Darren's TV Projects for 2017

CarterMatt.com wrote:
The Flash season 3 episode 17 review: Was 'Duet' a worthy musical?

March 22, 2017

The other big critique we have is that we wanted to see as much Criss’ Music Meister as possible, and there really wasn’t all that great of an opportunity to see the two parties share screen time with their former Glee actor. That was one of the real selling points for the story going in.

[. . . ]

Then, the Music Meister claimed that the entire purpose of his mission was to teach everyone to love each other. He wasn’t so much a villain as a psychiatrist who had a very demented way of getting people to work through their issues.

Nerdist wrote:
All the Flash/Supergirl Musical Crossover Songs, Ranked

March 21, 2017

Now that is how you do a musical episode of TV.

[. . . ]

And it. Was. Perfect. I laughed. I cried. I danced in my seat. I sang along. I clapped. And by the time the episode ended I was already asking for more. If The Flash and Supergirl teamed up for a musical episode every year, that still wouldn’t be enough.

[. . .]

We could go on and on about how Grant Gustin and Melissa Benoist had the talent and the right background to carry such a high-concept episode, but that’s not why “Duet” worked so well (although it didn’t hurt). The main reason why this was such a successful endeavor for both shows is the big twist at the very end. It turned out that the Music Meister (Gustin and Benoist’s fellow Glee alum Darren Criss) came to National City and then Central City to find and help Barry and Kara get back together with their respective exes. He wasn’t a villain after all! He just wanted to teach the two superheroes a lesson about love (and teach a PTSD-ridden Kid Flash/Wally West [Keiynan Lonsdale] a lesson about overcoming his fears). It was all about loooooove!

Den of Geek! wrote:
The Flash Season 3 Episdoe 17 Review: Duet

Mar 21, 2017

I hate musicals. I never watched Glee.

[. . . ]

Despite my misgivings, "Duet" was kinda delightful.

. . .  But then again, what the hell else were they going to do? Give us some third rate villain of the week who wouldn't be half as charming as Darren Criss' Music Meister? No, I have to admit, "Duet" was the right move, and by the time everything wrapped up, it proved to be the right way to put the ongoing Barry/Iris saga back on track.

[. . . ]


- So the Music Meister comes from an unexpected place. He was the villain on a couple of appropriately themed episodes of the excellent Batman: The Brave and the Bold animated series. But...this wasn't quite the same guy, was it?

For real, what was he getting at at the end there? Is he from the Fifth Dimension like Mr. Mxyzptlk? Or is he the equivalent of the mysterious animator in Looney Tunes' "Duck Amuck" cartoon? That's the one where an animator puts a fourth wall breaking Daffy Duck through his paces, as the cartoon plays with its own format incessantly. At the end, the mystery animator is Bugs Bunny, manipulating reality to break his rival's chops. So is Music Meister supposed to be Greg Berlanti's meta stand-in, tonight? The guy who manipulates reality to give fans something they've wanted since these two were cast?

Or was I just too busy making notes about other stuff to miss a far more straightforward explanation of who he is? Forgive me if that's the case.

JoBlo.com wrote:
TV Review: The Flash- Season 3 episdoe 17 "Duet"

EPISODE 17: "Duet"

Musicals are not as universally beloved as some other genres but they have a solid history on the small screen with special episodes dedicated to showcasing characters breaking into song. The most famous genre series to have a musical episode is Buffy The Vampire Slayer whose episode is widely considered one of the best of all time. After the run of Glee, musical episodes have not been as common as the used to be, but this crossover between The Flash and Supergirl is one of the best hours The CW has ever put to screen. Bringing Glee veteran Darren Criss as the Music Meister to this reunion with former costars Grant Gustin and Melissa Benoist along with stage veterans John Barrowman (Malcolm Merlyn from Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow), Victor Garber (Dr. Stein from Legends of Tomorrow), Jeremy Jordan (Supergirl), Jesse Martin and Carlos Valdes (The Flash) who all have experience on Broadway gives this episode an air of talent that some musical episodes do not garner with actors unaccustomed to the singing on screen.

