When this show first started there was a lot of talk about crossovers with Arrow. There was only really talk of the one big crossover that happened near the beginning of this show. What wasn’t really talked about (because honestly it went without saying) was how many times we’d see characters from either show pop up that weren’t necessarily the title characters. We’ve seen Felicity hop between the two shows and last week we also had Ray. This week, Cisco and Joe go to Starling City and meet up with Captain Lance and Laurel. I really enjoy how joined these two shows are.

Cisco continues to be one of my favorite characters on this show. He really feels like an audience member who got the chance to be a part of something awesome. The joy and genuine excitement he brings each episode has to put a smile on your face. Sure, it seemed a little forced and unbelievable that he was able to modify Sara’s sonic devices into the canary cry for Laurel in such  short time…but I didn’t care. Plus the writers even addressed this a bit first by having Laurel seem a bit shocked that he was able to create it and secondly by dropping hints at Cisco’s future as Vibe. Apparently Cisco’s been a busy boy and has been playing around with sound waves. Considering his run ins with Hartley, it’s even a plausible explanation. And the icing on the cake? He got a photo with Laurel as the Black Canary. I love this guy. I’m literally smiling as I type this because he’s really living the dream of any nerd on the planet.

With Joe in Starling City, I didn’t think we’d get Black Fatherhood Moment this week but…I was wrong. Joe hit Captain Lance with that Black Fatherhood wisdom when he talked about how it might be time for Lance to really sit down and talk and forgive Laurel. I’m hoping Captain Lance takes the advice. He doesn’t know it, but Joe is in a similar (but reverse) situation as he is. Joe is keeping something from Iris and he’s doing it to keep her safe. It’s the same reason that Laurel didn’t tell Captain Lance. And maybe Joe & Laurel were wrong for that, but their decisions come from a good place. This is also the first time we’ve ever really seen Lance talk to another parent who can relate to him. The only real problem I had with this meet up was Lance saying that helping out Joe was good cause it got him out of the office and pushing paper. Umm…did I miss the last 2 weeks of Arrow where Captain Lance has completely forgotten about his heart problem and has been hunting down the Arrow/Oliver Queen? An uncharacteristic slip up. Only thing I can figure is maybe the writers on Flash didn’t know how involved Lance would be at the time of them writing and shooting these scenes in Flash. Again, a minor slip-up. Nothing that would take me out of the episode, I just found it a bit funny.

So something crazy is starting to happen. I’m really liking Eddie and Barry working together. This means when they have their eventual fall out, I’m going to be a bit heartbroken. The scene that did it for me was when Barry took Eddie out of the interrogation room. Barry’s reaction was sympathetic because he really doesn’t want to see another innocent man in jail due to a Metahuman. Barry couldn’t do anything to save his father from that fate and he’s not about to let Eddie go too. The actual villain this week, Hannibal Bates was like a lot of the typical villains on this show. He was used more to just introduce a new type of Metahuman and give us more character moments with Barry and some of the supporting cast. While there has been some mention about how they’re not doing enough with these villains, I look at it a different way.  STAR Labs has now become a mini-prison for Metahumans and there are a lot of them in there. So now in subsequent seasons, we never have to worry about origins or introductions of these villains. We have a built in group of baddies. I think it’s been a smart decision all season. These characters have been used to not only develop Barry’s relationships with other characters but also his powers.  We’re kinda getting 2 season’s worth of development with Barry out of the way in half the time. I’m impressed.

Caitlin wants her some Barry. I still remember the episode where they went out to get drinks. When Hannibal Bates (disguised as Barry) kissed her, at first she was shocked but umm…she was a lot more receptive than one would imagine. One thing she wasn’t receptive to was the idea of Wells as the Reverse Flash. This show has done a great job of laying out why those around Wells haven’t suspected him. First Barry, then Cisco and now Caitlin. And in a way, Caitlin’s reaction and reasoning was probably the best out of all of them. She pretty much lost Ronnie because of Wells and the idea that all her work with Wells is also part of a sham is a lot for one person. And again, Wells puts on a great public face. Even in this episode, he saved Iris and Caitlin from Bates and he helped to clear Eddie’s name. It’s hard to reconcile that with someone as evil as the Reverse Flash. Of course by finding his secret room, all bets are off now.

It’s not lost on me that when Joe & Wells were talking at the end of the episode the Truth.Liberty.Justice of the Police Department were displayed prominently in the scene. We know this game is coming to an end soon and I’m really excited to see how The Flash finishes up. I know if they’ve learned anything from Arrow, we’re in for a shocking end. One thing I hope is that somehow Tom Cavanagh is able to reprise his role as Dr. Wells. While right now Wells is really Eobard Thawne pretending, I like Cavanagh as the mentoring Dr. Wells. Somehow I hope Barry going back in the past allows him to inadvertently save the real Wells.  We'll see.

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