CBS announced Eliza Dushku has joined the cast of the popular dramatic series, Bull. According to the network’s official announcement, Dushku will be playing J.P. Nunnelly, “the savvy head of the best criminal defense firm in New York, who is hired by Dr. Jason Bull (Michael Weatherly) when a member of his Trial Analysis Corporation team faces prison time.” The cast of season one also includes Freddy Rodriguez, Geneva Carr, Jaime Lee Kirchner, Annabelle Attanasio, and Christopher Jackson.
Bull just received a renewal order for its second season, along with 17 other CBS series. The series is executive produced by Mark Goffman, Paul Attanasio, Dr. Phil McGraw, Steven Spielberg, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank, and Jay McGraw. Bull airs on Tuesday nights at 9pm ET/PT.
Duskhu’s best known for her starring role as Faith in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Her credits also include Banshee, The Saint, Jane Wants a Boyfriend, Leap Year, Torchwood: Web of Lies, Dollhouse, and Tru Calling.
The Bull Plot:Bull stars Michael Weatherly as Dr. Jason Bull in a drama inspired by the early career of Dr. Phil McGraw, the founder of one of the most prolific trial consulting firms of all time. Brilliant, brash and charming, Dr. Bull is the ultimate puppet master as he combines psychology, human intuition and high tech data to learn what makes jurors, attorneys, witnesses and the accused tick.
Bull employs an enviable team of experts at Trial Analysis Corporation to shape successful narratives down to the very last detail. They include his quick-witted former brother-in-law, Benny Colón, a lawyer who acts as defense attorney in the company’s mock trials; Marissa Morgan, a cutting-edge neurolinguistics expert from the Department of Homeland Security; former NYPD detective Danny James, the firm’s tough but relatable investigator; haughty millennial hacker Cable McCrory, who is responsible for gathering cyber intelligence; and Chunk Palmer, a fashion-conscious stylist and former All-American lineman who fine tunes clients’ appearances for trial. In high-stakes trials, Bull’s combination of remarkable insight into human nature, three Ph.D.’s and a top-notch staff creates winning strategies that tip the scales of justice in his clients’ favor.
Odds are you’ll put Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri on your must-see list after checking out the restricted (not safe for work or kids) trailer. Three Billboards comes from writer/director Martin McDonagh (In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths) and stars Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Abbie Cornish, Lucas Hedges, Željko Ivanek, Caleb Landry Jones, Clarke Peters, Samantha Weaving, John Hawkes, and Peter Dinklage. Fox Searchlight will release the dramedy in theaters later this year.
The Plot:Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is a darkly comic drama from Academy Award winner Martin McDonagh. After months have passed without a culprit in her daughter’s murder case, Mildred Hayes (McDormand) makes a bold move, painting three signs leading into her town with a controversial message directed at William Willoughby (Harrelson), the town’s revered chief of police. When his second-in-command Officer Dixon (Rockwell), an immature mother’s boy with a penchant for violence, gets involved, the battle between Mildred and Ebbing’s law enforcement is only exacerbated.
Maggie Q and Kiefer Sutherland on ‘Designated Survivor’ episode 13 (ABC/Ben Mark Holzberg)
“The mission that made MacLeish a hero turned him into a traitor,” says President Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland) to Special Agent Hannah Wells (Maggie Q) who’s just updated the President on how MacLeish and the man who shot Kirkman, Lozano, know each other in ABC’s Designated Survivor season one episode 13.
As the episode begins, an upset Kirkman is asking Agent Wells and John Forstell (Reed Diamond) how MacLeish was shot by his own wife and, more importantly, why. Wells tells Kirkman she had no idea Mrs. MacLeish was part of the conspiracy but it’s obvious now that she was and rather than let her husband get caught, she killed them both.
