Crazy for You is, ultimately, a pretty weak episode but is saved by the characters and the stinger.

Basic rundown of the plot involves Barry and Caitlin getting over their respective love interests, Cisco letting Pied Piper out of his cell for revelations about Ronnie and a teleporting villain of the week who is pretty weak sauce.

Peek-A-Boo (yes, that’s her real codename from the comics) frees her jailbird boyfriend from Iron Heights, garnering the attention of the CCPD and The Flash. Barry’s investigation eventually gets some help from Henry Allen, who plays cop on the inside and gets his ass beat for his trouble. Still, it’s nice to see Gustin and Shipp add some physicality to their father/son scenes and it gets pretty emotional by the end. Oh yeah, Peek-A-Boo! Her powers don’t work in darkness so she’s quickly dealt with, her boyfriend abandoning her and off into the pipeline she goes. NEVER TO BE SPOKEN OF AGAIN.

Cisco gets to deal Piper, and while he does get a pretty cool fight scene (with a shockingly obvious stunt double) he gets betrayed and Piper escapes. At least we find out more about Firestorm, and that Dr Martin Stein is in control of Robbie’s body; the two having merged due to the accelerator accident.

The big thing in this episode, for me, is the character relationship between Barry and Caitlin. They end up going to a karaoke dive bar under the pretence of a stakeout but Caitlin ends up drunk off her tits and calls Barry up to sing. Gustin gets to flex his impressive Glee pipes and Panabaker is an adorable drunk, a far cry from her usual default state as the team’s serious one. Barry and Caitlin (especially drunk Caitlin) is a delight to watch, it makes me squee on the inside and the whole affair leads to Caitlin setting her sights on Barry but unfortunately…

Linda Park enters the Love Triangle! Malese Jow (of Vampire Diaries fame, according to my watching-buddy) is now in the mix for more high school drama BS. She gets a nice enough intro and I’m sure she’ll also become a better love interest than Iris, who is left mouth agape at the revelation of Barry dating one of her co-workers.

Flash Fact: Linda Park is actually the girlfriend/wife of the second Flash, Wally West. Whatever could be the game plan with her dating Barry?

Stinger for this week is pure monkey business as we finally get our first proper look at Gorilla Grodd, making his presence felt in a straight up Jurassic Park homage. Get hyped!

All in all, a weak sauce villain of the week means more room for characters to develop and mysteries to deepen but next week seems to get back to brilliance as we finally meet The Nuclear Man.