The Flash

Hasta mañana, Stan.

Have a good one.

Donna?

If you're trying to scare me, it won't work.

I told you I ain't paying you a damn cent more.

[Loosely Tight's "Through Thick N' Thin" plays]

- Come on, man. That's enough.

- Ooh!

Iced java...thank you, baby.

Hey, I was thinking that we could get

an early dinner reservation tonight.

Sure.

Actually, um, you know what?

Why don't we, um, stay in,

have a quiet night, just the two of us?

That feels better.

Thank you. I'm okay.

You know, I gotta get used to it eventually.

It's just another day.

I can clear my schedule.

I'm fine, really.

Besides, things are-- things are busy at CCC.

You need to be there.

And I need to get to work.

I'm just a phone call away.

I know.

Is it that bad?

Huh? Sorry.

That fire just kind of weirds me out is all.

The vic's name is Stanley Mullen.

Uh, he's the manager of this local watering hole.

It's weird.

The body's burnt through,

but the ground underneath isn't even charred.

- Yeah, this was definitely a meta attack.

Dark matter levels are off the charts.

- Well, whoever that is, they produce fire

that ignores the laws of physics.

- Oh man, you know, this is giving me, like,

"Goodbye, Armageddon, but hello, Dante's Inferno"

type of a vibe.

- Morning, Allen. - Morning.

Runk.

Find anything that can help us piece this together?

Uh, no. Not yet.

Were there any witnesses?

- Uh, the bartender, Donna Winters, didn't see the crime.

But she said our victim got

into a pretty nasty argument last night

with a recently paroled ex-convict.

Apparently, the guy had a bad temper.

Oh, and he was wearing a L.I.P.S. concert T-shirt.

You know, as in the rock band.

I was gonna ask him some follow-up questions.

- Would it be okay if I showed her a picture of someone

who could be our suspect? - Sure.

- Donna, this is CSI Barry Allen

and CCPD consultant Chester Runk.

- Ms. Winters, the person you saw arguing with the victim,

was this him?

That's him. That's the guy.

- Jaco Birch. I'll put out an APB.

This way, ma'am.

The Hotness did this?

I thought it was all about the moolah,

not cold-blooded murder.

Plus, how did he kill someone

without burning half the place down?

- Looks like we're not the only ones who leveled up this year.

Here you go, boss lady.

This is every suggestion the bullpen brainstormed

for who should be our first CC Citizen of the Week.

Nice work.

Only, this is every suggestion...

except the winning one.

- Rosie Levin. - Mm-hmm.

Uh, boss, I don't think launching

our first profile section on some

shallow social media influencer is the way to go.

I just thought we were supposed to be the voice of the people.

I hear you.

But Rosie Levin is who the people are interested in.

500,000 of them, to be exact,

and if we could bring those eyeballs to CCC,

then, hopefully, people will read the stories that matter.

Is there something that you wanna tell me?

Yeah. Okay, fine.

Taylor brought this to me earlier, and I told her

it wasn't right for us, and she went behind my back.

- She believed in the story, and she followed protocol

and made an appeal to the editor-in-chief,

and I approved it.

Is that a problem?

Yes!

I mean, no.

I just mean if the bullpen knows they can come to you

when I say no... my word means nothing.

- Look, you're still their boss.

But I'm also yours,

and that means that sometimes we are going to disagree

on the stories that we tell.

It's part of the process.

Yeah, you're right.

Of course, I--

- Actually, you know what? Why don't you both

interview Rosie?

- You want Taylor and me to work together?

- You're my supervising editor. Go supervise.

Plus, opposing perspectives make for better stories.

And keep an open mind. I mean, you might be surprised

at what the two of you can do together.

Yeah. You got it.

- Whoa, whoa. Easy with the guitars, roadies.

You're unloading the gilded weapons of true rock gods.

Come on!

- You gotta trust your old man, Harold!

Watching a L.I.P.S. concert's gonna blow your freakin' mind.

Yeah. Whatever, dude.

Hey, you know I'm sorry

I couldn't land the backstage passes

I promised, all right?

I kind of ran into a little

bit of a cash flow issue.

You bribed me here with stuff

you couldn't even get, Jaco?

You're even more lame than usual.

I know, right?

But, uh, hey, look, maybe after the show,

we could grab some food, huh?

I could tell you some stories

about these crazy things these bands

I'm working with get into.

- You aren't with the bands, Jaco.

You're arena security. Anyone could do that.

I'm gonna go for a walk.

But--but Harold...

Whoa.

Jaco Birch.

You're under arrest for the murder of Stanley Mullen.

- Nah, I think you got the wrong guy.

What's going on?

Take him somewhere safe.

Hey.

Let go of me, jerk.

- Hey, hey, hey! Get your hands off my son!

- Calm down, and put your hands behind your back.

- Nobody's taking my kid away from me.

Never again!

Thanks, Flash.

We got it from here.

- Harold, I'm innocent. I swear.

I'm innocent! Please believe me.

Flash! You gotta help me. Please, I didn't do anything.

Please, I can't lose my son! Please!

I didn't do it.

I swear to God I didn't do this.

- Where's mom? - What's gonna happen

to my son? - Dad!

- Barry! - Dad!

- Harold, I didn't do anything. I swear!

I swear. Please. Please believe me, please!

Okay, I gotta be honest.

Uh, based on this police report,

I'd advise Mr. Birch here

to start thinking about a plea bargain.

I'm guessing you feel differently.

- I just want to make sure they got the right guy.

Well, it seems like they do.

He had an argument with the victim

hours before he was killed.

He's got no alibi.

The crime matches his powers,

and the guy is an ex-con.

- Who was released early for good behavior.

- You know, Korber and those other officers could've been

killed, too, if you hadn't intervened.

- I know--I-- I know how it looks for Birch,

but there isn't any hard evidence that he's guilty.

And last night, he supposedly killed a man

and then instead of laying low,

he went back to work this morning?

As a security guard of all things?

It's just--it doesn't add up.