Pictured (L-R): Katee Sackhoff as Amunet Black, Candice Patton as Iris West – Allen and Grant Gustin as Barry Allen — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW
With Supergirl and Batwoman still on hiatus, the Arrowverse keeps things light this week, particularly with another hilarious, wacky episode of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. At this point, the series has yet to disappoint me — I love it!
Meanwhile, The Flash struggles to hold on as a filler semi-Valentine’s Day episode fails to live up to post-Crisis standards. You would think they could keep the hype going, but alas, this isn’t the case. Luckily, Legends an electrifying team crossover on Black Lightening make up for it.
Let’s get right into this week’s Arrowverse shows! As always, beware SPOILERS ahead!
Pictured (L-R): Behind the scenes with Nafessa Williams, Cress Williams and China Anne McClain — Photo: Jace Downs/The CW
Black Lightning Episode 313: “The Book of Markovia: Chapter Four”
Alright, alright, Black Lightning, we see you, and we appreciate you. Out of all the Arrowverse shows, I’ll be honest and say this is my least favorite. However, this week there was something exciting about the series: a team crossover!
It’s not Crisis level, of course, but it is pretty darn cool. Since Black Lightning first premiered, I think many of its fans have been waiting to see the father/daughters team-up, and it finally happened. Lightning, Thunder and Black Lightning assemble!
Team Black Lightning heads to Markovia, which sounds like the DC version of Wakanda, to save Lynn. But the team doesn’t just include family members; they’ve got Gambi, Khalil, Grace, TC, Brandon, Erica and Gardner there, too!
It’s a pretty fun episode as far as kicking butt goes, but of course, it’s not all fun and games. The mission is to save Lynn, and springing her from a heavily guarded Markovian compound won’t be easy. Thankfully, everyone has a shining moment, and we were so here for it.
Brandon goes wild in his pursuit to find Jace as Black Lightning, Thunder and Erica work their way through the most impossible door ever, and then there’s the showdown between Khalil and Gravedigger (Hi, Wayne Brady!). That fight was everything, and I honestly wish we could have had more of it.
And there was one more thing tacked onto Team Black Lightning’s to-do list: bring back Tobias. Blech.
I almost thought this episode was going to disappoint in its final moments after Gravedigger manages to beat Black Lightning. And I felt this way because Lynn agreed to go back with him. Imagine if this rescue mission was an epic waste of time?!
But never fear, Black Lightning is here! Not only does he take down Gravedigger, but he makes this entire mission worth it. Of course, this will not be the end of it, and that’s where the episode lets me down. I want the Markovia storyline to come to an end, and it seems like there’s still more where that’s coming from.
Let’s hope we move on from all of this sooner rather than later!
Grade: B-
Pictured (L-R): Grant Gustin as Barry Allen and Candice Patton as Iris West – Allen — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW
The Flash Episode 611: “Love Is a Battlefield”
Arrow was always my favorite Arrowverse show, and I’m still grieving. Now that it’s gone, we have to move on, but it’s hard not to think about better days when watching middling episodes of The Flash like “Love Is a Battlefield.”
Sure, there are a few moments of fun and excitement, but overall, this really felt like a filler episode, a Valentine’s Day outing coming out just in time for the romantic holiday.
For once in their lives, Barry and Iris decide to take a break and go out for Valentine’s Day. Unfortunately, Amunet returns to cause chaos, and we start to see changes in Iris’ behavior.
In last week’s episode, Iris went to check on a lead and ended up getting sucked into a mirror. I’m hoping that this is going down the Mirror Master route, but it remains unclear. Anyway, whatever happened to Iris there, she’s definitely different. She’s aggressive, careless, reckless and more confident than usual. She explains it away to Barry as her finding herself during the Crisis. She thought Barry was going to die so she put her priorities in place and began to prepare for a life without him.
This certainly doesn’t sound like Iris, and it’s weird to me that Barry is so naive as to not think twice about it. He thinks they’re having relationship problems, but this Iris is drastically different. I’m not sure if this is a plot hole, but it’s hard to believe.
