“Everyone on this planet, at some point in their lives, has had a major case of the feels. Those days when your heart is just too small to hold the big things you’re feeling. Today’s one of those days. You think of our emotions like they’re this unique personal phenomena…that no one has ever felt what we have felt. There is a basis in science for every emotion we feel. Anger. Love. As a scientist, I know there’s nothing magical about what makes us feel something for someone else. And then I see her smile. Man, that cannot be science.”

Emotion, good or bad, is the primary drivers in this wonderful world of ours. It allows us to identify with others, to form conviction, and to move us to take action. Emotions have led humanity to its greatest discoveries and achievements. But like any double-edged sword, emotions can also blind us to danger, lead us astray and, sometimes be the origins of our downfall.

While Barry heart is still pound-pounding for Iris, and she’s still trying to convince Eddie of the Flash’s merit, a new meta-human makes himself known. Stripping off his Scott Summers glasses, the new stranger enters a bank and flicks the patrons rage-o-meter to kill. Barry hears the call on the radio, arriving just as a woman fires a shot at one of her fellow citizens. At the bank, Barry and West try to figure out what happened, with the former suggesting the people “got whammied”. Meanwhile, Eddie takes his case to forming a “Flash Task Force” to Captain Singh to no avail. Iris is not too happy about this development and, for a quick second, Barry perks up at the possibilities. At STAR Labs, Caitlin and the crew get copies of CAT scans of the bank patrons. Their emotional brain centers appear to be overloaded. Barry gets a call from Iris to meet (as the Flash) when Caitlin dispenses with some advice. “Don’t get involved,” she tells the Central City Speedster but Barry’s not yet ready to listen. Iris warns him about Eddie’s plan to take Flash down but gets called by Cisco about the bank robber. Once again he arrives in time after a SWAT member is “whammied” with some Red Rage and tries killing his partners and West. After taking the three guys out of the way, the Arrow makes a surprise appearance, taking down the compromised guard before hoisting himself away.

On the outskirts of town, Barry arrives moments before Oliver and meets Felicity and Diggle, the latter of whom he seriously impresses (“You’re fast”). They’re in town investigating the case of a suspicious homicide with a boomerang. Seems to have Central City has the highest concentration of iron oxide (material in weapon) in the country. Ever the exuberant guy, Barry suggests they team up but Oliver’s not keen on it. Felicity acts as a go-between, carted off to STAR Labs by the fastest man alive. Her shirt catching on fire and her going topless save for a bitty bra is quite the sight. Cisco starts up tests on the boomerang while Caitlin has a theory on how the meta-human is raging people out—via the ocular nerve. But things get a bit tense when West and Wells confront Barry on the Arrow’s involvement. They don’t trust the former vengeance killer but Barry defends his friend and mentor as a hero. “You’re a hero, Barry,” Wells interrupts. “You offer protection. Hope. Light. What that man does is carry out a dark reckoning for his city. It is a brutal, violent vision of justice; one we do not share. You truly think he’s a hero fine, so be it…but he’s not the kind you should be looking up to.” After boomerang shenanigans, West makes it clear that he wants the Arrow out of Central City quick, fast, and in a hurry. Despite shooting down Barry’s suggestion of a lil team-up, Oliver gets the name of the perp: Roy G Bivolo (how’s that for subtle). After Iris fawns a bit over meeting Oliver Queen and Felicity works her womanly wiles on Oliver, the Arrow and Flash officially team up.

Oliver imparting the wisdom of always being mindful of your surroundings to the young hero

Now that Oliver’s on board, it’s time for him to impart a bit of crime-fighting knowledge on the youngster. He brings up Snart and the need to case the environment. “There’s a difference,” he tells Barry, “between having powers and having precision.” He goes on to add how the vigilante life “takes more than a mask. It takes discipline.” And he goes to show Barry just how little he knows. Barry returns to the precinct to find West still having it out for “that lunatic” Arrow. Felicity and Caitlin are bonding, formulating a way to counteract Bivolo’s powers using the color spectrum when Wells approaches Felicity in order to find out a bit more about Arrow. “How can I completely trust a man if I don’t know his name?” Ms. Smoak isn’t falling for it, reminding the good doctor “that is not my secret to tell.” Cisco gets a ping on Bivolo/Prism and despite Felicity’s suggestion that they contact Arrow, Barry takes it on his own. He gets a dose of the Red Rage, though it seems not to have affected him…yet.

After a few tests, Barry’s given the thumbs up though he slowly starts to show a bit of dickish-ness, beginning with Caitlin. “I’m not Ronnie, you gotta stop treating me like I am.” It continues with Oliver, when he suggests the Arrow is jealous. “You’ll never be as fast as I am,” Barry says. “You’ll never be what I am.” It only gets better when he lets Captain Singh have it. He even accuses West of being the same way, not believing in him. Felicity tells everyone about Barry’s issue, one West corroborates. They can’t stop him but Wells realizes one may who can: the Arrow.

Eddie and Iris are having a bit of a chat on the Flash when the latter pulls Eddie from the car. “I heard you’re looking for me,” he says and proceeds to thrown the detective around until the Arrow comes in and saves them. And then it’s on. FLASH VS ARROW!

The fight itself is full of give and take and a few dozen words can’t do it justice. Needless to say, Oliver’s guile and experience combined with Barry’s lack thereof makes the fight interesting with the Arrow using sleight of hand and distraction to gain the upper hand long enough for Wells and West to hit Barry with a flashing display of colors that reset Prism’s meta-human abilities. Our Barry’s back but they still have one more thing to do: take down Roy G Bivolo.

With Bivolo locked up, Oliver and his gang are headed back to Starling City but not before saying goodbyes to the Central City counterparts. Felicity asks Caitlin for help on Canary’s murder and Wells (who knew Robert Queen) telling Oliver his deceased father would “be very proud of the man you’ve become.” Despite Wells’s seal of approval, Oliver whispers to Felicity that something’s “off about that guy.” Taking a final visit to Jitters, Eddie tells Iris about the Task Force: Flash while Oliver gives Barry some friendly advice. “That’s not gonna work out for you,” he tells Barry on Iris, “and you need to let her go for both your sakes.” He gives Felicity his own longing glance and adds that “guys like us don’t get the girl.” He runs into an old friend while the Flash loses his new friend (Iris). “Don’t contact me anymore,” she tells him before echoing his “I’m sorry.”

Epilogue

Caitlin looking at picture of her and Ronnie when we get our first glimpse of the Fury of Firestorm…

Hearts and Mind

  • What a fun ride. So far, ‘The Flash’has lived up to the hype and this week’s helping added even more fuel to the Flash fire…or should I say Firestorm. True, it was a ten second teaser but said teaser was enough to get me even more excited for what’s ahead for our Central City speedster.
  • One thing ‘The Flas’h has done so well is to use Barry’s voice over intros as a preview to the heart of the episode. Despite the ‘Flash vs Arrow’ fanfare—and the wildly entertaining fight—the heart and soul of the hour was on emotion and how it drives us. Though he’s tried convincing himself to stay away from Iris, Barry is still struggling with his emotions. He’s the diametric opposite to Oliver…where Barry is charismatic and full of unbridled energy, Oliver is calm, cool and a bit stand-offish. Where they both meet though is loving someone close to them, someone their lives as heroes prevents them from being close to. Theirs is a life of sacrifice, a life that one day may cost them their lives. But as they vow to protect the people of their city, they must also sacrifice the notion of a true relationship. It’s a cross all heroes, at one point or another, must bear.