Kirkman gathers Emily (Italia Ricci), Aaron (Adan Canto), and Seth (Kal Penn) to inform them of what has happened and explain how he plans on handling it. All three are shocked and Emily asks if the FBI has any idea why Mrs. MacLeish would shoot her husband. Kirkman tells them they believe it was a domestic dispute, keeping all three of his staff on the outside of the internal investigation. “I need you to hold it together, project strength. The American people deserve no less,” says the President.
Later that morning, First Lady Alex Kirkman (Natascha McElhone) is shocked by the news but suspects the domestic dispute story isn’t true.
The President walks in during the White House briefing and makes the official announcement that Vice President MacLeish was killed by his wife while visiting a fallen soldier’s grave. He leaves, not taking any questions.
Agent Wells and other FBI personnel attend the funeral of Atwood’s son, Luke. She gives him her condolences and hugs Atwood, who seems lost and still in shock.
Back at the White House, Emily and President Kirkman go over the day’s agenda. (Really? The Vice President has been killed and within minutes of it being announced it’s business as usual?) It seems their pick for Secretary of the Interior has declined the job, and former Secretary of State Gary Dwyer is slated to meet with Aaron about taking his old role back. Emily suggests she should take the meeting instead, but Kirkman says Aaron can handle it.
Seth is blindsided at the next press briefing by reporter Abe Leonard (Rob Morrow) who says he has it on good authority that MacLeish ordered a kill shot for the man who shot the president. He asks if it’s true and why he would do that. A surprised Seth tells Abe he’ll have to get back to him on that one.
Seth finds President Kirkman and tells him what happened and Kirkman confirms that it’s true but he does not want to release that info just yet. He’s also extremely upset because he knows there’s a leak in the White House and he wants whoever it is found. He tells Emily and Aaron finding the leak is their top priority.
Aaron visits Senator Hookstraten (Virginia Madsen) knowing she told Leonard because they go way back. Not only does she not deny it, but she points out to Aaron that he’s really the leak because he told her without checking with President Kirkman.
Aaron returns to the White House and confesses to Kirkman that he’s the leak. He apologizes saying it was a lack of judgment and it won’t ever happen again. Kirkman asks when Aaron slept last and he answers, “Last night.” “More than three hours?” asks President Kirkman and Aaron doesn’t answer. Kirkman tells Aaron he needs him at his best and he can’t be that right now. He suggests Aaron needs rest and gives him a week off to de-stress. Aaron doesn’t want to but President Kirkman insists, assuring Aaron it’s not punishment. After Aaron leaves, the expression on Kirkman’s face changes to concern. Kirkman tells Emily about Aaron and promotes her to acting Chief of Staff. “I’m throwing you into the deep end now,” says President Kirkman to a slightly overwhelmed Emily.
Seth tells his assistants to remind the press about the up and mostly down career of Abe Leonard and to focus on how many times he has had to print a retraction. Later, Seth runs into some old college friends who insist on grabbing drinks and because they won’t take no for an answer, he agrees. Over drinks, his old college friends take a shot at Seth’s boss, saying he’s on a sinking ship. Irritated and finally fed up with their attitudes, Seth reminds them he’s not a Wall Street broker or making superhero movies but that HE works for the President of the United States. “When your ship starts taking on water, you don’t jump overboard. You grab a bucket,” says Seth to his old college buddies as he leaves.
Agent Wells visits Joyner in hopes of finding out more about MacLeish and the conspiracy. At first, he won’t talk, but when she shows him documents of what happened in Afghanistan during MacLeish’s last mission and puts MacLeish down, he cracks and tells her the truth of what really happened.
Meanwhile, Alex is feeling uncomfortable with the extra security and all the secrecy. She tells Tom she wants to take the kids to Camp David to keep them safe and get away from this. Kirkman doesn’t like the idea, believing they’re safe at the White House. He also confesses he needs his family around him right now.
Emily meets with Dwyer about taking his old job back and he quickly declines, saying he only showed up out of respect for President Kirkman. However, he does have a suggestion. It seems former President Cornelius Moss is looking to get back into politics and might be interested in helping advise Kirkman. When Emily tells Tom about what Dwyer said, he’s surprised. He reveals he’s spoken to Moss several times since taking office and he never once showed interest in returning to politics.
