The CW has a history of putting together great team up events between their DC Comics shows and they've made it known they want to do one every year. I mean, why wouldn't they? Depending on the story, you've got some pretty important members of the Justice League. This year it was bigger than ever. You've got Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and the newest show to join the CW Supergirl. This event was going to be bigger than any other, with the heroes from all four shows teaming up, but did it measure up?
Source Material
First thing we should talk about is the source material. The late 1988- early 1989 story titled Invasion! is the basis for this team up. In the story a group of aliens known as The Dominators put together an alliance with several other alien groups to invade the planet Earth to destroy the threat of methumans. This is actually the first time DC explained what a metahuman was in detail, which is why this story was so important at the time. The Green Lantern Corps had also been disbanded at this time in DC so they weren't around to help out. The United Nations can't agree on a plan of attack so Superman leads the counter attack against the aliens with a group of heroes. However Superman is beaten by a team of Daxamite warriors.
However the Daximite's fall victim to Earth's atmosphere until Superman saves them and they agree to help Earth. Each of them with the powers of Superman. Together the heroes and Daximites cause the alien fleets to retreat from Earth. However, a Dominator had created a gene bomb that would kill all of the metahumans on Earth in 24 hours. The bomb detonates and a team of heroes who weren't affected led by Martian Manhunter manage to storm the Dominator ship to gain a sample of the virus so they could create a cure and reverse it's effects.
So, did the team up follow the comics? No, and I'm gonna complain because there were some parts that could have been adapted but weren't.
Supergirl
So, this is the episode that bothers me about the crossover. They have Martian Manhunter who played a key role in the comics and he doesn't really do anything in this episode. In fact, this episode barely has anything to do with the crossover. There's a few scenes where portals appear from Barry and Cisco trying to crossover, only for them to quickly disappear. Barry and Cisco finally appear in the last scene and that's the only thing this episode had to do with the crossover.
I get that she's on a separate Earth and so it wouldn't change anything drastically in her world but it played no part in the actual crossover because the scene with Barry and Cisco was in The Flash as well. This episode was spend with Mon El, part of the Daximite race who played a big part in the comics tap dancing around loving Kara. Jon being cured of turning into a White Martian and of his suicidal ways. Cadmus releasing a virus to kill all aliens. Lastly Alex tap dancing around coming out of the closet to her mother, only for her mother to be like "I've always known you were a lesbian," and Alex never actually saying it or even confirming her mother's suspicions. It kind of sucks that this episode had nothing to do with the crossover because they had Martian Manhunter, Daximites and Superman. None of them could make it to the party?
The Flash
Cisco is still mad at Barry and we're all pretending Caitlin didn't try to ice everyone last week. See what I did there? Also Wally is still not allowed outside. A ship crash lands and Barry rushes over only to be blitzed by the aliens exiting the ship. He lays there in shock for a moment before deciding this is an invasion and he needs to the get the teams together, well the ones he thinks are important. So he kidnaps Oliver and Diggle, meets Felicity at Oliver's and Thea walks in wanting to know what's going on. Thea is coming out of retirement to fight aliens so forget the new guys. He and Cisco head to Earth -38 or wherever Supergirl is and grab her, this is literally the exact same scene as the Supergirl episode. Then they meet the legends ship, luckily they brough Ray his backup suit. But they leave Vixen and Nate on the ship. There's this funny moment where Barry gets a little upset because Iris gets flustered when meeting Oliver. More on Iris hurting Barry's feelings later.
The team gets together to train by fighting Supergirl as Barry warns her not to watch Oliver because he's sneaky and has shot Barry multiple times as "training." Supergirl washes the team but aliens kidnap the president just as Oliver calls for them to regroup because he figured out a plan to stop her. Barry didn't participate in training because he's too good for it. Wally tries to sneak in but Iris stops him and rushes to STAR Labs to snitch to Joe but Wally obviously beat her there. Nobody shows him any love and he puts on the saddest face ever when even HR refuses to train him.
