Arrowverse Roundup - Week 14 Review
There was a light load this week in the Arrowverse, but it was also the return of the Legends. It is nice to see one of the funnest shows on TV come back, especially with the special guest that it had! Black Lightning also aired, and we finally got some serious storytelling done from it! Continue reading to see my reviews of the two Arrowverse episodes this week, and as always, know that there will be spoilers throughout.
You can see all of this season's reviews right here.
Legends of Tomorrow - Episode 3.10 - "Daddy Darhkest"
Matt Ryan was in a short lived Constantine NBC show. It was only one season. Since then, he has played the character several times. Once on Arrow, an animated CW Seed show, and an animated DC movie unrelated to the Arrowverse. His appearance in Legends of Tomorrow however, is where he fits in the most.
If you watch Arrow you know that Sara and Constantine are deeply intertwined. He essentially was able to bring her back to life and restore her soul. The episode began with him on a normal adventure, like his NBC show never stopped. It then seamlessly blended into the weird goings-on with the Legends.
It was also directly related to the main plot of the season, which was an awesome choice. To have Constantine show up for a filler episode would have been an insult to the character. The only tragedy is that he isn't sticking around to join them full time - at least for the rest of the season.
The episode focused on the Legends exorcising Damien Darhk's daughter - information that was maybe supposed to be a surprise. The only problem with that is the title "Daddy Darhkest" sort of gives it away. But that's okay, it was still compelling. What I don't understand is Damien Darhk's life. He was killed in Arrow, but returned in Legends because of Thawne. That I can understand and get behind. But now he is back again. I don't get how, or why he needs his daughter to help him comeback fully. I also don't know what his end game is. Wouldn't he want even more revenge on Oliver Queen? To me, the trajectory would be for him to return to Arrow to reek havoc once again. I hope that doesn't happen though, because the Darhk season of Arrow was its weakest.
Leo Snart, from Earth-X is still around, and the banter was fun between him and Constantine. Try to follow this: Leo Snart's boyfriend is The Ray from Earth-X played by Russell Tovey, a Doctor Who alum. In Doctor Who Russell Tovey played a character named Alonso Frame. He met David Tennant's Tenth Doctor. The Tenth Doctor would always like to say "Allons-y!" and remarked once that he would like to meet someone named Alonso so he could say "Allons-y, Alonso!" The Doctor got his wish when he met Russell Tovey's character in the Christmas special "Voyage of the Damned". Constantine, Sara, Nate, and Leo were going down a hallway, Sara left down the hall for a second, which bought the others time. Constantine looked right at Leo, who knows Russell Tovey's Ray and said "Allons-y, Alonso," and they shuffled off to where they needed to go.
This is by far my favorite reference in the Arrowverse thus far. It is very inside for another show. It means nothing in the grand scheme of this universe, so the writers of the episode must be Doctor Who fans. I knew that a lot of them were, with their use of Arthur Darvill, John Barrowman and Alex Kingston, how could they not be? But this was the most on the nose Doctor Who reference in the history of the Arrowverse - besides when it was mentioned that the Doctor would be female in episode 5 of The Flash this season.
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| That Doctor Who reference was right on the nose. The Legends of Tomorrow writers are definitely fans! |
The show also took time to explore the Ava Sharpe/Sara Lance dynamic. That will definitely evolve into something more significant than it is now. We were treated to a lot of character development for Sara this week. This is one of, if not the, first time that we have heard her talk about still battling what she went through on Arrow.
At the end of the episode, Leo Snart left to go back to his Earth. If that was the last episode of the Arrowverse that we ever see Wentworth Miller in, then I am glad he got to be the hero he deserved to be. Miller was one of the strongest actors in any of the 5 shows. It does feel like that is the last time we will see him, but I'm glad they left the door open for him to come back if Miller ever so chooses.
Overall, this was a strong return for the show. There are some wonderful additions coming to the show, and the revelation that Rip Hunter escaped opens the door to see him again as well. It seems like we are gearing up for one of the best tail ends of the show yet. Bring on next week, where it looks like they are all stuck in a time loop! Let's hope it is not too much of a filler episode.
Black Lightning - Episode 1.05 - "And Then the Devil Brought the Plague: The Book of Green Light"
For an episode with such a clunky title, it certainly had a lot going for it. This is the first time we got depth from anyone other Jefferson. The episode explored the history of the Pierce family, gave us more of Jennifer's journey and even added nuance to Tobias Whale.
Both daughters started their journeys down their inevitable fates. Anissa already has a "super suit", because she jumped completely head first into this. Jennifer easily won a fight against two girls, and in the process found something she is good at other than track.
Let's start with Tobias though. It was revealed that he had taken some sort of anti-aging serum, and that he knows who Peter Gambi is. Gambi is the one I can't figure out. He isn't in league with Tobias but he's keeping secrets from Jefferson. I am not sure what his agenda is, but it intrigues me. But Tobias won some sympathy points when it showed his relationship with his father. Tobias did end up killing him, but at least his character gained some much needed depth and context.
Anissa started researching her grandfather who was murdered, in hopes of unlocking the secret to her powers. (She actually did some research on a computer this time instead of a library!) She doesn't know her dad has them, so her journey is more difficult than it should be. But she has uncovered more than she was looking for, and the unpublished articles that got him killed are enticing to the audience. I hope Anissa and Jefferson's journeys converge, and they team up sooner, rather than later. But we'll see. We might be in for a long, drawn out process.
We are done with the "repeat the pilot" formula that so many shows fall victim to. Black Lightning finally got to start to tell the story it wants to. In fact, we saw absolutely nothing of Jefferson being a principal, or any school politics or anything like that. It was all superhero business, and some domestic life.
Jefferson has a new problem on his hands however, and that is that he is being weakened by something. His powers themselves, or them in combination with the new suit, is creating a toxic situation for him. That is the perfect opportunity for his girls to step up, and for him to only go into the field sparingly. But that seems like a long way off yet.
Jennifer might have super strength. As mentioned above, she certainly took down two girls who were trying to fight her with relative ease. There was a scene that I took as foreshadowing though, and that is when Jefferson tried to impart wisdom on her, and she sarcastically called Jefferson "Yoda". Jefferson, in turn, called Jennifer his "padawan". It could be more on the nose than we realize when she gets trained by him in the future.
This episode was a gigantic step forward. It put the show on track to cruise into the finale, and I hope more episodes are like this. The school aspect, while it shouldn't be forgotten because that human side of Jefferson needs to be at the forefront - doesn't have to be featured in every episode. Only show it when there is a story to tell, and let it mean something.
Next episode looks like we will get continuations of all of the story arcs that we were presented with this time. We are approaching the midpoint of the season, and it feels like we are just getting started.
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Next week it looks like Legends of Tomorrow is flying solo, so come back to read my review of that. What was your favorite part of the Arrowverse this week?
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