Wells meets with Kirkman about her interrogation with Joyner. In Afghanistan, MacLeish and his men ended up in a bloodbath with a warlord and his men had to basically kill everyone in sight to survive, including innocents. “The rules of engagement didn’t apply anymore to them,” says Wells. The government covered up the embarrassing mess and it was their handling of it when MacLeish and his men who survived came home that actually radicalized MacLeish against his own government.
Kirkman sets it up so he can watch his young daughter go to school from his armored car. He sees her surrounded by Secret Service but no friends. Later that day he tells Alex he’s on board with her and the kids going to Camp David. He explains what he saw and he’s afraid of robbing his kids’ childhood from them, but he promises not to let that happen. That night she says goodbye to his children and Alex as they get on a helicopter and head out for Camp David.
Wells visits Atwood, finding him alone at home and basically devastated. He says he lost his job with the FBI and that he’s a disgrace. She tries to argue but he won’t listen. Wells tells Atwood they should work together to make whoever is responsible for Luke’s death pay. He tells her to leave.
Abe and Hookstraten meet at a restaurant and he vows he’s going to find the connection between MacLeish and the shooter. No one at the White House is going to stop him.
President Kirkman addresses the nation on television. “Without truth, there can be no trust,” he says. He continues to admit that MacLeish did give the order to shoot to kill the man who shot him. He says he did it in the interest of the agents involved in the operation and for the good of the country. The President closes his address by quoting Lincoln about a nation divided cannot stand and that he’s confident that his nation will unite and stand together.
The last scene shows Aaron being approached by a man. “Langdon?” asks Aaron. “Not here,” responds Langdon. The two men walk off together not knowing they’re under surveillance by Agent Wells.
Designated Survivor Episode 13 Review:
Intriguing with some new plot twists and a potential new ally – or enemy – on the horizon, episode 13 – “Backfire” – deals with the immediate fallout of MacLeish’s death and introduces a burned-out but determined reporter seeking the truth and a great story to put him back on top again.
Even while dealing with the aftermath of the VP’s death, the episode was still jam-packed with events including Wells learning the real truth about MacLeish’s war story and how he turned against his own country. It also introduced Rob Morrow who’s perfectly cast as the past his prime reporter looking for a way to revive his career. It also hinted at Aaron possibly being more involved in the conspiracy than originally suspected.
With Aaron and Langdon under FBI surveillance and a former President looking to re-enter politics, it looks as if life as President of the United States is going to get even more complicated and dangerous for Kirkman. Here’s hoping he’s up to the challenge.
20th Century Fox’s latest poster for Ridley Scott’s new Alien film, Alien: Covenant, features Xenomorphs crawling over and restraining humans. The cast of the upcoming Alien film includes Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demián Bichir, Carmen Ejogo, Amy Seimetz, Jussie Smollett, Callie Hernandez, Nathaniel Dean, Alexander England, and Benjamin Rigby. Fox is planning to release Alien: Covenant in theaters on May 19, 2017.
The Plot: Ridley Scott returns to the universe he created with Alien: Covenant, a new chapter in his groundbreaking ALIEN franchise. The crew of the colony ship Covenant, bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world. When they uncover a threat beyond their imagination, they must attempt a harrowing escape.
CBS has confirmed 18 of its series have earned renewals for the upcoming 2017-2018 season including Madam Secretary, Scorpion, and Life in Pieces. Five new series that debuted during the 2016-2017 season – Bull, Kevin Can Wait, MacGyver, Man with a Plan, and Superior Donuts – were on the just-released list and earned second season orders.
The network said it will announce additional renewals at a later date. Among the shows still up in the air are The Amazing Race, Pure Genius, Elementary, 2 Broke Girls, The Odd Couple, Code Black, and The Great Indoors.
