David Farnor | On 19, Dec 2014

With Episode 8 of The Flash and Episode 8 of Arrow Season 3 creating a two-part crossover episode, our own super writing team of Amon Warmann and Matthew Turner join forces for their own Arrow / The Flash crossover review.

Amon Warmann: I’m not sure which team-up people are more excited for: Arrow and The Flash or Turner and Warmann! In any case, while there were a few issues here and there, I had a blast watching this crossover, and I’m looking forward to future team-ups. Matt, what say you?

Matthew Turner: I enjoyed watching the crossover too. I thought it was interesting that, other than the fact that they referenced Captain Boomerang in The Flash episode, it wasn’t exactly a two-parter, as both episodes were essentially self-contained. I don’t think they even mentioned Prism in the Arrow episode, for example. You had said to me before that the Arrow episode was stronger than the Flash episode and I’m inclined to agree – for one thing, they seemed to be having a lot more fun with it just on the script level alone. I actually lost count of how many comics-related shout-outs there were this week – I’m thinking particularly of Cisco remarking that Arrow and Flash were “in a league of their own”, but there were tonnes more. I’m curious to compare notes though. Leaving Arrow aside for a moment, how did the Flash episode stack up as a typical episode for you? Were there any notable story advances? Did the season-long arc get developed at all?

Amon Warmann: I would have liked there to have been more connective tissue between the episodes, but I liked their standalone nature too.

As far as The Flash instalment goes, the hour didn’t deviate too much from its familiar formula and there were plenty of encouraging developments, especially for the Eddie Thawne character. I’m not particularly fond of the Barry-Iris-Eddie love triangle, as we all know where it’ll end up, but I like that his actions against The Flash are justified here as opposed to just being plot convenient.

Additionally, I find it hard not to compare The Flash to Smallville on almost a weekly basis, and this was basically Barry’s version of red kryptonite. Still, Grant Gustin modulated Barry’s increasing anger pretty well, even if some of the dialogue felt a little off.

Matthew Turner: That’s interesting that you compare The Flash to Smallville (I do too), as that’s something that Arrow seems to have actively stayed away from, at least in its first two seasons. Well, there was some dodgy soap opera stuff in Season 1, but they’ve largely ditched that now and it’s a relief not to have to spend time in Queen Mansion every week anymore. Still, it’s impossible to see The Arrow and The Flash together without remembering the Smallville season where they effectively assembled a cut-down version of the Justice League (Green Arrow, The Flash, Aquaman, etc).

Anyway, I would say that having The Flash around this week allowed Arrow to indulge its goofier side for once and the episode felt much lighter in tone as a result. I particularly enjoyed Diggle’s freaked-out reaction to Barry’s new powers – “He’s so…fast…” – a reminder that outside of Slade Wilson’s Mirakuru-enhanced army, Arrow has never had to deal with characters with actual goddamn superpowers before. (The face Diggle kept making made me laugh out loud, which made a refreshing change – I had no idea David Ramsey had that much comic potential.)

In terms of the episode fitting into Arrow’s season overall, there weren’t any real advances. We’re no further towards finding out who killed Sara and we still have no idea what Malcolm Merlyn is up to or where Ra’s al Ghul (this season’s acknowledged Big Bad) is going to fit into things. Hopefully they’re saving all that for next week’s mid-season finale. Actually, that said, there was a significant development in the trip to Flashback City this week (incredibly, they found room for flashback sequences despite everything else going on), which shed some light on why Oliver became okay with torture (because he didn’t torture someone when ordered to and hundreds of people died as a result) – and also, finally, introduced Amanda Waller into the past sequences.

On top of that, I thought both episodes were filled with lovely little scenes and moments. What were your favourite things? And were there any notable shout-outs, callbacks or general appropriations of comics lore?

Amon Warmann: Agreed on Diggle! Particularly in the first half of the crossover, Ramsey was a bit of a scene-stealer. His banter with Cisco was also a highlight.

I’d have to say one of my favourite things about The Flash part of the crossover is that they addressed one of the show’s more noticeable flaws, in that Barry always runs in blind rather than plan ahead. It’s easy to suspend disbelief sometimes when watching The Flash because it’s so much fun, but with the powers our scarlet speedster has, some of his encounters could – and should – be over a lot quicker. So it was great to see Arrow take him down a peg in that regard – mind your surroundings, Barry! – and it was equally great watching The Flash take out rooms full of thugs just before Arrow enters.

I also really liked how they handled Captain Boomerang. It’s one of the more ridiculous comic book names, but he’s a smart and skillful villain. Save for the missing Australian drawl, Nick Tarabay’s performance was pretty great and definitely brought some of those characteristics out. It’s a little funny, too, how Tarabay ends up sharing a cell with his Spartacus buddy Manu Bennett at episode’s end. Give me a Deathstroke/Captain Boomerang team-up now, please!

It’s impossible to talk about my favourite things about the crossover without mentioning the fight. Although it has to be said that suspension of disbelief was once again required – how did Arrow know The Flash was going to drag him to an alleyway full of his weapons? – it was just so much fun to watch. I particularly love the moment when Barry dodges an Arrow, says “You missed” and Oliver’s reply is simply “No” and then the arrow explodes. So cheesy, but so brilliantly done.

