Into The Arrowverse: We review the heartrending end to the Crisis on Infinite Earths
By Ariba Bhuvad
Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW
Arrow Episode 808: “Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part 4”
First off, did anyone else devastatingly realize that this was the second-to-last episode where we would get to see Stephen Amell? There are two more episodes left of Arrow’s final season, and the next one is the Canaries backdoor pilot. I’m assuming we’ll see Amell in the series finale (at least I hope so!), so yes, we have essentially seen the last of the hero that started it all.
I have so many thoughts and feelings about the crossover in general, but the final two parts were nothing short of spectacular. The Arrow portion of the Crisis finale begins with the Monitor’s origin story, dating back about 10,000 years. If you’re not sure why he looks so different, it’s the lack of facial hair.
We also meet the Monitor’s wife, Xneen, whom he loves. We’ve only seen the Monitor in a very serious way, so it was nice to see him with his guard down.
In this flashback sequence, it’s established that the Anti-Monitor came into existence because of the Monitor traveling to the Dawn of Time. This moment sets the stage for the rest of the episode, and eventually circles its way back to it, but more on that later.
We last left the seven Paragons at the Vanishing Point, and when we see them again, it’s apparent that some time has gone by. Ryan Choi is even sporting a long beard! Everyone is in pretty gloomy spirits and doing their own thing, while the Flash is MIA since running into the Speed Force some months back.
But the Speed Force spits him back out, and the Flash returns. To him, it felt like a matter of seconds had passed, but in reality, months had gone by. His attempt to get the Paragons out of the Vanishing Point via the Speed Force didn’t pan out, and now it seems they are stuck forever.
But have no worry, for Oliver Queen, err, the Spectre is here! At the end of Part 4, Arrowverse fans were excited to see Jim Corrigan pop up. He is known as the Spectre, but his powers got passed onto Oliver, who is officially the Spectre when he shows up at the Vanishing Point.
Of all the ways Oliver could have stuck around, this was absolutely the way to do it. It wasn’t forced, it wasn’t over the top, and it made absolute and complete sense. As the Spectre, Oliver comes with a plan to get the heroes out of the Vanishing Point.
Basically, some of the Paragons will venture to the Dawn of Time while Ryan, Lex, and Supergirl travel back in time to Malthus to stop Mar Novu from accidentally creating the Anti-Monitor. Unfortunately, their efforts are wasted because he pops up anyway. (Mar Novu just can’t stop experimenting with time!)
And then comes the moment none of us were expecting. In fact, I still can’t believe it happened. I woke up this morning thinking it was all a dream, but nope, rest assured this went down.
To backtrack a little, the Speed Force field trip is short-lived because the Anti-Monitor knocks right into it. Thanks to our new Spectre, Barry manages to keep everyone together, but must sort through Oliver’s memories to find all of them.
As Barry makes his way through the memories, he finds himself in S.T.A.R. Labs, where he meets another Flash. A very unexpected version of the Flash. Are you ready for it? IT WAS EZRA FREAKING MILLER FROM THE DC MOVIES! I don’t know how this was pulled off or who was responsible for it, but it was an absolute shock. Never in my life did I imagine we’d see any sort of crossover or connection between the DC movies and the CW DCTV shows.
Arrow — “Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Four” — Image Number: AR808c_0501ra.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Ezra Miller as Barry Allen and Grant Gustin as Barry Allen/The Flash — Photo: Jeff Weddell/The CW — © 2020 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Every moment of their brief interaction was amazing and hilarious. Miller’s Flash was confused as heck over who Barry was, and his antics were a wonderful reminder of how great he is at playing this character. It’s a shame this is the first time we’ve seen him as the Flash in forever, but it was most definitely the best way to see him again.
Okay, moving on from the most epic cameo ever, Barry manages to collect his friends hidden in Oliver’s memories, which featured some beautiful camera work. Every time Barry would show up in a memory, the characters would be caught off-guard and react with hilarious confusion over his presence. But in the end, he got everyone together.
With the Paragons now standing together at the Dawn of Time, the battle ahead of them seems daunting and overwhelming. But this fight sequence instantly became my favorite from the Arrowverse. The special effects, the fighting, and everyone working together to kick ass was everything we could have wanted from a final battle.
While the Paragons are busy fighting off the dementor-looking spirits, Oliver-Spectre faces off with the Anti-Monitor. During the fight, the Paragons realize the universe has to be reborn. (DC Rebirth, anyone?) This scene could have been way better considering they had the Book of Destiny with them and an arsenal of powers. Unfortunately, it was very anti-climactic because they just sort of stood there.
However, whatever they did, it was enough to take out the Anti-Monitor but was too much for our dear Oliver/Spectre. It actually hit me here that we were losing Oliver for good, and that this would be his final moment. When they showed his death before, I didn’t quite feel like he was gone, and I felt disappointed that his death would have so little impact. But the Arrowverse made up for it here and had me ugly sobbing as Oliver took his final breaths, just as the universe began its rebirth. Ironic, much?