The Flash 1x18 All Star Team Up

My overall reaction to most of this episode can be summed up in one word: ugh. Because here’s the thing: I’m not that big of a fan of The Flash to start with, and add to that another 40 minutes with Ray Palmer, after I already have to suffer through him week by week on Arrow… well to put it simply, I had close to zero motivation for watching this episode. The only reason I did was because, on the other hand, I really really wanted to watch this week’s Arrow as soon as possible, and I usually like to watch them in the order they aired, if I can.

Now, I’m actually glad that this episode was just as I was expecting it to be, because it gives me a great opportunity to address all my problems with this show without sounding like a nitpicking douchebag. So here’s the thing: I love Arrow. I loved pretty much everything about it since the first couple of episodes: the background story, the main seasonal arcs, the fantastic characters, the dry humour… it was everything a gritty, realistic, but still highly entertaning superhero show should be. So was I happy when I heard that they’re developing a spin-off which would expand the show’s universe and give me another potentially great series to watch? Hell yes I was! I was all prepared to love The Flash the same way I love Arrow, especially after they introduced Barry’s character and I found him to be extremely likeable, the perfect main character for the new show. Then came the Pilot which introduced a cast of potentially great characters and a very exciting main storyline, and I was just as pumped as everyone else… but then the weeks went on and on, each new episode was praised by critics and fans alike, and I was just sitting here, wondering why I can’t see what everyone else is seeing. The main story wasn’t really moving anywhere, the Villains of the Week were boring beyond imagination, and apart from Barry and Joe, and maybe Caitlin, I couldn’t bring myself to care about any of the characters. Things have improved a bit lately ever since most of the show’s focus have been moved from the insufferable one-off villains to the central story arc, but I’m still not entirely satisfied. So while it’s still not a question that I’m gonna watch every new episode to find out the latest discoveries on the Harrison Wells front, I’m just simply not as excited for them as I usually am for Arrow.

And then there’s the other thing that made me even less enthusiastic than usual: Ray and Felicity coming to Central City to get some help on the Atom suit. Ugh, Ray. I can’t really define what it is about him that makes my nerves prickle and the hair on my arms stand straight, but something definitely does. Is it that his introduction to the Arrowverse was basically him taking Oliver’s company? Is it him tracking Felicity’s phone after she clearly told him that she wanted to be alone? Is it his stupid grin and his „awkward” jokes and comments? Is it the fact that we’re so obviously supposed to find him charming and funny, and I don’t like being told what to think? Or is it the fact that he’s getting his own spin-off in spite of him being the most boring and annoying character in the show’s history, while Slade Wilson is currently sitting quietly stashed away in a prison under an island, probably never to be seen again? Now that I think about it, it’s probably all of these combined. So basically, I just really, really dislike him.

As for Felicity, well, my feelings about her are a little bit more complicated, and it would probably be best if I saved the details for one of my upcoming Arrow reviews, but to sum it up, I used to adore her, then things happened, and now I just simply like her. Except when she’s with Ray, because then I barely even tolerate her. Exhibit nr. 1, that absolutely cringeworthy scene when they both „awkwardly” stumbled on their words in their effort to explain a „double entendre” which absolutely no one understood the wrong way in the first place, but for some reason the writers felt like that scene was necessary to show us just how similar and compatible these two are. It might have worked for some because God knows everyone in this fandom seems to adore Felicity’s awkward word vomiting tendencies, but for me it has steadily gotten more annoying ever since season 1. And then, as if this wasn’t bad enough, we just had to have confirmation from most Flash characters about how awesome Ray is. First Barry, then Caitlin… „nice and smart and hot” my ass. Also, there’s something about that "It's kinda like I'm dating Barry but in Oliver's body." line that really rubs me the wrong way. Maybe because it implies that Barry’s not hot enough and Oliver is dumb? I don’t know, but one thing is for sure: Ray is the fucking worst.

