Duck Fox

A common trick of a narrative in fiction is the mashup of one character who seems to be a twisted reflection of another, usually main, character. They aren’t direct opposites, but just more or less… extreme versions of the main character. A cop might meet an special forces soldier. A doctor might meet an obsessive surgeon. Batman might meet Superman. Or, as in the case with the very well titled “The Flash vs. Arrow,” The Flash might meet Arrow. Though of course, both of these characters are essentially the TV-friendly version of those other titans. Though Barry Allen wasn’t sent to Earth from a dying planet, he’s certainly got the optimism and moral rigidity of Superman from the comics.

But I digress: “The Flash vs. Arrow” elevates The Flash to a whole new level by bringing in an excellent mentor/foil in the Arrow himself. Oliver Queen is a wholly different kind of hero when compared to the somewhat goofy and jovial Flash. Barry Allen, from the beginning, wants to fight crime and save people’s lives because he genuinely wants to. When he first starts out, Oliver feels obligated to do the things he does. And, as pointed out in the episode, he isn’t really all that good at first, morally speaking. He kills people in cold blood and is only working his way down the list of wealthy douchebags his father left him. Even though he’s an established quantity in Starling City now, outside of it, he’s seen as the indirect cause of terrorist attacks on the city and a murderer. Joe West does not like the idea of Barry hanging out with him for good reason.

Of course, Joe himself is mirrored in this episode when Eddie reveals his desire to have The Flash locked away. To Eddie, the Flash’s flagrant disregard for law enforcement is cause for alarm, and probably arrest, but his attempts at putting together a task force to investigate him meet with ridicule. Just as Barry brushes off Joe’s distrust of Oliver. The episode starts with Joe and Eddie raising their objections so they can land in drastically different positions by the end. But it’s also important because selling the relationship between Oliver and Barry is easier when Barry can actually understand how his allies see the Arrow.

Barry’s always been well received by the populace, or at least Iris, and so feeling like he was being attacked by Eddie naturally drew out his dark side when he’s whammied by the villain of the week. Another generally forgettable and uninspired villain who can manipulate light to make people go crazy. The best thing about this week’s enemy was him being the cause of Felicity and Caitlin’s geek girl bonding. Being a super genius is generally such a “bro” thing (in real life and fiction) that it’s especially touching when women get together to use their intellect. I hope we eventually get a(nother) Birds of Prey or something out of The CW’s DCTVU. Diggle and Cisco also got some great lines as they did a “who would win” between Barry and Oliver.

And really, the best part about this episode was just how easily the characters flowed with each other. With the exception of the always creepy (or “off” as Oliver puts it) Harrison Wells, every character from The Flash got a little time to shine, and Diggle, Oliver and Felicity made nice impressions on most of the cast. Last week’s Arrow thankfully didn’t have severe repercussions on Oliver and Felicity’s friendship, or at least they didn’t focus on them in this episode. So instead we get Felicity adorably hawking Oliver to go help Barry. Barry and Oliver’s friendship is the lynchpin to the whole thing, though, and their banter is marvelous. By the time Barry gets whammied and tells Oliver off because he’ll “Never be as fast as [he] is,” his rage fueled assertions are more adorable than hurtful. Oliver’s stone faced stare off with Barry, ending with a “Felicity said you didn’t want my help,” actually makes him seem kind of hurt. Which is all the more reason for him to pull out all the stops by the episodes end.

The fight of the century may be Batman v. Superman (Dawn of Justice. This parenthetical brought to you by DC Cinematic Studios), but “The Flash vs. Arrow” is a fantastic warm up bout. Both characters display their drive an ingenuity in move after counter move after move against each other, and through it all Barry’s inexperience is as evident as Oliver’s ingenuity and skill. Oliver didn’t have much time to set up tricks and traps, but between quick thinking and a clear head he manages to incapacitate Barry long enough to reverse his transformation. The coda, where the two work together to put the horribly named Roy G. Bivolo (AKA, Rainbow Raider) behind bars at S.T.A.R. Labs is just icing on the cake.

Through all this, Harrison Wells discovers Oliver’s identity, allowing Joe to reevaluate his opinion of the Arrow. On the flip side, Eddie’s crusade against the Flash is official sanctioned by Captain Singh after Barry, still in a Rainbow Raider haze, rips him from the car he and Iris were commuting in and threatens to make his day end very badly. This is a development I’m really kind of glad for, because while normally creating the rift between vigilante hero and law enforcement relies on either an especially dark hero or an especially dark officer, The Flash had neither of these characteristics. Creating a genuine misunderstanding works so much better than poisoning Thawne’s character prematurely. Though it still leaves Iris back to where she started, making decisions for her life based on her connection to her current love interest.

By mirroring the hero and giving everyone in the cast a moment to reevaluate their preconceptions regarding the heroic figures appearing in their lives, The Flash reaches new heights while maintaining its sense of fun and adventure. Here’s hoping tomorrow’s episode of Arrow similarly elevates that show, because lord knows it’ll need something to get out of its rut.