Arrow: “Who Are You”

Jim’s Thoughts

Arrow’s return wasn’t as bad as Flash’s, but I think some of that is attributable to variety. There was plenty to pick on with “Who Are You.” Once again, Felicity is trying to be cute, and she’s allowed to take too much focus. If there was a good reason for her to be with the group when they confronted Black Siren and Prometheus, I didn’t catch it. All her presence did was give the writers a lazy excuse to distract Oliver and let Prometheus escape. As for her giving orders, I’m not buying it. Maybe you can argue that the group respects Felicity because she’s been the gentle hand coaching them through dealing with Oliver, but that doesn’t make her a field tactician.

Black Siren’s story went as expected. It feels like a cheat to keep Katie Cassidy (the actress) floating around and not technically “undoing” Laurel’s death, so it’s hard to take much interest there.

Diggle’s story is a little flat right now. The writers clearly don’t know much about the Uniform Code of Military Justice, but it’s the CW, not a Tom Clancy novel, and Dig’s story might be the most interesting thing going on right now, so I’ll forgive it.

Frankly, I’m just glad to see something happening on a CW show that isn’t driven by a romance angle. I’ve already had my fill of the many hump-buddies of Oliver and Felicity, so let’s start making Diggle a viable character again.

The recruits continue to be a weak spot here too. Wild Dog is becoming increasingly annoying, and it’s hard to believe in his potential when we’ve only ever seen him get his head handed to him. The same goes for the rest of the team. Curtis is supposed to be an Olympian, right? How is it that some kickboxing classes made Laurel into Black Canary, but being a world class athlete doesn’t mean Curtis can run without tripping over his own feet?

Here’s hoping the final confrontation with Prometheus pays off. The show seems to be stalling to drag that out, and the more that happens, the harder the let-down will be.

Kyle’s Take

Jim summed it up best with his first sentence, so I’ll paraphrase him. Arrow’s return wasn’t good, but at least it wasn’t this week’s Flash.

Arrow’s attempt to make Diggle a meaningful character is commendable, even if his story arc makes little sense, regarding military procedures. Arrow needs a story thread that isn’t driven by romance. I’ve had to watch Supergirl for my dose of a CW show devoid of bed hopping.

I don’t get why Wild Dog feels like he has the right to give Curtis a pep talk (about getting his butt kicked on the regular), when Wild Dog’s combat win percentage is close to Curtis’s. And why can’t Curtis kick butt? Arrow is more interested in making him a male version of Felicity that the show forgets he’s a world class athlete. Arrow’s lack of awareness comes off as insensitive to homosexuals, especially since Felicity, who kick boxes to stay in shape not take on baddies, got to deliver the knockout blow for this week’s villain. Move over, Felicity. That was Curtis’s win.

There really isn’t much left to say. I could find something good about this week’s Supergirl, Flash was dreadful, and Arrow had enough other things going on that it distracted its viewers from the fact that it suffers from the same huge problem as Flash. Both shows are dragging their feet to set up a big showdown. But Arrow’s more disappointing. It took its time with Deathstroke, giving that villain a slow boil that encompassed multiple seasons. I’d like to see any CW superhero show do that again, but I doubt Prometheus will last more than one season.

Wait. I can find something good about this week’s Arrow. I like this week’s episode title: “Who Are You.” I threw on The Who and jammed.

Thanks for reading.

Flash: “Borrowing Problems from the Future”

Jim’s Thoughts

Flash came back with a whimper, and all the same things are wrong here. Kyle and I have been beating the Flashpoint drum all season long, but this episode also doubled down on the Barry/Iris romance.

I could harp on these things some more, but I’d rather focus on areas I’ve covered less. The dialogue on CW shows is never much to brag about, but this week’s Flash tested my patience with the constant heart-to-hearts. If I hear one more time that “you can talk to me about anything, you know,” I might just pass out from boredom.

In the area of suspending disbelief, I can’t give this episode a pass. It’s just too convenient that Barry tracked down the info he needed when Cisco vibed him because every member of his circle made headline news on the day in question. It’s just lazy, especially when “Star Labs Museum Closes” makes headline news four months after no one went to its opening.

There’s more to pick on here, but I’ll cut to the chase. Flash committed the mortal sin no comic book/comic book movie/comic book show ever should. It was boring. Halfway through the season, I’m losing hope that they’ll right the ship.

Kyle’s Take

I agree with Jim, but I’d extend the mortal sin of “don’t be boring” to all forms of artistic expression, not just comic books.