As for notable appropriations of comic lore, the big one in this crossover is that we have now seen the return of Ronnie Raymond, aka. Firestorm. Not only is it great to see another DC hero on screen, it should also give Danielle Panabaker some decent material to play with in the weeks ahead.

What were some of your highlights from the two episodes? And was there anything that didn’t work for you?

Matthew Turner: I think my only (minor) complaint is that we essentially got two separate flashback episodes, instead of one crossover event two-parter. That’s not to say they didn’t make it work brilliantly in both episodes (they did), but I’d have appreciated at the very least a moment of “Oh WOW, I can’t wait to see the next episode!” at the end of the Flash episode.

I mentioned the Flash characters allowing Arrow to be lighter in tone this week and the way that played out was so much fun, particularly when they commented on the various aspects of the show. I loved Cisco geeking out over the “Arrow Cave” – “We don’t call it that. Ever.” -and the “Arrowmobile”, and the bit with Barry doing the salmon ladder at super-fast speed (complete with sound effects) was a great moment. Something else that was unexpected was how much lighter Roy was with these characters around – he had some great lines and moments and displayed a lightness of touch I hadn’t seen from Colton Haynes before. Maybe Red Arrow (okay, okay, Arsenal) should head over to Central City for a bit.

Two other particular moments I enjoyed. The first was Felicity and Caitlin having a chat about SCIENCE, prefacing it with “It’s so nice to have another woman to talk to” / “Tell me about it!”, which I’m assuming was meant to be a nod to the Bechdel test, while passing it. The second was a throwaway line from Lilah, referring to The Flash (“Everything alright between you and Speedy?”) and Oliver’s response, “What, Roy?” (For non-comics nerds, Speedy is one of Roy’s aliases in the comics, but in the show it’s primarily Thea’s nickname, although Oliver once called Roy Speedy to get him to think of Thea at a crucial moment, so to speak).

More than anything else, I loved that both showed actively commented on their differences in tone and, at least in Arrow, made that a thematic part of the episode. For example, Barry being horrified at Oliver torturing people for information and him responding with “You live in Central City, where it’s sunny all the time, and you give your enemies cool nicknames.” I also liked their surprisingly emotional heart-to-heart, in which it was pointed out that Oliver and Barry have both had their mothers murdered, but only one of them turned into a killer as a result.

Two other brief nods to the comics: the episode title (The Brave and the Bold) is a reference to a long-running DC comic book which introduced Neal Adams’ famous Green Arrow re-design in a 1969 issue. And also, Detective (sorry, Captain) Lance mistakenly refers to Barry Allen as Bart Allen, who’s Kid Flash in the comics and Barry’s grandson.

Is there anything else you want to mention before we wrap this up?

Amon Warmann: While none of them were major, I did have a few gripes. If there is one weak link with The Flash right now it’s that its villains – save for Captain Cold and big bad Reverse Flash – have been a bit underwhelming. Prism could’ve made for a far more interesting adversary had he been given more screen time, and while it is understandable why that wasn’t the case, it was still a little disappointing, especially when you consider that we didn’t even get to see our heroes take him down.

My other minor gripe with this crossover is with the Arrow-focused episode’s use of Thea. One of the major problems with Gotham right now is that its ensemble is huge (and seems to grow each episode) but the show struggles to utilise them in a substantial way each episode. If you can’t figure out a way to include a character well, I’d rather not see them at all, and Thea’s inclusion felt extremely superfluous here.

Other than that, all that’s left to say is in a real fight, my guy can take your guy any day of the week, and twice on Sundays!

Matthew Turner: I kind of agree with you on Thea, although I did enjoy The Flash running past her. I’d have been very happy if that had been her only appearance in the episode. Oh, no, I tell a lie, I did like Cisco discovering she was off-limits after Roy and Felicity replying “She’s my ex-girlfriend” / “She’s the boss’ sister” simultaneously.

The only odd decision for me was them introducing Oliver’s secret son (a plot-line I am REALLY not looking forward to) in the Flash episode by having Oliver run into the woman Arrow watchers briefly saw in a flashback sequence last season (Moira paying off Oliver’s pregnant girlfriend to disappear – guess she didn’t get that far) in Central City. It makes sense that they’d use the trip to Central City as an excuse to kick that off, but it still felt a bit clumsy.

One more thing: I loved the bomb defusal scene, but more importantly, I loved the way The Flash didn’t even bother asking everyone if they minded being in terrible danger, he just plonked them all by a bomb with a pair of pliers each.

And you can say what you like, but I think we all know who wins that fight. Tortoise and hare, anyone? Actually, that makes sense – tortoises are green, hares are fast… I may be over-thinking this.

The Flash is available to watch online on NOW, as part of a £7.99 monthly subscription – no contract. Sign up before 27th September and new customers will only pay £1 for their first month.

 

Where can I buy or rent The Flash online in the UK?

The Flash is available to watch online on blinkbox, Amazon Instant Video, Google Play and iTunes.

 
Photo: © Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.

Add to Watchlist