Crisis on Earth-X, Part 2 [Arrow S06E08]: An Unexpected Return

Arrow, Season 6, Episode 8: Crisis on Earth-X, Part 2

Yeah. Yeah, this is what a Crisis crossover should be. I definitely am happy I waited until all four episodes are dropped to watch them together, because it does feel like a pretty huge event movie to me. 

I'm sorry. You gotta give this to me. Crisis on Earth-X isn't just a big four-part-episode mega-movie, but one that is also decently paced and also helps to further some plotlines from their respective shows. And plus, it has... so many DC superheroes! If Justice League excited me a couple of weeks ago, I was simply grinning like an idiot throughout my huge binge-watch of all four parts of Crisis on Earth-X. Yes, on one part, the premise might be a little shaky with evil Nazi doppelgangers being the villains -- it's far more entertaining compared to last year's Dominators, mind you.

And, well, I've been a superhero comic-book fan all my life. I really could've stood around picking out the plotlines. I certainly am not a big fan of how the Oliver/Felicity marriage slap-slap-kiss dicking around the bush ends up being the big takeaway plot from Arrow, and how Supergirl's own takeaway plot is that 'Kara and Alex need to move on'. Comparing it to the very emotionally heart-string-tugging father/son relationship of Stein and Jax from Legends of Tomorrow, the love lives of Oliver and Kara certainly feels absolutely trivial. 

But honestly? All these silly sub storylines do feel trivial, for the simple fact that fuck, lots of superhero showdowns happen this episode, and this is just part 2. We have two more episodes to go, and at least half the supporting cast still hasn't arrived yet. I do feel that, yes, Cisco being knocked out and the Waverider crew being stuck on a random mission to the Stone Age during this episode feels a bit wonky... but Crisis on Earth-X is clearly trying to limit the central cast to just around a half-dozen characters instead of juggling all 20+ characters at once, and bringing in reinforcements bit by bit. 

The first minute of this second part of Crisis is an amazing moment, though, as Prometheus is revealed not to be Adrian Chase, or Simon Morrison... but Tommy fucking Merlyn! Well, Nazi Tommy Merlyn, anyway. I've been joking all throughout last year that Prometheus was Tommy, knowing full well that the fantastic Colin Donnell can't make it to shoot as the main villain for Arrow... but a quick five-minute cameo? Hell yeah. We get a surprisingly tender moment from Oliver as he converses with Nazi Tommy, and then he eats a cyanide pill and dies. Yes, it's perhaps a bit of a shame that evil Tommy isn't actually part of the Earth-X Nazi alliance beyond this scene, but god, that's a great bit of scenery-chewing right there as he reveals that his whole 'we could be buddies'  thing was an act and he's just waaaah super evil and a mere herald of the true Fuhrer.

We also get the big revelation that Overgirl and Dark Arrow, the Nazi doppelgangers to Supergirl and Green Arrow, are married in Earth-X, and are the supreme rulers of Earth-X. We also learn throughout the episode that their goal isn't just conquest of Earth-1 (well, not just) but instead something that feels like a twisted version of what our Oliver and Kara would do. Which is to kidnap our Supergirl, and use her and harvest her organs because Overgirl is dying of solar radiation overload (a neat homage to All-Star Superman there, with Overgirl's story also having shades of Red Son) and even a Fuhrer will do whatever he needs to rescue his wife. They serve as pretty decent villains. Again, it's a matter of performance. Melissa Benoist and Stephen Amell juggle the part of playing both the heroic and villainous versions of Oliver Queen and Kara Zor-El very well.

Rounding out the trio of villains, however, is Tom Cavanagh back as... I said Harrison Wells last episode, but here it's explicitly stated that he's Earth-1 Eobard Thawne Reverse-Flash, using the Harrison Wells face-change. It's somewhat complex, and Thawne simply waves off the question as to why he's played by Tom Cavanagh as opposed to Matt Letscher; why he's alive after the events of last season's Legends of Tomorrow; and which point of time this particular Eobard Thawne came from. The show even hangs a lampshade on it, saying 'eh, time travel. A complicated thing' or something along those lines. It's pretty funny, to be honest... and I don't really care. 

