‘The Flash’ Season 4, Episode 17 ‘Null and Annoyed’ Recap: Ralph the Joker [SPOILERS]

The last time we saw Ralph Dibny (Hartley Sawyer) on “The Flash,” he was full of vengeance but also hiding in fear for his life. Now, he’s out and about trying to help Team Flash in all problems DeVoe-related. This week’s episode title, “Null and Annoyed,” refers to Janet Petty (Bethany Brown) and Barry (Grant Gustin). Janet is one of the remaining bus metas and “Null” is her Internet handle. Meanwhile, we also see Barry annoyed because Ralph wouldn’t take things seriously.

The Flash gets a joker

No, Harley Quinn’s man is not going to make an appearance. Ralph Dibny is the resident joker and prankster of Team Flash. Even when his life is in danger and DeVoe is still in the wind, he never fails to crack a joke.

So when he and Barry train to stop DeVoe using a hologram of Cisco’s (Carlos Valdez) making, he doesn’t take things seriously and makes joke after joke after joke. Barry has clearly had enough, so he talks to Ralph about being more concerned. But Ralph has none of it.

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When they get to the Cortex, they ask the other members how they’re doing with locating the other bus metas. But the noise pisses Harry (Tom Cavanaugh) off, and the inability to find them frustrates him.  He says finding them is more complicated than they think. Edward Gauss just disappeared, and Janet Petty is too good at being a criminal, especially with her powers.

Eventually, The Flash makes Ralph sit this case out.

Grumpy old Breacher

The discussion about the bus metas didn’t end yet when Breacher (Danny Trejo), Gypsy’s father, breached into the Cortex, choked Cisco, and then asked him for help. As his story goes, he was hunting Lord Crucifer, a vampire, and leader of the Tenth Circle. He took down the army, but when he came face to face with Crucifer, his powers went sideways. He couldn’t vibe blast. He believes Crucifer did something to them.

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Cynthia, Breacher’s daughter and Cisco’s girlfriend, knew that Cisco was an expert in the “meta-science.” Surprisingly, Breacher did not insult Cisco, not even once. He also agreed with his daughter that Cisco could maybe fix him. So, Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) and Cisco run tests. There were no chemicals or abnormalities in Breacher’s body; he’s just old. After a lot of donuts for Breacher, Cisco lied and gave him antihistamine pills, saying it’s a cure. He thought that if he continued to be on Breacher’s good side, Cisco would get to keep his life and see Gypsy.

Thinking he was all ready to fight, Breacher went head to head with Lord Crucifer again. Fortunately, Cisco vibes him and gets to him in time before Crucifer’s army of bats kills him. After his near-death experience, Breacher hears from Cisco that the bat lord did not do anything to his powers, age did. Plus, he admitted to lying so that he could see his girlfriend. Breacher’s final words before walking out were “I hate you.”

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Breacher then came back in a Hawaiian shirt, sandals, and cargo shorts. He looked like a proper dad in retirement. He told Cisco that he saw his reflection in his life and realized it was time to hang up his suit. With his spot open and Cisco wanting to spend more time with Gypsy, Breacher offered his position to Cisco.

Trouble in paradise

In DeVoe’s lab hidden in another dimension, “50 First Dates” for Clifford, previously known as Izzy Bowin (Miranda McDougall), and Marlize (Kim Engelbrecht). But it isn’t all peaches and cream.

Clifford has been hiding secrets like he already has the Weeper. He’s been using his tears to drug his wife. With the effects of the drug and Dominic’s powers, he can control Marlize’s memories. When she found out, she made a video to remind her what her husband has been doing and what kind of person he is. Unfortunately, she’s done this many times, and Clifford always has his way.

So the cycle goes, Marlize looks at the list of metas, Clifford coughs and blames the amount of dark matter in the body. Marlize thinks of a way to update his chair to help him. When she goes to the computer to start, she sees that there are already plans for it. Clifford says he’s thought and started it. Marlize believes she can finish it in a few hours. She finds out, makes a video, and Clifford clears her memory.

Subject 11 is found

The 11th bus meta has emerged, and she likes jewelry. Her first stop was a museum where a dynasty crown was being transported for an exhibit. The crate was too heavy, so the guards left to get something to help. This opened a way for Janet Petty, aka Null, to use her powers to steal it. She can change a body’s density, like filling them with helium, making them float, and the effects wear off in time.

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Eventually, they track her to a location where Ralph’s old friend, Earl, does his business. After a trick from Ralph where he morph’s into Joe (Jesse L. Martin) and goes bad cop on him, Earl shows them where Null is latched on the wall. She uses her powers on Barry. They get to Star Labs, and Iris (Candice Patton) holds him down with a rope tied around his foot. Effects wear off, and he falls to the ground as Ralph makes another joke.

Team Flash locates Null in a jewelry shop. Harry, with his thinking cap, hatches an idea that could capture her. She could only affect those she sees. So if Barry goes fast enough to seem invisible, he could slap the power-dampening cuffs on her. Everything went smoothly until Null showed Barry her plan. A free-falling car called The Flash’s attention, Janet picked the lock, and she escaped again.

Ralph’s fear turned into jokes

It turns out, the reason why The Flash is pissed is that Ralph isn’t following his plan. Iris talked some sense into him, saying that Ralph just did what he knew what to do and he pulled through.

So, Barry apologized and asked Ralph to come back to the team (again). Ralph opened up to Barry about his childhood and the reason he became what he is. He’s been pulling a Chandler Bing his whole life, using humor and sarcasm to cope with childhood trauma. Ever since his father left him and his mother when he was 10, he cracked jokes and did funny bits to make his mom smile. In the long run, he drove away his fear, too.

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With Ralph back on the team, they (again) track down Null to a place with a lot of bling. They were back at the museum where the event was filled with rich people in a lot of jewelry.

Null tried to make everyone float, but with The Flash’s speed, he got everyone out. She used her powers on Barry again, but luckily he had Ralph this time. So when The Flash was floating higher and higher, he told Ralph to do what Ralph did best. He stretched to get the cuffs on her ankles and became a whoopie cushion to catch Barry’s fall.

The episode ended with Harry going to the hidden room in the lab and talking to Gideon. It looks like he has something shady up his sleeve.

“The Flash” continues next Tuesday, April 17th, with “Lose Yourself” at 8/9c on The CW.