2018-2019 Arrowverse Roundup - Week 25 Review
This week had a lot of interesting things happen in each episode that aired. The tail end of the seasons always have big things happen. Each episode had something unique going for it. You can read about it in more detail below.
You can read all of this season's Arrowverse reviews right here.
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Supergirl - Episode 4.19 - "American Dreamer"
This episode of Supergirl took a page out of Arrow and sidelined the main hero for other ones. The story reason here made sense though. It also gave Dreamer the time to shine and come into her own. The show has really tackled a lot of relevant issues lately, like immigration and freedom of the press. The immigration thing has been all season long, but making Kara Danvers a reporter over Supergirl, deals with the second thing too.
I was pleasantly surprised seeing how much character development the episode contained for James. They have squandered him, and it seemed they didn't really know what to do with him. But now that he had a near death experience, and is back with super abilities, gives him something. Bringing his sister in the mix, and having him deal with a childhood trauma gave us a much needed arc for him. The whole "mind palace" thing is actually a really cool storytelling device that the show has stumbled on to. This isn't the first time it was used, and I doubt it will be the last.
Lockwood's kid having second thoughts is great. He might be the ace in the hole to defeating him. It is a little reminiscent last year, with Reign and her daughter, but it is working.
The episode was directed by David Harewood, who plays J'onn Jones. This was his first time directing anything, and he did a good job. There was a lot of emotional moments in the episode on all fronts, and for Harewood to get that out his actors was pretty impressive.
Nicole Maines gave her best performance as Nia Nal yet. Between Harewood's direction, and the strong emotional script, she was able to do a lot. It was fun watching her work.
Things are gearing up for the finale, and I love how much of an impact Lex Luthor has had on this season. Hopefully he can be used in future seasons.
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This episode of Supergirl took a page out of Arrow and sidelined the main hero for other ones. The story reason here made sense though. It also gave Dreamer the time to shine and come into her own. The show has really tackled a lot of relevant issues lately, like immigration and freedom of the press. The immigration thing has been all season long, but making Kara Danvers a reporter over Supergirl, deals with the second thing too.
I was pleasantly surprised seeing how much character development the episode contained for James. They have squandered him, and it seemed they didn't really know what to do with him. But now that he had a near death experience, and is back with super abilities, gives him something. Bringing his sister in the mix, and having him deal with a childhood trauma gave us a much needed arc for him. The whole "mind palace" thing is actually a really cool storytelling device that the show has stumbled on to. This isn't the first time it was used, and I doubt it will be the last.
Lockwood's kid having second thoughts is great. He might be the ace in the hole to defeating him. It is a little reminiscent last year, with Reign and her daughter, but it is working.
Nicole Maines gave her best performance as Nia Nal yet. Between Harewood's direction, and the strong emotional script, she was able to do a lot. It was fun watching her work.
Things are gearing up for the finale, and I love how much of an impact Lex Luthor has had on this season. Hopefully he can be used in future seasons.
Arrow - Episode 7.20 - "Confessions"
Being so close to the end of Arrow forever, it is great that the show is still willing to try new things. They've never done a cover up, alt history, or classic whodunnit before. This did all three at the same time.
I wasn't a fan of what they were doing, especially because of the way Dinah was handling things, until we found out the truth. When it was revealed Roy killed those guards, I instantly thought Mirakuru. So the real answer, blood lust from resurrection through the Lazarus Pit, was quite a nice surprise.
I am glad we finally got to see Roy meet Dinah and Rene. It was referenced several times that they had known each other in the future, and even went and had tattoos put them with special significance. But up until this episode, we had never seen Roy meet any of the new people.
While Emiko's motivations are very clear, she did get a bit "mustache-twirly" this time. She can incriminate Roy for the murders, which will make a mess of things.
There are only a few episodes left this season, and then just 10 after that before Arrow bows out for good. Things need to be a bit more focused than they are. They keep introducing new elements instead of resolving old ones. Hopefully everything will work out.
