From original tunes to some old favourites The Flash musical tapped danced its way onto our screens this week.
A few of us here at Spoiler Tv decided to give it our opinion. I would like to thank my fellow reviewers, (AM) Aimee,(PB) Pablo and (MK)Marko for contributing to this article with me(DC)Zandarl.
So let's look back on this' duet' and see if, in fact, everything was better in song.
There have been numerous musical episodes in shows over the years, How does The Flash Musical compare?
DC: Plenty of musical episodes have come before however, my two personal favourites are 'The Bitter Suite' from Xena Warrior Princess and Buffy’s 'Once More With Feeling' which I recently reviewed for our Throwback Thursday section.
In Xena’s Bitter Suite, the lead characters, Xena and Gabrielle, were transported to ‘The land of llusia’ to sort out their troubles and fix their friendship. This is all done through song. The episode was not only visually stunning (the costumes and imaginary were biased on the Rider- Waite tarot deck), it also contained all original tunes and earned two Emmy nominations.
So how did The Flash Musical compare? Sadly, the main problem I felt the story wasn’t gripping enough. The desperation we should have felt for our heroes plight never seemed to transcend onto the scene. Perhaps making this over two parts in both episodes rather than just a bit in Supergirl and all in The Flash would have worked better. The jumping back and forth didn’t help much for the flow of the episode. Barry and Kara were their usual adorable selves when together and even without powers. Darren Criss as the Music Meister seemed underused and we only got to see other cast members talents all too briefly.
The songs were fantastic and brilliant performed by a very talented cast. However it was a bit of a mish mash, you have an academy award winning song, a pop song, a broadway musical tune and two original songs.Despite all this from the opening with Moon River till the final tune with Barry proposing (again) to Iris the music really did set the tone. As in most musical’s it’s a love story. Their heartbreak is what sent our hero’s here as the curtain closes you can easily guess this musical will end with a kiss.
PB: I think The Flash did very well for itself: it's not the best musical episode I have ever seen, but it gets the job done, and not only it gets it done, it does it in a very whimsical and fun way: the songs are on point and the performances are excellent. I think it could have been even better if it went just a bit more over the top here and there, like adding the cherry on top, but I'm very much satisfied and happy with what I got. The songs were great and the actors were excellent. Now, if the plotting could have been more on point like "One More With Feeling", the Buffy musical episode, it would have been simply outstanding.
MK: It is somewhere in the middle. The songs and performances were extraordinary but the story lacked cohesiveness and sense to a degree. Overall it felt quite a bit forced and that resolution made my eyes roll.
AM: This was a fun episode and it was entertaining, but it wasn’t the best that it could have been. Going into the episode I loved the idea that there was a story within a story, however, the jumping back and forth made the episode feel very choppy and at times disjointed. Every time the flow got going the story abruptly cut back to the other realm and vice-versa. The musical numbers were spectacular and there is no denying that this episode was entertaining. If they had just stayed with the musical all the way through without jumping back to the real world perhaps it would have played better. Even if they’d just limited the jump backs to reality to just once it might have helped. Though, I must admit, that even though it did hinder the flow of the episode, the Martian Manhunter team-up with Kid Flash and Cisco was pretty awesome. My excitement with that is probably because I’ve really wanted to see J’onn interact with people from Barry’s Earth. So, this will never be called the best musical episode, especially when up against some true classics, but it was at the very least very fun and entertaining. The performances were brilliant and the musical numbers were exceptional, but story flow took what could have been something spectacular and made it just entertaining. By no means was the episode awful, far from it, but there was definite room for improvement on the story flow side of things.
What was your favourite song and why?
DC: I loved the Kara and Barry 'Superfriend' but Barry’s 'Running Home To You'(written by academy award winners Benji Pasek and Justin Paul) when he proposed to Iris at the end was perfect. Finally, can we stop it with these two please can they stay engaged and in love.
PB: I know many will choose "Runnin' Home to You", but I gotta go "Super Friend": the song just gets Barry and Kara, it services both characters right and it's both funny and adorable. On top of that, it was written by Rachel Bloom, whom I adore. There is simply no other way for me: it's catchy, it's fun and it's adorable: it has all the ingredients to work, and it hasn't left my mind since.
