History Recap / TheFlash2014S4E4ElongatedJourneyIntoNight

* BrainBleach: Ralph's elasticity freaks out everyone at S.T.A.R. Labs, like Joe [[VomitDiscretionShot throwing up]] when Ralph sneezed his face off, Iris' horrified screaming when discovering his stretched out legs in the hallway, and everyone visibly cringing when Barry punched Ralph in the face... and his face ''absorbed Barry's hand''.

* BrainBleach: Ralph's elasticity freaks out everyone at STAR Labs, like Joe [[VomitDiscretionShot throwing up]] when Ralph sneezed his face off, Iris' horrified screaming when discovering his stretched out legs in the hallway, and everyone visibly cringing when Barry punched Ralph in the face...and his face ''absorbed Barry's hand''.

** Ralph to Barry. It was already bad enough that Barry got him kicked off the force, but Ralph's hatred of him grows once he learns how "good" Barry has it these days. Not only does Barry still have his job, he also has a beautiful fiancée, a fancy lab, and money, while Ralph's social life is in shambles and he's barely scraping by these days. Then he learns Barry is a Superhero...

* ThatOneCase: The root of the Allen-Dibny rivalry: a murder that is not unlike the Nora Allen case, and Barry proved that Ralph planted false evidence to implicate the primary suspect. Ralph sincerely believes the guy is guilty, but it's [[TheUnreveal never]] spelled out if his claim was actually true.

* TheWorfEffect: The Force Field strong enough to contain the Reverse-Flash is easily and literally cut apart by Breacher.

%%* ForHonor: Cisco, despite being scared shitless of Breacher, and [[TheTeam The Team's]] general dislike of Ralph, still won't allow any harm to come to a man innocent of the crimes Breacher accuses him of. (There is no For Honor trope)

* ForHonor: Cisco, despite being scared shitless of Breacher, and [[TheTeam The Team's]] general dislike of Ralph, still won't allow any harm to come to a man innocent of the crimes Breacher accuses him of.

** Ralph does this (unintentionally) with his ''face'', blowing the bullet out of his nose.

** The Mayor is also willing to kill Ralph, as well as Joe and Barry, to cover up him cheating on his wife.

** When Joe and Barry visit Ralph in his office he says "I smell a mystery!" He says it again at the end along with his trademark [[CharacterTics nose twitch]].

* RunningGag: People noting that Joe is ''glowing''.
* ShipTease: As per usual a handsome man comes under Caitlin's care, and they don't shy away from establishing a slight attraction between her and Ralph, despite [[BelligerentSexualTension her distaste towards him.]]

* StealthPun: The sign outside Ralph's office, "Private Investigator", with the latter word crossed out and replaced with "Dick". One meaning for the latter is an uncommon slang term for the former, though it's not the meaning that comes to mind.

* ThatOneCase: The root of the Allen-Dibny rivalry: a murder that is not unlike the Nora Allen case, and Barry proved that Ralph planted false evidence to implicate the primary suspect. Ralph sincerely believes the guy is guilty, but it's [[TheUnreveal never]] spelled out if he was actually right.

* RememberTheNewGuy: Ralph Dibny, who has a past with Joe and Barry, but was never shown before. Justified, he was fired before the series started.

* INeedAFreakingDrink: Ralph instantly quaffs Caitlin's serum despite previously being skeptical of it when she mentions it's 70% alcohol.

* StealthPun: The sign outside Ralh's office, "Private Investigator", with the latter word crossed out and replaced with "Dick". Whoever did that needs to brush up on their English, because they practically mean the same.

-->'''Ralph''': Sister, you should have led with that! (chugs)

** Barry suggests Plastic Man, the hero who Ralph's backstory resembles rather more than the comics' Elongated Man, as his superhero name.

* JerkassBall: Barry really grabs it around Ralph ([[{{Jerkass}} not to say Ralph is really any better]]) -- mainly because as the Flash he's broken many rules in the name of saving people; he's unsure if getting Ralph kicked off the force for planting evidence on guy who was probably guilty was the right thing to do, so he wants Ralph to be the "bad guy" to justify his actions.

* AllLovingHero: Team Flash, especially Barry, may not be shy about their disdain towards Ralph, but even so they are willing to give him a chance, and Barry even admits their may very well be a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold good man under Ralph's hard exterior]], offering to train him as a superhero.

-->'''Ralph''': Okay, I literally have to change my drawers!

* BlackComedy: Gypsy's dad trying to kill Cisco; he does this with all of her boyfriends.

* DirtyCop: The two cops assigned to Mayor Bellows' detail are his guns-for-hire now. They see nothing wrong with offing fellow cops for asking questions.

* FanService: During her makeout session with Cisco, Gypsy is clearly wearing a shirt, and nothing else.

* JumpedAtTheCall: Ralph is more than happy to become a member of Team Flash.

* AmbiguousSituation: Due to a lack of hard evidence, it was never determined whether the man whose wife was stabbed to death five years earlier was the perpetrator or not. Barry even admits that even though he was responsible for getting the guy off after proving Ralph faked evidence he wasn't sure the man was innocent.

* AssholeVictim: It's kind of hard not to agree with Barry about Ralph, with his history of tampering evidence, lecherous tendencies, admission to blackmail and general unpleasantness, at least [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold at first.]]

* ToiletHumor: Balanced out with the BodyHorror he's been experiencing, Ralph mentions to Caitlin he recently farted, and has a legitimate reason to worry if his ass is still in tact.

* JerkassBall: Barry really grabs it around Ralph (not to say Ralph is really any better) -- mainly because as the Flash he's broken many rules in the name of saving people; he's unsure if getting Ralph kicked off the force for planting evidence on guy who was probably guilty was the right thing to do, so he wants Ralph to be the "bad guy" to justify his actions.

* RightHandVersusLeftHand: Barry and Ralph both really wanted to solve that murder, but their ideals clashed with one another.

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: As Barry and Joe are walking away from Ralph's office, complaining about him not having changed a bit, we see Ralph stretching, while being held by his legs off the roof. So, clearly, he ''has'' changed, at least in this respect.

* RightHandVersusLeftHand: Barry and Ralph both really wanted to solve that murder, but their ideals really clashed with one another.

* ThatOneCase: The root of the Allen-Dibny rivalry: a murder that is not unlike the Nora Allen case, and Barry proved that Ralph planted false evidence to implicate the primary suspect. Ralph sincerely believes the guy is guilty, but it's [[TheUnreveal never]] spelled out if he was actually in the right.

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: Ralph and Barry's problem stems from this. Ralph planted evidence to convict someone he strongly believed was guilty. While a noble sentiment, Barry is right to point out that this is illegal, and no matter how convinced Ralph was, there was still no legitimate proof the guy actually had done the crime.