The Flash Review – Season 1, Episode 8: Flash vs. Arrow

This is it. It’s the first part of the two-night crossover between The Flash and Arrow, and if you aren’t excited for that … well, I’d have to wonder why you’re reading a recap and review of a super hero show, right?

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Just kidding. Anyway, it’s going to be fun seeing not only the two heroes, but also their supporting casts interact. Also, we’ve got villains, as in plural, plus the formation of an anti-Flash task force of some sort, and maybe more with the ever enigmatic Dr. Harrison Wells.

In other words, it’s a lot to look forward to, so let’s dive right into “Flash vs. Arrow.”

Not So Quick Summary: As he runs through Central City as the Flash, Barry Allen muses about the nature of emotions and the scientific basis behind them. Of course, when he sees Iris West smile, he forgets about the science stuff.

In a possibly related happening, a guy with glowing red eyes walks into a bank and is able to rob it by making everyone inside have glowing red eyes and go crazy. Flash is alerted by the S.T.A.R. Labs crew and gets there just in time to save one customer from being shot by an enraged female customer. Immediately after that, it appears the effects might be wearing off.

Iris is in bed with Eddie Thawne, trying in vain to get him to sleep in. She decides to check her Flash blog for new pics, but Eddie still isn’t a believer. Ah, but if that’s the case, why does he go and try to convince Captain Singh that it’s important to find out who the Flash is and what he wants? After checking out the crime scene with Joe West, Barry tells Iris what Eddie is up to, and she yells at her boyfriend who storms off like a child who just got scolded by his parents.

At S.T.A.R. Labs, Barry and friends compare notes and figure the bank robber must be a metahuman who can inspire people to feel very strong emotions: rage, in this case. Iris wants a meeting with Flash, and Caitlin gives some unsolicited advice not to get involved.

Barry sort of follows it while meeting Iris at Jitters as the Flash, where she fills him in on what Eddie is planning, Of course he already knew that as Barry, so … kind of a waste except for him to say something witty before he runs off. And he’s needed, because Joe and some other cops are moving in on our mystery meta. He makes one of the cops rage out and fire a shotgun at Joe, but Flash saves him and two arrows take down the controlled cop. Arrow teases Flash about his mask before taking off.

Felicity Smoak and John Diggle are enjoying the familiar comforts of Big Belly Burger when Flash zooms up to say hi, leaving Diggle speechless.

They’re in Central City working on a case involving a suspicious homicide where the murder weapon was a boomerang(!). Barry offers to team up with Oliver Queen and his team, but Ollie says too many people know his secret identity already. Felicity volunteers to go to S.T.A.R. Labs since they already know her there, and Flash offers to carry her there.

Unfortunately, the super-speed ride catches her Felicity’s shirt on fire, forcing her to disrobe right before Caitlin and a grateful Cicso walk in. Is Felicity here for Barry? She makes it very clear that she’s not, at least in the way they mean. Cisco gets a little weak in the knees when he sees the boomerang, wanting to run some tests on it. Also, Caitlin thinks that the bad guy zaps people through their eyes (she’s right). Harrison Wells wants to see Barry too, and Joe is with him. Both men lecture Barry about his friendship with the Arrow, explaining that his version of justice is not one they support. Really, Dr. Wells? The boomerang gets loose in the lab, flying around and knocking stuff over, and Cisco says it’s his bad.

Speaking of Arrow, he’s out getting information in his own unique way. The next day, Oliver and Felicity drop by Jitters to give Barry the name of the crook: Roy G. Bivolo. Iris is smitten with Ollie — it’s easy to forget he’s a public figure, a former billionaire and all — revealing that he’s on her “three list.” As in, three people she’s allowed to cheat with. Felicity bugs Ollie to help Barry with his case, and because he can’t say no to her, it seems the heroes will be partners after all, though Oliver won’t call Bivolo a metahuman.

His training methods are a little different than Barry was expecting too. After showing up late, Barry gets a lecture about rushing in blind. To punctuate his point, Oliver has Barry run off and then come at him. The arrow he fires is easily caught, but Ollie had two crossbows set up on the ground that hit Barry in the back. No worries — Oliver heard Barry was a fast healer.

