The Flash vs Arrow and The Brave and the Bold are a two parts of a special crossover event between CW's The Flash and Arrow, and of course, I'm here to share my opinions on it.
I've been a fan of both shows for quite some time now. I survived through the dark days of Arrow Season 1, back when the show was still trying to find its footing, and I was there for the awesome-fest that was Arrow Season 2. As for The Flash... it's basically my favorite comic book television series currently airing. I had pretty high expectations for this crossover, and it absolutely did not disappoint at all.
Kicking things off last Tuesday was the accurately named Flash episode, The Flash vs Arrow. In the episode, Barry is tracking down Prism, a metahuman with the ability to induce rage in people by simply looking at them. During his search, he finds that Oliver Queen aka the Arrow has come to Central City looking on a case. The unlikely duo team up, and Barry soon realizes teaming up with Oliver isn't all fun and games.
This is a crossover event, so there's not really a lot of plot going on in the episode. Other than the regular villain-of-the-week formula The Flash has been using lately and the small Eddie plotline, the episode is mostly dedicated to the team-up of the Flash and Arrow and showing the huge contrast between their characters and the worlds they live in, and that's honestly what I really loved about it.
The Flash has made a small reputation for himself as the hero of Central City. He's been good, and it's been fun for Barry, but then now comes the Arrow. He brings his seriousness and his brutality to Central City, and it causes quite a bit of conflict for both main characters and the supporting characters as well. Much of the episode is also dedicated to Oliver teaching Barry the importance of slowing down and thinking before rushing in head first.
That first half of the episode was followed by an extremely fun second half where Barry just goes full-on rage mode on his friends, on Eddie, and on Oliver, which leads to the versus part of the episode. Wow... that final action sequence was the combination of the amazing stunt choreography of Arrow and the special effects-heavy action sequences of The Flash, and it was amazing.
Of course, Barry learns his lesson by the end of the episode, and that's really one of the main strengths of the series. You see Barry develop from this average, likeable dork to the hero of Central City. It's classic origin story formula, and it's being delivered extremely well so far.
Following that was The Brave and the Bold, where this time, Flash is the one doing the visiting. Team Arrow is still tracking down Captain Boomerang when Barry and his Star Labs friends come to town to help them out with their case. The episode starts out really well too, and it only escalates as soon as Flash shows up after the first fight between Oliver and Roy and Captain Boomerang.
This time, it's Flash doing the advice-giving as another huge contrast between their characters and worlds is presented. Barry is used to fighting silly, super powered criminals in the bright and sunny Central City while Oliver is used to beating up and shooting through organized crime members and assassins in the dark and gloomy Starling City, so when Barry and Oliver team up yet again, Barry discovers he's not exactly a fan of the way Oliver gets his results. This is where Barry tries his darndest to convince Oliver that deep down, even though he doesn't believe it himself, he is a hero.
The flashback sequences also helped really send this message across, because the flashback sequences focused on Oliver's humanity and his faith that people could still do good. Oliver feels like he has been lost in the Arrow, but then Barry comes along to bring forth his inner good. The flashback sequences worked so well with the rest of the episode, which makes the episode a real standout in the season, because it's so far the best flashback this season.
Another thing I liked about the episode were the interactions between Team Arrow and Cisco Ramone and Caitlin Snow. It's just nice to see a fresh and cheerful face in Starling City (other than Ray Palmer. He's awesome), you know?
Yeah, the CW is pretty much doing DC a huge solid by getting me pumped about their properties. They quite hit their mark (pun very much intended) with this crossover event, because I'm super stoked about the next episodes of The Flash and of Arrow, and OF COURSE, I'll be game for the next time these two Christmas-colored superheroes team-up.
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