Follow TV Tropes

Following

Recap / The Flash (2014) S3E8 "Invasion!"

Go To

This episode is the second of a four-part Crossover event between Supergirl (2015), The Flash (2014), Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow. The episodes in chronological order are "Medusa", "Invasion!", "Invasion!", and "Invasion!".

The Dominators begin their invasion, so Barry decides to unite the world's heroes to help defend the Earth.


Tropes in this episode include:

  • Aesop Amnesia:
    • Once again, members of Team Flash try to keep a secret from one of the others (in this case not telling Wally how powerful he really is). Cisco lampshades it and correctly points out it will not turn out well, again.
    • Then Barry and Oliver wanting to keep the message from future Barry secret, but in their defense they were planning on telling the team after they dealt with the aliens, since Oliver thought it would be an unnecessary distraction (and he's proven right).
    • Iris and Joe think they can stop Wally from becoming a hero, forgetting how Harry tried to do the same thing with Jesse when she got her powers and how ultimately he gave into Jesse's desire.
  • Alien Invasion: The main plot of this Crossover.
  • Amazon Chaser: Downplayed. When someone comments on how powerful Kara is, Sara responds that it's "kinda hot."
  • And Starring: Melissa Benoist, in the "Special Guest Stars" lineup no less.
  • Arc Words: The word "God" shows up again. And Oliver, like so many other characters this season, tells Barry that he's not one. In this case, he's arguing that Barry shouldn't hold himself responsible for every difference in the timeline, given all the ways everyone else shapes the future every day.
  • The Atoner: Caitlin tries (in vain) to patch things up between Barry and Cisco, feeling responsible for their fallout in the previous episode.
  • Avengers Assemble: To a ridiculous degree. This episode includes all of the regulars of The Flash, Team Arrow minus the new recruits and Quentin, Supergirl, and the Legends minus Amaya and Nate for some reason. All are teaming up to fight the Dominators.
  • Badass Bookworm: Barry when he intentionally goads a brainwashed Supergirl into destroying the mind control device.
  • Bait-and-Switch: After learning about Flashpoint and the aftermath, Professor Stein pays a brief visit to his present home to see if his own life is affected in any way. It is, just not as negatively as he anticipated.
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: Played for laughs. Oliver tells Kara not to hold back during training, as they need to go up against someone much more powerful than them as preparation for fighting the Dominators. Cut to Kara tossing around the team like ragdolls (Barry excluded), not even the slightest bit affected by their powers or weapons.
  • Big Brother Instinct: Iris is trying to stop Wally from jumping into heroics to protect him, much to his frustration.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Wally tries to do this but he ends up getting KOed by a brainwashed Supergirl.
  • Bottomless Magazines: Averted. Oliver actually runs out of arrows when fighting his brainwashed friends.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: The whole team gets mind-controlled by the Dominators, pitting them against Oliver and Barry.
  • Broken Pedestal: The revelation that Barry created Flashpoint is not something the other heroes take well. Supergirl's fine with it, but then it's not something that has any effect on her. Oliver also doesn't get angry at Barry because he could understand the desire to want to bring your parents back from the dead and admits he would have made the same decision if he was in Barry's shoes. Stein, Jackson and Felicity aren't angered either because they've known about it for awhile.
  • Brutal Honesty: When Supergirl asks Mick how he got the name Heat Wave, he casually explains that he burned his house down with his parents still inside and that he likes to burn things. Keep in mind that they've only known each for less than a day.
  • The Bus Came Back: In a sense. This is Heat Wave's first proper appearance on his home show since Season 1's "Rogue Time" (not counting the Imagine Spot in the second season premiere). Dr. Stein and Jax also make their first appearances since the spin-off began.
  • Butt-Monkey: Mick is on the receiving end of getting humiliated during the episode, first getting his smug impression beaten out of him by Supergirl, then calling for her help when a minute ago he boasted he would never do that, then knocked out by Barry in a single hit and in the end a joke about his low intelligence is made.
