THE FLASH Season 1 Episode 8
Episode Title: “Flash vs. Arrow”
Story by: Greg Berlanti & Andrew Kreisberg
Teleplay by: Ben Sokolowski & Brooke Eikmeier
Director: Glen Winter
With the two night “Arrow” and “The Flash” crossover event this week, it seems like a good time to check in with “The Flash.” Unlike “Gotham,” “The Flash” has been really good out of the gate. And unlike “Constantine,” “The Flash” isn’t in danger of cancellation any time soon.
Watching this episode, it seems clear that DC and Warner Bros. have made a mistake by completely separating the DC Cinematic Universe and the shared TV universe of “Arrow” and “The Flash.” It’s more exciting to see these two shows build a world than waiting nearly two years to see if Batman v. Superman can live up to the enormous expectations that the fans and the studio have placed upon it.
But for now, let’s kick off the recap of “Flash vs. Arrow!”
When The Arrow Came To Town
Roy G. Bivolo (Paul Anthony) — one of the lesser known DC villains — goes on a robbery spree by using his powers to incite other people into violent acts through the colors in his eyes. Barry Allen aka The Flash (Grant Gustin) keeps the customers and bank employees from killing each other, but a cop is infected by Bivolo’s powers and he nearly shoots Detective Joe West (Jesse L. Martin) and Barry until the timely arrival of Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell)… aka The Arrow.
Barry’s eagerness to team up with Arrow is pretty hilarious, as was John Diggle’s (David Ramsey) reaction to Barry’s superspeed. Team Arrow left the dead weight at home. so Roy, Laurel and Thea are sitting this one out. But Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) is there, and she seems much better suited for this show than she does for “Arrow.”
Training Day
After an amusing sequence in which Felicity has to take off her shirt to deal with the friction from Barry’s superspeed, Dr. Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh) and Detective West tell Barry that they’re concerned about having The Arrow in their city. It’s actually really refreshing that Oliver’s killing spree from the first season of “Arrow” hasn’t been forgotten.
At Felicity’s urging, Oliver agrees to team up with Barry. But first, he sets up a training sequence to demonstrate to Barry just how much he has to learn. That involves shooting Barry with two arrows and making snide remarks about his team’s habit of giving his bad guys codenames. This is a really funny sequence, and one of the best parts of the episode.
Barry The Dick
Feeling stifled by Oliver, Barry goes after Bivolo on his own and he ends up getting a face full of Bivolo’s mood altering colors. At first, Barry seems fine. But then he speaks harshly to Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker) and he gets increasingly angry that Eddie Thawne (Rick Cosnett) is dating Barry’s crush Iris West (Candice Patton) and attempting to form an anti-Flash task force.
Although it’s oddly satisfying to see Barry blow up at his boss, Captain David Singh (Patrick Sabongui); things take a more disturbing turn when the now enraged Flash tears off the door of Iris’ car and openly threatens Eddie’s life. Meanwhile, Iris pleads for Barry to stop in the most unconvincing way. She’s definitely the “Laurel” of this show.
The Main Event
Before Barry can do any lasting damage to Eddie, Oliver shows up and it’s time for The Flash vs. Arrow. This fight has been hyped for a few weeks by The CW… and it lives up to it. Although Oliver uses his brain to keep ahead of Barry’s speed, he can’t hold off The Flash forever and he takes a ferocious beating while Team Arrow and Team Flash debate about who would win.
Dr. Wells and Detective West finally show up with a van engineered to undo the “whammy” placed on Barry by Bivolo. An apologetic Barry makes amends with Oliver before they agree to team up again to take down Bivolo.
Afterthought
In perhaps the best joke of the episode, Bivolo is captured during the commercial break and he is already being led to a S.T.A.R. Labs cell by Dr.Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes) when the final act begins. Bivolo was a pretty underdeveloped villain, but his actions have some lasting consequences for The Flash. For starters, Eddie gets his anti-Flash task force and Iris no longer wants anything to do with The Flash.
A few creepy things are happening in the background. Earlier in the episode, Dr. Wells tried to get Felicity to reveal Oliver’s identity and he later guesses it before summoning Team Arrow for help. Given what we know about Dr. Wells and his apparent origins in the future, that could be a potential problem for both Barry and Oliver. And even Oliver senses that something is off about Wells.
In another surprising moment, Oliver encounters Sandra (Anna Hopkins), the woman whom he impregnated several years ago. Thanks to Oliver’s dead mother, Sandra left town after lying about to Oliver about the survival of their baby. But Sandra calls her son after Oliver leaves.
I’d guess that Oliver’s kid has to be around ten to eleven years old. Maybe in about five or six seasons, he’ll be picking out his own superhero costume….
Here’s Ronnie!
To close out the episode, “The Flash” gives us the first look at Ronnie Raymond (Robbie Amell) as Firestorm. Yes, Caitlin’s fiance is still alive… and we’ll be seeing more of him in the future.
Of course, if the DC TV universe is planning a Justice League with Arrow, Flash, The Atom and Firestorm then Felicity has to date Ronnie at some point. It’s in the League bylaws!
“Flash vs. Arrow” was a great episode of the series and very enjoyable to watch. Tonight’s “Arrow” episode will have a lot to live up to after this one.
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