The FLASH TV SERIES

[feenix219]

Shots fired at Ms. Marvel

What was the reference?

[PyroTwilight]

What was the reference?

Kamala Khan/Ms Marvel has a fairly regular catchphrase of Embiggen! when making herself larger or her fist etc to hit enemies with. And between the joke here and with Atom in the crossover it's pretty obviously a play on it.

[Jim Kelly]

According to Wikipedia:

Etymology
From em- +‎ biggen or em- +‎ big +‎ -en, possibly analogous to belittle. The word’s current popularity follows its deployment as an intentionally ungainly form by television writer David X. Cohen for The Simpsons episode “Lisa the Iconoclast” in 1996.

But according to English Oxford Living Dictionaries:

Origin
Late 19th century: from big, on the pattern of embolden. Popularized in the 1990s by the US animated television series The Simpsons.

I thought the poster was talking about the fact that the actor who played Dwarf Star previously played a Kree on AGENTS OF SHIELD.

[Jim Kelly]

Also I thought Ray had used "embiggens" before the crossover. Can't find proof for that but searching the terms "Ray Palmer" and "embiggens" brought me to an old CBR news item with the headline "Lemire Embiggens Ray Palmer" 04.13.2010 by Jeffrey Renaud.

[90'sCartoonMan]

Bulbasaur and Adventure Time? Hooray for age appropriate references for Cisco! Speaking of which, I guess Honey I Shrunk The Kids will never be unseated, no matter how recent Downsizing was. Fantastic Voyage references only count if you shrink to go inside someone's body.

Cecile was a lot of fun this episode, but I wonder if there's a longer story planned for her powers. Harry, surprisingly, got some nice development as well.

I liked Big Sir's story, although for a second I thought the actual killer was going to be Mick Rory (there is kind of a resemblance there). I figured it was either him or Gillberg. Barry's heart was in the right place, but I knew those cameras were going to catch him eventually.

If you strike Beebo down, Beebo shall become more powerful than you can imagine. Witness that, whenever Beebo is "destroyed," he returns with greater power. This episode they took out one, but then there were three more to take his place. Beebo is the true blue god. One in many, many in one.

True blue god? Could Beebo be even more powerful than Doctor Manhattan? Unless Beebo IS the Arrowverse version of Doctor Manhattan.

I don't think they originally set out to make Vibe a secret identity for Cisco. The glasses just seem an affectation and not a mask. But maybe by now it's been retconned so people aren't supposed to know he's Vibe. However, is there a reason why Cisco would need to keep his identity a secret? The only life he has revolves around STAR Labs and doesn't everyone know that that's affiliated with the Flash?

I think the STAR Labs crew hanging out in their civilian identities with the Flash is almost too close that they'd be able to put two and two together when it comes to figuring out Barry's identity. Tracey practically did that last season. I was just wondering if CCPD would have to confront Vibe/Cisco from a legal standpoint.

I loved how the new mayor of Central City talked about all the corporate theft that happens in this universe (they even showed us a Mercury Labs robbery from 15 years ago), and how Central City is only second to Star City in terms of thefts. And all in front of a Kord Industries building that then gets stolen right in front of everybody

My favorite bit was about how they have laser sensors that can't be frozen. I'm starting to think the only reason Kord is still in business is because they're smart enough to take out a LOT of insurance, and every time they get robbed, they make more money than they actually would've made through scientific development.

I wonder if the Big Sir being dropped in China will go anywhere or if it's being left as such. I mean...we don't even know if he knows Chinese. XD

He's taking a vow of silence, so it's not a problem. Maybe Barry will check up on him later.

Also I thought Ray had used "embiggens" before the crossover. Can't find proof for that but searching the terms "Ray Palmer" and "embiggens" brought me to an old CBR news item with the headline "Lemire Embiggens Ray Palmer" 04.13.2010 by Jeffrey Renaud.

Pretty sure he used it in the circus episode with the size changing lion.

[Elmo]

Even if it is in reference to Ms. Marvel, I can't see how it is "shots fired" or any sort of a call out...if anything it's a nice easter egg for fans of that character. Either way, I don't think it's a reference at all, just a quirky little word the quirky nerd types use, such as Harry and Ray.

[PyroTwilight]

Even if it is in reference to Ms. Marvel, I can't see how it is "shots fired" or any sort of a call out...if anything it's a nice easter egg for fans of that character. Either way, I don't think it's a reference at all, just a quirky little word the quirky nerd types use, such as Harry and Ray.