  • Call-Back:
    • The article detailing Barry's disappearance from the future makes a reappearance after being absent from season two, only this time it's not written by Iris.
    • Barry assures Kara that she's not the first superhero to be brainwashed.
    • There seem to be recurring patterns that take place during each annual crossover:
      • Barry's first foray into Star City sees him use his Super-Speed to save the heroes from either a villain of the week or that season's Arc Villain.
      • Just like in the last crossover, they are dealing with a villain unrelated to the main arc and of unknown origins. In both instances, Barry very quickly realizes the unknown nature of the foe he's up against and thus calls for backup from the other heroes.
      • As in the crossover from December 2015, the crossover launches a plot whereby a protagonist learns about the existence of a child of theirs (last year it was Oliver, this time it's Prof. Stein).
    • Iris' crush on Oliver that was shown in the first Arrow/Flash crossover returns, as she finds out he's the Green Arrow and states that this makes him even hotter, much to Barry's chagrin.
  • The Cameo: Vigilante makes a brief appearance fighting Oliver and Diggle when Barry saves them.
  • Character Focus: Most of the focus on the Legends is given to those who were characters on The Flash before the spin-off started. The Arrow installment of the crossover does the same thing.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: The elderly politician that is eyeing Lyla (not in that manner) throughout the episode will play a key role in the final part of the Crossover.
  • Cliffhanger: The Dominators abduct Oliver, Thea, Diggle, Sara, and Ray at the end.
  • Code Name: The President's codename is "Traveller".
  • Concealment Equals Cover: Averted—Kara's heat vision bores straight through Barry and Oliver's cover, much to Oliver's alarm. Concealment does equal concealment, though—despite her x-ray vision, she misses them.
  • Conflict Ball: Cisco is the only one who really has reason to be pissed off enough with Barry that he'd refuse to work with him. Everyone else overreacts spectacularly about his message to Rip (although maybe Team Legend is just super tired of dealing with Thawne's anomalies). Given Barry's message is from forty years in the future and probably isn't about Flashpoint, people are doin' a great big conflict ball. On another front, Joe and Iris' stated reasons for not wanting Wally to use his powers are kind of crap. Good reasons would include having gotten said powers from an evil god.
  • Continuity Nod:
    • Barry mentions how he now owns S.T.A.R. Labs.
    • Diggle once again gets sick when Barry carries him away while using his speed.
    • Oliver alludes to him helping Barry against Thawne when asking if he needs help with "another evil speedster."
    Barry: Well, actually! no... wait. Aliens.
    • When Oliver encourages Supergirl to not hold back, he also comments that he shot Barry during their first training session. Supergirl cringes as Barry sheepishly admits it as truth.
    • Barry remembers the time when he was brainwashed.
  • Cruel to Be Kind: Joe and Iris' reason for not wanting Wally to jump into action (and being quite jerky about it) is simple worry for his safety.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: Supergirl wipes the floor with everybody except Barry, Wally and Firestorm in their training session. Later, Barry, Oliver, and Wally stand next to no chance against her when she gets mind controlled and Barry can only outrun her.
  • Deadly Dodging: Or in this case, deadly phasing—Barry tricks Kara into charging right through him and into the Dominators' mind control device.
  • Diabolus ex Nihilo: The Dominators are not connected at all to any of the four participating series' overall plots.
  • Dude, Where's My Respect?: Wally turns to H.R. for help since he also tries his best just to contribute something to the team and gets no respect.
  • Easily Forgiven:
    • Averted. Cisco is still justifiably angry at Barry for his indirect role in Dante's death and he makes it abundantly clear that he's not going to be calling Barry friend again anytime soon. And things at S.T.A.R. Labs are incredibly awkward as a result.
    • All of the other heroes aside from Olivernote , Karanote , and Stein and Jacksonnote , are angry with Barry for messing with the timeline and have no problem with leaving him behind while they go to fight the Dominators. However, Barry saving them all from the Dominator's brainwashing gets them to change their tune.