The team then learns Barry fucked with everyone's lives during Flashpoint and they're sick of his shit. Sarah wants to know why he didn't bring back Laurel too since he was bringing back people. Oliver was mad that Barry erased Diggle's daughter and created a son. Cisco's brother and the list goes on. The team is ready to move out but leave Barry behind and in the coolest moment ever Oliver tries to give one of his pep talks which have been very effective so far and finishes with "I'm not going if Barry isn't," because he's become their defacto leader only for Diggle to respond with "Then you'll be here" and leading the team out without either of them.
They actually kick some alien ass until the president gets disintigrated and the shock allows the Dominators to mind control them all. The mind controlled team end up attacking Oliver and Barry only for them to do very well. Wally tried to intervine and did great until Supergirl punched him about 500 feet across the field. Then Oliver carried his limp body while still holding off everyone but Kara. Meanwhile Barry manages to stop the mind control as he's being chased by Kara. The team regroups only for Oliver, Thea, Diggle, Ray and Sarah to be kidnapped by the Dominatos.
Arrow
This was my favorite episode. It had the least action of any episode. Even Suepergirl had more fight scenes even if they weren't relevant. The kidnapped group has been placed in a shared dream world. There, all of them are able to live out what would make them happiest and it made me sad because they had none of this.
Oliver is getting married to Laurel Lance, his best man is Tommy who will soon be flying in from doing a surgery in Chicago. Laruel's bridesmaids are Thea and Sarah. Thea is happy because both of her parents are alive, not Merlyn because she doesn't consider him her real dad. Ray is engaged to Felicity. Diggle is the Green Arrow and also is the boss for a team of highly trained bodyguards, his brother Andy is assigned to Oliver. Sarah finally gets her whole family back together and they're all happy.
However there are glitches when they remember the past and they keep seeing this big building with Felicity's name on it downtown. They all realize that isn't right and they start coming together. When it's time for them to leave Thea refuses. She would rather die in this world than go back to reality and it's touching. Because if you think about it, her dad is dead, she's no related to Merlyn, she had a drug addiction, saw her mother killer, Oliver died once, her boyfriend was a League member and tried to kill her, she died, when she came back she had the urge to kill and so on. She's had a shitty life.
In the end she does accompany them out as the team takes on their biggest enemies in dream form. They make it to the alien ship hanger and one of my favorite moments of the team up happens. Diggle askes Oliver "Do you know how to fly one of these" only for Oliver to state "I'm hoping between you, me, Sarah and Ray, one of us can." Meanwhile Thea is in the back just doing stuff only to be the one who can fly the ship and states "Mom and dad said I would never ammount to anything if I didn't go to college." The team meats the Legends in space and plan for revenge. Thea is the real MVP here.
Side note, Barry and Kara were running around with the Arrow Kids Club tyring to track down the team but they never managed to find them in time. Arrow kids club needs to step their game up. We're approaching the midseason finale. Oliver, Diggle and Felicity are going to have to make cuts and we're not seing a lot of hustle out there from anyone but Rory Rags.
Legends of Tomorrow
The group splits into three teams. Team kidnap an alien led by Mick Rory, aka Rory Robber. Team meet the government led by Oliver. Lastly team nerd led by nobody really, they were just nerding out on the ship and that's okay. While there Caitlin tries to tell Stein to stop trying to erase the daughter he created by messing with the timeline, because that's something Barry would do. Also Kara was moping somewhere because Oliver sidelined her for being reckless and not very well trained. Although she suggested he was racist against aliens. She can say that but she was legitimately racist towards Mon El to the point that she had to apologize, on multiple occasions. So, pot meet kettle.
The alien capture team manages to successfully capture an alien . However they're captured by Agent Smith from the past who tortures the alien. The team is rescued by Felicity and Cisco who used two guns to take down an entire government agency off scene after breaking into a secure military base. I'm glad it was off camera, no questions moving on.
The meetup is blown when old Agent Smith sets them up be he and his team are dispatched easily. Ray is so glad to have the suit back he throws a guy like 10 feet in the air and another one hard enough to move a car backwards. It's stupid but I'm so glad Ray is a hero in this show. He's like Barry but without all the screw ups, and some depression issues, but he's working on those. Agent Smith really pushed his luck with the A team and they leave him to gather his goons.
