The Flash Review: Duet (Season 3 Episode 17)

The Flash decides to veer from its normal dreary episodes and give us all a fun, light-hearted musical crossover with “Duet.”  The outcome is the most enjoyable and fun episode of this year.

Doing a musical in a superhero show sounds completely ridiculous and while I was excited, I was also worried. But The Flash Season 3 Episode 17, “Duet,” is great and so much fun to watch. It helps that you can tell the actors had a blast making it.

Letting the musical be a crossover with Supergirl is a good choice.

Who else will geek out over musicals with Barry than Kara? I absolutely love watching Barry and Kara on screen together (I might even ship it!).

Being trapped in a coma musical might seemed a little cheesy, but I think it is the right choice to accomplish the goal. It allows for characters who weren’t around to be involved (Merlyn and Stein) and is an easy way to keep out any people who didn’t need/want to be included in the musical aspect.

Darren Criss is a delight as the Music Meister and I sincerely hope we get to see him again! So many questions about him. For example, why is he so invested in their lives? How does he know about things on different Earths? Is he just a fan who watches two TV shows and is invested in the love lives of characters?

The Music Meister turned out to be a major shipper who just wanted his couples to reunite.

Seeing Barry and Kara react to situations in the musical world was so much fun. I love all the times Kara references The Wizard of Oz. The look on Barry’s face when Joe and Stein broke out in song is adorable, and I’m sure many fans looked the same way while watching.

The music numbers are fun to see but I don’t find the songs overwhelmingly great. They work great in the episode but it is nothing I would come back just to listen to. Also, I think it was easy to tell that in some parts the audio was not used from when they filmed.

This is not to take away from anyone who sang. I think they are all fantastic! Both these casts are extremely talented, and I’m so glad they got to take advantage of that for this episode.

While the episode is almost exclusively filler, it is a filler episode I would love to see more of. The episode is funny and interesting making the hour fly by.

The plot development that did happen was the reconciling of the two main couples after the heroes are saved by the trope of True Love’s Kiss. Mon-El and Kara make up and Barry re-proposes to Iris through song.

It seems trite for Barry and Iris to be engaged, broken up, and engaged all within three episodes. For WestAllen to get back together so soon, it makes all the drama of the breakup seem contrived. But I am glad we won’t have to endure a sulky Barry in the next episode.

This episode is cheesy. They are saved by True Love’s Kiss for goodness sake!

But above all, it’s fun, and that is important. This, obviously, isn’t what The Flash or Supergirl should be every week, but it was a pleasure to see.

Quick Thoughts

• Loved seeing Cisco and Winn together even in a coma world.
• The song by Stein, Joe and Merlyn was by far my favorite.
• “Super Friends” was so cheesy but exactly what Kara and Barry would sing.
• Can’t get through a review without mentioning the Glee reunion feel to it all (I loved the Warblers!).

What did you think of this episode of The Flash? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.

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