Spoilers could invade any moment.
I’ve been very critical of Supergirl‘s mix and match storytelling recently, but tonight it was like watching a new show. The floor seemed to belong to Guardian in the beginning, but thankfully ends up being more about James himself. Lena Luthor is fooled by alien queen Rhea. And the Earth seems to be in the grips of a Daxamite invasion. What role do the Phorians play? This is definitely a story longer than a single episode. How did it play?
Overall it was pretty good. The Guardian grappled with the very essence of his identity: he’s there to instil fear. No, I didn’t miss the reference, but let’s not tackle that just yet. So instead of the Guardian, we get James Olsen using his humanity to help out. His difference of opinion with J’onn J’onnz was something I never thought I’d see. I think this was an episode where I actually liked Mecah Brook’s performance as James Olsen again.
Queen Rhea’s game of getting Lena Luthor to create her gate was not necessarily all a game. She’s a villain and a mother, there’s something of herself she actually had to give to make a real connection with Lena. Should we be worried? Yes, she’s motivated by emotion but not controlled by them. Her confrontation with Mon-El was not one of villain to superhero, but of mother to child. Mon-El points a gun at his mother, something that feels inherently wrong. That was a powerful scene, but Supergirl is not the kind of show in which Mon-El shoots his mother.
James manages to free the Phorians through his connection with the kid Marcus. The fact these were innocent people, massively affected by a huge expensive project rings like a warning against technological development without restrictions. On top of that, Rhea never meant to use the portal to go home but to bring forth all Daxamites to Earth.
The Flash loses his memory after what I can only call a very stupid idea from Cisco and Julien becomes a complete mess. They attempt to block Barry’s short term memory and end up giving him amnesia. Of course, it’s really just an excuse to give Grant Gustin a little acting exercise. Nevertheless I found “Bart” entertaining and it was a fine performance. All done? Okey, now let’s jump to my favorite thing.
Killer Frost makes a grand appearance. Apparently Savitar has lost his memory as well by consequence. The former Caitlin, Miss Frost if you’re nasty, has come with an offer. She will help them get Barry back to full restored RAM status which will also give Savitar back his mojo. And here’s the reason why she can help – she’s still a scientist. I found that incredibly cool because even as the Killer Frost persona, she’s still got mad science skills. Also, any other other hothead meta would have gone for destruction and mayhem since she has nobody to answer to now. Instead, she’s done her own cold calculations and knows she’s better off with Savitar around. I myself can’t be sure. She could have taken over the city easily with an inexperience Flash and no boss bossing her around.
The thing is, Caitlin Snow is still in there. Cisco tries to bring her in by talking about some old anecdote regarding the particle accelerator. The fact that she remembers already gave us the idea that Cait is somewhere in there. I really thought Killer Frost could’ve taken on the fire while they sorted Barry out. And we did get a little scene with her eyes turning back to normal for a second. That means we’ll get Caitlin back at some point. And although it will be a happy moment, she’ll be back in the background. In the meantime, enjoy having Killer Frost while you can.
Finally, while they keep trying not to fall in love, Tracy Brand and HR Wells design a trap for Savitar. Too bad they need 3,86 Terajoules to turn it on.
Meanwhile in Arrow…
Well, the temporary good news – and I say this because I’m fully aware that there’s two episodes left this season – is that finally Olivier squares off with Prometheus/Adrian Chase/Simon Morrison and takes him down. How this all comes about is a lot of exposition but not really much excitement. Oliver gets a box that contains a body encased in concrete. He gets a video showing his father, Robert Queen, struggling with the guy who ends up falling in concrete. Yada yada Adrian is working with Derek Sampson to build a bomb that would cause a strain of tuberculosis to-
Enough already. Unfortunately, making the story convoluted doesn’t quite add anything to it. Tiresome, but the whole thing ends when they catch up to the bad guys and bring them down. For this, Oliver dons once more the Green Arrow costume and fights Prometheus. To knock the wind out of his sails, Oliver also reveals that Simon/Adrian’s father tried to disinherit him because he was insane.
Of course it looks too easy because after all this trickery, there’s a good chance Adrian Chase planned to get caught because we need more drama. I was just glad to see Thea Queen back. Unfortunately, the episode fails to bring much excitement even when Prometheus is finally behind bars.
Highs/Lows/WeBuiltThisCity:
- James telling Marcus over and over that he won’t leave him alone. It’s another case of individual will against unsurmountable power. Always works in fiction, but in real life you can’t just overpower something by willing it. Still one of the best scenes this week.
- Mon-El pointing a freakin’ gun at Rhea was a powerful scene. You could tell that’s what he was talking about when he said he needed to pick something up before they leave. I don’t think he could have pulled that trigger. Having him kill his mother couldn’t really happen in this show, nor it should. This was another great scene this week.
- Was the Phorians’ power tied to the same kind of energy the portal used by accident or design?
- The Phorians are the key to sending the Daxamites back to where they came from.
- Killer Frost rules. A cold, level headed super-villain that knows when she needs to ally herself with the good side to move things along.
- It’s obvious we’re going to get Caitlin back and that’s the reason the show is making sure Frost does not live up to her “Killer” moniker.
- To activate the “Speed Force Bazooka” they need 3,86 Terajoules. Anybody else thought this was a play on the 1,21 Jilowatts needed for the Flux Capacitor in the DeLorean from Back To The Future? No? Just me then.
- Sorry, Cisco. It’s not a closed loop. On the big fight with the future Flash, Savitar leaves one time-remnant-Flash to go back to the past and become Savitar. But that means he still remains moving forward in time after that. Not a closed loop! To be a closed loop, the future Savitar would have to travel to the past himself.
- After mentioning the incredibly over-the-top energy requirements of the Speed Force Bazooka, we’re taken somewhere where a red glowing stone seems to promise that kind of power. And the supposedly fearsome, but obviously CGI figure of King Shark seems to guard it. Definitely looks like a boss level.
- This week’s Arrow episode is similarly named to Season 1, Episode 2: Honor Thy Father. They just made it plural: Honor Thy Fathers. No reasons were given.
- In what seems to be the last time we’ll get flashbacks, Anatoly is dropping Oliver on the island of Lian Yu to be rescued. Enter Konstantin Kovar (Dolph Lundgren), ready to mess up Oliver’s plans the moment he’s alone.
- Thea Queen (Willa Holland) returns. We don’t see her don the Speedy gear anymore, but we know it’s there. Basically she gets to learn what her father left for her in a video several years ago, but only after she first learns he covered up a man’s death in concrete.
- Adrian Chase (Josh Segarra) can be an impressive villain when the script allows for it. But setting traps and false trails doesn’t really pay off if all we get is running around until the next encounter. A little personalization would have made much more impression.
- All this talk about Simon Morrison/Adrian Chase/Prometheus reminds me that we haven’t seen Vigilante again.
- The backstory with Rene Ramirez not showing up to the hearing to regain his daughter’s custody seems like adding more weight to a plot that already has too many threads. And I’m with Quentin on this one, it’s just frustrating to hear Rene talk about his daughter being “better off without him.”
- Make a bigger deal about Oliver putting on the suit. Here’s an off the cuff idea: you could have used the voice of his father as Oliver puts on parts of the suit, gets his bow, dons the mask and time the full reveal just as his father ends up saying “you can save this city.” You could’ve had a genuine moment there, and you let it go.
- Of course we’re not done with Prometheus yet, but I really don’t think this is going to be a satisfying conclusion at this rate. We’ve gone back and forth way too many times at this point.
That will do for now.
Never Think Impossible 