We’re heading into the annual Arrowverse crossover! Our intrepid team of CW reviewers have joined up to bring us reviews of the latest from Supergirl, Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow:
Supergirl — Season 4 Episode 8 — ‘Bunker Hill’
We finally get some backstory on Nia — she’s an alien who has visions of the future. Naturally, she ends up getting captured with Kara and Brainey. Brainiac is such a scene stealer — his his comic relief is perfect, especially when he is trying to be subtle.
Of course I miss Win, but Jesse Rath is absolutely fantastic. Whilst captured Kara delivers one of my favorite lines:
Kara: “Reporting 101. When you get Kidnapped, you’re on the right track.”
Nia: “That doesn’t make any sense.”
Kara: “Tell that to Lois Lane.”
Elsewhere, Manchester Black is toying with Lockwood and his wife before trying to kill Ben. He even gets the best of Supergirl yet again, as he uses an alien grenade and the liquid Nth metal. Black has all kinds of toys — last week he busted out new chest armor and this week he brings out a laser spear.
While Kara is cemented into the ground, Black tells her it’s time for her to pick a side. However, Supergirl does something I’ve never seen before — she lifts the entire building she’s attached to and breaks free. This was actually a really cool scene, and bonus points for creativity.
At the end of the day Lockwood and Manchester Black are both arrested (I’m sure they will both be out soon). President Baker shows up to reprimand Supergirl as The Metropolis Inquisitor Headline reads “Human Rights Activist Imprisoned!” He tells her that the government needs to know her secret identity. Classic story line here, but how do they know that she in fact does have a secret identity? As far as they know she could just be Supergirl flying around the city all day. In any case, Kara refuses and is “dismissed” from the DEO, as the president says, “The United States does not want a war with Supergirl.” Like a BOSS, Kara replies, “Then I trust you won’t start one.” She drops the mic and flies off.
This is a great place to leave off as we approach the Elseworlds Crossover. Our final scene shows Earth 90 in ruins and it’s a pretty epic shot. There are bodies everywhere including who we can assume are Star Girl, Green Arrow, Flash, Dr. Fate, and more. We see a beaten Jay (John Wesley Shipp) version of the Flash saying to an unknown Super villain with a book, “Why are you doing this?” The man opens the mysterious book but Jay speeds out of there. Some interesting Infinity War stuff happening here and I’m more than excited for this Crossover. Let’s go!
-Rob Crowther IV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH-1p8Q9pBA
Arrow – Season 7, Episode 7 – Unmasked
Needless to say, I have some questions.
With Ricardo Diaz mercifully behind bars, Arrow this week was the return to the curious case of the new Green Arrow (Rene is right, we do need to come up with a better name). And finally, we have some answers.
Arrow is not subtle about its consistent callbacks to Season One, but the reason underlying for all of them has yet to emerge. This week, fans with a long memory got to hear the name “Max Fuller” again. In the pilot episode, Tommy took his best friend Oliver to Fuller’s club and Fuller had them beaten for a past transgression.
Seven years later, Fuller is paying an assassin to murder his former business partners using the new Green Arrow’s MO. I’m still a little fuzzy on the why, but this was a great way to bring Oliver’s development full circle as he donned the green leather jacket (but not the hood) once again to bring down a corrupt criminal, but for the first time as a member of the SCPD.
This plot also introduced Oliver to the new side of Felicity he had not seen since his incarceration. After Fuller sends his assassin after Oliver for asking too many questions (a misguided notion, to say the least), Felicity grabs the gun Anatoly gave her and shoots him. Oliver is understandably horrified. I can give him some slack in needing to adjust to the new, self-sufficient Felicity who had to harden up in order to survive without Oliver around, but only up to a point.
Oliver’s stubbornness is well-documented, and it’s a frustrating character flaw that makes him such a compelling protagonist. But his unwillingness to accept the fact that Felicity has changed for the better is pushing her away from him, because she has no intention of going back to being someone with a sheltered view of the world who cannot protect herself from it. I can imagine this subplot extending though a few episodes, or maybe even the whole season, but in the end I don’t doubt our favorite Arrow couple will be just fine in the end and the characters stronger for it.
On the side, Diggle and Lila are exploring the Dante aspect more and discover he/they are financially connected to major terrorist networks all over the world, including recently the Longbow Hunters. As it just so happens, A.R.G.U.S. has a connection to the Longbow Hunters conveniently sitting in lockup. I was really hoping that Oliver stabbing Diaz and locking him up as the prison burned meant he was gone for good, but at least his screen time was next to nothing. I’m not looking forward to whatever happens next with him, but maybe it’ll at least make Lila more of a regular.
