Legends of Tomorrow: Season 2, Episode 7 - Invasion!

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

With their friends freed from The Dominator mothership, The Legends elect to send a team to 1951 to capture and question a Dominator as to the reasons of their invasion. Meanwhile, back in 2016, a shadowy government agent approaches the superheroes with an offer they can't easily refuse. And Martin Stein is shocked to discover the source of his visions - an aberration he accidentally created back in 1987!


Influences

The Superfriends cartoon (appearance of the STAR Labs hangar resembles Hall of Justice), the film Independence Day (battle against multiple alien ships), the Men In Black movies and the Netflix series Stranger Things ("Agent Smith" and his fellow government men in the black suits), The 1988 DC Comics crossover event Invasion! and various Gardner Fox Crisis comics.


Goofs

How exactly can Martin Stein go back in time to prevent his daughter from coming into existence? His younger self is unlikely to listen to instructions to not have sex wife for the next year and is unlikely - at this point - to listen to anything his older self says in any case.

Stein's behavior is a little off in this episode. Given his past squeamishness regarding violence and taking lives, it seems out of character for him to be so clinical regarding the idea of erasing a person from existence - much less his own flesh and blood! It's also odd that he refers to Barry as "your friend" when talking to Caitlin, when Barry is just as much a friend to him as anyone else on the show.

Also, logically, if Lily Stein developed the nano-weapon used to defeat The Dominators, won't Stein's erasing her from history cause The Dominators to win the Invasion war?

It's rather hard to get invested in the possibility of Barry Allen sacrificing himself to save humanity when we see commercials for next week's The Flash in the middle of the episode. (This isn't a goof on the episode, but it's still rather annoying and could have been easily avoided.)

Just how does Stein mass-produce enough of his pain-causing device to plant an individual one on every Dominator on Earth?  Did he return to The Waverider and use the facilities there while outside of time before Sara and Cisco took off to catch the metabomb? We know he didn't ask Barry for help. (Maybe Caitlin Snow called in Wally West, handed him a screwdriver and told him to go to it?)


Performances

As with The Flash part of this crossover, it's hard to single out any one performance given the ensemble nature of this production. However, if pressed to narrow it down to one or two, I'd say it's a tie between Victor Garber's performance as Martin Stein and his conflict regarding his sudden fatherhood and Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon coming to peace with Barry's accidental wrong-doing.


Artistry

The special effects used to bring The Dominators to life are of cinematic quality.

The fight between Green Arrow, White Canary, The Flash, The Atom and the Men In Black - both in terms of special effects and choreography.

The fight between the heroes and The Dominators is the stuff of... Legends.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

This episode was the fourth part of a four-part crossover between all of The CW Network's DC Comics superhero shows.

As the title suggests, the main inspiration for this four-part crossover event between all of the DCTVU shows was the 1988 crossover event Invasion!

Invasion! was based around the idea that an alliance of alien worlds - led by The Dominators - attacked Earth due to their concerns that Earth's growing metahuman population would become a threat to their planets.

The Dominators in the original comics had yellow skin, a red circle in the middle of their foreheads, claw-like fingernails and sharp fang-like teeth.

The DCTVU Dominators look much the same, save that their skin is more grey than yellow. Also, the comic book Dominators wore clothing whereas the DCTVU Dominators do not.

The abandoned STAR Labs hangar/hall used as a based of operations by the combined teams resembles The Hall of Justice from the classic Superfriends cartoon.

Nate discovered video footage of The Dominator's first invasion of Earth in Redmond, Oregon in 1951 that the US government covered up. This is a reference to a famous real-world UFO report that was debunked by the United States Air Force.

Cisco and Felicity quote the Ciara song One Two Step when describing The Waverider ("automatic, supersonic, hypnotic, funky fresh...").

The meta-bomb developed by The Dominators is taken directly from the Invasion! storyline. One of the Dominator scientists isolated the gene that gave ordinary humans super-powers and developed a weapon - the meta-gene bomb -  that would kill or severely weaken any humans who possessed the meta-gene. Unfortunately, this weapon ran counter to the plans of the Domianators to enslave Earth's metahuman population. The scientist was tortured for what he had done and eventually turned against his race. Ironically, the bomb's detonation wound up causing multiple metahuman's genes to activate, thus creating more superheroes!

In the DCTVU, the meta-bomb is a weapon that will kill every metahuman on Earth.

At the party at the end of the episode, Felicity comments that seeing Kara in her street-clothes is like looking in a mirror. On Supergirl, Kara wears glasses and ties her hair back in a ponytail when she's in her secret identity. Felicity also usually wears her hair in a ponytail and wears glasses.

Ray comments that Kara looks almost exactly like his cousin. This is a joking nod to the fact that Brandon Routh - who plays Ray Palmer - played the role of Superman in the movie Superman Returns.

Nate uses the phrase "Strange visitors from another world" at one point. This is a nod to the old 1940's Superman radio show and the introduction to the 1950's Adventures of Superman show - both of which described Superman as a "strange visitor from another world."



Technobabble

Cisco says the construct on the bow of The Waverider could be a Time Sphere. He also says the ship would require a quantum neural chipset and would make use of deep-link nets.

Stein says he doubts they could fashion a weapon of sufficent force to overcome The Dominators. He suggests attacking them with something infinitesimally small.

Amaya describes the first Dominators invasion as an RIF mission - Reconnaissance In Force.

The tranquilizers used by the MIBs prevent Nate and Amaya from using their powers.

Lily Stein complains that she can't stabilize a nano-molecular reaction.

Eventually, Lily figures out that the nano-molecular reaction won't stabilize because the replication is sequential  - not exponential. The reaction requires greater complexity.

Stein mass-produces a small device that, when placed on individual Dominators, will cause indescribable agony.

Cisco builds an inter-dimensional extrapolator for Kara - a device that creates small breaches, that can be used to cross between her Earth and the Earth One any time she wants. The device also has a communication function, so that she can call them.


Dialogue Triumphs

Oliver: I would like to minimize your involvement in this.
Kara: Why? Because I'm an alien? I also happen to be your biggest weapon!
Oliver: You are an unknown quantity and this is not personal.
Kara: Except that's exactly how this feels.
Oliver: Kara, when I started living this life, it was just me. I was going up against human threats. That I could handle. Then it was metahumans. And I can handle that. Now, I learn that there are multiple Earths and I was brainwashed on board an alien spacecraft -
Kara: I'm sure that was unnerving.
Oliver: I don't get unnerved.  But when I go up against something new, I push back. Right or wrong, it is who I am and it was what I do. I'm asking for a little bit of space because I have to draw the line somewhere. I need to claw back a sense of normalcy. Please... stay here.

Cisco: We made it!  This is the '50s! Sick!
(Felicity keels over and vomits.)
Nate: Severe time jumps can cause nausea, temporary deafness...
Felicity: (tries to speak but total gibberish comes out.)
Nate: ... linguistic disorientation...
Felicity: (more gibberish)
Mick: (pointing to Cisco) You. Clean it up. We're going to go kidnap an alien.
Cisco: (chuckling) Okay. I know I did not just travel through time so we could stay on the ship.
Mick: (To Felicity) Ponytail? You're staying on the ship.
Felicity: (angry gibberish)
Nate: I'll take that as "Have fun storming the castle."
Cisco: Oh? For real? You're gonna used Princess Bride against me? Against me?!
(Felicity falls to her knees and throws up again. Cisco grabs her ponytail and holds it up.)
Cisco: It''s okay. I've got you, girl.

Cisco: You know all this time traveling, fighting aliens... this is stuff I used to dream about as a kid.
Felicity: Yeah. Me too.
Cisco: But it doesn't feel like a dream. It just feels weird.
Felicity: Well, exactly! And it's only going to get weirder. So that's why we've got to be able to rely on our friends.
Cisco: I really wish I could right now, Felicity. But he's not my friend.