The Flash took a dip into the world of movie musicals with season three’s 17th episode titled ‘Duet.’ The second half of a The Flash/Supergirl crossover found Barry and Kara (Melissa Benoist) forced into singing their hearts out, working with mobsters, and then ultimately discovering they needed to get back together with Iris and Mon-El, respectively, after being whammied by the Music Meister (Darren Criss). Now that his love life is back on track and Supergirl’s returned to National City, Barry will be concentrating on figuring out Savitar’s identity in episode 18. Airing on March 28, 2017 and titled ‘Abra Kadabra,’ season three episode 18 was directed by Nina Lopez-Corrado from a script by Brooke Roberts and David Kob.
The season three cast includes Grant Gustin as Barry Allen/The Flash, Tom Cavanagh as Harrison Wells, Danielle Panabaker as Caitlin Snow, Candice Patton as Iris West, Keiynan Lonsdale as Wally West/Kid Flash, Carlos Valdes as Cisco, Jesse L Martin as Joe West, and Tom Felton as Julian.
The ‘Abra Kadabra’ Plot: DC COMICS’ CHARACTER ABRA KADABRA VISITS CENTRAL CITY – The Flash (Gustin) battles Abra Kadabra (guest star David Dastmalchian), a villain from Earth-19, who makes him a tempting offer – release him and Abra Kadara will reveal Savitar’s true identity. Desperate to save Iris (Patton), Barry considers taking the deal but Gypsy (guest star Jessica Camacho) breaches in to capture the villain for her own reasons and during the melee, Abra Kadabra manages to escape. Barry is furious that Gypsy interfered but Gypsy refuses to back down, forcing Cisco (Valdes) to take sides. Meanwhile, Julian (Felton) is still a bit cold towards Caitlin (Panabaker) but when she is severely injured in a battle with Gypsy, he rushes to her side.
John Cena hosts ‘American Grit’ (Photo by Michael Becker / FOX)
Fox has announced the premiere dates for its summer 2017 primetime lineup which will kick off on May 25th with the series premieres of Love Connection and Beat Shazam. Fox’s summer schedule will also include the debut of The F Word with Gordon Ramsay, Masterchef season eight, the return of American Grit, season 14 of So You Think You Can Dance, and Superhuman hosted by Kal Penn.
In addition to announcing the summer premiere dates, Fox provided details on the new and returning series:
Love Connection: Hosted by Emmy Award winner Andy Cohen and executive-produced by Mike Fleiss, the one-hour series amps up the original hit dating show for today’s audiences. Each hour episode will feature single men and/or women in search of romance, as Cohen brings his personal brand of audacious fun to the series.
Beat Shazam: Jamie Foxx hosts the new interactive game show. Executive-produced by Mark Burnett and Jeff Apploff, the series pits teams of two against the clock and each other as they attempt to identify the biggest hit songs of all time. In the end, the team with the highest score will outlast the competition and go against Shazam, the world’s most popular song identification app, for the chance to win a cash prize.
Masterchef: On Masterchef, Ramsay and renowned pastry chef Christina Tosi welcome celebrity chef Aarón Sánchez to the judges’ panel. The three celebrated food experts will put the latest group of contestants through a series of challenging elimination rounds, in order to turn one home cook into a culinary master.
The F Word with Gordon Ramsay: Based on his hit U.K. series, each distinctive and fast-paced hour will combine good food and great cooking with Ramsay’s passion, energy and humor into a one-of-a-kind LIVE series. During each episode, teams of foodie families and friends will battle it out LIVE in a high-stakes cook-off, hoping to impress Ramsay, as well as celebrities, VIPs and other dinner guests. As the LIVE battle heats up, the show will feature Ramsay hosting highly stylized cooking demos and weekly out-of-the-kitchen adventures with fans, foodies and surprise guests. We’ll see Gordon at his best inside the kitchen, and at his most mischievous outside the kitchen. With Gordon LIVE, anything can happen!