    • Justified by them being focused on the reveal of Flashpoint, but the Legends don't chew out Stein and Jackson for keeping the message secret from them in the first place, causing Barry to have to reveal Flashpoint because they told him and Oliver about it first.
  • Event Title: Detailing the Alien Invasion.
  • Face Palm: Sara does one after Mick answers Supergirl's question about how he got the name Heat Wave. Keep in mind that they've known Supergirl for less than a day.
  • Fighting Your Friend: Oliver and Barry eventually have to fight their Brainwashed and Crazy friends.
  • Forgot About His Powers:
    • Instead of shouting to his friends to save themselves from the Dominators' beaming device, Barry could have just sped them inside much more quickly (which he only tries with Oliver once it's too late).
    • Considering the stakes, it's odd that Barry and Cisco would only return with Supergirl and not also Superman, Martian Manhunter and Mon-El. Especially given the necessity to train the team before going after the Dominators, J'onn J'onzz's experience and leadership would have been handy (or even Alex Danvers'). It's possible that neither J'onn or Mon-El had been medically cleared after being affected by their respective illnesses, while Kara tends to avoid calling Clark for assistance unless it's something really big, and she also tries to protect Alex as much as possible. note 
  • Forgotten Fallen Friend:
    • Averted when Barry notices that Snart is not among the Legends and asks Ray about it. The two share a brief but solemn acknowledgement of his Heroic Sacrifice.
    • Played straight however with the Hawks who are not dead, but Barry makes no inquiries about their whereabouts.
  • Foreshadowing: Barry notes that the article from the future is no longer written by Iris, but another reporter.
  • Friendship Denial: When Barry and Cisco go for Kara, Barry introduces Cisco to her and says he is his friend, but Cisco says that friend is a stretch.
  • Generic Doomsday Villain: The Dominators. They don't have much characterization beyond being generic alien invaders, and no real motive for their invasion is given until the final part of the crossover.
  • Government Conspiracy: It turns out the Dominators have been known to the American government (including Lyla, as head of ARGUS) since The '50s, when they really did invade in Redmond, Oregon but withdrew for unknown reasons.
  • Human Aliens: Barry said that he and Cisco took a quick side trip to get help from an alien, Supergirl. To everyone's surprise, the alien they bring in looks to be nothing out of the ordinary—until she flies up and burns her symbol into the concrete floor with heat vision.
    Diggle: Well, I'm convinced.
  • Hypocrite: Sara chews Barry out for changing history even though she was trying to do the same thing by constantly trying to kill Darhk in her own show, until her teammates talked some sense into her. In fact most of the Legends count, since they're anything but subtle when they save time. However, while Sara mentions wanting to get revenge on Darhk and prevent her sister's death, she acknowledges that if she succeeded it would have had grave consequences and she recently made the final decision to spare his life. Overall, the Legends' issue is that Flashpoint may be partly responsible for the aberrations they've been finding, and they know full well the consequences of changing history while Barry doesn't fully understand as the changes he makes only affected people close to him and he doesn't have to deal with something like the Nazis winning World War II or other things like that. Though they still should have been more understanding with Barry as they did originally serve under Rip who was trying to prevent his family's death.
  • Head-in-the-Sand Management: With the exception of Lyla, the President's advisers suggest doing nothing as the Dominators have made no aggressive actions and engaging them would cause significant loss of life. Lyla points out that they likely aren't here in peace, and is praised by the President for being the only one with the balls to say so. The older agent's vague threat to Lyla, followed almost immediately by the President being kidnapped, suggest he has more sinister motives for not wanting to act.
  • How We Got Here: The episode starts with Barry and Oliver in the middle of fighting off the brainwashed heroes before ducking behind a wall where Oliver tells Barry he really screwed up this time.
  • I Come in Peace: What the Dominators claim. The president is pretty baffled that apparently many of his staff believe in this Schmuck Bait and is proven right minutes later.
  • Idiot Ball: Barry meeting with the Legends without his costume on—since Mick Rory, the pyromaniac criminal he doesn't really know at all and once tried to kill him, is in attendance. Of course, he probably assumes that Snart told Rory who the Flash is. It's not as if Snart is known for keeping his word.