Flash is losing me. “Borrowing Problems from the Future” illustrated the show’s mishandling of Flashpoint; it’s the main reason the episode was so boring. To be fair the episode’s title holds some truth. Flash is borrowing problems—in terms of storytelling—from the future. Flash has nothing new to say until after Barry has his showdown with Savitar or goes back in time.

The abundance of heart-to-heart talks grated on my nerves too. The CW loves to throw in heart-to-hearts, so I’ve made my peace with the volume. While I agree with Jim that this week’s episode had more than its fair share, my biggest issue is that some of the people involved with these conversations made no sense. Barry tells Wally he can come to him with anything. Really? I haven’t seen those two do much more than exchange pleasantries.

Every member of Team Flash had their share of awkward exchanges to the point where Dr. Alchemy’s poor social skills fits in with the group. That’s right, Alchemy is part of the team now because of Caitlin’s sudden friendship, or at least kinship, with the former villain. You said something you shouldn’t, Alchemy? Don’t worry. Everyone on the team said something that was out of character this week.

The scene where Cisco vibes rubbed me the wrong way too. Not only does each member of Team Flash make headlines, generating the parade route for Flash to crawl its way to Savitar, it’s a cheat for time travel. Barry isn’t technically time traveling, but he may as well be.

Oh, and since when can Cisco bring someone along when he vibes to a specific time and stay long enough for that someone to read a news ticker? And since when can Cisco time vibe in the first place? While Cisco has brought people over from different worlds (with help), he’s never time vibed, let along time vibe with a friend to a specific time and location. That scene’s existence is too convenient. Maybe someone power leveled their role-playing character over the break.

I could go on, but the big take away is that the Savitar showdown isn’t supposed to happen for four months. Four months. Are we supposed to wait four months for anything new to happen? I don’t know if I can make it four months.

Thanks for reading.

Supergirl: “Supergirl Lives”

Kyle’s Thoughts

Hi, guys. Long time, no talk.

Jim and I took our holiday break. We ate too much, and I’ve hoarded about 20-30 cartons of Southern Comfort Egg Nog. I know what you’re thinking, I’m sobering up, but Southern Comfort Egg Nog is non-alcoholic. Since it’s designed to have the liquor added to it, that egg nog is so thick and creamy. My mouth is watering; I may have just enough egg nog to white knuckle it to next holiday season. Enough about food and drink, let’s kick off the new year with a Supergirl write up.

“Supergirl Lives” had the usual highs and lows of a Supergirl episode (staying true to the character with some poor dialogue), but overall, it was an enjoyable 45 minutes. Kevin Smith directed this episode. I know a lot of comic book critics and fellow geeks are supposed to salivate over anything Kevin Smith—and I do enjoy plenty of his work (Clerks, Mallrats, Dogma, and Jay and Silent Bob)—but “Kevin Smith directed” isn’t a huge draw for me. To be fair, I try not to get starry eyed with any director.

Smith’s daughter Harley Quinn Smith also made an appearance, and she did a decent job as a damsel in distress prop. Wait. Isn’t Harley Quinn Smith supposed to be a baby or toddler? Is the Harley Quinn character over 20-years-old? Kevin Smith’s daughter is supposed to be the same age as my daughter. Wait. Season turned 19 today. Happy birthday, Season.

Okay. I’ll stay on track from now on. “Supergirl Lives” stays true to the Supergirl character. She’s the type of person who would run into a burning building (powers or not). That’s a welcome change from the DC cinematic universe, which gives us a reluctant Superman and Wonder Woman. Whether she can fly or not, Kara Danvers is a hero.

The dialogue was not as super. There were moments where Kara utters the words (and I’m paraphrasing), I’d be a hero with or without powers. That wasn’t on the nose dialogue, that was up the audience’s nose. You will absorb who Kara Danvers is, even if we must cram it in your head. But Supergirl—like most CW superhero shows—typically has spot on dialogue, so I’ll say again, the message is the right one for Supergirl. The show knows Kara.

I still don’t like Jimmy Olsen as a superhero. Fortunately, we aren’t subjected to a lot of the Guardian. It’s an also-ran plot line that does nothing for the show.

I do like how Supergirl has handled Alex and Maggie’s relationship up to this point, but “Supergirl Lives” dropped the ball a little. Alex and Maggie had a big spat that was turned into a smaller one; it was resolved too quickly for my taste. I’m not so sure Maggie would accept Alex with open arms after how she was treated, since she was concerned going into this relationship that Alex would act the way she acted this week. But I’ll give the writers a pass.