Caitlin: You know, you're really taking this whole absent-minded professor thing to a new level.
Stein: I don't know what you mean.
Caitlin: Your daughter - ever since you've come back, you've treated her like a total stranger!
Stein: That's because she IS a total stranger!
(Caitlin looks at Stein shocked)
Stein: I'm sorry. It's just that... when I last left 2016, that... young woman did not exist.
Caitlin: Wait... you're saying that Lily belongs to another timeline? That, when Barry created Flashpoint-
Stein: Unfortunately, this is all my fault. You see, a month ago I interacted with my younger self back in 1987 and unwittingly motivated him ... me... to sire a child. So it's because of my carelessness that this... time aberration exists.
Caitlin: She's not an aberration! She is brilliant and funny and a lot like you. Just a little less uptight.
Stein: Please...stop talking about her like this. She is not a real person.
Caitlin: She is a real person. She's your daughter.
(Realization dawns on Caitlin's face.)
Caitlin: Wait... when we finish fighting the Dominators, you're going to go back in time and... erase her?
Stein: No. I am going to restore the timeline. Unlike your friend Barry, I have the luxury of fixing my mistakes.

(Cisco and Nate are suddenly standing on a deck in the Dominator mother-ship. The Dominator Cisco saved turns to regard them.)
Dominator: What an unusual gift. You appear to be a meta-human as well...
Cisco: Yeah, well, I figured you'd cut me some slack seeing as how we saved you back in 1951. Remember that?
Dominator: Much has changed on your planet in the last 60 years. The threat of your kind has become imminent.
Cisco: Listen, E.T. - we're not a threat! Metas are protecting this planet.
Nate: And besides, the guy who tortured your ugly ass back in 1951 was human.
Dominator: But what happens when a man like him inherits abilities like yours? We have seen it happen on countless other worlds. Which is why we must exterminate your kind before the scourge of your planet becomes the scourge of ours.

Barry: This isn't up for debate. It's not even a close call. Turn myself over to The Dominators, they leave the rest of the world alone. Simple.
Felicity: No, it is not simple!
John: Barry, it doesn't matter what you've done. You can't do this.
Barry: It has been a honor and to know all of you. To fight alongside of you. Now it's up to you to keep our home safe.
(Barry turns around and starts walking to leave the hangar.)
Oliver: Barry! I'm not letting you leave.
Barry: No offense, Oliver but you and what army?
(Barry turns back around to see assorted members of The Legends, Team Arrow, Team Flash and Supergirl staring at him.)
Kara: This one.
(Barry looks at them all, clearly touched.)
Mick: Listen Red - I don't like you. But when you've got a crew, you don't take a hit for the rest.
Barry: That... was actually pretty inspiring. I mean, up until the point that Mick compared us to a bunch of criminals
Amaya: According to the Dominators, we might as well be.
Nate: And maybe they're right. Maybe we do more harm than good. But this is our chance to find out.
Cisco: We're not letting you sacrifice yourself. There's no way. I don't care if that's what it means to be a hero. You're not a hero to me.... you're my friend.

(Felicity is watching the progress of the battle from a monitor at STAR Labs)
Felicity: Good job planting Professor Stein's nanoweapons, but we've still got Dominators all over the country. This looks like a job for Supergirl!
(We see Kara flying across the ocean just as we see Barry running across the countryside.)
Barry: (dryly) Thanks Felicity. I'm not the least bit insulted.
Felicity: Uh- sorry! I meant Supergirl AND Flash. This is totally a job for the both of you. That's what I meant! Supergirl and... Flash.

(Kara - now dressed in her street clothes with her glasses and her hair in a ponytail - walks past Felicity and Ray)
Felicity: It's like looking into a mirror.
Ray: Yeah, you know what's funny? She really kind of looks like my cousin.

Kara: Either of you ever save the world before?
Barry: Mmm-hmm.
Ollie: Last year.
Kara: It doesn't gets old, does it?
Barry: Nope. It sure beats screwing up the world.
Kara: Hey You're too hard on yourself.
Oliver: That's what people usually tell me.
Kara: And for good reason, I'm sure. But, back on my Earth, it's just me and my cousin. Between the two of us, we're more powerful than...
Barry: ...everybody in this room combined?
Kara: (laughing) No, no! That's the point. That's what you've all proven here. Meta-humans or not, super-powers or not... you are Earth's mightiest heroes.
Oliver: Um... I owe you an apology. Keeping you at arm's length was the wrong move. And uh... well, the truth is that this Earth could probably use a Supergirl.
Kara: Well, that's funny. Because I was just thinking that my Earth could use an Oliver Queen. (Kara pauses and looks at Oliver thoughtfully)  I know you said you don't get unnerved... but if you did, I think hardship is what makes us stronger. That's probably why these people look to you as their rock.
Barry: You guys feeling a group hug?
Oliver: No.
Kara: Come on!
(Oliver sighs with annoyance as Barry and Kara both hug him.)

Jax; Alright Grey. Spill. How is it you had a kid?
Stein: I didn't think I had to explain such matters to you, Jefferson.
Jax: Oh, come on! You know what I mean!

Sara: It's weird to think that all of this started with the two of us. You ever think about what it would be like if we never got on that boat?
Oliver: I don't know if I have to think about it. I mean, maybe The Dominators showed us what our lives would have been like?
Sara: I know it was a prison but in a way-
Oliver: In a way, it was a gift?
(Sara nods and the two hug.)
Sara: Stay out of trouble.
Oliver: Yeah.

Barry: We ought to do this more often. Get together, I mean.
Oliver: I don't know if the world could take it.
Barry: I meant, like without the world being threatened.
Oliver: If the world wasn't being threatened... what would we do?
(Cut to Barry and Ollie sitting in a bar, drinking beer together.)

Oliver: I told Kara that I was looking to reclaim some normal. Thinking on it now, I'm... I'm not so sure.
Barry: I know what you mean. We both got a look at what life would look like normal.
Oliver: It would have been happy.
Barry: But not full.
Oliver: No. No, nowhere close.
Barry: (raising his beer) To things not being normal.
Oliver: (raising his own glass) To life being full.
(The two clink their bottles and drink.)


Continuity

Between the end of A308 and the start of this episode, Thea "Speedy" Queen returns to Star City while Green Arrow and Spartan join White Canary and The Atom in returning to meet up with the rest of Team Flash, Team Arrow, The Legends and Supergirl in Central City.

The new President of the United States is a woman.

Amaya, Nate, Mick, Cisco Ramon (from The Flash) and Felicity Smoak (from Arrow) make up the group that goes to 1951.

Sara, Ray, Barry Allen (from The Flash) and Oliver Queen (from Arrow) make up the team that goes to meet with The President.

Professor Stein and Caitlin Snow (from The Flash) focus on the problem of how to fight The Dominators directly.

Martin Stein apparently loved telling Lily the story of The Lion With The Thorn In His Paw to his daughter when she was young.

Dr. Lily Stein spent six years at MIT and holds a doctorate in nanotechnology.

As noted in the past, time jumps can cause nausea, temporary deafness or blindness and linguistic disorientation.

Cisco refers to the events of F307 and his discovery that Barry Allen's attempt to save the lives of his parents through time travel indirectly caused the death of Cisco's brother.

Lily Stein stayed up all night with Martin working on her seventh grade science project. It was the first time she was allowed to drink coffee - much to Clarissa Stein's disapproval.

Martin Stein refers to the events of F308 and how he discovered that the visions he began having in 206 were of a daughter who didn't exist in his original timeline.

The Dominator Nate speaks with in 1951 says the reason The Dominators came to Earth was to study the emergence of meta-humans and determine if they were a threat.

The first Dominator Invasion coincided with the emergence of the JSA. Apparently World War II was the first sizable collection of meta-humans on Earth.

Cisco makes the call to rescue the captured Dominator in 1951.

Cisco and Felicity are able to repair the Dominator pod used by the captured heroes to escape the Dominator mother-ship in A508, allowing the Dominator to return home.

