The Supergirl episode of the 2018 crossover event hit every mark it needed to in order to deliver as satisfying a climax as such an event can… even while being forced to pull some of its punches.
On the bright side, my concerns about overstuffing the finale were revealed to be unfounded as the conflict was kept confined to the immediate threat of Dr. Deegan (aka Doctor Destiny) and his reality-rewriting book. The changes instituted at the end of Part 2 affected more than just Barry and Oliver. Deegan used the Book of Destiny to make himself Superman and Kara imprisoned in the Pipeline in another mad grab for power.
With nothing but their wits, Barry and Oliver have to track down crime lord Cisco Ramon to bring Clark to Earth-1 and simultaneously figure out what the Monitor’s test truly is. “Know your true self” sounds like typical cryptic comic nonsense, but these shows are usually pretty good at making cheesy material work better than one could expect.
For someone brand new at being the Last Son of Krypton, Deegan certainly seemed to have a real handle on his power set, as he was able to effectively defeat the real Superman in combat. Disposable as Deegan may look, he proved surprisingly resilient despite the powerful band of heroes in front of him. The fight between them lacked the usual gigantism that Kryptonian fights usually carry, but the tension never faltered as Deegan held his own. So much for plan A.
Credit must be given to Supergirl’s longtime sleeper MVP Tyler Hoechlin for flexing his range by being both the mad as a hatter John Deegan and the Man of Steel himself. Every moment spent with Hoechlin in the series is always a treat, and this episode even got to develop him as we learned he will be temporarily hanging up his cape as he prepares to become a husband and a father. As long as no Injustice plot line is planned, we’re good.
Melissa Benoist proved for the zillionth time that the CW struck gold when they cast her in Supergirl. Trapped in the pipeline with only her frost breath and her wits, we see her befriend the hostile Earth-1 version of her sister by telling her all about her Earth-38 counterpart. With impressive sensitivity and without judgment she is also able to bring up the sexuality this version of Alex chooses to keep hidden from those around her, and it is that above all else that turns Alex against Deegan-Superman.
With time working against them, Barry and Kara use their powers to make time their advantage, and nearly die in the process. The idea to travel around the earth in opposite directions at Mach 7 at least makes a little more sense than reversing time in the 1978 Superman movie, so I won’t get too mad about that. The speed and heat proves almost too much for both of them, however, as they nearly burn up from such extended time at impossible speed.
It is here from which the best moment of the event arc was birthed. The differences between Oliver and Barry and Kara were put at the front of the story as Oliver was forced to confront them. I’ve always adored Oliver as a protagonist due to his flaws (stubbornness, bullheadedness, inflexibility, etc.) always being effectively worked into the story instead of in spite of it. But when shone against his brightly-colored super-powered companions instead of the equally dark and inflexible Star City, those same flaws feel less like necessary evils and more like serious character issues.
Oliver proves the Monitor wrong in his strategy of testing the various earths in the mere act of standing up to him. But as he begged for Barry and Kara’s lives, he sees in them everything he does not see in himself. This crossover arc has been subtly guiding the story to this exact moment from the beginning as Oliver’s shortcomings as a person became a frequent topic of discussion and debate among his fellow heroes.
In the last episode a particular beat was devoted to reminding everyone of Oliver’s cheating on Laurel with Sara that started his entire new life. With this act of desperation, Oliver was forced not only to admit his own faults, something he does every season, but actually cede his long-held sense of superiority over Barry and Kara as the self-appointed adult-in-the-room. Monitor said he had to know his true self to pass the test, and there it was.
The question remains as to why, of all people, the Monitor chose someone as chaotically uncontrollable as John Deegan to be the wrecking ball in the world to spur our heroes into action. I suppose his plan to test the Earth worked, but was there no easier way than with someone so unstably erratic? We’ll have the chance to find out, as the final seconds of Elseworlds confirmed that Doctor Destiny will be back as the Arrowverse prepares for the big one.
We now know what the Monitor was warning the heroes about, and why the villain he warned was looming did not show his face this year. DC Comics’ most famous story arc of all time is coming to the CW. Crisis on Infinite Earths will undoubtedly change the multiverse as we know it, and I’ll be there when it does. Comic fans probably already have an idea of just how it might do that. I just wish it didn’t have to sacrifice the physical climax of Elseworlds to do so.
Crisis on Earth-X was the apex of the entire CW DC enterprise thus far. It was as physically climactic as emotionally cathartic and was allowed to be as big as it possibly could because the threat genuinely called for it and it ended when the crossover concluded. Elseworlds, while creatively entertaining in a zany “what if” sort of way, was limited in the same way Spider-Man: Homecoming or the second Hobbit film was: its priority of setting up bigger events to come superseded its own storytelling. Because of the need to be an appetizer course for Infinite Earths, Deegan as a primary antagonist becomes forgettable, and his entire romp with the Book of Destiny merely a distraction.
I do not intend to diminish the characters’ individual emotional journeys or the introduction of Batwoman, because they were truly great. But it is hard to feel invested in fighting a villain when we know he has to be beaten because a bigger threat is standing just behind him. Elseworlds ended up being a brilliant character story for everyone I have been conditioned to care about, but only ever a decent superhero story.
Overall episode rating: 6 out of 10
Overall crossover event rating: 7 out of 10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlSwSfOUq_Q
