Joe West quotes from The Flash

Ralph Dibny

[holding the bottom half of his head] Oooh. Is that my face?

Joe

Four years seeing this stuff, I finally puked.

Joe

Dibny seem to have gotten under your skin. Why is it so important to you that he be the bad guy?

Barry

When I first started at CCPD, all I cared about was the rules. But, you know, in these last few years, we've locked up metahumans without a trial. Played with time and space. Messed with other worlds.

Joe

Yeah, but what does that have to do with Dibny?

Barry

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?

Joe

"Good people don't destroy lives and call it noble."

Barry

Did I make a mistake back then? Did I cost a good man his life?

Joe

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.

Joe

Why does your female experience include you dancing at The Golden Booty?

Because we live in society that's dictated by the male gaze. I want to control the narrative of feminism, okay? I want to show the world that a powerful, strong woman, she can wear anything! Be it a bikini, or a pantsuit.

Ralph

Or nothing. Feminism.

Cisco

That's not how feminism works.

Barry

What's up with you? All night, you seem preoccupied.

Joe

I'm worried.

Barry

About what?

Joe

Being a dad again. I'm almost fifty, Barr. When I saw that video Cisco made of you and Iris when you were kids, it just... hit me like a ton of bricks. I was... I was young the first time I did this. And after seeing Joanie... [groans] It's hard raising humans, Barr.

Barry

You'll be fine.

Joe

I barely get enough sleep as it is, worrying about you three. Especially with Wally being gone. Add to that a crazy baby schedule. Feeding, crying. I'm honestly scared to death.

Barry

Joe, when you raised Iris, you were alone. When you took me in, you were alone. And, you know, when Wally showed up, you were alone. You did all that by yourself, single parent. No one could've done a better job, no one. Now, you've got a partner. You've got a family. You've always been there for us when we needed you, and now it's just our turn to do that for you. We will.

Joe

[puts his arm around Barry's shoulders] I know you will.

Joe

This is the right thing to do, Ralph. Just open the door. I'll do the rest.

Ralph

Okay. It's a solid plan, Joe. It's subtle, but it's crafty with a touch of pathos. After this, you're gonna sit back and kick up your feet and sleep as sound as a millennial after Burning Man, because you did the right thing. You took down a bad, bad chick.

Joe

Ralph, could you hurry up?

Ralph

And you're gonna ride that feeling like it's Space Mountain. And then, when they catch you and they take your badge and your gun, that self-righteous indignation's gonna keep your chest puffed and your chin up, because you did the right thing. Sure, you're gonna be mad for a few years, but that fades... evolves... turns into self-pity. Two more years, and your life is gonna be a shell of its former self. And then, one night, it's gonna dawn on you that... you did the wrong thing. And it'll ruin everything. Your colleagues won't talk to you, your friends have vanished, and your family? It'll be like... like you were never born. Because you turned into the very thing you swore to protect them from. [uses his powers to unlock the door] Any-hoo.... good luck with that. [walks off]

Joe

[looking up the villain of the week] Sylbert Rundine.

Iris

Why does every villain in this city have a name that sounds like it came out of a comic book?

Joe

This is...

Harry

... ridiculous.

Caitlin

You okay, guys?

Cisco

[high-pitched voice] "Are we doing okay?" "Are we doing okay?" Does it look like we're doing okay? We're two inches tall, Caitlin!

Ralph

[high-pitched voice] Yeah, I'm, like, Cisco-sized now. Is that how you always see the world?

Cisco

Oh, that's really funny, man. I guess your body's just finally shrunk down to a size that's proportional to your brain!

Joe

Flash! Flash! Flash?

Flash

[waking up, but still exhausted] Are we dead?

Joe

No.

Flash

Oh, that's good.

Barry

All right, let's just go over the plan one more time, okay? I'm going to be running ahead of the truck, scouting the route for any signs of trouble.

Iris

Right. I will be at S.T.A.R. Labs tracking any pocket dimension en route.

Caitlin

And I'll be in the truck with Neil monitoring his vitals en route.

Leo

With me at the ready, in case our meta-of-mass-destruction here goes all mushroom cloud. No offense.

Joe

And I'll be driving. And reciting every prayer that Cecile's ever taught me.

Iris

I might join you.

Caitlin

We're gonna miss you, Leo.

Leo

I'll miss you, too, Caitlin. You're quite the badass, you know? Enough to make your alter ego proud.

Caitlin

Thank you.

Leo

Detective West, I know my Earth-1 counterpart gave you a lot of headaches. Hopefully, I've begun to make up for that.

Joe

Man, you prevented a nuke from leveling this city. [shakes Leo's hand] We're good.

Leo

Cisco. I'm really gonna miss that hair.

Cisco

[laughs nervously and touches his hair] Okay.

Leo

Iris West-Allen. Thank you for helping me take down Nazi scum. Again.

Iris

You're welcome. Again.

Leo

And then there was one. I can see why the other Snart turned over a new leaf and joined the good guys. You treat everyone around you with kindness and respect. Just remember to do the same for yourself. Every once in a while.

Barry

Thanks for helping me push through.

Leo

Any time, Barry. [embraces Barry]

Caitlin

We've been attacking this from the wrong direction. We know we need a tech-free projectile to stop DeVoe's satellites. We've been looking for an object, when what we really need is a person: Amunet.

Joe

Amunet Black?

Caitlin

I know she's not the ideal choice. But Amunet's psychic-powered Alico shards are not only deadly powerful, they're completely immune to DeVoe's Kilgore powers.

Barry

Not ideal? I mean, she kidnapped you. She tried to sell me into meta-slavery.

Iris

And she ruined my bachelorette party.

Iris

Yeah, looks like there were thirty-five flights in the air in Central City the night of the particle accelerator explosion.

Joe

Cisco, can you access the flight manifests?

Cisco

Yes, I can. And I can take the crews' credentials–

Barry

Cross-reference them into facial recognition?

Cisco

Can you not read my mind? [Barry stammers an apology.]

Harry

Well, actually, thanks to Ramon and the Council of Harrisons, I may have an idea about why DeVoe has not yet launched his satellites.

Cisco

He put himself in DeVoe's shoes.

Harry

And I thought, well, if I was this ultra-genius moving around in a floating chair, how would I feel?

Joe

You'd feel nothing. You'd be sociopathic.

Harry

Right. But to me, I wouldn't consider myself sociopathic [goes to the whiteboard] when all my actions would be driven by the one thing that I care most about, right? [draws a smiley face added to a sad face]

Barry

So if you're not acting–

Harry

If I'm not acting, then I don't have the one thing that I care most about. [draws a neutral face] My wife.

Joe

We should be able to have our baby just like any other parent. In a hospital on a regular bed, not with... all this. [to Marlize] Hey, look what you've done. To our friend. My son. My daughter. The love of my life. Everybody in this damn city!

Iris

Dad!

Joe

How could you ever think that this would be better for humanity?!

Iris

Dad! What did you say to me when Barry came out of the Speed Force? You said "Strength without faith means nothing." We need to have faith that we can get through this. [looks at Marlize] Together.

Joe

Barr, all the information this girl has on you comes from that museum. There're literally statues of you on pedestals. How much do you think she wants to impress her hero?

Barry

So what do I do?

Joe

Well, show her it's okay not to be perfect coming out of the gate. There's no shortcuts. Takes time to get things right. And that's not a failure. That's life. And also, show her that no matter what, you're always gonna love her. That's what parents do.