What has more convenient forgetfulness about its characters and plot contrivances (leaving plot holes in its wake) than DC on The CW during the month of May? I, too, am hard-pressed to come up with an answer. From Martian Manhunter’s abilities being overcome by some average dude “preparing” for J’onn for the last year (a whole year!) to that Savitar twist that everyone no one saw coming to Oliver and Felicity’s escape being in another castle, we broke it down on the GeekDad Facebook page. Some of those discussions follow.
Lisa H: Didn’t we do the filling the tank with water thing on Arrow?? Like on the exact same set?
Joey: They got a sweet repeat customer rate on that tank, it'd be a shame not to use it. Joey: Wouldn't that be something if they were actually bold enough to kill off Alex? Corrina: No. Joey: Or, give her the ol' Danny Pink treatment. "Yay! Alex is saved." Wham! Hit by a car. Or the Laurel Lance treatment... "You survived the attack." Wham! Embolism. Corrina: Again, no. Joey: Oh, I didn't say it would be something good... Lisa H: It would have been the unpredictable route to take. So clearly they weren't going that route. Joey: Only a great fool would kill off Alex, and you would have known I'm not a great fool, so clearly I cannot kill the character in front of you. Lisa H: But what if she's only partially dead. Then Miracle Max could just fix her.
Corrina: J’onn’s telepathy comes and goes as is convenient to the plot.
Lisa H: That goes for just about everything...Time travel... Character development... Lisa H: ...stealing DEO tech and knowing how to use it? Joey: How does one prepare for a shapeshifting martian? Corrina: Reasons! Joey: I mean, dude had a year to prepare, I'm just wondering what was included in his regimen. Joey: A whole year! Lisa H: He's been creepy stalker guy for a year! Lisa H: J'onn couldn't read whiney boy but he can mind wipe him? Joey: (whispers) Reasons...
Joey: Why not go get Barry to help search for Alex? It wouldn’t take him long, and he could always go back in time and keep her from getting jacked in the first place.
Joey: Even just bringing Cisco over to vibe Alex would do the trick. Lisa H: Because crossing dimensions takes too much time? Joey: Time? Barry's a speedster. He's got nothing but time! Lisa H: But which Barry??
Joey: Maggie done crossed the line.
Lisa H: Was this surprising? I saw it coming. Joey: As surprising as the Savitar reveal on The Flash? Lisa H: Yep. Right about that level of surprised.
Lisa H: Point of order. Isn’t HR not supposed to leave the lab cause he looks like a dead guy?
Joey: I think he's using the face imaging tech, but since we're in on it, we don't see it. Probably. Maybe.
Joey: The ice bridge chase scene… not so good on the visual effects. The Flash is usually better than that.
Lisa H: Yea that worked better for Iceman and Frozone.
Joey: Has to be future Barry, right?
Joey: Oh, the twist... that no one saw coming. Wait, no one saw that coming, right? Joey: The sad thing is, an hour or two after the episode aired, my Facebook timeline is full of entertainment news outlets talking about that "shocking" twist that "no one saw coming" and is "setting the internet ablaze". Really? I mean, really? I thought we all figured that Savitar was future Barry months ago. Lisa H: Okay fine. So we are literally watch Barry fight himself. But why?? Joey: It's the whole "Barry is his own worst enemy" stuff made literal. Beyond that, I'm going to need someone from the writer's room to show me their math on this one. What version of Barry from what future is Savitar? Not 2024 Barry, because his face wasn't scarred up like Savitar's is. A time remnant version of Barry that didn't appreciate being served up for the Savitar slaughter that somehow survived and became Savitar? Going back even further, is it the time remnant Barry that our hero created to dupe and defeat Zoom in last season's finale (which was my theory WAY back months ago... I need to see if I can find the link to that) who survived and is pissed that Barry squandered the time remnant's sacrifice by jacking up that victory when Barry created Flashpoint, rendering the time remnant's "death" pointless? Lisa H: I think I've gone cross eyed. Although my question now is...What, if anything, does this have to do with the message Future Barry sent to Rip in LoT? I don't think that was ever resolve or referred to again. Is it possible these writers are actually playing the long game? Or was it just a plot device that was convenient and has been forgotten? Joey: I don't know that it was ever specifically designed. I'm certain that someone in production made sure that the line was included in Legends because they knew all along that some version of Barry is Savitar, but I think it was a throw-away line meant to cause immediate drama for the Legends (Stein and Jax know something they're keeping from the rest of the team) which was tossed aside in favor of adding Lily, Stein's time aberration daughter (the new "Stein and Jax know something they're keeping from the rest of the team"). Lisa H: And even that is out now... everyone knows that Lily is a time aberration. Joey: Yup. All these writers seem to deal in is short-term drama (see the comments about convenient amnesia about or artificial limits on abilities in the Supergirl posts), which makes it hard for me to believe it was part of some long game. Lisa H: It's either that or the various writers rooms don't talk.
Lisa H: This is like an hour long therapy session…I’m only 15 minutes in!
Joey: "I'm sensing a lot of marital tension." Lisa H: Lyla is just being an ass. Lisa H: And a thieving one at that!
Lisa H: Ow!
Joey: Could be worse. Could be raining. Joey: This is one contrived pitfall after another. Joey: Seriously, I've played video games that jerked you around less than this episode has messed with these characters.
Only three episodes left this season for our DC on The CW shows! That means you only have three more weeks this season to watch and interact with us on the GeekDad Facebook page. The posts for each episode go up about two hours before the episode airs. Watch and add your comments live or in the days that follow. We’re always looking to include your thoughts in our weekly DC on The CW recap, so jump into the conversation and tell us what you think.
