The second half of The Flash has gone by quickly, and we're nearing the season finale. In the meantime, the show has been on a month hiatus to build up for the final few episodes. But alas, fear not! The Flash returns on the CW this coming Tuesday, March 17th.

In preparation for its return, I am going to recap the last four episodes like I did previously for Arrow. I've only watched each episode one time, so don't chase after me if I get something wrong. In addition, I'll be lightly recapping each episode, spotlighting only the most important aspects.

Episode 11: The Sound and the Fury

Air date: 1.27.15, The CW

Photo from the CW's The Flash photo gallery albums

The episode starts off with a few laughs, as the STAR Labs gang takes a picture with Barry--though Barry is only slightly concerned taking a picture defeats the purpose of a secret superhero identity. But the laughs are shattered when Dr. Wells returns home to receive a phone call from a mysterious voice before the glass windows in his house break. Wells uses his super speed to zip away just in time (of course, he doesn't tell the police that when they and the gang arrive).

Wells knows who that mysterious voice was: his old protege, Hartley Rathaway (Cisco and Caitlin aren't fond of the man either). He's come to have his revenge because 1. he knew turning on the particle accelerator was a bad idea and 2. He's know been affected by the explosion. He can manipulate sound waves, which is a threat to both Wells and The Flash. He is... the Pied Piper! (duh-duh-dun!)

Barry ends up capturing Rathaway. Wells tries to apologize in order to stop Rathaway. And Rathaway uses more than just sonic manipulations but vocal manipulations to cause both Barry and Cisco to waver in their faith for Wells. He claims Wells is hiding a secret. Wells does admit to a secret--but not the big secret. He confesses to the gang that Rathaway told him there would be problems with the particle accelerator but he went ahead and turned it on anyways.

Rathaway escapes (???) and Wells tries to use his super-speed again but collapses from weakness (???). Wells decides to hold a press conference and come clean about the particle accelerator, if nothing but to gain back the trust of his gang. In Rathaway's escape, he stole Barry's body's scans so when he starts attacking the city, he messes with Barry's internal frequency (aka causing Barry's insides to start to explode). Fortunately, Wells to the rescue! He programs a counter frequency to save Barry and stop Rathaway. As they lock Rathaway up in the pipeline thing of STAR Labs, he tells Cisco that he knows what happened to Ronnie and how to help him... for a price (freedom, duh). Fortunately, Cisco is better than that, right?

Episode 12: Crazy For You

Air date: 2.3.15

Photo from the CW's The Flash photo gallery albums

A teleporter named Shawna breaks her boyfriend out of jail, which calls Joe and Barry to the crime scene. Joe arranges for Henry Allen (yes, Barry's father) to be brought by during the investigation so Barry can see him (feeeeeeeels). They take DNA resuide left by our teleporter in order to track them down. Cisco meanwhile is in STAR Labs making fun of Caitlin for not having a life and also talking to Hartley about Ronnie (duh-duh-dun!). They pick up a trace of Shawna and her boyfriend committing a crime: robbing an armored car.

Barry zips over there, plays a "Run, run, as fast you can. You can't catch me I'm a teleporter-woman" game with Shawna, but the criminals escape. Wells decides to figure out the limits of Shawna's abilities, while Barry and Caitlin go out for a few drinks in order to "have a life" (aka find new love). This consists of Caitlin getting drunk and Barry being pulled into a karoke rendition of "Summer Lovin" where our speedster can... SING! (And all the fangirls sighed; another reason to love Grant Gustin). This performance catches the eye of reporter, Linda Parker, who hits it off with Barry (U G H). However, Caitlin returns hung over so Barry takes her home and gets her settled.

Meanwhile, Henry Allen has been doing some detective work in prison to locate Shawna and Clay and the crime boss. There's some fighting, Henry is injured, and Barry gets mad when he hears about it. But they uncover a big heist that's going down. Luckily, Wells has learned that Shawna can only teleport if she can see where she's going, so Barry aims to limit her vision field by taking out all the lights in the vicinity of the heist. Shawna's boyfriend deserts her, and she's captured and sent to STAR Labs.