Anyway, enough about the Arrow guest characters, let’s see how everything else in the episode went. It started with one of the best opening sequences I’ve ever seen, not just on this show but on TV in general. Barry, Joe and Eddie working together to catch bad guys while Barry finally utilized his Flash abilities to the fullest, snatching guns from people and everything - pure awesomeness. Sadly, things went downhill from there really quickly. Disregarding the Ray/Felicity parts, the episode mostly revolved around yet another utterly boring Villain of the Week, and Iris and Eddie’s relationship drama. The former was a huge disappointment to me because I’ve been looking forward to this particular villain ever since her appearence was announced. I loved Emily Kinney in The Walking Dead and I couldn’t wait to see her portray a villainous character. Sadly, the only interesting thing about Brie Larvan aka the Bug-Eyed Bandit was her really clever beehive patterned dress:

Other than that, what a colossal waste of a fantastic actress. She came, released some bees, threatened his former boss, lost control of her bess, and finally got caught. That’s literally it.

Elsewhere, Iris was annoyed at Eddie for obviously keeping a secret from her, while Eddie was annoyed at Joe and Barry for not letting to divulge said secret. This resulted in some pretty clichéd arguing between the two when Iris thought it was necessary to bring up the whole thing while in the middle of a posh restaurant dinner with Barry, Ray and Felicity. The whole thing quickly turned painfully awkward when Iris stormed out… but somehow I still don’t really care? This couple is destined to break up probably sooner than later, even if Iris’ lingering feelings for Barry seemingly disappeared between episodes. Anyway, I just can’t bring myself to agree with Iris’ "When you love someone, you tell them everything." philosophy, something that is present in many different shows and is often used as a reason for huge fights and break-ups, but I just never understood it. In my mind it is perfectly okay and, in fact, healthy to not tell every little detail about your life to your loved ones. Having that kind of privacy is something I could never live without, and if my hypothetical boyfriend used this line on me, I would be the one to storm out and not him. Anyway… I feel bad for Eddie because right now things are totally out of his control, and yes, it is a bit fucked up that everyone except Iris knows Barry’s secret… the whole lying to someone to protect them thing is just one of many TV clichés that I never understood, and after it has been practically used to death on Arrow, I’m getting less and less tolerant to it. So yes, right now I’m in that weird situation where I want Iris to know the truth, but I’m also annoyed with her for demanding it so relentlessly.

As for the main plot of the season, there was little advancement in it this week. Barry told Caitlin and Cisco about his suspicions for Harrison, and Cisco started to remember the events of that day that never really happened, thanks to Barry’s time-travelling shenanigans. What interests me about this is, will the others also slowly remember? Particularly Iris... will she remember Barry revealing himself to be the Flash and then kissing her? I really hope so.

Next week’s episode is called „Who Is Harrison Wells?” and according to the synopsis it will see Joe and Cisco going to Starling City to ask for Captain Lance’s help in the Harrison case, as well as Laurel asking Cisco for a favour. All that sounds very interesting, and despite this week’s episode being such a disappointment, I’m really looking forward to that one.

Episode MVP: Jesse L. Martin as Joe West

Quote of the episode:

"What is wrong with you? Is everyone in Central City in a bad mood? I thought Central City was supposed to be the fun one." – Felicity Smoak

Random tidbits:

 - "Is that a bird?" "It's a plane!" "It's my boyfriend." Nice Superman reference but so totally random and out of place that it was more laughable than actually funny.

 - One thing that constantly annoys me on this show is their insistence to somehow always squeeze in the comicbook name of the current villain, which most of the time seems painfully forced. I mean let’s face it, comicbook names can be very silly sometimes, and no matter how hard they’re trying to sell it as just Cisco being a dork, names like Weather Wizard, Rainbow Raider or Captain Cold really sound out of place on a show like this. That is why I gave an especially hard eyeroll at this week’s solution: „Bug eyed glasses woman and her mini bandits… the Bug-Eyed Bandit!” Give me a fucking break.