Last week’s The Flash brought us several girl-power moments as the ladies of Team Flash took the lead in saving Central City. Check out our thoughts about in this week’s DCTV roundtable with Fangirlish!
This season of The Flash has been bringing it in terms of the hilarity and compelling storylines. Last week’s episode, “Girls Night Out,” featured Barry’s and Iris’ bachelor(ette) parties. While the guys were getting up to antics that would take them from drunk at a strip club to jail (*SNORT*), Iris and the ladies were saving Central City. In the process, the Team learned that Killer Frost is very much a present part of Caitlin’s life, Amunet is a crime boss that will likely be back to cause more trouble for Team Flash, and the Thinker has a plan to manipulate metas. But for what purpose?
We reflect on this and more in this week’s second DCTV roundtable with our friends at Fangirlish (The first is our roundtable about why SANVERS deserved better.) Team Fangirlish came up with the awesome questions, which I’ve included below along with my responses and Alyssa’s (Fangirlish) and Lizzie’s (Fangirlish) contributions. The full roundtable post includes a total of EIGHT contributors, so definitely check it out HERE for more about “Girls Night Out”!
1. Describe your thoughts about “Girls Night Out” using just six words.
Funmbi: The ladies of Team Flash slay!
Alyssa: Who runs the world? The ladies.
Lizzie: I’m all in with the Flash!
2. Describe your thoughts about “Girls Night Out” using a gif.
Funmbi:
Alyssa:
Lizzie:
3. “Girls Night Out” saw the ladies come together and solve their villain problem without the men. In a verse where female friendships are severely lacking, what does this mean for DCTV’s future? Also, how important was it for Iris and Caitlin to bond?
Funmbi: I thought it was awesome that while Barry and his crew were at the Golden Booty getting involved in all sorts of foolishness (I still can’t believe Dibny took then to that establishment), Iris and her girls were saving Central City! Even before things went down, the ladies were able to share dinner and drinks and celebrate the future Mrs. West-Allen. But when Iris realized that Caitlin/Killer Frost needed help (then that Weeper and other metas needed help), she was ready to put aside her party to make things happen. She’s such a great leader! I liked that Iris and Caitlin were able to deepen their relationship (though Caitlin as the MOH seemed like a lot). In any event, I hope “Girls Night Out” is a sign that even more female-centered friendships and storylines are on the way in the Arrowverse. I’d also really like to see Iris have non-Team Flash friends.
Alyssa: I’d like to hope that this will be the beginning of the female focus we’ve been hoping for. There are so many badass and intelligent female ladies that either interact or should interact and don’t. It’s wasted opportunities especially for a diverse audience that craves that interaction. Supergirl does a great job at focusing on those female dynamics, and it’d be nice for the rest of the DCTV universe to follow suit. It was extremely important for Iris and Caitlin to bond, not only because they’re two main female characters, but they’ve known and have worked together for a couple of years and have said nothing but a passing word to each other. It always felt like The Flash was setting up this illusion where Iris and Caitlin were friends. One of those, “we’re telling you, but we’re not going to show you.” I’m sorry, but as a fan I need to see to believe it. I need it.
Let’s make something clear, this episode — and Iris and Caitlin’s bonding — did not eradicate all of the issues that exist on The Flash or the DCTV universe involving female friendships. But it was certainly a step in the right direction. The Flash even went as far to call themselves out with the whole “we’re work friends.” But I liked that there was an implied “yet” at the end of the statement. The Flash has a chance to really develop Iris and Caitlin’s friendship. It’s not something that’s instantaneous. It’s gradual. And as fans, we want to see those moments. We want to feel that friendship, like the other relationships on the show, is earned. Now, Flash, you have my attention. And you damn bet I’ll be watching and judging every move from here on out.
Lizzie: I hope it means something, I really do. The most disappointing thing about The Flash in its first three seasons has been that they’ve managed to have two female characters in general proximity of each other and yet somehow made it so they never exchanged more than a few words. It was clear that developing female friendships was not very high on the list of priorities for anyone, and that hurt, because there are as many, if not more, females invested on these shows and guess what? We have female friends! It happens. Gasp. Not all women hate each other and are constantly fighting for the hero’s affection.
So, yes, I hope it means something. I hope it’s a step in the right direction, and I hope they’re gonna work on it. I also hope this is part of a renewed commitment to do that across all four shows, cause the others – save Supergirl – are not exactly good at this. At the very least they didn’t try to tell me that Iris and Caitlin had suddenly become best friends, now let’s hope they intend to show me how they bond.
4. Caitlin started changing and all the ladies turned around in shock. What would Caitlin have to have on her chest for you to turn around in shock? What does this tell you about The Flash writers room?
Funmbi: Perhaps I read this scene a little differently. Iris and the other ladies were dealing with the shock of learning that Caitlin was still very much in Killer Frost mode. On top of that, Killer Frost is definitely more brazen, while Caitlin is modest. Speaking for myself, I don’t change in front of my female friends and I probably would have turned away when Killer Frost whipped her shirt off her head. This is more indicative of my own shyness and reservation. So, Iris and the other ladies turning away set off any alarm bells in the moment. But I understand what the other contributors are saying about the need for women in the writers’ room to tell authentic stories.
