It’s that time of year once again. Flowers are in bloom. Rivers are overflowing their banks. Pollen is driving everyone’s allergies insane. Sunny and warm one day, snow the next. That’ right, it’s springtime, which means that our DC on The CW programs are building toward their season finales. Or, as Quentin Lance put it in episode 3.23 of Arrow…
So, here we are. No more breaks. Nothing but new episodes between now and the season finales of Supergirl, The Flash, and Arrow in late May. We discussed the return episodes this week on the GeekDad Facebook page. If you’re already watching these shows every week, then you should join in the discussion as the episodes air and in the days that follow. All are welcome to talk about your favorite lines (like Quentin’s quote above), what you thought worked, what didn’t work, and your overall thoughts about the episodes. Just a few of the comments from last week’s discussions follow.
Joey: Don’t trust the nanobots! They’ll reanimate your corpse and put a gas mask on you because they don’t understand human physiology! #AreYouMyMummy?
Joey: Or, more recently, they'll build you a city... as long as you smile. Lisa H: Nanobots!! This never goes well. Nanobots will always go bad! Lisa H: Look out Joe! The nanobots are gonna kill you!! Lisa H: I tried to warn you. Lisa H: Shocked! I am shocked I tell you that the nanobots are killing people! Oh wait. No I'm not...They always kill people.
Lisa H: Jack IS nanobots!! Nice twist. Does that make him “Nanoman”?
Lisa H: Botboy? Lisa H: The Swarm? Lisa H: Ooh and he's being controlled by whatshername the CFO from Timeless. Joey: This feels like a live-action adaptation of Big Hero Six. And like most of the recent live-action adaptations of animated films, I liked the animated original better.
Joey: Oh no! Mom-El has her eyes on Lena.
Lisa H: Ruh roh! Joey: So, is this setting up the "big bad" for the season? I still feel like that season-ending conflict isn't well defined, and we're on episode 18.
Lisa H: Umm…Time travel point of order. Interaction with another version of yourself causes a paradox. Doesn’t it?
Joey: Wouldn't 2024 Barry remember going to the future as 2017 Barry? Lisa H: Valid point. Joey: It feels like these shows aren't playing straight with their own rules. You can point to Time Wraiths, the Black Racer, and Flashpoint as examples that Barry can't just zoop around trying to remove his head from his own arse at different poiints in time, and that's just on this program. When you add in the rules introduced in Legends of Tomorrow, it feels like instead of coloring within the lines that the writers have drawn for themselves, they're cherry-picking what they think will create dramatic conflict at any particular time without worrying about established continuity.
Joey: So, seven years from now, Barry’s voice will deepen?
Lisa H: Sad Emo Flash...With really bad hair. Lisa H: If Sad Emo Flash can learn then 2017 can learn.
Lisa H: Okay. So Caitlin has power and she’s just evil? Why is this an all or nothing thing?
Joey: Jesse L. Martin killing it in front of the camera and Tom Cavanagh is killing it behind the camera this episode.
The writers are working really hard to reinforce the relationships between these characters and–more to the point–the cracks in the relationships between these characters. The places where those relationships are vulnerable. Oliver and Felicity. John and Lyla. Rene and his daughter. It will be interesting to watch as this season wraps up and this ten-year-long chapter of Oliver’s story comes to a close. The trailer for the rest of the season shows us that those old relationships are going to be revisited and tested by Prometheus and Talia. While I won’t spoil it for you, I have it first-hand from the actor in question that not everyone who has been around since season one is going to make it out of this season alive. (For the curious who want to go hunting for a clue, I’d point you to “Duet”, the second episode in the earlier two-part musical crossover, for a hint). Familiar faces will be making appearances, which is exciting. This circle will be closed, allowing the series to move in a new direction and reinvent itself next season, the potential of which is even more exciting.
Join us this week on the GeekDad Facebook page as we watch and discuss this week’s new episodes on Supergirl, The Flash, and Arrow. We are always looking to interact with our readers who are fans of these shows, and we’ll include the best, funniest, most thought-provoking, and most unique responses in next week’s DC on The CW recap. We can’t include you if you don’t participate, so find us on Facebook and play along with this week’s posts!
