S07.E13: Masquerade

[Trini]

Cecile is forced to confront her past in order to break free from a psychic prison. Meanwhile, Chester takes over for Cisco but makes a mistake that puts Barry in serious danger. Joe investigates Kristen Kramer's old military ties and discovers an unsettling truth.

Rachel Talalay directed the episode written by Sam Chalsen & Christina M. Walker.

Airdate: 6/15/2021

[cambridgeguy]

Looks like a dark storage room in STAR labs is the perfect place to start the family.

[Trini]

They really know how to pull me back in. Sex in STAR Labs finally canon!

[Starry]

21 minutes ago, Trini said:

They really know how to pull me back in. Sex in STAR Labs finally canon!

My petty dream came true 😭

Yeah I doubt this had anything to do with starting a family 😂

[bettername2come]

Look, I'm as happy to see Barry and Iris getting laid as any Westallen fan, but, dude, you have superspeed, get the woman to a bed or at least an unoccupied gurney. 

Chester saying "According to legends" got me too excited till I realized he didn't mean the team. 

I really like when we get to see Cecile and Barry together. It's an aspect of the family/team dynamic that we rarely see, they're really sweet together, and they seem to have such faith in each other's abilities. And the height difference is adorable. Danielle Nicolet really showed off her range between real Cecile in emotional turmoil, crazy Cecile, and evil excess eye makeup Cecile. 

[Primal Slayer]

 

Do they have a complete new writing staff from S1 or is it just a showrunner thing? They really don't know how to a good subtle comedic scenes. It's just so over the top.

I am beyond tired of pep talks. Once again....evil is defeated by a pep talk. Just STOP IT! 

They really don't want Caitlin and Iris to share screentime together do they? I know that the actresses don't really get along allegedly but lord does it make scenes make less sense. Why did Caitlin disappear at the end of the episode? Why couldn't she help Iris take down evil Cecil? Barry didnt need that much monitoring. 

Just so bored.

[cambridgeguy]

Cisco left me a number in case of emergencies.

So Supergirl? J'onn J'onzz? Wally West? Superman? 

Nope, Sue Dearborn!  A person who pulls off a heist but doesn't bother wearing a mask or even tying back her long hair.  Plus it couldn't have been too hard to get in since they were able to get an unconscious Sue out of there without a problem.

Chester really shouldn't have been beating himself up over getting played since even her husband had no idea Cecile wasn't herself.  On the other hand, maybe he should prioritize security over painting his new space since once again the baddie just waltzed in with no problem.  That and maybe you should remove the battery from all of the incredibly dangerous tech you've got lying around.

[thuganomics85]

So, Cecile wasn't simply struck by force lighting episodes ago, but was actually possessed by Psycho Pirate, in order to reclaim the mask and truly become powerful (and immortal, thanks to her powers and The Thinker's chair.)  And while it was doing that, Cecile and later Barry get stuck in some kind of mind palace, which looks like a psych ward Cecile was put in years ago, when she didn't handle her mom's death well.  A lot to take in, but it was kind of nice getting some major Barry/Cecile scenes, which we usually don't get.  Plus, Danielle Nicolet got the opportunity to basically play three different characters and did a pretty good job (even if crazy Cecile seem to use the same evil eye-liner that Speed Force Nora was rocking.)

Yay, Sue is back!  A nice return, even if she was kind of a dick to Chester for a bit, but I guess being forced to shoot yourself with a tranquilizer would make you a bit grouchy.  Sounds like she is sticking around, since Ralph is "busy", because they apparently really don't know what to do with that character anymore, despite him being a shapeshifter and can easily be recasted since Hartley Sawyer proved to be problematic.

I guess it makes sense that Chester would feel like he has a lot to live up to and would feel like he is living in Cisco's shadow somewhat.  Glad he is starting to gain more confidence, but despite Brandon McKnight's likability and talents, I'm still finding the character to be obnoxious and not as funny as the show clearly wants me to find him.

Well, Barry and Iris sure went from TV-G to having sex in S.T.A.R. Labs basement real quick!

Why, of course it now looks like they're setting up Kramer to have possibly betrayed her unit back in her military days.  I'm starting to love how they seem to just be throwing every evil thing in her direction now.  I can't wait for Joe to uncover the files where she punts a baby, stole a dog's chew toy, or was the true mastermind behind COVID.  Give them time: she'll be the most evil villain yet!

