"What sorcery is this?" you probably asked. Well, as much we’ve enjoyed covering Greg Berlanti’s DC Comics, “Flarrowverse” shows (Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow) here at Epicstream, using our super caffeine-fuelled mental powers of deduction, we came to the realise that even for the avid fan, reading through 4 different lengthy reviews for each show each week might be a bit much (at least for non-speedsters). So, especially with all shows now on the CW and more interconnected than ever, we thought we’d condense it all down into a single article examining all four fab shows, summarizing the events, talking about what was good, what was not so good and where we think it’s all heading. For those that have followed our reviews in the past the big biggest change is this will....
CONTAIN SPOILERS
.... so make sure you’re up to date with at least the shows you care about before checking it out each week. This week, just Flash and Arrow have returned from their summer breaks before Supergirl and Legends join the party next week.
Star of the week – Matt Letscher, aka Eobard Thawne/Reverse Flash
My favourite thing about this week’s Flash episode by far was the way it effectively recovered Matt Letscher’s character from being killed off in season one. As great as Tom Cavanagh made the Eobard Thawne role, last season’s encore episode, “The Reverse-Flash Returns” showed just how Letscher could bring to the table too but here, he takes things to a new level. The imprisoned scenes with Barry are just incredible as seethes with discontent at suffering such humiliation while still carrying an air of smugness in knowing what Barry doesn’t about the timelines condensing (“One day soon Barry, you’ll be begging me to kill her again”). Yet even more importantly, for the first time since late season one, I really felt the hatred and rivalry that their relationship is based upon and that is exactly want we from the pair of them. Letscher will be heading to Legends Tomorrow to join the Legion of Doom soon but hopefully we’ll get to see him battle Barry once more on The Flash before he goes.
The Flash - “S3E1 Flashpoint “
What happened?
After travelling back in time and saving his mother’s life, Barry Allen created a new alternate timeline where Wally West is The Flash (Kid Flash) battling against the black suited speedster, The Rival. When Barry starts to realize that he’s changed the world for the worse, he must regrettably restore the timeline once more.
What was good?
I think they handled Flashpoint well by setting a scale appropriate for the shop. They didn’t make it a mass world-changing affair like the comics (where Thomas Wayne is Batman, Aquaman and Wonder Wonder Woman are at war with each other and the entire world is pretty screwed). Instead by toning things down, it keeps the focus on Barry’s emotional reactions to the events and changes. As aforementioned, everything they did with the Eobard Thawne Reverse Flash was neigh on perfect. The Rival got a good introduction as his Golden Age alias Edward Clarice too. The end scene certainly teases Clarice will play a role in the rest of the season. Did anyone else clock that the Dr Alchemy voice was none other than Tobin “Jigsaw” Bell? The speedster fighting delivered good action and the out-of-character portrayals produced some fun laughs, especially from Catlin “have I been kidnapped?” Snow.
What could have been better?
Flashpoint was always going to be a temporary situation but maybe things could have carried over for one more episode before taking us more or less back to normal. As such with the shorter time frame, some of reasons for Barry taking back his meddling felt rather forced, like Wally’s mysterious and unexplained inability to fast heal like normal after the injury. Similarly making it a two part affair would have allowed more time for a full on tear jerker of a goodbye between Barry and his parents. Maybe even something that plays more into the comic events by having Barry tell them the truth, for them to understand and tell to go do what must be done.
Where is it going?
Compared to the previous seasons, there are less hints about the main story or villain of the season. Even if Clarice does become The Rival again, he doesn’t feel like he’ll be the only big bad, at least at this stage. Instead the biggest tease from Eobard Thawne insisting that he and Barry have a mutual enemy in time. Could a big part of the season revolve around the consequences of time travelling/meddling? Maybe even having the Speed Force itself going after those who abuse its powers? The character Savitar has been reported as one of the season’s main villains. Could we see him escaping from the speed force in order to take down speedsters deemed as problematic?
Arrow S5E1, Legacy –
What happened?
With the old team depleted, Oliver is flying solo in the field as Green Arrow, which is putting strains on his daytime duties as the new mayor. The arrival of a new hard hitting criminal player in town, Tobias “Charon” Church and his extensive human assets convince Oliver that he must find recruits to form a new Team Arrow. Meanwhile, a mysterious dark masked archer is lurking the streets and in the flashbacks Oliver dives into the Russian underworld to keep his promise to Taiana.
What was good?
This was a Bam Bam episode (James “Bam Bam” Bamford, the show’s long time fight & stunt co-ordinator, who in the last season, directed his first episodes). That means the action is guaranteed to be rapid, hard hitting and all round awesome. This episode is no exception. From the opening dose of Anarky to the final act mass shootout with added laser grid goodness, the fights and stunt work are of the show’s highest level. It really makes it feel like the show is returning to earlier seasons form. The broken team is positive in the way it justifies the absence of Diggle and Thea. Dig needed to get his head straight after everything with Andrew so returning to the army as familiar ground makes perfect sense but Thea’s speech about her reasons is a surprising highlight of the episode. She could re-do the red hood in heartbeat but won’t because for the first time in forever (....alright, who was singing?), her life is stable and borderline normal, which she’s actually afraid of losing. That’s completely relatable and an excellent arc for her character. Church initially presents as a good grounded main villain with some nice helpings of confidence and charisma. What’s more, for the first time in a few years, the flashbacks don’t immediately seem like a hindrance. The Russian criminal underground setting is different with a simple revenge objective already established. Stephen Amell also gets bonus points for a Last Boy Scout worthy, “If you hit me again I’m going to kill you”. Parachute arrow.... nuff said.
What wasn’t so good?
“Please don’t let me be the last Canary” while this deathbed promise to Laurel is a little touching it feels more like a shoved in excuse for character continuation. Even if they did want to pass the Canary mantle there were much better ways of doing this. Also, did anyone else feel that the Canary statue was a rather poor resemblance?
Where is it all going?
Church already looks to have appointed himself kingpin of a united Star City criminal syndicate. Combining that with the expanding Team Arrow and their new vigilante friendly police unit, points some kind of faction war for the city. The masked mystery man is named Prometheus (no apparent to the several DC characters of that name) and allegedly has a link to Oliver’s past to the extent that Oliver has some responsibility for his creation. There’s plenty of ways they could go here but the worst option would definitely be a shock return of Tommy Merlyn; it would be too much of a stretch. It’s more likely to will be connected to someone Oliver crossed off the list in season one. In the flashbacks, it looks like we’ll see Oliver getting harder and more ruthless through his Bratva ordeals before meeting and eventually facing off against Kovar, who will be played by Dolph “I must break you” Lungren. That’s right, we’ll be seeing Stephen Amell go toe to bow with Ivan Drago!
Overall, it’s a spectacular return for both shows but Arrow feels like the most triumphant victory for immediately recapturing the feel of its early days (a Fast & Furious worthy 5th instalment revival) while The Flash excellently uses alternative timeline scenario to ret-con characters and fix problems. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. came back swinging in September and this October, the CW shows prove they can throw it right back. This could be one hell of a year!