On Thawne's advice, Nora decides to nudge Sherloque into finding love on Earth-1 to get him off her trail. Meanwhile, Barry and Ralph make a dangerous journey into Central City's weapons black market run by the mysterious Goldface to get a weapon that can immobilize Cicada long enough to give him the cure. Meanwhile Iris decides to interview Orlin's old boss to find out where he might be hiding.
- Alliance of Alternates: Sherloque's exes. And they're all well-acquainted even before Nora gathers them together.
- Alone with the Psycho: Iris for most of the episode.
- Attack Its Weak Point: Iris stabbed Dwyer where his shard is located with a pen, in the wound previously described as not healing and getting worse.
- Berserk Button: One way to enrage Cicada is to destroy his niece's dollhouse.
- Bittersweet Ending: In the end Ralph and Barry don't get the weapon they wanted, but they did take down one of Central City's most wanted criminals.
- Body Horror: Goldface revealing his golden skull underneath the skin is...not a pretty sight.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: Goldface really should have blown up Barry's and Ralph's arms instead of trying to beat them to death personally.
- Bookends: At the beginning and at the end, Nora is spying Sherloque investigating someone in his computer. The first time, Sherloque is trying to find who is manipulating Nora, and in the second time, he is studying Cicada. This is to show that Thawne was successful to distract Sherloque from finding the truth about Nora.
- Both Sides Have a Point: Barry is initially very opposed to making a deal with a crimelord to get a weapon against Cicada, while Ralph points out that for some causes, it's worth getting your hands dirty. (He doesn't help his case by saying "the ends justify the means", which they famously don't; might've been better to go with "lesser of two evils".)
- Boulder Bludgeon: While the depowered Ralph and Barry have to fight off Goldface's gang, Barry tries to toss Ralph a brick to use as a weapon, and ends up hitting one of the criminals instead, knocking him out.
- Brought Down to Badass: Barry and Ralph can’t use their powers courtesy of wearing power-dampeners forced on them by Goldface. However, they prove to be fully effective fighters even without their powers, managing to take down Goldface and his whole gang by themselves.
- Brutal Honesty: One of Sherloque's ex-wives tells him not everyone's meant for a relationship.
- The Bus Came Back: Ralph's friend Earl Cox returns, giving them information on Goldface's black market.
- Call-Back: Sherloque's ex-wives mention him passing an alimony check to the ex-wife on Earth-38 via Superman.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Goldface proudly proclaims himself to be "scum" (when talking about scum being always able to detect other people who are scum).
- Celebrity Paradox: Ralph mentions Red Dead Redemption as the source of his gunslinger skills. In the series' first installment, Josh Segarra (Adrian Chase on Arrow) provides the voice of Abraham Reyes.
- Chekhov's Gun: After Barry escapes the confinement Ralph put him in, he throws his Toastmastee gun into a nearby dumpster. After subduing Goldface's mooks and face-to-face with Goldface himself, Barry takes the discarded gun to provide a distraction.
- The Chessmaster: In case you forgot how good Eobard was at orchestrating events, he has Nora arrange a Meet Cute situation between Sherloque and Renee so Sherloque will be off their trail.
- Chrome Champion: Goldface turns out to have gold under his skin, which he can bring to the surface.
- Continuity Nod: Sherloque having Superman deliver money to the Earth-38 version of Renee during Elseworlds is brought up.
- Deadly Dodging: Goldface is ultimately taken out when Barry manages to dodge his chain at just the right moment...when he was standing in front of a generator.
- Don't Think, Feel: Nora's advice on romance to Sherloque basically amounts to telling him to stop treating love like a mystery to be solved and instead an experience to be lived.
- The Dreaded: Orlin's boss is terrified when Iris reveals that she is gathering information on him and initially refuses to answer her questions.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Mocked by Goldface. He would not steal the organ producing 3D Printer from a hospital - he'll do it before it goes there!
- Eye Scream: Goldface bleeds gold from the eyes after Barry tricks him into electrocuting himself. He still survives somehow.
- Foreshadowing: Thawne mentioning "infinite earths".
- Gold Digger: All versions of Renee Adler (except the Earth-1 version apparently) to varying degrees.
- Has a Type: In possibly the most extreme example ever, all of Sherloque's ex-wives (and his new love interest on Earth-1) are all doppelgängers of the same woman.
- The Heist: Barry and Ralph are forced to participate in one for Goldface. He wants a new 3D Printer that can produce artificial organs in exchange for the Neuro Stasis Field Generator against Cicada.
- I Know Mortal Kombat: Ralph credits Red Dead Redemption for his gun expertise.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: At one point during the shootout, Barry and Ralph are surrounded by Goldface's goons without any cover and yet still nobody of them manages to hit the pair.
- Intrepid Reporter: In order to drum up interest in her paper, Iris decides to go after Cicada.
- Logical Weakness: Gold conducts electricity.
