was ludicrous. The frozen-in-time baris moment was beyond ludicrous. As for the defense lawyer, the best she could come up with was the 'barry is a good man' defense. Didn't work out very well, did it? As if all that wasn't farcical enough, it went from guilty verdict to sentencing in 4 hours!!

If only justice in the real world could be that swift!

What evidence?

[danitheboy · 1/10 · 17 October 2018]

Seriously poorly conceived and written episode. They find him standing over the body, but no blood on his hands or clothes and no fingerprints on the knife (coz he never touched it) and the alarm would show he had only just walked in the door.

It's insulting that the writers think we are that stupid. It's lazy writing - time to cut out some dead wood and get someone more respectful in the writers office.

Bad defense

[rndhyd · 5/10 · 17 June 2019]

Autopsy? There would be evidence that the body didn't die of blood loss (knife stab).

Barry could explain more (w/out revealing Flash) that he was setup. How about phone records?

It was obvious that the writers didn't care much authenticity for that, but wanted Barry/Flash in jail.

BTW, I've only seen the next 2 episodes -- interesting -- less than usual stuff, good. Also, I only started watching about a month ago, after watching Supergirl a month prior.

Both are too PC & SJW related, especially with not killing enemies, which is absurd. Many lives could be saved & future danger averted by killing known murderers or other threats. Sue, there's due process, but... For one thing .. meta-humans.

Ugh!

[wxmanj · 2/10 · 7 June 2018]

If this goes on much longer I'll just have to give up on the Flash.

ridiculous is the only word that comes to mind

[astexteacher · 1/10 · 9 February 2018]

I love all the superheroes series but let be honest The Flash has become so unbelievably stupid. So he is righteous but come on I just hated this episode. I don't even feel like watching the next. I am going to skip ahead until this ridiculous righteous stupid plot line ends. What were the writers thinking. I thought I would puke when he stopped time in the courtroom. He's really going to prison? Poor Barry. God I want to puke!