The Flash S3 Ep. 8 Thoughts & Easter Eggs

"Invasion!"

With this week's Flash episode being the second installment of the 4-Night Crossover, it's great to finally get to see the highly anticipated superhero ensemble event take place. I was a little disappointed with Supergirl not having a proper introduction to the crossover's story or concept, but all is easily forgiven here as The Flash does more than set the stage for our cast of heroes. It would be a major understatement to say that I "geeked" out a bit during this episode as comic book fans like myself get to witness such an epic gathering of characters from different backgrounds and standalone series. So, does the crossover episode live up to the hype? Well, let's dive into what worked and didn't work as there are several things to talk about here.

The Dominators

As far as story goes, you have your typical alien invasion plot forcing a team of heroes to band together in order to face a massive threat. Before we get into the team building itself, after Barry discovers the aliens in what was speculated to be a meteor crash, we see Lyla being utilized as sort of the government perspective of the crossover taking on the mission as the head of A.R.G.U.S. It is through her character that we learn about the Dominator's illusive history dating back to a previous recon based attack during the 50's for intel on our planet. Yes, this does come across as a generic alien invasion set up, but I actually found myself intrigued with what their ultimate end goal might be. Remember, this is only the first phase in a larger story introducing them to this universe.

Gathering The Team

By the time Barry took it upon himself to assemble a team of "superheroes" despite Lyla's warnings, I was already onboard with the overall concept as it felt simple enough while making room for potentially interesting twists moving forward. As far as Barry actually gathering the team, this was definitely some of the more entertaining as well as dramatic moments of the episode. Everyone for the most part gets to shine one way or the other from their respected series which was awesome to watch being a fan of all of the properties involved.

Note Diggle's "Yep, I've seen it all now" reaction to Supergirl's powers

We recently saw Barry's reunion with Kara during the ending sequence of Supergirl which was then repeated here with an added sense of context. I honestly wasn't expecting much from Supergirl as far as introductions go, so I was more than happy to see the writers rightfully treat her as the powerhouse character on the team. The scene where Kara showcases her abilities in front of everyone made her seem god-like in comparison which was a perfect representation of the character. I was also glad to see them staying consistent with her personality by having her come across as the overly excited and optimistic one of the team. It honestly felt like a breathe of fresh air to a currently bleak and dark atmosphere within the other shows respectfully.

Power ranking aside, what I also loved about her role during the conference scene is that she also brings forth her very own personal knowledge regarding the Dominators which added an extra layer to the mysterious villains. It was cool to see the writers insert Kara's own universe by having her reveal something about the villains via childhood stories on Krypton. Not only does this confirm that the Dominators also exists on Supergirl's Earth as a menacing threat, but that other planetary based characters are possibly in question to show up on both series. Perhaps we're witnessing the CW DC Universe expand into the galactic corner of the comics transcending what we thought was exclusive to the Supergirl series alone.

As nice as it was to see Supergirl officially initiated into the "Arrowverse", my personal favorite reunion has to be with Team Arrow for several reasons. Not only was it hilarious to see Diggle's mind numbing reaction yet again to the more science-fiction elements of Barry's life, but it was even more hilarious when Barry reacts to Vigilante being Oliver's current enemy. There's a sort of "So what crazy stuff have you been up to lately?" comedic tone during this scene that really hit home for me. It's fun to have grounded characters who simply aren't used to the more fantastical stuff surrounding the Flash despite them teaming up in the past. It's also nice, although honestly forgetful, having Thea join the team as Speedy once again.

Barry's Message of Regret

If you've been keeping up with Legends of Tomorrow, then you'd know about the secret message that was sent from Barry 40 years into the future which was exclusively given to Rip Hunter. This is where the Legends enter into the picture as far as relevant connectivity to the other series. Not only do we finally hear future Barry's message to Rip which caused him to disband from the crew during the Season 2 premiere, but we also witness the first key moment of the crossover regarding Barry's development as someone searching for peace. Ever since the Flashpoint episode, Barry has been the center of conflict surrounding friends and family due to his ultimate selfish act, but it's during this episode where he truly confronts his entire world of regret.

Once Barry's message is accidentally discovered by Cisco, this forces him to confront the entire team eventually spilling out all of his secrets regarding the timeline shift. This was honestly one of the most intense and hardest to watch moments in the entire Flash series as far as character drama goes. You can feel the amount of hurt building up inside of Barry as the entire world comes crashing down on him for his mistakes. As Barry calls everyone out individually that he affected behind the scenes, you can feel the level of trust almost completely leaving the room which stings even more considering his leader-like position on the team.

