Pictured (L-R): David Ramsey as John Diggle/Spartan and Grant Gustin as Barry Allen — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW
The Arrowverse was short a couple of shows this week, with Batwoman and Supergirl both on a brief hiatus. But this gave us some time to focus on the return of The Flash, the only show we hadn’t seen in a post-Crisis world.
As expected, things are just as different in Central City as they are elsewhere in the Arrowverse. How different? Read on. And beware SPOILERS ahead!
Pictured: Teesha Renee as Destiny, Rafael Castillo as Devonte Jones and William Catlett as Lala — Photo: Steve Dietl/The CW
Black Lightning Episode 312: “The Book of Markovia: Chapter Three”
Black Lightning is still struggling in comparison to the other Arrowverse shows, in my opinion. I know it just got introduced to the Arrowverse proper, but I’ve always felt it didn’t quite match its brethren for speed and excitement. Plus, I’m very lost on each character’s story — there may a bit too much going on for one episode.
This week’s episode channels Inception in a very intriguing way. No, Leonardo DiCaprio is not in it, but there’s definitely a lot of Inception-style stuff going on. As was revealed last week, Khalil’s soul (mind? something?) is still within Painkiller. Not only has TC learned this, but also that Khalil is still is in love with Jennifer.
This is enough to get Jennifer incredibly emotional about saving Khalil. I don’t know if this is how she is in the comics, but on the show, Jennifer’s emotions always get the best of her. She doesn’t seem to think through decisions and jumps to conclusions and actions.
Rescuing Khalil from inside Painkiller proves to be rather difficult, because the chip installed in his brain keeps him locked away and safe, but it’s also what helps his brain function. Without the chip, he’ll die altogether. See the problem here?
Team “Let’s Save Khalil” comes up with the idea of using a firewall to trap Painkiller and get Khalil out. While I wasn’t crazy about the episode, I did like how cool it looked when Jennifer and TC worked together to make this happen. It involved a lot of electricity, lightning and mental effort. And how cool was the scene where Khalil had to see memories of the horrible things he’s done as Painkiller? Super, super emotional.
Which brings me to my next point: even though they’ve gotten Khalil out, I don’t think it’s going to be very easy keeping him sane. He’s been through a lot, but I do hope that Black Lightning doesn’t ruin this storyline by dragging it on for too long. Give Khalil a break! And some normalcy!
In other parts of the episode, Jefferson and Anissa are busy figuring out a game plan to rescue Lynn, who was kidnapped by the Markovians last week. Does anyone else feel like Markovia is an evil version of Wakanda? It sounds like it, doesn’t it?
My heart goes out to Lynn, who is struggling with the Green Light addiction. It’s difficult to see her try (sort of) to get better but still be stuck helping out villains. We can only hope Jefferson and Anissa are able to rescue her once and for all.
This story just seems a little scrambled together. I don’t know who to worry about or focus on, which is why I can’t help but be a little let down when comparing this to the other Arrowverse shows.
I will say, however, that the end of the episode gave me hope for what’s to come next week, during Mission “Let’s Rescue Lynn.” Everyone is teaming up to save her; it’s probably one of the more exciting team-ups we’ve seen yet on the show. Everyone from Gambi to Jennifer to Grace is joining the effort, and I think that it might just bring Black Lightening the momentum it needs.
Grade: C+
Pictured (L-R): Grant Gustin as Barry Allen and Candice Patton as Iris West – Allen — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW
The Flash Episode 610: “Marathon”
The Flash is back after a post-Crisis hiatus, and it didn’t disappoint in the way I was bracing myself for. You see, a lot of this particular Arrowverse show has become centered around Barry and his guilt…for everything.
I was imagining that the episode after the Crisis and Oliver’s death would be spent with Barry down in the dumps blaming himself (even though there was nothing he could do). Luckily, this is not the case, thank goodness.
In fact, we spend less time with Barry and more time with Iris, which is a pleasant change. But the time we do spend with Barry revolves around Arrow’s Diggle (David Ramsay) showing up in Central City. Oliver’s will and testament provide that Barry get the mask he made Oliver back in the day.
Remember how I said that Barry would find some way to feel bad about what happened to Oliver? Well, that does happen, but luckily, we don’t spend the entire episode on it. While no one else in the world would hone in on such a tiny detail, Barry notices a mark on Oliver’s mask and immediately assumes it means something.
Further analysis shows that there is Mirakuru (the serum that gives you super-strength) on the mask. Barry has no chill, so he convinces a not-so-happy Diggle into zooming all the way to Lian Yu to figure things out.
Side note: Ramsay’s brief return to the Arrowverse was great. With all the hectic and stressful things that happen on Arrow, I forget how funny his performance is. Did anyone notice that his Central City field trip happens before the big Green Lantern moment we saw in the Arrow series finale? I know you were all looking for the ring just like I was. Looks like we have to wait.