I did think this was one of the better episodes this season.  Granted, that might not be saying much, but I'll take it!

[Lantern7]

Good episode. Common Arrowverse trope: actors having to play multiple characters, or multiple versions of a character. Tonight, we got Danielle Nicolet playing Cecile, Psycho Pirate possessing Cecile's body, and Cecile's repression of her full-on breakdown. And it was good.

2 hours ago, cambridgeguy said:

Cisco left me a number in case of emergencies.

So Supergirl? J'onn J'onzz? Wally West? Superman? 

Nope, Sue Dearborn!  A person who pulls off a heist but doesn't bother wearing a mask or even tying back her long hair.  Plus it couldn't have been too hard to get in since they were able to get an unconscious Sue out of there without a problem.

In Cisco's defense, none of the people you mentioned could channel Catherine Zeta-Jones like Sue had to do, so that's a point for her. Nice to have her back, but it's annoying that she has to show up without Ralph I kept waiting for someone to ask her if Ralph was still sporting the Daft Punk helmet.

9 hours ago, Trini said:

They really know how to pull me back in. Sex in STAR Labs finally canon!

See, we all know that those two can get business done anywhere in the world, and far from the sight of others. They're not freaks. They just need the danger of getting busted. Specifically, the danger that doesn't come with someone trying to kill either or both of them.

[Trini]

4 hours ago, bettername2come said:

I really like when we get to see Cecile and Barry together. It's an aspect of the family/team dynamic that we rarely see, they're really sweet together, and they seem to have such faith in each other's abilities. And the height difference is adorable. Danielle Nicolet really showed off her range between real Cecile in emotional turmoil, crazy Cecile, and evil excess eye makeup Cecile. 

They do make good scene partners, and Barry/Cecile is interesting pairing that the show doesn't do that often. But it was still hard for me to care much about Cecile's plot. The main reason is the lack of build up. This show has a bad habit of ignoring secondary/supporting characters and their relationships until plot calls for it, or until their once-a-season A-plot episode; and then it's a big info dump and we suddenly get to hear them talk about themselves. It's hard me to get invested when the writers have barely made an effort. And my other reasons were the horror vibes which I'm not into; and then I wasn't a fan of some of Nicolet's acting choices. It was cool to see an evil version of Cecile, though.

And Sue is randomly back? I didn't miss her. But it's interesting that she shows up right after Kamilla left.

I did like Chester's little arc; he had some nice scenes with everyone. I liked how they acknowledged Cisco's absence and Chester's role as a "replacement" - but not really; and that he will be a similar but different presence at STAR Labs.

LOL - Sorry, Chester, Cisco should have warned you, because he absolutely knew that Barry & Iris do it at STAR Labs wherever and whenever. They should be more considerate, but on the other hand, it is their facility.... Anyway, I wasn't expecting anything, so I was glad they mentioned baby-making again and that we got a funny WestAllen scene too. They really need to let Grant and Candice do more comedy.

I'm glad Joe's got his own nemesis and a story, but been mostly ignoring this arc and they still haven't given me any good reasons to pay attention.  Also Kramer is now the police Captain?? How does that make any sense??

Poor Jenna. I hope we get to see her once this season. It will always be a shame that Iris never gets to interact with her actual sister.

 

4 hours ago, Primal Slayer said:

Do they have a complete new writing staff from S1 or is it just a showrunner thing? They really don't know how to a good subtle comedic scenes. It's just so over the top.

I am beyond tired of pep talks. Once again....evil is defeated by a pep talk. Just STOP IT! 

...

All of the writers from Season 1 are long gone. I think there were one or two people from then who worked on Season 6, but none are in the Season 7 writers room.

They did manage to write in some action to go with the speeches, though.

[Cthulhudrew]

Excessive dark eyeshadow = evil female character.

[Starry]

8 hours ago, Primal Slayer said:

Do they have a complete new writing staff from S1 or is it just a showrunner thing? They really don't know how to a good subtle comedic scenes. It's just so over the top.

I am beyond tired of pep talks. Once again....evil is defeated by a pep talk. Just STOP IT! 

