Elongated Journey Into Night

"Just that everything that we've done, we did because we were trying to help people. Keep them safe. Is that all Dibny was trying to do back then?"
"Good people don't destroy lives and call it noble."
"Did I make a mistake back then? Did I cost a good man his life?"
"I don't know, Barr. He did break the law. Crossed a line. And you didn't make him do that. And you didn't make him blackmail the mayor. But, maybe Caitlin was right. Everyone who's gone what you, and her, now Dibny's gone through... maybe he deserves a second chance."

—Barry Allen and Joe West about Ralph Dibny

"Elongated Journey Into Night"
Information
Season 4 » Episode 4
Episode number	73 of 184
Original airdate	October 31, 2017
Written by	Sterling Gates Thomas Pound
Directed by	Tom Cavanagh
Chronology
Preceded by	"Luck Be a Lady"
Followed by	"Girls Night Out"
Blog post	Post 64 "Cisco's Super Spooky Moviethon 2017"

"Elongated Journey Into Night" is the fourth episode of the fourth season of The Flash, and the seventy-third episode overall. It aired on October 31, 2017.

Synopsis

Cisco is shocked when Gypsy's father, Breacher, shows up on Earth-1. Breacher takes an immediate disliking to Cisco and decides to hunt him. Meanwhile, Barry runs into his old nemesis, Ralph Dibny.[src]

Cast

Starring

• Grant Gustin as Barry Allen/The Flash and Barry Allen (archive footage)
• Candice Patton as Iris West
• Danielle Panabaker as Dr. Caitlin Snow
• Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon/Vibe
• Tom Cavanagh as Dr. Harrison "Harry" Wells
• Jesse L. Martin as Detective Joe West

Guest starring

• Hartley Sawyer as Ralph Dibny
• Jessica Camacho as Cynthia/Gypsy
• Vito D'Ambrosio as Mayor Anthony Bellows
• Danny Trejo as Josh/Breacher

Co-starring

• Jason Bell as Goon #1
• Peter Chao as Millennial
• Chad Riley as Goon #2
• Lydia Sarks as Female Client

Uncredited

• David Dastmalchian as Abra Kadabra (archive footage)

Plot

Ralph Dibny

Gypsy's father, Breacher, attacks Cisco, vowing to hunt and kill him in 24 hours, allowing the romance should he survive. Team Flash learns that the bus driver was murdered and tracks down another passenger, Ralph Dibny, former corrupt CCPD detective exposed by Barry and currently an infamous private investigator.

As two thugs attack Dibny, he is revealed to have the power to stretch. Caitlin stabilizes his powers with a serum. The team learns that Ralph has been blackmailing Mayor Bellows for adultery, with the latter revealed to have hired the thugs. Barry confronts Ralph for his actions while the latter scolds him, claiming to have been a "good cop".

He later stops blackmailing Bellows, who still attempts to kill him while Breacher mistakes the former for a Plastoid, the species that invaded Earth-19 previously, and attacks him. Cisco intervenes and saves Ralph, whom Barry, having revealed his alter-ego, convinces to help arrest an escaping Bellows.

Anthony Bellows

Admiring Cisco's gallantry, Breacher allows the relationship. Gypsy and Breacher then return to Earth-19, to stop a potential breacher.

Barry recruits Ralph for Team Flash and learns that someone named DeVoe instructed Ralph to watch Bellows. Barry remembers that Abra Kadabra and Savitar both mentioned DeVoe.

Meanwhile, Caitlin finds a message from Blacksmith on her apartment door; "We Miss You. Come Back Soon".

Trivia

• This is the second episode that Tom Cavanagh has directed.
• The title of this episode is possibly a play on the name of the 1962 film Long Day's Journey into Night.
• This is the first episode of the series to not feature Neil Sandilands (Clifford DeVoe) after signing on as a series regular.
• Anthony Bellows mentions that he was a police officer before becoming mayor. This is a reference to Vito D'Ambrosio also portraying Anthony Bellows in the 1990 The Flash series, in which he was a police officer.
• Upon seeing Harry, Breacher mentions that his daughter was sent to hunt someone who looked like him, referencing Gypsy's first appearance where she was sent to capture Harry's doppelgänger, H.R. Wells.
• Cisco claims that Breacher literally killed someone with his face. This is likely a reference to Danny Trejo's role in the TV series Breaking Bad, in which his character Tortuga's head is severed from its body, then later explodes to kill a DEA agent.
• Cisco refers to Breacher as "the Predator" and himself as "the Schwarzenegger", referencing Arnold Schwarzenegger's role in the 1987 film Predator.
  • Danny Trejo also starred in the 2010 film Predators.
• Cisco pulls out a machete as one of the weapons to use against Breacher, which Harry advises against. This is a reference to Trejo's role as Isador "Machete" Cortez in the Spy Kids franchise.
• Ralph Dibny claims to look like "a Hemsworth", referencing actors Chris and Liam Hemsworth, who are known for their muscular appearances.
• A poster for the 1999 film The Matrix can be seen on Cisco's bedroom wall before Breacher destroys it.
• When Barry and Iris are investigating Ralph's office, Iris opens a drawer and finds a bottle of Gingold inside. In the comics, "Gingold" is the drink that gives Ralph Dibny his elastic powers.
• Ralph was previously mentioned as a victim of the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator explosion in Season 1's "Power Outage". However, due to Flashpoint, his fate was changed.
• Barry suggests the nickname "Plastic Man" for Ralph, a reference to the DC hero with similar powers to Elongated Man.
• The scene where Barry fights Mayor Bellows' henchmen is similar to how Quicksilver fights the Pentagon's guards in the 2014 film X-Men: Days of Future Past.
• When Cisco is leaving the lab to take Breacher out for coffee, Harry tells him to "Have fun storming the castle." This is a quote from Billy Crystal's character, Miracle Max, in The Princess Bride.
• Ralph's client is named "Mrs. Broome". This is a reference to John Broome, the comics writer who created the Elongated Man.
• Ralph wiggles the tip of his nose in the final scene and says, "I smell a mystery!" These are two things he was known to do often in DC Comics as Elongated Man.

Goofs

• The "I.O.U." card Ralph left is dated October 10, 2017, which Barry claims is the same day he came out of the Speed Force in "The Flash Reborn". However, since "Finish Line" took place on May 24, 2017, and "The Flash Reborn" 6 months later, that would place the events of the season premiere sometime around November 24, 2017.
• When Ralph first discovers his powers, once his body stretches, he has no way of returning his body to its normal shape (as seen in his arms and legs, and even his face when he sneezes) until Caitlin gives Ralph a solution to stabilize his cells. However, when Ralph sneezed, his face fell out of shape, yet when Barry and Caitlin each speak to him after this (prior to Caitlin stabilizing his cells), Ralph's face is back to normal.
• When Breacher attacks Ralph and Barry, Bellows disappears in one shot and when Bellows escapes Breacher, Barry, and Ralph are nowhere to be seen.

Gallery

Videos

The Flash Elongated Journey Into Night Trailer The CW

The Flash Elongated Journey Into Night Scene The CW

The Flash Inside Elongated Journey Into Night The CW