Team Arrow gets a little help from Flash and co. to track down a boomerang wielding killer.

QUICK KICKS AND ARROW TIPS

Note: The following review goes into detail about the episode. SPOILER ALERT!

Team Arrow has become the well-oiled machine Felicity Smoak mentioned while visiting Barry Allen in “Going Rogue.” Seeing the team show off their capabilities and weaknesses helped to set up the key elements and emphasize their differences in “The Brave and the Bold.”

The crossover event has done an excellent job of including characters from both shows, while ensuring the focal point is with the hero, not the guest. The opening sequence with Arrow, Arsenal and Diggle entering the house of Canary’s suspected murderer was well coordinated. It worked given it contradicts the way Flash’s crew operates. Where Barry can run blindly into a situation and count on his speed to get him out of trouble, Arrow must instead prepare and execute his plan with precision in order to stay alive.  In previous seasons, it would have been difficult for Ollie to bring anyone along with him, so to see them work as a team instead of under Ollie’s dictatorship was nice.

Seeing Barry in the Arrow Cave was exciting, bring out my inner child. The best parts during this crossover weren’t the heroes being heroes, but instead the teams coming together. Having Cisco geek out over all the tech then rattling off about upgrades was endearing. Barry’s comment about not understanding what’s so difficult about Ollie’s salmon ladder was great, even more so when he ran off to get sushi because the equipment’s name made him hungry. The greatest moments of the episode, however, were the mentor/mentee ones between Ollie and Barry.

Metahuman or not, Ollie’s experience speaks volumes. “Arrow vs. Flash” allotted for some one-on-one training for both heroes, and it was cool that Barry was legitimately taking the advice and training seriously. Those conversations anchored the concept that outside of the gadgets and costumes, there is a serious job to be done. The interesting part about the Arrow/Flash team up was the difference in procedure. Barry seemed almost horrified at the way Arrow gets information from criminals. Where Ollie has experience, Barry maintains that innocence, which is why the two complement one another so well.  Diggle and Roy both agree with and operate in the same fashion Ollie does, so to have that counterpoint in Barry, much like Felicity, makes sense. It’s easy to forget that both heroes have watched people they loved die right in front of them, so it’s the way they choose to apply their emotions to their work that makes them so different.

The ending conflict served everyone on the team, giving Ollie a chance to wrestle with his inner demons, and The Flash an opportunity to solve a problem using his speed (and his friends). But the main theme of this episode was figuring out where each hero stood. It highlighted the fact that both characters are still human, regardless of what makes them super or not.

THE BREAKDOWN

The crossover event did an excellent job of focusing on a central conflict while satisfying both fanbases. Neither were perfect, and each served their part to inspire one another to show the beginnings of what we know will be a long lasting friend and partnership. ”The Brave and the Bold” was one of the better episodes this season, and ended with a fun nod at the endless nerd debate of who would win in a fight.

So what did you think about the crossover event? Should  the shows stand on their own? Who do you think would win in a fight? Suit up and fire your questions at the comment section below.

95/100 – ‘Superb’

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