Hey everyone! Welcome to my weekly series of blog posts, which will review Comic Book Themed TV Shows. I will be giving my TOP 5 Moments in the weekly episodes, Easter Eggs (if applicable) and my Predictions for future episodes and seasons (also if applicable) and my Final Thoughts!

BE WARNED, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!!!

So, if you haven’t seen the week’s episode, DO NOT READ THE REVIEW! I’ve broken it down by show, so you can skip reviews of episodes you haven’t seen yet, or don’t intend on watching. The blog post for the prior week will be posted the day following the episode’s airdate or at least sometime by the end of the week. Reviews for prior episodes than what’s current, will be release sporadically until I’m caught up.

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Flash (Season 1, Episode “Flash vs Arrow”; Airdate: 11/2/14)

Arrow (Season 3, Episode “Brave and the Bold”; Airdate: 11/3/14)

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Plot Synopsis

(Flash) The Flash must stop a metahuman, named Roy Bivolo, who can control his victim’s emotions at the same time Arrow shows up in Central City, looking into a killer who uses boomerangs as his weapons of choice. Barry and Oliver team up to meet their objectives, but when The Flash falls victim to Bivolo’s powers, it’s up to The Arrow to stop his rampage.

(Arrow) The Flash arrives in Starling City to assist The Arrow, Arsenal, and Diggle pursue a killer named Digger Harkness aka Boomerang. The heroes decide to team up in an effort to stop Boomerang.
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Top 10 Moments

• Diggle’s reaction to Flash!

I expected for Diggle to be the member of Team Arrow most effected by seeing The Flash in action. The scene in The Flash episode of the crossover was both hilarious and insightful. Diggle being taken aback and confounded by Barry’s speed, helped to ground things with the dark realism that Arrow represents.

• Arrow/Arsenal/Boomerang fight scene!

The fight choreography and stunt work on these shows, as always, was just top-notch. It was interesting to see two fisted heroes, Arrow and Arsenal work with a metahuman. This is something I’d like to see explored as more metahuman characters are introduced.

• Team Arrow at S.T.A.R. Labs and Team Flash at the Arrow Cave!

I was stoked that the two teams got to hang out in each other’s lairs. The sense of wonderment the characters displayed was awesome!

• Oliver learns the art of torture!

In the flashback scene, Oliver is called upon by Amanda Waller to use torture in order to obtain information from a captive. Initially, Ollie was averse to performing torture, despite the fact that he’d killed before. However, when his reluctance resulted in death and destruction, Oliver learned the hard facts that in certain circumstances with certain individuals, torture may be necessary.

• The Arrow get NEW duds!

I like the fact that Cisco, with his inexhaustible enthusiasm, lent his technical expertise to develop a NEW Arrow vest. I can’t wait until after the winter break to see Oliver wear it.

• One step closer to finding Sara’s killer!

We learn that Caitlin has narrowed down the DNA on the arrow that killed Sara. Soon, her killer will be revealed, but will it be brought to light in time before Oliver is forced to face off against Ra’s Al Ghul?

• Ollie runs into his baby’s momma while in Central City!

It was very interesting to see the woman who Ollie got pregnant and who Moira Queen paid off to disappear. Now that Moira is dead and some time has passed, it seems like we could be seeing Ollie’s son, Connor Hawke show up maybe next season. According to the Arrow/Flash Wikia, Oliver is twenty-nine years old. He was twenty-two at the time he got Sandra pregnant, which would make his son seven years old.

• Enter Captain Boomerang!

I found Nick Taraby’s performance as Captain Boomerang to be really good. He breathed life into a character which upon description, seems extremely cheesy and made him appear ruthless, deadly and extremely formidable. I look forward to seeing more of this character in the future. Since Boomerang was locked up with Slade aka Deathstroke, I wonder if they will escape and team up for a story arc next season?

• Enter Firestorm!

The first appearance of Firestorm was absolutely awesome! I found this to be the coolest moment in two-part crossover. This will go a long way into establishing a core of JLA members in the DC TV Universe.  So far, we’ve got Arrow, Flash and coming soon; Firestorm, Atom, Black Canary. Also, there is the possibility of: Green Lantern, Elongated man, Captain Atom, Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. I think it will be pretty interesting to see how the Firestorm character is developed and how his relationship with Caitlin is handled.

• Rocky III Ending!

‘nuff said!

Easter Eggs

• Arrowcave/Arrowmobile

In the comics, both the Arrowcave and Arrowmobile were actually utilized in the early career of Green Arrow. This was a direct rip off of the Batcave and the Batmobile, as Green Arrow was often described as Batman with a bow.

• Bart Allen

Captain Lance refers to Barry as Bart (which is his full name in the comics, Barry being another derivative of Bartholomew besides Bart) when he first sees him. Fans familiar with the comics know that Bart is the name of Barry’s grandson, who is known as Impulse. Bart travels from the future and establishes himself as a hero with Young Justice and later became Kid Flash and even, briefly, The Flash.

• “Speedy”

When Lyla threw out the “Speedy” moniker, fans knew who she was referring to, but Oliver thought she meant Roy (whose original name was Speedy in the comics).There was already a note of irony as Oliver’s nickname for Thea was “Speedy.”

• Title drop

“Sometimes bravery isn’t enough; sometimes you have to be bold.” Lyla name dropped the title of the episode very nicely.  Brave and the Bold was also a DC Comics team-up title which initially featured Batman, teaming up with another hero or villain every month.

• Corner of Infantino and Adams

The Flash aka Barry Allen co-creator Carmine Infantino and Green Lantern/Green Arrow artist Neal Adams were represented by a cross streets mentioned in the Arrow episode.

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Predictions

While I wouldn’t want them to team up every week, once or twice a season is definitely enough to satiate my fanboy needs. I think the viewer numbers for these episodes will ensure that team ups like this occur annually.

I think that as other DC Comics characters are introduced on both shows, it’s going to open things up to other spin-offs. The CW may not want to be known as Superhero Central, when it comes to TV shows, but I expect the numbers may warrant another spin off for the network down the line. As to which characters may be used, it’s too soon to say, but that’s my prediction and I’m sticking to it.

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Final Thoughts

I thoroughly enjoyed every second of these episodes! I was experiencing a geekgasm from start to finish. The dynamics between the characters/actors were well written and acted. There was plenty of chemistry between Team Flash and Team Arrow. This team up was on my top five moments of comic character team ups of all time. It harkened back to the Batman/Green Hornet team up from the 1960’s TV show for me in terms of anticipatory excitement.

I give each episode an A+!

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