On The Flash season 6, episode 12, after months of searching for her, Ralph finally finds Sue Dearbon — his comic book love interest — and attempts to bring her home, only to realize she’s in over her head.

The Flash season 6, episode 12 does what the previous episode should have and shows us Iris trapped in the Mirrorverse, discovering the other version of her living her life. Meanwhile, Ralph and Sue embark on a mission that could get them killed, which Ralph has no idea is tied into Black Hole… so much for being a decent private investigator, huh?

And while everything tied into the overarching plot, The Flash season 6, episode 12 was kind of boring. Sue and Iris livened up the episode, but the main plot of the episode — Ralph helping Sue — wasn’t interesting until the unexpected twist at the end.

Sue Dearbon

Of every new character in recent years, I would honestly say that Sue has had the best introduction. The Flash season 6, episode 12 might not have been my favorite episode, but she brought something entirely unexpected that made Ralph, my least favorite character on the show, a little more bearable.

Ralph and Sue’s dynamic was surprisingly well-written, and I’m intrigued to know how Sue was able to fool Cecile and her telepathic powers. Fooling Ralph, as we all know, isn’t hard, so I’m not really surprised by that. But that she was able to trick Cecile, despite not knowing Cecile has these abilities, proves she’s a lot more skilled and interesting than we originally thought she’d be.

While I did enjoy the twist at the end, with Sue turning on Ralph and showing her true colors, I truly hope this phase doesn’t go on too long. We know Ralph and Sue are going to end up together, and who knows how long The Flash will continue on, so I hope some major progress is made in their relationship this season. Seeing as Sue is also connected to Black Hole, there’s a perfect chance for that, and for Sue to get in some major character-defining moments.

As for Ralph, it’s like he’s learned nothing over the last few years. He’s tricked so easily, and maybe this time can be explained away as him letting his guard down around Sue after what Cecile told him, but still. I feel like, after two and a half seasons now, Ralph’s had little character development, aside from when his personality was severely changed between The Flash season 4 and 5, so he didn’t make problematic “jokes” anymore.

So as much as I’m enjoying Sue, it still feels like Ralph hasn’t grown at all, but he’s rather completely plateaued as a character. Maybe Ralph-centric episodes won’t be so bad from now on, as long as Sue is a player on them, but at this point, I’m just not interested in seeing more of Ralph until the writers are ready to develop him.

The Mirrorverse

The Flash season 6, episode 12 gave us our first in-detail look at the Mirrorverse, including the women who has been supposedly trapped in the mirror for six years: Eva McCulloch. Everything leads back to the particle accelerator explosion, and this time it was the cause of Eva being trapped in the Mirrorverse, stuck there alone to watch life go on without her.

This — Iris trapped in the Mirrorverse — is the story I’ve been most excited to see. As wonderful as Candice Patton’s performance is as Mirror Iris, especially the subtle changes she’s created to differentiate the two in the slightest ways, this character just isn’t interesting yet. Like, I’d honestly rather only see Iris in the Mirrorverse than see the other version live her life, especially if Barry’s not going to have a real story.

Anyway, back to the Mirrorverse, it was quite interesting to see Eva McCulloch and how she acted when Iris arrived. I’m not buying her claim that she’s been trapped there for six years, as she’d be much crazier if she was truly locked in, basically, solitary confinement for that long (except worse, as she had to see firsthand, life go on without her).

Though Iris thinks she’s helping Eva master her abilities, Eva’s likely playing her, as there was a small moment at the end of the episode that made it seem like Eva was taunting Iris with the mirror. Plus, if she were truly watching her life go by, I find it hard to believe that she’d still feel so in love with her husband, because how would she not know the nefarious details of what he’s been up to in her absence? And if she does know, then she still loves him despite that, which is concerning.

This story has a lot of potential, and I’m really excited to see what impact all of this has on Iris. For one of the first times, she feels like her own character, rather than Barry’s love interest, and it’s exciting to see that the writers actually have ideas of what to do with her. Now, if only they knew how to balance everything…

‘The Flash’ season 6, episode 12 final thoughts

I mean, I really missed Barry, Caitlin, and Cisco on The Flash season 6, episode 12. It feels like we haven’t seen much of Barry since the first half of the season, and he hasn’t really had much of a story yet. This next episode, with Grodd, should be quite interesting, considering Barry is going to be experiencing Grodd’s memories firsthand. I’m excited to see Barry have the A-plot again.

So far, the Black Hole story has been set up decently, though I’m worried about the show losing their momentum. Focusing on Amunet on the last episode and Grodd on the next episode, could be disastrous if they’re not careful. (Let’s be real, we’ve seen how they’ve failed to follow through on stories with incredible potential before.) I hope, as the season continues, we see how the remaining characters end up connected to Black Hole… but I hope they separate this story enough from Supergirl ’s with Leviathan.

The Flash continues Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW!