Elseworlds #3 / Supergirl S04E09 Review: Worlds Will Die

Supergirl, Season 4, Episode 9: Elseworlds, Hour 3

I definitely believe that "Hour 3" is the weakest part of the Elseworlds three-parter. Sure, it still works by spotlighting Team Main Character (and Superman) as the main focus of the storyline, and flows a lot better than a lot previous crises thanks to that. But it's also the one where the story feels the flimsiest and most straightforward. Throw in the fact that a lot of the storylines that Elseworlds have been building up towards -- Earth-90 Flash, mostly -- ended up being sort of not really going anywhere.

The thing is, though, the first two Elseworlds episodes worked on a simple premise of Oliver and Barry switching lives and bodies. It's a simple change, and one that works wonders with loads of comedy. Here? The change is that Oliver and Barry are the Trigger Twins, and that John Deegan has transformed into Earth-1's black-suited Superman to rip of Injustice, serving as Earth's best protector while ruling like a dictator. It's such a jarring and honestly out-of-nowhere introduction that after the coolness factor of a black Superman has faded away, this particular alternate universe ended up feeling pretty blase. Kudos to Tyler Hoechlin for pulling double duty as regular Superman and Destiny-Superman, but ultimately, I really do think that they really could've done better.

The whole Monitor storyline also... just sort of peters out. Okay, I'll buy the fact that the Monitor is doing this elaborate reality-warping nonsense with John Deegan and the Book of Destiny as an ultimately-harmless test to judge if our heroes are worthy. But other than Oliver calling out the Monitor (in a pretty badass scene we'll talk about later), the Monitor just sort of disappears from this plot beyond giving cryptic speeches. I kind of know what the Monitor is all about from the comics, but even then I really felt like this could've definitely been done a bit better.

And, yeah, all the Monitor/Doctor Destiny stuff ends up just being foreshadowing for 2019's Big Crossover Event, Crisis on Infinite Earths... but that doesn't really excuse the rather non-committal conclusion to this one.

And to add the biggest insult to injury? Barry and Oliver clearly has had the bulk of the focus of the past couple of episodes given to them due to the body swap. Kara ends up being more of the sane one among Team Main Character, with her biggest and most relevant solo moment in this crossover being the bonding moments with Superman in part 1, and bonding with Batwoman in part 2. I really feel like the writers really could've done something more -- Kara's storyline in this episode basically hangs around a silly "Alex and Kara are sisters over dimensions" plot that ends up not mattering since the alternate-Earth version of Alex Danvers is going to be reverted to what she was in the first place.

Hell, if there was anyone who was the MVP of this episode, it's probably Oliver. Melissa Benoist is doing the best with what she's given with, but it really feels like the crossover is sidelining her and giving her what amounts to a stalling, filler storyline in what should really be her own episode.

And... and with all those complaints out of the way, time to break down what I like about the episode. Trigger Twins Barry and Oliver are pretty fun, and while I was kind of surprised at the sudden darkness of Oliver shooting a crane to threaten a bunch of civilians... apparently Oliver had made it so that the crane would fall to a parking lot, while Barry was so disgusted that he actually nearly puked. Good that they acknowledged that, I don't think I would retain my respect for Oliver if he actually endangered children, faith that Deegan would save them or not.

And then, well, we get the revelation of the state of this world with Superman as its ruler, and the fact that Deegan has imprisoned Supergirl in the Pipeline. We also get Deegan's explanation for all of this -- he isn't familiar with Superman and Supergirl, who just plain doesn't exist on Earth-1, which is why he's assuming Superman's identity. By some cosmic joke, though, in addition to John Diggle and Killer Frost working for Deegan's Superman forces, turns out Earth-1 does have Alex Danvers, who is now working for Deegan. And thus begins the obligatory Kara/Alex subplot, which... the actresses do their best, but unlike the other Elseworlds character interactions, this is one that genuinely feels out of place and forced.

