The Flash season 4, episode 5 review: Girls Night Out

Reviewing Tuesday night’s episode of The Flash, titled “Girls Night Out.”

The Flash’s “Girls Night Out” starts with the Ralph Dibny training at S.T.A.R. Labs and some of the team investigating the mysterious “Devoe”. Felicity Smoak walks in, in town for Iris’ Bachelorette party. Felicity is seen chatting with Iris and Caitlin about the party when Caitlin tries to flake (but is talked back in by Iris).

We jump to the West house, where the Barry and the boys of Team Flash have arrived. Joe seems to be having second thoughts about becoming a dad again, but he quickly engages with the group. Cisco has brought brandy and set up a home movie reel for Barry, when Dibny drops by. Not willing to take no for an answer, Dibny gets the boys to take the party out.

We join the Bachelorette party (now including Cecil) out to a fancy dinner, when the mysterious man from Caitlin’s icy past shows up. He lets his glass eye roll out of his head and begins to attack the party with snake-like tongue from the socket (yeah it’s pretty gross). Felicity and Iris try and take the fight to Norvak (Snake Eye), but he rebuffs them easily. Caitlin frosts up quickly and blasts Norvak, ending the fight.

Meanwhile, Dibny has lead the crew to a strip club. After finding out that Dibny is the “#1 Customer”, the boys have their phones confiscated. Cisco, thoughtful as he is, has prepared a speedster cocktail so that Barry can get drunk (Cisco also volunteers to be the “designated superhero”).

The Ladies are back at the Cortex (the hub of S.T.A.R. Labs) and are unable to reach the boys. Iris initially confronts Killer Frost, but it seems that Frost is unwilling to hear Iris out. Iris then discusses the situation with Cecil and Felicity. Killer Frost leaves and Felicity prepares to track her via satellite.

At the bar, Barry’s hammered and telling people he’s the Flash. Joe whisks him away from his new friends, and sits him with the rest of team. The next performer makes her way on stage when Joe realizes its Cecil’s daughter (who recognizes Joe).

Killer Frost arrives at some kind of underground rave and confronts Norvak and his boss Amunet Black. Felicity, Cecile and Iris arrive at the underground rave not long after looking for Killer Frost. Iris watches while Amunet Black pitches a new deal with Killer Frost. Amunet has been exploiting a new meta’s drug-like tears and wants Killer Frost to be her muscle. As the situation begins to escalate, Iris interrupts, preventing a meta battle (Amunet can control metal).

When the ladies arrive back at the Cortex, Killer Frost explains the history between Amunet Black and Caitlin Snow. Iris tries to convince Killer Frost to help the team save Weeper (the exploited meta) but Frost isn’t interested. Killer Frost reveals that she’s going to try and breach to another world to get a fresh start. Iris tries to appeal to the Caitlin Snow inside Killer Frost, but to no avail.

*Upon learning about the relationship between Caitlin Snow and Killer Frost, Felicity makes a comment about the Incredible Hulk. All I can think about is how weird and fun that crossover would be.

At the strip club, Joe is speaking with Cecil’s daughter, trying to understand why she’s dancing at the club at all (it’s for a book about the ‘female experience’). While they talk, Dibny gets into some trouble with the staff of the club and gets the boys into a tough spot.

Elsewhere, Killer Frost is waiting for someone but is surprised when Amunet shows up instead. They begin to do battle but Frost is overpowered and ends up reverting back to Caitlin. Amunet is about to finish Caitlin off but the police show up. When Amunet takes the time to kill the two responding officers, Caitlin escapes.

Caitlin makes it back to the Lab where Iris and she have an honest conversation about what’s going on with Caitlin/Killer Frost. Next, we find Joe, Barry, Dibny and Cisco in the Central City Police Department’s drunk tank. Barry’s beginning to sober up when he and Joe talk about Joe’s parenting abilities (Grant Gustin and Jesse L. Martin are natural as ever in this scene). Wells does the boys a favor and bails them out.

In the Cortex, the Ladies of Team Flash have been analyzing the Weeper’s tears and trying to find Amunet Black. The team goes to confront Amunet, but Caitlin decides to stay behind (believing she can’t control herself). At the steel mill, Cecil is monitoring the situation from the Lab’s van while  Iris and Felicity prepare to move in on Amunet’s operation. Unfortunately, the drug dealer’s thugs get the drop on Felicity and Iris.

Caitlin shows up at the steel mill (duh) and tries to bargain for her friends’ lives. Caitlin ‘frosts up’ and takes out the goons holding Felicity and Iris hostage. Cecil helps Killer Frost neutralize Amunet’s powers and Killer Frost attempts to finish Amunet off. Iris stops Killer Frost and convinces her to spare Amunet. In return, Amunet threatens Killer Frost and flees. The ladies release the Weeper who also flees.

Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, the boys and girls begin to trade stories while Barry nurses a terrible hangover. The boys see Killer Frost but are relieved when she reverts to Caitlin, who promises to explain things. At home, Joe has a serious talk with Cecil about their baby, both are relieved to find out that the other is nervous.

In a sweet conclusion, Caitlin and Iris have a heart to heart about their friendship. Iris asks Caitlin to be her Maid of Honor. The very end of the episode sees the Mysterious Man in the Chair (Devoe) capture the Weeper, stating that he has plans for the Weeper.

The Good

While Felicity Smoak is a resident of Star City, she is also a character close to Team Flash, so I’m very glad she got to be apart of the #Feminism Fun. There was a lot of good development for and between the Ladies of Team Flash. Particularly I enjoyed the growth in friendship between Iris and Caitlin. Danielle Panabaker and Candice Patton have good (platonic) chemistry and I really enjoyed watching their characters narrow the rift that’s existed between them.

Grant Gustin was a joy in this episode. It’s always great to see Barry let loose (and Grant for that matter). The fun is infectious, it’s a real pleasure to see Barry Allen not be in superhero mode for a little bit.

Hartley Sawyer fit well into the ensemble, really finding his groove in “Girls Night Out”. Ralph Dibny is a great source of comedy and is now part of the reason I look forward to the Flash every week.

Small Note: I really love this season’s running gag about the security at S.T.A.R. Labs being terrible.

The Bad

There wasn’t a lot wrong with the episode, but what was wrong was noticeable.

The action sequences/meta battles felt a little stiff, being more build up than payoff.

Some of the dialogue felt clunky.

While some of the individual scenes had good pacing, some of the cuts felt like they interrupted good scenes.

Next: 50 greatest super heroes in comic book history

The Grade

“Girls Night Out” featured a really nice change of pace for The Flash. Giving the ladies the spotlight was fresh and it felt right. There was a lot of genuine relationship building and plenty of good-natured comedy. Unfortunately, the flow felt a little off and the action was a little lackluster. That said, the “Girls Night Out” gets 4/5 Stars.

As always, be sure to let me know what you think in the comments! You can also tweet at me if you like @TomCalvinCv.