Trama

Barry trusts his instincts during a murder investigation, believing the suspect, despite the overwhelming evidence against him; Iris gives Allegra an opportunity to be a mentor.

Jaco Birch apparently uses his meta power of flames to kill two people he's connected to, burning them to a crisp, but Barry isn't convinced of Jaco's guilt. Meanwhile, Iris assigns Allegra to mentor Taylor, but Allegra pursues her own story against Iris' wishes.—Gislef

At O'Shaughnessy's, the bartender Stan Mullen is alone and closing up. He hears someone in the darkness, grabs a stool, and it superheats, burning his hand. He yells that he's not paying any more money, and the bar starts steaming. Something comes at Stan, growling, and the bartender screams.

The next day at the apartment, Iris joins at Barry at the kitchen table when he's made iced java for her. Barry is clearly distracted, and Iris sees a calendar and says that they should just stay in for the night. Barry assures her that he's okay and it's just another day, and speeds off to work. He ends up on assignment to the bar, and finds Chester there. Stan is dead, and Chester explains who Stan is. He uses a sensor to detect dark matter and figures a meta is involved. Kramer comes in and says that the bartender, Donna, said Stan was alone when he left and Stan argued with a recently-paroled ex-con.

Barry shows the waitress Donna Winters a picture of Jaco Birch, and she identifies him as the man Stan was arguing with. Kramer put out an APB on him, and Chester figures that The Hotness, Jaco, killed Stan and wonders why he killed Stan when he's only a criminal for the money.

At the CCC, Allegra meets with Iris and they launch who should be the paper's first featured Citizen. They disagree on featuring Rosie Levin, an influencer, with Iris figuring they should feature Levin. Allegra glances out at Taylor, and figures that Taylor went behind her back and convinced Iris about the story. Iris doesn't see the problem, and tells Taylor and Allegra to interview Levin together. Allegra agrees with her boss and goes to Taylor.

Jaco is a security guard helping the crew unload his band's equipment. He then talks to his son Harold and apologizes for not getting the backstage tickets he promises because he has a cash flow problem. Jaco tries to impress Harold, who points out that Jaco is only a security guard and anyone could do his job. Harold goes for a walk, and Kramer and her men pull up and arrest Jaco for Stan's murder. Jaco insists that he didn't kill Stan, and Harold comes back and a policeman takes him away. Jaco loses his temper and his body bursts into flames. Flash arrive and shoves Jaco into a nearby fountain and slaps meta-damper cuffs on him, dousing the flames The police take Jaco away, and Jaco yells to Harold that he's innocent and asks Flash for help, saying that he can't lose his son. Flash remember seeing his own father taken away for Nora's murder,

Later, Barry meets Cecile at her office. She figures that Jaco is innocent, but Barry isn't convinced. Cecile points out that it all fits, and Barry notes that there isn't any hard evidence that Jaco is guilty. He points out that Jaco went back to work instead of laying low, and tells Cecile that it doesn't feel right . Barry asks Cecile to meet with Jaco and get a read on his emotions, and Cecile agrees but warns that using her powers to read a client is an ethical line she can't cross. He agrees but says he doesn't want to see an innocent man go to prison.

Allegra and Taylor meet Levin at Jitters to interview her, and Taylor fawns over her. Allegra notices a woman, Lydia Sanchez, working as a janitor and goes over to talk to her. Lydia isn't impressed with Allegra and says that she hasn't seen Allegra since Iron Heights. She sarcastically says that Allegra got a cushy job, while she got her GED in prison and is now working as janitor. Lydia complains that people like Allegra only see her as she was, not who she wants to be, and it makes her hard to get ahead. Allegra admits that she doesn't know what Lydia is going through, but wants to help her by sharing her story with the world.

At the station, Cecile meets Jaco in an interrogation room while Barry watches through the one-way mirror. Jaco is worried about Harold, and says that his ex-wife is never around. He got his act together and got out of Iron Heights because his ex-wife wasn't around for Harold, and he had to be. Jaco admits that Harold never forgave him for abandoning him, and says that Harold is a good kid who doesn't deserved a father like him. He describes how he and Stan got into an argument the previous night, and Stan stiffed him so Jaco couldn't buy the tickets for Harold that he promised. Then Jaco left and went home, and that was the last he saw of Stan. No one can confirm Jaco's alibi. Jaco tells Cecile that he's innocent, and Cecile points out that all the evidence they have pegs Jaco as the murderer. Losing his temper, Jaco says that he won't lose his son again.

Back at Cecile's office, Outside, Cecile tells Barry that all the evidence points to Jaco is the killer. She's sure that Jaco believe he's innocent but that's enough. The police run by and Kramer tells Barry that Jaco escaped but didn't hurt anyone.

Donna is taking garbage out, and Jaco confronts her in the alley in back and accuses her of lying to the police. She says that she didn't see anything and they're good, and Jaco says that he's losing because of Donna. He starts steaming and tells Donna that she's going to take back what she said.

At STAR Labs, Team Flash meets and discusses and try to locate Jaco. Barry insists that Jaco is innocent, and says that there's nothing tying him to Stan's murder. The others point out that Jaco fled custody, but Barry points out that Frost did the same thing when Chillblaine framed her. He figures Jaco wouldn't have left Central City without Harold. Chester gets a call about an emergency dispatch near the bar, and Barry heads there with Frost figuring she should go with him as backup.

Flash and Frost arrive and find a charred corpse on the ground. Frost tries to put the fires out, but can't. They figure Donna is the corpse, and Frost points out that Jaco isn't looking innocent.

