Our Elseworlds recap continues tonight with Arrow. They redid the entire opening with Barry reading Oliver’s lines and showing him kissing Felicity, working out in prison, and getting beat up. It’s amazing!
The weather phenomenon that Cisco had noticed in Part 1 has now taken up residence in Star City. The skies have a red color and lightning is striking all over the town. This just happens to be where Curtis, Diggle, and the A.R.G.U.S. team are trying to take down Joe Wilson, Slade Wilson’s son. While Slade eventually became an ally, it seems Joe has taken up the mantle of his father’s former villainous ways. Joe easily dispatches the extra agents and almost manages to take out Diggle, but lucky for him, that’s when Barry, Oliver, and Kara show up. They lockdown Joe and while Diggle is happy for the save, he knows that if they are together, there must be a big problem.
Diggle and Curtis get to go through the whole thing that Team Flash did, learning that the person who is dressed as The Flash is actually Oliver and the person they know as the Green Arrow is actually Barry. Thankfully, they accept it pretty easily. Knowing the lightning strikes must be related to what is happening, Curtis says they need to create a pattern recognition program. They call in Felicity to help with that and opt not to tell her. This does leave her noticing that her husband is acting weirder than usual.
Oliver tries to get Barry to stay behind since he is technically the mayor and they would not want undue attention in Gotham City. Barry says he is going because if Gotham City can handle “the Batman,” they can handle the Green Arrow. Oliver says the Batman is not real, that he is an urban legend. When they get to Gotham City, the building they meet up at just happens to have a giant light with the Batman logo on it. The light does not convince Oliver. They decide to talk to a girl Oliver knows, but someone has already taken notices of their arrival in town.
On their way to the radio station where she works, they see how bad the town has gotten. It is basically just a world of criminals. The trio even gets mugged on their way, which ends up with them and the bad guys getting arrested. Lucky for them, they get bailed out by a mystery person who wants to meet them. They get dropped off at Bruce Wayne’s building, but it could not have been him who helped them; Oliver says that Bruce left Gotham three years ago and that no one knows why. This is where they end up meeting Kate Kane, the person who bailed them out and wants them out of her city. To Oliver’s annoyance, she mentions that no one has seen Batman in years, giving Barry more proof that he exists.
Back in Star City, Cisco and Caitlin come to A.R.G.U.S. to help out because the red skies and lightning are no longer in Central City. It left when Oliver and Barry did. They figure out that it seems like someone is trying to breach through.
Caitlin accidentally mentions the body swap in front of Felicity. It is a lot for her to take, but her marriage was already strained by them becoming different people. Now it is just a bit more literal. She does have something else to deal with though. She creates a diagram for building a machine that will create a quantum flux. If they use it, whoever is trying to get through will be drawn to them. The machine isn’t quite strong enough, but they do see a version of The Flash and he manages to tell them that if they get “the book,” they can fix everything.
Using data stolen from the police station, Oliver is able to go through their database and find out who one of the people in the vision is – John Deegan. Kara goes to talk to Kate and finds out they are in similar situations, both cousins of powerful men. When Kara asks if Kate knows John Deegan, she says that he is a doctor at Arkham Asylum. While Kara runs off to tell Barry and Oliver, Kate heads down to her Batcave to get dressed.
Caitlin, Cisco, and Diggle breach to Gotham City just outside Arkham Asylum to tell Kara, Barry, and Oliver about what the other Flash said. They remember that Deegan was reading a book in the vision. Now they know they either need to find the book or find Deegan and make him tell them where the book is. First, they have to get into a mental institution.
Their ploy involves Kara bringing in a patient transfer, Caitlin, because she freezes stuff. Weirdly, the nurse at registration says they have a few of them like that there and simply has her fill out a form. Meanwhile, Diggle uses his own connections to get down to the level that has the offices and they find John Deegan is in his office/laboratory. He knows immediately that Oliver is indeed the real Green Arrow. When they demand that he fixes it, he admits that he has no intention of doing that. He makes an escape, but not before letting out the craziest of patients.
Diggle and Oliver get as many patients back into their rooms as possible. A few escape, but they are met outside by the Green Arrow. One with a gold face mask manages to come up behind Barry with a bat and hit him. This is immediately followed up by Cisco getting hit by a van that the guy with the mask jumps into. Before they can take off, Batwoman lands on the van and takes care of the last two runaways.
Inside, Kara finds Deegan with the book. She is able to take it from him, but Deegan gets away. Caitlin is fighting a patient who seems to have a cold obsession of her own. Using a cold gun, she knocks Caitlin out. Barry and Oliver come to help. Oliver throws a lightning bolt and, like before, it goes a bit awry and knocks over a box containing some kind of hallucinogen. It makes Barry see Malcolm Merlyn and Oliver sees Eobard Thawne. Of course, this leads to Barry and Oliver fighting each other, thinking they’re fighting their enemies. The scene transitions in this fight are incredible. By far and away, one of the best fight scenes across the DCTV shows. Batwoman shows up and breaks up the fight as the hallucinogen effects wear off.
With that settled, everyone prepares to head back to Star City which makes Batwoman pleased. She wants them out of her city as soon as possible. Kara takes a moment to speak with Batwoman and tells her that her cousin would be proud. She admits that she knows who she is due to x-ray vision. This, of course, reveals her own identity, as well. They agree that together they would make a hell of a team before each woman goes her separate way.
Back in Star City, they turn the book over to Felicity and Curtis as the book has a cryptographic and metaphysical lock on it, and they are the ones who will be able to crack it the quickest. While they are busy with that, Oliver and Barry have a heart-to-heart. Neither really knew what the other had experienced in life until the fight with the hallucinations. They have a greater appreciation for what the other had gone through to become who they are.
Oliver and Felicity have a Barry and Iris kind of moment. He tells her that they are going to be fine and no matter who either of them are or what they become, she will always be the love of his life. They make up just in time for The Flash they saw earlier to finally make it through the breach. He tells them his name is Barry Allen (because obviously, we don’t have enough confusion on who’s who as it is). He tells the team that he’s there to warn them. Mar Novu, a man who calls himself The Monitor, is using the Book of Destiny to test worlds for a crisis that will cause a collision of realities.
Looks like he got there just in time because Mar Novu is on the news. Kara, Oliver, Barry, and Barry from Earth 90 head down to have a chat. The older Barry does not last long as he attempts to go after The Monitor who just poofs him away. He tells the others that a crisis is imminent and someone far more powerful than himself is on the way. He is looking for those that will be able to defeat that person and save the multiverse. He admits that of those he tested, they were the first to get the book, but it was futile. Back at A.R.G.U.S., the book poofs away as well. The Monitor disappears and returns the book to Deegan who is told to do better and think bigger.
At that moment, reality changes once again. Both Barry and Oliver are dressed like greasers. Turns out they are a couple bandits called the Trigger Twins. Naturally, that is the moment the cops show up. In a weird twist, the cops are Joe Wilson, Malcolm Merlyn, and Ricardo Diaz. Oliver has no intention of being taken into custody and takes out Diaz, steals his gun, and fires at the other officers, sending them scattering. He and Barry take off, but they don’t get far. Superman shows up wearing a head-to-toe black outfit. He’s there to stop them.
I am really feeling for our guys right now! Every time they take a step forward, they get shoved sideways and it is a whole new world. I wonder how they’re going to overcome this time. We’ll get to see on Tuesday, December 11th when Elseworlds concludes on Supergirl.