During all of this, Cisco lets Rathaway out of the cell (Nooooo), and takes him around to figure out what happened to Ronnie. Rathaway tries to escape but Cisco is prepared and has a device that hurts Rathaway. They learn that Ronnie and Professor Stein have combined bodies. Then, Rathaway disarms Cisco and escapes.

Barry visits his dad again, and Henry claims he knows Barry is the Flash. However, Barry denies it; but his father still gives a few words of encouragement that are both touching and heart-wrenching (*cries and runs to go hug my dad*).

In the closing, we see two city workers enter the sewers and get attacked by something... dark and big... something... GRODD (*gorilla screeches*)

Episode 13: Nuclear Man

Air Date: 2.10.15, The CW

Photo from the CW's The Flash photo gallery albums

The now confirmed, combined Ronnie/Stein (aka Firestorm) make an appearance and Wells sends Barry out on the case to track them (he?) down. They start the investigation by tracking down Stein's wife and paying her a visit. She claims a strange man (aka Ronnie) came home, confused and rambling, and she called the police. But Firestorm left before the police arrived. Ever since then, she feels as if she's being watched. They basically decide that it's Ronnie's body but Stein is in control of his mind and actions. The gang decides to plan a stakeout at Stein's house.

Firestorm  shows up. Barry arrives, tries to help, fails, and plants a tracker on him. They track him down, Clarissa assists in helping calm Firestorm down, and they take him back to STAR Labs. After a few tests, they learn that Ronnie's body is trying to eject Stein, which is going to cause a lot of problems like a nuclear reaction (duh-duh-dun!). Wells suggests they render the host body non-functional (aka murder), but the gang refuses and stands up to Wells, who slinks back to his secret compartment. Firestorm leaves to go to the Badlands, so if there is an explosion, it's far from civilization. Wells configures a device thing to stop the nuclear reaction. Barry and Caitlin follow Firestorm to the Badlands. Ronnie gives Caitlin a passionate goodbye kiss, and Stein uses the device, which appears to malfunction. So there's a giant explosive cloud and Barry, holding Caitlin, zooms out of it just in time. General Eiling learns of the explosion and appears interested in tracking down Firestorm.

Meanwhile, Joe enlists Cisco's help. They decide to reinvestigate the death of Nora Allen (yes, Barry's mother). They return to the crime scene--Barry's childhood house--and look around for anything else that could have been evidence. There happens to be a mirror that used to be in the Allen home that is still present in the house. They look it over, find a few particles and with super cool technology re-create an image of that evening. The image reveals two people in the room with Nora: the Man in the Yellow Suit (Curious George anybody?) and a red blur (that sounds familiar) along with forgotten blood splatters. Cisco takes a sample of the blood and runs a few tests: it's Barry's blood. But not child Barry: Adult Barry's blood. Adult Barry was there the night his mother was murdered, which means... TIME TRAVEL (yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!)

In other news, the episode revealed things moving fast between Barry and Linda. They have one and a half dates, but the second (if you can call making out on a couch as a date) is interrupted for Barry to assist with Firestorm. This leaves Linda not happy (boo hiss). Barry returns to her workplace to win her back; Linda is solid in that she doesn't have time for a pointless relationship. After talking to Iris, Linda decides to end things permanently with Barry, but he wins her back with a very hot pepper (???).

Episode 14: Fallout

Air date: 2.17.15

Photo from the CW's The Flash photo gallery albums

So Firestorm just exploded and Barry managed to get Caitlin out of the way of the "fallout" just in time. However, Firestorm survived the blast (no surprise there) and Ronnie and Stein are back in their regular bodies (how that even works, I don't want to know). Everything is good, except they each share a few similar traits from the other. And that General Eiling is now hunting the down (duh-duh-dun!).