This week’s threat incorporated a lot of characters we’ve seen in the past, which was good, but it served to tie up some loose story threads and didn’t do a lot for the overall story arc. I’m not buying the aliens after Mon-El angle, but perhaps that’s because Supergirl hasn’t developed that angle as well as it could. I’m sure that’ll change in the next few weeks.

“Supergirl Lives” also uses the tired trope of a powerless Kryptonian subjected to red sunlight. It’s not bad, but I thought I should mention that it’s been done—a lot. Martian Manhunter couldn’t fly to Kara’s aid, because the planet had a toxic atmosphere to him and not to humans, which came off as another forced plot device. Again, I get why Supergirl did this, but it’s more than a little convenient. Or in this case purposefully inconvenient.

I know it sounds like I didn’t enjoy “Supergirl Lives,” but it was a solid episode if only for one thing: it shined a light on what makes Supergirl who she is. It can’t be overstated. Supergirl knows its main character, and it’s nice to see someone from the House of El portrayed like they’re from the House of El in a live-action show. Now if only the cinematic Kal-El will act more like Superman, we’d be set.

Happy belated new year and thanks for reading.

Star Wars: Rogue One

Jim’s Thoughts

Weather and the demands of the holiday season tag-teamed us, and Kyle and I didn’t get to the theatre for Rogue One on opening weekend, but we’ve seen it now. Here are some of my thoughts.

I liked Rogue One. I liked it about as much as The Force Awakens, which is to say after the nostalgia wore off, the relief that it wasn’t more of the prequel trilogy subsided, and all the film’s faults came into focus, I was left feeling entertained.

There’s plenty to pick on with the move. As with all Star Wars movies, the plot holes abound, and all the familiar tropes appear; a lost young soul, some convenient timing and arbitrary logic, but the movie didn’t bore me.

Rogue One offers tons of fan service, and when it tries hardest to be such a direct tie-in to the events of A New Hope, the film is at its weakest, but there can’t be a Star Wars movie without some familiar notes. Then Disney would be hearing complaints from the other side of things, so I can’t fault them too much.

One thing Rogue One does that I truly appreciate is offer an unromantic view of the rebellion. Here’s where we’re shown the darker side (no force pun intended) of people who are willing to do anything in the interest of their cause. To that end, Forrest Whitaker’s character is wasted, but moral gray areas are not something we’ve seen much of in the franchise. Traditionally, Star Wars is about dark and light, evil and good.

There’s plenty more to address. There were too many characters vying for screen time. A lot of them barely had names, and too often the movie played to clichés that touch on the insensitive (see blind Asian Kung Fu master), but only a couple characters are well developed enough to stick.

If you haven’t had a chance to see this one yet, go in with maybe slightly lower expectations than the critics are setting. It’s a flawed movie, but it feels like Star Wars. What’s more, it feels like a few things we haven’t seen yet from Star Wars, and that as much as anything, is cause for optimism.

Kyle’s Take

I liked Rogue One, too, but like any other Star Wars movie—including the original trilogy—I could nitpick it to death. A Deathstar would have its own gravitational pull and would plunge any solar system it was docked into chaos, an AT-AT is the most inefficient design for a land vehicle ever devised (note: tripping hazard), but it’s a space fantasy. Okay. Fine. Star Wars popularized the space opera subgenre, so it can be forgiven, but that’s a lot of space magic.

Rogue One is also a war movie and while I believe Erso could bury the plans to the Deathstar in the Empire’s bureaucracy, the Empire knew the Rebels wanted something from the communications tower (even if they didn’t know exactly what it was), and it made no sense to not blow up the tower (see Germany taking out bridges when it was clear they couldn’t defend them in World War II). You can rebuild towers. You may not be able to recover from giving up information so important the Rebels waged its first full-scale attack to retrieve.

And the characters for the underdeveloped masses were stereotypes. Rogue One wanted to avoid having a Jedi master, but a Jedi of Asian descent would’ve made more sense than a Kung-Fu master in a galaxy where Kung-Fu doesn’t exist. That was a poor trade. For all the hype Rogue One gave itself for diversity (Twitter mostly), they hold tight to numerous stereotypes. (Note: a central Asian, most likely Mongolian, is a barbarian berserker with a Gatling laser.) Still, I do like seeing more diversity; let’s broaden minority roles.

The characters who weren’t a stereotype proved worthy of classic Star Wars. Cassian was a dynamic character and his presence (and others like him and Forest Whitaker’s character) added layers to the resistance that didn’t exist in this universe. Rogue One dabbled with gray, and that was fun.

Ultimately, Rogue One felt like a Star Wars movie. While I would’ve liked to have seen the movie take the series in a drastic direction, the franchise is so entrenched that it couldn’t be too drastic (you don’t want to upset fans), and the shifts Rogue One did make were appreciated.

