The Flash season 1, episode 18, “All Star Team Up,” looked to be another enjoyable crossover between The Flash and Arrow. Unfortunately, some parts didn’t quite work.
The Flash has had a nearly uniformly strong freshman season, as the executive producers have clearly taken the lessons learned working on Arrow and applied them to The Flash. One of the highlights of this season has been the occasional crossovers between Arrow and The Flash.
This week’s episode, “All Star Team Up,” featured Arrow‘s Felicity Smoak and Ray Palmer arriving in Central City, looking for help on Ray’s A.T.O.M. suit. Meanwhile, an engineer, played by The Walking Dead alum Emily Kinney, began attacking former coworkers with mechanized bees, Eddie and Iris had relationship issues, Cisco started having flashbacks to an alternate timeline, and Barry angsted over Harrison Wells being the Reverse Flash.
If it sounds like there was a lot going on, that’s because there was. And while The Flash is usually pretty good at balancing a lot going on in its episodes, this episode felt weighed down by everything going on.
With that in mind, we look at the what worked and what didn’t.
Felicity and Ray at S.T.A.R. Labs
What worked: The core of this episode centered on Felicity and Ray arriving in Central City. Ray and Cisco bonded immediately, becoming a small-screen, DC version of the Science Bros. It was adorable, and Cisco even got a heroic moment when he saved Ray from getting stung by a leftover bee.
Felicity also gave her platonic soulmate, Barry, some much needed advice about bringing Cisco and Caitlin in on what he and Joe had discovered about Wells. Their friendship remains a highlight of crossovers between the shows.
What didn’t: The dinner scene probably could have been cut to spend a bit more time on other storylines. We got more insight into Iris and Eddie’s relationship issues, but that could have been done in a number of other ways — and it was, through other scenes.
Another area the crossover fell flat in was the villain of the week. We get Felicity calling Brie Larvan her nemesis, but their online face-off is incredibly short. This would have worked better — thus making Felicity’s mic drop moment more satisfying — had their conflict been spaced out through the episode.
Bug-Eyed Bandit
What worked: The mechanized bees were a nice twist on a bug-controlling villain. We also liked that the show decided to gender-bend the comics’ Bug-Eyed Bandit. This show is always in need of more women. These bees also ended up giving Ray the idea to shrink his technology, putting him on the path to fulfill the Atom’s comic-based abilities.
This storyline also reintroduced Dr. Tina McGee, played by the original Flash series’ Amanda Pays. Her final scene with Barry when she revealed that Harrison Wells, fifteen years earlier, became a “different person” after his girlfriend died was the payoff of everything. This will, no doubt, push Barry to dig further into the accident that we now know saw Eobard Thawne take over Harrison Wells’ identity.
What didn’t: A lot was made of the casting of a The Walking Dead‘s Emily Kinney for this role, but she was criminally underused. She felt more like a side note and a plot device to give Ray his insight and bring Dr. McGee and Barry together on friendly terms than a villain to be feared.
Eddie and Iris
What worked: Barry and Joe brought Eddie in on Barry’s secret at the end of the last episode, and Eddie was not happy about having to keep the secret from Iris, which we appreciate. Iris, for her part, recognized she is being lied to and refused to take that lying down, which we also appreciate.
Mostly, we can’t help but feel bad for both parties in this situation.
What didn’t: The sheer number of people who know Barry’s identity who aren’t Iris is getting ridiculous. And despite Joe’s and Barry’s belief that Iris is safer not knowing, that’s simply not true. The trope of going to absurd lengths to keep the hero’s secret identity from the love interest is outdated and overplayed. We hope this story comes to a head sooner rather than later so we can move forward.
Cisco’s dreams
What worked: It seems that the shocking events of “Out of Time” weren’t completely erased after Barry traveled through time after all. Though it initially seemed like the revelations from that episode were simply teases for when they would stick later this season, we definitely like the idea that the original timeline is still relevant to the narrative.
What didn’t: We’re withholding judgment until we find out just how Cisco is dreaming of something that didn’t happen in the current timeline, but that does seem… odd.
Barry’s worries
What worked: Knowing that a man he greatly admired killed his mother is taking its toll on Barry and leading to questions of loyalty among the team at S.T.A.R. Labs. It’s tension that makes the most sense with the events that have occurred and is a story that seems to be progressing fairly quickly, considering it only taking Barry an episode to decide to bring in Caitlin and Cisco on his suspicions about Wells.
What didn’t: It’s sad to see Barry alienated from people he cares about and who care about him, so thankfully it didn’t last longer than an episode.
Overall, while there was plenty to enjoy in this episode, it definitely felt like it was stuffed to the point of being overfull, a balance The Flash usually ends up on the right side of. We’re still excited about the upcoming crossovers, though!
The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET on The CW.
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