Catching Up: The Flash Episode 208, "Legends of Today"

Greetings, Flash fans! So I'm still just a little out of breath from all the fanboy giddiness brought out by the first of the two-part CW episode, "Legends of Today." I can only imagine what the ratings are going to be like for this week's episode of ARROW! (Tune in here for a special crossover Catching Up write-up!)

In Central City, Barry (Grant Gustin) is pushing himself to run faster so he can take on Zoom, who -- according to Dr. Harrison Wells of Earth 2 (Tom Cavanagh) -- is three to four time faster than Barry, so I'm not looking forward to his character showing up in my INJUSTICE games anytime soon. The thing is, Barry's not getting faster at all -- but Wells tells Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker) that he has a potential solution.

Down at the docks, a boat arrives to deliver a stowaway to the police. The stowaway was armed with thirty-two knives, and as soon as his feet touch the earth, his handcuffs are off and the knives are flying. Everyone is dead. This is how Vandal Savage (Casper Crump) makes an entrance. While Barry and the CCPD are working the clues of the murder, Savage crashes a date between Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes) and his new girlfriend, Kendra Saunders (Ciara Renee). He calls her Princess Shayara, and he's there to take her to be sacrificed. "Kendra's not going anywhere with you, Highlander," Cisco bluffs, while he secretly uses his signal watch... uhm... smart phone to send a distress signal to The Flash, who arrives just in time to catch a knife thrown at Cisco's chest. The downside is that Cisco thanks "Barry" in front of Kendra, showing he's still not quite up on how to keep a secret identity a secret.

At STAR Labs, Barry says they can protect Kendra from this guy, but they'll need some help from Team Arrow, because Vandal Savage doesn't appear to be a metahuman, but mystical.

Over in Star City, Team Arrow is in another confrontation with Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough, at his maniacal best in the role). Trick arrows are used to disarm Darhk's men, but he manages to get the drop on Green Arrow (Stephen Amell) anyway, and starts his Emperor Palpatine impression. Fortunately, Barry arrives in time to get him out of there. "Did I know we knew The Flash?" Speedy asks.

Barry speed-sketches Savage for Team Arrow, and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) runs facial recognition off of it. They find a picture, but it's from 1975.

As the two teams catch up on each other's storylines -- over dinner, no less -- Cisco offers to help Speedy (Willa Holland) come up with a better codename. Cisco then tells Barry about his vibe on Kendra, stating that he doesn't want her to know he has these powers. But then Vandal Savage bursts through the window. It's a flurry of knives and arrows, and it appears Speedy administers a kill shot that sends Savage out the window. Only several stories down, there's no body.

Back in STAR Labs, Wells and Snow finish up the formula for Velocity 6, a serum that would temporarily boost the powers of a speedster. Wells wants to test it on Jay Garrick (Teddy Sears), but Jay's having nothing to do with it. His distrust of Wells runs deep. He makes some inane arguments about how you can't replicate the Speed Force, and tells Caitlin to keep the serum away from Barry.

Speaking of Barry, as he and Team Arrow are recovering from Savage's assault, the group gets another visitor: Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) and an entourage of the League of Assassins. He has the information on Vandal Savage, and tells them all that he's an immortal -- and that there's nothing they can do to save Kendra from him. Meanwhile, outside, after Cisco does tell Kendra about his powers and his vision of her, their tender moment is interrupted when Kendra is snatched into the air by Hawkman.

Yes. Hawkman. The DCCW Universe just keeps getting better and better!

As Flash and Green Arrow track this new arrival, he lands with Kendra on a rooftop and introduces himself as Khufu, which sets off a flash of memories in Kendra. He leaves her there to do battle with Green Arrow. It's the mace against the shafts, and once again I'm a kid reading my 1980s JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA comics. Flash arrives and it takes the two of them working together to put down Hawkman -- whose wings are real, by the way, and not a device he's wearing.

In case the subplot back at STAR Labs was getting too boring for you, let's spice it up a bit. Patty Spivot (Shantel VanSanten) has seen Wells 2, and mistakes him for Wells 1. She follows him into STAR Labs (seriously, guys, the new security protocols are just not working) and confronts him. Being his usual arrogant self, Wells walks toward Patty -- with the Velocity 6 injection gun in his hand. She takes it for a weapon -- and shoots him! Bang! And the only way to save him (and keep the hospitals and the press from knowing there's a walking, living, breathing Harrison Wells in town) is for Caitlin to do the surgery -- and she's going to need Jay Garrick's help.

As the captured Hawkman / Carter Hall tells his story, Flash is skeptical. But Arrow believes him, and soon they're all on the roof so that Kendra can "emerge." The way she does this is to jump, swan dive, fall -- whatever -- from the roof. She stands on the edge and Carter gives her a helpful shove. Barry reacts and catches her before she splatters. Carter says that something is inhibiting Kendra, because she should have emerged on instinct, given their 4000 years of experience and 206 past lives. Carter insists that he is the only one who can protect Kendra from Vandal Savage. "You're 0 for 206 and you still think you're her best bet?" says Cisco. That's Merlyn's cue to walk in again (it's pretty obvious Cisco helped with the designs for the new Arrow Cave, because the security system is very familiar) to let them know that Vandal Savage has left Star City -- most likely to go after the Staff of Horus, which will make him invincible. (If he's immortal, why would he ever have let that out of his grasp?) The staff is in Central City, so Barry and Oliver make the quick trip and confront Savage for a no-holds-barred battle of speed, arrows and magic that ends up decimating the building. And while they're gone, Kendra tells Cisco there's something she needs to do on her own -- and that thing is to jump off the building again! But with no safety net, her wings emerge -- and Cisco christens her Hawkgirl.

In the aftermath of the battle with Savage, Barry and Oliver get a coffee at Jitters, where they bump into a little boy with a Flash action figure. The boy's mother is familiar -- it's Sandra Hawke. This may complicate Oliver and Felicity's relationship just a bit.

Oh yeah, Jay Garrick takes the V6, gets a temporary jump start, vibrates his hand into Wells' chest and removes the bullet. He's saved, says a thank you, and Jay says if he really wants to thank him, keep Velocity 6 away from Barry.

Phew!

So, the takeaways from this episode are:
-- Vandal Savage
-- Hawkman and Hawgirl
-- Connor Hawke
-- Locking doors and keeping secrets still a problem for Cisco