In between which episodes of Arrow did this episode of Flash happen?

Question

The Flash S1E18, All-Star Team Up has Ray and Felicity from Arrow show up in Central City. However, there were some oddities in their relationship that don't jive with their current state over in Arrow. A few weeks ago, back in Arrow S3E18, Public Enemy, Ray

tells Felicity that he loves her. She does not reciprocate, which starts a plot that clearly foreshadows them splitting up.

Yet there's no hint of this in the Flash episode. So I would assume that the Flash episode ended up airing later in sequence than it should have, knocking it out of sync with Arrow. My question is where it belongs chronologically so that these plot developments are in order.

When does The Flash S1E18 occur in relation to Arrow's 3rd season episodes?

Answer 1

I went back and looked over the history of Felicity and Ray's relationship, and I think there's only one place where this makes any sense at all - This happens sometime in the time between S03E15 "Nanda Parbat" and S03E16 "The Offer".

There's a couple of things that I think make things fit here:

• During the course of "Nanda Parbat", Ray and Felicity really solidify their relationship, showing a lot of mutual trust and caring between them, not to mention sleeping together for, I believe, the first time. In STAR Labs, Felicity is quick to point out that there is "nothing wrong in the sex department" between her and Ray.
• At the end of "Nanda Parbat", Ray finishes the suit and goes flying around in it. By the next time we see him using the suit on Arrow, he seems to have pretty good control over it. Certainly, he doesn't show the erratic flying behavior he does in "All-Star Team-Up".
• During Nanda Parbat, Oliver once again leaves to confront Ra's Al Ghul; this causes a lot of tension and drama amongst Team Arrow. In Central City, Felicity says she left Starling City to "get away from the drama".
• During "The Offer" we briefly see Ray and Felicity working on the suit together, and they don't appear to be talking about the flight systems. This isn't exactly conclusive, as they are just repeating techno-babble, but it doesn't seem like they're working on a critical system flaw; suggesting that it's been fixed.
• At the end of "The Offer", Ra's shows up in Starling City and starts killing people, posing as The Arrow. After that, it's unlikely that Felicity would feel comfortable leaving Oliver in Starling City without her.
• By the end of the next episode, "Suicidal Tendancies", we start to see the beginnings of a "rough patch" in the relationship, which doesn't match up with their relationship in the Flash episode.

So, my best guess is, when Oliver ran off to Nanda Parbat, Felicity took the time to visit Central City and focus on helping her new boyfriend with his pet project, leaving Team Arrow to deal with their Ra's/Malcom/Oliver mess on their own.

Answer 2

I think it's more likely between The Offer and Suicidal Tendencies as in the flash felicity says Oliver is considering joining the League of Assassins which she only finds out after he comes back in The Offer. The rest of your reasoning makes sense. I definitely cannot see the episode taking place after Suicidal Tendencies as Ray's suit flies well when he confronts Oliver. I also think it is odd that Felicity would leave Starling when there are people killing dressed as the Arrow, but she did say she needed a break from the drama.

Answer 3

You’re forgetting the line by Felicity in Suicidal Tendencies after Ray shows her the screenshot of Oliver as the Arrow. “Hey. You got the suit working!” So it has to be after that since that’s the first time she realises the suits working. When in All Star Team Up she’s fully conscious that he does from the start. Although I do agree it can’t be any later than Suicidal Tendencies.