TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews The Flash Season 04 Episode 12: Honey, I Shrunk The Team

I always find it ironic when episodes try very hard to succeed, and yet fall flat, then others try a one-off gimmick and they work in virtually every way. And the latter is what happened here with “Honey, I Shrunk The Team.” An homage to the classic “Honey I Shrunk The Kids” films, this honestly shouldn’t have worked the way it did, but instead, it delivered a heartfelt episode about hope, love, and never giving up.

First up, Cecile has superpowers that were brought on because of her pregnancy, she can now read minds. And quite funnily, she digs it. She doesn’t fear it at all, and in fact, she uses it openly because she doesn’t think it’s wrong at all. Which leads to some interesting relationship conflict with Joe. See, this is the kind of relationship that can work in spite of superpowers. No unnecessary drama via love triangles or what not, just simple relationship issues that just so happen to be brought out by superpowers. And hey, Dr. Christie was back! Yay! Again, I’m not sure how I feel about Joe and Cecile having a baby (I still suspect something bad will happen), but for now, it’s nice.

As for Barry, his never-ending optimism, and friendship with Big Sir, earned him a new story, and one that really fit his situation. He can’t help himself, so why can’t he help others? Turns out, Big Sir was wrongfully imprisoned, just like Barry and his father. So, he offered to help, which led to the arrival of Atom villain (from the comics) Dwarf Star. Turns out, he’s the real culprit behind Big Sir’s conviction, but, he’s also a meta that can shrink things of any size.

On one hand, it was a little convenient. On the other hand though, it led to a fun dual story. As Barry had to convince Big Sir to believe in hope again, while Team Flash had to deal with not only Dwarf Star, but Cisco and Ralph being shrunk. I have to give props to the team, Dwarf’s powers were easily one of the coolest displays of superpowers on any show, period. Especially the part where he was flinging out vehicles that he shrunk like it was nothing.

Now, though the team did catch him, he was smart enough not to confess, which led to several interesting moments. One was that Big Sir didn’t blame Barry at all for the fallout, and he could be content knowing that the right man was behind bars. Which, naturally led Barry to break Big Sir out of jail and take him to his “happily ever after”. But…that led to Warden Wolfe finding out that he was the Flash, and locking him away before getting ready to sell him…to Amunet! Classic.

Finally, big props to Tom Cavanaugh, who delivered one of the best performances of his career (on Flash at least) as he worked hard to fix everything around him. From Barry’s imprisonment, to getting Big Sir out of jail, to saving Cisco and Ralph, it was very compelling. And while Harry is still a jerk at times, you believed him in how he wanted to do right by Barry, Big Sir, and the others since he couldn’t help stop Duvoe (yet). I look forward to seeing how things go for him, especially since we now know Jesse will be back…

There were some downpoints here. Certain things and jokes were sad, but most importantly, there was no Duvoe at all in this episode. He’s had a very limited screentime since the return, and that needs to change, and quick.

In the end, “Honey, I Shrunk The Team!” was honestly one of the best episodes of Flash this season. I would love this type of quality to continue, but I don’t think we’re that lucky.