Meanwhile, Joe brings Barry to the house where his mom died and reveals the evidence that Adult Barry was there that night. Wells (with the help of Cisco's pop culture references) explain the possibilities of time-travel, but they don't really know a whole lot. So Barry pays a visit to Professor Stein--who apparently is a time-travel theory fantatic (convenient, eh?). While there, Stein suddenly stumbles in pain, but he's not injured in any way. It's actually Ronnie. It's revealed the two have a linked connection still as a result of Firestorm, and Ronnie is currently being assaulted by General Eiling (duh-duh-dun!). Barry arrives to the rescue, but Eiling has a special device that attaches to kinect energy and traps Barry. Luckily Caitlin arrives with a van, and the three are able to escape.

After getting the device from Barry's skin (it's like little nails all over his body), they decide to keep Ronnie and Stein under protection from Eiling until they can figure something else out. Ronnie goes with Barry to Joe's house, while Stein stays with Wells. But Wells isn't so trustworthy (or maybe he's been manipulated) and he's made a deal with Eiling and he hands Stein over (duh-duh-dun!). Eiling takes Stein to a military base and begins to torture him via electrocution (which apparently, he also did to a gorilla named... GRODD). Using Ronnie and Stein's linked ability, the gang figures out where Stein is being held (using glass to carve into skin as well as morse code). Barry (and Ronnie) arrives, saves Eiling, but gets hit with a bad bomb of phosphorous. Stein and Ronnie are forced to combine once again in order to escape, but no harm is done since they willingly did it.

However, not all is good in the end. Ronnie and Stein decide they have to leave Central City in order to protect those they love from Eiling and also understand the capabilities of Firestorm. The end scene reveals the Man in the Yellow Suit (aka Wells) taking Eiling to the sewers (duh-duh-dun!). Grodd--in all his dark and monstrous glory--appears and telepathically communicates with Eiling before snatching him away. (And now I want to make so many Curious George/monkey jokes).

Whew!! That was a lot of words. Now that we've recapped the latest of The Flash, what's in store for the rest of Season 1? Well, let me tell you: a lot. The CW released a Villian promo that highlights the villains appearing in the next couple episodes. It looks like we're in for one exciting ride. :)

Waaaaait, we're getting more meta-humans, Captain Cold (again), AND MARK HAMILL AS THE TRICKSTER?! (Fun fact: Mark Hamil played the Trickster in the 90s Flash TV show, which are the photos in the trailer of him "twenty years ago" literally). I'm super pumped.

Also if you watch the very beginning, I think Barry is going to reveal himself as the Flash to somebody important (I've got bets its Iris).

And we can't, of course, forget the fact that BARRY IS GOING TO TIME TRAVEL. *runs around house screaming*

This. Will. Be. So. Epic.

Question to be answered:

1. Where's Linda been (and will Barry be able to maintain a relationship while being a superhero)?
2. What about Gorilla Grodd? Will he even face off with Barry this season or are they keeping him for a another season?
3. TRICKSTER (okay that's not a question)
4. Who is Barry telling his secret identity to and WHY?
5. Who's that guy in blue talking about "being amazed" at the beginning of the promo?
6. What about DR. WELLS killing Barry's mother?

-Jaime

For Barry Allen, romance is a slow aspect of his life. He sees his life as "romance-less" and a losing battle every where he turns. He may be fast, but he doesn't seem to be able to catch-up on his love life. Or so it appears.

But when fangirls take a deeper look into Barry Allen's "romance-less" life, we discover... it maybe not be as slow as we thought. 

Since Barry Allen was first introduced into the CW world via Arrow, he was stealing hearts with a quick glance of his cute grin and dashing looks. Immediately, he snatched the attention of one Felicity Smoak, and I think it had to do with more than just his science-y side. 

Since then, Barry Allen not only has the opportunity to star in his own show, The Flash, but in addition, he's had plenty of romance opportunities, some that just might still work out. I'm going to highlight four opportunities Barry has to speed up his love life. 

Felicity Smoak

Felicity was Barry's first opportunity for romance and while I think the time has passed for anything more to blossom between them, let's take a look at what made Felicity and Barry click at the start.

Strengths: They're both smart, so they can understand each other's language. Felicity already knows how to deal with superheroes and knows Barry's secret from the start. He doesn't have anything to hide and she can help him as he saves Central City. Plus they look so darn cute together.

