Arrowverse Roundup - Week 24 Review


And then there were three. There is only Supergirl, The Flash and Arrow left in the Arrowverse for the rest of the season. All three had some strong episodes, and some wonderful character moments. There was also an actor who appeared in 2 out of the 3 shows. Continue reading to find out who, as well as some other thoughts and analysis about the episodes. Just like the 23 times before this, there will be spoilers for these episodes if you have not seen them yet.

You can see all of this season's reviews right here.



Supergirl - Episode 3.15 - "In Search of Lost Time"


The journey towards finding the third World Killer, "Pestilence" is well on its way, and should carry us to the end of the season. But the focus of the episode was character relationships - Supergirl and (a suited up) Mon-El was one. 

They had to train together, (#CapeTricks) and were still figuring things out. Because of M'yrnn and his psychic episodes, Kara went off on Mon-El, and they got to the bottom of their feelings, or so it seems. I have a feeling I know what will happen by season's end, but we shall see. There might be another wrench thrown in there that changes things.

The other, was the continued saga of J'onn and his father M'yrnn who is dealing with having Martian dementia. Since M'yrnn can do things that human beings can't, it is dangerous for him to be around people. He turned the entire DEO into a warzone, because his psychic waves brought out aggression in people.

The best relationship here though, was that of Lena Luthor and Sam Arias. Lena knows she is Reign, and told Sam. That did not go over well, so Lena had to trick Sam into turning into Reign so Sam would believe her. Now Sam knows she is Reign too. That is huge, and might be the key to defeating her. I can see it go the way of Eddie Thawne from The Flash.

All of these things together could make for a sloppy episode, but it wasn't. It was actually one of the best episodes of the entire season - maybe even the entire series. The cast brought their A-Game, but no one more than David Harewood, who gave an absolutely heartbreaking performance. The way they handled dementia, just like the way they handled someone coming out of the closet, was done thoughtfully, and respectfully. I hope the show finds more reasons for Harewood to be able to flex his acting muscle like that in the future.

The end of the episode showed Mon-El flying with Kara, and then birds started falling out of the sky. It was reminiscent of a biblical plague. This is the beginning of "Pestilence" which I assume will take up the next 8 episodes.

More Supergirl like this one, please CW. It was great.

The Flash - Episode 4.19 - "Fury Rogue"


All hail Rachel Talalay...and Wentworth Miller...and Arrow crossovers. This episode had all three! Talalay is one of the best directors working today. She has done a handful of Doctor Who episodes, and now she has a handful of The Flash's under her belt as well.

In November of last year, Wentworth Miller announced he was shooting some of his last ever scenes as Captain Cold/Leonard Snart. This was the episode he was talking about, unless they filmed a couple things for the finale or something. He is done, which is a shame. Miller was by far one of the best actors in the entire Arrowverse. Which is why I am happy they used him effectively, and didn't squander him like Arrow did with Colton Haynes this season.

Snart was brought in for weak story reasons, but powerful character reasons. He had to help Barry get over the loss of Ralph. It worked too. Barry's guilt about Ralph will never go away, but he will use that to make himself a better person. Talalay masterfully framed the narrative to show how to deal with grief, pain, and loss too. Between that and Supergirl dealing with dementia, these shows are tackling some serious issues.

We finally got to the bottom of what happened to Wells after using the thinking cap. He is losing his intelligence. Hopefully it is a problem they can fix. If not, maybe that is how he exits the show. Tom Cavanagh is the best actor on the show, and so I hope it is not a permanent exit if this is the demise of Wells from Earth-2. This is one of the strongest arcs a Cavanagh character on The Flash has had. He has played 3 different Wells's from 3 different Earths. There have actually been quick appearances of a few more than that. But he was the only actor in the Arrowverse to have that many....until now.

Katie Cassidy was the Laurel Lance from Earth-X in this episode, who had followed Snart to Earth-1. So she's played Black Canary, Black Siren, and Siren-X. It was fun to see, as the last remnants of the Nazi regime on Earth-X. She had sonar, which is something the other versions don't have. So at least something new was brought to the table.

Marlize DeVoe is closer than ever to turning on her husband. She is not in love with DeVoe anymore, and he still has the drug to keep her obedient if need be. Even with his old face back, she still hates what he has become. DeVoe's biggest weakness is that he can not anticipate human emotion. He doesn't take things like grief, sadness, and heartbreak into consideration. That will be his downfall.

Joe and Barry had a moment, which was nice. Joe hasn't had much to do as of late, and his moments with Barry are still the heart and soul of the show.

Talalay did a good job, and so did the writers. This was one of the stronger episode's of the season.

When Snart left to go back to his Earth, he did leave the door open for his return. If that is the last time Wentworth Miller ever appears in this universe though, it was a good arc for both versions that he played. I hope Miller is up to at least coming back for the crossover every year. That way it keeps it special, and we still get the treat of seeing him every year.

Between the Thinker, Wells problem, Cisco's offer, and Caitlin's desire for Killer Frost to return, there is a lot of ground to cover in the next four episodes. Hopefully that means they will all be powerful episodes, and not filler.

Arrow - Episode 6.20 - "Shifting Allegiances"


The third act of the season has officially begun. Things have never been more dire for Oliver Queen. He did get one small victory though, and that is that Anatoly is back on his side.

It took a lot to get that though. He get beat nearly to death by Diaz, and then got arrested with his bail revoked. He is facing life in prison. Now, there was an old Green Arrow movie pitched back in the day called Supermax. Basically, Oliver Queen was put into a maximum security prison filled with all kinds of DC super villains, and had to escape. I doubt season 7 would be dedicated fully to that - but a few episodes might be fun, especially if it is in the meta-human prison from The Flash.

Meanwhile, Rene was finally back home and ready to get back to action. But his fear of dying stemmed from losing his daughter Zoe. So he benched himself until he could get over it. He seems to be getting there, after Zoe told him that she knows what he does and is okay with it. It has a lot of parallels to Oliver and William, actually.

Diggle is thriving at ARGUS, and through that, he was able to make amends with "New Team Arrow". Not sure what the future there is, but it opens up some exciting possibilities. It gave us back the big brother/little brother thing that Diggle and Rene have which is nice.

Diaz revealed himself to the new mayor - Quentin Lance. It is still ambiguous as to whether Laurel is playing him or Diaz, there are always clues to both sides presented. Personally, I think Laurel will help Quentin and turn on Diaz. But I have been wrong before. They like full circles though, which means that Quentin would die, and this Laurel rededicates her life to helping Oliver and the newly formed Team Arrow (whenever that inevitability happens).

There was a throwaway reference to there being a Damien Darhk on Earth-2. That planted seed could come back later, whether it is this show or Legends. Also, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Curtis made a Power Rangers reference this episode. I love it when my fandoms collide.

The fight scene between Oliver and Diaz was unique in that there was no music. It was guttural. All you could hear was punching and spitting and blood being drawn between camera cuts. Music usually always enhances a scene. In this case, its absence is what made it powerful.

There are three episodes left, and the characters are in dire straights. The train hasn't arrived at the station, but it is approaching the stop. The next few weeks should be interesting.

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