The Flash Season 4, Episode 9 'Don't Run' Fall Finale Recap: Unexpected Twist Blindsides Team Flash [SPOILERS]

After saving the Earth from other-earthly Nazis, “The Flash” is back on his universe. Season 4, episode 9, titled “Don’t Run,” finally reveals The Thinker’s (Neil Sandilands) plan. We already know how he became the Thinker, but his motives were never really that clear. Meanwhile, Amunet (Katie Sackhoff) kidnaps Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) for a particular favor. Barry Allen’s (Grant Gustin) honeymoon is over, and Christmas is near, but Christmas cheer is the last thing on anyone’s minds.

Barry and Caitlin get taken

Barry and Iris are busy unwrapping wedding gifts. One unusual gift was a knife set with a missing piece, but the two shrugged it off. Iris noticed Barry was cleaning up at an average speed and that Barry hasn’t used his powers since their honeymoon. Barry admits he doesn’t feel like rushing around the love of his life—cue the synchronized “aww” from the audience—because sweet moments like these are only short-lived. The newly married couple decide to use Ralph Dibny’s (Hartley Sawyer) store credit that he gave them. But while they were deciding on whether or not to buy more than one toaster, they were attacked by The Thinker. He was able to overpower Barry before taking him captive quickly.

Meanwhile, Caitlin was trying to blow off steam after finding out her friends prefer to hang out with her villainous alter-ego. She has coffee with Wells (Tom Cavanagh) at Jitters who reassures her that he prefers Caitlin over Killer Frost. However, their coffee session cuts short when Amunet comes in breaking down the door. She takes Caitlin because she needs her to save the life of a new metahuman. Amunet isn’t protecting anyone from the goodness of her heart but for profit. Someone is willing to buy the new metahuman for a very wealthy price. She takes Caitlin to a makeshift hospital, where she meets the telepathic metahuman Dominic (Kendrick Sampson). If she doesn’t save his life, Amunet has no choice but to end both of theirs.
While Caitlin tries to figure out an escape plan for her and Dominic, Barry is held captive. At The Thinker’s lair, Devoe arrives and shows himself to Barry. Barry tries finding out The Thinker’s endgame. Due to Devoe’s rapidly spreading muscular degeneration, Barry naturally assumes he would take his powers.

Making Tough Calls

Back in STAR labs, Iris informs Team Flash that Barry’s kidnapped. Joe (Jesse L. Martin) tells her that Caitlin too was taken. Cisco (Carlos Valdes) feels déjà vu finding out both of his friends’ fates. He tries vibing Barry’s location but is knocked back by some psionic-like powers. Cisco says he has never confronted a power block that strong before. What Cisco doesn’t know is that Barry is in a power-dampening force field. Frustrated, Joe and Wells visit Devoe. But the man plays coy as if he knew nothing. Joe and Wells storm off, with Joe telling Devoe that he’d be back with a search warrant.
As soon as they return to STAR labs, Wells approaches Iris and tells her that their resources are so limited they cannot find both Barry and Caitlin at the same time. He tells Iris sometimes a team leader has to make a tough call. Iris has to choose between Barry or Caitlin. As Ralph (Hartley Sawyer) was trying to get the satellites to work, Iris announces they should focus on finding Caitlin. The moment they turned off the Speedforce satellite they were able to get Caitlin’s coordinates.

On the other side of town, Caitlin and Dominic team up using his telepathic abilities to escape. They try running towards the door, but a makeshift gate formed by Amunet stops them. After a little intimidation, Amunet convinced Caitlin to start the operation on Dominic. She’s able to extract the metal from his neck, but Dominic begins crashing. However, it was only a rouse for the two to escape. They run out of the facility right on time as Cisco and Ralph appear.

‘The Flash’ Framed for murder

Back in The Thinker’s lair, Barry tries to get information from Devoe’s wife, the Mechanic. But her loyalty to her husband cannot be shaken. Luckily for Barry, he was able to vibrate out of his cell. After an amusing chase sequence between The Thinker and The Flash, Barry was able to rig Devoe’s chair to crash in the river. Barry then returns to STAR Labs.  The group tries to figure out what The Thinker wanted out of Barry. But after a long day, Joe invites the whole team over for a Christmas party. Caitlin even brought Dominic, as a way to welcome a new metahuman to Team Flash.
As the festivities were about to start Barry gets a call about the security alarm at his office is going off. He speeds his way over to find nothing amiss. Barry receives another one, and this time it’s from Dominic. Through their conversation, The Thinker reveals that he has transferred his consciousness into Dominic’s body. He then informs Barry he placed Devoe’s body in his apartment. Barry looks over the kitchen counter and finds the body stabbed with one of his wedding gift knives. Not too long after that, Captain Singh and a SWAT team breaks into the apartment and arrests Barry for the murder.
“The Flash” returns Tuesday, January 16, 2018, at 8/7c on The CW.