Superman on Television
Supergirl: Episode Reviews
The Flash - S03E08 "Invasion"
Reviewed by: T.A. Ewart (aka liheibao)
Originally Aired: November 29, 2016
WRITTEN BY: Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg
TELEPLAY BY: Aaron Helbing and Todd Helbing
DIRECTED BY: Dermott Downs
STARRING:
Stephen Amell (Oliver Queen/Green Arrow)
Franz Drameh (Jefferson Jackson/Firestorm)
Victor Garber (Martin Stein/Firestorm)
Willa Holland (Thea Queen/Speedy)
Caity Lotz (Sara Lance/White Canary)
Dominic Purcell (Mick Rory/Heat Wave)
David Ramsey (John Diggle/Spartan)
Emily Bett Rickards (Felicity Smoak)
Brandon Routh (Ray Palmer/The Atom)
Grant Gustin (The Flash)
Carlos Valdes (Cisco Ramon)
Danielle Panabaker (Caitlin Snow)
Melissa Benoist (Kara Danvers/Supergirl)
Audrey Marie Anderson (Lyla Michaels)
Christina Brucato (Lily Stein)
Donnelly Rhodes (Smith)
Jerry Wasserman (President of the United States)
Rating - 3 (out of 5): The Flash, with no doubt, is easily the best written of The CW DC Superhero offerings. Barry Allen as The Flash is the heart and soul of the universe these heroes inhabit; a stalwart spirit who's relentless positivity allows him to inspire in the fashion that heroes are supposed to. However, it seems that Barry will be challenged greatly this year by his decision to give in to a selfish desire, and the ramifications of the Flashpoint timeline he created... which is a shame. The crossover viewers were looking forward to is mired in the petulant attitude of Cisco Ramon, and his hypocritical blaming of Barry for his brother's death. It seems in this time line, Cisco must have never revealed Barry's secret ID to save his brother's like, a move that could have easily cost Barry his own. All of the players have made mistakes, but never in hopes of personal gain, but to do what was right. The short-sightedness of those decisions should make them wiser and more empathetic, but that's taken a back seat to making Barry a blame ragdoll, who hasn't been kicked around hard enough it seems.
The crossover aspects are light, with the race between Flash and Supergirl being the highlight, but starting with Supergirl, it doesn't feel that any show truly wants to surrender a single episode of their own storyline to make Invasion what it should be. There are literally characters standing around with nothing to do, and it isn't because more was taken on than could be handled, but a confusing unwillingness to tell the story that the heroes/heroines were brought together to tell.
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