American Grit: WWE® Superstar John Cena® brings 17 new competitors – all who either have lost their grit or never had it – to sunny Hampton Island, GA. There, Cena and an elite group of military heroes will live alongside these people, all in search of a change, and take them under their wing as they lead them through a series of all-new epic team and individual challenges. In the end, only one competitor will win a quarter of a million dollars, but hopefully, all of them will find their Grit.
So You Think You Can Dance: Cat Deeley hosts and Mary Murphy returns as judge alongside Nigel Lythgoe. Highly-skilled dancers between the ages of 18 and 30 will showcase their talents in various dance styles, including contemporary, tap, hip-hop, ballroom, animation, breaking and more. The Top 10 dancers will be paired up with All-Stars who will guide them throughout the competition as they vie for America’s votes and the title of America’s Favorite Dancer. An additional judge will be announced soon.
Superhuman: Hosted by actor Kal Penn, and featuring panelists Mike Tyson, Christina Milian and Dr. Rahul Jandial, this jaw-dropping series of one-hour episodes tests the abilities of ordinary people to use their extraordinary skills to win a $50,000 grand prize. In each episode, five contestants who possess a distinct, nearly super-human ability in fields such as memory, hearing, taste, touch, smell, sight and more, are challenged to push their skills to the limit, yet only one will take home the title of SUPERHUMAN and the $50,000 grand prize.
Fox 2017 Summer Premiere Dates:
Sunday, May 14
7:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed – 2017 MISS USA®
Thursday, May 25
8:00-9:00 PM – LOVE CONNECTION (Series Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM – BEAT SHAZAM (Series Premiere)
Wednesday, May 31
8:00-9:00 PM – MASTERCHEF (Season Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed – THE F WORD WITH GORDON RAMSAY (Series Premiere)
Sunday, June 11
9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT – AMERICAN GRIT (Season Premiere)
Monday, June 12
8:00-9:00 PM – SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE (Season Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM – SUPERHUMAN (Series Premiere)
For those who can’t get enough of the special The Flash and Supergirl musical crossover episode, ‘Duet,’ WaterTower Music has just released the soundtrack CD. The Flash – Music From the Special Episode: Duet features seven tracks performed by Grant Gustin, Melissa Benoist, Darren Criss, Jesse L. Martin, John Barrowman, Jeremy Jordan, Carlos Valdes, Victor Garber, and composer Blake Neely.
The soundtrack includes the new song “Super Friend” written by Crazy Ex-Girlfriend star Rachel Bloom and Robot Chicken‘s Tom Root, and Oscar winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (La La Land) wrote “Runnin’ Home to You” featured in ‘Duet.’
The ‘Duet’ episode marked a Glee reunion for The Flash‘s Grant Gustin, Supergirl‘s Melissa Benoist, and Darren Criss. Criss was also able to work with his University of Michigan classmate Carlos Valdes (Cisco in The Flash).
The Flash – Music From The Special Episode: Duet Track List
1. “Meet the Music Meister” – Blake Neely
2. “Moon River” – Melissa Benoist
3. “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” – Darren Criss, Jeremy Jordan, Carlos Valdes and John Barrowman
4. “More I Cannot Wish You” – Jesse L. Martin, Victor Garber and John Barrowman
5. “Super Friend” – Grant Gustin and Melissa Benoist
6. “Runnin’ Home to You” – Grant Gustin
7. “Runnin’ Home to You (Guitar version)” – Grant Gustin
The ‘Duet Episode Plot: Barry (Grant Gustin) and team are surprised when Mon-El (guest star Chris Wood) and Hank Henshaw (guest star David Harewood) arrive on their Earth carrying a comatose Supergirl (guest star Melissa Benoist) who was whammied by the Music Meister (guest star Darren Criss). Unable to wake her up, they turn to Team Flash to save her.
However, the Music Meister surprises The Flash and puts him in a similar coma, one that Team Flash can’t cure. Kara and Barry wake up without their powers in an alternate reality where life is like a musical and the only way to escape is by following the script, complete with singing and dancing, to the end.