They really don't want Caitlin and Iris to share screentime together do they? I know that the actresses don't really get along allegedly but lord does it make scenes make less sense. Why did Caitlin disappear at the end of the episode? Why couldn't she help Iris take down evil Cecil? Barry didnt need that much monitoring. 

Just so bored.

Most of the current writers were hired in season 4 which is when they started leaning more into the slapstick comedy. With that being said, I didn't have a problem with the humor in the sneak peek. I don't know about the rest as I haven't watched the episode yet.

Danielle is directing next episode. If Caitlin disappeared halfway through this one, it's probably because they wanted to give her time to prep. But Candice/DP are lucky that their showrunners are so accommodating. Plenty of actors had to film with people they didn't get along with.

[Lady Calypso]

This was definitely one of the better episodes this season. Honestly, this season has mostly been terrible; maybe not as terrible as season 4 was for me, since I still haven't finished season 4, and season 5 had its issues with its villains, but season 7 has just been terribly written. But this episode? Surprisingly not too bad and somewhat enjoyable. Even with the questionable things they chose (such as Sue's ridiculous ballerina dance to avoid the wires with her flailing her arms about and her hair whipping around), I think I could rewatch this episode easily. 

Danielle Nicolet was finally given some time to shine. It's such a shame that this show so often resorts to supporting characters only getting one episode a season to shine before they're pushed back into the background. Hell, even in multiple seasons with Cecile, we haven't gotten much on her backstory. So us getting all of this is at least nice, especially since she's been on the show since season 1. And her and Barry's scenes were well done. Barry got some more to do, which was nice, as it showcased his biggest strength in his heart, and Cecile got to kick some ass. And DN got to portray three different versions of herself, which was fun to watch.

Chester/Iris actually work well together. Who knew? It's just nice for Iris to get to interact with someone outside of Barry and Allegra; she doesn't even interact with her own father anymore. I was surprised that Chester stepped up as Team Leader for this episode, since he just started flying solo without Cisco, but I guess it was his inauguration into Team Flash; it wouldn't be a first solo mission of Team Flash without a mess-up, doubt, and a pep talk! 

Joe getting to set up Kramer's story for the rest of the season? At least he's getting to do something? I still don't know why he needed to quit in order for this to happen, but alrighty then!

I guess Sue's sticking around. I'm not mad about that, honestly, but she needs to start tying her hair back on missions, especially if she's going to cartwheel and jump through lasers.

[Primal Slayer]

I really wish that they hadn't given Chester the usual "im the replacement, i messed up, i need a pep talk" storyline. He's been around for a hot minute. We could have a storyline with him stepping up and not needing the pep talk. Both if his major episodes end with him realizing "i can make this weapon that can help us save the day after i messed up!"

[tennisgurl]

Hi there Psycho Pirate, where the hell were you in Crisis?! This episode was actually quite good, especially in the middle of a season that has been pretty awful. Even with this episodes flaws, which it definitely had, it was fun, engaging, had a lot of nice character moments, and managed to not have too many embarrassing scenes. It was great having a Cecile centric episode and that they had her and Barry interacting a lot. The dynamic between Barry and Cecile is pretty underexplored  among the family/team so I really liked seeing them bonding and working together, its sweet how much faith they have in each other and how Barry was able to use his natural empathy to help Cecile deal with her grief and guilt using his own backstory of losing his parents to relate to her, finally a good use of his Power of Love instead of just having him forgive every psychopath they come across. Danielle Nicolet excellently carried much of the episode and she and Grant played off each other really well, and while its sad that most of the supporting cast only get one or two big episodes per season, and that its taken us this long to even get Cecile's backstory, it was well handled. I am also relieved that we finally had a villain who just had to be defeated and wasn't talked down with a big speech about forgiveness and love and being let go with a slap on the wrist. Hard to reason with an ancient spirit of psychic madness I guess. 

Chester adjusting to being the new Cisco was pretty good and I liked having a scene between him and Iris, although I still feel like they need to do more to develop Chester beyond being over the top comic relief. It has really become clear that while the "extroverted lovable geek tech comic relief" character seems like an easy architype to write and perform, its actually a character that needs a very skilled performer and writing staff to keep them from being annoying and overbearing, and I think the show is still trying to find that balance between funny and sincere. Brandon McKnight is very likable and I think that he is doing great in his more serious scenes but the writers need to really tone down the wacky with him to keep him to really make him work as a fully formed character. The whole "I feel uncertain in my role in the team" plot isn't the most unique story, but they handled it alright. 

