"I didn't kill that teacher. I wouldn't take a life. You know, not every meta uses their powers to hurt people. Some use them to help, others to protect people. Our powers don't decide who we are. We do."

—Barry Allen to Becky Sharpe

"True Colors" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of The Flash, and the eighty-second episode overall. It aired on February 6, 2018.

Synopsis

After hearing that Amunet has struck a deal to buy all of the meta-humans in Iron Heights, Barry must decide if he should expose his powers in order to save his cellmates. After a visit from an old friend, Ralph is reminded of his shady past and wonders if he's really a changed man.[src]

Plot

"True Colors" opens with Warden Wolfe meeting with Amunet. He's brought her into a special holding area in the basement of Iron Heights and begins showing her the unique metahumans he's captured this season.

Ralph walks into his office to find an old acquaintance — Earl Cox — waiting on his couch and asking for help. Ralph warns him that he's left the shady PI work behind, and Earl tells him to call if that ever changes.

Iris and Cecile arrive at the visitation area in Iron Heights, but Warden Wolfe comes in and tells them they can't see Barry today. Wolfe tries to claim that Barry got into a fight. Cecile uses her powers to read what Wolfe is actually thinking and discovers he's selling metahumans. She heads back to STAR Labs to fill in Team Flash.

Ralph walks into STAR Labs and starts venting to his teammates about Earl's earlier visit. After ranting long enough, he accidentally shapeshifts into Earl. Seeing Dibny's new ability, Iris realizes he could use it to get Barry out of the metahuman wing at Iron Heights before Amunet makes a move on him.

The Thinker and the Mechanic are watching the metahuman wing through cameras they've installed in their lair.

Inside his cell, Barry is trying to come up with an escape plan. He uses a napkin to clog the toilet, and when a maintenance worker comes in to fix it, Barry swipes a couple of batteries.

Back at STAR Labs, Cisco and Caitlin are coaching Ralph on how to shapeshift into Warden Wolfe. After enough practice, Ralph can take Wolfe's form but keeps losing control of his motor skills.

Inside Iron Heights, Barry manages to rig a chemical mixture that lets him pop his cell door open. He quickly frees the other metahumans, and the group starts to escape through a manhole in their wing of the prison.

They continue their escape through the Iron Heights sewers.

Ralph — disguised as Warden Wolfe — walks into a bar looking for Amunet's contact. The contact steps outside and tries to intimidate him, but Joe gives Ralph a pep talk over comms. Ralph stands up to Amunet's associate and secures the meeting he wanted with Amunet.

In the sewers, the group of metahumans runs into the maintenance worker who'd been fixing Barry's clogged toilet. Barry knocks him out, convincing the others they don't need to kill him.

Dibny, still disguised as Wolfe, meets with Amunet and tries to convince her to postpone the deal because the cops know about it. Amunet senses something is off about Wolfe. Soon after, Ralph's ear starts to droop and he loses his cover, reverting to his normal self. He manages to get away.

Ralph returns to STAR Labs and admits he blew the mission. He tells the team he doesn't want to help with Barry anymore and apologizes for messing things up.

The metahumans make their way back through the old Iron Heights prison and are close to getting past the barrier that suppresses their powers. Kilgore says he'll hack the door so they can get through, and while he does, Barry has a quick heart-to-heart with Hazard.

Caitlin goes to Ralph's apartment to talk about the day's events. In an effort to scare him straight, she transforms into Killer Frost. The two talk it out, and Ralph decides to help Team Flash after all.

The metahumans regain their powers as they finally break through the door and get outside. In the yard, however, they're met by Warden Wolfe and a SWAT team.

Wolfe reveals to the other metahumans that Barry is The Flash. Using this new information, the group starts to turn on Barry, but Hazard sides with him, and the two fend off the metahumans' attack.

Amunet arrives to confront Wolfe but is quickly blasted away by DeVoe, who shows up in a new chair built by the Mechanic. DeVoe takes over Hazard's body and kills the rest of the metahuman group along with Warden Wolfe.

Cisco and Killer Frost breach into the yard to try to save Barry, but the speedster tells them he needs to stay in prison and get out the right way.

Cecile appears in court on Barry's behalf at an appeal hearing. The judge orders her to present the evidence she claimed to have, or the appeal will be denied. Just as the judge is about to rule, DeVoe's old body rolls in on his Segway.

