After a strong first part over on The Flash, the second part of this year’s crossover event continued on Arrow, and it as a solid follow-up, as Team Green Arrow and Flash, along with the Hawks, continued their fight agianst the latest big baddie in CW’s DC TV Universe: Vandal Savage.
One of the biggest highlights of last night’s Arrow was the relationship between the Emerald Archer and the Fastest Man Alive, as you really see a bromance going on as well as them treating each other as equal and fellow heroes. However, I will say that Amell did shine just a little bit more because of the emotional performance that he delivered as Oliver learns that he has a nine-year-old son who has been living in Central City this whole time.
Even though this was the Arrow portion of the crossover, Barry has one of the biggest plots in this episode as he goes back in time by accident-ish (still remains to be seen if he is actually in control of those time-traveling journeys) after Vandal Savage manages to destroy Star and Central Cities with the Staff of Horus. That scene of seeing all those characters just get vaporized was haunting, and it, once again, made me appreciate the casting of Casper Crump and how they are writing Vandal, because this is literally one of the most powerful villains that we have ever seen in The CW’s DC TV Universe.
Even though Barry took several risks telling Oliver that he had gone back in time and what he did wrong in that version of the day, it was still impressive to see how Oliver used this opportunity to handle things better when it came to the Savage situation. The fact that he was the one to really push Cisco to help Kendra to access those memories and powers shows us that Oliver is really embracing this world where there is magic, meta-humans, immortal warriors, and more. Speaking of the flashbacks: can we just have flashbacks to Egypt from now on instead of the island flashbacks? While it was short, it was a nerd-worthy moment when we had seven superheroes fighting Vandal, as it literally felt like I was reading a comic book, which is only a good thing. The moment when Oliver stands by Barry when using the staff to destroy Vandal (even though we already know that he will come back in some way because of his role in Legends of Tomorrow), was a blast to watch, because who doesn’t love seeing heroes united?
The situation between Oliver and Felicity is a mixed one for me, because while you can agree and disagree with both of them on this matter. I do think that the reveal that Oliver has a son is a great obstacle for them to have as a couple, even if it means that Oliver is back to lying even though he had the chance to tell Felicity what was going on. It’s important for any romantic relationship to have obstacles every once in a while, because if there is one thing television has taught us over the years, it’s that love is never easy. The only thing that I’ll say regarding Felicity’s reaction in the other version was that she should’ve chilled just a little bit because Oliver literally found out that day that he had a son and was processing all of that. That was one of the aspects I really enjoyed in Amell’s performance, because Oliver can’t rely on whatever he learned when he was away for 5 years: this is new territory for him. While some may look at kids on TV being something that just gets in the way, I loved seeing William and Oliver interact, especially as they were playing with action figures because it shows that Oliver has a soft side, which goes well with his progression from the Arrow into the Green Arrow. Even though he is lying to Felicity, I’m honestly somewhat okay with it because I want to see Oliver as a dad, despite the price.
Overall, both “Legends of Today” and “Legends of Yesterday” served as a fantastic crossover event between Arrow and The Flash and did a wonderful job setting up for their spin-off series, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. Hawkman and Hawkgirl have both been established, as well as the great Vandal Savage, whose return shall be quite interesting given the fact that Malcolm will supposedly have something to do with it. But looking at this as a regular hour of Arrow, this was definitely another solid Season 4 episode.
Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.
[Photo credit: Katie Yu/ The CW]
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