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TV REVIEWS: FTN REVIEWS The Flash Season 04 Episode 17: Null And Annoyed

April 11th, 2018 by Todd Black Comments

There’s always going to be a disconnect when it comes to showing a deeper part of a character and beating someone over the head with it. Sometimes it works out well and it’s good to see what’s happening in their lives. Then, there’s “Null and Annoyed” where I became VERY annoyed with Ralph Dibny…again.

The problem here is that The Flash just doesn’t seem to know what to do with Ralph personality wise. First, he was a dirty cop who hated Barry and blamed others for his problems, then he was a womanizer, then he was a guy trying to be a hero, then a guy who lost someone he loved, then a coward, and now, a jokester. It’s frustrating that Flash isn’t turning Elongated Man into something better, and this episode didn’t help things.

Now, the “lesson” that “Null and Annoyed” was trying to teach us was that you can’t force people to think like you do. And that’s a fair lesson, however, how they showed that lesson was dumb, and at times it seemed like they were following two different stories in terms of what Ralph was doing. Ralph was being an idiot, and a jerk, and while jokes are ok at times (proven perfectly by Cisco), there is a time to be serious and follow a plan. Ralph did none of that for much of the episode and though he did save the day at the end, the journey was not worth it.

Furthermore, this whole thing came at the cost of another bus meta who was very generic. Yes, Null was very unique in terms of powers and technically her look, but she was just a regular thief, which Flash has dealt with many times.

Ironically, the best storyline of the night was that of The Thinker and his wife Nadine. Who figured out that she was being drugged to ensure her cooperation so that The Enlightenment will still happen. This was a chilling thing to find out, especially when she tried to save herself via a video message…only to realize that she had already done it before, many times in fact. Whether this cycle ends is still unclear, but it is a compelling twist on their relationship.

There was also a sideplot for Cisco with the return of Gypsy’s father. I will say that Danny Trejo’s return was much better than his original appearance in the show. And the opening for Vibe to leave is a compelling one, though one I hope he doesn’t take, for he is a true part of this team.

Oh, and Harry has restarted Gideon! This will lead to…probably bad things.

In the end, “Null and Annoyed” mishandled too many characters, and by the time things work themselves out it was too late to be an enjoyable episode.

Todd Black is reader of comics, a watch of TV (a LOT of TV), and a writer of many different mediums. He's written teleplays, fan-fictions, and currently writes a comic book called Guardians (guardians-comic.com). He dreams of working at Nintendo, writing a SHAZAM! TV series, and working on Guardians for a very long time!