After managing to prove that the new Green Arrow was framed for the murders at the beginning of the episode, the question still remained as to who the unknown emerald archer is. The episode closed with that question being answered, and a dozen new ones taking its place. Turns out, the new Green Arrow is not a guy as Renee and everyone assumed, but very much a woman. We learn that she is at least a half-sister to Oliver as she addressed Robert Queen’s grave. We know Robert was an unfaithful husband, so perhaps this girl was the product of one of his extramarital affairs kept secret until now. I look forward to learning more about her and what she fights for.
The best moment of this week’s episode was a conversation between Dinah and William in the flash-forwards. Just as he is about to give up on his quest for answers, Dinah shows him the Mark of Four tattooed on her arm, a sign his father came up with. But most importantly, she tells William how she has begun to see the best parts of Oliver in him. It was a touching moment, and one that inspired William to keep searching for answers about what happened to Felicity. It looks like Blackstar may be a major player in the future of Star City, and we are unlikely to have seen the last of her.
-Matt Gilbert
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM9BhpivXkM
Legends of Tomorrow – Season 4, Episode 7 – ‘Hell No, Dolly!’
Legends of Tomorrow typically features A, B, and C plots in each episode, but rarely have those plots been so at odds with each other as they are in “Hell No, Dolly!” John Constantine’s (Matt Ryan) attempts to alter the timeline and save his lover (Christian Keyes) reflect a strong synthesis of the character’s cancelled NBC series and the best of Legends. This season has often been at its best when Constantine is at the forefront, and this episode provides further evidence of that winning formula. With a major part of John’s backstory fleshed out, his reluctance to join the team and his self-loathing take on a new tragic light that promises plenty of exciting drama and supernatural conflict to come.
Unfortunately, the other half of this week’s episode fails to deliver. Having the team battle a Chucky/Anabelle style doll was always going to be ridiculous, but the concept had comedic and horror potential. Instead, the puppet work looks cheap, and every line he utters is embarrassingly awful. What could have been scary and/or humorous ends up being a terrifying waste of time.
The episode’s cliffhanger ending could have some intriguing ramifications, but I’m not convinced the results will last any longer than one episode. At the very least, though, Constantine’s consequential decision should finally bring the season’s primary antagonist into the fold and give the remainder of the season a clearer (and much needed) sense of direction.
-Josh Sarnecky
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t90ptFyjrY
The Flash – Season 5, Episode 8 – ‘What’s Past is Prologue’
Whereas Arrow left off for its midseason finale on a plethora of questions, The Flash has left me with only one:
Top Five episode, or Top Three episode?
This episode had it all. Character growth, metahumans fights, supporting character humor, central plot progression. Everything that has made The Flash so enjoyable over the last four and a half years. Tom Cavanagh, take a bow, because you directed the hell out of it.<
Upon learning the identity of Cicada, Team Flash quickly brainstorms ways in which they might defeat him, starting with eliminating his ability to neutralize their powers. In a clever bit of writing, they learn that they had everything they would need to do so once upon a time, but due to their heroics are no longer in their possession. Therefore, Barry and Nora must run back to various moments of Barry’s past to gather the materials they need and bring Cicada down.
It was incredibly nostalgic to see all these old conflicts rise up again, and to watch Nora experience them for the first time. We learn that the Flash museum cannot tell her everything about her dad as she begins to see him in a whole new light. Most notably Savitar, but his animosity toward Eobard Thawne was a major aspect of Barry previously unknown to her. I’m fascinated to see how what Nora saw of her parents’ pasts affects her relationship with them and changes everyone’s future.
he end of the second act, in which Barry and Nora prime their newly-fashioned weapon by exposing it to the particle accelerator explosion, the one that started it all, was one of the best moments of the entire show. Hats off to the quick flashes to characters like Weather Wizard and Clifford DeVoe and more whose lives also changed that fateful night. Little touches like that are what give story universes life and depth.
This was a Cavanagh episode in more ways than just directorial. Barry and Nora’s adventures through time provided him the opportunity to flex his considerable talents as nearly all of the various faces of Harrison Wells we have been treated to since The Flash began. HR was noticeably and regrettably absent, but it’s hard to know if the bigger impact came from seeing Harry again, pre-mind wipe, or Eobard Thawne. Cavanagh is such an incredibly fun actor and he sells each one with precise mannerisms and commitment to the respective roles. Unfortunately, such precious time spent with all the great Wells of old only confirms the disappointing fact that Sherloque, while entertaining, is the least interesting and satisfying incarnation we’ve had thus far. But man, The Flash is going to take a serious dip in quality if this guy ever decides to leave.
The fight with Cicada went about as well as I could have expected for a midseason finale. It was great to see the plan work exactly as it was supposed to, only for it all to be taken away at the discovery that Cicada is stronger and more powerful than anyone accounted for. But in a major blow to the villain, Killer Frost finally returned to us and nearly knocked him (sorry) out cold. Cicada flew away because I guess he can do that now, and the story chugs onward with each respective side having learned and gained a little bit more.
-Matt Gilbert
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQvp1q-DlB0
