TV Review: The Flash (1×12) “Crazy For You”

A whole lot of things were going on in tonight’s episode of The Flash. Barry had a reunion with his dad (kind of), met a potential love interest, and helped Iris with her next news story. Caitlin and Barry went out to be young and fun by getting drunk and participating in karaoke which made me promptly mute my television. They hinted at Caitlin liking Barry while they gave Hartley more screen time before he went all Pied Piper and disappeared with Cisco putting up a valiant fight. Then there was the whole ordeal with the meta-human Peek-A-Boo who could teleport ala “Beam me up Scotty” style.

Gorilla Grodd even made a guest appearance.

A lot happened and, much to my surprise, it worked. This is largely due to how well this world is beginning to flesh itself out as the characters grow more and more familiar.

There was so a lot of character building happening this episode that is was almost a disservice to a truly deserving meta-human. Count this as my favorite introduction of a villain of the week thus far. Peek-a-Boo (Britne Oldford) had a wonderful energy that made me want to see more of her. She was charismatic and put up a good fight against The Flash, but she never seemed one note. Also, the CGI was executed tremendously this week with her particular transportation tactics allowing for some fun and deftly shot fight choreography. I enjoyed getting to see more of Hartley this week, but if I had to have a pick for another recurring meta-human she’d be at the top.

A major part of the storyline this week is determined to point out how our troupe of heroes has been shifting the majority of their focus onto their work. Cisco makes a point to tell Caitlin that she can keep saying she’s moving on from Ronnie but she’s yet to do anything about it. Barry catches himself once again willing to drop everything to help Iris and finally, fed up with his main social life taking place in front of Netflix (no judgment), he convinces Caitlin that the two of them should hit up a bar-even if it’s under the guise of some investigative work.

Caitlin doesn’t frequent bars often and gets carried away, drinking too much too fast. This of course (and I say of course because of my crippling secondhand embarrassment) leads to karaoke which seems like a pretty shameless way to showoff Grant Gustin’s singing abilities. I very promptly hit mute, but as far as I can tell it ended up being a brief and cute scene and one that leads to Barry meeting Linda Park (Malese Jow).

Ignoring the odd fissure in continuity the writers have just caused by having a primary love interest for Wally West fall for Barry, I’m just glad that Barry will have a love interest that will take him away from pining over Iris. Now if this could also help stop the writers from drawing up scenes that leave Caitlin harboring a crush on Barry, that would be even better. I can see the show wanting to emulate the Arrow style, but the difference is clear: Felicity Smoak was a fan favorite and Caitlin Snow is still very obviously the least interesting character on the show. She was, however, likeable in this week’s episode which is a welcomed change.

It’s a nice surprise to be able to say that Cisco was the surprise MVP of this week’s episode. I wasn’t entirely sold on his character at the start of the season but he’s quickly risen into one of my favorites and one of the most consistently good characters on the show. He and Hartley also made a dynamic duo even if we all knew that Hartley was going to end up getting away by the end. It was nice to see Cisco put up such a capable fight during Hartley’s first escape attempt, though-mildly jarring, but I’m going to just go with it because it was fun if not mildly ridiculous.

Barry’s dad also gets a bit more screentime this week and also lands himself in a bit of trouble with other inmates, which ends with him being stabbed. Barry ends the episode at his bed side as his dad says without saying that he knows he’s the Flash. Like most of their scenes it was sweet and touching but it also worried me instantly, particularly his line about the Flash knowing his father is proud of him. Those are some self-damning words in the television world, don’t you think? My gut feeling is that season one can’t end with all of Barry’s father figures in good health and every time that Joe does something reckless or Barry’s dad has some words of wisdom to pass on I cringe while also fall a little more for these characters. They’re bring written to be such good people that for the sake of how these stories typically go I can’t see them both making it.

More of a filler than other episodes and spread a little thin the episode is undoubtedly a fun one. The biggest and most shocking reveal happens in the last few minutes though: Gorilla Grodd is in the sewers and he looks amazing and physically daunting. After seeing the CGI mess of a gorilla on The 100 last week I was a little worried that the budget for The CW just wouldn’t be able to support such a venture, but boy does Grodd looks cool thus far. It may have benefitted from the shadows hiding the intricacies but so far there is an imposing nature to him that I can’t wait to see more of.

What are your thoughts on all of the new developments in this week’s episode “Crazy For You”?

7/10