Arrow: Seven Things About The Next New Episode, “The Scientist”

The CW is continuing their annual tradition of showing “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” tonight (November 27), which unfortunately means that we don’t have a new episode of Arrow to watch this evening. But thankfully, we have not one, but two episodes of Arrow scheduled for December — on December 4 and 11 — and both of those episodes star Grant Gustin (Glee) as a police scientist named Barry Allen, who fans of DC Comics might know better by his other name, The Flash. We’ve been anxiously anticipating this one ever since it was first announced this summer!

The episode is appropriately called “The Scientist” and to hold you over until December 4, we have seven teases for you to tide you over through next Wednesday. Enjoy:

#1. Barry Allen is a dork. I mean this in the nicest possible way. In the 1950’s, when comic book fans first met Barry Allen in Showcase #4, Barry was a bit of what they would have called a “square.” He wore a bow tie before The Doctor made it cool. He’s kind of clumsy, and always late… and many of those qualities (sans bow tie) are brought to live action here. Grant Gustin does well here; I do hope that once he meets the “STAR Labs Particle Acclerator” (because that’s where we’re all going toward, right?) he gets a little bit cooler, but still. Another advantage of being this dorky? He totally bonds with Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards), and Oliver looks more than a little bit jealous. Did I mention that Grant Gustin and Emily Bett Rickards have a lot of chemistry? Because they do.

#2. Some hints of The Flash’s world are brought in right out the gate. Director Singh gets name-checked already, but also, those who have read Flash comics in the past decade or perhaps have seen the Flashpoint animated movie know about a tragedy that happened in Barry Allen’s past. If we were hearing things correctly, this backstory goes down in a way that is more true to the comics than you may even be expecting to see in the world of Arrow. Vague? Yes. But trust us – it’s worth it.

#3. An alliance might change. I’m just going to leave that tease right there…

#4. The fantastic is here. With the whole “Miracle” storyline in the past on the island and whatever Brother Blood is cooking in the present, it seems extraordinary elements are entering the world of Arrow, and it is those extraordinary elements that bring Barry to Starling City. Perhaps intentionally, I get a bit of an X-Files vibe from this guy; he’s quite curious about the unexpected. Now, if we do indeed get a Flash spin-off, I fully expect most of Barry’s activities to be a bit less grounded than what I see on Arrow, but at the same time, these extraordinary elements don’t take away from the grounded feeling Arrow has given us thus far. It’s a tough balance, but I like it.

#5. Someone might die. Or come close to death. There may be more than one “someone” in that situation. And by “someone,” I’m not referring to nobody characters, here.

#6. Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) is back. If you saw the end of the previous episode, “State v. Queen,” you know he’s back to cause trouble. There’s a fantastic scene in this episode between him and Moira (Susanna Thompson) that further cements why Arrow is the best of the current comic book TV shows.

#7. If I have any complaint… it is that this episode will leave you screaming at the TV that you want more. The wait between December 4 and December 11 will be killer.

The Arrow midseason finale airs December 4 and December 11, starting with “The Scientist.” Did we mention yet that it’s highly recommended? Preview images can be found here.