Arrowverse Roundup - Week 32 Review

When I started reviewing the Arrowverse, I didn't know if I'd still be doing it 31 posts later. But here we are. For all its faults, its a universe that I love and I plan to continue to do this again. This is the 32nd week of the year that some sort of DC Comics show was on The CW. So only having 20 weeks out of the year where none of the shows are on is pretty good. My review on the Supergirl finale is below, and there are spoilers throughout if you have not watched the episode yet.

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

Supergirl - Episode 3.23 - "Battles Lost And Won"

While at times it was a struggle to get here, the finale, for the most part, was worth it. It was oddly similar to The Flash finale in a few ways.

The biggest one, was that the big bad villain of the year was defeated at the end of the second act. (If you divide it into three acts - most serialized television shows have 6 acts actually). It was like that with DeVoe on The Flash as well. The rest of the episode was used to finish character stories, which will bleed into the show next year.

They addressed one of my biggest beefs - and that was ignoring that Superman exists. Again, I know he can't swoop in and help at every turn, and I don't want him to. But for threats that are bigger than National City to be happening and they ignore that he is around is such a bad move. They did exactly what they needed to. There was a quick newsflash of Superman securing Madagascar with James commenting on it. The entire thing was maybe 8 seconds. That is all that was needed.

Speaking of Madagascar, Myr'nn and J'onn went there to help as well - and that is where Myr'nn finally perished. Myr'nn died a hero, saving Earth, instead of a frustrated old man who has lost himself. That will mean the world (no pun intended) to J'onn. Which is why his character path makes sense. They built up his death for a long time, so I am glad it was a satisfying one.

J'onn promoted Alex to director of the DEO, and left. He made it clear he is coming back, and will still help. But he wanted to go explore the planet he has called home, the planet that his father died to protect because he calls it home. If The CW had the budget, a TV Movie of his adventures around the world could be fun to see. But we'll get the cliffnotes version when the show returns in the fall.

Alex wanting to be a mother has been hugely prevalent throughout the entire season. Her quitting the DEO speaks to how much she wants that. Instead she got promoted, which is much better for show reasons obviously, as she gets to stay "in the fight" and go through the adoption process. These shows are great at having their cake and eating it too. 

I hope Ruby and Sam stick around, but I can only think of one possible path for each of them: Ruby can help Alex with the adoption agencies, and Sam can help Lena with whatever crazy thing she is working on. 

That was the strangest teaser at the end of the season. Lena is up to something that involves Supergirl - or a doppelganger of her - and the intentions seem...less than pure. They have done a very good job in convincing me that Lena Luthor will not become a villain. I never believed it. I have been conditioned my entire life not to believe it. But I do now. For them to undo that could be a huge mistake.

James Olsen came out of the closet - as Guardian. The ramifications of that will be severe. Maybe it is planting a seed for him to leave this Earth for a while and go join the Legends on Earth-1 for a little bit (I've been wanting this for a while). The important stuff will be dealt with in house, but a Legends sabbatical could be a lot of fun, especially because he mostly missed out on the crossover last year.

Winn and Mon-El going to the future is not something I saw coming. I figured they'd both be around next season. It turns out that Winn will only be a "recurring" character next season, and Mon-El isn't returning at all. I enjoyed Winn's character so him leaving is a bummer, but we get Brainiac-5 as a regular, which could potentially be a lot of fun. If they can pull off bringing the original Brainiac into the show, that would be amazing. That is the reason Brainy couldn't go back to the future after all, evil Brainiac wants to delete all androids of that era.

I had always maintained that Ruby would be the key to defeating Reign, but turns out it was Sam. She found the strength to be the one to survive. It wasn't what I was expecting. Neither was Coville's redemption, which gave the team the location of Reign. I expect to seem again now though.

Perhaps the best part of the episode though, was Supergirl's tribute to Richard Donner's Superman. Things went wrong, Reign killed most of the team, so Supergirl went back in time to redo the situation and got it right this time. Time travel through the Legion had been done before, so it wasn't completely out of left field. It was a fun tribute, and a great way to prove to Supergirl that her morals and code of ethics are correct.

Overall, this was a strong finale. I just wish the journey getting there would have been smoother. The cast is changing quite a bit next year, maybe they ironed out the kinks, and next season will go a bit better.

***

My Arrowverse Roundups will return when the new season starts! Thanks for reading!