I really loved the super-speed gag, with Flash and Supergirl arriving on the spot... and then Green Arrow vroom-vrooming on a bike so much later than the others. So good. 

The big mid-episode conflict between the good guys and the bad guys simply happens between the three biggest heroes and the big three villains, with Green Arrow, the Flash and Supergirl facing off against Dark Arrow, Reverse-Flash and Overgirl, and it's... serviceable. There are a couple of odd moments with the evil villains dropping rather flat dialogue like 'Oliver is ten times the man Hitler was!' or 'my allegiance is to the Fatherland', but, again, it's serviceable enough and leans more towards charming than groan-worthy. The fight opening with the two Flashes turning into lightning bolts and zooming around; Green Arrow launching a kryptonite arrow at Overgirl (even if the CGI for the arrow splitting open is a bit iffy)... and then it's interrupted by Overgirl blasting apart a construction site, leading to an extended sequence of our three heroes stopping it from crumbling and saving all the people.

I do like my superheroes to save the civilians, but perhaps there's a huge question as to why the Nazi dudes didn't attack our heroes when they're destroyed, or blow up more buildings. I do feel that that part's a bit weak, narratively, even if I can ignore or handwave other plot points in the Crisis Crossover like, say, how did Eobard survive, or why is Cisco knocked out so long, or why didn't the Arrow Team or the rest of the Legends show up. (At least Kid Flash and Diggle's absence throughout the entire crossover is explained by Wally guarding Joe and Diggle being hospitalized respectively).

Speaking of which... one thing that I felt could've done better in the 'Invasion' crossover was how... haphazard the actors and characters weave in and out of the shows. Like, Thea shows up for one episode, and is handwaved away in the next, or the Arrow sidekick squad showing up for one episode and not participating in the next... here it seems they have pre-emptively written out some characters even before beginning, making the transition far smoother (if more lampshade-ier). They also wait a bit before introducing some characters like the Team Arrow sidekick squad, who had a brief cameo explaining what they're doing early in the episode, before showing up at the end, and continuing to show up through parts 3 and 4.

Also, again, there are the weak parts of the Olicity stuff but... eh. So much of the other emotional beats are so powerful, as Stein and Jax speak once more about their unique father/son bond and Jax finally exploding on Stein about how he's the closest thing to a father. We've got the oddly mature moment of Oliver asking Barry for relationship advice, and the somber scene of Barry and Iris in Eobard Thawne's secret room. I even liked Alex's brief flustered thing over the one-night stand with Alex. Really, the Felicity-doesn't-want-marriage stuff is the only thing I could do without. 

I did love the slow 'suit up' scene as the scene transitions from Alex and Sara to Firestorm to Flash to Supergirl to Green Arrow, with their respective theme music blaring... yeah, there's no real excuse for Kara to go from Supergirl to civvies and then do the dramatic shirt-open to reveal the S-symbol. But it's cool nonetheless. And, boy, I'm just happy to see Firestorm fly around again. I missed Firestorm so much throughout this season of Legends of Tomorrow.

And then the final battle happens in the warehouse, with the strike team doing battle against Overgirl, Reverse-Flash and an army of Nazi goons, while Dark Arrow goes into STAR Labs to take out their support team... and thankfully Heatwave was left behind as he's hunting for mustard (and hitting on Caitlin). And while the mid-episode battle might have been aborted, the final episode battle is amazing for the simply awesome chaotic scenes. With Flash single-handedly taking out a room of Nazi goons, to the threatening 'oh shit' moment as Dark Arrow walks menacingly towards Harry Wells, to Supergirl and Firestorm raining flames from above, to Overgirl catching ansnapping the kryptonite arrow, Supergirl whacking Reverse-Flash mid-run and sending him tripping away... there was a wee bit too much shaky cam, and at some points Flash and Reverse-Flash exiting from being lightning bolts to being people we can see is a bit jarring, but it's fine. 

