Review: The Flash vs. Arrow

Part 1: ‘Flash vs Arrow

It’s a good time to be a comic book fan. No longer limited to campy cult flicks or Batman films, the comic book medium has exploded into its own sub-genre. Partly to thank for this is the CW’s Arrow. Beginning as a Batman rip-off (as did the character of Green Arrow, to be fair), the show quickly came into its own, mixing killer stunt work (star Stephen Amell performing the majority of his own stunts) and comic book pulp while turning the CW’s detrimental soap operatic drama into part of its charm. Season 2 continued this trend towards a more grandiose, epic and often ridiculous experience that DC has been unable to provide outside of the recent Batman films and the old Bruce Timm animated series. And then they introduced Barry Allen, played by Grant Gustin – yes, from Glee.

(source: screenrant.com)

As absurd as Arrow can be, it appeared resistant to the idea of superpowers, the first instance of which appeared as a miracle formula that enhanced the receiver’s strength, at the cost of their sanity. This resistance to the idea of powers dramatically ended with the final moments of the episode ‘Three Ghosts’, when Barry is struck by lightning, giving him the power of super speed. This very successfully spun off into The Flash. The show so far has proved to be extremely fun, wholeheartedly embracing its comic book heritage with dazzling effects and a light-heartedness that is a welcome departure from its brooding older brother. The heroes and the villains are more flamboyant, and is completely unashamed of it. Quite tellingly, the villain in this episode of The Flash is ‘Rainbow Raider’.

In the post-Avengers world, with these two heroes existing in the same universe, a crossover is a necessity. Considering the number of characters in comparison to the likes of the Avengers, it doesn’t feel like there was much to get wrong – but the episode feels like a triumph regardless.

The Flash half of the crossover brings Team Arrow to Central City, where Oliver is tracking a murderer, and The Flash is hunting a “metahuman” by the name of Roy G Bivolo who has the ability to make his victims burst into fits of murderous rage – so, they team up. With a condition: Oliver gets to train Barry. The scenes of the two and their sidekicks interacting are wonderful to watch, their different worldviews (and of course, the superpowers) bringing both hilarity and intensity. As with every superhero team up, they end up fighting thanks to Barry getting “whammied” after pursuing Bivolo alone, leaving it up to Oliver to stop him. And the result is dazzling.

This was by no means a perfect episode of television, with the same problems that one can expect from any episode of The Flash or even Arrow – for example, the repeated and vague use of the word ‘impossible’ when referring to superpowers, and Iris. The show has had an Iris problem for a while, never being able to make the character important to the plot. The Lois Lane angle is annoying – it didn’t work on Arrow, and it isn’t working now. The writers need to spend time actually demonstrating why Iris is special, rather than showing how into the Flash, or Eddie, or even Oliver she is. Even her dad appears closer to Barry than she does with his biological daughter he so obsessively wants to protect. Hopefully Berlanti and co. learn from their mistakes with Laurel (who was sidelined for the Arrow half of the crossover).Thankfully, this episode seems to have put an end to Iris’s Lois Lane dynamic with the Flash, which will now allow her to develop better as a character.

Part 2: ‘The Brave and the Bold’.

The Arrow half of the crossover, set in Starling City, is a little darker. That said, the Flash crew bring with them a lightness that is unfamiliar yet extremely welcome – the number of occasions where Oliver has smiled can still probably be counted on your hands. The show has fallen into something of a lull with Season 3, starting with some fairly forced drama, failing to gain momentum. This, however, was a great episode of Arrow – the departure from the Sara’s death storyline benefitted it especially.

This half of the crossover deals with Oliver’s bad guy, Captain Boomerang (ironically, a member of the Flash’s Rogues gallery in the comics). While the name doesn’t speak volumes, Captain Boomerang is the real deal. A serious threat to both the team and the heroes, the show does an excellent job of showcasing how dangerous he is from the first scene, to the final showdown at the train station.

Both shows continue to make the other interesting and some of the moments I found the most enjoyable, were the reactions to Barry’s powers – Arrow has settled into something of a groove at this point, and the characters, at least momentarily, appearing out of their depth was pretty refreshing. The hilarious warehouse raid sequence confronts the ‘reality’ of the Flash’s power set; and Oliver is made to appear a little useless because Barry “had 8 seconds to spare”. This, in combination with Barry’s constant efforts to show off, and Oliver’s absolute refusal to be impressed, makes for an extremely charming dynamic.

Even the interactions between the supporting characters was enjoyable. Cisco can be a bit one-note, but placing him in a different environment lets his philosophy show, and the character’s fanboy enthusiasm to shine – he is effectively placed alongside the fans of the shows and the comics because he appreciates ‘how freakin cool’ this all really is. The payoff of Cisco and Caitlin’s learning experience is maybe a little on the nose, but it does feel earned. The villains on The Flash so far have mostly been a puzzle to be solved, and the two characters spend the majority of their time removed from the action, at a stretch, acting by proxy through Barry.

(source: screenrant.com)

Both episodes do a marvellous job of balancing and contrasting the tones of each show, while highlighting and maintaining what has made them so popular – The Flash’s infectious enthusiasm for his part time superheroics, and Oliver’s self-pitying, Batman-esque redemptive quest. True to character, Barry wants nothing more than to help as much as he can – jumping at the chance to team up with Oliver, and, also true to character, showing off as much as he can while he is doing so. Grant Gustin’s boyish charm as Barry Allen has never been more apparent, and the CW, of all channels, continues to make waves in superhero television.