  • Insistent Terminology: Cisco is pretty adamant about not wanting to be referred to as Barry's friend.
  • In Spite of a Nail:
    • The Dominators exist in Kara's reality as well, having attacked Krypton in the past. She remarks that even for all the Kryptonians advanced technology, it still went pretty much the way the Oregon incident did on this Earth: they killed hundreds and kidnapped hundreds more before withdrawing.
    • This episode officially confirms that the only change Flashpoint made to Arrow is Sara Diggle being Ret-Gone, replaced by a boy named John.
  • Internal Reveal:
    • Barry finds out that Captain Cold died in a Heroic Sacrifice.
    • Iris learns that Oliver is the Green Arrow.
    • Barry tells the rest of the heroes how their lives are different because of Flashpoint.
    • In a subdued example, Mick learns that Barry is the Flash, something he presumably didn't know before this episode because Snart kept his word to Barry about keeping his identity a secret.
  • Interplay of Sex and Violence: Sara is turned on by Kara curb-stomping most of the heroes with her powers.
  • Irony: Of all the brainwashed heroes, the biggest threat to Green Arrow and the Flash is the one who doesn't have a beef with the latter's meddling with time.
  • It's a Long Story: Caitlin's response to Felicity asking about how she has powers. It's more likely she doesn't want to talk about them.
  • It's the Best Whatever, Ever!: When the heroes assemble and Barry introduces Supergirl, Felicity announces, "Best! Team-up! Ever!"
  • Jerkass Ball:
    • Joe and Iris grab it by trying to stop Wally from becoming Kid Flash despite his powers being totally safe and knowing how bad he really wants to be a hero. Heck, Iris won't even let Team Flash train him to be a hero.
      Iris: Sorry. Not sorry.
    • Cisco forces Barry to tell everyone about Flashpoint, which causes most of the heroes to go out on their own and get brainwashed by the Dominators. Admittedly, in doing so he may have prevented Barry and Oliver from falling victim themselves.
    • Cisco generally throughout this episode, as he puts emphasis on how he's not friends with Barry anymore, he is openly against Barry being the leader, and lets his feelings over Dante affect his judgement which led to the confrontation forcing Barry to tell everyone about Flashpoint.
  • Jumped at the Call: Thea decides to become Speedy again to fight the Dominators. Because she gets to fight aliens.
  • The Knights Who Say "Squee!":
    • Thea's entire reason for deciding to suit up as Speedy again is that she has the chance to fight aliens.
    • Also Felicity's reaction when everyone has arrived qualifies.
  • Late-Arrival Spoiler: Ray spoils Captain Cold's Heroic Sacrifice at the end of the first season of Legends of Tomorrow.
  • The Leader: Barry is made Team Leader since it was his idea to unite everyone (although Cisco is the lone vocal dissent since he's still mad at Barry). Though Oliver is unofficially co-leader through sheer force of personality and experience.
  • Lured into a Trap: The Dominators kidnap the President and allow him to be tracked, knowing the likely first responders will be the all-powerful heroes. Then they use their Mind-Control Device to brainwash all of them at once, turning Earth's most powerful heroes into their weapons.
  • Male Gaze: Well, if Mick insists on calling Kara "Skirt," it's not a hard guess where he's been looking...
  • Major Injury Underreaction: Not by the victim, though. The President responds appropriately to being vaporized; he falls to pieces. No, it's everyone else who under-reacts. The President was just vaporized. Okay, the aliens immediately start mind-controlling them, but they're way too casual once that goes away.
  • The Mentor: H.R. agrees to train Wally as a speedster since S.T.A.R. Labs' hands are tied by Iris and Joe.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Barry is still feeling this way about creating Flashpoint and more so after being confronted by the heroes when he revealed the consequences to them and hearing his future self's message to Rip Hunter.
  • Mythology Gag:
    • Thea notes that Barry told them that Kara is more powerful than a locomotive.