At the station, Eddie is still making a case for the Flash task force, while Barry speaks up to Joe in defense of Arrow. Another person who needs some convincing is Dr. Wells, who basically asks Felicity to tell him who the Arrow really is. When she declines, Harrison simply says he’ll figure it out for himself. Maybe with super future knowledge!

Facial recognition software (a gift from Felicity, naturally) finds Bivolo. Barry says he doesn’t need Oliver’s help, figuring he’s done this before. As Flash, he runs in and confronts Bivolo head on, which is, of course, a mistake. Have some real anger now!

Surprisingly, Barry says later at S.T.A.R. Labs that the rage power didn’t affect him. When Caitlin tries to say he shouldn’t have run off like that, he replies that he’s not Ronnie (Raymond, her supposedly dead boyfriend). Ouch! Oliver summons Barry for another training session, but this one goes even worse, as Barry accuses his friend of being jealous of his super powers. Yep, he got whammied alright. We see more evidence of it at the station, where Barry yells at Captain Singh and even shoves Joe, who’s trying to help him.

The Arrow calls S.T.A.R. Labs and Joe shows up in person, both with the same message: Flash has gone mad with rage. Wells thinks he has an idea to stop him (of course), though he’ll need Joe’s help. He also says Felicity should call back Oliver Queen, as they’re going to need the Arrow’s help. Well, he did say he’d figure it out.

Iris and Eddie are having another Flash talk, this time in the car. That turns out to be a bad place for it, as the Scarlet Speedster shows up and drags Eddie out of the moving vehicle. Thawne tries shooting and fighting Flash in vain while getting taunted all the while. Even Iris can’t get through to him. That’s when Arrow arrives, and the fight is on!

An explosive arrow and tranquilizer briefly have things in Arrow’s favor, but Flash vibrates the drugs out of his system and starts speeding around Ollie. He’s way too fast in hand-to-hand combat, dodging all but one of Arrow’s blows before landing a ton of his own. Arrow is finally able to get some distance, and while Flash catches two arrows shot at him, he can’t get a third one thrown through his calf. Oliver tells Barry he still believes in him just before Joe and Harrison show up in a S.T.A.R. Labs van tricked out with some high powered colored lights in the back. It works, with Barry apologizing to Oliver and Cisco declaring the super hero battle a tie.

Bivolo is captured off-camera and placed in the Pipeline. Cisco calls him Prism while Caitlin says she prefers Rainbow Raider, though he says she doesn’t pick the names. Before leaving Oliver tells the Flash crew that he’d really appreciate his identity being kept a secret, and Felicity asks for some help with the DNA sample from Canary’s murder. As they depart, Oliver says he thinks there’s something off about Wells. No kidding.

At Jitters, Barry apologizes for real to Oliver, admitting he still has a lot to learn. There’s still one lesson: Ollie advises him to ignore his heart, because guys like them don’t get the girl. To his surprise, Oliver also runs into someone he used to know, and she gives her condolences about his mother. Interesting.

We get to see if Oliver’s advice pays off, as Flash visits Iris again. Despite his claim that he wasn’t in his right mind, she doesn’t want to have contact with him going forward.

And as is tradition, there’s one final scene. As Caitlin looks at a picture of her and Ronnie, we see two guys trying to rob a homeless man. Is he tweaking on drugs because he’s out in the cold? Nope, he’s not cold, as his hands and head ignite. Firestorm!

Favorite moment: Cisco had multiple good lines in his brief screen time, but my favorite was after Caitlin mentioned it was her bank getting robbed. His response? “Once super thieves showed up, I went mattress.” Hard to blame him.

Final thought: Was having the fight end in a tie a cop out? Maybe a little, but there’s still a second part to this crossover tomorrow night on Arrow. The hint about an important Arrow plot point occurring here was also correct, as it might be the S.T.A.R. Labs crew that finally helps get their counterparts closer to finding Canary’s killer. And it was great to hear a Rainbow Raider reference and see Firestorm, however briefly, so this episode gets both red and green gloved thumbs up from me.