MK: Definitely Runnin' home to you. Didn't like Grant's voice much in the other songs. I think his voice is better suited for this type of pop songs and he carried it out perfectly. It was emotional and gripping, I teared up and it was a beautiful WestAllen moment, I hope the writers will stop now creating fake angst between them.
AM: I really expected to say one of the big musical numbers, but it was actually the final one where Barry proposed to Iris that was the best. Perhaps it’s because it plays a big part in the overall story of the series or maybe it’s just because Grant Gustin absolutely sold the powerful emotion of the whole moment. Whatever it was, that was the song that had the hardest hitting impact for me. All of the songs were beautifully performed and acted, but this one really shined.
Who stood out for you most in this episode?
DC: Melissa Benoist as Kara, hands down, she was so quirky and fun. I also adored her version of Moon River, taken from my favourite movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
PB: Jeremy Jordan for his singing: god, the guy is talented! I would have never imagined he could sing so well! I mean, everyone does, Melissa also surprised me and so did John Barrowman. Everyone had so much talent and such awesome singing, but Jeremy Jordan knocked it out of the park. I'm beyond impressed with his performance.
MK: I have to say, Kara. I love Kara on Earth-1. She just fits this world perfectly and feels like a more natural place for her to be than her Earth. She really shines hard in comparison to the others. Maybe cause she is a much lighter character in the currently really grim Flash world but Kara really delivered. Also, I loved the Stein-Joe relationship, it was so weird but Victor Graber and Jesse L Martin sold it to me.
AM: In terms of performing and singing they were all exceptional. However, I must throw some extra praise to Melissa Benoist who absolutely nailed her portrayal of this very human Kara. She’s only briefly experienced humanity once when she blew out her powers, so this was an interesting experience for Kara. Melissa brought a really sincere vulnerability to Kara and her singing was as stunning as always. It was quite hard watching Kara get shot and actually bleed. I adore the fact that they made the whole theme of the episode that love is worth fighting for no matter the obstacles that have to be overcome. Kara and Barry aren’t characters that often need to be saved, but in this instance, it was nice that the people who came to their aid are people who hold very high places in their hearts. I loved the way Melissa chose to have Kara react to Mon-El showing up. She was genuinely glad that he was there with her in that terrifying moment. Even superheroes need comfort from time to time. The overall story in Kara and Barry’s unconscious minds was whimsical and fun, but also quite intense. I enjoyed watching the work they all did, every performer really gave their all to this episode. Melissa just really stood out as she perfectly nailed all the different emotional and musical moments of the episode.
Best quote?
DC: Kara and her love for Wizard of Oz, multiple quotes throughout the episode.
Kara: "And you were there and you were there"
PB: Kara: "And if you are not in time, you can always go back in time, and give it another shot!"
Barry: "Actually, I'm not supposed to do that anymore."
Kara: "Oh, ok."
I just loved how it was a nod to Barry's overpower ability to change the timeline. Such a nice line to have in midst of the song.
MK: Kara: And if not there in time, you can just go back in time and give it another shot!
Barry: I'm actually not supposed to do that anymore.
AM: Kara: “I guess I could click my heels together three times…”
Barry: “Yeah…”
Kara: “I was kidding.”
How would you rate this episode out of 10?
DC: I had high hopes for this episode but it did not quite hit the mark I expected it to. It was enjoyable and fun. For that, I give it a 7.
PB: 8. It was great and fun, but it was also way too silly, in a good way, but it also prevents it from reaching the peak of engagement some other episodes have (especially from season 1), but nothing will take away its fun side and entertainment value.
MK: Entertainment wise it was a strong 9, story wise 3 so let's say a decent 6. Could've been a lot better.
AM: I went into the episode really wanting to give it a 10 or at least a solid 9. However, because of the choppy story flow issue, I have to drop it down to a 7.
So what were your thoughts?
What song was your favourite?
please post in comments below
