In the end, the episode was far more about the philosophical differences in the two heroes. While The Flash is quickly becoming a force of hope for his city, Oliver is still regarded as a murdering psycopath. His less-than-noble deeds are easy to forget on a show like Arrow, but when viewed from an outside perspective like this, they truly come into focus. I totally understand why someone like Detective West wouldn’t trust him.
Barry doesn’t come out of the episode unscathed, and is actually pretty emotionally compromised by the hour’s end. His little tiff with Eddie disrupts the trust Iris has in The Flash, and while I disagree with her reasoning (she flatly ignores the fact that Barry literally was not in control of his actions thanks to a metahuman), I find her change of heart interesting and necessary from a story perspective. In order for Barry to truly learn some important lessons about being a hero, he needs to understand that his actions, good or bad, have an effect on those around him. Losing Iris’ faith is a big blow that will have serious ramifications on him in future episodes, especially now that Eddie has been granted permission to form an anti-Flash task force.
All in all, “Flash Vs. Arrow” was a fun crossover event that thankfully served The Flash‘s series-long arcs in an interesting and productive manner. What could have easily been a throwaway team-up episode became the most important hour of the show thus far. It wasn’t perfect, and ended on some strange notes (the nod to the mystery girl from Oliver’s past – who we saw briefly on Arrow last season- came out of nowhere), but it was exactly what I wanted from a crossover like this and will definitely help tide fans over until Batman and Superman take center stage in 2016.
Additional Notes
- I absolutely love how Diggle responds to seeing Barry’s powers in action. The shock that Diggle felt was both hilarious and extremely understandable. In fact, I wish more people would react that way to seeing The Fastest Man Alive
- Seeing Ronnie Raymond (Stephen Amell’s cousin Robbie Amell) as Firestrom was great. I can’t wait to see that character again.
- Captain Singh’s little aside about how his boyfriend only likes healthy food felt extremely out of place, but considering that the boyfriend in question is the supervillain known as the Pied Piper, I can forgive it.
- As out-of-left-field as Oliver’s mystery woman was, I love that that plot thread came back around. In the comics, Oliver has a son, Connor Hawke, who takes up the mantle of Green Arrow for a time. His existence was teased in Arrow last season, so it shouldn’t be long now before Connor shows up in some capacity.
- It’s interesting that Eddie is so anti-Flash. He may not live up to his namesake and become Barry’s arch-nemesis Reverse Flash, but he’s certainly being set up as a major foil for the scarlet speedster this season.
- I wish that Captain Boomerang factored more into this episode. Instead, Rainbow Raider becomes just another throwaway freak-of-the-week for Barry to fight. But, I guess that’s why we’re getting another crossover episode, right?