The Flash took a rest on election night, but Supergirl, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow were all new. Check out what we thought were the highs and lows of this week’s offerings with Jim, Lisa, and Joey in today’s recap of DC on The CW.
Supergirl, Episode 2.05, “Crossfire”
Jim: It seemed like Kara kinda threw Space Dudebro into the deep end of the pool, springing the whole “secret identity” trope on him and teaching him 20 years’ worth of Earth life and culture on the way to the office. She hadn’t even shown him how to answer the phone, but expects him to jump right in and do the filing?
Lisa H: He didn’t seem to have any issues with Ms. Tessmacher.
Jim: They are definitely working toward Alex and Maggie hooking up. Next week, Alex is going to say “I’m not into girls, but I’m into you.” Bet on it.
Lisa H: I’m loving Alex and Maggie. But overall not loving this episode. Although the twist at the end where we learned Lena and Lex Luthor’s mom is the head of Cadmus was nice.
Arrow, Episode 5.06, “So It Begins”
Joey: I can’t believe we made it through this episode without Kovar telling Ollie, “I must break you.”
Lisa H: I was so bummed that didn’t happen. But I gotta say…he looked fantastic! Time has been kind to him.
It is me or are the new recruits whiney and annoying and contribute nothing? Also, I realize they are trying to use Curtis for comic relief, but I think they are failing miserably at it. Or maybe they think the fact that everything he says is awkward is funny? I don’t know. Either way I’m not loving Team Arrow the second.
Jim: They were pretty whiney this week. I’m glad they finally gave Maddie something to do, but I wish it were more than just ineffectual kvetching followed by a pledge of loyalty to the guy she just called a serial killer.
Frankly, I think it was a major mistake to have Ollie start out killing all those people on his list. No matter how they try to sell it, that’s not the sort of thing you can say “oops, my bad, I won’t do that anymore,” especially if you keep doing it whenever it’s more convenient. The journey to hero is a lot harder when you start out there, especially if he never has to face any consequences for it. It’s really a pretty big elephant in a very small room.
Joey: I think the most I’ve seen TA2 work together was when they were having their side meeting where they complained about Ollie, and that’s not a good thing. Of course, they can either fall apart or come together. And, like you said, I’m kinda ambivalent about it. It could go either way for me. Right now, the recruits are used more as a plot device than as characters in their own right, and that, I think, is my issue with them.
“So it begins” is clearly meant to tell us that this is the full-on start of the build up to the crossover, right? Assuming that what we saw wasn’t some sort of misdirection, it appears that Lance didn’t realize he was Prometheus during his drunken black out. Likely due to mind control by the invasion crossover big-bads. Appears from the promos that Wally gets a taste of the same in next week’s The Flash.
Jim: When did Lance learn archery? This is one of the things that annoys me about this show, frankly. Ollie is the hero and a vigilante because he has this incredible skill, he can do this very difficult thing with amazing precision because he spent years learning to do it. We even see his training regimen in the first episode. But from that moment on, we’re inundated with enemies and teammates who seem to have the same skills he does, without having spent a single afternoon learning to do it. Just once before this show ends, I want to see Ollie standing behind Evelyn while she shoots at a target, saying “… Anchor… Aim… Expand… Release… Follow-through. Good. Do it again.” If we don’t see that, why is Ollie considered so great when apparently anyone who picks up a bow in Star City is every bit as good?
Joey: My concern is that, with the crossover at the end of the November sweeps, these shows are going to pull the same thing that Daredevil season two and Luke Cage pulled, where switching the season’s antagonists midway through the season left the two halves of the season feel disconnected, making the season as a whole feel like a disjointed mess.
Legends of Tomorrow, Episode 2.05, “Compromised”
Joey: Kind of a “meh” episode. I’m glad we’re seeing a bit of an expansion of that budding Legion of Doom storyline, but it feels like too slow of a slow build. We’re five episodes into the season. Let’s get this show on the road!
Jim: Maybe it’s ’cause I’m old AF, but their version of 1987 felt really modern to me, except for Vixen & Steel’s fashion emergency scene. I really loved Sara’s scene telling off Dahrk, and Neal McDonough’s reaction really sold it. She made a deep cut in him.
Joey: To your point about botching the setting, there was some discussion offline about how the production team missed the ball here. Fellow GeekDad Matt pointed out:
“Usually they’re pretty good with incidental details in the various eras they travel to, but not this time. It’s supposed to be December in Washington, DC. But people are going around without coats, the park had more green than just from evergreens, and there were no Christmas decorations in or around the White House. I mean, they got the jellybeans right, but apparently stopped there. And of course you didn’t see condensation clouds when people spoke outdoors, but lots of people forget about that.”
I think the mishandling of the setting here and the inattention to dialogue and colloquialisms in the prior episode is making the production on this series look and feel a bit lazy this season.
Add your voice to the conversation by telling us what you thought of last week’s episodes or what you’re hoping from your favorite shows in the comments below.
Turns out I fell asleep before the end of the episode and actually missed the Alex/Maggie scene. Now my comment above sounds really dumb.