This episode was a relatively slight one, but it featured a few really, truly important character moments and potential developments. Be warned that minor spoilers abound.
1. Peek-a-Boo gets it right
My biggest complaint about The Flash thus far has been its treatment of the Rogues. Who have been portrayed in the comics as reluctant criminals at best, or at the least, criminals you can sort of root for – and this is the first time one of the Rogues has felt a little bit like that.
Peek-a-Boo, aka Shawna Baez, busts her boyfriend out of jail, but doesn’t really want to break any laws or do anything wrong – she only wants to have her man back in her life. After those inauspicious beginnings, she winds up committing a fair number of crimes, but all of them come out of that very honest place of just wanting a better life with her boyfriend. That is something we can all relate to, and it is a shame that it took a minor character to achieve what should have been a major breakthrough.
2. Drunk Caitlin is the best
Caitlin Snow has been…wait for it…a bit icy thus far. But the last few weeks have been slowly, but surely, building her into a more complete character. This week, we see her finally starting to put her life back together, and attempting to do that, perhaps, with Barry.
A huge part of Barry’s character, thus far, has been his crush on Iris – therefore, it is interesting to see him being the object of someone else’s crush. Caitlin’s attraction to him is subtle, and well played by both actors, and the whole situation is absolutely adorable. While I don’t think we will ever see this relationship come together, the little bit of chemistry, and the role-reversal for Barry, has been really interesting and fun.
3. Oh yeah, Grant Gustin was on Glee
Gustin proves himself to be quite the singer on the Travolta half of “Summer Nights,” whereas Caitlin drunkenly warbles the Newton-John portion. It took me about a minute to realize that Gustin has a background singing – he was on Glee for goodness sake – and they found an unobtrusive way to bring that talent to the show.
4. Barry is becoming more like Wally each day
This episode had a lot of Barry and Henry Allen, but aside from those scenes, this episode felt far more like a Wally West episode than a Barry one. Peek-a-Boo is a Wally villain, Linda Park is Wally’s love interest, and – if we are being honest – despite Barry being an original Justice League member, Wally was always much more of a team player. Hell, even Gustin’s hair is closer to Wally’s red than Barry’s blonde.
5. Grodd! GRODD!
This is the first episode, to my knowledge, that didn’t end with a Wells-centric teaser. Instead, we get the second reference to Grodd, this time far more overt, leading us to believe that Grodd will be a real player later on in the season. We truly live in the best of all possible worlds, don’t we?
