The crossover continues as the assembled Arrowverse heroes deal with their evil Nazi doppelgangers from another Earth…
Read our review for the first part of “Crisis on Earth-X” here.
I said in my last review that adding Supergirl into the crossover storyline, unlike last year, was a great idea as it allowed the plot a whole extra hour to breathe. In this second installment, though, I’m not sure the event capitalizes on the extra time it has to flesh things out. That said, there was still much to enjoy.
In contrast to yesterday’s Supergirl, this was recognisably an Arrow episode, with lots of Olicity drama, appearances from Team Arrow and even a shocking comeback for a long-dead Arrow character. The opening reveal that Prometheus-X was an alt-Tommy Merlyn was a brilliant surprise – it was nice to see Colin Donnell back in the Arrowverse, though it’s a shame he only stuck around for a few minutes.
With that early peak, the rest of the episode stalls somewhat, as it struggles to find the proper balance between crossover action and interpersonal drama. The pacing seemed off in the middle, in particular, as we got a lot of time with the heroes just mulling about STAR Labs. This brought some memorable emotional scenes, though. e.g. Jax coming clean that he sees Martin as a surrogate dad and Alex still reeling from her break-up with Maggie.
What didn’t land so well was that old chestnut – Olicity drama. I’m liking the more emotionally-open Oliver, but the fact that he and Felicity didn’t seem to be able to talk about anything else other than their relationship problems during such a massive crisis felt odd. Come on, guys, Barry and Iris are dealing with having their wedding crashed by Nazis. Save the heart-to-heart for Star City!
We also learned a lot more about the Earth-X’ers in this installment. Including the eyebrow-raising reveal that Evil Olly and Kara are married (in Supergirl’s words: “Gross!”). We also learned that they want something else other than global conquest: Overgirl is dying, so she needs Kara’s heart to save her. Giving the villains a more concrete goal than just invasion is a good idea – likewise, is the final revelation that events are moving to Earth-X itself for the next episode.
All in all, on a critical level, some of the cracks in the story started showing in this episode, as the pace lagged somewhat. However, it was still great fun and I’m excited to see what awaits in the second half of the crossover. Roll on, The Flash!
Stray Arrows:
- I liked the Kryptonite arrow, it made sense in a Batman way for Oliver to take that precaution. One question, though: How the hell did he make it? There’s no Kryptonite on Earth-1, just as there are no Kryptonians!
- So that’s the one and only Reverse-Flash, wearing the skin of Earth-X Wells? Personally, I’m not sure about this. Eobard’s death in Legends of Tomorrow season 2 seemed pretty final and I feel like Barry finding out his nemesis is still alive would have been better explored in a regular episode. But, hey, Tom Cavanagh’s Thawne is always great.
- If you’re wondering how Evil Kara can die from overexposure to solar radiation, it may sounds odd, considering how Kryptonians draw their powers from the sun, but it is canon. Check out All-Star Superman for a moving story about when it happens to Superman.
Rating:
Fandom Factory 