‘The Red Nose Day Special’ (Photo by: NBCUniversal)
NBC’s released a one-minute teaser trailer promoting the Love Actually cast reunion in support of 2017’s The Red Nose Day Special. The Red Nose Day Actually teaser trailer features cast members Andrew Lincoln, Martine McCutcheon, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rowan Atkinson, Lucia Moniz, Keira Knightley, Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Bill Nighy, Marcus Brigstocke and Rowan Atkinson holding signs explaining that the reunion will catch us up on what’s happened to their characters since the 2003 film.
Red Nose Day founder Richard Curtis wrote and directed Love Actually and also wrote the new short film featuring the original cast.
Red Nose Day Actually will debut during BBC1’s Red Nose Day broadcast in the U.K. on March 24th and will air during NBC’s The Red Nose Day Special on May 25th.
Details on The Red Nose Day Special: For the third year of Red Nose Day in the U.S., Americans across the country will come together, wear their Red Noses (available exclusively at Walgreens and Duane Reade locations nationwide), and raise money and awareness to help children living in poverty in America and around the world. With the support of millions of generous Americans, major partners and hundreds of celebrities, Red Nose Day has raised more than $60 million in its first two years since launching in the U.S. in 2015.
“I should mention if you die in here, you die out there,” says Music Meister (Darren Criss) to Kara (Melissa Benoist) and Barry (Grant Gustin) who are now trapped in a movie musical dream in The CW’s The Flash season three episode 17 crossover with Supergirl.
The second half of a two-part crossover begins with a flashback to Barry as a young boy. Barry and his mother are watching Singing in the Rain in an effort to cheer him up. It works, and Barry’s been a fan of musicals ever since, turning to them whenever he’s feeling down. Fast-forward to present day and Barry’s watching Singing in the Rain in Cisco’s apartment. Cisco (Carlos Valdes) tries to convince his friend to get off the couch and for them to go out. He knows Barry’s upset over his break-up with Iris (Candice Patton), but Barry isn’t in the mood to go out. Their conversation is interrupted by H.R. (Tom Cavanagh) texting them.
Barry and Cisco arrive at S.T.A.R. Labs to see an unconscious Kara being carried through a breach by Mon-El (Chris Wood) followed by J’onn (David Harewood). They put Kara in the medical bay and tell Team Flash about an alien they caught who escaped after putting some kind of whammy on Kara. Barry asks why they brought her to him and J’onn tells him the alien named Music Meister said he was coming after the fastest man alive next.
Team Flash starts to look for Music Meister when Cisco notices he’s already in S.T.A.R. Labs, spotting him on one of their monitors. Barry races to confront Music Meister and he welcomes Barry, informing him he’s there to teach them all a lesson. Kid Flash (Keiynan Lonsdale) arrives to back Barry up – after a quick pep talk from H.R. – and ends up getting punched across the room by Music Meister. Barry tries to take on Music Meister but is stopped, with Music Meister saying, “Too slow, Flash!” Music Meister whammies Barry too, putting him to sleep just like Kara.
Barry wakes up in what looks like a 1950s jazz club where he sees Kara up on stage singing “Moon River” for the customers. Confused but happy to see his friend, Barry smiles and listens to her sing. Near the end of the song, she sees him and smiles. Afterward, Barry and Kara meet up backstage and start comparing notes trying to figure out where they are and what’s going on. They realize they both were whammied by Music Meister, but still don’t know exactly where they are.
To make things even stranger, they start to see people they know from the real world in this dream world but as different people. Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) is now Cutter, the mobster who owns the nightclub and makes it clear to his two singers (Barry also apparently works at the jazz club) he expects some new material from them or else. They spot Winn (Jeremy Jordan) who in this world is Grady, the pianist they work with. Cisco is a waiter named Pablo who dreams of being a star. Kara and Barry notice it’s like her favorite film, The Wizard of Oz. They also notice they don’t have their powers which puts them at a big disadvantage.
