About last night's buzzy 'Flash' episode ...
Spoiler alert! The following contains spoilers for Tuesday's episode of The Flash.
Never have bees been more important in a TV show episode since Arrested Development. But incessant bee puns aside, this was one of The Flash's buzziest episodes because of Felicity and Ray Palmer's star-studded visit to Central City (and the subsequent superpowered team-up between the Atom and the Flash that followed), and Barry's growing animosity toward his former hero/current mentor/archenemy Harrison Wells. But also bees.
Is it a bird? Is it a plane?
It's a former Superman! The Flash made a brilliant reference to Brandon Routh's days as the Man of Steel when Barry Allen and co. welcomed Ray Palmer's arrival in Central City. Ray came zipping into S.T.A.R. Labs dressed to impress in his A.T.O.M. suit, as happy and cheerful as if he didn't come over from the darker Arrow. He and Cisco geek out over mechanics trying to fix his suit while Wells and Caitlin go off to solve the matter of the killer bees who were attacking robotics engineers.
But Felicity notices that something is off with Barry and keeps trying to squeeze it out of him, even if she did come to Central City for a little vacation from the Starling City drama ("I thought Central City was supposed to be the fun one!"). She eventually is able to convince Barry that even though he's pushing away Harrison Wells, he shouldn't do the same to Caitlin and Cisco.
Boys only: No Iris allowed
Eddie and Joe's police work has gotten much easier since the Flash joined in on their manhunts, but Iris has started to notice that something is wrong with the men in her life (and why wouldn't she when everyone is lying to her?!). Her and Eddie's relationship starts to unravel at the seams when she pokes at why he's keeping his distance -- which is mostly because he's a terrible liar. But he has a point when he reasons with a stubborn Barry and Felicity that they can't keep secrets from the people they care about.
Another life, another time
In a twist we weren't expecting, Cisco starts getting flashes of that other timeline where he was killed by the Reverse Flash. So not only is he off his game because of the bees ("Why did it have to be bees?"), he's starting to doubt his mentor/father figure Harrison Wells.
Bee aggressive! Bee bee aggressive!
The climax had everything: The Walking Dead's Emily Kinney (Beth!) as a mad scientist, robot bees, Felicity Smoak finding her own computer genius nemesis, the Atom suiting up and Cisco saving the day. Oh, and lots and lots of bee puns.
Hints at the future
We get a glimpse of things to come (hopefully) with Ray's declaration that with his suit, he needs to "go smaller." The Atom's powers in the comics are his amazing shrinking abilities.
On the Central side of things, Iris finally takes some action when she gets fed up with Eddie's lies and moves back in with her dad. We have to wonder, will this lead to the Thawnes' eventual grudge against the Flash that ends in future descendent Eobard Thawne taking on the mantle of Reverse Flash? Only time will tell.
But Barry is starting to make his move against Harrison Wells, bringing Cisco and Caitlin into the fold. While Caitlin protests, Cisco is starting to buy Barry's revelation that Harrison is the Reverse Flash.
Missed the last Flash recap? See it here.