At CCC, Taylor complains to Allegra that she's not working. Iris comes over and Taylor says that everything is going well. Allegra says that Iris will love her story and keeps working on her laptop, and Iris and Taylor excuse them.

At the lounge, Barry tells Frost, Cecile, and Chester that according to the report from the crime lab, the burn marks on Donna match those on Stan, but that would be impossible for any pyrokinetic meta. Cecile figures they're to blame for telling Jaco that Donna was the witness against him, and the others point out that Jaco has motive. Barry isn't convince, and Cecile wonders if Barry isn't thinking about the case. Their teammate figures they've given up on Jaco, but the two identical fire marks mean Jaco isn't the killer. He asks Chester to look at the evidence and see what he can find, and Chester agrees. Cecile points out that they've all been trying to help Jaco, but Jaco ran off and there aren't any other suspects. Barry suggests that both victims worked at the bar, and maybe they owed money to someone. When Barry said that if someone had believed in his father, he wouldn't have gone to jail, Cecile apologizes for not understanding where Barry was coming from. Barry says that he'll do everything possible to clear Jaco's name, and speeds out.

Barry goes to his lab, and Joe comes to see him. Joe finds Barry going over a board with the evidence, and knows that it's Henry's birthday. He talks about Henry missing his birthday party when he turned 455, and assures Henry that he missed it because he was helping people. Henry was crushed for missing the party, and Joe told Henry that he would have other moment. Barry tells Joe that Henry had the same look of an innocent man that Jaco had when he lost Harold, and says that he can't let someone else go through what he went through. Joe tells Barry that it gave the ability to believe in the underdog when no one else, and that Barry should go with his gut, for Henry's sake. Chester sends a text to tell Barry that he found something, and Barry speeds off.

Allegra finally shows Iris her story about Lydia, and Iris says that it's good but not what she assigned Allegra to do. She tells Allegra's story is also good, but there's no context and she had hoped Allegra could have made the story great. Iris wants Allegra to learn how to be a supervisor, and says that she's going to go with Allegra's story because it will reach out to more readers. However, she wants Allegra to talk to Taylor and fix the situation.

Barry arrives at STAR Labs, and Chester is with Frost. Chester explains that the victims were killed by cold fusion, not fire. Barry tells Chester to put the evidence on a flash drive so they can take it to Kristin and clear Jaco.

Kramer is taking Harold and his social worker in a SUV through the city, and he tells the worker that he's used to his father being a screw-up. Jaco steps in front of the SUV and yells at Kramer to give him his son. Kramer gets out and aims her gun at Jaco, and tells him to get down. Jaco heats up, and Chester picks him and the SUV. Barry figures that Jaco is after Harold, and they have to stop him before he does something he regrets.

Jaco tells Kramer to get out of his way. The ground shakes, and Harold gets out of the SUV and confronts his father, saying Jaco is a loser. Jaco admits that he's been a loser since he was born, and getting powers just made it worse. The ground continues shaking, and Jaco says that all he wanted was a clean start once he got out of prison. Jaco bursts into flames, and says that he has nothing to lose.

Flash arrives with Frost and generates a vortex to put out Jaco's flames. Flash tells Jaco that Cecile found evidence that proves Jaco's innocence, but Jaco has to stop what he's doing before he hurts someone. Kramer backs down, and Jaco starts to surrender. The ground continues shaking, and Flash tells Jaco that it's what he's already done. Lava spurts out of a manhole and into the air, and Flash gets Frost out of the way.

The ground continues shaking, and Flash tells Jaco that his flame powers are connected to the ground where he's standing. He calls Chester, who reports that lava is erupting beneath the city's lower crust. When Jaco got upset, he opened up a lava channel. If Flash doesn't stop the eruption in the next 30 seconds, the city will be destroyed.

Frost uses her powers to stop some of the erupting lava, and Kramer and the others run. Jaco asks Flash to save everyone, and Flash tells Jaco that he's going to release the heat and Jaco will have to absorb the excess heat.

Jaco agrees and Flash vibrates into the ground. Chester monitors Flash going down and releasing the heat as steam. Jaco absorbs it and then returns to others, and says he released the water table into the lava. Then Jaco could absorb the steam that resulted. Jaco is surprised that her saved thousands of lives, and is the father Harold deserves. Harold comes over and hugs his father, and Jaco says that he loves him. Watching, Barry remembers reuniting with Henry when Henry came out of jail.

That night, Barry and Harold go to Cecile's office. Social Services bring Harold there, and Jaco thanks Barry and Cecile for not giving up on him. Barry tells him to be there for Harold, and Harold comes in and tells the worker that he's okay. Father and son hug, and they go out to dinner together. Cecile tells Barry that they'll be all right, and wonders if he will be.

Allegra approaches Taylor and apologizes and says that they're running Taylor's Levin story the next week. Taylor wonders why Allegra stabbed her in the back, and Allegra admits that Taylor is right. Taylor accuses Allegra of lacking ethics, and Allegra angrily says that it won't happen again but is still Taylor's supervisor, and hopes they can get past it. Taylor says that she's going to destroy Allegra and walks off.

Joe, Cecile, Iris, and Barry meet at the West house to celebrate Henry's birthday and share memories of him. Barry says that he remembers little things about Henry and describes them, and mostly remembers being loved. He admits that he still misses Henry every day, and makes a happy birthday toast to Henry.

Later, Barry meets with Chester and Frost. They wonder who did kill Stan and Donna, and figure that either the killer works at the bar, or they're still missing something. He has Chester check for more victims, and figures they have to find the killer before someone else gets hurt.