Fandom Speaks: Flash x Arrow Crossover Version
There were so many things going on in these crossover episodes that it’s hard to know where to begin. Instead of doing it myself, I’m going to let some fans from Tumblr speak and give their impressions of the ups and downs, good and bad.
From Tumblr user aravisgirl:
Eh, so I just finished watching the Flarrow Xover for the LoT leadup…
Was that really Vandal Savage? Really?
And, like what was with the name “Vandal Savage” if he’s an Egyptian priest? Please tell me this guy’s a poser. Or something.
Gah, I’m really conflicted about all this. Really. A lot. Mostly about Vandal, but also about how… thinly this whole plot was pieced together. Like, the time travel thing was the least implausible plot element? (Send help.)
I guess I just had my suspension of disbelief broken because the Savage/Hawks thing was just really forced and most of it felt OOC? At least to me. I’ve watched a lot of DCAU and DC Animated stuff so all this was big break with what I’m familiar with. (Mostly Savage. He felt like a pretty petty villain with unclear-to-shallow-to-nonsensical motivations who was a threat bc immortal mass murderer but mostly immortal. Like a thwarted *crammed-in* crush on Chay-Ara was worth millenia of ritualistic murder? Yeah no.)
Plus pretty low on the intelligence scale. Maybe he wasn’t bringing his A-Game? Because this was the guy who pulled off Xanatos Gambit after Xanatos Gambit on Young Justice and was at least always a villain with real presence & goals on JL/JLU. No way… at least he’s maybe planning something with Merlyn bc that guy wasn’t acting right through this whole thing. Who really cares what he’s planning though. He’s pretty much Token Evil Teammate at this point. They’d just miss John Barrowman if they got rid of him. It’s the same with Tom Cavanaugh over on Flash.
But there were plenty of character moments for the rest of the cast that I enjoyed. Plenty of Barry/Oliver broTP moments to heal my story-related issues. Hopefully Kendra gets more time to shine on Legends of Tomorrow. Cisco was in top form, as always. Laurel’s just there, but I’ve learned to live with that. Etc, etc. Not gonna even touch the whole William thing. Nopety-nope.
needsmorecrazy said:
I can’t be the only one who wants this.As much as I loved the Arrow/Flash crossover, what I really want them to do is episodes like in Leverage where all the women went off and had their plot in one episode and the other was the men. There were some scenes where they crossed over though. Something like that would awesome and funny for Arrow/Flash.
And from sweetiewhitpi:
Okay I LOVE Felicity but girl calm your butt down! Oliver just found out he has a child! He is kind of freaking out and would have told you if you had given him a chance!
OMG I AM SO GLAD BARRY TIME TRAVELED! I about died.
Why would they leave his ashes there? I would collect them just to be safe.
evvietalksshows says:
Two superheroes walk into a coffee shop… and the barista is a superhero: On crossovers, Flarrow and Legends of TomorrowDC might not have an elaborate transmedia universe of the Marvel type, but within the TV universe it does have it seems to be doing one thing right: crossovers. The CW series under the DC brand have crossed twice (not counting the introduction of Barry Allen’s Flash in the second season of Arrow or visits from characters of one show in the other), and I suppose it’s safe to assume they were both successes.
So what makes a good crossover? Firstly, a crossover shouldn’t seem forced; characters need to have convincing reasons to step from one show into another. In the case of Flarrow, it is always plausible, if not because of life-or-death situations in the big two-part crossover episodes, then by the relationships between the characters in the case of characters turning up on the other show. Whenever the (Green) Arrow and the Flash team up to face a villain, uniting their resources helps them save the day, balance each other out and helps them grow as people and as heroes, and makes you wonder why they won’t simply keep doing things together.
Another thing is the relationships. A crossover wouldn’t quite be successful if the characters didn’t create a dynamic that is interesting to watch. On the one hand, The Flash and Arrow teams provide heaps of entertainment; with Felicity and Cisco geeking out together, Barry and Oliver’s more or less deep conversations about the reality of being a superhero, to the clashes that sometimes take place between various members of the teams, the dynamic itself is worth a crossover. However, the characters crossing over also means them bringing their burdens into the other show in one way or another – villains, psychopathic fathers, murder cases, long-lost children, to name a few. In the case of Flarrow, the effect this achieves is a slight shift in moods in the crossover episodes of each show: The Flash gets some darker moments, while Arrow’s mood lightens slightly, with both series balancing each other out.
But still, the viewer cannot forget which show they are watching. With this, Flarrow teeters on the edge of caution. There are moments in this week’s episodes when you have to take a moment to remind yourself that this is Arrow, or that is The Flash. That, however, might be a result of the overall storyline of this crossover, which is the introduction of Legends of Tomorrow.
I should probably point out one more thing about crossovers: they are a marketing strategy. After all, if we have two stories running alongside one another, why not have the characters’ paths cross? Especially if they know each other and are in a similar line of (vigilante) work, like in the case of our dear DC superheroes. And if the characters meet, and their stories develop as they travel out of town, the viewer wants to know what happened. But when they turn the TV to see the other show, without understanding the intricacies of all of its storylines, they might want to explore that side of the story as well. If it’s cohesively written, I am all for being manipulated into watching a show in this way.
Finally, a word about the purpose of the two episodes we had the pleasure of watching this week. Whether it works for Arrow and The Flash (we have yet to see if the storylines have a bigger relevance in the coming episodes of those shows; it seems one personal arc will, but let’s wait until it develops before I make an official statement about it, shall we?), it certainly works for Legends of Tomorrow. If I hadn’t been excited about it after watching the trailer (and hell, I was), I would definitely be excited now.
Because, to be fair, that was a three-way crossover, setting the stage for the debut of the youngest child in the DC television universe. With Vandal Savage as the villain, Kendra and Carter’s seriously complex relationship of more than 4,000 years, and the return of Sara Lance and Firestorm, not to mention the introduction of Captain Cold to being a hero, my expectations for Legends of Tomorrow are set pretty high. And that show is a bit like a huge crossover in itself.
Hopefully I won’t be let down, and it will make my time waiting for another Flarrow crossover more pleasant.
Finally, from snowflakesavior:
I’d love a few minutes of Barry/Oliver interactions where they’re just aggressively trying to out-’my life is weirder than yours’ each other
‘I TRAVEL IN TIME’
‘MY SISTER AND EX-GIRLFRIEND WERE BROUGHT BACK FROM THE DEAD’
So fandoms, what were YOUR thoughts about the crossover?