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Legends Of Tomorrow - Episode 4.13 - "Egg MacGuffin"
It was fun to see Ray Palmer have something to do. He was this great tech genius in Arrow, and became the Atom. They have slowly made him get away from that in Legends. It is a bit of a shame. But being possessed by Neron gave Brandon Routh something great to sink his teeth into.
The show also treaded water around Nate and Zari. They've been teasing their relationship for a while, only for them to end up right back where they started. They kissed, sure. But it took a long time to get there. The set up felt like there would be more of a resolution.
They were the b-plot, which was fun to watch. The show leaned heavily on an Indiana Jones theme, which was done quite well.
Constantine had a small victory in waking up Nora. That is exactly what he needed. Sometimes a morale booster like that will do wonders.
Rory got a story too. He hasn't had one in a long time. He has been drinking beer in the background pretty much the whole season. For them to continue (and double down) on his erotic novel story line was kind of out of nowhere, as this is the first time it has been dealt with in a long time. But it was entertaining having him and Charlie navigate those waters. At the end of the day, I guess that is all that matters. I wish they would have made the real of Rory being the real author better though. Mona jumping in was really annoying.
Hopefully now that Gary is Neron, and Ray isn't, that they can give Ray a real story. Maybe it'll be his relationship with Nora. Even Nora is getting a story outside of that, since she is officially a Time Bureau member now.
The show also treaded water around Nate and Zari. They've been teasing their relationship for a while, only for them to end up right back where they started. They kissed, sure. But it took a long time to get there. The set up felt like there would be more of a resolution.
They were the b-plot, which was fun to watch. The show leaned heavily on an Indiana Jones theme, which was done quite well.
Constantine had a small victory in waking up Nora. That is exactly what he needed. Sometimes a morale booster like that will do wonders.
Rory got a story too. He hasn't had one in a long time. He has been drinking beer in the background pretty much the whole season. For them to continue (and double down) on his erotic novel story line was kind of out of nowhere, as this is the first time it has been dealt with in a long time. But it was entertaining having him and Charlie navigate those waters. At the end of the day, I guess that is all that matters. I wish they would have made the real of Rory being the real author better though. Mona jumping in was really annoying.
Hopefully now that Gary is Neron, and Ray isn't, that they can give Ray a real story. Maybe it'll be his relationship with Nora. Even Nora is getting a story outside of that, since she is officially a Time Bureau member now.
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The Flash - Episode 5.20 - "Gone Rogue"
Nora went rogue...kinda. The Flash is known for these grand gestures that don't ever last long. Flashpoint is the biggest example of this. It was over and done with in one episode. Nora was evil for all of 30 minutes. Then it was over, and things are back to normal.
It was nice to see Cisco again. I fear it won't be for long though. It seems more and more likely that he is exiting after this season.
One of the best things the show did was put it on front street that Ralph and Caitlin will never happen....unless they did the exact opposite. Either way, them acknowledging the fact that the pairing has crossed people's minds is good. Ignoring it would probably not be the best choice.
Sherloque and Cisco bonding over meta secrets and their significant others is going to be important. It feels like it will be part of both of their closure. Sherloque will marry his meta-loved one, and Cisco will confess about being a meta to his, and then take the cure and go off into the sunset.
A signature move of the show is to bring back some of the "metas of the week" in a team up episode of some sort. "Going Rogue" was that episode for this season.
I don't buy that the show is trying to get redemption for Thawne yet. It is going to take much more than what they've done. Thawne is like the Lex Luthor of the Flash. In fact, that is why it took me so long to not think Lena Luthor was evil. That last name has a stigma. I'd be willing to bet it is a long game Thawne is playing. A means to an end that will benefit him.
It is a shame that Cicada almost feels like an after thought now. I'm sure the two are related, but the person who was touted as the big bad at the beginning of the season is now dead, and his daughter from the future (around the same time Nora is from....) is now Cicada. But that has been on the backburner for so long, that the tease at the end of this episode was a bit lackluster.
They have 2 more episodes to wrap it all up, so let's see what happens.
***
The best episode of the week was a tie between Arrow and Supergirl. If Arrow didn't have the reveal it did, I would have been so upset at Dinah's sudden reversal, and it wouldn't have been as good. But it all made sense.
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