Cecile uses her powers to figure out it's actually Ralph posing as DeVoe's original body. Operating under the assumption that DeVoe is still alive, the judge clears all charges and orders Barry's immediate release from Iron Heights.

Team Flash, Barry included, are having a get-together at the West house. They agree to enjoy the moment before figuring out how to stop DeVoe. Barry reveals that DeVoe could have taken powers from any metahuman in Iron Heights, but specifically chose only the ones who were on the bus at the start of the season.

DeVoe, now in Hazard's body, is talking with the Mechanic back at their lair. She's becoming increasingly frustrated with her husband's plans.

Cast

Starring

• Grant Gustin as Barry Allen
• Candice Patton as Iris West-Allen
• Danielle Panabaker as Dr. Caitlin Snow/Killer Frost
• Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon/Vibe
• Neil Sandilands as Professor “Clifford DeVoe”
• Tom Cavanagh (credit only)
• Jesse L. Martin as Detective Joe West

Special guest star

• Katee Sackhoff as Amunet Black

Guest starring

• Hartley Sawyer as Ralph Dibny
• Danielle Nicolet as District Attorney Cecile Horton
• Kim Engelbrecht as Dr. Marlize DeVoe
• Kendrick Sampson as Professor Clifford DeVoe/The Thinker
• Sugar Lyn Beard as Becky Sharpe and Professor Clifford DeVoe/The Thinker
• Chelsea Kurtz as Mina Chaytan
• Derek Mears as Sylbert Rundine
• Richard Brooks as Warden Gregory Wolfe and Ralph Dibny
• Dominic Burgess as Ramsey Deacon
• Paul McGillion as Earl Cox and Ralph Dibny

Co-starring

• Jaren Moore as Plumber
• Ken Camroux-Taylor as Judge Hankerson
• Mark Sweatman as Norvok

Gallery

Videos

Trivia

• This title is a reference to the Cyndi Lauper song "True Colors".
  • It may also be a reference to Gregory Wolfe's secret willingness to try to sell meta-human inmates for profit coming to light, as well as Barry's belief that a meta-human's true self is defined by their choices, not powers.
• When Ralph shape-shifts into Earl Cox, Iris refers to him as "Braveheart", referencing the 1995 film of the same name and its main character, William Wallace, in regards to Earl's Scottish accent.
• Becky mentions that "Orange isn't the new anything", subtly referencing the TV series Orange Is the New Black.
• Thanking Killer Frost for the pep talk, Ralph calls her a "frosty Oprah", referring to the famous talk show host.
• Cecile mentions that in the past, Central City has had reports of people being dead, only for them to later emerge alive. Examples of these cases include Tony Woodward and Ronnie Raymond, who were both thought to have died in some way or another the night of the particle accelerator explosion, only to be found to be alive sometime afterwards.^[1][2][3]
• Ralph refers to Norvock as "Snakes on the Brain", possibly referring to the 2006 film Snakes on a Plane.
• Cisco tells Ralph that his face looks like the painting that came back to life from the 2017 film It.
• While disguised as Wolfe in the bar, Ralph asks for Gingold and is later seen drinking some in his office. In the comics, Gingold was a soft drink made from rare Gingo fruit, from which Ralph got his powers.
• By this episode, Barry has been in prison for 20 days.

Goofs

• When Ralph arrives at S.T.A.R. Labs, he says he ran into an "old business partner" and starts describing him, but never mentions Earl's name. Shortly after, Caitlin refers to him by name as Earl.
• While Ralph can shapeshift in a literal sense, nothing about his ability allows him to change his skin tone, so impersonating Wolfe would have been impossible.

References

The Flash season 4

"The Flash Reborn" • "Mixed Signals" • "Luck Be a Lady" • "Elongated Journey Into Night" • "Girls Night Out" • "When Harry Met Harry..." • "Therefore I Am" • "Crisis on Earth-X, Part 3" • "Don't Run" • "The Trial of The Flash" • "The Elongated Knight Rises" • "Honey, I Shrunk Team Flash" • "True Colors" • "Subject 9" • "Enter Flashtime" • "Run, Iris, Run" • "Null and Annoyed" • "Lose Yourself" • "Fury Rogue" • "Therefore She Is" • "Harry and the Harrisons" • "Think Fast" • "We Are The Flash"