    • Supergirl is from Earth-38, a reference to 1938, the year Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1.
    • The S.T.A.R. Labs facility is a dead ringer for the Hall of Justice.
    • Barry becoming The Leader is a nod to how he led the first Justice League team-up in the comics.
    • When Barry looks at the byline for the "Flash Vanishes in Crisis" article, the author has changed from "Iris West-Allen" to "Julie Greer." In the comics, Julie Greer was the reporter who got the first ever interview with Jai West, Wally's canonical son and a fellow speedster.
  • Mook Chivalry: Oliver and (an unconscious) Wally are cornered in S.T.A.R. Labs' basement, but only the brainwashed Sara trades blows with him, with brainwashed Diggle and Thea merely standing by.
  • Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Both Cisco and H.R. state the obvious fact that Dominators is not a trustworthy name. And it's a name they gave themselves. Also turns out to be a clue regarding their Mind Control.
  • The Nicknamer: Mick dubs Supergirl "Skirt" saying, "I'm not calling you 'Supergirl', it's stupid." (Though when the chips are down he still ends up calling out for Supergirl's help by her proper name.)
  • No Endor Holocaust: A spaceship of that size crashing into Central City at such a velocity it was mistaken for a meteor should realistically have obliterated the city and much more. Although, given that it's a spaceship, and that there's barely even a crater at all, it's more likely they actually just landed roughly.
  • Noodle Incident: It isn't explained just how Felicity contacted the Waverider that may be anywhere and any time in history. However, "time beacons" have been mentioned before in this universe, and there was a time in the first season finale of Legends of Tomorrow that could have been the right time.
  • No-Sell: Supergirl is all but totally immune to everything the other heroes throw at her, and none so much as come close to possessing her level of power. She doesn't react beyond a smile when hit with Diggle's gunshots, Hard Light blasts from the Atom, or Heat Wave's Fire-Breathing Weapon, not even bothering to move. After being brainwashed, she does get briefly stunned by Barry's lightning, if only for a moment.
  • Not So Above It All: Joe admits to watching sci-fi conspiracy documentaries.
  • Odd Friendship: Wally and H.R. form one, due to both feeling like the outcasts of Team Flash. Wally asks H.R. to train him in secret, and while H.R. is initially reluctant to this idea, he eventually agrees following the episode's climax.
  • Odd Name Out: To date, this is the only episode of The Flash where the episode's title contains an exclamation point. Justified, in that the title is directly taken from the comic book series it's based on.
  • Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Ray has apparently rebuilt his A.T.O.M. suit since obtaining more dwarf star alloy. It is later revealed that the Waverider has a replicatiion program, which was probably used.
  • Oh, Crap!: Barry's quite understandable reaction when seeing the Dominators.
  • Outside-Context Problem: The Dominators are aliens, which none of the heroes other than Supergirl have faced before. Barry realizes that even his Super-Speed may not be enough to combat them alone, so he assembles a whole team of superheroes.
  • Power Creep, Power Seep: Surprisingly averted, despite how frequently many other crossovers fall prey to.
    • Wally is taken out pretty quickly since he's untrained.
    • Oliver doesn't even try to take on any superhuman opponents, instead focusing on his own (former) teammates.
    • Barry easily takes out most of the other heroes he goes up against, since none of them can touch him and he can shoot lightning.
    • Kara is essentially totally invincible to the other heroes, and (as the only other person with actual Super-Speed) almost proves a match for Barry; he has to use his superior reflexes and employ trickery (taking advantage of her lessened mental abilities) to defeat her.
  • Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Felicity early on; "Best! Team-up! Ever!"
  • Remember the New Guy?: Justified. Prof. Stein has a daughter now due to the Time Aberration he created in 1987. Team Flash (specifically Caitlin) knows who she is, but Stein himself (and the Legends) don't.
  • The Reveal:
    • Supergirl's Earth is Earth-38.
    • We finally hear Barry's message to Rip Hunter: Future!Barry warns Rip that as a result of his own actions (presumably referring to Flashpoint) a massive change in the "proper" timeline has occurred, and so the Legends shouldn't trust anyone when they get back.
