Oh shit – it’s bachelor/bachelorette part week on The Flash, folks.
1. Party?
When I got married, it was just a few months after my college friend, Dave, got married. And we made deals to each other – we wouldn’t let our more, shall we say, bro-y friends drag us to strip clubs at our bachelor parties. It isn’t something we dig, and so let’s just watch the other’s back in that instance.
I say that, to say this: no way if a rando coworker of mine showed up at my bachelor party and was all “strippers!” would I be remotely ok with that.
Look, I get it: the show wants to integrate Ralph into the crew as quickly as possible, but this was not the right way to do it. The show has made him borderline unlikable – no, scratch that, unlikable – and also making Barry’s life seem impossibly sad in the process. “Hey Barry, here’s your bachelor party: your soon to be father in law, your best friend, a doppleganger of the man who killed your mother, and a horndog jackass you hated until last week.” Wally doesn’t come home for this? Ollie doesn’t pop in with Felicity? Barry has no friends from high school/college/the CCPD? The Legends don’t, while home for the birth of Stein’s grandson, stop by? You’re telling me that Ray and Nate aren’t so bro’d out that they wouldn’t carry a bachelor party kit on their persons at all times?
And while for some folks, steaks, brandy, and cigars might sound a little tame, minus the cigars, that sounds like a great night with friends.
As for the girls, Iris’s party was just as sad. Her future step-mom, a co-worker (who is also going to be her maid of honor?), and the girl who used to crush on her man from a few cities away?
That said, I did like to see the ladies prove that they can be just as capable as the men in terms of stopping dumb, low-level criminals.
My favorite part of either party, however, was a really nice callback to season one. There was an episode where Harrison Wells and Joe went out for a drink, and I remember marveling at both the acting chops in the scene, but also the bond of friendship that was forming between Barry’s two surrogate fathers. It was a touching scene, and one that stuck with me.
Well, in this episode, Harry and Joe clink glasses of brandy and give a knowing look to one another. I dug it.
2. Ralph the creep
After spending the second half of last episode trying to rehabilitate Ralph, this episode just shoehorned him even further in creepsville. Being the #1 Customer at a strip club is the laziest bit of sleeze-bag writing I’ve seen in a long time, and then having him steal from the dancers somehow made him even more deplorable. I get that the show sees him as comic relief, but this is character assassination. I truly hope he meets Sue soon, and she sets him straight.
The strip club did have one purpose though: show us that Cecile’s daughter dances there, kinda sorta. It was a really odd plot point, as this is the definition of a minor character, and they have about four seconds of #feminism from her mouth earlier in this episode to try to set up this scene. It felt unnecessary and weirdly tacked on. Do they worry that Cecile’s family isn’t developed enough? Does anyone actually care about that?
3. Drunk Barry
Drunk Barry is a delight. Due to Cisco’s elixir, he was able to get good and wasted, and he’s running around telling folks he’s the Flash, racing to get peanuts, etc. Was it corny? Of course it was – but it fit the mood. And it was a few seconds you didn’t have to think about the ridiculousness of the other plot points.
4. Weeper
Leave it to the show to dig up an old Fawcett Comics character for the villain this week. I know that they don’t want to waste any big guns on these random metas if they don’t have to, but Weeper? At least they went a different route with the story, giving him a sympathetic story, and not just making every bus passenger a dick. Since he was captured by Thinker at the end of the episode, we may see more of him.
Continued belowPS – he’s really nothing like the Fawcett character. Though I’d dig seeing Bulletman show up on The Flash!
5. Caitlin and Amunet
I appreciate that this episode tried to flesh out Amunet Black a little bit, and to understand her role in the Central City crime organization, but I still find the character pretty boring. I like Caitlin being given more control of her character, and I like some supporting cast being given to the Killer Frost part of her personality, but I just wish it was interesting supporting cast.
