THE FLASH “Flash vs. Arrow” Review

Can Barry outrun his own emotions?

Official Description from the CW:

Oliver, Felicity, and Diggle come to Central City to track down a boomerang used in a murder, and team up with Barry. However, when Barry falls under the influence of a villain who puts him into a fit of rage, Oliver must battle his friend before he kills someone. Meanwhile, Eddie tries to form an anti-Flash task force when he believes that the speedster poses a danger to the city.

After all the hype there’s been a great deal of expectation centering around this week’s episode. I have to admit, I’m not a follower of Arrow, so it did pull me into possibly picking up another show to watch. So, in the end, I believe it did what it was expected to do. The chemistry between Barry and Oliver was a little strained, but their starkly differing look on life and the way they went about their crime-fighting was a great contrast. It reminds me of Batman and Superman, where the darker side of being a hero meets the (forgive me) the flashy bright side. The story was a bit packed and the meta-human was put away without us seeing the payoff. But, there were a lot more important things to get done tonight.

I knew from the very beginning the villain was trouble. Every week a meta-human appears and presents Barry with a challenge that, at first, looks impossible to survive. But our hero and his S.T.A.R. Labs team always figures it out. Under the influence of the bad guy’s emotion bending powers, Barry said some rather hurtful things. He damaged his relationship with most of the cast. The only one he didn’t go off on was Wells. They worked a bit too quickly through the whole ‘good guys don’t do that’ motif. And the show was a bit full of sexual innuendo. But, for the most part, it worked. This was a perfect stage setter for the ‘yellow suit’ coming next week. Iris is on Eddie‘s side now and doesn’t trust The Flash. Caitlin‘s dead boy friend is back. Totally saw that coming with most viewers.

Grant Gustin gave us all he had this week. Not just the repressing, angst ridden boy scout, but the whole gambit of anger, jealousy and outright rage. Eddie (Rick Cosnett) remains a mystery and finally shows us a little emotion. But, if I’m correct, all will be revealed soon. Paul Anthony, playing the emotion bending baddie, didn’t’ give us much to work with, but that wasn’t his fault. We saw more out of Candice Patton (Iris West) as she begins to turn of The Flash. Stephen Amell hit pay dirt, as usual, laying down the dark, gritty vigilante contrasting that with the cheery, goody-goody, Barry Allen. It was Amell and Gustin that carried the outing, as you might guess, and they did so convincingly.

Although there was a bit too much going on for an hour, it was orchestrated well and left me excited, not only for the Arrow but the coming of the Reverse Flash. This superhero show just seems to do no wrong as it nears its mid-season finale.