Flash/Supergirl Crossover in season 3 episode 17 Duet
The Flash has been something of a slog lately, the sharp edge of the story's mystery and action dulled by enough melodrama and angst to kill a giant, sentient gorilla.
Indeed, even the war against Grodd and his gorilla army from Earth 2.0 fell far flatter than it should have given the subject matter.
Thankfully, all that changed in last night's musical crossover with Supergirl, 'Duet.'
Last night was The Flash at its very best, tossing the larger plot out the window for a moment, along with all the emotional baggage dragging the season down, and offering up a surprisingly fun musical. All the actors seemed to be having a blast, and that energy translated into one of the best episodes of the season.
When an alien escapes from custody on Supergirl's world, putting her into a mysterious coma, she's brought to Barry's Earth. The mysterious alien seems to know everything about everyone, and have powers that can stop even the most powerful speedster.
He puts Barry into the same coma, and both he and Kara are trapped inside...a musical.
What follows is charming and funny and absolutely what the show needed at this point. In fact, I'd argue that The Flash needs a lot more lighthearted material, simply because it just shines so much brighter when characters like Cisco are allowed to be witty and fun rather than moody and angst-ridden. Then, when tragedy or horror does strike, we feel it all the more because that bright light is snuffed out.
In any case, it was lovely to see many of the characters/actors in totally different (and often singing) roles. Joe West and Professor Stein were a gay couple and also mob bosses, and they croon out a lovely duet (“More I Cannot Wish You” from Guys and Dolls.) We already knew Jesse Martin had a great singing voice, now we know that quite a few of the other cast members do, too.
I loved the 'super friends' number in particular, which had some great references to Barry's bad time-traveling habits and Kara's "more famous cousin."
In the end, Barry and Kara almost die in a battle between mob bosses over star-crossed lovers (Iris and Monel's doppelgangers in this world) but they're saved by the power of true love. Turns out everything really is easier in a musical.
Stein and West are a gay mobster couple and sing a lovely duet in last night's 'The Flash.'
The whole thing, we discover, is just a moral lesson for Barry and Kara (and their respective partners, Iris and Mon-El) on the importance of love, and specifically how love is about letting other people save you---not just the other way around.
A tough lesson for superheroes, perhaps, but an important one.
The strange alien, or 'Music Mesiter' as Barry dubs him (which is a dumb name, since he says that they could have been trapped in any kind of movie, not just a musical) isn't a villain after all, he's more of a Cupid, or an angel, or a deity. Either way, both pairs of feuding lovers are reunited by the end of the episode and everyone is happy...for now.
Overall, a wonderful, cheesy episode that The Flash pulled off beautifully. I really only have a couple complaints.
For instance, I wish the premise of Barry and Iris's split had been more believable heading into this episode. It was kind of silly for Wally and Iris to get so upset that Barry proposed to Iris in order to save her. He was trying to change the future and save her life precisely because he loves her to begin with, so getting all huffy and calling off the wedding (and possibly dooming herself to death-by-Savitar) was a weird choice on Iris's part. Wally not realizing that the whole thing was done to protect his sister and maybe, just maybe, he should play along is also bizarre. More of CW's melodrama than anything. What's The Flash without stupid melodrama, after all?
But even worse was Barry saying he needed space from Iris and moving in with Cisco. I mean...Iris could be dead within weeks and Barry thinks the best way to spend that time is by separating? This is how you treat someone you love when you have knowledge of the future---a future in which Iris is killed? That's unbelievably cold and deeply out of character, and I'm just irritated to no end by the writers pulling these kind of stupid tricks, even if it was to set up this lovely little musical episode.
I'm also a little stunned that Tom Cavanagh, who already plays several versions of Harrison Wells, didn't get an alter-ego in the musical world. I want 1930s mobster Wells! What a huge missed opportunity!
Finally, it's more than a little distracting that Barry and Kara have such better chemistry than Barry and Iris. They simply glow around one another. It reminds me of the chemistry between Ray and Felicity, which was always so much better than between Felicity and Oliver. I guess them's the breaks and we'll never get Barry and Kara as an item, anymore than we'll get Ray and Felicity or Oliver and Sara Lance, but it's hard not to notice how good the two are together, not just as "super friends" but as a potential item.
Oh well.
What did you think of 'Duet?'
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