Cisco and team try to meet with the alien they saved 65 years in the past and he's actually leading the destruction of metahumans on Earth to prevent people like Agent Smith from getting powers. Cisco realizes that by saving this alien he fucked up the timeline and got the president killed, and forgives Barry because changing time is hard. At this point the teams unite and go to work.
Felicity seemed to vanish for this and I'm okay with that. Cisco and Sarah use the Waverider to grab the alien gene bomb while the rest of the heroes put in work down below. They really beat the crap out of those aliens and this crossover has some of the best fight choreography all year. At one point Diggle just shoots and alien in the head and it falls towards the screen. That's great work right there. The fight even showed them adjusting and doing some team work. Diggle realized the Dominator's chests were bulletproof so he only performs close range headshots after that. Oliver penetrates their chests with Arrows and Mick lights the arrows on fire. Vixen and Nate herd them into a circle so Supergirl can laser them all. They also stole the running at each other scene from Civil War and that was just funny, I'm sure they did it on purpose.
Barry runs around the city placing sonic devices that disrupt the Dominator's psychic link on all of them in the city before Felicity activates it and drives them off. Because of the psychic link they evacuate other cities too. The last thing is for Jax to transmute the bomb into water. The day is saved the crew goes back to the Hall of Justice to be secretly congratulated by the new president. This time Iris leaves a conversation with Barry because Sarah offered her some hard liquor and some "real fun." Stein tells Jax he created a daughter but not to tell anyone because he's decided that he's going to keep her now. This is a grown woman by the way. Earlier Stein was ready to go back in time and erase her now he wants to keep her around. Barry and Oliver have some beers and discuss who really won their previous fights. Cisco gives Kara a device that lets her call Earth-1 and go whenever she wants. Barry and Kara force Oliver into a group hug because they know that no matter how tough he tries to be he's still soft on the inside.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
The Good:
- Great story that mostly followed the comic and the things they added were unique and helped push stories further. Such as Cisco forgiving Barry after altering the timeline. Oliver realizing that he's not really over Laurel's death, Wally understanding why Joe doesn't want him fighting and finally understanding Dr. Stein's visions
- Great chemistry - Oliver is basically everyone's big brother now and even when they voted Barry as leader they ended up following Oliver. It's funny how the only person Oliver will take orders from is Diggle.
- Best fight choreography in a Superhero TV show all year. Sorry Luke Cage, the fight scene at the Crispus Attucks building was a far second. It's because you didn't have everyone being a boss.
The Bad:
- Supergirl's episode really had nothing to do with the crossover and her supporting cast didn't make an appearance in the actual crossover. We could have used Martian Manhunter at least.
- Deathstroke in the simulation wasn't actually Deathstroke, didn't speak and was just a bug guy in the costume.
The Ugly:
- That CGI got a little rough in some spots. I guess that's why they didn't have Martian Manhunter. Gotta get that budget up for next year.
- Nate's helmet
- The Dominators had faces even a mother couldn't love.
Final Thoughts:
I think it was the best crossover yet. Sure, it had a few problems but they did a lot of stuff right. It was great that they didn't ignore plots that were currently running in each of the shows. I'm glad they allowed each show to maintain it's own feel. Arrow was still dark, Flash was still bubbly and Legends still had their time jumping hijinks. Letting each show helped with the crossover feel because sometimes crossovers don't feel like crossovers. Batman teaming up with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is weird because it's just Batman out of place in a TMNT comic, not even one of the good ones either. They also focused on The Legends members who debuted in Arrow and Flash on those shows. We got answers about Stein on Flash where he debuted and Sarah and Ray were key parts of Arrow. It was a great crossover. Still waiting for them to bring Constantine on over, but until then it's still great.
You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet. You can also check out his playthrough of Sleeping Dogs.
Follow @OriginalKingD
Follow @OriginalKingD