We also have Sue back out of nowhere, although she is the person they know with the most experience stealing stuff so I can see why they called her. Sue was probably too harsh with Chester, but I kind of liked her calling him out on blowing her off out of hand, despite her being the expert on this stuff. Everyone on Team Flash is just so painfully nice it was kind of refreshing to see someone call someone out for making a mistake, even if it was an honest one. The only person everyone usually calls out is Barry whenever he tries to make a pragmatic choice instead of just listening to the colors of the wind or whatever. I guess she is sticking around more until they can recast the often mentioned but never seen Ralph, which should be fun, as long as Sue maybe learns to tie her hair back when she goes to her next ballet robbery. 

Get it Barry and Iris! I got way too excited about them getting their game on in the lab, which we all know has been happening offscreen for awhile now, and makes me wish that the show allowed them to do more comedy/sexy bits together. Grant and Candice are really funny together and have great chemistry when the show isn't contriving ways to keep them apart and eternally angsty. 

Of course they keep coming up with more and more reasons for us to hate Kramer, because of course anyone who doesn't immediately love our perfect and most wonderful hero Frost is an evil monster of the worst kind. This probably would have been easier to investigate if Joe was still a cop and didn't quit in a hissy fit...

Edited June 16, 2021 by tennisgurl

[rmontro]

18 hours ago, Primal Slayer said:

Just so bored.

Ditto, boring is the word that comes to mind for me also.  Confession of someone's secret pain, another pep talk from Barry, yawn.  This show really feels like it's on the downslide.  My theory is that they're keeping it alive because of the upcoming Flash movie, they're probably thinking they can get a ratings bump from that.  Especially since Grant Gustin reportedly has a cameo in it.

[Trini]

2 hours ago, rmontro said:

Ditto, boring is the word that comes to mind for me also.  Confession of someone's secret pain, another pep talk from Barry, yawn.  This show really feels like it's on the downslide.  My theory is that they're keeping it alive because of the upcoming Flash movie, they're probably thinking they can get a ratings bump from that.  Especially since Grant Gustin reportedly has a cameo in it.

Downslide or not, it's still one of CW and DC's most popular shows, so it's going to be around a little while longer, I doubt the movie will have any affect on the show.

[Quark]

I love Cecile, so I really enjoyed this episode and I thought Danielle Nicolet did a great job.

The thing I'm confused by is that the show doesn't seem to be building to a Big Bad. Last episode I can understand because it was all about Cisco leaving, but I feel like this one should have had something that would build to the Big Bad of this half of the season. Unless that's Kramer, which would be an interesting choice, given that we just had an evil speed force. Although if Kramer does end up being the Big Bad of this half of the season, I like the fact that it has been three Big Bad female villains in a row.

[Trini]

On re-watch:

It's kinda sad to not have Carlos Valdes in the credits anymore. :(

Good for Chester for insisting on boundaries in STAR Labs. ... But then it makes me think - why didn't Cisco insist on boundaries?? Hmm- fanfic writers could have a field day that!

Sue isn't a bad character, but I hope they don't make her a regular. There are enough people in the cast that they barely write for.

Not that the show can't revisit previous plots or themes, but this is the second time they've done "Chester makes a mistake and is unsure of his role on Team Flash" and the third time in two seasons that a doppelganger has fooled the team/friends/family for weeks. Being this repetitive isn't a good look.

I did like that we got some nice scenes between Iris and Chester; that pairing works well.

It's always a little weird when the Flash doesn't have much to do in an episode; but I thought Barry's scenes with Cecile were a really good use of heart and his Power of Love. Made more sense than some other instances this season. It was nice to get some backstory and affirmation for Cecile. I just don't get why they didn't have similar affirmations for Iris from Barry and Joe when she had a similar story about her mental health earlier this season. It was also annoying that even now, they had to have Joe say the nonspecific "our community" instead of "Black" of "African-American community".

So is revisiting past villains, etc., via the Starchives going to be a regular thing going forward?

[GHScorpiosRule]

😴 💤 💤💤💤💤💤😴😴

That’s what this episode was. Not to mention that it sounded like a PSA for mental health instead of a plot for a show.