Music Meister shows up and applauds Kara’s rendition of “Moon River.” “A little flat at points but I’ll forgive it because you’re so darn cute,” says the happy-go-lucky Music Meister. Barry and Kara demand to know where they are and what he’s done with them, and Music Meister reveals they’re in a movie musical of their own creation and the only way out is to follow the script of the story. But if they die in the dream, they die in real life. (Nice nod to the films Dreamscape, Inception, and The Matrix.) Before he leaves to cause havoc on Central City, Music Meister tries to get them in the mood by performing the musical number “Put a Little Love in Your Heart,” with Grady, Cutter, and Pablo joining in. After the number’s over, Kara and Barry are ready to head out to look for Music Meister who’s once again disappeared. Unfortunately, the search is cut short when Barry Barry is knocked out by Professor Stein (Victor Garber).
When he comes to, Barry asks Kara where they are and she has no clue. They quietly talk about Mon-El, with Barry saying he seems to really care about her but Kara tells Barry Mon-El lied to her about who he is for months. Barry confesses that he and Iris have also hit a snag but before they can comfort each other, Stein tells them to be quiet and listen. Both Stein and Joe West (Jesse L. Martin) are mobsters in this dream world, with Joe (now known as Digsby) thinking he runs the city. (Not since Guys and Dolls has a musical had so many mobsters!) Digsby wants Barry and Kara to find their daughter, Millie (aka Iris), who’s gone missing. (Dr. Stein and Joe West are a couple in this world.) Not wanting to get hurt – or worse – they agree.
They reach out to Pablo who knows a little something about everyone in town. He leads them to an apartment and wishes them luck. Barry and Kara think they hear Millie yelling and kick in the door to find to their surprise and displeasure Millie and Cutter’s son, Tommy (aka Mon-El), wrapped in each other’s arms, making out.
Back in the real world, Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) has discovered that the Music Meister has stolen both Kara’s and Barry’s powers. Not long after that, Team Flash gets an alert of a break-in at a bank. Cisco and Wally are about to head out when J’onn tells them he’s also going to help out. Cisco and Wally tell him no thanks, but then J’onn reveals himself to be Martian Manhunter. He’s definitely invited along. Caitlin’s startled to see J’onn’s alien form when she arrives to tell Cisco and Wally that Barry and Kara are getting worse. They head out to tag team Music Meister and it works, with both Kid Flash and Martian Manhunter both knocking him out.
Back in the musical dream world, Millie and Tommy have been keeping their love a secret because their fathers are rival mobsters. It’s a forbidden love. “Like West Side Story,” says Barry to Kara. Hoping to complete the plot, Kara and Barry convince Millie and Tommy to come clean to their fathers.
Barry accompanies Millie to see her fathers and Kara goes with Tommy to see Cutter. The two young lovers admit what has been really going on with encouragement from Kara and Barry. In backing them up, Barry realizes all he really wants is to be with Iris no matter what dark future awaits them. Kara realizes she needs to forgive Mon-El for lying to her if she wants to be with him. The fathers sing “More I Cannot Wish You” from Guys and Dolls to their kids to tell them they’re happy they’ve found love. However, as soon as the song is over, Tommy and Millie are out of earshot when both Digsby and Cutter tell their right-hand men they’re going to war.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Music Meister is in a cell in the pipeline and Iris and Mon-El try to get him to tell them how to get Barry and Kara out of their dream world. He smiles and asks just how much they love Barry and Kara because it’s up to them to get them out. He finishes by telling them to let love lead the way.
Back in the movie musical world, Barry and Kara are wondering when it will end so they can go home. They decide if they go through with the new original musical number Cutter demanded, it might work to get them home. They team up with Grady and come up with a new song called “Super Friend” which they not only rehearse but perform on stage. Their applause is cut short when they hear gunfire outside the club. Still behaving like heroes even though they don’t have their powers, Barry and Kara run outside to see Cutter and Digsby in a gunfight with their mobsters. Barry and Kara try to get them to stop but are caught in the crossfire and are shot. Lying on the street bleeding to death, Barry and Kara call out to each other.