I don't necessarily think it's a "shot" at her and the phrase indeed. But "That's not a word!" in the episodecan be seen as one. :P

[Jim Kelly]

I appreciated that Iris, who is supposed to be a journalist, cares about the English language and its usage. I feel you sister, preach. I am not looking for any Marvel references, because I don't know that much about Marvel these days. Are all the Star Wars references shots across the bow at Kathleen Kennedy? I don't think so. I think it all comes from a place of love.

[Ilan Preskovsky]

Really enjoyed this episode and it was especially nice to see Harry get some attention. Tom Kavanagh is the series' strongest link and he has been sidelined most of the season.

What this episode really made me think about is that this season has been at its best when the DeVoe stuff has either been in the background or not there at all. Maybe it's time for this series to just drop the whole Big Bad model and just go for smaller arcs and one-offs with more character-driven subplots tying it all together. Reverse Flash was great in the first season but every big bad and their major plotlines have been a dud since then. This season has largely been a return to form because it's had a bunch of really fun, mostly self-contained stories that get back to what made this show so much fun in the first place: crazy scifi and tons of that old fashioned superhero optimism.

[Frontier]

Really enjoyed this episode and it was especially nice to see Harry get some attention. Tom Kavanagh is the series' strongest link and he has been sidelined most of the season.

What this episode really made me think about is that this season has been at its best when the DeVoe stuff has either been in the background or not there at all. Maybe it's time for this series to just drop the whole Big Bad model and just go for smaller arcs and one-offs with more character-driven subplots tying it all together. Reverse Flash was great in the first season but every big bad and their major plotlines have been a dud since then. This season has largely been a return to form because it's had a bunch of really fun, mostly self-contained stories that get back to what made this show so much fun in the first place: crazy scifi and tons of that old fashioned superhero optimism.

I don't think we'd ever really see the show move away from that model since all the Arrowverse shows abide by it to some extent.

I still just appreciate that we're not fighting another Speedster Big Bad again. Not that I'm ruling one out for season 5 .

[Jim Kelly]

Other shows will have some recurring plot point throughout the season, but that doesn't stop them doing stories that are relatively self-contained. I would say that FLASH actually does this more often than ARROW. Just because there's some issue that the cast is dealing with in that season, that doesn't mean every story has to address it.

I would prefer they eased back on it for a lot of the episodes because it tends to feel stretched out in a 23 episode season. A ten episode season can have an over-arching plot, because it achieves its resolution much faster.

And even with a regular season of 24 episodes, THE MENTALIST for most of its run had a big bad that was constantly in the background and came to the forefront in key episodes, yet a lot of the series was just good whodunnit standalones.

[Ilan Preskovsky]

Yup. And once again, I think you have to look to Buffy to see how to balance sequential storytelling with loads of self-contained episodes.

[Osiris-Rex]

I don't think we'd ever really see the show move away from that model since all the Arrowverse shows abide by it to some extent.

I still just appreciate that we're not fighting another Speedster Big Bad again. Not that I'm ruling one out for season 5 .

I think Smallville was the one that started this idea that there needs to be a season long villain story. Prior to that superhero shows like Wonder Woman, Batman, and even Lois & Clark for the most part had
self contained episodes. While Lex Luthor was the recurring villain, even most of the Lex episode were self contained, Superman got out of the jam by the end of the episode. People complain about filler episode
and how they don't contribute to the main story but for me a lot of the "filler" episodes are more enjoyable than the main story, in part because there is a resolution by the end of the episode instead of dragging
it out week after week and then the resolution isn't really much better, if as much, as that of a "filler" episode.

[Elmo]

I think Smallville was the one that started this idea that there needs to be a season long villain story.

No it was definitely Buffy. The very term "big bad" was popularized with that show with different big bads either set up halfway through the season or right at the very beginning. It was the biggest part of the show.

Angel on the other hand pretty much had the same group of big bads for its entire run.

For several of Smallville's seasons, the "big bad" wasn't introduced until the very very end. Yes there were loads of set up storylines with Lex but he never really turned bad until around the fifth season and even then was never a real enemy for Clark until the very end of the seventh season.

[Osiris-Rex]

No it was definitely Buffy. The very term "big bad" was popularized with that show with different big bads either set up halfway through the season or right at the very beginning. It was the biggest part of the show.

Angel on the other hand pretty much had the same group of big bads for its entire run.

For several of Smallville's seasons, the "big bad" wasn't introduced until the very very end. Yes there were loads of set up storylines with Lex but he never really turned bad until around the fifth season and even then was never a real enemy for Clark until the very end of the seventh season.

Buffy wasn't really a superhero show though. Buffy was more horror/fantasy. Smallville is the show that begat Arrow, that begat Flash, that begat Legends of Tomorrow. And Supergirl and Black Lightning are from the same producers.