[. . . ]

Back and safe, the Music Meister appears and reveals that he was never really a villain at all. Treated much like The Watcher from Marvel Comics, the Meister witnessed the sadness of Kara and Barry and decided to set up this elaborate dream to teach them a lesson about the power of love. He then disappears into thin air . . .

Refinery29 wrote:
Supergirl Started The Glee Reunion We all Deserve

March 21, 2017


Before this week, there was one fact in the CW’s quartet of DC Universe series that went largely and criminally ignored: half of the show’s leads are Glee alums, meaning they’re harboring perfect pipes. The Flash’s Grant Gustin was Dalton Academy Warblers sometimes-villain Sebastian Smythe, while Supergirl’s blonde Melissa Benoist played the brunette Marley Rose.

The snubbing of these very important facts finally ends this week with a two-night musical crossover special between the superhero dramas — and none other than beloved New Directioner Darren Criss is serving as the bad guy. This is the closest fans are getting to the Glee reunion of their dreams.

Supergirl kicked off the event in the final moment of season 2’s “Star-Crossed,” when it’s announced an unusual prisoner is entering the DEO, the alien-monitoring government agency Supergirl-slash-Kara Danvers is a member of. Of course, Criss and his handsome face walks through the door in chains.

In a too-perfect moment, Supergirl’s BFF Winn (Smash's Jeremy Jordan) announces, “Ooh, he looks fun,” because obviously Darren Criss is fun. The new baddie, who is DC Comics character the Music Meister, immediately reveals he let himself get caught for a grand evil plan and begins hypnotizing Kara. Then he opens up a portal to pull The Flash into all of this craziness, since the speedster exists in an alternate universe.

[. . . ]

The continuation of Kara’s alternate reality conundrum will continue in The Flash season 3’s “Duet,” when fastest man alive Barry Allen joins her.

[. . . ]

Until “Duet” airs we’ll keep our fingers crossed Criss’s Music Meister also gets in a few bars to make this a complete Warblers-New Directioners collaboration.

The Hollywood Reporter wrote:
Inside the 'Flash' and 'Supergirl' Musical Crossover's Big Twist


March 21, 2017

In the end, The CW's Supergirl musical crossover with The Flash was all about love, and the villain wasn't even a villain at all.

The crossover's mysterious "villain," the Music Meister (Darren Criss), arrived in National City during Monday's Supergirl to put Kara (Melissa Benoist) into a coma and then made his way to Central City for Tuesday's musical crossover with The Flash to do the same to Barry (Grant Gustin) . . . When all was said and done, it turned out that the coma was actually a movie musical inside Barry and Kara's minds that was intended to help both couples get back together

[. . . ]

Everyone made up and woke up in the real world as good as new and were shocked to see the Music Meister applauding their victory because he "believes in the good guys."

"The lesson was love," Criss' charismatic character told the whole crew inside of STAR Labs. "Love is about letting yourself be saved. It's not just about saving other people, even if you are superheroes."

The reveal marks a big change from all the super-crossovers in the past, which have tended to feature some sort of formidable villain putting everyone's lives (or the fate of the world) at stake.

[. . . ]

To hear Kreisberg tell it, the decision to make the Music Meister a hero instead of a villain just fit into the story. "At the end, that the cause of it would be somebody evil didn't feel right the more we worked on the plot of the episode," he says. "The idea that this person put them through their paces so they could get their love back on track ultimately seemed like a benevolent thing. We just thought that was so interesting. I mean, literally every show, every villain is evil. That somebody was doing something just to do some good struck us as very much the kind of thing a musical would do."

[. . . ]

The actress [Melissa Benoist] noted that she loved the humor and ad-libs featured in the episode, which included a mini-Glee reunion with co-stars Gustin and guest player Criss. "It's only fitting for a musical comedy," Benoist says of the crossover's romantic ending. "And Darren was the perfect person to play that. He did an amazing job and was so charismatic and funny, and he just brings that positivity. It was the perfect twist for the setting."

