Celestial Rocks

Okay, Arrow called them sky rocks, but this is a nod to the comics, and Vandal getting bathed in celestial rock radiation is similar to how he gained his powers 46,000 years ago, when a meteor’s radiation granted him powers and intelligence.

Kendra’s Past

Kendra being conflicted over her destiny and her resistance to having her life and love life planned out for her is in keeping with recent stories of the character. I liked that she said her relationship with Hawkman is “complicated,” because there are times she doesn’t like her relationship or him, but it’s what drives her.

Hath-Set and Vandal Savage

They aren’t the same person but both are folks you don’t want to run into in a dark alley. Interestingly, Hath-Set was one of Hawkman’s earliest villains and the first recurring villain to have ties to ancient Egypt.

He-man—I mean, Hawkman

It’s funny Cisco called Hawkman He-man, when DC owns the comic book rights to both.

What do we have left? Hope.

It’s not so strange Barry would answer this question with hope. He was part of the Blue Lantern Corp during the Brightest Day crossover and the Blue Lantern rings were powered by hope.

Destroying everyone in the city in an instant

During the first timeline, Vandal Savage kills everyone in Central City. This isn’t a direct reference but the scene mirrors what happens in the Flashpoint animated movie.

Superheroes in a farm house? I’ve seen that in a movie.

Thea said this in jest but this is an obvious reference to both the recent Age of Ultron and the original live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, when the Turtles, April, and Casey Jones went to a farm house so Raphael could recover and they could devise a plan to stop Shredder. Coincidentally, Stephen Amell played Casey Jones in the Ninja Turtles reboot.

Barry’s Late

Barry was the last one to show up for a meeting again. While he has a good excuse, Barry is often late to things: it’s one of his longest standing tropes. Despite being the fastest man alive, he’s got a lot going on and makes last-minute appearances.

If you missed our Arrow review for “Lost Souls,” here’s a link. Thanks for reading.

Geek Squad

It had to happen eventually but Oliver named Cisco and Felicity after Best Buy’s tech support team, which is funny because Felicity had that type of job at Queen Consolidated.

Fleet Feet

Did we get another store name drop with Fleet Feet? Okay, fleet feet is a common phrase but after hearing Geek Squad, you have to think Fleet Feet Sports. Right?

Time Travel and Barry Ghosting

This wasn’t Barry’s first time time-traveling, so we’ve seen him meet himself before. We knew what was coming as soon as Team Arrow got wiped out in a wave of energy: we were doing the time warp again.

Fight Club

When Cisco said, “the first rule of time travel is you don’t talk about time travel,” it reminded me of a book that got made into a movie. I’d mention it here but we’re not supposed to mention it.

Jurgens Industrial

Wow, how many writer-artist references have we gotten in Arrow and Flash? Jurgens Industrial is a reference to longtime Green Arrow artist Dan Jurgens, who drew the series in the Eighties and returned for the New 52 reboot. He also wrote and drew the 1994 crossover series Zero Hour, in which dozens of characters died when they encountered waves of entropy, so perhaps that’s the reference Arrow made when they had Team Arrow vanish in a blink of an eye.

St. Roch University

St. Roch University should be familiar to DC Universe fans. It’s where Hawkman and Hawkgirl were headquartered for a while and we’ve seen the Legends of Tomorrow journey to St. Roch University in the 1970s during some of the trailers. Hmm, this might not be the last time we’ll see St. Roch.

Samantha Clayton

Samantha Clayton doesn’t exist in the DC Comics Universe; she’s an invention for the TV series. Played by Anne Hopkins, the character made her first appearance during last year’s Flash/Arrow crossover. We’ll have to see what happens, now that Ollie knows he has a son.

Touch Melodies

Cisco mentioned two songs that included the word touch: “U Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer in 1990 and “Invisible Touch” by Genesis in 1986. Somebody in the writers’ room likes that musical era.

Run, Barry, Run

Arrow writers couldn’t help themselves. They heard The Flash writers use the phrase “Run, Barry, run,” and had to fit it in.

Nth Metal

Nth metal is native to Thanagar, which is also the home of Katar Hol and Shayer Thal, the alien Hawkman and Hawkgirl. Did I mention the two Hawks have a heap of crazy origins? I did in The Flash secrets page, so here it is again. It’s weird.

Nth metal has the ability to negate gravity, and belt made out of this material is how the alien Hawkman and Hawkgirl can fly. The metal has other properties like protecting the wearer from the elements, super healing, increasing its wearer’s strength, and shielding them from extreme temperatures.

Miscellaneous

Cisco makes a Lord of the Rings reference: Anti-Gandalf magic stuff gloves.

“That’s pretty heavy” shows up a lot in Back to the Future, and that’s a good reference.

Sankara Stones are a good nod to Indiana Jones, and they mark the second such reference in as many weeks.

It’s no accident the meteor is held in The Keystone City Museum. That gives us an excuse to visit Wally West’s hometown before he shows up on the set.

Just in case you missed our Arrow review, here’s a link. Thanks for reading.