Another week, another collection of superhero battles worth bingeing over the weekend. The Pop Break staff is here to let you know what you can expect from The CW’s DC series… take a look!
Supergirl — 4×07, “Rather the Fallen Angel”
After a stellar season so far, episode 7, “Rather the Fallen Angel” was somewhat lackluster, not to mention predictable. As I stated in my last review, James (Guardian) joining up with the Children of Liberty was indeed a misdirect. Meanwhile, Lena tries not to get attached to a test subject, only to form a bond with him throughout an episode-long series of conversations, making it painfully obvious he’s going to die. Manchester Black and Supergirl teaming up for a little good cop/bad cop was fun. But again, we knew that anti-hero Black was going to turn on her. When Black makes it to Agent Liberty, it was safe to assume it wasn’t really going to be Ben Lockwood. Sure enough it was a decoy. Called it.
What I didn’t expect to see was a broken and crying, J’onn (Martian Manhunter) at the end as he has been infected with some sort of empathy amplifier. “I failed. I was wrong. Manchester…. he killed all of them. I’m so sorry,” he tells Kara, as he falls into her arms. This was an absolutely heartbreaking moment. Especially after he had so much swagger in the previous episodes including that subtle Detective J’onn J’onzz moment. Great performance here by actor David Harewood.
Another unexpected moment was Guardian’s Child of Liberty buddy not turning on him. I was shocked by that. We’ll see what happens next. There were a lot of convenient moments in this episode, but also a lot of setup. Supergirl took a small step backwards this week, but there’s no doubt in my mind things will indeed be moving towards the Arrow-verse crossover event and away from our main plot. Regardless, they are both fresh concepts, and I’m very excited to see what’s next.
—Rob Crowther IV, Staff Writer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc4oMTTrbo0
Arrow — 7×07, “The Slabside Redemption”
“The Slabside Redemption” left me as relieved as it did angry. In many ways this was both the best and worst episode of the season. As with all the turning point moments on this show, the episode took place entirely inside the prison, focusing on Oliver’s final day inside and the disaster it causes thereof.
On the bright side, the episode provided some of the show’s best action to date, redeemed one of its best and most underutilized characters and possibly paid the way for the true villain of the season to emerge.
The straightforward arc, in which Diaz takes over the prison and tortures the guards to lure Oliver out to kill him because revenge or something, put the overarching plot of the season on the back burner and focused on the immediate stakes facing Oliver. The entire episode became a set piece moment for the show with thrilling tension underscored by brutal and bloody violence. The dual level tracking shot in which Oliver and Ike Turner fight their way up the cell block to save the guards was phenomenal, and seeing Oliver finally get through to Turner to make him more than the villain he’s always been was incredibly satisfying. It was also great to see how easily Oliver could have escaped the prison any time he wanted, but stayed put out of virtue and for his family. The episode ended with Oliver finally being released from Slabside, and were it not for the imminent Elseworlds crossover, would be the perfect point to leave the show for a winter hiatus.
On the other hand, and regular readers already know where I’m going with this, the episode had more screen time for Kirk Acevedo than we’ve had all season. I knew capturing him last week was way too easy. I knew as soon as Felicity didn’t shoot him in the face it wasn’t over. I knew it never could be without a final confrontation between Oliver and Diaz. But as soon as he walked comfortably up to the prison after bribing a guard to let him go (really?), and as soon as he taunted Oliver in the visitation room in his insufferable whisper-talk spaced out dialect about how he was going to die, I filled with despair.
I felt like I was looking down the barrel of an entire season with this guy, making him the longest lasting Arrow big bad by far. As he monologued to the prisoners and got them all on his side, I just got angrier. This episode made me truly feel how much I hate this villain and his presence on our characters. He is not a fraction as interesting as he thinks he is. His motivation is garbage and his goals are clichéd.
Acevedo consistently confuses acting with scenery chewing and he is not even good at it. Pretending Ricardo Diaz was anything more than just another power-hungry crime lord may have been the biggest miscalculation this show has ever taken. I would easily take a thousand Matt Nable Ra’s al Ghuls over one Diaz. It’s ironic that Diaz said Oliver was like a cockroach, impossible to kill, because that is exactly how I feel about him.
Fortunately, the climax of the episode concluded between a hand to hand duel between the hero and villain as the prison burned around them. I am not even going to complain as to how Oliver managed to win a fight he was clearly losing because it means the Diaz plot thread is finally over. Analyzing the specifics of their battle feels like giving Diaz more credit as a villain than he deserves. I don’t care. I’m just glad that he’s gone. And in a nice bit of circularity for the show, defeating Diaz became a de facto Crucible for Oliver to earn his release.
Finally, a key conversation with Stanley in the middle of all the chaos reveals his sick criminal nature and his own spry sort of resilience. He confesses that he is the one who killed Dunbar, just as he believes anyone guilty of crime should be killed. This is another seemingly throwaway line that sounds a lot like a certain League I remember and may indicate a return in a later episode. Killing Brick in his escape makes me sad, but I’m glad the show did not run the risk of overusing him. I’m overjoyed to have anyone other than Diaz to worry about, but I am also genuinely interested to see what Stanley’s arc may hold in the new year.