Weaknesses: Oliver Queen. Felicity's maybe, sort of, kind of in love with Oliver. Hung up on him. As is Barry for Iris West (more on her later). Felicity lives in a different city (and show), which would make things tricky for their relationship. And last, they've already come to agreement to just be friends and nothing more (despite sharing a kiss and all those lingering glances).

While I adore Felicity and think she would make Barry happy, I don't think the show writers will move in that direction. But if anything (else) happens to Oliver Queen with Romance beyond Felicity, I would want nothing more than for Barry and Felicity to find a way to work. But until then, let their friendship live. 

Caitlin Snow

Caitlin is Barry's scientist friend at S.T.A.R. Labs. While there haven't been too many indications of a romance blossoming between them, I--along with many other fangirls--can't help but notice there's hints of a possibility. Here's a few things that might make their relationship work, or not.

Strengths: Both are smart and involved in the field of sciences. Like Felicity, Caitlin speaks Barry's language. Again, Caitlin knows his secret and knows how to deal with a meta-human, especially in the act of cleaning up his wounds. She's currently single (ouch). And Caitlin can see beyond Barry's abilities. She sees him as a person of worth with or without his super-speed. 

Weaknesses: Ronnie. Caitlin's (ex?) fiance may not be so-dead as it seems (sort of spoilers?). His re-appearance remains to be unseen. A relationship within the work place might not be such a good idea and only provide more opportunities for tension. 

Caitlin and Barry would probably be cute together. They both had lost someone important to them and were heavily influenced by the accident at S.T.A.R. Labs. They can certainly relate to each other, and they already care for each other. Whether their relationship stays platonic or becomes something more is still up in the air. But anything could happen. This is only season one after all.

Linda Park

We haven't had a lot of Linda Park yet, and definitely not enough to clearly know whether this relationship will pan out. However, we have to admit that this is the first relationship Barry's had in a while and it actually might be working... for now. 

Linda Park is a journalist Barry met and has gone on one and half-ish dates with? She also gave him a second chance when deserted her because duties of being The Flash. 

Strengths: She makes Barry smile and also eat really hot peppers, which ends up being kind of funny. He won't give up on her even though it didn't seem it would work right away.

Weaknesses: She's moving Barry along waaayyy too fast. Plus there's something about her that strikes my fangirl heart as: not good. Whether she'll have other motives for dating Barry or not, I'm not confident this relationship works. It's too early for a superhero to meet his "happily ever after" and "first" girlfriends don't usually end up panning out. 

An interesting fact though, in the comics Linda Park was a journalist and actually married Wally West, another version of the Flash and Barry Allen's nephew. Since the writers have clearly already switched around a few things, it isn't certain how close to the comics they will keep the story line. So in reality: anything could happen. 

Iris West

Iris is Barry's long-time best friend and foster sister (ish?). They've known each other forever and Barry has been in love with her for just as long. She's smart, she's pretty, and she definitely loves Barry. But the question comes down to: in what way?

Strengths: They already know each other well. There's not a whole lot to hide (well, except that he's the red and yellow streak running around saving Central City). Iris probably knows Barry better than he knows himself. In addition, he makes her happy and she makes him happy. And, she's a fan of the Flash. 

Weaknesses: Eddie. Iris is currently dating someone else (and now Barry is dating someone else). From what we know of (aka see the mid-season finale), Iris doesn't share the same feelings as Barry. However, the latest episode kind of makes one wonder whether that's accurate or not. She seems to be moving back and forth between her feelings, which isn't a good sign either. 

In the comics, Barry and Iris do get married. They have a few kids and grandkids (the Flash family is big). However, it's highly unlikely we'll see all of that pan out. At least not in "real" time, but with the introduction of time-travel in the show: anything could happen (aren't you tired of hearing that?)

If the writers stay true to the Barry/Iris arc, it probably won't be for some time that we see them get together. Just think how long it took for Clark and Lois to get together on Smallville: six seasons worth!! Six! Come on, CW, we can't wait that long!

