Recap: The Flash 01×12 Crazy For You
Each week Panelteers Chris and Ali sit down and chat about the CW’s newest superhero series, The Flash! So join us for a round of karaoke at Central City’s biggest and cleanest dive bar. Oh, and there will be spoilers, sweeties.
Ali: I’m cutting straight to the chase. We need to talk about karaoke. And how we get singing Barry. AND how we get Victor Garber but no singing from him. I feel like they may be toying with us, Chris. The know we want the singing and dancing, but they’re never going to go full-out musical.
Chris: I’m surprised it took this long for them to start teasing us. We can’t be the only ones waiting on a full-on musical episode, right? There’s a TON of vocal talent on this show. I mean, Cisco’s got a whole album, doesn’t he?
Ali: Something like that. I mean, up until this point, Grant Gustin was most well-known for his part on Glee. So we all know he can sing. And I think there probably is a good part of the audience who wants to see him sing. Plus Jesse L. Martin, who will always be Tom Collins, and now Victor Garber who is a wonderful Broadway regular. There is SO MUCH vocal power in this cast. We deserve a musical dammit!
“I’ll do it on the night.”
Chris: I know Brave and the Bold did the Music Meister already, but it’s just sitting there begging to be used as an excuse to get everyone singing. We’ll circle back around to Karaoke night later because this week it was all about the people of Central City (even if there were metahuman shenanigans going on.)
Ali: I totally agree. And singing aside, the karaoke scene was my favorite of the episode. There’s a lot of interesting relationship stuff going on in this episode. I love the way Barry and Caitlin interact. It feels like they’re going to keep this a solid friendship without romance which I like. They have a similar problem and they’re supporting each other through it. And I really dig that.
Chris: Even though this was another Monster of the Week episode, it really does feel like the focus of the episode was on everything else that we’ve got going on. A lot of checking in on relationships and refining elements of them while finding new things to play with. I didn’t think I wanted scenes that were just Caitlin and Barry, but I enjoyed pretty much everything about their little misadventure.
Ali: Also drunk Caitlin is amazing. I think she hit every cliche in the book, right down to the hangover.
“This is what death will feel like when it comes for me.”
Chris: I really enjoyed how hard she was trying to really cheer Barry up and get his mind off of things. Also, props for really steering into the skid on the Karaoke thing, Dr. Snow. They really committed to making this episode a mini version of The Hangover. You’re not exaggerating anything. So let’s do the rundown and probably overshare about our own nights of debauchery. (Because that’s just what we do here.)
“Let’s DO THIS!”
Ali: I love that this is basically Caitlin trying to be “a normal person” in their 20s, and she doesn’t quite know how to do it so she overcompensates. She gets super dressed-up, drinks too much, tries too hard. I had a lot of early 20s Ali flashbacks. Karaoke at the dive(ish) bar included. I kind of love that we got to see it.
Chris: Hold up! Is this what it’s like to hang out with Drunk Ali? I really gotta get out to New York one of these days.
“It’s gonna look like a Hype Williams video once we get started.”
Ali: No, that is what it WAS like to hang out with Drunk Ali in her early 20s. I’ve got a much higher tolerance now. And I’m a bit better at singing that Caitlin.
Pictured: Not Ali.
Anywho.
Chris: Lotta forward momentum this week on the Barry’s romantic prospects front. You think Caitlin is a legit possibility or is this a Work Wife/Work Husband situation?
Ali: I hope it’s just Work Spouses. Because what I hate most about Arrow is they made Felicity fall for Oliver. I don’t want to see that happen here. Also, I like Linda! I think she could be fun. That said, the way things played out in that scene at the paper, I think Barry may be jumping in for the wrong reasons.
Chris: Felicity is too good for Oliver, anyway. I’m interested in anything or anyone that gets us away from the Barry/Iris angle that we’ve spent a lot of e-ink discussing. I don’t think you’re wrong about that scene, though. Barry just thinking “oooh, pretty girl” is a lot more believable than what we got.
Ali: It just kinda felt like he was flaunting Linda in front of Iris. Like, he didn’t need to meet Linda at her office (also who does that on a first date?!). He did it so Iris could see him with someone else. Which feels a bit gross. But I’m willing to see where it goes.
This is Iris’ “Barry’s Being A Jerk” Face.
Chris: When you put it like that, I almost like it a little more. Barry’s never had a relationship (we think) and this is him being just awful at it. “Oh, I gotta go show you off to my crush.” I don’t have to agree with a character’s actions to find them worth showing. Regardless of motivation or justification, Barry was a dick. SPEAKING OF DICKS! Hartley is just the worst. And needs to stop tearing things out of his ears.
Ali: Ugh, I know! The ear thing is SO GROSS. I get the heebee-geebees just thinking about it. As much as I hate Hartley, I love hating Hartley. He’s a great villain and I love the way he and Cisco interact.
Chris: I wasn’t here last week, so I just wanted to say that Cisco has went from the least interesting person on the show to my absolute favorite character. I could watch him sass super villains all day.
Ali: Last week was such a great Cisco episode. I love him so much. What did we think of our villain of the week? I really loved the teleporter versus speedster fights. They’re powers that really complement each other in a fight like this. Visually it was really fun to watch. And I think Barry and Shawna had some of the best hero-villain banter we’ve seen since Cold.
Chris: I was so caught up in the relationship stuff that the villain of the week landed pretty flat with me. I can say that I like that we saw Shawna’s life outside of being a metahuman and that they had a lot of fun with her powers. Caitlin’s triumphant moment of getting to name a metahuman was a highlight of this episode.
Like A Boss
Ali: True that! Lightning Round?
Chris: Let’s do this.
Ali: GRODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chris: I lost my damn mind, Ali! Lost it. My dog freaked out because I started cackling that loudly.
Ali: The Wonder Cat was also startled by my reaction. I may have been jumping on the couch. But seriously. Grodd. Being all creepy and Grodd-like. I love that we haven’t really seen him yet, just glimpses. I am so freaking excited.
Chris: I just really wanna see a Go Fast Man punch a Super Gorilla. I don’t think that’s too much to ask. I am not difficult to please. (Everyone reading this column, it’s time to start shaking your head.)
Ali: Gorillas and musicals.
Chris: I gotta point out how GREAT that bullet moment was. It looked great. It actually surprised me. It felt dangerous.
Ali: So good! And I loved the “I guess I’m faster than a speeding bullet” line when Barry was getting patched up. Also they’re really doing two-person FIRESTORM!
Close call.
Chris: Hell yeah they are! Just diving straight into comic-booky goodness. Best line of the night? “How can you speak six languages and sound like a dick in every one of them?” I think Cisco and I would get along just fine.
Ali: Back off, Chris. Cisco is mine! I already put hearts all over a picture of him. You can have Barry…. on Fridays and weekends.
Chris: Ali, you can’t call Dibs when I’m not around. That’s just not how it works.
Ali: Fiiiiine. We can share.
