The Flash Review: Invasion! (Season 3 Episode 8)

This week, we take a break from whatever the hell it is The Flash is doing this season and get to have some fun with special FX as Team Flash is joined by OTA, the Legends of Tomorrow crew, and most importantly, Supergirl.

The episode is filled with drama, action, and a few twists and turns. Let’s dig in.

If you’re not up to date on the other three shows, The Flash Season 3 Episode 8, “Invasion!” surprisingly does a fairly good job of keeping new audience members in the loop, primarily by ensuring that all of the “newbies” remain out of focus here and sticking to characters that have been previously established on either The Flash or Arrow. (If you’ve never seen Arrow, then, honestly, you’re locked out of the loop re: Sara).

Supergirl is and always will be a welcome addition to any universe. Kara brings an unquantifiable joy to wherever she is (her floating there giggling while all the heroes were throwing their best shots at her is the stuff of happiness). Her laughter, her sadness, her general humanity is the perfect example of a concept that The Flash writers can’t seem to grasp: a fully realized female character.

Throughout the episode, there’s this funny feeling that somehow, the Helbings will devastatingly screw up Kara’s characterization, that she’d end up fetching coffee for the other heroes while she, Sara, Thea, Iris, and Caitlin sit around talking about which boy is going to take them to the Spring Formal.

Fortunately, because The Flash writers did not have unilateral say in the story, we’re reminded that Kara Zor-El is the most powerful hero in this—and perhaps her own—universe (there was a line in Supergirl where it’s stated that she’s actually faster than Superman and I will never forget that, so help me).

Bearing this in mind, the stakes are appropriately heightened when Flash and Arrow are up against the entire brainwashed Arrowverse lineup.

Supergirl isn’t like the Reverse Flash, Zoom, or Savitar; she’s just as fast as Barry, has superstrength and heat vision and, most importantly, she’s unequivocally un-evil. Barry does the only sensible thing and uses this unstoppable force to his advantage and with the rest of Team Flash out of the spotlight this go-round, we’re reminded that Barry can actually be a capable hero on his own.

It’s just as well, as Team Flash is currently a house divided.

Cisco rightfully calls Barry out on keeping secrets and exposes his supreme timeline-manipulating idiocy to everyone in this and adjacent universes. (Let’s ignore the fact that keeping secrets is what broke Olicity up and we’ll forget for today that the Legends regularly screw up time—though it’s hinted that Barry’s faux pas may be the reason why they have to fight so hard in the first place.)

Like the perfect Kryptonian that she is, Kara forgives Barry immediately—because she has no skin in this game—and Oliver admits that he’d have done the same in a brilliant and positive twist on the “you’re not a God” speech that Barry has received so many times.

So, knowing that Barry has to deal with not only ruining the present but the future, maybe it’s time to forgive Barry. For now. We’ll bury the hatchet but drop pin its location.

In other news, Wally is faster than Barry and Big Sister Iris won’t let him run.

There isn’t very much to say here except: guys, give Iris something else to do. Her only purpose in “Invasion” is to tell Wally not to do something he’s going to do anyway and I doubt it’s because they had too many characters to take care of.

Iris is smart enough to know that “because I said so” is never going to work because it never works with Barry, but like a broken record in a bus with worn-out shocks stuck on an obstacle course entirely made of speed bumps, her character keeps repeating herself. At this point, the very capable Candice Patton is only getting a well-deserved paycheck for perfect attendance.

Lois Lane Iris West could be out there investigating what the Department of Defense knows about these aliens, going undercover for the best way to defeat them, using her connections and purported journalistic ability to help out our heroes.

Or she could sit around wearing nice outfits and chastising anyone that wants to do some good. That works, too.

“Invasion!” is the highest rated episode of The Flash since “Escape from Earth-2” and coincidentally the most fun we’ve had watching an episode since then. An epic team-up isn’t quite enough to distract from the problems that The Flash has, but any week with quadruple the Supergirl and quadruple the White Canary can put anyone in a forgiving mood.

Bechdel Test Score: U

While Lyla does talk to a female NSA agent about the Dominators, the agent is never named and is subsequently killed.

Cisco’s Pop Culture References

None this week, though Barry references World War Z and Alien.

Sonic Booms

• That first shot of the whole team was, simply put, awesome.
• The “meteor” was literally seconds away from crashing down in Central City when it showed up on S.T.A.R. Labs scanners. Were the satellites all on coffee break or…?
• Lyla Michaels is such an underused character (what else is new?) I’d love to see her have an arc where she starts making Amanda Waller-like decisions.
• It took Barry .003 seconds to call for backup. They weren’t even trying to pretend that the Dominators were nothing more than crossover pretense.
• Supergirl is from Earth-38.
• The Hall of Justice!
• Putting Flash in charge only makes sense if Oliver gets kidnap—oh, lookie there.
• They casually and denigratingly throw around the term “alien” right in front of Kara. It’s like when your relatives start talking about “the Blacks” at Thanksgiving dinner while your black boyfriend quietly munches on mashed potatoes. “Oh, not you, though. You’re not like the rest of them.”
• The thought of Cisco and Felicity having to share one computer gives me anxiety.
• I hope we were supposed to find the President downright unlikable? Because that “I’m glad someone has the balls” line sounded very Trump.
• The President getting kidnapped almost immediately is what happens when a room filled with with old, white men are calling the shots.
• Caitlin and Professor Stein’s little side trip wouldn’t matter much if you’re not a Legends of Tomorrow watcher, but it was a nice reminder that they have a rapport going back to Season 1.
• Diggle’s reaction to finding out he had a daughter was a lot more sad than I thought it would be. Bright side: Now Stein has a daughter…?
• “I’ll just call you skirt,” he says to the most powerful being on the planet. Mick Rory, the lovable chauvinist.

What did you think of this episode of The Flash? Did it interest you in finishing the DC crossover? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.

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