Cisco takes a transponder from the Dominator ship. He thinks he can use it to communicate with The Dominators in 2016.

The Men In Black know that Barry Allen is The Flash. It isn't made clear what other superhero identities they might know. Given that they apparently outrank ARGUS in the chain of command in dealing with The President (based on F308), they probably have access to their records.

The Dominators have the capacity to detect the alteration of time. This is how they knew that Barry Allen was responsible for altering the timeline.

The Men In Black brokered a peace-deal with The Dominators in 1951. The Dominators agreed to leave Earth in peace provided Earth's meta-humans took no hostile actions against them. Barry Allen's altering the timeline to create The Flashpoint Reality apparently broke this treaty.

The Men In Black negotiate a new deal - give Barry Allen to The Dominators in exchange for continued peace.

It is unknown how many metahumans the meta-bomb would kill. It is guessed, however, that it might kill two million non-meta-humans.

Cisco is able to use his Vibe powers to project himself and Nate onto the Dominator mothership.

The metabomb is massive enough that The Waverider is just barely able to hold it up using its tractor beam.

Firestorm is able to transmute the metabomb into water.

The Legends, Green Arrow, The Flash, Spartan and Supergirl are acknowledged by The President, despite the nature of their role in stopping the Invasion needing to remain secret.

Cisco builds a device that will let Supergirl travel between her universe and Earth One. It also has a communicator, so she can contact the heroes on Earth One for help.

Professor Stein asks Jax to keep the nature of his daughter a secret to the rest of The Legends.

Supergirl apparently talked with The President and told her about the Department of Extranormal Operations on her Earth and how they dealt with alien affairs. She apparently liked the idea so much that she was shutting down Agent Smith's agency in favor of creating something similar.

Agent Smith is apparently reassigned to Antarctica.

Cisco and John both forgive Barry for the changes his time-traveling brought about in their lives.


Location

Central City  - November 2016
Redmond, Oregon - 1951


The Bottom Line

For all the build-up over the Dominator invasion, this episode is far heavier on quiet, character-building moments than scenes full of alien-fighting action. Thankfully, this proves to be to the episode's benefit. The ensemble casts of all the shows play well with each other and not one subplot misfires. Hopefully we won't have to wait another year to see all these characters together again.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 8 - Invasion!

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

Oliver Queen wakes up in a world where his parents are alive and well and Laurel Lance is his loving fiancee. It seems like the perfect life but something about it seems wrong somehow...

Meanwhile, Felicity and the rest of Team Arrow must deal with a new threat, with a litle help from The Flash and Supergirl.


Influences

Independence Day (Cisco, Curtis and Caitlin attempting to hack alien technology), E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (Curtis name drops the movie twice), Star Wars (Curtis refers to his translator device as The Threepio Processor in honor of the translator robot C3P-O), J.J. Abrams' Star Trek (universal translator technology, named-dropped by Cisco in describing The Dominator's ship), The Perchance To Dream episode of Batman: The Animated Series, Superman Annual #11 - "For The Man Who Has Everything", The JSA comics of Geoff Johns (Mister Terrific being an Atheist), The 1988 DC Comics crossover event Invasion and various Gardner Fox Crisis comics.


Goofs

There's a lot about the dream world that doesn't make sense. Why didn't the dream world give Diggle and Sara their perfect lives, like it did Oliver, Thea and - to a point - Ray? While John wasn't exactly unhappy as The Hood until Oliver showed up, it's hard to believe he wouldn't have Lyla or John Jr. in his life. Ditto Sara seemingly not having any role other than to revel in her sister's happiness.  Were The Dominators too cheap to generate each of the heroes their own perfect world? Was the confusion meant to prolong their time in the dream world as their minds were read? Why bother with hostile memories which threatened the reality of the dream world? And why bother having a portal out of the dream world in the first place?

When did Cisco get a piece of the Dominator's ship? (Possibly a scene that was cut for time?)

Why has Wild Dog's sudden hatred of super-powered people never come up regarding the guy wearing the magical costume made of rags who is on his team?

The villain of the week is beaten far too easy and serves no purpose other than to give Supergirl and The Flash a chance to show off.

Why does the dream world create ghosts of two people who haven't died - Felicity and Roy Harper - as Ollie is about to leave? (I know this was the only way they could give Roy Harper an appearance in the episode, but it doesn't make sense in the logic of the world.)

Cisco says that geographical coordinates don't have negative numbers. In fact, negative numbers are used to note areas south of the equator in latitude and west of the prime meridian in longitude.


Performances

Stephen Amell gives one of his best performances ever, trying to say good-bye to the parents he lost as he breaks away from a perfect world.  It gets even better later on, opposite Willa Holland, as she makes a convincing case for staying in the dream world and allowing themselves to be happy for once. It's a heartbreaking moment and a great performance for both actors.


Artistry

The editing team did a fantastic job of patching together the various clips for the flashback sequences.

The special effects for the Flash and Supergirl vs. Dr. Washington fight are top-notch.


Trivia

As the title suggests, the main inspiration for this four-part crossover event between all of the DCTVU shows was the 1988 crossover event Invasion!

Invasion! was based around the idea that an alliance of alien worlds - led by The Dominators - attacked Earth due to their concerns that Earth's growing metahuman population would become a threat to their planets.

The Dominators in the original comics had yellow skin, a red circle in the middle of their foreheads, claw-like fingernails and sharp fang-like teeth.

The DCTVU version of The Dominators resemble the comic-book counterpart for the most part, save that their skin is more grey than yellow. Also, they do not wear clothing, which the comic book Dominators did.

This episode was the 100th episode of Arrow.

This episode was the third part of a four-part crossover between all of The CW Network's DC Comics superhero shows.

The story for this episode greatly resembles the plot of Perchance To Dream - an episode of Batman: The Animated Series. In that episode, Bruce Wayne finds himself in a world where his parents are alive, Selina Kyle is his fiancee and he is no longer Batman, though he starts to have feelings that he was Batman after seeing Batman in the street. He eventually realizes he's in an illusion - one crafted by The Mad Hatter to give him a perfect life.

In this episode,Oliver Queen's parents are both alive and he is about to be married to Laurel Lance. He is no longer Green Arrow, but has visions of being Green Arrow after having an encounter with The Hood in the street. He eventually realizes he's an illusion - one crafted by The Dominators to keep him distracted.

There are a number of other common plot-beats between the two shows, including the search for an entrance to a hidden superhero hideout, an attempt to unmask one's own superhero alter ego and an incongruous building (a clock tower in Perchance To Dream, the Smoak Electronics building in Invasion!) leading to the way out of the dream world.

The story for this episode also resembles the classic Alan Moore Superman story For The Man Who Has Everything. In that comic, Superman falls prey to a parasitic plant called The Black Mercy that causes its host to hallucinate their perfect world as the plant feasts upon their body.  As in that story, any attempt to resist the reality created by The Black Mercy results in the dream world attacking the host or the host's loved ones appearing and begging them not to leave them.

Oliver name-drops the story, saying at one point that "he has everything."

For The Man Who Has Everything was adapted for the Supergirl TV series in S113 - For The Girl Who Has Everything.

In the comics, Oliver Queen had his own encounter with a Black Mercy plant in Green Lantern (Volume 4) #7 and #8. In that story, both Hal Jordan and Oliver Queen were attacked by a Black Mercy that primarily focused on Hal Jordan, creating a perfect world for Oliver Queen based on what Hal thought Ollie's perfect world would be like. Oliver Queen saw through the illusion and as able to break both of them free of the dream world. Something similar happens here, with John Diggle and Sara Lance both realizing there's something wrong with the supposedly perfect reality they are part of.

Curtis Holt expresses reservations about the idea of a divine plan that includes space monsters. This is a nod to the JSA comics where Mister Terrific was a staunch atheist despite working with colleagues who claimed to have powers granted by divine and magical sources.

