The Flash recap, Season 3, Episode 8, “Invasion” aired Nov. 29, 2016
Crossover, day two
Day two of the four-day crossover event was much more satisfying than day one. I’m not saying that Supergirl didn’t deliver a good episode. I’m just saying it wasn’t much of a crossover. But it served its purpose. It opened the door … or portal … for the mega collaboration.
Watching Kara learn everyone’s names was fun. It was wise of Barry to bring them all together in a huge hanger. I doubt all of that hubris would have fit in a smaller arena. Of course, their first order of business had to be appointing a boss. And none were too happy when Oliver insisted it be Barry, who only echoed Ollie’s prompts.
“Are we just supposed to pretend like we don’t hear him?” — Sara Lance, The White Canary
In spite of the pending doom, there was a great deal of levity in this episode. Heatwave telling Kara that he’d prefer to call her “skirt” was beautifully typical of him. And, of course, the best of all was Barry sweeping in and whisking Oliver and Dig away unsuspectingly. Poor Dig. I hope he didn’t eat a big lunch.
“I swear to God, Barry, my life was somewhat normal before I met you.” — John Diggle/Spartan
Barry and Oliver
Before we dig into the episode, I have to say that I love Oliver Queen! I love his bravado and his surliness. Mostly, though, I love the way he is with Barry. He’s always got Barry’s back, even when he is completely irritated by him. He continues to mentor Barry, even when everyone else is literally walking out on him. Barry and Oliver play wonderfully off of each other, and the dynamic between them is humorously entertaining. More crossovers between these two shows, please.
Aliens. Really?
When I heard this crossover event would focus on battling aliens, I thought, “Oh boy.” Yes, I know that Supergirl is technically an alien, but she doesn’t count because, well … because she’s so damned adorable. The thing is, once the backstory comes into play and Flashpoint is tied in, it is easier to see the relevance. When The Flash altered the timeline, he didn’t just screw up the lives of the people closest to him. He created repercussions on a freaking universal level. He managed to alienate his dearest friends and piss off an entire alien race of beings light years from Earth.
Let’s hope Barry heeds Oliver’s advice and puts it behind him.
“You’ve got to stop beating yourself up over this … . Barry, you made a choice. You wanted to see your parents alive again. Do you honestly know anyone that, if they were in your shoes, wouldn’t do the exact same thing. I would do the exact same thing. ” — Oliver Queen
Oliver bares his soul to Barry and tells him that he would give anything to be able to go back and save his dad from killing himself and save his mom from being murdered by Slade Wilson.
“Barry, the world isn’t different because you changed the timeline. Change happens. Tragedy happens. People make choices and those choices affect everyone else. You’re not a god, Barry.” – Oliver Queen
What’s next?
At the end of the episode, the Dominators had sucked up White Canary, Speedy, The Atom, and The Green Arrow.
How on earth will they ever be saved? I guess we’ll have to tune in to part three of the crossover event to find out!
Favorite Quotes
“I never did drugs because I was always afraid I’d see weird stuff.” — John Diggle on seeing the Wave Rider zoom in out of nowhere
“We’re going up against a bunch of aliens, and you want to tell people their lives might have been affected by time travel? One sci-fi problem at a time.” — Oliver Queen
Odds and ends
Flashpoint repercussions
We know Cisco lost his brother as a result of Flashpoint, Caitlin acquired the powers of Killer Frost, and Wally became a speedster. We also know that Barry’s tiptoe through the timeline completely irked the Hindu god of motion and caused the emergence of Alchemy.
In addition, we know that Flashpoint erased baby Sara and replaced her with baby John. Diggle, however, did not know that and is understandably upset that Barry completely changed his life.
We learned that Professor Stein’s family grew by one. He now has a daughter as a result of the timeline shift. It’s hard not to feel sad for the guy, though. He missed out on an entire life with his child because he never knew she existed.
If Flashpoint has caused so many changes with siblings and offspring, I’m curious as to whether Oliver still has a son in this timeline.
A couple asides
- I do not like the dynamic between Cisco and Barry. One of the best elements of the team was the brotherhood between these two characters. The problem is, Barry did serious damage on a way-beyond-global scale. How will he fix it? Is it fixable? I guess time will tell.
- The team already dislikes HR and would love a solid reason to send him packing. His agreeing to train Kid Flash will not bode well for him because the rest of the team will find out. Secrets never stay hidden for long.
The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW. For more awesome The Flash stories, check out our fandom page!
Featured image credit: Michael Courtney/The CW
