The Flash/Supergirl Musical: What was the Best Number of the Night?
Following some major upsets in their love lives, Barry and Kara were compelled into a coma by the Music Meister, played by the infinitely charming Darren Criss. His motivation? To “put a little love in their hearts“, as it were. Was it weird? Yes. Did the Music Meister’s powers make any sense? Not in the least. Did I love every second of this episode? Absolutely. Not only was the musical interlude a welcome change from the doom and gloom we’ve been seeing on The Flash lately, it genuinely looked like the cast had an amazing time filming it.
Surprisingly, my biggest complaint is that there weren’t enough songs. I suppose it just speaks to the massive level of talent comprised in the Arrowverse, but Carlos Valdes and Jeremy Jordan were criminally underused here. One silver lining is that they’ve left a clear opening for the potentially omnipotent Music Meister to return for a second helping of musical shenanigans, and I am 100 per cent here for it.
Sadly, not all musical numbers are created equal, and to really showcase the cream of the crop, I’ve gone ahead and ranked each song from best to, well, still pretty good overall.
Super Friends
As if I wouldn’t love the song penned by Crazy Ex-Girlfriend‘s Rachel Bloom. This number was hands down the best song of the night simply because it showed how magical Grant Gustin and Melissa Benoist are on screen together. Seeing those two rays of sunshine riff off each other in an adorable tap number is everything we could want in a musical crossover between The Flash and Supergirl. Bloom’s unconventionally hilarious and charming lyrics were the cherry on top of what was already destined to be an unforgettable performance.
More I Cannot Wish You
Simply put, this one gave me chills. Jesse L. Martin can do no wrong and The Flash‘s Dad of the Century was melting hearts with his earnest rendition of this Guys and Dolls classic. Once Victor Garber and John Barrowman were added to the mix, the unlikely Mob Dad Trio had me reaching for tissues. The scene itself gets a bonus point for delivering the quote of the night, with Barry’s totally plausible justification for why he supports Millie’s two dads: “I love musicals, so…”
Runnin’ Home to You
This was the second original song of the night, written by Broadway hitmakers and, more recently, Oscar-winning La La Land lyricists Pasek and Paul. Gustin’s delivery was heartfelt and a gem to the ears, but this one didn’t score the top spot because it didn’t have that closing number oomph you want in a musical. Remember that breathless feeling we had after Buffy The Vampire Slayer‘s final number in “Once More, With Feeling?” That’s what I was missing here.
Put a Little Love in Your Heart
I loved this dance number for a few reasons: it’s the only song featuring the superstar vocals of Criss and Jordan, it set the tone for the rest of the episode, and it was just plain fun to watch. However, between all four crooners, it was too overstuffed to really enjoy the singing chops of all four uber-talented men. Clearly the solution is to have another musical episode and rectify this whole thing, but for now I am simply left wanting.
Moon River
The fact that Benoist’s sweet rendition of “Moon River” is at the bottom of the list has way more to do with the overall quality of the episode’s music than this one in particular. It was a nice introduction to Benoist’s vocal chops, for those who never saw her turn as Marley on Glee, but was ultimately a little forgettable in comparison to the others.
Did you enjoy watching The Flash/Supergirl musical? What was your favorite performance? Sound off in the comments below.
Supergirl airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW and Showcase, and The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW and CTV.
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About The Author
Kelly Townsend
Associate Editor Kelly Townsend always had strong opinions on TV growing up, so it was only natural to evolve from couch musings to online journalism. She can't ever choose a favorite series, so please don't ask. Her writing has also appeared on IndieWire and Tribute.ca. You can find her on Twitter at @kellybtownsend.
I must admit I didn’t watch the musical fullly, I watched during the commercials for “Fosters, but what I saw was okay; I did thankfully get to see the “Super Friends” song and that was all kinds of adorable! As you said though Kelly there wasn’t enough, it felt like as soon as the song began it ended; there was definitely a lot of talking…I guess I was expecting more “Grey’s Anatomy” musical like where it’s more 50/50 talk/sing. Speaking of GA’s musical, I have to say not having Chyler Leigh in this was a big reason I skipped it – that was an injustice to the talent of the stars; however we did get an adorable line from it “My sister says I put the Kara in karaoke.” so it wasn’t a total loss.
Another point I loved – “Joe” and “Stein” as “Iris’s” dads! This was also one of the few times I didn’t groan at “Mon’s” actions….until the end, but that wasn’t his fault; Mon to me works so much better when he’s learning and growing and because he hasn’t done that much and still only wants to be a hero to arguably get in Kara’s pants I can’t support them as a long term pairing thus the ending about learning to love made me roll my eyes when it came to them. It was a cheesy plot with both couples but I felt it realistically fit Iris/Barry more than Mon/Kara, Kara just forgave him way too easy and I wish they would have taken another episode on “Supergirl” to allow her to think about it all before she took him back because she didn’t have a lot of time to think about everything between the reveal and being kidnapped.
I thought what little I saw of them together Chris and Canadice had good chemistry together and I’d be interested in seeing them work together on another project.
Kara trying to guess the end of sentences was adorable.
Thanks for the mini review Kelly!
“he hasn’t done that much and still only wants to be a hero to arguably get in Kara’s pants” – No truer words have ever been spoken.
Thanks for the comment! Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