In the dream world, Malcolm Merlyn says that Tommy Merlyn couldn't make it to the wedding because he's working triple-shifts in his new job as a doctor in Chicago. This is a nod to how actor Colin Donnell - who played Tommy Merlyn in the first season of Arrow - is now playing the role of Dr. Connor Rhodes on Chicago Med, Chicago P.D. and Chicago Fire and was unable to do a cameo in this episode due to his busy schedule.

Felicity tracks the location of Team Arrow to -3.127 Latitude, - 23.7987 Longitude. This indicates somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean... or above it.


Technobabble

The first attempt to hack the Dominator technology fails because the team tried to plug human technology into a Dominator power source. This caused a power overload, which requires them to find a regulator.

Van Horn industries developed a prototype regulator for NASA. It was perfected, but it was stolen by a Dr. Laura Washington - a scientist who has been augmenting her body with various stolen electronic implants. The implants give her enhanced strength, stamina and electricity-based powers.

The martial art Sara uses to fight Deathstroke in the dream world is Jeet Kune Do - a hybrid martial art heavily influenced by the martial arts philosophy of Bruce Lee.

Rory Regan identifies the "soup" created by Curtis' translator as Gamatria - a Kabbalistic method of interpreting the Hebrew scriptures by computing the numerical value of words, based on those of their constituent letters. In Hebrew, each letter has a numerical value. Gamatria is the calculation of the numerical equivalents of letters, words or phrases.

Felicity tracks the location of Team Arrow to -3.127 Latitude, - 23.7987 Longitude. This indicates somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Ray examines the technology The Dominators were using to keep them under and determined it used a neuromorphic interface similar to what he used to control the ATOM suit. This means The Dominators may have been probing their subconscious for intel while the shared hallucination kept their minds occupied. Ray further theorizes that the five of them (Sara, Diggle, Thea, Oliver and himself) were abducted because they were ordinary humans.

Gideon translates "Klic-Clac-To Nick-Lava Shack-too" to "We are nearing completion of the weapon."


Dialogue Triumphs

Curtis: I feel like Elliot in E.T. - "It's working! It's working!"
Cisco: Your tech guy quotes movie, huh?
Felicity: Yeah.
Cisco: Reeeeal original.

The Flash: What's your damage, man?
Wild Dog: My damage is that people like you two have the power of gods yet you think you can make the world a better place just by putting on a fancy costume.
Supergirl: No! We... we think we make the world a better place because, well... well, we do!

Ollie: These head games aren't over. They are going to push back against whatever we do.
John: Push back? Like how?
(Oliver looks to one side, where Deathstroke emerges from the bushes, twirling a sword.)
Ollie: Like that.

(Sara Lance catches Deathstrike's sword arm, disarms him and runs him through with his own sword. She then looks down in astonishment, holding the katana in a defensive kata whilst in her bridesmaid dress.)
Sara: How did I do that?

Thea: It's too bad Tommy couldn't make it, though.
Merlyn: Well, they've got him working triple shifts at the hospital these days. Besides, Chicago isn't exactly next door.
Thea: I can't believe he's a doctor now.
Merlyn: Well, he says the same thing about you, Miss Entrepreneur.
Thea: I don't think running Verdant makes me an entrepreneur.
Merlyn: No, but it makes you successful. Your father should be very proud of the woman you've grown into.

(Moira and Robert Queen try to talk Ollie into getting ready for the wedding.)
Moira: This is your life now.
(Oliver sighs and steadies himself.)
Oliver: No, it isn't.
(Oliver hugs Moira tightly.)
Moira: Oliver?
(Oliver moves to hug his father, fighting back the tears.)
Oliver: I'm so... I'm sorry.
(Oliver lets go of Robert and walks to where Thea and Sara are standing in one corner of the room.)
Oliver: Speedy...
Sara: She knows, Ollie. She knows and she doesn't want to go!
Thea: The better question is why would you want to?
Sara: Because none of this is real.
Thea: It's real enough, ok? (tearing up) It's - it's better than our real lives. In -in this life, Laurel is alive. My parents are alive...
Sara: But those are not your parents!
Thea: They remember the only lullaby that would actually work to put me to sleep. They remember every day of my life, okay? They even smell like them, Ollie!
Oliver: They're not them, Thea. I want them to be. But they're not. (To Sara) Where are John and Ray?
Sara: They're waiting outside.
Oliver: Give us a few minutes.
(Sara nods and heads for the exit.)
Oliver: We can't stay here, Speedy. No matter how much we want to, we can't.
Thea: Why not? What is waiting for us wherever we are right now? Nothing. Nothing but pain and suffering.
Oliver: Thea, we have responsibilities. We have people who count on us.
Thea: There's Flash and Supergirl and people with actual powers now. Whatever needs to be done, they can handle it. We - we finally have a chance to be happy. I mean, why - why can't you just for a second accept that maybe this is your reward for all the sacrifices you have made?
Oliver: I didn't make those sacrifices for a reward Thea. I did what I did because I thought it was right. And seeing all this... it has just... it has shown me that there is so much more to do. So please - I'm begging you to come with me because I cannot do it alone.
Thea: But... I can't lose them again. I can't lose my family.
(Oliver just stares at her but finally nods.)
Oliver: Okay. Okay. All right.
(Ollie hugs her)
Oliver: I want you to be well. I want you to be happy. I love you, Thea.
(Ollie lets go of her and leaves, leaving Thea alone.)



Dialogue Disasters

Wild Dog: Super powers are evil, man. And I don't want anything to do with them. Or with either of you.

Wild Dog: If super powers are a thing, it's good that there are guys like you to help the world.


Continuity

The episode opens with a scene of Oliver running through the woods on the Queen Manor estate. This mirrors the opening shot in the first episode, where Oliver was seen running through the forest on Lian Yu.

Rory tells the rest of Team Arrow that Felicity called him and told him that Oliver, Thea and Diggle had been abducted by aliens. This happened in F308.

When introduced to Rory Regan, Cisco says that makes him the second Rory he knows and the first one that isn't a douche. This is a reference to Mick Rory a.k.a. Heatwave.

Cisco uses his Vibe powers on one of Oliver's old broken bows to locate him. This gives him a vision of Oliver and company in some kind of statsis pod in some kind of alien environment.

Wild Dog has a hatred of metahumans. For some reason, it doesn't seem to apply to Ragman.

In the dream world, Thea gives Oliver a hozen as a gift before the wedding rehearsal dinner. This is the same arrowhead neclace that Oliver gave Thea in the first episode,

In the dream world, Robert Queen has just been elected mayor of Starling City and Oliver is supposed to take over Queen Consolidated when he takes office in two months.

In the dream world, Star City it is still called Starling City.

Oliver suggests Walter Steele take over as CEO instead of him. In the original universe, Walter Steele did take over Queen Consolidated after Robert Queen's death and married Moira Queen.

Oliver briefly has visions of his father's death and the sinking of The Queen's Gambit from the first episode,

Oliver briefly has a vision of Laurel as she appeared before she died in the hospital in 418.

In the dream world, Quentin Lance is still a Captain in the CCPD and he likes Oliver Queen.

Oliver briefly has visions of his establishing his first Arrow-cave and confronting Quentin for the first time as The Hood in the first episode,

Looking at a map of Starling City, Oliver briefly has visions of his campaign for Mayor of Star City during Season Four and the secret passageway to The Bunker in his campaign headquarters.

Sara Lance claims to only like girls. This may be a side-effect of The Flashpoint Reality because she had been bisexual during the first four seasons of Arrow and the first season of Legends of Tomorrow.

In the dream world, Ray Palmer is a business associate of Robert Queen, who is trying to put in a bid to take over Queen Consolidated. He is engaged to Felicity Smoak, though he has memories about his fiancee being a woman named Anna.