Thanks for reading.

Justice League Action: Shazam Slam

Jim’s Thoughts

It’s been a while since we’ve had a good, regular animated DC series running (no, I’m not forgetting about Teen Titans GO). That’s why I was excited to hear about Justice League Action. The one hour premier episode is here now, and the results, from where I see them, are a somewhat mixed bag, but generally positive.

At the start of the episode, everything from the style of animation to the music felt like a return to the glory days of Batman: The Animated Series. The character models are a bit different, but the presentation is similar. As things balloon out to involve Black Adam and Shazam, Justice League Action takes on its own feel.

The story doesn’t stop there. Soon into the action we’ve got Superman and Wonder Woman rounding out DC’s holy trinity, with appearances from Booster Gold, Cyborg, Plastic Man, and Green Arrow to keep it going. That’s the tip of the problematic iceberg with the debut. Justice League Action gives us exactly that; action. In fact, the story is spastic in its execution. There isn’t a lot of time for character development, or much interaction at all beyond trading quips and barbs. It’s good to see DC let its hair down a little. The live action DC universe has been taking itself seriously to the point of oppressiveness, but the show is in danger of reading like a buddy cop story told by a toddler on a sugar high.

I will say I was also relieved to see a pilot episode featuring Batman that didn’t need to show his origin. Actually, no origins were shown, and I like that. Justice League Action trusts its audience to know its source material, or otherwise be comfortable googling it.

Pacing will be the big thing the show needs to figure out. With a battle with Parasite leading directly to Parasite being hit by a comet, and learning that comet was actually ridden in by our next round of baddies, we need time to breathe and figure out why any of this matters. That being said, I also feel the show may be aiming for a younger audience which could be fine, except Plastic Man and Booster Gold aren’t well known to audiences whose main experience with DC is from The New 52. In short, Justice League Action may have an identity crisis on its hands.

Maybe the best thing I can say is I wasn’t bored during the episode. There’s a lot of potential to recapture the animated glory of the DC Universe, when we had shows like Justice League Unlimited, but there’s plenty of work to do. Everyone knows Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, but Plastic Man and Booster Gold need to either serve more of a purpose and develop depth as characters, or be left out of the story.

Kyle’s Take

I wanted Justice League Action’s pilot to be more like Justice League Unlimited, but “Shazam Slam” played out like DC’s version of Marvel’s Super Hero Squad, aged up a hair. It’s a fun ride, but it’s aimed for a younger audience and with so many characters, plenty of folks got left out in the cold. Jim didn’t mention Swamp Thing, John Constantine, and Martian Manhunter’s cameos. Plot points and the number of characters spiraled out of control. It resulted in some characters reduced to a gag or ongoing joke.

Viewers unfamiliar with DC’s characters may want to google these characters (to learn their origins), but it’s not necessary. Ubiquitous data dumps informed the viewer of what they needed to know, when they needed to know it. Paragraphs of dialogue were dedicated to who people were, why they were doing what they were doing, and how what they were doing was going to “stop the bad guy(s).” I expect a little of this with a show’s pilot, but in some cases “Shazam Slam” went to the extreme.

It’s difficult to see where Justice League Action goes from here. There are two main directions it could take. The show could settle down and concentrate on a few core members and reintroduce the rest of the characters we saw in the pilot, a few at a time, over the course of the season. Or the show could continue throwing every character in the DCU at us in twenty episodes or less. The Justice League Action pilot was enjoyable; I wasn’t bored. I’d prefer a little more focus, but even if it doesn’t meet my expectations, Justice League Action could still be a great way to introduce a younger audience to a larger volume of DC characters.

The cynic in me is certain we’ll see a toy line associated with Justice League Action and that’s the whole point of introducing young audiences to as many DC characters as possible. The optimist in me is looking for a compromise between cash grab and good television. Heck, some shows are both.

Well, it looks like McDonalds has cashed in already. I may have some masks to collect.

Thanks for reading.

Arrow: “What We Leave Behind”

Jim’s Thoughts

I think Arrow’s midseason finale did a little better than Flash’s. That’s not saying as much as I would like for it to, but it’s about as positive a spin as I can put on it.

For the most part, my complaints are the usual. Felicity. She’s awful, and managing to get worse all the time. In fact, as a writer, I hereby invoke my write to make up words. I declare Felicity to be a verb meaning to annoy with an affectation of awkwardness meant to be seen as endearing. That’s what Felicity does. She felicities all over the episode. I was also particularly annoyed by her consternation that her detective boyfriend refused to take her non-policeman orders to not do police work. That was maddeningly arrogant of her.

