LiveBlog: The Flash 1.12 • "Crazy for You"

[lordyellowtail]

Another great episode tonight, though it had a few more weak spots than last week's--in particular an interesting but unfortunately not-as-compelling-as-she-should-be villain.

I enjoyed doing the liveblog enough last week on Wednesday with my Hulu that I thought I'd try it again tonight live; that was a bit of a mistake. It was much harder to pay attention to what was going on when I couldn't pause the show to write, and since I wanted to pay attention to what I was watching I didn't write as much.

So in future I'm gonna stick to liveblogging on Wednesday nights, which means I won't be able to watch on Tuesdays. Which means avoiding Flash-oriented Twitter for a day, but that's beside the point.

Tonight I'm doing something a little different. The usual corrections for grammar and syntax won't be noted, but anything in bold I'm putting in after the fact to expand/clarify a point. Otherwise, I think some of my observations might be misconstrued.

Standard Disclaimer: All the Spoilers, All the Time

Okay, here we go. Pre-ep recap running now...

“Thank you, Flash."

I want to see more scenes like this. Flash is on good terms with Emergency Services, using his powers to fight accidents and disasters and not just villains, and he’s just as deeply devoted to that as he is to fisticuffs. It’s wonderful.

 

“…Our suit."

Cisco and Barry treat the suit like co-parents. Or at the very least, co-pet owners. It’s sort of adorable. I’m feeling bad already thinking about the possibility of Barry learning to summon a suit directly from the Speed Force. Though I'm honestly not sure if the show is willing to get that, for lack of a better word, comic-booky. It's already pretty out there by acknowledging the Speed Force, so it could actually go either way.

Hi, Dr Allen! Great to see him reunited with Barry for a few minutes. Barry and Joe’s relationship is amazing and I love it, but Barry’s relationship with his dad is just so genuine. I love it just as much. It also brings up the issue of Joe and Henry Allen in competition for Barry's affection/role as his father. Barry's obviously found a way to put them both in their own different-yet-equally-important Dad Boxes, but that doesn't mean there's not some jockeying for position between them.

 

Okay. So I am unfamiliar with a Flash Villian who’s a female Nightcrawler.

(This is actually a very altered version of Lashawn Baez, a comic book character I had never heard of. She's a really tragic figure in the comics, but pretty much all of that is scrapped on the show...probably because it is a whole plot arc that could not have been well done in 44 minutes, especially while leaving room for the considerable B-plot in this episode with Cisco and Hartley. Even Wells has only one or two lines in the whole thing and is otherwise absent. This is a packed episode. The unfortunate side effect, though, is that this version of Lawshawn Baez is one of the least interesting villains we've seen so far. Her motives and plot arc are so very meh compared to everything going on around her, but I think that might actually be the point. She's just sort of pathetic in the end. Sympathetic to a degree, but still little more than a victim of circumstances she purposefully brought on herself. Worse, she refuses to abandon the bad influences and circumstances that bring her to her nadir when given the chance, and isn't even defiant about it. She herself is just so blasé about it. I'm really starting to think this was deliberate on the writers' part. Not every bad guy is going to be compelling. Some of them are just going to be sad.)

I like her already. (See how my opinion did a 180 by the end of the episode? First time that's happened to this degree.) Petty misdemeanors don’t make you evil. Breaking your boyfriend out of prison makes you a genuine serious criminal, and in love, and a bit of an idiot. Er, naive, I suppose. I’m sensing low-grade Joker/Harley Quinn vibes, but this woman doesn’t have the excuse of being literally brainwashed by one of the world’s premiere psychotic mass murderers. (I wonder if I would have ended up liking her more in the end if I had known who she was based on and thus not subconsciously compared her disfavorably to one of my favorite characters and the iconic Joker/Harley abusive relationship.)

 

I’m *really* liking Cisco more and more each week. His character is really gaining some gravitas and depth. He’s still the team joker, but he’s got a genuine “Let’s Get Dangerous” mode that I love and that I can definitely take seriously. It also feels like it meshes naturally with the rest of his character, which is a real testament to how well the show is written. I can easily imagine this Cisco Ramon becoming Vibe.

In fact, given Hartley's sonic-weapon based powers in this continuity, I'm wondering if Cisco won't eventually become Vibe to beat Hartley at his own game. They're like the opposite of Science Bros. Do we have a meme phrase for that?

Hartley Rathaway is … marginally less of a jerk this week? He's still evil and quasi-sociopathic, but I can watch him for more than 30 seconds without wanting to hit him in the face.

 

Don’t. Screw. With. Cisco. You’ll have a surprisingly well choreographed bad time. And let's not forget he’s apparently a designer of terrible weaponry. … Just, wow. (Seriously, Cisco is really good at designing weapons that are incredibly lethal and probably violate the Geneva Convention.)
 

Oh, Caitlin, Barry. By not having social lives together, you have social lives. And are adorable. Show, stop making me ship them if I’m not supposed to ship them.

 

…Barry is becoming hellaciously, indescribably fast. As in, this version of him is well on the way to achieving everything his comic counterpart can do. I’m pretty sure he can already run rings around JLU Wally West, who can’t seem to control himself at godlike speeds. Barry can…to a degree. And the show’s special efects manage to make this actually look believable. It really sells the illusion of super-speed in a variety of different ways, far more than simple Bullet Time. Impressive writing and plot arc, and magnificent special effects.

 

Caitlin should name more supervillains. ”Peekaboo!" And she was so delighted with herself about it. I think that was my favorite part. They are all such dorks. ALL OF THEM.