Both Sara Lance and Ray Palmer have visions of each other and their time together on The Waverider when they "meet for the first time" at the rehearsal dinner. The scenes of their visions include their first time riding on The Waverider together (L101), the two walking down a street in 1940s New York (L201) and a fight in the League of Assassin's headquarters (L109).

A Merlyn Global Group building is visible in the Starling City skyline.

While being strangled by The Hood, Oliver has visions of his meeting John Diggle (101), Diggle angrily driving after Ollie snuck off (102) agreeing to take him on as a partner (104), the two of them eating at Big Belly Burger together (103), John's wedding to Lyla Hall (317), the death of Andy Diggle (420) and John Diggle calling Oliver his brother (407).

Oliver also has visions of Felicity Smoak. The visions depict the first time he saw her (103), their first date (301), their first kiss (301), their first time making love (320), her near death at the hands of Damien Darhk's men (409) and their fake wedding (416).

In the dream world, John Diggle is The Hood and is working with Felicity Smoak out of The Bunker. He says he became The Arrow after returning from serving in the 105th Airborne out of Kandahar. He did things he wasn't proud of and came home to atone for his actions.

In the dream world, Andy Diggle is still alive and working in personal security.

While hugging Moira Queen, Thea has a vision of Moira's death from 220.

Diggle makes reference to a Russian lady downstairs when he intrudes on Oliver and Laurel. This is a reference to Rasia - a house-keeper in the Queen household staff, first seen in 101,who apparently did more to raise Oliver Queen than his mother did.

The creature that Diggle draws from one of his dream flashes is a Dominator.

Sara Lance knows Jeet Kune Do.

Sara Lance has a vision of the battle between The Flash and Green Arrow vs. The rest of The Legends and Team Arrow from F308. She also remembers Oliver, Thea, Diggle, Ray and herself being abducted by The Dominators.

In the dream world, Tommy Merlyn apparently moved to Chicago after getting his medical degree.

In the dream world, Thea is still running the night club Verdant.

Oliver has another vision from the first episode, after his father uses the phrase "that is not going to finish well".

The Smoak Technologies building was first seen in the Star City of 2046 in L106.

In escaping the Queen Estate, Ollie, Diggle, Sara, Thea and Ray must fight Merlyn, Deathstroke, Wintergreen, several of Eddie Fyer's mercenaries from Lian Yu and Damien Darhk.

Before leaving the dream world, Oliver has visions of various friends and family, who speak lines about who he really is and how much they meant to him. These include Moria Queen calling Oliver "her beautiful boy" and saying "she could not be more proud" (220), Felicity Smoak saying you honor the dead by fighting and that Oliver is not done fighting (222), Tommy Merlyn saying he was wrong to call Ollie a murderer and saying that he is a hero (123), Roy Harper telling Ollie that he saved his life and gave him purpose (212) and how this time they had to save him (319), Laurel saying that she knows who Oliver is in her bones - a person who doesn't give up (221) and Robert Queen telling Oliver that "It's your responsibility now."(101)

Nate Heywood picks up Sara, Ray, Thea, Diggle and Oliver in The Waverider. He was given their coordinates by Felicity.

Ray examine the technology The Dominators were using to keep them under and determined it used a neuromorphic interface similar to what he used to control the ATOM suit. This means The Dominators may have been probing their subconscious for intel while the shared hallucination kept their minds occupied. Ray further theorizes that the five of them (Sara, Diggle, Thea, Oliver and himself) were abducted because they were ordinary humans.

Gideon translates "Klic-Clac-To Nick-Lava Shack-too" to "We are nearing completion of the weapon." Gideon further determines that the Dominator ship is moving straight for Earth.


Location

A Dominator spaceship in orbit above the Earth.



Untelevised Adventures

Cisco somehow got a piece of alien technology off of the Dominator ship that crashed in Central City. This did not happen in F308.


The Winick Factor

The subplot with Wild Dog's hatred of people with super powers comes out of nowhere, doesn't make any sense given the presence of Ragman on the same team and is far too quickly resolved.


The Bottom Line

In looking back at Arrow's past, this 100th episode reminds us of many things best forgotten. For every novel touch (i.e. the wink and nod explanation as to Tommy Merlyn's absence referencing Colin Donnell's new gigs), there are glaring absences (i.e. no Manu Bennett as Deathstroke?) and a lot of plot holes regarding how the shared dream world works. Katie Cassidy still cannot convey any emotion but annoyance convincingly and fails to emote even when offered a script that requires her to do nothing but look sexy in a towel or look sad in a wedding dress.

Despite this, the dream sequence might have worked had the whole episode been focused on it, but the cuts back to reality and the crossover only serve to distract from the drama of Sara, Oliver and Thea having to pull themselves away from their loved ones. The subplot with Wild Dog suddenly hating people with powers only to change his mind after The Flash and Supergirl save him is nearly as lame as the villain of the week. Overall, this whole episode is a bit of a mess, made tolerable only by the excellent performances of the core ensemble in the dream sequence.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 8 - Invasion!

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.





Plot

When a group of aliens called The Dominators attack Central City, Barry speeds over to Star City to ask Team Arrow for help in fighting the invaders. When it becomes apparent that the battle is bigger than they thought, Ollie summons The Legends as Barry and Cisco recruit Supergirl as a secret weapon. Once the team is assembled, however, a secret regarding The Flashpoint Reality leaves the assembled team wondering who they can truly trust. At the same time, Wally West is itching to join the battle despite the reservations of everyone else on Team Flash.


Influences

The 1988 DC Comics crossover event Invasion!, various Gardner Fox Crisis comics, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (The opening with Green Arrow and The Flash pinned down resembles the final stand-off in this movie), EPCOT Center (HR's ideas for opening STAR Labs to the public sound like some of the scientific attractions),the film Alien (Barry and Cisco both refer to the movie in describing the appearance of The Dominators), the film World War Z (Barry refers to the zombies from this movie in describing how The Dominators move), the Superfriends cartoon series (the hangar/hall where the teams meet resembles the Hall of Justice) and the film Independence Day (general alien invasion plot, direct involvement of the American President).


Performances

The whole ensemble is giving it their all. It's hard to single out any one particular performance as exceptional in the face of that and the way all the characters are played off of one another. Among the best moments are...

* Team Flash's responses to HR's presentation on turning STAR Labs into an EPCOT style attraction.
* Cisco and Ray bonding over the rebuilt ATOM suit.
* Ray telling Barry about how Captain Cold died a Legend.
* Wally and HR with the former trying to convince the later to train him.
* Martin Stein and Caitlin Snow discussing how power can change you but it doesn't have to control you.
* Sara reading Barry the riot act over his altering the past to benefit himself.
* Every bit of Mick interacting with Supergirl and Sara's face-palming listening to it.
* Ollie's speech to Barry about how everyone would do what he did if they thought it would save their parents.


Artistry

The script does a fantastic job of giving all the assembled cast something to do, however briefly, and delivers the pay-off to a lot of on-going subplots from The Flash, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow.

The choreography for all the fight scens are fantastic, but the stand out is Oliver Queen vs. Sara Lance - the closest thing we're likely to see to a Green Arrow vs. Black Canary fight in live-action anytime soon.

The best special effects sequence? Barry's high-speed fight against Supergirl.


Flash Facts

This episode was the second part of a four-part crossover between all of The CW Network's DC Comics superhero shows.

As the title suggests, the main inspiration for this four-part crossover event between all of the DCTVU shows was the 1988 crossover event Invasion!

Invasion! was based around the idea that an alliance of alien worlds - led by The Dominators - attacked Earth due to their concerns that Earth's growing metahuman population would become a threat to their planets.

The general structure of the episode also mirrors the many Crisis comics by Justice League of America writer Gardner Fox, who routinely teamed the heroes of multiple parallel worlds against threats they could not face alone.

When Lyla says that the US Government has known about The Dominators since the 1950s, Joe mentions an incident in Redmond, Oregon that the government tried to cover up. This is a reference to a famous real-world UFO report that was debunked by the United States Air Force.

