Superhero Weekly: The Flash experiences Rupture. Arrow goes for Genesis.

You know nothing, Caitlin Snow. Spoilers are coming.

No, I didn’t get my shows crossed – over, but The Flash went for the Jon Snow approach this week. Let me back up. Yes, as usual the episode’s name involves many storylines. For a second I thought the name of Cisco’s brother Dante’s doppelganger was “Rapture” instead of Rupture, but that would’ve been a little too much of a biblical coincidence given Arrow’s episode for this week is Genesis.

The main dish this week was the dilemma of the particle accelerator. Barry’s three proverbial father figures appear: the returning Henry Allen, Joe West and Dr. Harrison Wells all seem to pull him in different directions. Henry appeals for his life while Wells seems a little too eager to take the risk again. Joe seems to hang back, knowing he won’t be able to change Barry’s mind. On top of all this, Iris confesses she’s been considering them as a couple. It’s a bit of half-ass proclamation as she’s not saying she’s thinking of Barry romantically just yet. The end result after the carnage is Barry deciding to go for it. Then he disappears while everyone, including Zoom, is quick to judge him gone for good. We really don’t have to guess that he’ll be back.

Meanwhile, Arrow learns magic and –

I would like to say I’m kidding but meet Zatanna wannabe Esrin Fortuna. It does seem like the show wanted to bring in Zatanna but DC didn’t want to clear the character for a quick cameo. Too bad, because that would’ve been a nice Easter Egg. Instead we get Oliver and Felicity dressing up for a casino outing that turns into a training session. Never mind that the session goes nowhere when Fortuna tries two magic attacks on Ollie literally twice (she basically tells him to have a happy thought) and quits after the second time when Ollie seems to falter.

So although Non is about to release Myriad- cough, excuse me. So although Darhk is about to release Genesis, the show is mostly about John Diggle as he tries to protect his family but gets himself caught in the process. The ruse is just to tag him to find Lyla – and their daughter Sara because Darhk is going for full evil this week. So thankfully Oliver shows up and for the first time manages to fight off Darhk because-

Good question, why exactly is he able to fight him off now? Fortuna never gives him any training other than saying that he has to have more light than darkness. When Oliver is explaining that he heard Felicity and Laurel and everyone he loves telling him not to give up, I had to check if for some reason Arrow was not being written by the showrunners from Supergirl this week. Really? He’s been thrown about like an officer in Vader’s Star Destroyer week in and week out and for some reason now he figures out how to fight it?

The drama between John and Andy Diggle was the centerpiece of this episode, which was a good thing. The two brothers come to a crossroad where John does the unthinkable, even to himself. He will have to carry that all his life.

Highs/Lows/BiblicalReferences

The Flash went dark this week. Zoom is killing left and right. Captain Singh and Joe West are spared, I guess to deliver the message. Technically he only needed to leave one alive, but yeap.
Caitlin is ok, but growing desperate. I almost felt she could turn into Killer Frost given the right push.
Dante is an asshole and I’ve known relatives like that and they’re still assholes. Sorry, very little empathy for this sucker.
Iris really pissed me off with her declaration of possibility. I’ve heard versions of this speech before and they’re one click away from “I want YOU to have feelings for ME again and I will then decide how I feel about it.” If you don’t see it, invert the roles.
Arrow better have a actually charismatic, well rounded and interesting character as a villain next season. Darkh is a headache.
John shooting Andy is probably the dramatic highpoint worth saving from this storyline. Yes, it’s gritty and grimy and downright ugly. You can see that John almost surprises himself shooting his own brother. That felt very realistic – not a conscious and clear decision but an impulse that ran away from his own. Andy didn’t wrestle the gun away from John. John is telling himself (and Lyla) that for his own sanity/conscience’s sake.
Enris Fortuna. I think they wanted Zatanna and DC said no. And I don’t see how attacking someone is “training”. Your light must out weight your darkness? Even “Use the Force” would’ve sounded better.
The whole casino deal was just an excuse to put Ollie in a tux and Felicity in a dress. Again, they’re not a couple anymore.
Thea was stuck in a Doctor Who episode. This is obviously a ploy by Ruvé to kidnap Oliver’s sister, but it really feels like cheating when everything they had to do to grab Thea had already happened.
I can’t wait to see Katie Cassidy guest star in Flash as Black Siren, but before all that we’ll get Kevin Smith directing the Flash next week.