The Flash show is early on. It's season one, and I'm sure there will be plenty more opportunities for Barry to find his one true love. His life is far from "romance-less." 

Who do you think Barry  should end up with? Do you think the writers will stick to the comic book path? 

The Flash’s “Revenge of the Rogues” Recap

Mid-season Premiere

The CW 1.20.15

Spoilers

The Flash is back for the second half of season one! And with it not only comes previous villains, but rumors of new villains, cameos by the 90s Flash cast, and the promise of Season 2. Congrats, Team Flash (more on all of that later). :)

Onward to the episode:

In the mid-season finale, Barry faced off with what Cisco dubbed the “Reverse Flash,” a man in a yellow suit (with a red lightning bolt) that can run faster than Barry. Barry believes this man was present at his mother’s death and the cause of her death. But he wasn't able to “catch-up” to him, so he is left with even more questions (and the viewers of the show are too, as the yellow suit was revealed to be possessed by one Dr. Wells).

The mid-season premiere finds Barry training hard to “catch-up” to the Reverse Flash’s speed when Captain Cold and a new villain, Heat Wave, return to Central City with plans to get rid of the Flash.

The episode begins with Barry narrating (as usual) that he is not fastest man alive.

But Barry is determined to become the fastest man alive and catch the Reverse Flash. In order to do so Cisco, Caitlin, and Dr. Wells train with Barry by sending missiles at Barry for him to dodge. There were a couple close calls when Barry didn't quite reach high enough speeds and we almost see Dr. Wells get up out the wheelchair, which would have been a grand “Surprise!” moment for the Flash Team.

Captain Cold arrives, busting through walls with his cold gun. With him is—revealed later in the episode—Heat Wave, another villain with a fire gun instead of a freeze gun. These two team up in order to set a trap for the Flash; however, Barry doesn't arrive as he is focused on 1. Training 2. Iris moving in with Eddie still (come on!)

After the break-in, Barry determines Captain Cold is back, so Cisco creates a cold-resistant shield to help the police against Cold’s gun and Caitlin learns more about the meaning of Firestorm. Apparently it’s an acronym for an experiment a grad student and his professor began (I’m sure we’ll learn more on that later; it's still shrouded in mysterious things).

After Barry talks through his options with both Dr. Wells and Detective West about what he should do—help save Central City by confronting Cold and Heat or focus on his training to defeat the Reverse Flash—he makes his decision when Caitlin is kidnapped by Heat Wave. She’ll die unless the Flash comes out in the open to not only reveal himself to Central City and the world but have a showdown with Cold and Heat.

Barry refuses to think of any other option; and he does what the criminals want. Showdown of Flash vs Frost vs Flame commences. (and the cops just stand around to watch, doing nothing to stop the blazing fight.)

Dr. Wells instructs Barry during the fight that to defeat them, he must get their guns to cross streams. But that’s easier said than done. Barry realizes running around isn’t helping the cause and only draining his energy. He gets hit—much like he had earlier in the episode during training—and is done (oh no!) Captain Cold and Heat Wave aim their guns for what appears to be the final blow, until dun-dun-duh! Eddie arrives with the cold-resistant shield to help the Flash out. Yes, that’s right, Barry’s rival saves him. (And I cannot hate Eddie too much now, since he was the only cop to do anything.)
Barry and Eddit get out of the way, and Barry realizes he can’t be fast to defeat them. Instead, he has to be slow. (Wow! What a twist to the “fastest man alive”)

So he walks toward the two villains and the aim their guns. But as the fire and ice hit Barry from both sides, the two streams cross and Barry switches to fast mode and zooms out of there. Captain Cold and Heat Wave hit each other and are blasted apart. The cops swoop in and capture the two villains (finally).

Barry and Iris have a chat to clear up their strained relationship. Now that Iris moves in with Eddie, Detective West is left with an empty house. Barry decides to move back in. The episode seemingly ends with good smiles and broken ties on the mend.