This episode would have been better without the recruits, but that’s true of every episode this season. Wild Dog’s insistence on not following directions is a nuisance, and repetitive. Artemis betrayed Oliver. Okay, but who cares? Was I supposed to care? What’s Artemis’ real name again? Meh, never mind. I like Curtis, but his marriage hasn’t been given much screen time, and we’ve seen that ultimatum from loved ones before. Are we going to have to see this scene play out every time someone on the team has a significant other?

Felicity’s throwaway boyfriend was thrown away. Again, this lacks much of an impact, and I get the feeling its just another excuse to show Felicity crying. We need much, much less of Felicity, and that’s not going to happen, so I’m bummed.

The less said about Laurel showing up for the big reveal, the better. Kyle and I have already mentioned the problems with taking the stakes out of death. It’s possible that Laurel coming back is an hallucination, or something like that, but I’m afraid to hope. You may remember my feelings toward Laurel were only slightly more congenial than those toward Felicity.

The bulk of what’s wrong with this show this season is demonstrated in this episode. First, the show has no idea where the real emotional weight is. We’re supposed to care about love interests who rarely show up and are replaced like coffee filters. The CW has a bad habit of thinking peoples’ love lives are the most interesting part of their characters. Second, we’re hearing all the same arguments over again. Oliver is a killer. No he’s not. Oliver’s problems are his own fault. He needs to quit blaming himself. Oliver needs to let people in. No, he’s a lonewolf. They need to quit recycling the tension, to create compelling villains and let the tension come from that.

Here’s hoping things with Prometheus aren’t what they appear. If so, a promising villain is gutted, and the prospects for the back half of season 5 are limited.

Kyle’s Take

I’m not sure I agree that Arrow’s midseason finale outdid Flash’s midseason finale. To be fair this choice is like the ones I received as a kid of would you rather I kick you in the balls or punch you in the throat? Do I have a third option?

At least Barry remained consistent with his love for Iris and Flash refrained from dragging down more characters than the lead and Joe with love interests. Most folks on Arrow have a love interest who serve as a rudder for everything they do. I’m not down with love; it’s not interesting when it’s overdone.

I’m also unsure if Laurel’s return will serve as her reinstatement as the love of Ollie’s life. Anyone who has watched Arrow for the past 5 years, can’t believe that, and this type of storytelling leads me back to something I spoke of last week: landfill writing.

Arrow was fantastic a few seasons ago. Deathstroke gave Ollie a delicious archvillain, and Arrow was appointment television. Since Slade Wilson’s exit, we’ve been treated—if you can call it treated—to variations of the same garbage that never worked or has ceased to work (namely flashbacks). People coming back from the dead every other week, marginalized villains, teamwork and trust monologues, and throw away romances became the norm. What do you throw away? Garbage. Where does garbage end up? A landfill. Arrow continues to dump the same garbage into its storylines.

I have no hope that Prometheus will get fixed; the CW has a knack for gutting compelling villains. The only hope I have for Arrow this season is that Flashpoint resolves soon and bails out the show. That’s not the best prospect, but hey, I heard a rumor that the real Deathstroke could return. That could make things interesting.

That’s all we have for this week. Thanks for reading.

The Flash: “The Present”

Jim’s Thoughts

“The Present” brought us to midseason, and while it was a typically watchable episode, it didn’t do what I expected it to do. For weeks now, Kyle and I have been waiting for the proverbial “other shoe” to drop. That’s to say, we’ve been waiting for Barry to go back in time again and restore the old status quo. Ordinarily, I’d be glad the show didn’t do what I expected, because predictability is dull. In this case, I think the predictability would have been a relief. At least then we could sit back and say, “That’s done, now let’s see where it goes from here.”

Since I said last week I was exhausted with alternate timelines and parallel universes, I can’t let it slip this week that the bulk of the episode hung on Barry paying a visit to Earth 3. Flash desperately needs to cut back on those story mechanics, but seeing Mark Hamill reprise his role as Trickster did give this episode a nice dose of fun.

I don’t know if Julian and the sorcerer’s/philosopher’s stone thing was a deliberate reference to Harry Potter (the actor played Draco Malfoy in the series), but I have a sinking feeling it was. Julian’s been an interesting character addition this season, and having him revealed as Alchemy, even an unwilling/unwitting Alchemy, cheapens him for me.

We’re in for my time-nonsense in the back half of the season, it would seem. With the reveal that Savitar is someone from Flash’s future, this is a lot more of exactly what the show doesn’t need. What’s worse is I have a sneaking suspicion Savitar might be Wally. It seems obvious, but so did Julian as Alchemy.

