Arrowverse: 15 best Arrow moments of all-time

The Flash — “Flash vs. Arrow” — Image FLA108c_0157b — Pictured (L-R): Grant Gustin as The Flash and Stephen Amell as The Arrow — Photo: Diyah Pera /The CW — © 2014 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.

9. The Arrow Teams With The Flash To Stop Captain Boomerang

Episode: “The Brave And The Bold” (Season 3, Episode 8)

The first of The CW’s now-annual Arrowverse crossovers was a lot more grounded than the major alien adventures and multiverse madness that would follow, but that didn’t stop it from being one of the most revolutionary outings that the shared universe had produced.

The two-show TV event merely consisted of Arrow and The Flash and focused on the first ever (costumed) team up between Oliver Queen and Barry Allen.

Unlike its successors, the two-parts didn’t tell one overall story. Instead, it consisted of two standalone adventures. While Oliver helped the Scarlet Speedster work out his issues during his trip to Central City in The Flash‘s offering, it was up to Barry to do the same for him in the Arrow installment.

Arriving in Starling City with the test results from the boomerang that Team Arrow brought to them, Team Flash ended up sticking around a while, allowing Oliver and Barry to team up for the second time in the same week.

But the kind-hearted Flash couldn’t handle The Arrow’s brutal approach to crime-fighting, which caused some tension as Oliver insulted Barry’s naïve outlook on the world. It reminded him that Starling was a much darker place than Central City.

However, that anger led him into Captain Boomerang’s trap, making him realize that he shouldn’t have taken great pleasure in torturing his foe’s allies for false information. Finally understanding the error of his ways, Oliver extended an olive branch to his younger colleague, setting the stage for the super team-up viewers had been waiting for.

Locating Boomerang at the station, the pair realized that the villain had planted bombs all over the city to distract them. But this was merely a case of divide and conquer, as Barry sped off to help Team Arrow disable the bombs, while Oliver defeated Captain Boomerang without using unnecessarily excessive force.

This moment was a microcosm of the crossover itself, as it highlighted how these two very different characters learned from each other and adapted to become the most formidable duo that the Arrowverse had ever seen. To use the episode’s title, they were, quite simply, the Brave and the Bold.