(Photo Courtesy of The CW.)
The Flash continues the 4-part CW event, “Crisis on Earth-X” culminating with Legends of Tomorrow. Coming off the heels of Supergirl and Arrow, what will the third installment bring viewers? Read below to find out the conclusion to this year’s crossover event!
(Photos Courtesy of The CW.)
On Earth-X — The show begins with the team incarcerated in a camp on Earth-X. They are rendered powerless by the special collars they have around their necks. It turns out that the fuehrer of this earth is none other than Lance’s doppelganger. He has the case of “I had a daughter who looked like you” etc. just like his Earth-One counterpart. When it looks as if the team has met their demise by firing squad, someone comes to save the day…Captain Cold (Earth-X version of course) complete with the glasses from the comics! The scene leading to Snart’s return was truly strong. The historical context used as inspiration for the Earth-X story is a stark reminder of the injustices of the holocaust. It has given this year’s crossover event a much more emotional appeal to it. As the team is saved, they are taken back to the equivalent of the Arrowcave and find out that there is a gate home that, unfortunately, is guarded by Nazi’s and that the rebels want to destroy it. After a good deal of coercing, the Earth-X rebels agree to help the Earth-One heroes return. How are they going to get into the facility? Easy, use Oliver as his fuhrer doppelganger in order to gain entrance. Oliver’s cover is blown and Lance-X brings him Felicity’s doppelganger in order to execute her. As the rebels decide to go back on their support for the team, they have sent Red Tornado to the facility in order to destroy their only way back to Earth-One.
Back on Earth One — The individuals left on Earth-One (Cisco, Wells, Caitlyn, and Team Arrow) are also incarcerated in the anti-meta human cells. Wells/Thawne, Kara-X and Oliver-X have Kara contained by red sun in order to take her heart. I love having the Wells/Thawne character back. He brings back his calm, methodical demeanor. He is evil and meticulous. He had a great nod to Flashpoint when Kara mentioned her cousin, Superman, and Reverse Flash stated, “I fought your cousin once in the future. He is fast. I’m faster.” Thawne’s connection is further revealed as Oliver-X knew that Thawne would be able to navigate Earth-One and know how to use STAR Labs. In typical Reverse-Flash fashion, he manipulates Felicity in order to give him the encrypted code to get the power back at STAR Labs. After seeing Thawne in these episodes, I would be completely fine with bringing him back as the lead villain. Use one of the numerous Flash/Reverse-Flash storylines. I know people are over the speedster, but he is such a good character portrayed extremely well by Cavanagh.
(Photos Courtesy of The CW.)
Professor Stein — As the team is trying to fight their way out of the facility, Jefferson is cornered by Nazi’s. Stein tries to go to his rescue and…is shot! This was truly emotional. He had just made amends with Jefferson and told him that he would always be his son due to their connection, then this occurred. As Stein goes to open the breach he is shot, yet again, making Jefferson unite with him as Firestorm in order to move him to the Waverider so Gideon could heal him, but the catch is that he and Jefferson are still connected, so he is feeling his pain, yet is the only thing Stein alive. The professor knows that he will be nothing but an anchor to Jefferson, and tells him to let him die. I have always liked Stein’s character, and Victor Garber’s portrayal. The scene was truly heart-wrenching, especially being preceded by his excitement to spend time with his family, and his revelation to Jefferson about him being a son to him. Where will this leave Jefferson, Firestorm, and the team? The funeral scene was sad with Jefferson feeling lost without Professor Stein. Each member had a special connection to him, which was displayed as they said their final farewells.
(Photo Courtesy of The CW.)
Legends Save The Day — Prior to Reverse-Flash dissecting Kara, Ray and the rest of the Legends show up to save the day. The showdown between Oliver holding Kara-X hostage due to Oliver-X holding Felicity hostage was fun and intense. The devotion they each share towards their loved one was a strong emotional aspect. I’ve made it clear that I do not care for Olicity, but both Oliver’s show where their true allegiance lies in this scene. Following the death of Professor Stein, Oliver-X offers a deal to leave Earth-One if they give them Kara. The team obviously does not accept, and prepares for the final encounter. The final encounter was fun, but did have some weak moments (I have no idea why the Nazi soldiers with machine guns merely walked straight towards the team instead of shooting them…). I know most people are over the speedster battles, but there is still something that very much intrigues me with the Flash and Reverse-Flash fights. Although I’m not sure why Flash would just let his worst enemy walk…Meanwhile, Killer Frost pulled an Iceman numerous times by cruising around on her ice slides while Iris still directed people in what to do…Overgirl eventually explodes as Supergirl drives her into space (nice up, up, and away reference from Wells) while Oliver sends the fatal blow to his distracted doppelganger.
(Photo Courtesy of The CW.)
Girl Power — This has positives and negatives. First the negative. Of course Felicity and Iris somehow managed not to get captured. Everyone with super powers was targeted, yet these two seemed to allude the guards. We already saw in “Girls Night Out” how awful they are when trying to “save the day”. Oh, they knocked out some Nazi guards and took their machine guns as well. Then, they jump down from the rafters and knock out more Nazi guards? Come on. They couldn’t take down thugs with guns let alone trained Nazi soldiers. I feel like the writers are trying so hard to get the audience to like these two characters at the moment, but all it does is force them down our throats. I’m sure some like them, but I find them fairly annoying a majority of the time. The good: Kara and Kara-X’s interactions. Kara-X asks why Kara even cares if she takes her heart as she doesn’t seem to care for any other reason than to be Supergirl. Alex and Sara work well in this episode as they bond with each other in regards to the struggles of fighting to save their sisters.
Overall, the event was fun. Did it have its issues? Definitely. I am glad to see Barry and Iris finally married, but of course Oliver and Felicity had to as well. (This does make me think that she may die this season as previously stated by some readers.) I did enjoy the story better than last year’s crossover.
Will there be any type of fallout from the crossover? What did you think of “Crisis on Earth-X”: Parts 3 and 4? Leave your comments in the usual place, and thanks for reading!
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