'What you don't know is out to kill you' had been the subtitle for the CAT Facility flow basics class for over a decade. It reminds us that the life of a flow cytometrist is filled with peril and danger. One day you're on the top of the world, thinking you know everything about spectral flow. Then some company comes out with a bunch of marketing material and data that make you question all that you ever hold dear. So we invited Ryan Duggan, Dave Adams and Rachael Sheridan to discuss what's going on. We do a review of the current spectral flow platforms on the market, then revisit some eyebrow-raising claims made in marketing material to see how much it hurts that they might be correct.