Except Captain Cold and Heat Wave are seen in a prison truck on the way to prison (which is hilarious when you realize they were both from the show Prison Break); But of course, they manage to escape because Captain Cold’s sister stops the truck and busts open the doors (I guess you could say they've learned better ways to break out of prison).

Overall, the episode brought back the fun and excitement of a superhero, especially one dealing with multiple villains at once. I’m excited to see what the rest of the season will hold.

There are rumors that more Flash/Arrow crossovers will happen in the future, such as an annual event. And also that members of the 90s Flash TV show will make an appearance. We've already seen two cameos: one is John Wesley Shipp who plays Barry’s father on the CW show and used to play Barry in the 90s show, as well as Amanda Pays, who played Tina McGee in the mid-season finale and was a character with the same name in the 90s show. For the future, there are rumors that Mark Hamill will reprise his role as the Trickster (making it his third time doing so, once in the 90s show and once in an animated version). Yes, that’s right folks, Luke Skywalker himself might pop in later this season.

Questions:
1. Will Barry be able to defeat the Reverse Flash?
2. Who really is the Reverse Flash (and what does Dr. Wells know)?
3. What’s Captain Cold and Heat Wave planning next (and who is his sister)?

We’ll have to wait and see what happens next with the “fastest man alive.”

Jaime

“The Brave and the Bold” Recap

The CW 12.3.14

Spoilers!!!

Just when I thought the first crossover episode was epic, part 2 of the crossover extravaganza steals the thunder from the Flash’s lightning (okay, that was a bad pun).

The case that brought Oliver and Co. (Felicity and Diggle) to Central City is still underway. Kaboomerang (as Cisco names him later) is out for revenge on ARGUS (a super research organization of the government) and specifically Lyla, Diggle’s… something ex-wife (it’s complicated). Barry and co. eventually arrive to assist Oliver in catching this killer.

Onward to the episode:

After “Flash vs Arrow,” I was stoked to see Barry come to Starling City (Star City???) and step into the Arrow’s hood (apologies for the horrible puns).

First, I was excited to see Roy in action with the Arrow. I missed him in part 1. The episode starts off with action and getting right into the thick of things with explosions and dangerous guns being pointed at each other. Fun stuff. Arrow stuff.

We find out right away that ARGUS is interested in this Boomerang man, which leads to some tension between Diggle and Lyla.

But the excitement only skyrockets when ta-da! The STAR labs crew shows up to 1. Talk to Felicity 2. See the Arrow Cave? Bunker? Hideout? Cisco is hilarious walking around the premise and looking at all of Oliver’s gadgets and gizmos. And of course, Oliver’s constant “Don’t touch that” made me smile. Oh, Ollie, lighten up just a little. Please???

And then roll in the action! As Lyla and Diggle are in the ARGUS headquarters, Boomerang man, aka Digger Harkness, arrives and stirs up some trouble. His boomerangs are awesome! And he flips them around and does cool moves. Ahhh! It is so cool! Okay. And terrifying for Diggle’s sake.

Anyway, Arrow and Arsenal (Roy, which I had no idea they called him that until now) go to help Diggle. Caitlin mentions “they’ll never make it in time” and my heart squeaked! Flash could make it time!!

And sure enough, the camera pans back to a view of the city and a little red/yellow lightning bolt zips through the Starling City streets. I was grinning and trying not to scream out loud (because I happened to be watching the episode in a library).

Flash arrives, almost knocking down Thea, Oliver’s sister, in the street, which is comical (she kind of annoys me so her startled look on her face is priceless). Barry sweeps in and catches the boomerangs from Harkness right before they slash Oliver in the face! Yes!

Barry hangs out in the Arrow cave, providing more humorous lines of dialogue and moments between the Central City gang and Oliver’s team.

Finally, Lyla explains what the situation with Digger Harkness is—that he was supposed to be killed years ago after a mission (oh yeah, he was part of ARGUS) and it failed so he’s come to kill Lyla out of revenge. Well, that doesn’t sit well with any of the team, so they decide to hunt him down.

