The Flash provided us with another fun little mini Arrow/Flash (also known as “Flarrow”) crossover this week as Captain Lance (Paul Blackthorne) and Laurel Lance/Black Canary (Katie Cassidy) get a visit from Cisco and Joe in Starling City, while Barry and the remainder of Team Flash deals with a new meta-human, the Green Arrow villain Hannibal Bates, a.k.a. Everyman.
I’m not minding these small crossovers at all that the two shows are doing; it’s a good catch-up for the characters that didn’t get to do much in the first crossover back in December. To anyone who wasn’t aware, it appears that this episode, as well as last week’s, take place before all the craziness that we have seen on Arrow lately. This was another useful and well done crossover as we, first of all, get some fantastic interaction between Quentin and Joe. I loved seeing them talk about their respective differences with their daughters right now (who I hope will get to meet each other one day; I think some cool scenes can come out of that) and sort of look through the other person’s POV for a minute. How often do we actually get to see two fathers do something like that on TV? Not often with the shows that I watch.
But nothing beats the phenomenal dynamic that was Cisco and Laurel, who I wish had shared more scenes with each other. Without getting down on Arrow in any way, it was really nice for ONCE in a long time to actually see a character appreciate Laurel and her role as Black Canary. I seriously want someone to send Oliver Queen this episode and show him how to actually support and appreciate Laurel’s work instead of telling her constantly, “Oh you aren’t a hero, you need more training.” The Flash doesn’t waste this little visit, as Laurel asks for an upgrade with her Canary Tech and gets the Canary Cry in the form of something that she can put around her neck. So while she doesn’t have powers here, she will have a Canary Cry at least. Can we please just have tons of Cisco/Laurel scenes in Season 2 and Season 4 of these respective shows, please?
I had no idea what to expect from Hannibal Bates at first, but he was one of the best new villains introduced in the The Flash‘s first season. It was neat how there wasn’t a specific actor cast for him, that it was role that multiple actors had to play, including the principal cast, who got to play darker versions of themselves; you can tell they had a great time with it. It’s always fun watching actors get to play something that is different from their own character. There was one point where I had to nitpick, because it looked a little wonky, and that was right when Barry defeated Hannibal. As Hannibal is starting to transform into everyone and begins losing his power, the background just didn’t seem to fit in with the actor. It happens to every show, where even the greatest special effects team can struggle wth a challenge or two.
Lastly, can we just applaud Eddie for a minute? These two past episodes have been really good for this character, as Rick Cosnett is finally getting more to do. Even though it wasn’t technically his secret to tell, I had no problems with him telling Iris that he is working with The Flash so that we could end this unnecessary drama. In a perfect world, I would want Iris to be able to figure everything out on her own, she is a very smart character, and I wouldn’t even be surprised if she has already started to piece together some of the pieces of the puzzle. Based on what Patton and the producers have said, it seems that there is going to be a lot of tension once all the secrets are out.
“Who Is Harrison Wells?” ends with Team Flash finding Harrison’s “future room” and not only discovering the Reverse-Flash outfit, but also the newspaper from April 25, 2024. I call that the perfect ending to another solid episode with a great and well-used crossover, a very fun villain, and several great performances, as we saw dark versions of some of the characters. Also, once again, every time Carlos Valdes gets to geek out as Cisco, it warms my heart.
The Flash airs on Tuesday nights, 8/7c on The CW.
[Photo via The CW]
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Thankyou for saying that about Laurel..its like they forgot about her for the past few episodes.