In S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin tells everyone she’s losing Barry and Kara, and Iris tells Cisco to vibe her and Mon-El into the dream. Cisco isn’t sure he can but she reminds him he vibed her into the speed force so she’s sure he can do it. Sure enough, she’s right and she and Mon-El run to Barry and Kara. Not knowing how to get them out of the dream, Mon-El tells Kara he’s sorry he lied to her and he’ll get her out. She says she forgives him, but there’s no time left as she passes out. Barry looks at Iris and tells her he loves her as he starts to slip away, and a crying and pleading Iris kisses him. In a glow of bright light, Iris and Barry vanish and appear together back in S.T.A.R. Labs with Barry waking up. Mon-El kisses Kara and ditto.
The Music Meister also appears in the room, applauding them and saying he knew they could do it. He reveals that he’s been watching them for a while. Turns out he loves “the good guys” and wanted to teach them a lesson – that love is about letting yourself be saved. Cisco wants to know how he got out of the pipeline and H.R. asks if he’s from another dimension or multiverse to which Meister tells them they would not be able to comprehend where he’s from. With that, he promptly vanishes, most likely off to teach someone else a lesson.
Joe gets brought up to speed about the whole dream movie musical and finds it amusing. He’s surprised to hear Barry has a very good singing voice, according to Kara. Caitlin enthusiastically agrees, saying she’s heard it. (Back in season one Barry and Caitlin dueted on “Summer Lovin.”)
In the final scene, Iris gets to hear for herself how good a singer Barry is when he plays an instrumental version of the song “Runnin’ Home to You” and sings it to Iris as he once again pulls out his mother’s ring and proposes…but this time out of pure love. Iris says yes.
The Flash Season 3 Episode 17 Review:
Bright, upbeat, and a little campy at times, episode 17 titled “Duet” drastically steers the show away from this season’s tone and dark foreshadowing but fails to move forward or add anything to the main plotlines of the season. The stand-out performance goes to guest star Darren Criss as the Music Meister. Criss brought such energy and zest to the role of an interloper who it turns out is trying to actually help the heroes with their personal lives. Criss stole every scene he was in and added some much-needed pizzazz to the show. Here’s hoping he returns next season.
The production number “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” was extremely impressive and gave Valdes, Criss, Jordan, and Barrowman a chance to show off their musical talents. It also serves as the major setup and main message of the episode. The final scene allowed Gustin the opportunity to show just how talented a singer he is, performing “Runnin’ Home to You” as he declares his undying love for Iris and once again asks her to marry him. (Although sweet and moving, it did feel out of place happening outside the dream world).
One production number which was too campy and painful to sit through was the “Super Friend” which made the 1960s television series Batman look like a serious drama! It’s too bad it didn’t end up on the blooper reel where it belongs.
With the musical crossover episode now done and Barry and Iris back together, it’s time for Team Flash to come up with a plan on how to stop Savitar once and for all. But first, they need to find how just who he is…
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A little background on the musical crossover’s participants:
– Grant Gustin played Sebastian Smythe, a member of the Warblers, in seven episodes of Glee. Gustin also played Baby John in the Broadway Revival Tour of West Side Story.
– Melissa Benoist played Marley Rose on two seasons of Glee.
– John Barrowman has appeared onstage in Anything Goes, Miss Saigon, The Phantom of the Opera, Sunset Boulevard, and Matador. He released three albums Another Side (2007), Music Music Music (2008), and John Barrowman (2010).
– Jesse L. Martin originated the role of Tom Collins in Rent.
– Jeremy Jordan played Jack Kelly in the musical Newsies and was Clyde Barrow in the musical, Bonnie & Clyde. He was also part of the Broadway cast of Rock of Ages. Jordan was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album as part of the Newsies cast.
– Victor Garber starred as Jesus in Godspell and he was part of the folk group, The Sugar Shoppe. Garber’s been nominated for four Tony Awards and starred in Noises Off, Sweeney Todd, and Damn Yankees on stage.