Alyssa: Um, probably a Green Bay Packers jersey. No, but seriously, these writers don’t know how to deal with female dynamics, and this scene proved that. Most women aren’t too gun shy about changing in front of other women — the women that are comfortable with it, because not everyone is. But that just shows how The Flash doesn’t understand its female dynamics, and how the writers probably did it “just for the laughs.” I felt like it was done for the laughs more than anything.
Lizzie: THAT THERE ARE NO WOMEN AROUND CAUSE SINCE WHEN ARE BOOBS SUCH A MYSTERY? ALL WOMEN HAVE THEM!
Even if Caitlin/Iris/Felicity had all been the type to be shy and worry about this, come on, did they have to make such a big deal out of it? Just turn around. No need for dramatics. Was it just for the laughs? Cause I didn’t find it funny.
5. Use a gif to describe how you felt seeing Katee Sackhoff from Battlestar Galactica and Longmire as Amunet?
Funmbi:
Alyssa:
Lizzie:
6. What will it take for Caitlin to conquer her Killer Frost problem? Speculate a little.
Funmbi: I’m not sure what Caitlin can do to conquer her Killer Frost side. Perhaps this is a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde situation that she’ll just have to learn to live with. The silver lining is that Killer Frost doesn’t seem as villainous as she used to be. She risks a lot to protect the other ladies from Amunet. Plus, maybe I’m making this up, but Caitlin seems to have a little more control over shifting to Killer Frost. Actually, I would be surprised if The Thinker has the solution to Caitlin’s predicament.
Alyssa: I’ve never understood why having these metahuman powers all of a sudden made this Killer Frost side evil, aside from the name and the comic canon. But, back to the question. I think it has a lot to do with balance. Given how they’ve chosen to present Killer Frost as “evil” and given Caitlin’s “good” side, I believe it’s about finding middle ground between the two sides. Killer Frost is afraid to embrace “Caitlin,” and there’s the fact that Caitlin is also afraid to embrace “Killer Frost.” So it’s led to this inner dissonance. I feel like “Girls Night Out” was a step in the right direction for Caitlin learning that she needs to accept all sides to herself — the good and the bad. I don’t think it’ll be anything fancy, but it’ll just take some time and more experience for Caitlin to learn this.
Lizzie: COMMON SENSE from the writers? I mean, why is she the only meta who turns evil with her powers? Has someone even attempted to explain this? No? Then I can’t even begin to speculate on something that has never made a lick of sense. They could literally come up with ANY reason or no reason whatsoever.
7. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being Mariah’s Carey’s gif of “I don’t know her” and 10 being Kris Jenner taking a pic and saying, “You’re doing amazing sweetie,” how do you feel about drunk Barry? Could you relate?
Funmbi: Cisco really came through for Barry for his Bachelor Party by making that concoction. Drunk Barry is my spirit animal! His love of chicken is MY love of chicken. His question about why Rose couldn’t share that door with Jack is a question I’ve been asking since I saw Titanic in theaters back in February 1998. Drunk Barry is sweet, hilarious, and so adorable. Yah, he can be a little messy and he spills all his secrets in the street, but that’s why it’s good to have friends and family to hold you down, even when you end up in prison. So, yes Drunk Barry, “you’re doing amazing, sweetie!”
Alyssa:
Yep, I’m at an Eleven on this one. One of my main problems with The Flash over the past couple of seasons has been that Barry had become unrecognizable, both in the hero aspect and just his general personality. We’d kind of lost that silly side to Barry that made him lovable, while he was also our hero — not the villain of his story as he had been. It’s weird, but I love Barry again. It’s hard to imagine that there was a time where I had been all, “F— you, Barry.” With that said, Drunk Barry is just pure entertainment. Like I could’ve watched an entire mini episode of Drunk Barry just being Drunk Barry. Barry confessing his love for chicken wings (that one was as personal as it can get), and Barry asking the question that will never go out of style: “Why didn’t Rose make room for Jack on the door?” Drunk Barry is like truth serum. An entertaining, hilarious truth serum. Not gonna lie, I want more drunk Barry and more drunken questions.
Lizzie: I love drunk Barry more than I’ve ever loved sober Barry. Or maybe at S1 sober Barry levels. Never leave me, drunk Barry. NEVER LEAVE ME.
8. This week we had a meta whose tears were like a drug. Amunet thought it was best to beat up this meta to get her precious tears. What would Amunet have to do to get you to cry?
Funmbi: Oh my goodness, Amunet would just have to have me watch Hidden Figures, and I’d be a sobbing mess. That movie has me sobbing for a solid half-hour after I finish watching, every, single time. Or onions. I’m highly sensitive to onions.
Alyssa: Make me rewatch the 2010 NFC Championship game where the Green Bay Packers defeated my Chicago Bears in the most gut wrenching fashion. The darkest point in my 16 years of being a Bears fan. There’s a lot of anger there. But anger usually leads to tears with me. (Now, excuse me while I go punch a wall.)
Lizzie: I cry easily, but I’m gonna go with sports too, in honor of Alyssa. 96 World Series. Game 3. The Yankees beat the Braves in gut wrenching fashion. I still haven’t recovered. I cry just thinking about it.
The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8p/7c on The CW.