The Dominators in the original comics had yellow skin, a red circle in the middle of their foreheads, claw-like fingernails and sharp fang-like teeth.

The Dominators in the DCTVU look very much like their comic book counteparts, except for the fact that the comic book Dominators wore clothing and the DCTVU Dominators appear more grey-skinned than yellow-skinned.

The "hall hangar thing" where Barry has Team Arrow, Team Flash and The Legends meet resembles The Hall of Justice from the classic Superfriends cartoon.

Cisco reveals that Supergirl's Earth is Earth 38 under his cataloging system.

In the DC Universe, Earth 38 is the setting of the Elseworlds series Superman/Batman: Generations, which is set on a world where Superman first appeared in 1938, Batman first appeared in 1939 and both heroes established a legacy passed from parent to child that lasted for over 1000 years.

Thea says that Barry described Kara as "more powerful than a locomotive". This is a direct quote from the introduction to the 1940s Superman radio show and the 1950s Adventures of Superman TV show - "Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!"


Technobabble

Wally West's current maximum speed is Mach 2  (1,552.4 MPH)

Wally's running economy and lactate threshold are all way above expected levels.

The Dominator ship that lands in Central City has some form of force-field that forces Barry back from their ship when he touches it.

The taychon device Barry wore to boost his speed when he accidentally traveled to Supergirl's Earth tracked him to Earth 38.

The Dominators have some form of mind-control technology. It is dependent on broadcast signals but is too strong for even STAR Labs technology to jam. The targets also have to be brought within a line-of-sight range of the broadcast equipment in order to be dominated.


Dialogue Triumphs

(The Flash and Green Arrow take cover behind an stone wall)
Green Arrow: You really did it this time, Barry!
The Flash: Seriously?!
Green Arrow: Yeah! Yeah! Yeah, seriously! You come to Star City! You ask for my help! And then inevitably, immediately, we end up the creek!
The Flash: ... Okay. That's fair.
(There is an explosion, close by.)
The Flash: There're moving in.
Green Arrow: (sarcastically) On three, Team Leader.
(A blue blast of light suddenly rips through the wall between them.)
Green Arrow: What's that?
The Flash: (flatly) That would be heat vision.
Green Arrow: Three!
The Flash: Okay.
(The two run around the corner to find themselves starring down Speedy, Spartan, The Canary, Heatwave, The Atom, Firestorm and Supergirl.)

(Team Flash is discussing how to keep Wally from trying to play hero with his powers.)
Caitlin: We're going to have a hard time convincing him not to use them.
Iris: Yeah, well we have to. Until he is ready.
Joe: (laughing as he gestures to Wally running around the speed lab track) How?
Iris: By convicing him that he isn't. That means no encouraging him, no training him and you - (looking at Cisco) no talking to him about a suit. Please. It's for his own good.
Cisco: (scoffs) Why the hell not? It's just abother lie between friends, right?

(Thea just learned about why Barry came to Star City for help.)
Thea: Count me in!
Ollie: For what? I thought you retired?
Thea; Yeah, but... it's aliens!

(Team Arrow and Team Flash meet at a familiar looking facility)
Thea: What is this place?
Barry: It's this old hall... hanger... thing that STAR Labs owns. Or, I guess, I own it.
Thea: Well, you should do something with it.

(Team Arrow and Team Flash watching the Waverider shuttle land.)
Diggle: (deadpan) You know why I've never done drugs? It's because I was always afraid I'd see weird stuff.

(Barry, Cisco and Kara emerge from the breach before the rest of The Legends, Team Arrow and Team Flash.)
Barry: Guys! Thanks for coming!
Ollie: Barry, I thought you were bringing an alien?
Barry: And - yeah - we did. Everybody, this is my friend Kara Danvers. Or as she's known on her Earth, Supergirl.
Jax: What makes her so super?
Barry: Well...?
(Barry turns to Kara, dumfounded. Kara flies up over the crowd and her eyes flash blue, burning a S-shield into the concrete between everyone. She smiles modestly.)
Diggle: I'm convinced.

Ollie: We should use Kara as a stand-in for training.
Mick: Since when is Robin Hood calling the shots?
(Ollie shoots Mick a glare.)
Jax: What I think Mick is trying to say is it would be nice if we knew who was in charge around here.
Ray: Maybe we should take a vote? Choose a leader. Someone we can all trust.
Cisco: Well, I trust Oliver. He's got my vote.
(Iris throws a glare at Cisco.)
Ollie: Appreciate that, Cisco, but Barry put us all together. It should be him.
(Barry looks at Ollie stunned. Ollie just nods at him.)
Cisco: (cooly) Fair enough.
Barry: Okay - um... (stammering a bit) I guess as Team Leader,  First thing to do is.. uh.. is start out by... ummm... ahhhh.
Ollie: (quietly) Doing a test run.
Barry: Let's do a test run! Yeah! Let's do a test run. Uhhhhh...
Ollie: (quietly) Against Supergirl.
Barry: Against Supergirl! All right! Test run against Supergirl!
Sara: (pointing to Ollie) Are we just supposed to play like we don't hear him?
(Thea and Diggle both smirk.)

(Barry has just confessed to changing the past to try and bring his parents back to life.)
Sara: You can't go back and just change things like that, Barry!
Barry: I know.
Sara: You know how hard it is for me not to alter events? To bring my sister back?  But I don't! Because I know the implications!
Ray: And all those abberations we spent the last eight months traveling through time, trying to correct - you just decided it was okay to create your own.
Jax: We should have told them before...
Felicity: Guys? Guys, it's Lyla! The President has been abducted by The Dominators! She needs us now!
Barry: (sighs) Okay. You guys go. Allright? I'm gonna sit this one out. Obviously. You have Supergirl. She's just as fast as I am. Get The President. We can talk about this later.
(Everyone gets up and starts moving to get ready.)
Barry: (walking up to Kara) You still trust me, right?
Supergirl: I'll always trust you, but... it might take more to convince them.
Barry: If you need me, I'll be there.
Ollie: Guys! This is ca- hey!
(Everyone else stops.)
Ollie: This is crazy! Everyone is going, including Barry! I'm not going without him.
Diggle: Then you'll be here, Oliver.

Kara: Yep. He's in there.
Mick: How do you know that?
Kara: I can see him. (realizing she didn't explain all of her powers) Oh! I have X-Ray vision.
Mick: Oh! (grinning wickedly) You can see everyone's bits with those little peepers, huh?
Kara: (embarassed) No, I...
Sara: Ignore him.
Kara: How did you get the name Heatwave?
Mick: I burned my family alive and I like to light things on fire.
Kara: (stunned) Ah. Well, that's a... colorful backstory.
Mick: Well, my shrink thinks so. By the way, I'm not going to call you Supergirl. It's stupid.
Kara: You could call me Kara.
Mick: That won't work either.
Kara: Well, what are you going to shout if you need my help?
Mick: Skirt.
Thea; (snorting) Seriously?
Mick: Seriously. But I'm not gonna need your help.

(Later, as the Dominators activate their mind-control technology.)
Mick: Supergirl! Do something!

Ollie: Barry, you made a choice. You wanted to see your parents alive again. Do you honestly know anyone that, if they were in your shoes, wouldn't do the exact same thing? I would do the exact same thing! Barry, after The Gambit went down, it was me, my father and a crew member on a life raft. Lost at sea. Enough food and water for one person. Maybe. My father took a gun, shot the crew member, told me to survive and then turned the gun on himself. He shot himself in the head. He sacrificed himself so that I could live! Nothing I could do. No choice. Slade Wilson drove a sword right through my mothers' heart, in front of my sister and I. I was there. I was helpless on the ground. I was powerless to stop it. No choice. Do you not think that I wouldn't give anything to go back and to make things different?!
Barry: You never told me that...
Ollie: Barry, the world isn't different because you changed the timeline. Change happens. Tragedy happens. People make choices and those choices affect everyone else. You're not a god, Barry.

