It’s Part 2, Kara-Speed-Legend-Arrowheads! Are you ready for the second leg of this epic crossover? If you missed Part 1, here’s a quick recap. Central City’s dealt with everything else. Why not an alien invasion, for good measure? After last week, tensions are running pretty high at S.T.A.R. Labs, especially between Barry and Cisco. Now, let’s see what adding six vigilantes, a semi-reformed criminal, a superhero, an alien, and a Felicity to the mix does to that bucket of funsauce!
“Invasion”
We open like any typical Arrow/Flash team-up — with Oliver bitching out Barry over his crime-fighting style and the subsequent consequences. Outside of S.T.A.R. Labs, Barry and Oliver prepare to battle literally everyone else on Team DC. Before we can get too entrenched in what caused that epic showdown, we’re taken back in time.
CWThe team runs tests on Wally, who is doing incredibly well with his speed. Worried for his safety, Iris convinces the team to tell Wally that he’s not ready for battle, despite the fact that he’s doing better than Barry was in the beginning. Cisco’s not happy about it, but they all agree. Caitlin tries to convince Cisco to work things out with Barry, but he refuses.
Meanwhile, in the Cortex, JR proposes opening S.T.A.R. Labs to tourists, an idea which the rest of the team isn’t keen on. A satellite alert interrupts, and Barry races off to stop what looks like a meteor heading for downtown. At the crash site, Barry discovers that it’s not a meteor but a spaceship. When he touches the ship, a team of creepy looking aliens escapes into the city.
Lyla arrives in Central City to try to learn about the ship, but the government is covering it up. At S.T.A.R. Labs, Lyla informs Team Flash that this isn’t the first alien invasion. She tells them about the Dominators, a group of aliens who came to Earth in the ’50s to gather intel, which ended in a bloody battle between them and the humans. Though the Dominators claim to be harmless, they’re not exactly convincing. Lyla tells Barry to let the government handle it, but, obviously, that doesn’t fly. Instead, Barry gathers the troops — all of the troops.
CWIn Star City, Barry recruits Oliver, Diggle, and Felicity (who are still hunting for Vigilante), with Thea tagging along because, come on, it’s an alien invasion! Felicity contacts the Legends for help while Barry and Cisco head to National City to snag Kara (their resident alien). Cisco reminds Barry that they’re still not on good terms, which seems unnecessary but very Cisco-dramatic. With the team gathered, Felicity channels all of us in her fangirl moment.
Meanwhile, the Dominators prepare for a very not-peaceful war, and the team trains, using Supergirl as their stand-in alien. The team decides to elect a leader, and, though Cisco suggests Oliver, Oliver decides that Barry should be in charge (some vote). Still, Oliver seems to be calling the shots. He tells Kara not to hold back during training because the Dominators won’t hold back. Ray tells Barry about Snart’s death, and it seems that the CW is hell-bent on making me cry.
Wally shows up, wanting to help fight off the invasion, but Iris dismisses him, telling him that he’s not ready. Naturally, he’s pissed and runs off. Felicity asks Cisco about his tension with Barry, and he tells her about Dante and the changed timeline. Stein and Jax finally reveal future Barry’s message to Oliver and Barry. In it, Barry tells the Legends not to trust anyone, including Barry because of the changed timeline. Jax wants to tell everyone, but Oliver says that they need to focus on the alien problem first.
CWProfessor Stein gets more flashes of his mystery woman and asks Caitlin to take him home. Training continues, with Kara kicking everyone’s ass. Elsewhere, government officials gather to discuss how to deal with the invasion. Lyla advises the president to engage with the Dominators before they can attack. He agrees, against the government’s wishes, and they prepare for battle. Unfortunately, before troops can mobilize, the president is abducted.
At S.T.A.R. Labs, Wally is angry that the team has been lying to him about his abilities. He doesn’t understand why they don’t seem to believe in him. Wally asks JR, the only one who has been honest with him, to train him, but JR is apprehensive and says no. Later, Stein finds out that the woman he’s been seeing isn’t a different wife but a daughter he doesn’t remember, another side effect of Flashpoint. Naturally, he’s pretty freaked out and leaves.
Cisco finds Barry’s message and demands that he tell the team about the changes he made to their reality. The team is pretty pissed about Barry changing the past. When they get an alert that the president has been kidnapped, Barry volunteers to stay behind. Oliver disagrees and refuses to go without Barry, so Kara agrees to take the team, leaving Oliver and Barry behind.
CWThe team heads off to confront the Dominators and save the president. When the mission seems too easy, they realize that it’s a trap, and the Dominators release a signal that screws with all of their brains. This invasion just keeps getting better and better! Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Barry wallows in his guilt about changing the past. Oliver tells him to let it go and stop carrying that weight around. He tells him that anyone in his position would have done the same thing.
Cisco tells them to head outside, where they’re met by the rest of the team, now under Dominator mind control. A battle ensues, and Barry and Oliver appear to be losing. Wanting to help, Wally rushes outside but is quickly knocked out by Supergirl. Cisco and Felicity track the Dominator signal to the salt mines, and Barry lures Supergirl there to shut down the signal. Oliver takes Wally to hide but is confronted by Sara, Ray, and Thea. Out of arrows, Oliver and Sara spar, while Barry gets Kara angry enough to attack. After much chasing, Barry stands in front of the Dominator device, moving just in time to force Kara to fly through the device, effectively shutting down the signal.
Everyone regains his or her faculties, and all seems well (but we still have two episodes, so let’s not get our hopes up). Joe and Iris scold Wally for being reckless, but JR agrees to train him. Outside, the team tells Barry that they’re with him no matter what, but their camaraderie is short lived when the Dominators arrive, abducting half the team, including our beloved Oliver.
Now, that was a crossover, and a killer one at that! Unlike in last night’s Supergirl episode, the writers didn’t waste any time getting the team assembled. I was actually glad that they didn’t conveniently forget Cisco’s anger at Barry, especially since it served as the catalyst for some much needed revelations. We also need to take a second to appreciate the bounty of Barry/Oliver bromance moments in this episode! I love that Oliver is always on Barry’s side, even when he’s being an idiot! And watching Barry try so hard to save Oliver from being abducted was borderline heartbreaking. I’m curious to see how they manage to retrieve the abducted team members now.
On a more Flash-related note, I legitimately do not understand why the team is so hell-bent on not training Wally. I get that they’re worried, but wouldn’t it make more sense to just train him? I mean, we all know that he’s going to try to save people anyway, and they’d have to worry way less if he knew what he was doing. You know, sort of like Barry in the beginning. It’s simple logic, Team Flash!
In any case, I’m pumped for more crossover, alien invasion goodness! Don’t forget to tune in for tomorrow’s episode of Arrow to see how this epic story continues! Until later, Kara-Speed-Legend-Arrowheads (whew, that’s a mouthful), and tweet us your responses!
Catch up on The Flash with Season 2 on DVD or Blu-Ray.
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