The Flash season 8, episode 7 review: Lockdown

“For once, I’d like to feel like The Flash and law enforcement are on the same page.” Spoilers for The Flash season 8, episode 7 follow.

In order to help with cases that The Flash deals with, Kramer wants a direct line to him, which Barry is hesitant to give.

Meanwhile, Goldface reappears and invades the CCPD.

Here’s everything that went down in The Flash season 8, episode 7 “Lockdown”.

Speed dial

After The Flash brings in another dumb group of criminals into the CCPD, Captain Kristen Kramer finally says the sensible thing and wants a direct line to the Scarlet Speedster. This should be a no brainer, right? However, for some reason, Barry has to wrestle with himself as to whether or not to give it to her.

This really leads to you to ask the question, “Who does he think he is, Batman?” So many freaking people know his identity already, so why is there even an issue as to giving her a direct line. He reveals himself randomly to seemingly everyone, so why not do the same with Kramer? And again, even Batman has a direct line with Gordon.

However, seeing Barry and Kramer bond during the episode when they’re both captured by Goldface really makes you appreciate this storyline. The newfound trust that the two of them have in each other after being forced into this unlikely situation is so organic and well-done that it really makes you love Kramer as a character, even if you hadn’t particularly cared about her up until this point. It will be so interesting to see Barry and Kramer together moving forward as their interactions here were the absolute best parts of the episode. It’s also so great that Kramer just figured out that Barry is The Flash because she’s just a good detective.

A golden idea

The real conflict of this episode occurs when Goldface comes in and invades the CCPD, taking the entire precinct hostage. It’s an interesting concept but very poor in execution.

Damion Poitier gives a good performance, but given that the character is written and directed insanely cheesy, it just doesn’t work at all. He’s always been a cheesy villain, but everything about him in this episode is just too over the top for its own good. From the giant gold chain he wears to the music that plays for him throughout the episode, it’s all cheesy to the max and it doesn’t work. He changes from cheesy dialogue to life-threatening dialogue on a whim and it’s terrible. The tone is all over the place as a result.

At one point in the episode he even goes on a rant about classic literature to his lackey and it just leaves you asking, “Why? Why is this happening?” It’s not enjoyable and I don’t know how it got past a pitch meeting, let alone a first draft of a script.

Romanticism in The Flash season 8

Too much of this episode also focuses on uninteresting romantic relationships. First up, we have Chester and Allegra. This romance honestly just came out of nowhere during “Armageddon” and now they’re trying to play it up more, especially the awkwardness of it and it isn’t interesting at all. Pessimistically, it probably won’t ever be interesting.

And then there’s *angry emoji* Chillblaine and Frost having a double date of sorts with Caitlin and her new boyfriend (who also happens to be called Marcus) and it’s just terrible. Chillblaine continues to be an infuriating, terrible character and I can’t stand to see him on screen most of the time.

However, there is one scene between him and Caitlin – in which he gives her some advice about her love life – that actually is really solid and it goes a long way in making him a slightly more likable character. He still sucks and I still hate him, but I just hate him slightly less after that conversation, which is a compliment to how good that interaction was.

Despite the incredible Barry/Kramer plot in “Lockdown”, so much of this episode of The Flash season 8 falters under the weight of decisions that either don’t work or just aren’t that interesting.

The Flash season 8 airs new episodes on The CW on Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET.

What did you think of The Flash season 8, episode 7? Let us know in the comments below!