What a fun episode of Arrow this was. Can Team Flash visit Starling City more often?

It is night two of our epic The Flash/Arrow crossover event but apparently a week has passed since the events of the episode of the Flash.

Before any of the fun stuff can begin, we open with Team Arrow: Arrow, Arsenal and Diggle in front of a house they believe is the man with the boomerang, Digger Harkness, who Cisco will later nickname Captain Boomerang. Arsenal is not sure they have the right place but Arrow says they do as the whole house has been booby trapped with trip wires. The two archers then shoot arrows at the house that causes it to blow up. And do so without waking up the neighbourhood.

But who does show up? Not the Starling City police but ARGUS agents. Arrow, Diggle and Arsenal wonder why ARGUS is after Harkness.

Back at the Arrow Cave, Felicity tells the team that the man Harkness killed was a former ARGUS agent by the name of Wai Wu. Oliver wants Diggle to ask Lyla why Harkness was after an ARGUS agent.

The next day, as Felicity is wrapping up her day at Palmer Technologies, Caitlin and Cisco drop by to visit her on the pretence of helping her figure out Sara’s killer. They claim they have vacation time but in reality Cisco and Caitlin just want to see the Arrow Cave. Felicity tells them that her team doesn’t call their base that. Cisco then asks if they have an Arrowmobile.

When Cisco gets to the Arrow Cave, he nerds out over the arrows despite Oliver telling him not to touch anything. Roy wonders when they started handing out tickets to the Arrow Cave and Oliver hates that and tells Felicity she started it. Cisco then starts to drool over Arrow’s suit and says he has so many ideas for it and then goes gaga over Arsenal’s suit and says red is a much better colour than green. Roy starts liking Cisco more and more. Caitlin then notices the salmon ladder and asks Felicity what it is for; she calls it a distraction.

Meanwhile at ARGUS, Diggle asks Lyla why someone was after Wu but she calls it an internal ARGUS matter and doesn’t really answer Diggle’s questions even after he calls her sweetie (cause he only calls her that when he wants something). However, before they can talk about Wu and the assassin some more, Harkness has infiltrated ARGUS using Wu’s security badge.

The two teams get alerted that Harkness has invaded ARGUS so Arsenal and Arrow go to the scene.

As Harkness battles and wins against the ARGUS soldiers, Diggle and Lyla hold their own for a bit. Arsenal and Arrow arrive on the scene and battle Harkness but things start to get dicy for the pair but who should save the day: The Flash! While he is rushing to Starling City, he streaks by Thea who was on the phone talking to Chase, the DJ that kissed her in the last episode, saying that the kiss meant nothing.

Lyla tells Diggle, Arrow and Arsenal that Harkness was part of the Suicide Squad but a mission against a warlord in Zimbabwe went south and Lyla (in the absence of Waller) made the call to terminate the team but Harkness neck bomb malfunctioned and he got away.

To protect Lyla from Harkness, she is taken to the Arrow Cave where moments before we see Barry using the salmon ladder with his super speed. Barry doesn’t think it is so hard and we see Cisco hilariously try his hand at it. Doing the salmon ladder made Barry hungry for sushi so he speeds off and speeds back in time for the arrival of Lyla, Diggle, Roy and Oliver. Lyla can’t believe her eyes but Caitlin sees that Barry came back unmasked and worries about his secret identity. Barry thought that Lyla knew because Diggle told her but Diggle says he didn’t as he is good at keeping secrets. Barry shrugs it off. Barry and Oliver talk. Oliver is grateful for his help back at ARGUS.

Barry was hoping that they could team up again as he learned a lot from what Oliver told him, that he now is more patient and cases the joints he flashes to. Oliver is reluctant at first but eventually relents but only if Barry follows his lead. Barry is very happy and them teaming up again. Barry then uses his speed to help assemble pieces of boomerang that was found at ARGUS.

Cisco takes a look at it and knows that a man named Klaus Marcos is the one to make them. Felicity tells Team Flash and Arrow that Lance once arrested Marcos. So off Oliver and Barry go to Starling City Police precinct to speak to Lance. Laurel is also there to speak to her father about some B&Es but that isn’t important. Oliver introduces Barry to Lance, who calls him Bart, as someone from Central City police working on a case. Barry asks Lance about Morse and what happened to him, Lance says he doesn’t know but that he was arrested for identity fraud. As the two talk, Laurel notes to Oliver that the Arrow was recently seen in Central City. Something tells me that Laurel knows that Barry is the Flash.

Eventually, Arrow and the Flash find Marcos and Barry sees first hand Oliver’s method to get things done. Oliver puts an arrow through Marcos shoulder and tortures him for information. Marcos says he knows nothing. Barry wants him to stop but Oliver continues until Marcos gives up an encrypted phone of Harkness. After Barry gifts Lance with Marcos, Barry rushes back to Oliver to talk about his methods. Oliver tells Barry that he lives in Central City where it is sunny all the time and he gives cool nicknames to his enemies. Contrast that to the darkness of Starling City a city where his best friend and a woman he loved were murdered. Being the way he is and doing what he does, is how Oliver survives. Barry tells him it doesn’t have to be that way.