As expected, Barry and Diggle’s trip to Lian Yu proves to be a dead-end because there is no Mirakuru left on the island. And as Diggle points out (after the fact, for some reason), just a couple of years ago, Oliver fought Deathstroke and his cronies there. That’s likely why there was Mirakuru on the mask. Why didn’t you say that before, Diggle?
Now, let’s talk about Iris. I enjoyed her arc in this episode more than anything else. She and Team Citizen are busy working on a mystery involving a tech company called McCulloch Technologies. While the investigation itself isn’t anything worth writing home about, I was very excited to see where we ended up.
Long story short, the head of McCulloch Technologies is connected with an organization by the name of Black Hole. Iris is dead set on exposing the story here, but meets resistance when the head of McCulloch Tech, Joseph Carver, hires a meta assassin (Dr. Light) to shut the story down. Despite everyone’s advice not to release the article, Iris does it anyway (of course) and then has a hit put out on her.
Iris manages to escape the multiple assassination attempts but loses her source along the way, thanks to Dr. Light (who is way more evil post-Crisis). This is a result of the Crisis turning old villains into new villains with extra/new abilities that they never had before (Cisco struggled a lot with this throughout the episode).
In the end, Iris comes out on top after threatening to expose Joseph as the leader of Black Hole. But then something even bigger happens. In the middle of the night, Iris has a random epiphany about something her source said, which leads her to McCulloch Technologies (for some reason they didn’t think to change their security protocol).
She walks into the office of Joseph’s wife, Eva, whom she believes has some connection with the mystery. She finds a huge mirror in the office and before we know it, Iris is pulled into the mirror! Is anyone else thinking what I’m thinking?
MIRROR MASTER?! Or better yet, IRIS IS THE NEW MIRROR MASTER? Please let that be the case.
Grade: B-
Pictured: Jes Macallen as Ava Sharpe — Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Episode 502: “Miss Me, Kiss Me, Love Me”
Strap in, Legends, we’re heading to the Golden Age of Hollywood this week! Oh, how I love this era! And there’s no Arrowverse show better suited to take us back to that time then DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.
I’ve come to notice that even when the story within a Legends episode isn’t that great, the cast more than makes up for it. It has been my favorite Arrowverse show since its second season, and two episodes into its fifth season, it hasn’t missed a beat.
As I mentioned, this week, we head to 1947 Hollywood after Constantine’s trip to hell reveals that Astra has released dead souls back onto Earth. One of the returned dead is mobster Bugsy Siegel.
Constantine, Sara and Ray tackle this dilemma by posing as private investigators when Bugsy’s girlfriend shows up asking for help. I loved seeing how the trio took on 1947; trust me when I say it was hilarious. Sara posed as a gossip reporter while Constantine put on an American accent. (So weird, right?) There’s something about this cast and their chemistry that just works in most any situation.
The Legends take down Bugsy, as expected, but along the way, we get some insight into another character who is going through a lot of changes: Ava. She was once in charge of the Time Bureau, but circumstances have changed drastically. She’s now taking a smaller role with the Legends, which has made her feel useless.
This is why, in an effort to create a diversion, a very drunk Ava performs Bell Biv DeVoe’s “Poison.” Seeing Ava live her best life is delightful, for us and for her.
Constantine’s arc ends on a complicated note. Bugsy blows up his girlfriend Jeanie’s car in an effort to head off any blackmail attempts, which prompts a very angry Constantine to take Bugsy to hell. But spoiler alert, he does not kill Astra as he probably should have.
I think my favorite part of the episode was Zari’s return, which is why I saved it for last. We haven’t seen her since history was altered to write her out and replace her with her brother Behrad. None of the Legends recognize her, but because of a cryptic message from a glitching Gideon, Nate is onto something. He joins Behrad on a trip home and comes face-to-face with Zari (if she was never a Legend), and she’s very different than what we remember. She’s a social media influencer with millions of followers, and the complete opposite of the Zari we love. I do hope we get her back at some point!
Nate recognizes Zari from the video Gideon showed him, but it’s hard for him to figure out what it all means. But after he mentions something about Behrad and Zari’s family totem, Zari is onto whatever her brother is hiding. Before she can tell their parents anything, Nate and Behrad take her onto the Waverider.
It’s the reunion we’ve been waiting a long time for. Will anything come of it? I’m crossing my fingers for the return of old Zari — should we start a petition?
Grade: B+
And that’s a wrap on the short week of Arrowverse shows! The Flash certainly had a lot to fill us in on in a post-Crisis world, and I’m super excited to see where Iris’ new arc takes us, especially if it involves Mirror Master. I love the Flash’s Rogues Gallery, and if a post-Crisis world is going to give us that, I’m ready!
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