    • The time aberrations the Legends have been fixing may be the result of Flashpoint.
    • That mysterious woman Stein's been having visions of turns out to be his daughter.
    • Barry's disappearance in the future is tied into his message from Rip.
  • Rule of Cool: In-universe, Thea only comes out of retirement to join the fight against the Dominators because the thought of fighting aliens is so cool.
  • Shout-Out:
    • References to World War Z and Alien are made.
    • Also this gem, when H.R. declines to train Wally:
      H.R.: I'd be out of here faster than humor in a Liam Neeson film.
    • The President's Secret Service code name is "Traveller", the same as the President in 'In the Line of Fire'.
  • A Shared Suffering: Oliver tells Barry about his parents' deaths, in detail, while discussing how he'd have taken the chance to rewrite history too.
  • Silent Antagonist: The Brainwashed and Crazy heroes do not have a single line of dialogue.
  • Sink or Swim Mentor: Oliver tells Kara to not hold back during the training session, just like he did against Barry the first time.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: Thea's opinion about the Legends.
    Oliver: They're calling themselves the Legends.
    Thea: Egotistical, but catchy.
  • Special Edition Title: All three parts of the "Invasion!" crossover arc (excluding Supergirl) have special title cards. This and the third part combines all four series' logos, but this being a Flash episode, ends on its own title.
  • Story-Breaker Team-Up: Naturally, in a franchise where half the characters are Badass Normals. Once most of the heroes are brainwashed by the Dominators, the dynamic devolves into "Barry vs. Ray, Firestorm, and Supergirl" and "Oliver vs. everyone else". The only characters who play any real role in ultimately stopping the aliens are also the two most powerful—Barry and (indirectly) Kara.
  • Summon Bigger Fish: Barry's reasoning for getting Kara to help. Aliens attacking? Get an alien yourself for backup!
  • Superman Stays Out of Gotham: Subverted, as Barry rescues Spartan and Green Arrow from Vigilante's bullets during a fight. However, Oliver's reaction to being saved, meaning Barry is in the city, is very similar to that of the Trope Namer himself.
  • Superpower Lottery: The heroes all admit that Supergirl is easily the most powerful of them.
  • Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Cisco with Barry because of his anger over Dante.
  • Too Fast to Stop: Barry goads a brainwashed Supergirl into trying to catch him, then positions himself so she'll charge through him while he's intangible and destroy the device which is controlling her and the other heroes.
  • True Companions:
    • Oliver heavily sympathizes with and supports Barry even after learning about the full ramifications of Flashpoint, since he himself lost both his parent in tragic circumstances and would do anything to get them back.
    • After finding out about Flashpoint that causes the others to turn on him, Kara assures Barry that nothing he can do will ever affect their friendship or her belief in him.
  • Twofer Token Minority: Of the superheroes, Supergirl is the only one who's both from another dimension and from another planet within that dimension.note 
  • Undying Loyalty: It's a lot of fun watching Oliver's really dark world bounce against Barry's and Kara's happy worlds and the Legends' goofy world, but then Barry comes clean about Flashpoint and everyone walks away except Oliver, who insists he will stand beside Barry no matter what.
  • Ungrateful Bastard: Oliver and Diggle aren't happy that Barry saved their lives from Vigilante. Oliver reasons that they were about to defeat and capture him, while Diggle has his own reasons for not liking going at super speed.
  • Unskilled, but Strong: Wally is incredibly fast, but he doesn't have Barry's control over his speed. This becomes a legitimate concern, as he is unprepared for an actual fight and ends up getting injured by Supergirl after managing to knock out some of the weaker heroes, rendering him a liability to Oliver.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Played straight but, oddly enough, later inverted; Cisco, when he learns of Future Barry's message, causes a rift between the Team (with only Ollie and Kara still having faith in Barry). This would have major repercussions if it weren't for the fact that the Team was lured into a trap that had the Dominators turn them Brainwashed and Crazy. Since Barry and Oliver were not part of the ambushed team, they were able to fight and eventually turn their friends back to normal.