It was great to see Kara never losing her trust in Barry despite the huge bomb of information that was dropped in front of her.

However, even through such a bleak situation, this is where the most highlighted character of the crossover makes his stand in my opinion. With Barry deciding to hang back as everyone else leaves him behind for the mission, Oliver is the one that attempts to bring everyone around to a more forgiven side. If you're a fan of the Arrow series, then I can imagine you possibly calling this moment "out of character" for Oliver as he's usually the first one to call anyone out on their flaws. However, understanding that Oliver was the one that essentially shepherded Barry into becoming a hero in the beginning, you can understand his forgiving and understanding nature.

After Oliver decides to stay back at the base to talk with Barry, this leads to one of the best Oliver Queen moments in the entire franchise so far. As Barry gazes upon his changes to the timeline by reading an altered version of the newspaper article shown during Season 1, Oliver shows a side of himself that is rarely ever shown in his own series. Not only is he the one ironically telling Barry not to beat himself up about the past (which is usually the type of lecture given to him by Diggle or Felicity), but he also tells Barry that anyone would've made the executive decision that he made given the opportunity.

This results to Oliver sharing the tragic story about his own family which he has never told him previously (something that I never realized until now) stating that he'd give anything to bring them back and that tragedy in itself is inevitable. This was by far the strongest performance that I've ever seen from Stephen Amell in the titular role and an emotional moment for Oliver to be presented as Barry's closest friend in a time of need. It's a touching reminder that even when all hell breaks loose, Barry will always have someone on the outskirts who understands and believes in him.

These are the type of character interactions that I look forward to during crossover episodes as it brings a sense of relevance and weight to having characters exist in the same plane for a reason higher than simply defeating a common threat. Hopefully, this scene isn't just a one off for the "Heroes Vs. Aliens" arc, but an actual stepping stone for both characters coming to a place of clarity moving forward.

Worth the Price of Admission

Character drama aside, let's talk about the main reason why most fans got excited once the crossover event was announced. I was honestly a bit nervous thinking about whether or not the overall entertainment quality would be able to live up to the level of anticipation going in. I can safely say now that not only did the action elements transcend expectations, but the use of character spotlights were nearly perfect all things considered. Everyone gets a chance to shine to some degree which is pretty difficult factoring in the amount of characters being juggled around here. With the Dominators eventually controlling the minds of almost everyone except for Oliver and Barry, we're treated to arguably the greatest clash of superheroes that has ever graced the small screen.

However, before said epic clash of heroes, during the training scene where Oliver decides to utilize Supergirl as a training dummy to prep for the Dominators, we get to see all of the Legends and members of Team Arrow hilariously fail at taking her down. I've dove into several of the deeper dramatic portions of the episode, but there's also a nice helping of comedic moments to keep things balanced out. Watching Kara have fun effortlessly smacking around characters from other shows was something that I never thought I'd get to see making it one of the most entertaining segments of the episode despite being a little short.

Speaking about things that I thought I'd never see, if you'd told me years ago that I'd be watching The Flash and the Green Arrow face off against a team of mind controlled superheroes and vigilantes including Supergirl, I'd think you were insane. However, thanks to the Dominators story arc, fans like myself were able to see several characters battle it out in a visually spectacular fashion. From Oliver taking on everyone on the Arrow team to Barry having to face off against a merciless Supergirl and the Legends, this ended up being one of the best action sequences in the history of the comic book TV genre.

What I really enjoyed about this scene aside from the obvious visual flare was the type of character pairings being shown. The writers knew exactly which characters would be best suited for an engrossing battle and which would simply feel like a lackluster and unfair advantage. Watching Oliver having to fend off against members of his own team brought forth a sense of dramatic weight to the fight especially with the inclusion of Sara considering their history together. Watching Barry race through the city with Supergirl catching up on his trail in a heat vision frenzy not only made for an awesome fan service moment, but a sense of equal footing considering the power levels of both characters.

You have a grounded fight choreography based confrontation taking place alongside a more fantastical super powered showdown. Needless to say, the visual direction was at its peak here delivering on the epic scope necessary for each battle. After the Flash outsmarts Supergirl causing her to shut down the mind controlling device, there was a nice moment of relief showing everyone snapping out of their trance with both Barry and Oliver basically at the end of their wits. With such a dramatic turn of events, I do wonder if this experience will ripple out through everyone's individual shows in some shape or form. It'll be interesting to see how these characters move on once the crossover officially ends.