Kyle’s Take

Mark Hamill’s Trickster was fun but we got more of a half dose; he was in “The Present” for two minutes. By the way, why did an episode titled “The Present” start in the past and dip its toe into the future? That was a little silly. Anyway, I agree with Jim that Flash didn’t get to where it should’ve been by the midseason break—Barry fixing the past—and I’m tired of the alternate timelines, too. Some might argue Barry traveled to the future instead of the past, but that’s just another curious breeze from a familiar landfill.

Tom Felton as Alchemy (and his link to the sorcerer’s/philosopher’s stone) was a deliberate reference to Harry Potter for the same reason Mark Hamill made a brief appearance this week: marketing. The last time Hamill made an appearance on Flash was a week before Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ release. Guess what? “The Present” aired a week before Star Wars: Rogue One’s release, and Felton’s reveal (as Alchemy) occurred a week before Fantastic Beasts. If that isn’t a shrewd marketing technique, Flash knows where to find Fantastic Coincidences.

Even with that “The Present” was a watchable episode. I enjoyed it, but the show keeps running in place. Before it was revealed that Alchemy was a lackey for Savitar, he represented the first major Flash villain to not be a speedster. Now we’re stuck with another speedster who can’t kill Barry because his timeline will get messed up if he does, so all he does is make Barry’s life miserable. And unless someone else on Team Flash develops super speed, Wally is the most likely Savitar candidate. But I said Wally might’ve been Zoom last season, so what do I know?

This next part will be hard to do without a spoiler alert, so if you haven’t seen “The Present,” you may want to avert your eyes.

(Commence Spoiler)
I wanted more from “The Present.” Jay Garrick telling Barry to not mess with time (the past or the future) isn’t a good enough deterrent for Barry not to fix time, especially when Savitar kills Iris in the not-so-distant future. For all we know Savitar wouldn’t exist without Barry’s Flashpoint gaff, so he could fix the pains in the past and future with one trip. Seriously, Flash is sitting on the toilet with a Cling-On or dangler if you prefer dangler. Drop it the bowl already.
(End of Spoiler)

It’s easy to overlook most of “The Present’s” shortcomings. Sure, Alchemy was stripped of his cool factor, and Savitar is nothing more than a reworking of Zoom and Reverse-Flash, but the worst offense is how Flash’s midseason ended. Flash pressured us to care about one of its least interesting storylines: Iris and Barry’s romance. Flash needs to develop Baris more than just showing ubiquitous dates cut short by superhero work and mild disapproval from Joe. The wrinkle present at the midseason break is another comic book cliché. Hopefully, Flash will shake things up after the break.

Thanks for reading.

Arrow: “Invasion!”

Jim’s Thoughts

Arrow’s “Invasion!” aimed to move the CW crossover story forward toward its big Legends of Tomorrow finale, and to serve as a celebration of the series’ 100th episode. It satisfied in neither way.

To be fair, I’m exhausted with parallel universes and alternate timelines. I’ve been harping on that with Flash all season, and so having half this episode take place inside a forced dream sequence had me about as excited as I’d be for the world’s longest elevator ride.

What’s just as bad, if not worse, is the decision to base so much of the emotional appeal for the story on Laurel. First, I’m tired of the revisionist history here. Laurel cannot be the love of Oliver’s life, or vice versa. He put the shoes to her sister, and at the time of Laurel’s death, he was putting said shoes to Felicity. There’s not enough whitewash in any Home Depot to cover the writing on those walls. Second, they haven’t shut up about Laurel all season. Ordinarily, I’d say that’s good because characters on this show “get over” emotional trauma faster than I get over a sneezing fit, but there’s no payoff to the audience. The audience hasn’t been given time to miss Laurel, even if we were inclined to, which I, personally, am not.

The less said about the cringeworthy tongue-in-cheek dialogue, the better. I’ll just draw your attention to Sara saying, “You’re lucky I’m not a trained assassin,” during their shared dream, and trust that my point is made.

The other half of the story wasn’t any better. I’ve never cared about Ollie’s recruits, and having Supergirl and Flash tag along isn’t enough to make me start. This should, and could, have been the part of the episode that carried things forward, but all it did was end with what we already could have guessed. The space ship Oliver and company are on is in space.

How bad was this episode? Bad enough I won’t bother with Legends of Tomorrow’s episode to finish it. Can we get back to what made these shows good now? Seeing Tommy, Malcolm, and Deathstroke (even recast) made me miss the good old days.