This exposes Barry to Oliver’s not-so-nice tactics to find out information (aka torture, which is fortified by a flashback to Oliver’s time in China with Amanda Waller). Barry is not happy about it and his view of Oliver is suddenly flipped around. I think this is probably one of the best moments of the episode. Barry confronts Oliver about the brutality he’s inflicting, yet Oliver has the opportunity to explain how Starling City is different than Central City, and how the Arrow has to approach cases differently than the Flash might. It’s a real moment that both hurts my heart but also reinforces why I adore Barry Allen.

Their hunt however leads Boomerang man back to the Arrow hideout (bunker? Cave?) and he attacks Lyla, Felicity, and Caitlin! Lots of screaming (internally from me, externally from them). Lyla is vitally injured and Felicity manages to toss some kind of gadget his way to get him away. Go Felicity!

After getting Lyla to the hospital, Oliver and Flash decide to officially team up to hunt down Digger Harkness, but they do it the Arrow’s way. They find Harkness in a train/subway (?) station for the Final Showdown! Dun-dun-DUH!

And the way the whole ending plays out is: perfect. Only Arrow and Flash tag-teaming could have saved the day and the city. While Oliver fights Harkness, Barry has to zip off (ha-ha) to stop five bombs from exploding, sprinkled throughout the city. But here’s the catch: the bombs are linked; when one bomb gets shut off, it’ll trigger all the others. Barry voices the fact that he “can’t be in five places at once.” But then, he realizes he doesn’t have to.

Ta-da! Super speed definitely comes in handy to transport friends around the city to disarm bombs. Barry escorts the members of both teams and they disarm the bombs. Then, he returns to the station to help Oliver. They defeat Harkness (and we get to see it this time) and he is sent to prison.

The episode wraps up with Oliver showing a little love—well, through Felicity that is. They install a mannequin/costume container thing for Barry to stash his suit next time he’s in town. NEXT TIME. Did you hear that? There might be a next time!!! More crossovers!! Yes! Yes! Yes! I need it.

And then Oliver and Barry go off together to have their own personal showdown of who would really win in a fight. Unfortunately, the episode ends right as Oliver starts shooting arrows toward Barry, who has just taken off running. But it was so good.

Ack. These shows are ruining my life. Next up: the mid-season finales, both are calling for some exciting (must I say it: the agony) cliffhangers.

-Jaime Heller

"Flash vs Arrow Episode" Recap

The CW 12.2.14

Spoilers!!!

This past week history, television history that is, was made when the CW’s Arrow and The Flash teamed-up to air a 2-part superhero crossover! For DC comics fans—and any superhero fan—this is BIG. I mean, we haven’t had this much superhero awesome in one show since the Absolute Justice (JSA) episodes in Smallville, which was almost five years ago. Five.

Basically the premise of The Flash is that Barry Allen, a forensic scientist for Central City’s police department, gets struck by lightning during a crazy science experiment gone wrong, and he gains super-human abilities. He can run fast, he can heal fast, and he kick butt fast (okay, maybe that last one is a bit of an exaggeration as he is usually the one getting beat up. For now.) However, he’s not the only one to gain super-human abilities. A whole bunch of “meta-humans” now roam Central City and it’s up to Barry and a team of scientists to save the city. So Barry becomes the Flash.

For Arrow, the premise is a big choppier since it’s on its third season. Basically, Oliver Queen was shipwrecked on this island for five years (or was he?) and he returns with one goal in mind: bring justice to his city, Starling City. To do so, he takes on a hooded disguise and uses a bow and arrow to get his justice. But it’s not so easy and well, lots of good and bad have happened over the past eight years and Oliver is trying to be a better hero every step of the way (but he’s still brooding—what is with the billionaire playboys and brooding? I’m looking at you, Batman).

Whew. Now that is over, let’s get down to business about this super-fantastic-my-mind-is-exploding-with-awesome episode! I mean, we’ve had Barry on Arrow before (season 2 when he was introduced and everybody fell in love so he got his own show) and Felicity (Oliver’s hacker friend and currently something more but nobody will admit it) was on The Flash a few episodes ago (adorable really). But this is bringing both sides together to fight and do awesome stuff. So let’s get down to.