There was a long shot as Green Arrow gets knocked over, and sees the battle in slo-mo reflected from his eyes. That's a bit unnecessarily long, but also still awesome, so I don't care.

And honestly, Dark Arrow's invasion of STAR Labs may be my favourite sequence in this episode. From the cold horror as he advances towards the helpless Harry Wells, to Heat Wave and Killer Frost teaming up against Dark Arrow... there was a moment when it looks like Killer Frost would be able to take down Dark Arrow or snap his arm or something (there's certainly precedent for an armless Green Arrow), and the simply badass entrance of the Team Arrow second stringers of Black Canary, Wild Dog and Mr. Terrific...  they end up getting beaten down in a single scene, but by god, that whole sequence does sell how badass Dark Arrow is. 

Oh, and Metallo! I really wished he was foreshadowed a bit earlier, but seeing a fully metallic and simply awesome Silver-Age Metallo show up and one-shot Supergirl, and then for Overgirl and Reverse-Flash to quickly mow their way through the rest of the heroes... it's pretty badass. Metallo just looks so good! And his inclusion, while a bit deus ex machina-y, is still done with such aplomb and I just love it. 

And this episode ends with our heroes beaten down and captured, used as leverage against Supergirl. Those on STAR labs are imprisoned in the Pipeline, and those with Strike Team Oliver are sent to a concentration camp in Earth-X,  while Supergirl is captured and about to be subjected to some forced organ donoring. The only ones left in STAR labs, sneaking away from the evil Nazis, are the non-powered love interests, Iris and Felicity. It's the whole darkest hour trope, and I'm fine with it.

And really, it's mostly a matter of simple, pure, unadulterated badass superhero action. Yes, some of the dialogue are cheesy as all get-out. Yes, some of the action scenes may use questionable CGI. Yes, making the villains somewhat cartoonishly Nazi is a bit laughable (apparently a lot of people hold some issue to Nazis being used at all? Eh, not something that even remotely crossed my mind, honestly, and people are a bit too over-sensitive in recent times). Would I want more characters (J'onn! Superman! Elongated Man! Kid Flash! Black Siren! Diggle! Thea! Other Vixen! Constantine!) But is it enjoyable? Oh hell yes. Oh hell yes. I could nitpick around it all day... but I'm not gonna. It's just such a fun romp with a fun cast of characters.

And... is it a better Justice League movie than the actual Justice League movie? I love the movie, mind you... but yes. Hell yes this is better. 

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• Apparently, Earth-X's version of Prometheus is Tommy Merlyn, who we last saw dead all the way back in Arrow's first season, although he's since made several brief appearances in flashbacks.
• Earth-X's version of Metallo, while still played by the same actor as his Supergirl counterpart (who appeared and died last season), is a full-on robot with no fleshy exterior parts seen (a look more common in the 90's with Superman: The Animated Series popularizing the half-human, half-machine look), which was how Metallo looked throughout much of the Golden Age and Silver Age. 
• I'm not sure if we already knew this already, but here Harry Wells establishes that there are only 52 Earths... plus Earth-X. The fact that the multiverse stops at 52 instead of extending all the way to Infinite Earths is the hallmark of the New 52 reboot.
• After much dancing about it, we finally get the confirmation that Earth-1 does have its own Krypton and it's own version of Kara.
• Overgirl dying of solar energy overload is based on a similar thing that happens to Superman in the iconic alternate-universe comic All-Star Superman. 
• Reverse-Flash, explicitly stated to be Eobard Thawne of Earth-1, makes several call-backs to the first season of the Flash and how he acted as Barry's mentor, as well as to how the rules of time travel is often bent to the whims of the current story.
• Oliver's possession of a Kryptonite arrow and several characters going 'WTF?' at that revelation mirrors how CW's Green Arrow borrows a lot of elements from Batman as the paranoid, broody hypercompetent vigilante of the universe.
• Oliver name-dropping a metronome as a device to track down Earth-X's frequency is a possible homage to how in the original Crisis on Infinite Earths, the plot device to travel between universes was a gigantic tuning fork.