As we head into the final two months of the network television season, the DC on The CW shows are moving the pieces and players into place for the push to their respective season finale endgames. The time for schedule-filler episodes is at an end. We should be getting wall-to-wall drama, action, and emotion from here on out, beginning with this week’s reveals and betrayals on Supergirl and Arrow. We commented on the episodes throughout the week on the GeekDad Facebook page. Some of the highlights of those discussions are recapped below.
Lisa H: “Cadmus is moving the fusion bomb” anyone else thinking ” It’s a trap!”
Joey: Is it wrong that I agree with SpaceBro on this one?
Lisa H: Nope. Sadly I think SpaceBro is on point regarding Jeremiah. But it makes sense he's the only one who can see it...He's the only one who can see this objectively. Lisa H: Also Jeremiah threatening SpaceBro just confirms that Jeremiah is bad news Corrina: It's wrong that Mon El being a jerk is the one who spots him. Joey: It felt like a "yeah, he's a tool, but even tools are right sometimes" kind of thing. Corrina: But it makes me uneasy that the focus is on the romance because it validates his other douche move last night, which was tell everyone they had sex, after she explicitly said never to do that. This is not a functional relationship and I hope it's leading to Kara learning how dysfunctional relationships look like, rather than trying to get fans to root for this pair. I'd have far preferred Martian Manhunter to be the one who was skeptical, with perhaps Mon-El agreeing, instead of Mon-El being the only outlier. Wouldn't he be immediately suspicious if he could read Jeremiah? (But, then, I often have issues with the plotting on this show. Love Kara but.....) Joey: I think we have to separate Mon-El spilling the beans on he and Kara's hook-up from Mon-El saying that Jeremiah's sudden appearance doesn't pass the sniff test. I think that's why they had Winn be the first to join Mon-El. The tool points out the obvious that no one wants to see, and the puppy is the one who agrees and is the one to witness the hacking. Joey: But you're right in that this is a bad romance. Lisa H: It had to be SpaceBro. He's the only one who can see the situation objectively. Lisa H: Okay. Don't hate me...but I'm kinda not hating on SpaceBro.
Lisa H: Winn for the win! “I may have hidden a tracker on Jeremiah”
Lisa H: Why the hell did it take this long for J’onn to figure out why he can’t read Jeremiah’s mind?!
Joey: Exactly. "Should we trust him?" "I don't know." How about we have the psychic Martian read his mind and settle the issue? Lisa H: It's a plot hole the size of a Mac truck.
Joey: It feels like there is finally some momentum toward the DEO vs Cadmus showdown, but for whatever reason, I’m still not grooving to this season. Monra (Kan-El? I’m not good at these shipper names) isn’t working. Everything just feels so contrived and soap opera-y.
Corrina: I believe it's "Karamel".
Corrina: You're not grooving because, once again, the writing has issues with romance. The only one that works, as is the pattern with the Berlanti shows, is the same-sex romances where things cannot default to the tropes so painful in the heterosexual romances.
Joey: It's not just the terribad romance writing that I'm not groovin' to. I know that's where your eye goes first because you're a romance writer and can do better than this without really trying. I'm not digging any of this. Not Mon-El. Not Jimmy/James. Not Alex's blinders because it's her dad. It all feels like moving pawns on the board with no real reason other than "I need this piece to be here when the plot gets to this point" without real motivation or agency by the characters to get into place for whatever the writers have in mind.
Joey: We just can’t get enough of the Valentine’s Day episodes, can we?
Lisa H: Who doesn't love a Hallmark holiday?
Lisa H: Where does one hide a Gorilla army on the outskirts of Central City?
Joey: Solovar v. Grodd. This is fun. Lisa H: Oh yea! It's on!! Monkey fight club! Joey: Ape fight club. Grodd is sensitive to being called a monkey.
Joey: I want an Odd Couples style show with various Harrison Wellses (Wellsi?) working together in STAR Labs.
Lisa H: Yes please!! Lisa H: Also...I like Wellsi.
Joey: Huh… so, we’re going to save Iris for Barry but sacrifice Jesse in the process? Is that what we’re gonna do? ‘Cause that’s what I’m picking up right now.
Lisa H: I don't get it... How'd you get that? Joey: The back half of this season is all about Barry protecting the woman he loves but not being fast enough to do it. So, he's using Wally, who could be fast enough to stop Savitar from killing Iris (not like Wally isn't invested, since it's his sister he's saving). After all of the "I'll protect her" Wally laid down to Earth-2 Wells when talking about Jesse living on Earth-1, I get this vibe (pun intended) that while everyone is focused on Wally saving the woman who Barry loves, no one is going to be watching when the woman who Wally loves is killed. Joey: And yes, I hate referring to Iris and Jesse as "the woman who ___ loves", but that really seems to be about as much thought that the writers give toward fleshing out these characters. They are without agency and only serve to be motivation for the male heroes to be heroic or to seek vengeance. So, if the writers are going to treat them as such, I'm going to have to call them such.
Again, not a lot of chatter on the GeekDad Facebook page about Arrow this week. Am I the only GeekDad or GeekMom still watching Arrow? I hope not. It feels like this season is doing a better job of recapturing the tone and feel of the first two seasons.
First up, by having Ollie as mayor of Star City, the series has opened up a lot of new and interesting dynamics for Team Arrow. I’m not just talking about a new job for Quentin. Having Ollie forced to use his head instead of just his muscle to tackle issues is refreshing, and having him realize that the issues he faces as a vigilante (guns on the street, for example) have larger and more far-reaching implications and require more than an arrow through some bad guy to address. Adding Thea as the political schemer has been interesting; if that storyline truly is wrapped up, then it will be missed.
As for this season’s Prometheus arc, all I can say is that I didn’t see this one coming. I thought that the “son of a guy on the list” talk was a red herring. I can buy that it wasn’t a misdirect, especially when the actual misdirect was so well played. I found myself thinking back to every interaction and decision made along the way this season, trying to imagine how it all fit together. Now that Prometheus is outed to the viewer but not Team Arrow (doesn’t look like that will last through the next episode, unfortunately), there is a sense of dread that has been missing to this hero versus villain pairing this season. I hate that the cat and mouse game of us knowing what Oliver and company don’t appears to be going away so soon.
Join us this week on the GeekDad Facebook page as we discuss and break down new episodes of Supergirl, The Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow (we haven’t all abandoned Arrow, there’s just a new episode this week). Comment on the post that corresponds to the episode. We are looking for the most unique, most thought-provoking, and funniest reader comments to add to next week’s DC on The CW round up.
We can’t include your thoughts if you don’t add them to the post, so be sure to join us on Facebook, then check back next week to find out whether your comments made the cut!
