It’s cameos galore on the 100 th episode of Arrow and the continuation of the “Invasion!” crossover event. Oliver and all those abducted by the aliens in the previous episode on The Flash are all facing alternate memories in a reversal of It’s a Wonderful Life . Warning, spoilers ahead…

It’s a long-standing tradition in comic books that our heroes go through a “what if” scenario. It’s a scenario that shows them what an ordinary life would look like. Such was the situation for Oliver and company (Pun intended. Thank you Cisco.). Under the alien mind control, Oliver lives in an alternate reality where he’s not the Green Arrow but John Diggle (David Ramsey) is. His parents are both alive and he is about to marry Laurel (Katie Cassidy). It’s the life he wanted but flashes of his real life flood his memories and he soon realizes that none of this is real.

Oliver isn’t the only one dealing with such memories; Thea, Sara, Ray and eventually John all experience such flashes mainly through action and the mystery of how they know how to do certain things. Oliver being the first convinces the others that they need to fight back and let go of this ideal life. This is something that Sara and in particular Thea have some difficulty in doing. In the end, the five of them face off against images of Malcolm Merlyn, Deathstroke sans Manu Bennett and Damien Darhk.

After defeating them, Oliver, Thea, Sara, Ray and John make that final gut-wrenching decision to leave and return home. Saying goodbye again to their loved ones was both heartbreaking and moving to see. The acting led by Stephen Amell emphasizes those emotions and as a viewer, you feel it too.

Back on Earth, The Flash and Supergirl team up with Felicity and Team Arrow to not only find and rescue Oliver and the others, but they need to hack the alien ship to do so. A relatively small battle ensues before Flash and Supergirl laid the smack down on some cyborg. I love the pairing of Barry and Kara. They are perfect together. In the end, Oliver and the others escape with assistance from Nate and the Waverider. The final scene shows the mother ship heading towards Earth and what I hope will be an epic battle for the ages.

As a 100th episode, it was quite entertaining. As the middle chapter of this crossover event, it’s no Empire Strikes Back and it has only 40+ minutes left to pick up the pace for the payoff the fans have been waiting for.

The finale of the Invasion crossover continues tomorrow night on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Thursday night at 8 on The CW.

May the Dork be with you,

JPB

The Dork Knight