  • Vomit Discretion Shot: Diggle, reacting to moving at super speed, after Barry rescues him and Oliver from Vigilante.
  • We ARE Struggling Together: Most of the episode is devoted to the troubled interpersonal dynamics of the various casts, particularly in regards to most of the heroes being quite upset at Barry for causing Flashpoint.
  • Weak, but Skilled: Barry is nowhere near as strong and tough as Kara, and she's able to run and fly nearly as fast as he can. However, Barry has far greater control over his speed than she does. He is able to turn on a dime and accelerate almost instantly, letting him avoid her attacks until he can trick her into destroying the Mind-Control Device.
  • Weirdness Magnet: Diggle complains that life was a lot more normal before he met Barry.
  • Wham Shot: The opening of the episode, which shows Green Arrow and the Flash getting their asses handed to them. After some quick bickering, they jump out of their hiding place to confront their own team.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Nate and Amaya, despite being part of the Legends, are not seen but are mentioned to be holding the fort on the Waverider because they are the "newbies" (Amaya really doesn't count on that score). They play an important part in the Legends episode of the crossover.
  • What the Hell, Hero?:
    • Cisco chews Caitlin out for wanting to pretend that things are just cool between Barry and him and that Dante never died.
    • Wally is angry at Iris and Joe for trying to stop him from becoming a hero, despite him getting powers.
    • Cisco gets pissed at Barry for wanting to keep his future message a secret until after the Dominators are dealt with. On the other hand, Barry and Ollie complain that the middle of an alien invasion is not the best time to bring up even more non-immediate problems.
    • Diggle chews out Barry for erasing Baby Sara and the Legends (barring Stein and Jackson) also chew him out for changing the timeline and possibly creating the aberrations they been trying to fix on their trips through time.
  • Wronski Feint: Barry pulls off a unique version. Instead of suddenly dodging so Supergirl takes out the mind control device, he ensures she'll hit it by standing in front of it but vibrating so that she flies through him.
  • Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Upon landing on Earth, the Dominators have one of its champions at their mercy (not to mention frozen in fear and surprised at the mere sight of them), but they choose not to kill him right then and there. They also opt not to actually attack, despite clearly being able to track down both the heroes and Earth leaders, in favor of brainwashing and kidnapping.
  • The Worf Effect: This episode highlights the experience/power gap between Green Arrow and Flash, and...well, everyone else.
    • Wally, being untrained, manages to knock down Sara, Diggle, and Thea, but is instantly knocked out by a blow from Supergirl.
    • Oliver manages to easily fend off both Thea and Diggle. The only "normal" opponent that manages to keep up with him is Sara, which is unsurprising considering that they are the two most experienced combatants in the fight, and the only ones with League of Assassins training, and even then, for the most part he holds them all off.
    • Flash is the one that takes on the super-powered opponents. He quickly knocks out Mick and takes out both Ray and Firestorm with bursts of lightning.
    • Kara is shown to be the strongest combatant in the fight, portrayed as virtually invincible. She takes out Wally and tanks Barry's lightning. Barry is ultimately the only one that can take her on, and even then he never tries to fight her directly.
  • You Are in Command Now: Barry has some obvious problems with being The Leader; he even relies on Oliver spelling out his Rousing Speech for him. This draws skepticism from Sara.
    Sara: Are we just supposed to pretend we don't hear [Oliver]?
  • You Are Not Alone: Stein tells Caitlin that, should Killer Frost ever "return", every one of her True Companions will have Caitlin's back.
  • You Fight Like a Cow: Barry successfully provokes Supergirl into destroying the mind control device by taunting her and running away.
  • You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!:
    • Everyone's reactions to the mere fact that they have to deal with aliens. Except Thea and Kara.
      Barry: Aw, come on. ALIENS?!
    • Barry's reaction to Iris saying that Oliver being the Green Arrow makes him even hotter.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The Dominators vaporize the President the moment he is of no further use.

Top