—Matt Gilbert, Staff Writer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eToJGnDErEU
Legends of Tomorrow— 4×06, “Tender is the Nate”
Of the many changes this season, Nate’s (Nick Zano) decision to leave the Waverider has arguably been one of the best. Though he was a late addition to the team, Nate has always had a number of significant narrative roles: love interest to Amaya (Maisie Richardson-Sellers), comic relief with Ray (Brandon Routh), dramatic foil to his grandfather. Most important, though, he was the team’s historical expert and guide through the timeline. But now that the Legends’ mission has shifted from correcting/protecting history to capturing Fugitives, Nate’s expertise isn’t as crucial as it once was and have given way to Constantine’s (Matt Ryan) magical know-how and Charlie’s (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) experience from the mystical prison. Bringing him to work at the Time Bureau, then, makes a lot of sense and has given his character opportunities to grow, especially in regard to his relationship with his father, Hank (perfectly portrayed by Back to the Future’s Tom Wilson).
“Tender is the Nate” brings that growth and father-son tension centerstage. In classic Legends-fashion, the episode balances the team’s historical hijinks and character development to great effect. Seeing the team interact with Hemmingway (Andrew Lees) and Fitzgerald (Jason McKinnon) is truly hilarious, but the episode uses those encounters for more than just laughs; Hemmingway, with his over-the-top machismo, is the perfect representation of Nate’s problems with Hank. And then having the team fight a Minotaur, a creature banished/isolated from his father, is a wonderful parallel to the tension in the Heywood family. Like last week’s episode, “Tender is the Nate” provides a terrific marriage of setting and antagonist.
Outside of the primary plot, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the girls’ night at the Time Bureau. While the whole situation is admittedly goofy, Mona (Ramona Young) bring so much joy to the scenes that they are impossible not to enjoy. It’s taken a few episodes, but this season is finally producing A and B plots that are firing on all cylinders.
—Josh Sarnecky, Staff Writer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L519tUW9Yg0
The Flash— 4×07, “O Come All Ye Thankful”
The Flash is not even attempting to be subtle as it found a way to stuff another heavy-handed subplot and theme about fatherhood into this week’s episode. Callbacks to inaugural seasons seem abundant throughout the DCCW as the villain of the week, “Weather Witch,” was revealed to be daughter of The Flash‘s first ever villain, Weather Wizard (again, not subtle). As always, though, the set piece fight sequences grant the series the opportunity to flex its production budget and dazzle us with gorgeous looking speed effects that astonishingly never get old. Weather Witch herself may have been weak sauce, but the attempted murder of her father was an abrupt surprise, and her power over weaponized lightning provided sufficient tension to propel the more important plot concerning Barry and Nora forward.
The episode began with a tensionless scene of Barry literally dying after being hit by said lightning and Nora restarting his heart to bring him back. Maybe it’s because it was the beginning of the episode, or maybe it’s because he is the main character, but not once did it feel real or carry any weight whatsoever. I’m going to do the show a favor and not ask how Nora’s existence was not immediately erased because of it, because the plot between the father and daughter was well-thought out, if slightly out of left field.
Seeing Barry die right before her eyes re-traumatizes Nora, terrifying her of the very real possibility of losing her father all over again. She raises a valid point that the only way to protect himself and not let himself become lost in the future is to quit being the Flash. Such a character junction would need to appear later in the season to actually have the desired effect, but I’m not ruling out the possibility quite yet. Nora reverses her position once she understands the need to protect the public over oneself, but as the fight with Cicada becomes more desperate Team Flash may be forced to examine every possible option.
Finally, and maybe most importantly, interspersed with Sherloque killing the Thanksgiving spirit for comic relief was the awaited origin story for Cicada. It was a nice story of familial bonding, but the only important thing revealed is that Grace is Orlin Dwyer’s uncle instead of her father. Shame on me for assuming, I suppose. Both Grace and Orlin were hit by pieces of the satellite on the night of the Enlightenment and she has been in a coma ever since while his lung was permanently damaged by the very piece of meta tech that he has used to slaughter countless metahumans. We see him meet the mysterious nurse who blames metahumans indiscriminately for the havoc and harm they wreak on the public. I take issue with this motivation, as those same metahumans prevented a global catastrophe from unfolding. I doubt Dwyer knows this, but his mind seems unlikely to change. Regardless, Team Flash has discovered Cicada’s identity and feel bizarrely ahead of the villain for once. I can only assume something has to go disastrously wrong for the season to stretch out another 17 episodes.
—Matt Gilbert, Staff Writer
Next week: The big crossover event is getting closer — but you’ll still have one more set of recaps and reviews before that. Stay tuned!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMBJ2XgAEgo
