S08.E07: Lockdown

[Trini]

When a criminal invades the CCPD, Barry and Kramer (guest star Carmen Moore) must trust and rely on each other if they are going to make it out safely. Meanwhile, Caitlin learns a valuable lesson while out with [Frost] and Mark (guest star Jon Cor).

Stefan Pleszczynski directed the episode written by Christina M. Walker.

Airdate: 3/16/2022

 

 

[scarynikki12]

Was the Jitters robber the same guy from last week? I can totally see the stealer of ethically sourced jewelry having strong opinions on his coffee order. If they're not the same guy then we have a second addition to the Star Labs Peanut Gallery.

I enjoy Goldface's snark. And his Pat Benatar ringtone. I know he likes stealing but his passion for Moby Dick makes me think he'd do well teaching American Lit. Maybe he's doing that thing that fictional criminals do where he's got a goal of putting 100 million in the bank and happily retires to become Professor Goldface. Could be fun.

The way Caitlin was behaving reminded me of those Am I The Asshole posts where the poster turns out to be in love with their sibling's spouse. 

Glad Kramer figured it out. Barry tells literally everyone he brushes up against that he's The Flash so keeping it from her never made sense.

[cambridgeguy]

So next episode will have Iris talking to Barry about her lost time, right?  Because she's too smart of a character to not mention this little wrinkle after everything she's been through.  I hope CP enjoyed getting the time off though. 

And speaking of Barry, if he had remembered he had leveled up (sigh) when he first saw that smoke bomb all of this could have been avoided.  He's certainly gotten stupider with his secret identity - once upon a time he went to the trouble of vibrating his face and voice whenever he interacted with someone who knew him as Barry.  Your boss qualifies!

[Trini]

Very weird having Iris only in one scene that wasn't connected to the main plots. I'm just afraid this "time sickness" is just going to be a scene here or there until they actually figure out what that story is going to be. It would make a lot of sense for Iris to discuss this with Barry (or Still Force Deon?), but you can't count on common sense things happening.

I thought the main plot was good for a villain-of-the-week episode. But yeah, Barry should have been able to stop or at least evade that gas attack. Besides that, I do like the occasional plot where Barry has to handle a problem/threat without his speed; he's supposed to be smart without them anyway, so I liked that they showed that. And no STAR Labs intervention either!

It's interesting Barry was paired with Kramer, of all people. It's just that there may be too many recurring side characters; especially when they're getting the A-plots while regulars like Joe and Iris get one scene. So anyway, of course Kramer knows now! Oh, Barry.

I enjoyed the callbacks to 'The Chemist', Dr. Finkel, and 'Love is a Battlefield'.

They had all that relationship talk with Goldface about working together with your partner -- will they actually show that with Barry & Iris?

So those metahuman 'cure' bullets are at ARGUS? I guess they're (mostly?) off the table for future plots?

LOL - Chester has a Supergirl lunchbox - sure! Chester and Allegra are okay individually, but the romance they're trying to do with them is between 'meh' and cringe.

Someone let me know if anything important happened with Caitlin/Frost I skipped all of that.

Edited March 17, 2022 by Trini

[tennisgurl]

Having Iris only in one random scene totally divorced from the main plots to set up some later things is really weird. I missed having her around, I really hope that she brings up losing time to Barry right away. She's too smart of the usual "its probably nothing" silliness. 

This was a pretty fun bad guy of the week episode, interesting putting Kramer and Barry together, its definitely the first time they have had a plot, or really that Kramer has gotten without anyone except for Joe. Goldenface still has a stupid name but he's a really fun reoccurring villain, I love his snark. "I've got a degree in literature from Yale and I'm surrounded by Philistines!" Barry definitely should have been able to stop that knock out gas, but I enjoyed giving Barry a problem to solve where he had to use his smarts and not his powers. He is a scientist after all, not just a really fast guy. Kramer is alright still, she and Barry make a solid sort of odd couple, I would normally say its weird that everyone sings her praises all of the time with no mention of the crap she pulled when she first met everyone, but Team Flash are very forgiving people. Plus she nearly sent Frost to jail and tried to throw away the key, doing the lords work. I do like them at least talking about the logistics of the Flash and his relationships with the police, even for just an episode with minimal actual conflict.

Lots of nice call backs, Barry's Chemist identity, Goldenface's Love is a Battlefield ringtone, Dr. Finkle (who's a miracle worker) and the meta bullets. 

Speaking of being way too forgiving, I would say that its nuts for Frost and everyone to give Chillblaine's lame self so many chances, despite him being a massive sleaze with an embarrassing name and the charisma of a spoiled artichoke, but everyone lets Frost get away with everything she has ever done, so I guess they deserve each other. I just do not care. I like Caitlin's new boyfriend, and he was the only person not embarrassing themselves during that awkward double date, but he will probably die soon or end up becoming a supervillain called Dr. Fichus after a freak green house accident. That's just how her dating life goes. 