(Supergirl recovers from the mind-control.)
Kara: What happened?
Barry: (laughing) You didn't kill me, so my day's looking up.
Kara: I'm so sorry.
Barry: Hey. You're not the first superhero to be mind-controlled.


Continuity

The opening scene takes place 10 hours after the next scene in the STAR Labs Speed Lab.

HR plans to open STAR Labs up to the public. This will include a personal transportation tour of the facility and a a virtual-reality alternative for the faint-of-heart. Both will include something he calls "particle vision" - a moment-to-moment reinactment of the particle accelerator explosion from the perspective of the particle.

A Channel 52 reporter is seen on the site of the Dominator ship landing.

According to Lyla, the US Government has known about The Dominators since 1951. They landed on Earth, abducted some humans to gather intel, ignored all attempts at communication and killed hundreds of soldiers before inexplicably leaving.

The Dominators sent a message to the Department of Defense three months earlier saying they were only coming to Earth to seek understanding of something and warning against attacking them.

Barry saves Green Arrow and Spartan from being shot by Vigilante. Vigilante is an enemy of Team Arrow, who the team was seen fighitng in A507
As in previous encounters, Spartan throws up after being forcibly moved at super speed.

Thea Queen dons her Speedy costume for the first time since A501.

Cisco reveals that Supergirl's Earth is Earth 38 under his cataloging system.

Before leaving, Cisco says it may take him a few tries to open a breech to Earth 38. Breeches briefly appeared in two different scenes during S208 - once at the Danvers' family Thanksgiving dinner and once as Supergirl was fighting Cyborg Superman.

The scene where Barry and Cisco teleport to Supergirl's apartment is precisely the same as the final scene of S208.

Barry refers to the events of S118 and how Supergirl promised to help him if he ever needed it.

Nate and Amaya - Steel and Vixen - do not appear in this episode. Sara Lance says they were left behind to watch The Waverider. This leaves only Canary, Heatwave, Firestorm and The Atom of The Legends joining this adventure.

Iris did not know Oliver Queen was Green Arrow until this episode. She thinks Ollie is hot, much to Barry's annoyance.

There are Dominators in Supergirl's universe as well. She knows from stories that Dominators are increidbly strong, that they came to Krypton once before she was born, did experiments on a lot of people and killed a lot more.

In the wake of losing his ATOM suit in L203, Ray Palmer has rebuilt it using a new supply of dwarf star alloy he accquired in The Wild West in L206 and using the clothing replicator on The Waverider to rebuild most of the clothing parts of the suit. Cisco suggests revising the suit again together - an idea that Ray agrees to once the current crisis is over.

Ray Palmer tells Barry about Len Snart's heroic death in L115.

Professor Stein and Jax reveal the message to Rip Hunter from the Barry Allen of 2056 that they discovered in L203 to Barry and Oliver.

The message warns that a war is coming and that the Barry Allen of 2016 willl summon The Legends to fight it. The message continues to describe how while The Legends were in The Temporal Zone, The Barry Allen of 2016 made a choice that altered the time line and changed the lives of all The Legends. He advises them that when they return to 2016 it will be to the newly created timeline rather than the 2016 they left and that they should not trust anyone or anything - not even the 2016 Barry Allen. Barry believes this to be a reference to Flashpoint.

The only changes Barry is aware of thus far are Cisco's brother is dead, Caitlin has ice powers, Wally has super-speed and John Diggle's baby daughter Sara is now a baby son named John.

Ollie advises Barry not to tell the rest of the team about the changes caused by Flashpoint yet.

Supergirl is able to hold her own against Canary, Speedy, Spartan, Heatwave and The Atom at the same time.

Wally is smart enough to interpet the various STAR Labs computers used to chart his speed and physical condition and figure out that everyone is lying to him.

Wally refers to the events in The Flashpoint reality in 301 and how he and Iris were a crime-fighitng team in that world.

Wally asks HR to train him in developing his powers. At the episode's end, HR agrees.

It is revealed that the woman Professor Stein has been having visions of since L206 is his daughter. In the original timeline, he and his wife never had any children.

Cisco discovers the recording from Future Barry and demands Barry tell the rest of the team about it.

Ray says The Legends have spent eight months repairing time abberations.

The Dominators abduct the US President. He is later killed as he was only bait to lure as many superheroes as possible into a trap so they could be mind controlled.

The future newspaper from April 25, 2024 - first seen in 101 - still shows The Flash disappearing during some kind of Crisis. The article has been changed, however, to be written by Julie Greer rather than Iris West-Allen.

Ollie tells Barry about how his father killed himself to give Ollie a chance at survival (as seen in the flashbacks in A101) and how Slade Wilson killed his mother in front of him (as seen in A220).

At the end of the episode, Sara Lance, Thea Queen, Ray Palmer, John Diggle and Oliver Queen are abducted by The Dominators.


Location

Supergirl's apartment in National City on Earth 38.


The Bottom Line

Perfect. A true comic-book story line expertly adapted for the small-screen. The gold standard by which all future superhero shows will be judges.

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 8 - Medusa

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

Eliza Danvers is in town for Thanksgiving and Alex struggles with how to come out to her. Kara's foster mom thinks Mon-El might be sweet on Kara, but Supergirl has bigger problems than finding romance when Cadmus releases an alien-killing virus on National City! Kara thinks she can turn to Lena Luthor for help, but can Lena be trusted to work against her own mother? And how will Kara respond when Barry Allen arrives looking for help with a crisis on his Earth?


Influences

Various works of medical science-fiction dealing with pandemics (i.e. Outbreak), the New 52 Supergirl comics (Zor-El being a maker of biological weapons) and the many Crisis comics of Gardner Fox, where the heroes of multiple parallel Earths (usually the JSA & JLA) joined together to deal with threats to both their worlds.


Goofs

Why is The Medusa Virus known by that name? Does the word Medusa mean something different in Kryptonese than it does in Greek? It just seems like the name would be used for a virus that caused petrification rather than a suffocating death.

How the heck did Cyborg Superman and Lillian Luthor learn about the existence of The Medusa Project in the first place if the only place that had records of it was The Fortress of Solitude computer?

Given the ease with which Hank Henshaw escapes from L-Corp, it's clear The NCPD Science Police suck at establishing cordons.

Lena's speech to Supergirl about thinking she was different than her cousin flies in the face of everything we know about Lena's relationship with her mother based on the scene earlier in the episode and serves only to add artificial drama when it seems Lena is helping her mother later.

If Lena switched the Isotope 454 with a fake formula, why does Winn's radioscopic scanner detect it being moved?


Artistry

The script does a fantastic job of establishing a common theme through all its subplots regarding parents, children and their mutual expectations (i.e. Alex feeling like she's letting her mom down somehow, Kara being disappointed in her father's creating biological weapons, Lena's issues with her adoptive mother). Shame the episode was already crowded, because we could have done with James talking about living up to the legacy of his soldier father and Winn rebelling against his criminal father's legacy as well.


Super Trivia

This episode was the first part of a four-part crossover between all of The CW Network's DC Comics superhero shows.

A disoriented Mon-El asks Kara if she developed the power to create duplicates of herself when he starts experiencing double-vision. This is an ability belonging to the people of the alien world of Cargg. One of them - Luornu Durgo - was the fourth hero to join The Legion of Superheroes and the first non-founding member of the team. She used the names Triplicate Girl, Triad, Una, Duo Damsel, Duplicate Damsel and Duplicate Girl.


Technobabble

Alex says she's never encountered any biological weapon that can target only alien physiology while leaving humans unharmed.

The Medusa Virus isn't transmittable through physical contact or from organism to organism. One has to come in contact with a weaponized aerosol.

Eliza Danvers determines The Medusa Virus is Kryptonian based on one protein strand she isolates from Mon-El's blood.