Kyle’s Take

Jim said it. “I’m exhausted with parallel universes and alternate timelines.” We—not just Jim—have been harping on Flash about doing this for longer than a season, and it’s made its way to Arrow. I’m tired of harping on it. Some of you may not know why I dislike these shows’ use of alternative timelines, so I’ll take a moment to put a finer point on why the Arrowverse should drop them: accretion.

Accretion isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it can be a great thing. Adding layers to something over time, when each layer works individually and part of a whole, can lead to fantastic writing. Unfortunately, the individual parts of Flash and Arrow don’t work well on their own or as part of a whole for the moment, that’s why we get so many parallel universes and alternate timelines. It’s landfill writing.

The writers gave us garbage and it’s starting to stink—as garbage tends to do—so they dump more garbage with a slightly different scent on top of the original garbage. Before long that second layer will begin to smell, so they’ll have to add another layer of garbage until they have a landfill.

This same landfill approach can be seen in game design. Have you ever played a (free-to-play) video game with ten or fifteen types of currency? The most likely reason those different types of currency exist is that the designers screwed up the first nine or fourteen currencies and instead of fixing the underlying problem, they added a new currency. Use Foney. It’s like Money but it’s spelled with an “F,” and it’s purple. A dream sequence of an alternate reality is a parallel universe with a fancy odor. If Flash and Arrow continue to use alternative timelines and parallel universes, they’re telling their viewers they know they’re messing up and they have no intention of fixing the shows’ baseline problems.

Okay. That’s my take on alternate timelines. Let’s get to “Invasion!” specifics. I couldn’t care less about the crossover villains. They’re little, green aliens who won’t have any lasting impact on these shows or characters.

Having Laurel return in a dreamlike sequence and all the revisionist history presented in “Invasion!” made me wonder if Ollie’s love life played out the same way on Arrow after Barry changed time. Except for the Diggle baby’s gender-bender, the Arrowverse has been coy with how Flash has affected Arrow. The last I checked Ollie’s bed buddy list reads as follows: Laurel, the mother of his child, Laurel again, a stewardess, Sara, a reporter after he returned home from the island, Laurel a third time, another random woman, Huntress, Laurel a fourth time, Sara again, and then Felicity.

I don’t know what to believe. Let’s get to the other side of this Flashpoint nightmare and hope the shows return to what made them good.

Thanks for reading.

The Flash: “Invasion!”

Jim’s Thoughts

In case you ever wonder why I never have a take on Supergirl, it’s because I don’t watch it. Unfortunately, that means I also missed the first part of this big four-part-crossover story between Supergirl, Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow. You may remember Kyle and I gave up on LoT too, so it’s hard to get too excited about an event I’m only halfway invested in, and if you want to call foul on me reviewing this episode having missed last night’s, I can’t argue.

With that said, I disliked “Invasion,” and that shouldn’t come as a surprise. Maybe I didn’t give it a fair chance, but it bored me. If this was part 2 of the series, I can only imagine how slow last night’s episode of Supergirl ran. Here, on Flash, we had three-quarters of the episode making winking references, like Barry saying Supergirl was more powerful than a locomotive (which is actually from Superman, but we’re used to this sort of misappropriation of big screen material), and the rest of it a large, nonsensical brawl in the spirit of Batman v Superman. Far too much of the episode was composed of clunky dialogue reminding us of who everyone is, and why each person is holding a grudge against someone else (mostly why everyone’s mad at Barry). There really should have been a flashing red light accompanied by a robotic voice announcing, “exposition alert” for the first three-quarters of the show.

While Flash/Arrow crossovers were all the rage last year while Legends of Tomorrow was being set up, I’ve never liked the dynamic. All these events do is grind each show’s separate momentum to a halt in favor of manufacturing some passing tension for them to work through.

As I’ve been saying, I’m ready for Barry to go back and undo all of this. We know it’s coming. Let the shoe drop already.

Kyle’s Take

Well, I’ve been yelling at the bridge Barry must cross (reversing time again) for the entire season, and all “Invasion!” showed us were billboards every inch of the road, telling us the bridge was ahead. It was excruciating.

Everyone’s mad at Barry (for changing the timeline). Barry must reverse time. Barry sulks in front of the future news article that doesn’t have Iris Allen-West on its byline. Barry must reverse time. The gang listens to future Barry—other Barry for Archer fans—tell them he made a mistake and must fix the timeline. Barry must reverse time. “Invasion!” reminds me of another Victor Garber (one half of Firestorm) project, Titanic, when we hear some variant of the Titanic being unsinkable fifty or more times in the first half hour. We get it; the Titanic will sink.

