The Flash Season 3 Episode 17 Review: Duet

This The Flash episode contains spoilers.

The Flash Season 3 Episode 17

I hate musicals. I never watched Glee. I only thought “Once More With Feeling” was OK. I like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend in theory but haven’t watched since midway through the first season. I fell asleep trying to watch La La Land and the odds of me giving it another chance are directly proportional to whether or not my parents want to watch it when I’m visiting them. Needless to say, I’m not the target audience for “Duet.”

And, I mean, it’s cool if you are. It’s just that despite the countless hours that I, too, spent as a child watching musicals with my parents, it’s the one piece of my childhood that I haven’t clung to like my life (or my job in this case, to be perfectly honest) depends on it.

But holy moley if I didn’t get chills the minute Melissa Benoist started singing “Moon River.” Despite my misgivings, “Duet” was kinda delightful. I’m not always the most patient viewer, and The Flash has work to do as it enters the final lap this year, and I kind of want them to get on with it.

But then again, what the hell else were they going to do? Give us some third rate villain of the week who wouldn’t be half as charming as Darren Criss’ Music Meister? No, I have to admit, “Duet” was the right move, and by the time everything wrapped up, it proved to be the right way to put the ongoing Barry/Iris saga back on track. I could have done without that second original song, though.

Somewhere in the middle of this, they even managed to squeeze in a quick segment of genuine superhero action. Maybe it was the novelty of the frontline team being Martian Manhunter, Vibe, and Kid Flash (an unlikely combo), or the fact that I think it’s the first time we’ve seen real snow in Central City in this show’s entire history, but that was just a great visual. That segment, brief as it was, really popped. I’d also like to point out that the elevated train exterior/street combo outside of Moran’s, and whatever the location was before they found Mon-El and Iris together were far more convincing urban sets than any of the times Legends of Tomorrow has tried to convince us that we’re visiting New York City or Hoboken.

If for some reason the CW ever decides they have too many superhero shows and they need to condense a few of them, I don’t think there’s any doubt that a weekly Flash/Supergirl team-up show would make the entire world very happy, and possibly draw bigger numbers than either of them do individually. Grant Gustin and Melissa Benoist are just impossibly charming on screen together under any circumstances, and Rachel Bloom’s “Super Friend” was, as expected, a highlight.

But for real? You choose a number from Guys and Dolls and it’s that saccharine “More I Cannot Wish For You” song? You couldn’t give me Heat Wave singing “Sit Down, You’re Rocking The Boat” instead? I’m joking, of course, as Victor Garber, Jesse L. Martin, and John Barrowman were the show stealers tonight. As far as I’m concerned, this episode’s title is “Dads” because that was just an incredible, genuinely hilarious moment.

But c’mon, admit it, now you can’t get the image of Dominic Purcell singing “Sit Down, You’re Rocking The Boat” out of your head, right? Anyway, don’t listen to me. I’m the guy who doesn’t like musicals, remember? And even I liked this episode. Anything can happen!

Flash Facts!

– So the Music Meister comes from an unexpected place. He was the villain on a couple of appropriately themed episodes of the excellent Batman: The Brave and the Bold animated series. But…this wasn’t quite the same guy, was it?

For real, what was he getting at at the end there? Is he from the Fifth Dimension like Mr. Mxyzptlk? Or is he the equivalent of the mysterious animator in Looney Tunes’ “Duck Amuck” cartoon? That’s the one where an animator puts a fourth wall breaking Daffy Duck through his paces, as the cartoon plays with its own format incessantly. At the end, the mystery animator is Bugs Bunny, manipulating reality to break his rival’s chops. So is Music Meister supposed to be Greg Berlanti’s meta stand-in, tonight? The guy who manipulates reality to give fans something they’ve wanted since these two were cast?

Or was I just too busy making notes about other stuff to miss a far more straightforward explanation of who he is? Forgive me if that’s the case.

– re the “Super Friend” lyrics. When did Barry learn about Superman? OK, fine, I won’t ask stupid questions like this.