Hong Kong Flashback 

It is all about how Oliver learned to torture people. It starts with Waller wanting Oliver to torture information out Cheng, who has planted a bomb in Hong Kong, about its location. Waller gifts Oliver with the bow and arrows from the island. Oliver tries to get Cheng to talk and threatens him with the bow and arrow but Cheng knows that Oliver doesn’t have it in him. The bomb does go off and Waller blames Oliver for not being able to torture someone. Oliver doesn’t think he can do it but Waller knows he can and has a talent for it. So Waller tries again this time with an associate of China White’s. Waller wants to know what China White is up to and it seems that Oliver is ready to be that torturer.

Back to the present, Felicity has managed to unencrypt the phone and seems to have located Harkness, who has garnered a little gang. Despite knowing Oliver’s methods, Barry goes with him to the location while Cisco, Roy and Diggle go too. In the van ride over, Diggle worries about Lyla and Cisco believes that people like Barry, meta humans, are here to help save people like them. Diggle wonders if it is god’s plan for that but Cisco quips no but a particle accelerator explosion’s plan.

When Arrow and the Flash arrive, there is no Harkness and realize that it is a trap because back at the Arrow Cave, Harkness has arrived to kill Lyla. Lyla holds her own for a bit until Harkness hits her with one of his boomerangs. Felicity tosses an exploding arrowhead towards Harkness and he escapes. Caitlin goes into doctor mode and starts to save Lyla. But Caitin can’t perform surgery at the Arrow Cave so Barry speeds her to Starling General.

At Verdant, Cisco, Roy and Felicity are served drinks by Thea, whom Cisco notices right away but after learning she is Roy’s ex and Oliver’s sister, Cisco knows she is hands off. Caitlin joins them to say that Lyla will be okay. Cisco and Caitlin realizes the world that Roy and Felicity live in a world is much more real and dangerous where loved ones could be in danger at any moment. Caitlin notes that they can hide in their world because when you deal with meta humans, it doesn’t make their world real.

Back at the Arrow Cave, Oliver tells Barry that being the Arrow he is losing himself slowly that he is no longer Oliver Queen but Barry says that he is wrong that what saves him is his humanity. Felicity interrupts to say they’ve found Harkness; he is at the Starling City train station. Barry streaks away all the innocent bystanders so the Flash and Arrow can take on Harkness but he has a contingency plan he planted 5 bombs across Starling City that will go off all at the same time. So Barry goes to deal with that while Arrow takes on Captain Boomerang.

The two fight but Arrow does eventually manage to pin Harkness to a column. Harkness taunts Arrow about him torturing him and wonders why he won’t kill him, he tells him it is his humanity that does so. Harkness the expects to hear the bombs go off but it doesn’t because…

As Barry is speeding around, he calls Felicity and Team Flash about the bombs. Cisco and Felicity work together to find the five locations. Barry arrives at the first one and find it in a garbage can. Barry wants to speed the bomb away but Felicity tells him if he does, the others will go off. Cisco uses the camera in Barry’s suit emblem to see the bomb and notes that all five need to be disarmed all at the same time. Seems impossible but Barry speeds Roy, Caitlin, Felicity and Cisco to each of the bombs and all of them manage to disarm the bombs.

Barry returns to the fight between Arrow and Harkness and sees Arrow take the high road with him.

At the hospital, Lyla wakes up and Diggle calls her sweetie. Lyla wonders what he wants. Diggle proposes and she says yes. A running joke throughout this episode is people think that Diggle and Lyla are married only for the two of them to say they aren’t.

Back at the Arrow Cave, Roy says it was fun having Team Flash around. Cisco says it was fun working with Arrow but amends and says it can be fun if they only realize that a nightclub is above them.

Throughout this episode, Cisco was just his awesome geeky self and I was just loving it. Cisco’s presence on this show just added a lot of fun. Same goes with Barry, his youthful exuberance was so much fun to watch.

Before Team Flash leaves, Oliver gifts Barry his own dummy for his suit the next time he is in town. Barry is thrilled at the prospect of working with Oliver again. Cisco also gifts Oliver with an improved suit that has better kevlar and can hold more gear. Caitlin also promises Felicity that she will call if she finds anything that can ID Sara’s killer.

Before Barry goes back to Central City, he and Oliver go to an empty warehouse to decide once and for all who would win: the Flash or Arrow. The debate their own merits and before the showdown can began, Barry says that Oliver can inspire Starling City not as the Arrow but as Oliver Queen. The episode ends as the two start their fight and I guess we will never know who win between the Flash versus Arrow. But it doesn’t really matter because the two-night crossover was so much fun and epic!