A very different kind of team-up.
What They Say:
All Star Team Up – Felicity Smoak and Ray come to Starling City to help with Ray’s suit; A metahuman releases deadly robotic bees; a group dinner does not go as planned.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Though the previous episode of The Flash was, in a sense, a one-off with what it wanted to do, it was the kind of fun and strong one-off on several levels in bringing back the Trickster and having fun with it. But it also worked as so many other episodes do in nudging along plenty of storylines that are going on, especially after Barry’s accidental time travel and some of what he’s starting to put together when it comes to Wells. What we’re getting from a lot of it is that Barry is simply too much of a good guy, which is appealing to the old school Barry Allen comic fans, as it’s very hard for him to really continue to work alongside him knowing that things are not right. And it’s hard for the viewers to not encourage him to go all out with it, especially as we saw the truth of events from fifteen years ago with Wells and how he got on the path that he’s on. It’s a solid continued unmasking of the villain for the audience, and for Barry as well.
With the cold open here, the show gets right into the action with an attempted robbery that’s not going quite so well, but it’s more that there’s a lot of criminal activity going on that’s keeping the police – and Barry – quite busy. There’s some fun speed quirks put into play here that’s cute to watch as it fits not just Barry’s sense of humor, but also the way Joe plays things. It’s also interesting to see how it plays with Eddie involved in things now that he knows more, since Barry feels a lot more loose and free in working with them, but we see there’s an unease of sorts coming from Eddie about it all. The big crime that goes on here though that gets investigated the next day is what’s really interesting as we see a woman, just tenured, getting killed by a slew of bees coming out of the fan in her car and essentially stabbing her to death near instantly.
While this investigation gets set up, we get a fun change of pace coming into it as while things are discussed at STAR Labs, Felicity comes for a visit so she can introduce Ray to them – in his ATOM suit as he flies in and makes quite the friendly entrance. This is one of those areas where if you’re not watching Arrow, it can be disconcerting (as it was for those in my family who foolishly don’t watch Arrow), but it has to do a decent job of getting people up to speed. The arrival is fun, but the timing is difficult for Barry as he’s really working through all his Wells issues, and this complication just builds on it all. Especially as they all realize that Ray is basically a male Felicity in a lot of ways and the dialogue between the two of them is comical and awkward. It works out well in changing up the group dynamic a bit, especially since Cisco wants to sit out the bee job due to his extreme fear of bees, but you also have to love the look Wells gives Ray since his future knowledge potentially gives him a little more understanding of things.
While there’s a lot of drama, and potential dinner plans being made that has Barry as a fifth wheel, there’s also more bee attacks coming from the “bug-eyed bandit” that’s working her own cause here. That has Barry getting a first hand encounter with them in an office building, but his belief that he could outrun a bee is put to the test and he actually loses it and goes into serious shock from it. This is actually neat because we see one of the gimmicks that Cisco built into the suit, which impresses the hell out of Ray. It also makes it clear that Ray is going to feel a lot more in sync with Central City than Starling City. It’s a quick and easy save overall, but it’s one that works well to show the group dynamic and some of the other awkward things going on. It also lets one of the bees get into STAR Labs that was hidden in the suit and still alive.
The dinner sequence is certainly comical, tense and awkward since there’s a few different things at play here, especially with Iris trying to poke and prod at Eddie since he’s hiding Barry’s secret now and is really, really bad at playing it casual. With Barry as the fifth wheel as well, it’s just kind of silly seeing it play out, especially since he has to contend with seeing both women that he’s liked to varying degrees with other men. What’s really stressing out Barry though is holding in everything about Wells, especially since Joe has him being wary about Cisco and Caitlin, but it’s Felicity that he can unload with and the two trade things in a rather quick paced and fun way that’s layered with all sorts of dark moments that both are facing in their respective lives. The real drama is seeing things collapse with Iris and Eddie, mostly because she’s acting out in a really big way about his being coy about things that he’s hiding.
The first half of the episode does a lot of good setup and character material with the cast assembled, but once the first bee gets into the facility, it doesn’t take long to get captured and for Cisco to turn from freaked out to hugely interested when he realizes they’re super advanced mechanical bees. That gives them the clues they need to move forward, checking in with Mercury Labs and discovering that the person behind everything is Brie Larson. It’s a quick hit to bringing this into context, but it’s just a little establishing material with a connection or two that works nicely. Keeping Mercury Labs in the loop once in awhile is definitely welcome as well, since it adds to the overall science-y side of Central City and provides opportunities for other kinds of events to come organically from there as opposed to strictly metahuman issues.
The final act takes us to the expected action sequence as Brie is sending her mini bugs to Mercury Labs to take out Tina, since she holds a grudge against her having been let go from there. What’s really fun is seeing how Felicity and Ray blend in well with Barry’s group and how Ray gets to be useful and really show his skill set there, which is still young and naive, in the way that Oliver never really was but is closer to how Barry is. It’s still a TV budget, but it’s doing more than most shows have done in a long, long time that it’s great to see some real flying/action sequences. Barry gets to face off against Brie while Ray’s doing that, and it lets Emily Kinney get a little screen time. Sadly, she’s under utilized here overall as I’d rather see her a lot more interactive with her opponents, but she provides a challenge for Felicity which is also a fun element. There’s some good silly stuff here, especially when it comes to Ray and Cisco, and that complements the more serious but still comic-booky side with the Felicity/Barry and Brie fight.
In Summary:
When you bring in characters from another show, there’s always a degree of uncertainty – especially with a character like Ray since he’s still being defined in Arrow. What I really like is that as much as I’ve enjoyed him on that show, he definitely feels more at home here, which gives me hope for the team-up spinoff show that he’ll really become something great there to lead it. The group dynamic here between everyone with all their issues are fun to watch since it takes advantage of the guest appearances to play things in a different direction and to open up new avenues. I’m still no fan of what they’re doing with Iris, but it’s just like early Laurel in Arrow in that the female characters on the outside are the worst written. There’s some great lines here, some fun interactions and a couple of nice little revelations that helps to proper Barry forward more to understanding the real threat that Wells represents.
Grade: A-
