“The Good, the Bad and the Lucky”
Original Airdate: March 15, 2023
Welcome to the first of the filler weeks for this, the final season of The Flash! Well, I suppose calling this episode “filler” is a bit harsh. It’s nice every now and again to settle in and let the characters progress in their lives rather than focus on whatever looming threat might be holding Central City hostage. Plus, this episode is one of those ones where Barry is off screen most of the time and (as much as I like Barry) those are always a nice break from tradition.
OH, LADY LUCK TURNED HER BACK ON ME
For some bizarre reason, Becky Sharpe is narrating the beginning of this episode. This narration does not come back in any way for the rest of the hour and I have no clue why they went with this when there was plenty of opportunity to have Becky explain everything with flashbacks in linear scenes like a more typical episode. But yeah, sure, they went with a one-off voiceover at the beginning. To summarize: Becky was really lucky, her luck suddenly turned on her after she got engaged to her dream guy, and it all culminated in her fiancé getting knocked into a coma and Becky getting arrested for attempted murder.
Oh, also, Becky knows Crisis was a thing that happened, which doesn’t make sense because the Paragons from Crisis are supposed to be the only people who remember the multiverse. Gorilla Grodd and alternate-Ryan Wilder also knew about Crisis last week. I can’t figure out if the writers simply forgot that was a condition they set during the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover or if they’re hoping we forgot. If you stop and think about it for a second, it really doesn’t make sense that so many people remember Crisis because it implies everyone is living with two realities in their heads, which I feel would cause a lot more problems.
Anyway, Cecile is called in to help Becky out with the attempted murder charge and Allegra tags along. It’s apparently been a while since the last episode, since Joe has already moved into “the country” with Jenna and it’s been long enough that Cecile has already worked out a routine for visiting them. She’s also worked up a lot of anxiety about them being away, but we’ll get to that later. Right now, she wants to quickly solve Becky’s case so she can catch a train to Joe’s place in time for Jenna’s birthday.
When the evidence against Becky stacks up even further, she, Cecile, and Allegra go to the scene of the crime: Becky’s apartment. There, the only clue they find is a poker chip that Becky says belongs to her future brother-in-law, Tony. Despite Becky already saying that Tony is the gambler in the family, he claims her fiancé, Dom, is the one with huge gambling debts and a love for the slots. He says the poker chip is from O’Shaughnessy’s Bar, which holds a regular high stakes poker game for some reason.
They go to O'Shaughnessy's but before Cecile and Allegra can investigate further, two goons show up and try to kidnap Becky. Cecile’s powers are on the fritz, which they blame on Becky’s metahuman aura of bad luck. Regardless, Becky doesn’t get kidnapped — yet. When she later overhears Cecile complaining about how Becky’s case resulted in her missing her train to Jenna, Becky gets upset, walks out, and then gets kidnapped. When Cecile and Allegra try to stop the bad guys, one of them throws a device that causes their powers to backfire and they end up getting away with Becky.
Chester figures out that the device the kidnappers used reverses dark matter metahuman abilities with some kind of crystal, but it only works once. This leads to them figuring out that Becky’s engagement ring is made from the same crystal, and since Becky never takes the ring off it’s counted as “one” use ever since she got it. I... don’t think that makes sense, but that’s not a hill I’m willing to die on. Okay, cool. They just need to get Becky’s ring away from her and it’ll neutralize the effect of the crystal and she’ll be lucky again.
But before that can happen, we have to have a character bonding beat between Cecile and Allegra. Cecile is stressed out about Joe and Jenna being out of the city and is worried that she can’t be a good mom to Jenna when she’s living away from them. She also hates how quiet the house is without them and has been sleeping in her office instead. Allegra gives Cecile the exact sort of pep talk necessary for her to solve the problems of the episode, and they head to O’Shaughnessy’s to save Becky from Tony.
Tony is playing blackjack with Becky as the dealer (why did he make her put on the dealer uniform for this?) and only one of the kidnapper dudes as the witness in this small-time “casino” set up in a bar. Why is Becky even necessary in this scenario? Why is anyone necessary in this scenario? He could just say he wins and take all the chips to cash out, or he could hold a different dealer at gunpoint and have them declare him the winner of every hand. He could just flat-out rob the place if he wanted. It’s a tiny bar with, apparently, hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash somewhere on the premises. Yeah, it’s never been more clear that the only reason why this scene is happening here is because they couldn’t afford a casino set. Which is pretty funny.
Cecile and Allegra arrive and Chester causes a distraction by shutting off the bar’s lights, giving the two of them time to run up and confront Becky and her kidnappers. Cecile uses her telekinesis to remove Becky’s ring, returning her luck to her and allowing her to swiftly overpower Tony and his goons. As it turns out, Cecile’s powers were never affected by Becky’s luck — the issues were because she was so tired and worried about her family, and Allegra’s pep talk sorted her out. Hurrah!
Allegra decides to move in with Cecile so that Cecile is less lonely. Becky’s fiancé wakes up from his coma and he and Becky presumably live happily ever after.
Other Things:
- I bet the bartender (owner?) at O’Shaughnessy’s Bar really hates how popular the place is with metahumans. Sorry you own a standing set on The Flash, buddy!
- The montage of Chester and Mark trying to figure out Khione’s powers is cute. Jaunty music and everything. Khione is an unknown, by the way. Neither metahuman nor human.
- I know they don’t want to interrupt Barry and Iris’ little vacation, but Cecile worrying about getting back to Joe seems silly. Not only is Barry a call and a zip away (he can’t zoom Iris around because she’s pregnant, but he can zoom other people just fine) but Allegra can teleport. This show sure wants us to forget a lot of stuff for the sake of plot.
- Khione comforting Mark and making snow fall from the ceiling was pretty! Impossible, but pretty.
- “Chester, I’m gonna ask you to do something that’s a little bit shady, but, Tony’s bank records, they would be confidential—” “Got ‘em.” Hee. I love the timing on that bit.
- Mmm, yeah they’re making too big a deal about knowing Nora will be Barry and Iris’s first kid. Is this when they get twins instead? Like, even The Flash can’t possibly think a child conceived three months earlier than expected would turn out to be the same child. They have to understand biology enough to get that.
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