Project Medusa was a weaponized virus created by Zor-El in order to defend Krypton from alien invaders. It was engineered to attack the physiology of alien combatants while sparring Kryptonian civilians and soldiers.

Kryptonians and Daxamites share similar DNA.

The Medusa Virus requires a dispersal agent not available on Earth. There is an analogous element - Isotope 454 - which is incredibly rare and manufactured only by L-Corp.

Winn uses a radiological alarm to track the unique radiation signature of Isotope 454 and warn him if the stockpile at L-Corp is being moved.


Dialogue Triumphs

Mon-El: (To Eliza Danvers) Kara tells me that you are a brilliant scientist. That must be riveting. I have to hear about this science. What is science?

(Lillian Luthor walks into Lena's office. Lena is sitting at her desk, with a half-empty glass of wine and a plate that appears to hold all the trappings of a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner..)
Lillian Luthor: This is quite a depressing sight.
Lena Luthor: I'm used to celebrating holiday weekends alone at my desk.
Lillian Luthor: Overworking does run in the family.
Lena Luthor: And now I know you're in the holiday spirit. Usually that kind of thought is followed by the back-stabbing jibe about how I'm not really a Luthor. (pauses)You never let me forget that I'm adopted. When it comes to your children, Lex was always your favorite.
Lillian Luthor: And you were always your father's.
Lena Luthor: You sound almost jealous.
Lillian Luthor: You shouldn't take it all so personally. No parent truly loves their children equally and... though maybe I loved Lex more, I do love you, Lena. In my own way.
Lena Luthor: Well... now that we've got the pleasantries out of the way, let me ask...what the hell are you up to? 
Lillian Luthor: We've hardly spoken since Lex's trial. I thought maybe you called me here to make amends. It's Thanksgiving, after all. But I see I was mistaken.
(Lillian Luthor turns around to leave.)
Lena Luthor: There's a reporter sniffing about.
(Lillian Luthor stops.)
Lena Luthor: She's smart. She knows something about you. What is it?
Lillian Luthor: I couldn't possibly imagine!
Lena Luthor: See, I know you're lying...
Lillian Luthor: And how would you know that?
Lena Luthor: Because you told me you love me. And we both know that's not true. Thanks for stopping by, Mom.

Kara: Hey, you don't uh... you don't, like me, do you?
Mon-El: Of course I like you.
Kara: No, I mean like, you don't "like me" like me?
Mon-El: "Like you like you?" Sorry... English is my second language...
Kara: My mom, Eliza, she... she thought you were being extra nice to her on Thanksgiving. That's like a thing that boys on this planet do. They're nice to the moms of girls they have crushes on sometimes.
Mon-El: "Crush?" Sorry... I'm not following.
Kara: (annoyed) You don't want to mate with me, do you?!
(Mon-El just laughs.)

(Eliza asks Alex what it is she was wanting to tell her earlier.)
Alex: ... how?
Eliza: Keeping a secret disagrees with you, sweetie.
Alex: This isn't like that, Mom...
Eliza: Does it have anything to do with Maggie? You mentioned her a lot.
(Alex looks dumbfounded.)
Eliza: Oh my beautiful Alexandra... why, why is it so hard for you to tell me?
Alex: ...I feel like I'm... I'm letting you down... somehow.
Eliza: Why would your being gay ever let me down?
Alex:  You always wanted me to have a regular life.
Eliza: Alex... look at the life our family has led. Look at me! Look at your sister! I don't think you believe I ever expected you to have a regular life. You were always going to be different Alex, because you've were always exceptional and I love you however you are. Come here.
(The two hug.) 

(Kara looks out on National City from the DEO rooftop. J'onn comes up behind her.)
J'onn: I like this view much better than the stalactites in our last office. Here, the lives we've been charged to protect are always in view.
Kara: Kinda reminds me of the view from my room on Krypton. I could see the whole city from that window. All the lights... pods zooming by...
(Kara sighs and steps away from the railing.)
Kara: But then again, I guess I didn't truly see anything... All my life, I thought my parents were the good guys. And now the more I learn, the more I see things... how they really are. And the more I'm ashamed to be their daughter.
J'onn: Kara. your parents tried to protect a planet. They tried to save lives!
Kara: I'm sure Lex and Lillian Luthor thought their intentions were good, too. Is this their legacy? Death and destruction across the universe?
J'onn: Your parents legacy is not death and destruction, Kara Zor-El. It's you.


Dialogue Disasters

(James announces his intent to reveal that he is The Guardian to Kara.)
Alex: No. No, you're not. No. Because I have something to say. Something very important. And I'm not going to have you two hijacking the night with your vigilante... hijinks!
Winn: I'm sorry. Um - I couldn't sleep a wink last night. No, I can't wait.
Kara: (entering the room) Can't wait for what?
Winn: (weakly)... Eliza's glazed carrots?

Every damned line Cyborg Superman says.

(Cyborg Superman knocks down J'onn)
Cyborg Superman: You may be an alien, but I am Cyborg Superman!
(Supergirl flies down and punches out Cyborg Superman)
Supergirl: You may be a cyborg, but you are no Superman!


Continuity

Kara refers to Lena's statement from 201 regarding turning L-Corp into a force for good.

Lena Luthor and Lillian Luthor are not emotionally close.

Dr. Eliza Danvers is an expert on alien biology.

There is a hologram of Kara's father Zor-El in the Fortress of Solitude computer.

Project Medusa was a joint venture between the Science Guild and Military Guild of Krypton.

The Cyborg Superman has heat-vision on par with Supergirl's in one eye.

Mon-El kisses Kara for the first time, albeit it while in the grips of a hallucination. Mon-El has no memory of it later, much to Kara's disappointment.

Lillian Luthor is apparently arrested at the episode's end.

Cyborg Superman apparently escapes before the police arrive.

In a call back to 201 - where it is revealed that Mon-El's rocket passed through a place called The Well Of Stars, where time does not pass - we see an alien ship full of hooded figures arrive at The Well of Stars in search of Mon-El.

Eliza Danvers is able to use The Medusa Virus to cure J'onn's conversion into a White Martian.

Alex and Maggie begin dating.

Barry Allen arrives from Earth Prime along with Cisco "Vibe" Ramon. Barry introduces Cisco as a friend but Cisco says "friend is a loose term" and that he and Barry work together. This is a nod to recent events in The Flash (F307) where the friendship between the two became strained after Cisco discovered that Barry's alteration of the timeline was indirectly responsible for the death of his brother.

Barry refers to the events of 118 and how Kara promised him her help if he ever needed it.


Location

The Fortress of Solitude


The Fridge Factor

Kara looks like kind of an idiot, running into Mon-El's quarantine cell when he starts coughing.


The Kryptonite Factor

What they're doing with Hank Henshaw as Cyborg Superman is a thrice-damned shame. There's a lot of drama in the idea of an alien-hating bigot being turned into a machine and fighting against the alien who took over his identity. Unfortunately, any pathos that might be examined here or any exploration of the moral ramifications of J'onn's choices is abandoned in favor of David Harewood growling his lines and spouting dialogue that would be too corny for a Power Rangers villain.


The Bottom Line

A bit of a mixed bag, all in all. The script is well-balanced thematically yet undercuts its own drama. The excellent scene between Lena and Lillian early on, for instance, completely kills any idea that Lena would ever help her mother later on.

Cyborg Superman is easily the worst villain in the show's history.  The show's take on Hank Henshaw is so bland and one-note that I actively groaned when he escaped so that he could plague later episodes with his presence. Throw in the fact that this episode doesn't really have anything to do with Invasion, apart from the last minute cameo by Grant Gustin and Carlos Valdes and one could see the whole thing as a bit disappointing.

And yet... it largely works due to the charisma of the cast and all the good parts of the script. Alex coming out to her mother, the flirting between Mon-El and Kara, J'onn reassuring Kara that her parents are not the monsters she's afraid they might have been and Maggie and Alex continuing to bond more than make up for the other short-comings of the episode's action sequences.