I can't believe I'm about to ask this, but did anyone feel a little, uh, disappointed with this episode? The Flash and Arrow crossover event came to close during Wednesday night's "The Brave and the Bold" (which ironically proved to be neither brave nor bold), and considering what a bombshell "Flash vs. Arrow" dropped on us with the reveal of Oliver's secret child, I thought we'd be in for another mind-blowing affair. That's not to say there wasn't still some great moments though, and sometimes it's necessary to have a place hold episode to help set in motion what is to come. For example, I highly enjoyed Barry's workout on the salmon ladder even though he was fully clothed while doing so. (Why does no one want to take their shirts off this season?!) But, for me, this episode's MVP award belongs to The Flash 's Cisco Ramon.
Seriously, I didn't fully realize quite how dark and depressing Arrow had become until this guy came along with his cheerful demeanor and adorable humor. Cisco brought a type of levity to the show that we haven't seen in quite a long time. Sure, we get a glimpse of that in Felicity still from time to time, but given all the death and tragedy that's happened in Starling City as of late, even our lovable hacker has become a lot less chipper. Arrow needs more humor in its episodes and Cisco's presence only made that fact more apparent.
That's not to say I think Cisco should abandon ship on The Flash and cross over to join Arrow. No, he's exactly where he needs to be in Central City, breathing both life and humor into a promising freshman series. However, I think Arrow would do well to take a page out of The Flash's book and not lose sight of the fact that sometimes laughter (and not constant brooding) really is the best medicine.
And given that this episode was more than likely the calm before a big storm (next week's promo hints at a Oliver and Ra's al Ghul showdown), I'd say this series will be in need of a pick-me-up now more than ever.
Images: Diyah Pera/The CW