Despite having an absolute blast with the episode, there were a couple of things that brought it down from being a near perfect experience. For one thing, the pacing of the episode definitely felt shaky during certain moments where character interactions felt rushed over for the sake of squeezing down the overall runtime. Another small issue that I had came with some of the comedic parts of the episode which was a hit or miss situation for me personally. There are some moments where I laughed out loud (mostly surrounding Heat Wave's interactions) but they were unfortunately met by others where the comedy felt flat or simply forced in disrupting the flow of the scene. Fortunately, these were very few but definitely noticeable.

Overall, this was by far the most exciting crossover episode thus far considering the choice of characters utilized and the overall scope of the action, drama, and villainous presence. With only a few nitpicks in mind, I can safely consider the "Heroes Vs. Aliens" arc as being a successful hit thus far. With a surprising cliffhanger showing that the Dominators are still very much present in their mysterious plans by abducting some of the heroes at the end, I look forward to seeing what the Arrow segment of the crossover will bring considering the big shoes that it has to fill.

Bonus Content

1. Barry Gazes At The Future 

With an interesting callback to Season 1, we see Barry obsessively looking at the future news article in a manner similiar to Eobard Thawne. Only this time, Barry is essentially the villain of his own story. Is this what Eobard was alluding to earlier on in the season?

2. The Dominators

3. The Dominator's Tech

Not only does the Dominators possess the ability to swiftly control the minds of others via alien tech, but we also get brief glimpses of the interior of massive ship as well as a vaporizing gun of sorts.

4. Supergirl = Earth 38

It's finally confirmed, thanks to Cisco, that Supergirl's Earth is considered as being "Earth 38" in the multiverse from their perspective. That's quite a bit of uncharted territory teased with such a large number of Earths.

5. Ray Tells Barry About Snart

This was definitely an episode that centered around loose ends being tied up between characters. One in particular is the closure of Captain Cold dying as a hero (or "Legend") as told by Ray to Barry. The relationship between Barry and Snart has always been an interesting one, so it's nice to see them callback to his character. 

6. Stein Is Affected By The New Timeline

Now that Barry has officially come clean about his meddling with the timeline, I'm interested to see where Stein's character will go from here on out as he struggles to process his new life flashing before his eyes. It's a pretty intense and messed up situation when you think about it. 

7. Caitlin Tells Her Secret About Killer Frost To Prof. Stein

Although a little bit forgetful considering everything else going on, I did find it interesting that Caitlin told Prof. Stein about her new abilities and dangerous potential. Being that the two has always helped each other out, I can't help but wonder if Professor Stein might actually come up with a cure for her situation.

8. Ray Gets A New Atom Suit

9. Eager McWally

There's nothing more I can say except for the fact that I continue to grow tired of Wally constantly getting into trouble and unnecessarily rebelling against everyone who looks out for his well being. 

10. Barry Saves Oliver Again

As a callback to a previous crossover episode, Barry pops up in the nick of time to save Oliver from getting shot by the current villain of the week. 

11. Supergirl Carves Her Insignia via Heat Vision

12. Upgrades for The Flash & Green Arrow

Ironically, we see both Barry and Oliver firing three projectiles at once this time around as oppose to their traditional one hit takedown attempts. Hopefully this is something that we get to see more often moving forward with both series.

13. Supergirl Is Immune To The Flash's Lightning

Not only is Supergirl shown to be a formidable opponent for the Flash speed-wise, but we also see Barry's lightning toss having little to no effect on her even after a direct hit.

14. Barry Uses His Phasing Ability To Defeat Supergirl

15. Dominator Influenced Supergirl and White Canary

16. The Hall of Justice?

Comedic Highlights

17. Mick's Lazy Attempt To Fight Kara During Training

The brief moment where Mick is shown lying on the ground hardly putting any effort to fight Kara was by far the most funniest moment for me. He literally looked like he was about to take a nap after quickly giving up and yawning while shooting.

18. Mick's Interaction With Kara

As a standalone scene, having Mick abruptly tell Kara that he'll call her "Skirt" instead of Supergirl while also telling her the twisted backstory of his codename was downright hilarious. Kara's reaction is priceless here.

19. Barry Hilariously Reacts To Oliver's Current Endeavors

Barry: "So, who was that guy?"

Episode Rating: 9/10