The meta-case of the week goes hand-in-hand with Iris’ behavior as she forces her way into the case against Amunet and her ex-boyfriend, Goldface. They’re trying to get their hands on a plant that only blooms every 25 years. The pollen of this plant gives you mind control abilities, but while Amunet and Goldface are fighting, Iris tells Barry to light the plant on fire so it will effect the fighting ex-couple.
The plant’s pollen allows them to know each other’s thoughts, and yes, they’re still in love, so that solves that issue. And that’s basically the gist of what happens this week.
But wait, I have to tell you the coolest part of the episode: Barry and Iris are hugging one another after their whirlwind adventure, and then…something interesting happens. The camera zooms in on the mirror behind them and we see the real Iris shouting for her life, hoping to get Barry’s attention. It turns out that the Iris with Barry isn’t the actual Iris, and the real Iris is stuck in the mirror.
Well, then.
Grade: C+
Pictured (L-R): Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer/Atom and Nick Zano as Nate Heywood/Steel — Photo: Jeff Weddell/The CW
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Episode 503: “Slay Anything”
We finally arrive at the best Arrowverse show of the week! Legends always knows how to put a smile on my face and manages to make me laugh through the entire hour, every time. And this week, we went back in time to the ’80s, and it was all sorts of great.
If you’re a fan of the ’80s, then you know it was the era of the slasher films, and that’s exactly what Legends channels this week with fictional serial killer Freddy Myers (get it, guys? FREDDY Krueger, Michael MYERS). It’s all very tongue-in-cheek and clever.
The Legends’ mission this week is to stop Freddy Myers from killing his classmates during the prom in 1989. You see, Myers was executed in 2004 and then came back from Hell. His first stop? His class’ 15-year reunion, the perfect place to exact revenge for those that hurt him during high school, according to him.
While Sara, Ava, and Mick try to figure things out at the reunion, Ray, Nora, and Nate are back in 1989 trying to stop young Freddy Myers from ever committing the murders that got him sent to prison. It all culminates in the usual goofy antics of the Legends as they try to get things done.
I loved all the ’80s references in this episode, especially the episode name, “Slay Anything.” Could they get more clever? Yes they could. Between the names, the clothes, the music, and all the dialogue, this episode was everything fans of the ’80s would want and expect.
So, how did their plan actually go down? Basically, 1989 Freddy was asked out to prom by the popular girl in school. This was a ruse to pull a prank on him, but we’ll get to that in a second. Nervous as he was, he ended up subconsciously calling Nora (remember she’s a fairy godmother now) and she took the opportunity to coach him through things.
At the dance, we learn that the prank was to throw a bunch of garbage on Freddy’s head while he’s dancing with his date. But she changes her mind last minute and pulls him away. Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop the bullies from doing their thing and letting him know what was about to go down.
The reason I’m going into detail here is because this all leads to the revelation that despite calming Freddy down in the past, there is still a serial killer on the loose in 2004. And that’s because, well, the serial killer was never Freddy; it was his emotionally disturbed mother who lost her son over something she caused.
Pretty nutty, right? I didn’t see the mother twist coming at all, although it fits because it’s an homage to another ’80s slasher movie: Friday the 13th. Bravo, Legends. Mystery, suspense, and a plot twist!
It’s worth mentioning that throughout the episode, Zari is tagging along (mostly in the Waverider, until the very end). She manages to get out of the ship and gets into a little bit of trouble. But never fear, her brother Behrad is here! And after seeing what he actually does instead of business school, Zari decides to stick around with the Legends for a bit longer. Maybe she’ll get her memory back?
Grade: B+
The Arrowverse is going to be a bit busier heading into next week as Supergirl and Batwoman return. I think it’ll be nice to get back to some more stories from some of our favorite Arrowverse superheroes. So far, the Legends have been holding up the fort in Arrow’s absence, and we definitely need the others back.
What was your favorite episode of the week? Tell us below, and let’s discuss!
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