Adds Gustin: "Everyone was asking about Darren and what kind of villain he is. It was cool that he just manipulated us. You never really see that on our show," he says. "It was a cool change of pace. It was unlike anything we've ever done or may ever do again. It was a nice break from all the melodrama that's happening all season. We really flipped that on its head and did the opposite and made it all about joy."

And Patton adds with a smile, "I don't think anyone wants to see Darren Criss as the villain. It was my first time working with him, and he was just so sweet that I was like, 'Yeah, I'm glad you're not a villain on our show.'"

EW.com wrote:
'The Flash' -'Supergirl' musical crossover recap: 'Duet'

March 21, 2017

God, I loved this episode. The Flash/Supergirl musical crossover was an immensely charming and necessary hour of television that brought some much-needed light to The Flash‘s detrimentally dark third season. The music numbers were fun, Darren Criss did an amazing job as Music Meister, and the entire cast looked like they were having the time of their lives, which made it more entertaining for the audience.

[. . . ]

“You wouldn’t even understand where I come,” says Music Meister when H.R. asks where he’s from, which raises so many questions! Given the fact that he’s been watching both Barry and Kara and has these godlike powers, I think he might be a Monitor, which in DC comics mythology is someone who is responsible for monitoring the Earths in the multiverse. The other option is that he’s from the Fifth Dimension like Mr. Mxyzptlk.

Vanity Fair wrote:
How The Flash Just Pulled off the Best Musical TV Episode of All Time

March 21, 2017

Tuesday night the CW superhero power block finally made good on the implied, long-simmering promise that comes with employing so many Broadway legends and Glee kids in your TV shows. Drawing the cream of the crop from four different casts—The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, and Legends of Tomorrow—the CW put on a musical that, at once, appealed to every possible demographic. As a die-hard fan of both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and musicals, I’m aware it’s blasphemy to argue that The Flash just put on the best musical episode in TV history, but that’s exactly what I’m about to do. There are better musicals and better episodes of television but no better combination of the two.

[. . . ]





[. . . ]

Criss, who was one of the strongest members of the Glee cast for five seasons, makes for a perfect, whimsical “villain.” He doesn’t do much—and, really, he’s more Teen Angel than Music Meister—but everything he does is laced with a theatrical panache that fits the tone of “Duet” seamlessly.



[. . . ]

Is “Duet” as good an episode TV as that famous all-singing hour of Buffy? Maybe not. But given the level of talent, it’s a better musical and one that will have both Flash and musical fans clamoring for a sequel.

411 Mania wrote:
The Flash 3.17 - "Duet"

Darren Criss as Music Meister was excellent. There’s a great amount of tension when he first arrives at S.T.A.R. Labs. First, he zooms like a speedster and takes out Kid Flash. Barry of course retaliates, but Music Meister anticipates the move and prevents it, saying, “And you’re too slow.” In just one scene Music Meister shows how great of an antagonist he is. He gets another great sequence later on as Martian Manhunter, Mon-El, and Wally try to stop him. The writing later throws a curveball, revealing that Music Meister isn’t actually evil – he’s just doing this because he somehow sensed relationship problems, and thus wanted to help fix them. It was hard to buy, and kinda ruins his charismatic villain performance. After all, why would he mock Wally about being trapped in the Speed Force if he actually isn’t a “bad guy?” It didn’t make sense.

[. . . ]

Music Meister was an excellent antagonist, though his revealed goal at the end was a head-scratcher and hard to get into. (Why was he draining the heroes’ powers and wanting to rob a bank if his only goal was to teach a lesson about relationships?)

Mic.com wrote:
'The Flash' season 3, episode 17 is a musical, gleeful smash with a surprise ending

March 21, 2017

Darren Criss' Music Meister was compelling and mischievous. Let's get a spin-off of him traveling the multiverse and teaching people lessons via genre simulations.

Poppy wrote:Thanks for posting that, Lin.  I would think that it has to be more than coincidence.  Maybe someone /some folks did this as a nod to Glee fans, especially since many of Darren's fans are Klaine fans (and Melissa and Grant have their Glee fans as well)?   I'm glad it made some fans happy.  

Jeremy wrote:I love the episode. Love the songs, the spoofy aspect and the final twist. And Darren was amazing, obvi. 

