Duet (The Flash)
A musical crossover with Supergirl featuring the Music Meister.
"Duet" is the third season's seventeenth episode of The Flash, airing March 21, 2017. This musical crossover with Supergirl reunites Grant Gustin and Melissa Benoist with their former Glee co-star Darren Criss, who plays the Music Meister. The episode was directed by Dermott Daniel Downs, with a story by Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, and teleplay by Aaron Helbing and Todd Helbing.
Quick Facts
- Series
- The Flash
- Director
- Dermott Daniel Downs
- Teleplay
- Aaron Helbing; Todd Helbing
- Story
- Greg Berlanti; Andrew Kreisberg
- Airdate
- 21 March 2017
Facts from the source article.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meet the Music Meister | Blake Neely | 2:45 |
| 2 | Moon River | Johnny Mercer, Henry Mancini | 2:14 |
| 3 | Put a Little Love in Your Heart | Jackie DeShannon, Jimmy Holiday, Randy Myers | 1:54 |
| 4 | More I Cannot Wish You | Frank Loesser | 2:38 |
| 5 | Super Friend | Rachel Bloom, Tom Root | 2:14 |
| 6 | Runnin' Home to You | Benj Pasek, Justin Paul | 2:46 |
| 7 | Runnin' Home to You (guitar version) | Pasek, Paul | 2:45 |
| Total length | 17:16 | ||
Track listing from the source article.
Plot
J'onn J'onzz and Mon-El of Earth-38 bring a comatose Kara Danvers to Earth-1, hoping Team Flash can revive her. They warn Barry Allen that the escaped prisoner Music Meister is coming for him. Meister attacks and places Barry in a similar coma. Barry wakes up without his powers in a musical dream world where he finds Kara singing in a nightclub and where everyone resembles people they know. Meister tells them that if they follow the script they will return to the real world, but dying in the dream means dying in real life. Barry and Kara work as singers in a nightclub run by gangster Cutter Moran. Rivals Digsy Foss and his husband kidnap them, asking them to find their daughter Millie, believed held by Cutter. Barry and Kara find Millie in a forbidden relationship with Cutter's son Tommy, and convince the pair to reveal their love. The parents seemingly approve but then decide to go to war. In the real world, Meister steals Barry and Kara's powers to rob a bank. Cisco, Wally West, and J'onn defeat him and lock him in a S.T.A.R. Labs cell. In the dream, Barry and Kara prepare to sing an original song but the gang war begins; they are shot and dying. Cisco, Mon-El, and Iris enter the dreamworld to save them, allowing Barry and Kara to admit their love for Iris and Mon-El. They wake up in S.T.A.R. Labs. Meister escapes, revealing he wanted them to realize their love. Kara returns to Earth-38; Barry and Iris move back in together. Barry serenades and re-proposes to Iris, who accepts.
Production
Main cast members Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes, Keiynan Lonsdale, Tom Cavanagh, and Jesse L. Martin star as Barry Allen / Flash, Iris West, Caitlin Snow, Cisco Ramon / Vibe, Wally West / Kid Flash, Harrison Wells, and Joe West, respectively. Darren Criss was cast as Music Meister in January 2017. Guest cast includes Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers / Supergirl, David Harewood as J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, Chris Wood as Mon-El, along with Victor Garber, Jeremy Jordan, and John Barrowman playing different roles. Filming occurred from February 1 until February 15, 2017, directed by Dermott Daniel Downs. Rachel Bloom penned an original song for the episode, initially titled "Superfriends" and later retitled "Super Friend". Bloom contacted CW president Mark Pedowitz, who connected her to Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg. She wrote the song based on a brainstorm with Tom Root. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, Academy Award winners for "City of Stars", wrote another song, "Runnin' Home to You", performed by Gustin. A soundtrack album titled The Flash – Music from the Special Episode: Duet was released on March 22, 2017, through WaterTower Music.
Release
The episode began in the ending scene of the March 20, 2017 Supergirl episode "Star-Crossed". "Duet" aired in the United States on The CW on March 21, 2017, and was simulcast in Canada on CTV Two. A promotional poster marketed it as "Dynamic Duet". In Australia, where both shows air on Fox8, the crossover was marketed as a two-night event called "DC Musical Crossover".
Critical response
Jesse Schedeen of IGN gave the episode a 9.6 out of 10, calling the premise goofy but well-integrated with existing continuity. He praised the team-up of Kid Flash, Martian Manhunter, and Vibe, and noted the writers avoided a romantic subplot between Barry and Kara. Scott Von Doviak of The A.V. Club awarded an A−, citing good chemistry between Gustin and Benoist and Gustin's reconnection with the character's endearing side. Von Doviak concluded that while a permanent crossover may be logistically untenable, the positive energy was timely.
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