Green Arrow

Supergirl – Elseworlds (Part 3)

  • Title: Supergirl – Elseworlds (Part 3)
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Supergirl - Elseworlds (Part 3) television review

Although apparently it will be the last we see of him for awhile, Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) gets quite a bit of screentime in the the “Elseworlds” finale as Hoechlin does double duty as both the Man of Steel and the new form of John Deegan (Jeremy Davies). As with the previous two episodes, Part 3 gives us more nods and winks at both Crisis of Infinite Earths (which apparently will be next year’s big crossover) and other famous moments of our heroes climaxing in the Flash (Grant Gustin) and Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) circling the globe (Superman: The Movie) so quickly they begin to burn themselves out of existence (Crisis of Infinite Earths). The visuals work quite well, even if the logic of the entire segment seems pretty shaky on multiple levels.

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Arrow – Elseworlds (Part 2)

  • Title: The Flash – Elseworlds (Part 2)
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Arrow - Elseworlds (Part 2) television review

“Elseworlds” continues as Barry (Grant Gustin), Oliver (Stephen Amell), and Kara (Melissa Benoist) head to Gotham City in search of the person responsible for the changes to reality. Who they find is Batwoman (Ruby Rose). As with Part 1, this episode has plenty of Easter Eggs for DC Comics fans including John Wesley Shipp in his classic Flash costume appearing in a vision (not unlike the Flash did in Crisis on Infinite Earths). The episode also cements a couple of points that, up until now, the Arrowverse has been coy about discussing: Batman exists on both Earths, although he’s been absent from the Gotham City of Earth-1 for quite some time.

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The Flash – Elseworlds (Part 1)

  • Title: The Flash – Elseworlds (Part 1)
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The CW begins its latest crossover event on The Flash with Part 1 of “Elseworlds” as Barry (Grant Gustin) and Oliver (Stephen Amell) awake to a reality where they have each other’s powers and skills and everyone treats Barry as Oliver and vice-versa. The goofy Freaky Friday set-up provides some humorous moments such as Oliver struggling to deal with the affections of Iris (Candice Patton) and Barry getting some long-waited payback. There are nagging issues here in how quickly both are able to get up to speed, but the episode’s idea that the abilities/skills are inherent to them and just need to be tapped into does the bare minimum to gloss over the plot hole. Also troubling is Team Flash’s reaction to the pair. While throwing them into the pipeline allows for a nice escape sequence, and offering a reason to tie-in appearances from both Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) and Superman (Tyler Hoechlin), you would think that Barry and Oliver (who still have their own knowledge) should have been able to prove who was who simply by talking things through.

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Justice League Action – Party Animal

  • Title: Justice League Action – Party Animal
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Justice League Action - Party Animal television review

The holiday-themed “Party Animals” gives us a look at the Justice League at Green Arrow‘s (Chris Diamantopoulos) Christmas party. Even Batman (Kevin Conroy) makes an appearance, when the Flash (Charlie Schlatter) learns that the Dark Knight’s attendance is all the Emerald Archer wants for the holiday and decides to kidnap Batman at super-speed. The party is interrupted by the appearance of Plastic Man (Dana Snyder) who brings the tranked-out Solomon Grundy (Fred Tatasciore), captured earlier in the episode, as his guest. Grundy’s outburst, and the sequence of events which follow offer the true meaning of the holiday. Green Arrow’s insistence on letting the events play out even earns him some appreciation from Batman (and what more could Ollie ask for?).

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Arrow – The Demon

  • Title: Arrow – The Demon
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Arrow - The Demon television review

The season’s theme of unexpected alliances continues as Oliver (Stephen Amell) finds an old frenemy on Level 2, and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) enlists the help of both Laurel (Katie Cassidy) and Dinah (Juliana Harkavy) to discover what off-the-books experiments Dr. Jarrett Parker (Jason E. Kelley) is doing with inmates on a facility the prison doesn’t even admit exists. Although the show has really short-changed the character, the return of Talia al Ghul (Lexa Doig) offers some nice prison escape fight sequences and helps give closure to Talia’s storyline (and continue to tease a Batman connection to the Arrowverse that The CW has shown no actual interest in ever exploring). The torture Oliver endures also opens a new possible legal recourse to get him out of prison.

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