I also don't care about Chester/Allegra as a couple, they have basically zero romantic chemistry. Especially when they share a show with Barry and Iris, who have the most chemistry in the whole Arrowverse.

Edited March 17, 2022 by tennisgurl

[thuganomics85]

Seriously, I don't care how great the coffee at Jitters is: I don't think I would ever step foot in there with how many times it gets held up.  If they had a drive thru, I might consider it, but I'm not sure it's great enough to risk frequenting that establishment...

Enjoyed the return of Goldface and all of his campy glory, complete with Moby Dick and Wrath of Khan references and having "Love is a Battlefield" as his ringtone for Amunet.  While Barry really should have been able to stop that gas attack before it ever happened (again though, a lot of stuff really would be solved quickly if Barry was on point, but then we really wouldn't have a show), I did like how it led to him teaming up with Kramer of all people, and them forming a bond.  Barry even got to do the pep talk this time!  And now not only is there going to be better communication between The Flash and Kramer out in the field, but he will even help train her to be a better meta.  Because, of course, she already figures out Barry is The Flash.  Really though, I'm choosing to believe almost everyone in Central City actually already figured it out, but they just like Barry so much that they're keeping the charade up for him!

Marcus was the only character who didn't annoy me during all of the Caitlin/Frost drama.  Caitlin was being overdramatic and obnoxious as always; especially when she really shouldn't be surprised that Frost would brush aside a little thing like being a murder get in the way of sexy times; but both Frost and Chilllame (thanks, Damien!) are dim if it never really occurred to them that she wouldn't view their relationship as healthy, and their "How dare you?!" reactions were hilarious.  And I'm sure I was suppose to find Chillblaine ditching Caitlin with the tab after his big advice speech to be funny and charming, but I was just like "Nope, Caitlin's right: he is a dick!"  Yawn!

I know this show is all about the cutesy awkwardness, but Chester and Allegra's "will they, won't they?" stuff is just painful.

Not much Iris this go around, but they certainly are setting up some big stuff for her going forward!

[Lantern7]

Good team-up with Barry and Kramer. Goldface continues to be an effective and fun mid-level bad guy. I don't think he and Amunet could carry an entire season, but either or both of them could play heel on an arc and I'd know it would be fun.

Heh . . . Kramer figured out Barry's secret. Does that mean she blueballed him? Or is it "redball"?

I'm miles over Caitlin and Frost as the wackiest pair of twins. Frost's bae could die in a fire and I wouldn't be too broken up.

[Cthulhudrew]

I drank to counted two "leveled ups" in this episode, though I'm sure I must have missed some. 🙄🙄

(Seriously, unless the Big Bad turns out to be called Video Gamer or Gamesman or something similar to pay off the constant video game references, enough already!!!!)

Goldface is a pretty charismatic villain, even if his M.O. is pretty mundane. I like Damion Poitier: he probably doesn't have the acting chops to have pulled it off, but I'll never not think of him as the first Thanos. (And I still think it would have been better to have a live-action, non-CGI version.)

[Diapason Untuned]

I like to think that Barry has to consciously choose to go from normal speed to Flashtime, so he can still get surprised by stuff like the gas this episode.

Goldface was pretty fun, I hope we can see some more of him. I like when this show does something novel like putting two people who don't interact much together, like Barry and Kramer. I never liked Kramer before, but she's starting to grow on me a little now

 

18 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Marcus was the only character who didn't annoy me during all of the Caitlin/Frost drama.    

I felt embarrassed for poor Marcus, it can't be easy just getting dropped into drama like that

 

Quote

but both Frost and Chilllame (thanks, Damien!) are dim if it never really occurred to them that she wouldn't view their relationship as healthy, and their "How dare you?!" reactions were hilarious.

I'm pretty sure they already knew that, they were just upset about Caitlin just airing that stuff out in public with a relative stranger.

 

Quote

And I'm sure I was suppose to find Chillblaine ditching Caitlin with the tab after his big advice speech to be funny and charming, but I was just like "Nope, Caitlin's right: he is a dick!"

I don't think we were supposed to find it charming, just him being petty right back at her.

[BeautifulFlower]

Lol at some people getting mad at Caitlin being treated as the bad guy for not liking Chillblaine. They're saying she's right because he framed Killer Frost and her for murder. Blah blah blah. Look...Caitlin has NO legs to stand on. Both she and her "sister" are criminals. You don't get to judge him as if you're perfect. This is a writing fault though. 

I don't know everything that goes on behind the scenes. I kinda felt when it was time to sign new contracts for Season 8, Candice might've negotiated for more time off. If she did that, it could explain the Iris-lite scenes. However, Eric could've came up with a better story though. Again, this is only if Candice asked for more time off this season.