- Manipulative Bastard: Thawne advises Nora to go for Sherloque's weak point to throw him off - which she does, by introducing him to Earth-1's version of Renee Adler.
- Meet Cute: Engineered between Sherloque and Renee by Nora on Thawne's advice.
- The Missus and the Ex: Sherloque's ex-wives are all doppelgangers of Renee Adler and they all keep in touch with each other.
- Mundane Utility: While Iris is busy working, Barry uses his speed to help set up her office, specifically moving furniture.
- Mythology Gag:
- Ralph refers to himself and Barry as the Dynamic Duo.
- The Toastmaster guns originated in a Superman comic; they were invented by John Henry Irons as part of his backstory before becoming Steel.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- Barry inadvertently pings Goldface's radar when he tries to buy an entire stock of illegal guns that can pierce police body armor. On the spot he creates an impressive persona of an expert criminal. So good that Goldface wants him on his next job.
- Played for laughs when Nora contacts Sherloque's exes so they can give him dating advice. Now they know what Earth he's living on and if he doesn't pay up on his back alimony they're going to send Breacher after him.
- No Social Skills: Sherloque, who doesn't think one second that bragging with his Sherlock Scan might scare Renee away. Apparently, he also thought it was a good idea to release Fruit Bats during one of his weddings and he also gave one version of Renee a puppy, despite her allergy to dogs.
- Oh, Crap!: Sherloque's reaction when the Renees reveal if he doesn't pay them their alimony they're going to send Breacher after him.
- Sherloque's reaction when he deduces Earth-1's Renee Adler is a meta...because it'll inevitably mean that Cicada will hunt her down and kill her. And he won't let that happen.
- Out of Focus: Caitlin only shows up at the beginning and end, sitting out the episode's A, B, and C plots.
- Out-of-Genre Experience: Barry and Ralph having their powers blocked results in a story much more like an Arrow episode, culminating in a gun battle scored with "Dragula".
- Papa Wolf: Thawne predicts Barry will react as such if he finds out about his deal with Nora.
- Plot Parallel: While the A-Plot serves to show Barry that the Team does not need to constantly rely on powers to take down Cicada, after he and Ralph manage to take down Goldface without any powers, the B-plot shows just how true this is in action: Iris, who doesn't have any super-powers, finds Cicada's whereabouts through her skills as an investigative reporter and subsequently subdues Cicada, using her pen. Furthermore, in a neat visual parallel, Barry's showdown against Goldface directly parallels Iris's altercation with Cicada.
- Remember the New Guy?: Goldface has apparently been a notorious crime lord in Central City for quite some time, and Amunet's ex-boyfriend to boot.
- The Reveal: All of Sherloque's ex-wives are doppelgäangers of Renee Adler from across the multiverse.
- Screams Like a Little Girl: Ralph and Barry when they fall through the secret entrance of Goldface's lair.
- Series Continuity Error: Snow and Frost seem perfectly happy helping find a way to restrain Cicada and forcibly de-power him, despite insisting just two or three episodes ago that the meta cure would never be used on anyone unwilling. Though they probably changed their minds with Cicada, since he's too dangerous with his powers.
- Shipper with an Agenda: Nora initially tries to get Sherloque into dating as a means to get him off her trail. When things go south and her attempts to fix things ends up making him feel upset, she apologizes and makes a genuine attempt to help him with Renee.
- Shout-Out Theme Naming: In keeping with the Sherlock Holmes references, the love interest of Sherloque is named Renee Adler, a nod to Irene Adler and the shipping between her and Sherlock done by fans.
- Spotting the Thread:
- One of the black market dealers is getting distrustful when Barry keeps asking if he can have his whole stock of weapons.
- Orlin realizes that Iris broke in when she picks up her purse which she wasn’t holding when he first saw her in his home.
- Stalker with a Crush: Renee initially views Sherloque as one.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- Sherloque's Sherlock Scan freaks out Renee and she assumes he's been stalking her.
- Starting her own paper is a nice idea - but attracting readers is not so easy, as Iris quickly finds out.
- Acting as suspiciously as Barry did during the black market scene was bound to draw attention.
- 10-Minute Retirement: Apparently, Breacher got bored with retirement and now makes money tracking down alimony dodgers.
- Third Line, Some Waiting: Three storylines occur throughout this episode:
- Barry and Ralph trying to get a weapon from Goldface.
- Iris interviewing Cicada.
- Nora helping Sherloque with his romance issues.
- Toilet Humour: Sherloque proves his Sherlock Scan towards Renee on a guy with dairy allergy, who can't resist a milk latte and whose farts drive away a nearby woman.
- Took a Level in Badass:
- The typically Bad Liar Barry has apparently learned how to lie pretty convincingly, when he sells himself to be a criminal named "The Chemist".
- Thanks to Red Dead Redemption, Ralph is exceptionally good at shooting.
- Un-person: Invoked. Barry claims that his criminal persona, The Chemist, is "nobody" as far as the CCPD is concerned.
