This episode of THE FLASH gives us a gender-bent version of the Bug-Eyed Bandit, a visit from Felicity Smoak and Ray Palmer, and some VERY significant developments in the lives of our favorite speedster and his family and friends. Can you say they were “busy as bees?” Okay, ouch, that was bad…but Episode 118, “All-Star Team Up” was another great chapter in this excellent series!

SOME SPOILERS AFTER THE JUMP

Now that Barry has revealed his secret as The Flash to Eddie, he is free to help Eddie and Joe track down all sorts of bad guys, and the opening sequence is a lot of fun as we see just how much help a Scarlet Speedster can be when going after crooks. Problem is, that big arrest rate raises a few red flags for Iris – the one person in Barry’s inner circle who does not know his identity as the Flash. She knows Eddie is hiding something, and that has serious implications for their now-deteriorating relationship.

Meanwhile, we find that scientists who have a tie to Mercury Labs’ robotics research are dying from an attack of swarming bees…and those bees seem to be manipulated by someone bent on revenge! We eventually find out that the villain is Brie Larvan, who was fired by Tina McGee (yes, we see Amanda Pays again!) for trying to weaponize her tiny robots. She has since created an army of robotic bees with enough venom to kill even a speedster! The first attack of the bees on the Flash is nearly fatal, but a defibrillator built into the suit saves him. Problem is, that also fried the device and now Barry is truly on his own…except for a visit from The Atom!

Ray Palmer and Felicity Smoak have hit town – and Barry believes the timing could not possibly be worse. He eventually shares his concern about Harrison Wells with Felicity, who urges him to share his fears about Wells with Cisco and Caitlin. Joe West isn’t so sure that the pair can be trusted…that is, until events later in this episode.

Brie sends the bees after Tina McGee, and Ray Palmer works with Felicity to save her while Barry tracks down the Bug-Eyed Bandit (named in this episode by Cisco and Ray working together). It is a lot of fun watching Felicity in a hacker battle with Brie over control of the bees  – Felicity is somewhat pleased to finally have her own nemesis, and her “drop the mic” moment is priceless).

After the battle is over, one bee remains, and Cisco jumps in front of Ray to “take the bullet” and allow the bee to sting him.  He passes out and is in danger of dying when Barry uses Speed Force lightning to shock him back to consciousness. After that, Joe and Barry finally decide to share their theory about Wells with Cisco and Caitlin.

In the epilogue, Joe and Barry call Caitlin and Cisco to Barry’s lab to talk about Wells. Caitlin can hardly believe what she is hearing…but Cisco has been having weird visions and dreams that viewers will recognize as coming from a different timeline, the one where Cisco is killed by Wells.  Because of that, Cisco may be more ready to accept Barry’s theory, and that leads us to whatever we will find next week!

SUMMARY: The pacing of this episode was stellar. It felt like only five minutes had passed when I looked at the clock during a commercial to see that we were 45 minutes in. The action was exceptional, and the special effects were spot-on (the swarm of insects outside Tina’s window was just one of the impressive pieces in the episode). But, it’s still the relationships in this series that make the show click, and “All-Star Team Up” delivered on that as well. Iris and Eddie’s relationship takes a serious turn here, and how that resolves will be critical to the series before long. And, Caitlin and Cisco have some serious choices of their own to make…and not much time to decide. That should play out big time next episode, and I can’t wait to see what happens then!

NOTES: Cisco can “see” an alternate timeline, and Barry just used Speed Force power to revive him…think we may see Cisco as Vibe down the road? Let’s hope so. I had just one little concern – I wonder why no one thought of using epinephrine to counteract the bee toxin (at least on Barry, who was still alive after the bees attacked). I realize a typical epi pen may not have been enough for the concentrated bee toxin, but I’m still mystified that no one thought of epinephrine when the bees attacked.  Still, this was an excellent episode, and I’m looking forward to next week!

Share