A case brings Oliver and Co. (Felicity and Diggle) to Central City, where Barry is having a little trouble with this meta-human that gets people to focus on their rage and go bat crazy. Thus, he needs a little help and Oliver decides he needs a little training.

Onward into the episode:

Barry starts off talking about feels attacks and I basically had a feels attack about him talking about feels attack (he speaks the language of my people!) He basically was getting to the point that science and emotions go together but also are separate. Mainly he was swooning about Iris again. *sigh* Then the meta-human shows up in this bank and everybody starts going absolutely crazy, breaking things, fighting, and pointing guns at each other. Barry runs in (literally) just in time to save the day and the meta-human escapes.

Of course, nothing is easy because why would it be?

After encountering Oliver, Diggle, and Felicity in Central City (which Diggle’s reaction to Barry’s super-speed was hilarious. I’m glad there was a little human in this episode because it got dark quick), Oliver witnessed Barry trying to track down the meta-human and almost getting himself killed. So like a good mentor, he decides to train Barry…. by shooting him in the back with arrows?!?!

Right? My reaction too. Oliver! What are you doing!? I get your all brooding and disciplined, but dang: did you have to shoot him? Poor Barry…

Felicity returns to Star Labs and catches up with the scientists. I love her relationship with Caitlin Snow… it’s adorable. I’m glad they can have strong, healthy female relationships in this show and nobody has to be bitter rivals! Thank you, writers.

Well, Barry didn’t like Oliver’s training (and who would) so he goes after the meta-human ALONE (no, don’t!) and well, he gets infected with the rage disease thing. Because of his special abilities the infection doesn’t work the same as in normal humans. It doesn’t take affect right away and when it does, there is one angry, super-fast human running about. And it was terrifying.

Barry Allen, up to this point, has been the sweetest, charming guy. I mean, I had about one scene with him in the first season (okay, scratch that, one scene when he was in Arrow) and I was swooning. He’s easily one of my favorite TV characters right now. And I was sickened by how angry he acted. (props to you, Grant Gustin. You go, Grant Gustin).

He yelled, he screamed, he rage run at a car and started beating people up. And then, Oliver arrived to stop him. And that was even worse.

THE AGONY. I mean, Oliver’s been his mentor up to this point. He wants Barry to succeed; he wants to train him to succeed and protect himself. And he can barely stop him. Barry grabs Oliver’s grapple arrow and drags him along at super-speed. And he doesn’t stop.

There’s an entire moment when Oliver is caught up in this whirlwind of ripping-fast lighting run and Barry just goes at him with punches everywhere and he’s completely caught off guard with no way to protect himself. This episode broke through the two shows and brought them together, showing Oliver’s world of mainly normal human beings involved in crimes and Barry’s world of meta-humans.

My heart was racing and I thought Oliver was done for. The only thing that kept me sane was that the two teams (Oliver’s and Barry’s) were back in Star Labs bantering about who would win in a fight and Cisco and Diggle arguing about which hero was better. xD

But Oliver did it, with the help of a few friends, including Dr. Welles (*glares evil eye* I still don’t know what is up with him…)

Once Barry is in his right state of mind, he and Oliver take off to defeat the meta-human. Unfortunately, they don’t show it (after all this episode is called The Flash vs Arrow, so the main conflict was Barry during bat psycho and Oliver taking him down). They just show him locked away in Star Labs.

In the end, Barry and Oliver part with good spirits and few words of encouragement to each other. Unfortunately Barry’s—the Flash’s—biggest fan, Iris (who happens to be Barry’s best friend who he is secretly in love with) decides The Flash is dangerous after all and breaks all ties with him (hey, Iris, before you go blaming Barry better keep an eye on your boyfriend, I sense trouble in his pretty eyes).

Overall, I thought the episode was heart-wrenching and an exciting twist for the show. I’m super pumped that these superhero TV shows are doing so well. And that it’s capable of having crossovers between the two shows (hey TV networks: this is what I've been wanting for years). I’m excited to watch part two. 

-Jaime Heller