I just wish we would have seen more of him and I'm disappointed that the facial expressions from the promo weren't in the episode.

Lin wrote:I enjoyed the episode a lot! It also made me realise how much I miss having Darren on TV regularly.

Lin wrote:Of course I always want more of Darren, but I really loved all of his scenes. What an awesome part for him, he got to do a little bit of everything - show some of his villainous side but also be cute, funny and charming, plus some singing, dancing, flying around... you can tell he was having a blast.

The Hollywood Reporter wrote:
What Was the Best Musical Performance During the 'Flash' and 'Supergirl's' 'Duet'?

March 22, 2017

THR ranks the super songs from The CW's DC Comics musical crossover


DC Comics villain the Music Meister made his live-action debut on Monday's episode of Supergirl and headed over to The Flash for a two-show, two-night musical crossover that featured multiple performances from both show's multitalented casts.

Glee grad Darren Criss took on the role of the Music Meister, a new type of "villain" who insisted everyone follow his musical script or die. The episode also served as a reunion for Criss with his former Glee co-stars, The Flash's Grant Gustin and Supergirl's Melissa Benoist, who both showed off their vocal skills during the two-night crossover.

Below, The Hollywood Reporter takes a closer look at the musical moments from The Flash's "Duet" episode, ranking each performance from glee club to Tony worthy.


[. . . ]

1. "Put a Little Love in Your Heart"


This rendition of the late-1960s hit was just what the crossover needed to make it a true TV musical experience. As the second number of the hour, it featured a big dance sequence with an impressive group of background performers. Criss' natural ability to perform shined through — and the Music Meister was even able to get a reluctant Barry to start grooving to the music. Jordan and The Flash’s Carlos Valdes also delivered some impressive musical stylings. The overall performance paired with the underlying theme of the entire episode takes this track to the top of our list. 

"Duet" was a good way to kick off more potential musicals for The CW superhero universe in the future, since there is a possibility that the Music Meister could come back to help solve other problems after his sole purpose was to bring two beleaguered couples back together. After all, as Barry’s mother would say, "Musicals have the power to make everything better." It definitely worked out well for this episode.

Los Angeles Times wrote:
'The Flash' and 'Supergirl' musical crossover kills with cuteness

March 22, 2017

Watching the jaunty episode titled “Duet” was like inhaling pure joy — a saccharine-saturated performance so ridiculously self-aware that both leads Barry “The Flash” Allen (Grant Gustin) and Kara “Supergirl” Danvers (Melissa Benoist) intermittently dropped character to look around the set, as if they too couldn’t believe the charm of what they were creating.

Former “Glee” star Darren Criss was cast as antagonist the Music Meister. He popped into the last few minutes of a previous “Supergirl” episode and “whammied” (yes, whammied) Supergirl into the musical fantasy land.

[. . . ]

Naturally, Supergirl’s National City “Scooby” gang were concerned about said “whammying,” so they crossed over to the alternate dimension that houses Flash and his Central City compatriots. Fortunately, the Flash was also whammied by the Meister and — presto! — the musical crossover was set.

Although the rationale behind the villain’s evil scheme wasn’t entirely coherent — he wanted to drain their powers while making them understand love, or something? — it didn’t need to be. Criss was put in this episode for two reasons: to look good in red suspenders and to sing. And he did both quite well.

[. . . ]

If you’re going to do a musical episode on television and compete with legendary greats like “Once More With Feeling” from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” or “The Nightman Cometh” installment of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” the key is to commit.

“The Flash” accomplished this by doubling down with a happy ending that wound up with the title character proposing to his love interest, Iris West (Candice Patton), through song. The number, penned by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (who just won an Oscar for “City of Stars” from “La La Land”), hits hard when the world’s fastest superhero starts crooning “Runnin’ Home to You.”

“Duet” was sweet, sweet cheese. It was a kitten delivering a Hallmark card with the words “you’re purr-fect” spelled out in glitter. But it knew it and steered into the delightful.

In a TV world awash in procedural dramas and murder mysteries, sometimes it feels pretty great to take a song break.