The Flash: Escape the Midnight Circus
I love the Flash, I love audio drama, my thoughts on EtMC I’ll save for a separate post, but this a place to share your thoughts, if you’ve listened to it
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My thoughts on the 2-episode premier:
POSITIVES: I don’t mind Iris and Barry being in couples counseling. Iris wanting Barry to make more time for her is a dynamic in their relationship that goes all the way back to the '50s, and I think that the two of them being in therapy for it is a logical, if slightly disappointing, extension of that dynamic.
I think that the Midnight Circus universe gives us some weird, dark humor, especially in the Kat Grant/Cpt. Boomerang commentary, and I’m very much here for it.
NEGATIVES: I can’t believe we’re just doing a Flashpoint again AND one where Barry loses his powers. After this, can we give time travel and alternate universes a rest in Flash adaptations? I also hate that Barry decides to alter the fabric of reality just to get out of having a fight with Iris, Which leads into my next point pretty nicely…
This version of the character is obviously toned down considerably compared to the DCEU/Ezra Miller version, but I really hope we aren’t stuck with Barrys who are this immature and chaotic from now on. I hated it in the DCEU and I’m really disappointed to see elements of that version of the character appear in a completely different adaptation.
I usually try to stick to a philosophy of “if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing” on this site, but I really wanted to get my negative thoughts on that first episode out there. I feel mostly positive about the show after listening to episode two. I think the Midnight Circus universe is proving more interesting than it sounded on paper and I’m excited to see how the story progresses. I just don’t like how episode one characterized Barry and justified getting the story to this point.
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Listening to this in its entirety today so I’ll join you in the thoughts/opinions. How far into it are you?
Episode 1:
Is Iris really wanting Barry to not help people in order to spend more time with her? “I didn’t sign up to be a sidekick or a cheerleader”. When you date a superhero you know they have to respond when people are in need.
I am all for the dynamic of a superhero struggling to balance life saving people with their family obligations but this one bothers me. She’s being unrealistic, IMO. He literally left therapy for less than a second to save children from drowning in a school bus that went off a bridge and she’s upset about it. What was the alternative?
“Why didn’t The Flash save my children?”
“He was in couples therapy.”
“What?!?!”
He came back to therapy, he was gone for less than a second and, IMO, he’s doing a good job of being both The Flash and Barry Allen.
As I continue listening it’s clear they’re going for a light, humorous feel to the show so I’m going to follow their lead and lighten up and take this less seriously. Just have fun with it.
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Episode 2:
Captain Boomerang as the color commentator for The Midnight Circus is fantastic and hearing Heatwave go against a white collar criminal that is pleading for her life was legitimately funny. Dark humor, but funny!
Your President:
Other Matches:
- Aquaman vs. King Shark in a 100 meter swim
- Cyborg vs. Golden Glider in a dance-off
- The Flash vs. The Top in hand-to-hand combat
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Episode 3:
Liked hearing how Barry beat The Top without using his powers.
Heatwave vs. Turtle was another entertaining fight to listen to. I gotta say, I would listen to a show like this that had characters battling in a Midnight Circus style event/tournament.
The first episode was rough, for me, but this has gotten better as it’s gone along and now, halfway through, it’s pretty good and entertaining. Looking forward to seeing where it goes and what’s next for Barry in The Midnight Circus.
What is their fascination with ‘Rizzoli and Isles’? 
Episode 4:
The Flash vs. Double Down in a game of blackjack. The guy that literally has playing cards fused into his skin and he’s playing a card game.
Captain Cold vs. Blue Beetle in tennis.
Iris West / The Flash / Cicada vs. The Thinker in the Psychodrome! Love the creativity and variations of the battles and punishments in The Midnight Circus.
It’s pretty obvious where this is going for the finale but still a fun show to listen to with unexpected laughs, great cameos and an interesting storyline.
Episode 5:
Captain Cold vs. Pied Piper in a song contest!?! 
This show is something else! I’m going to have Captain Cold’s rap song stuck in my head the rest of the night!
This is supposedly set years after The Flash movie yet Barry’s dad just got out of prison when pardoned by President Murmur? And Barry is discussing whether or not he should go back in time to save his Mom? 
Iris West vs. Barry Allen vs. Captain Cold in the Final and it’s a maze set up by Mirror Master! Fun concept. Again, I’d listen to a show that did nothing but announce Midnight Circus bouts between DC characters.
Episode 6:
Only Iris or Barry can survive? But Iris just accepted that Barry is her boyfriend in another universe! Pisser.
Nice Easter Egg reference to The Empire Strikes Back in here!
Barry: “I love you”
Iris: “I know”
President Murmur giving a speech while they play taps - nice callback to a running joke throughout the series and funny to listen to.
Creative way to have this end and now that I’ve heard it all - that was a good show. Entertaining, unique and fun. I’d recommend it to anyone looking for something to listen to in a commute or just for, yeah, fun.
My final thoughts, having caught up now, are that the show is derivative, but fun. The main thing it has going for it is its morbid sense of humor. Kat Grant and Boomerang’s banter is hilarious. In fact I was overall more interested in the Midnight Circus than I was in Barry’s experiences in and around it.
The series borrows HEAVILY from other media, though, be it other Flash stories, death match stories like Battle Royale or Hunger Games, or taking riddles from classic Greek myths. They even borrow a very famous bit of dialogue from Star Wars, as Felix mentioned.
If you like these characters, it’s a good enough way to pass the time, but the series doesn’t do much that isn’t done better elsewhere.
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This issue here, IMO, isn’t that Barry is saving people instead of spending time with Iris, but that he can’t be present when he isn’t saving them. Iris isn’t mad that Barry left for a second to save children, she’s mad that he can’t recall what was being said even before he left.
This also ties into Barry’s overall arc of learning to like himself outside of being Flash and remember that that is who Iris loves.
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