 

And now Barry and Caitlin are fake dating to search for a super villain … and real dates. And “Bar Hopping with Caitlin” would be a hilarious reality show, apparently.

 

…And this is why you don’t release the super-genius from your secret illegal prison. On the plus side, you’ve got one less person in your secret illegal prison. I can’t really feel too bad about that.

 

I’ve read Drunk!Caitlin!is!Hilarious Fic. Canon is *way better.* She can’t sing, though.
“I’m not even sure that was mine."

“Hey, Barry. I don’t feel good.”

…Aw, now Drunk!Caitlin is making me sad.

 

And, huh. Linda Park is sort of amazing. I can best describe her as a mellow genki girl, which is sort of an oxymoron, but it works for her, somehow. I’m still not sure I want to ship her with Barry, though. They’ve managed to actually get me invested in Caitlin/Barry. It’s not even subtext. It’s text-text, with subtext garnish.

 

I love that Central City PD is actually really competent when up against regular criminals (and several low- to mid-grade metas). You wonder how they found the gangster's hideout, but that reveal actually plays into a bigger plotline, later. Again, great writing.

 

OH MY GOD. CAITLIN AND BARRY ARE BASICALLY CANON ALREADY, BECAUSE SHE’S NOT THE TYPE TO FLIRT THAT WAY IF SHE DOESN’T REALLY MEAN IT, EVEN IF SHE’S DRUNK. WTF SHOW WHY ARE YOU SHIPPING THEM WITH PEOPLE WHO AREN’T EACH OTHER—

 

I breathed into a paper bag. I’m better now.

 

…And she can’t remember any of it except the terrible singing. …This isn’t over, show. I will not be denied when you dangle adorable geek romance in my face and then snatch it away for cheap laughs.

 

Henry Allen doesn’t quite have the skills to be a successful prison narc, unfortunately. Love Barry’s completely shocked/disbelieving reaction. Someone who thinks at super-speed mentally *clocked out* for a few seconds, there. I also love the reveal that Joe and Henry are working together to fight crime behind Barry's back, and Henry's excellent retort when Barry tries to upbraid his father for this since it led to him getting hurt. It's a masterful way of teaching Barry he can't save everyone or fight every fight himself, and he's wrong to try to do so, and it's done in such an understated way you don't even realize that's what's happening until afterwards because watching the character relationships develop in front of you is so compelling. I love this show.

 

Okay. Barry’s got a pretty good interrogation technique. He might have gone over the edge at the end, there, but all things considered it was probably justified given what the guy he was questioning had done. This is a good moment of moral ambiguity, as compared tp the horrible moral ambiguity presented by the secret illegal prison THAT NO ONE IS OBJECTING TO.

 

In all seriousness, I love Evil Lady Nightcrawler’s fights with Barry, and the way he won their last one. Oddly enough, since she can teleport a the speed of thought, she’s thus far one of the most dangerous villains he’s fought. Very interesting. And hilarious, given her codename.

 

This might be a good time to link to the Faces of Joe West Blog.

 

Barry continues to impress with the mundane usage of his powers, even in a fight.

 

And now we’ve got our first woman in the secret illegal prison. So that’s an … achievement unlocked, I guess? I’d feel more sympathy for Evil Female Nightcrawler, but she’s basically a watered down version of Harley Quinn without the sympathy-inducing brainwashing and amazing, unique, crazy awesome, lovable personality. Also, she comes off as a bit dim. “Why won’t you leave us alone?” Because you’re murderous criminals, perhaps? (Like I said above, if I knew who this character was supposed to be I probably wouldn't have kept mentally comparing her to Harley. My bad. Still, I maintain she's not nearly so compelling as her comic counterpart, and that's a shame.)

 

BARRY YOU IDIOT DOES CAITLIN NEED TO WEAR A GLOWING NEON SIGN?! And now Iris is jealous of Barry’s thing with Linda and Caitlin has declared very deliberately to Barry that she’s moved on while staring soulfully at him, and he awkwardly got himself out of it and she looked … pleased by the whole encounter. And she’s entirely disconnected from and unaware of the apparently ensuing drama between Iris and Linda over Barry. I think we’re moving beyond ship teasing. Which makes sense because Caitlin comes off as more mature (but still adorkable) than either of them.

 

WHY MUST YOU TOY WITH MY EMOTIONS, SHOW?

 

And we’re finally being shown Iris’s actual, growing skill as a reporter. A reporter who got the first clear photo of the Flash without him even realizing it. With a camera phone. In an alley. Next to a box of scraps! Now that she's disconnected from the one-way UST plot with Barry, she's being allowed to really start to develop her personality and an independent identity beyond unrequited love interest. it's a shame that it's taken this long, but I'm really liking what I'm seeing so far. I still don't want her with Barry given the other options, especially since it seems like she's becoming a stronger, more capable, more interesting character by being away from his crush. And by letting her go, Barry too is growing as a character in great ways. They're both moving on, as friends, and it's wonderful. It's also made me realize that Clark and Lana's failure to be able to ever really manage this was why I couldn't stand her on Smallville.
 

“Lucky Joe.” Henry’s not bitter, really. And he’s not stupid, either. This is an absolute must watch scene both for the overall arc and Barry's relationship with Henry. And this is the best ending yet—and wait, stinger.

 

Whoa. Hello, Grodd. You're just as terrifying as I'd hoped you would be.

PS: I don't have much to say about the Firestorm plot because while it's really well done, it's not really a surprise w/r/t the revelation about Ronnie's fate if you've already read the comics. The real treat for me in that subplot was Cisco's interactions with Hartley. It was like watching Superman and Lex Luthor working together in terms of tone, if not scope.