I’m three-quarters invested in this crossover instead of Jim’s half. Jim was right that we gave up on Legends of Tomorrow—that show revolves around doing the time warp every episode—but Geekly readers know that I watch Supergirl, and “Medusa” was a solid episode. But that’s because the minute and a half it took for Barry and Cisco to find Kara in “Invasion!” was all there was to her leg of the crossover. “Medusa” didn’t waste time with this crossover nonsense.

And it was nonsense. Like Jim, I never liked the crossover dynamic. Setting up Legends of Tomorrow last season all but killed Flash and Arrow, and we’ve seen a villain mind control heroes to extend a crossover (Rainbow Raider during the first Flash–Arrow). The Dominators are non-descript, little green men from outer space trying to take over the world. Their story could resolve in less than one episode, and the Arrowverse will tack on two extra hours.

I haven’t given up hope, but this season (for Flash and Arrow) needs to take a bigger step forward after the mid-season break.

Thanks for reading.

Supergirl: “Medusa”

Kyle’s Thoughts

Halfway through “Medusa” I wondered if this was the week for the massive Arrowverse crossover. Most of this week’s Supergirl tied up loose ends—perhaps too well in typical CW fashion—and that was fun to watch. Supergirl continues to be the best of the CW superhero shows this year.

Cadmus eradicating aliens, Martian Manhunter turning into a white Martian, and Cyborg Superman converged and resolved in “Medusa.” I’m not sure if Cadmus will cease to be a threat now that Lillian Luthor (Lex and Lena’s mother) is behind bars. I’d hate to see her and Cadmus used as a mid-season threat and dropped. Everything I’ve said about Supergirl so far this season would lead you to believe that Cadmus won’t disappear, but I’ll give a quick spoiler to explain why we could’ve seen the last of Cadmus.

(Commence spoiler)

“Medusa” introduced a new alien race bent on finding and killing Mon-El. While this would be a great side-story, I’m not sure it can carry the second half of the season. Hopefully, we’ll see more Cadmus, Cyborg Superman, and Dr. Danvers (Alex’s dad).

(End spoiler)

The titular Medusa Project, designed by Kara’s father, gave Supergirl a way to connect with Lena Luthor (their parents are capable of mass destruction), but it did so well of a job of connecting these two that I never questioned Lena’s loyalty, despite her complicated mother-daughter relationship with Lillian. Supergirl could’ve played with this more but like most Arrowverse shows it hit warp drive.

Martian Manhunter benefited from the Medusa Project. The virus to end all aliens gave Alex’s mom the means with which to rid J’onn J’onnz of his white Martian blood. Again, this was rushed, but to be fair, J’onn turning into a white Martian was a plot device for him figuring out Miss Martian was a white Martian, so losing J’onn’s transformation to refocus on the two surviving Martians is a good trade.

I hope we haven’t seen the last of Cyborg Superman. The real Hank Henshaw makes a great foil for Kara and her team. Fortunately, I don’t think we have seen the last of him.

Supergirl toyed with Jimmy coming out as The Guardian. The show dropping it was a small mercy. I’ve been on record as saying Supergirl doesn’t need a huge team of heroes. The struggling sidekick has been done to death.

Romance has also been done to death on CW shows, but I don’t mind it as much on Supergirl. Maggie and Alex are officially together. I’m glad Supergirl continues to handle this relationship with class, but I’m also glad we’ve moved pass the will they or won’t they part of the story. The only potential hiccup with Magex—I’m not sure if they have a couple name or if I’m qualified to give them one, but I’m going with Magex—is whether their relationship will put the buddy-cop angle, which I enjoyed, in jeopardy. I’m not sure, but I’ll sit down and enjoy the ride while it lasts.

The Mon-El-Kara connection happened—sort of—and I liked the moment they shared when Mon-El was in quarantine. I was on the fence about these two getting together but I’m okay with it if Supergirl gives us more touching moments like the ones in “Medusa” before they become official. If Magex is any indication, Supergirl will develop these two as a couple, so I’m not too scared we’ll get a CW bed hopping scenario.

Oh, yeah, “Medusa” was the first leg of the Arrowverse crossover. Barry was teased in the episode, but he didn’t show up in earnest until the closing minutes. It was a fun moment. Cisco makes a quip about hoping he and Barry found the right reality or there’d be some confused people, when Kara comes home with groceries. She welcomes her old friend—or at least the friend she met last season—and shares a hug.

I’m sure the Arrowverse will thicken on the upcoming Flash, but “Medusa” was a fun episode that barely qualifies as a crossover, and that’s a breath of fresh air.

Thanks for reading.