Instead, the far more interesting conversation is when Barry and Oliver walk into an apartment and meet with the Monitor, where we're treated to a speech about destiny, about how it's all a test and that self-sacrifice, while good, is never going to be enough. The Trigger Twins then end up meeting Gary the bartender, Earth-1 Jimmy Olsen the bar bouncer, and Boss Cisco Ramon. And kudos for Carlos Valdes for utterly chewing the scenery. Ultimately, though, between Earth-2, Earth-X, the Mxyzptlk musical and Flashpoint, we've seen enough alternate-universe versions of characters that this doesn't really end up feeling particularly novel, again, unlike the previous two Elseworlds storylines. It's all good for laughs and giggles, but as the closing hour of Elseworlds, it's sort of a disappointment.

Basically, the Trigger Twins ends up teaching mafia Cisco how to breach, and then breach all the way to Earth-38 to meet the real Superman and Lois in the Fortress of Solitude, apparently explain everything off-screen... and then, with Superman in tow, they arrive just in time to block Deegan!Superman from frying both Supergirl and Alex with the pretty scary line of "you can BURN together". 

And then we have Superman fighting against the false Superman, which... yeah, I won't lie, I'm still enough of a rabid DC fanboy to squeak and go EEEEEEE at all that. And we even get a funny Bizarro Easter Egg!

Of course, though, it's a bit of an odd decision to suddenly reveal that Superman has apparently dealt with reality-warping quasimagical artifacts before, and he has the mental strength to withstand the mind-fuckery powers of the Book of Destiny. That honestly feels like it comes out of nowhere. Anyway, Superman reads the Book of Destiny, and fixes the reality for Team Main Character.

We get an actually fun Man of Steel ribbing when Deegan-Superman catches Barry in a chokehold, threatening to snap his neck, while Oliver gets ready to take the show... but Barry basically tells Oliver to overcome his darkness and "be better" and not kill villains, because that's the Monitor's test. This ends up with Deegan getting the Book back and just going crazy with the book, rewriting reality in all ways but ones that actually matter. It's... it's honestly kind of disappointing, really, that a pretty competent actor like Jeremy Davies ultimately just ends up with "well, go nuts".

Meanwhile, Flash and Supergirl decide to rip off Christopher Reeve movies and run around the Earth fast enough to slow down time, something that Superman warns them will kill them if they do so -- it is written in the Book. I don't think the show does an adequate job of explaining or showing why slowing down time is so important to defeating Deegan, or why Superman (who, last I checked, is still faster than a speeding bullet) can't help with the super-speed. The CW shows have tended to be great at handwaving stuff away with scientific bullcrap excuses, but they don't even try this time around.

Again, it's Oliver again that ends up impressing me. Superman ends up fighting a summoned Amazo, Supergirl and Flash just do the same "run while burning up" scene, but Oliver goes off and demands an audience with the Monitor, noting that he's probably in the minority of people who demand to talk to what's basically a god (although Oliver refuses to call Novu that). Oliver tells the Monitor that no, while he himself isn't worthy, people like Flash and Supergirl definitely are, and if the two of them are going to die, the whole point of looking for the universe's best chance against the oncoming Crisis(tm) is going to be lost. The Monitor decides to make a deal with Oliver, suggesting that he needs something in return... but we cut away after that.

Of course, it's probably something that's going to be revealed in 2019, and it's probably just Oliver trading his life for that of Supergirl and Flash, potentially leading to an actual, permanent death... and after eight seasons, you can't be blamed for wanting an out of the show. Interesting, but I'm not really here to speculate, but to review.

Anyway, the climax of this episode is honestly pretty messy, with Supergirl and Flash just off-screen speeding up, Superman fighting Amazo and Deegan just laughing mad as he does some nonsense 'replace buildings with other buildings' crap. We get Earth-38's superheroes arriving, though, with Lois holding a big-ass space hammer, Martian Manhunter and Brainiac-5 showing up. (Fuck Guardian, I guess, not that I'd blame the writers for forgetting he exists) Bit of a shame that J'onn basically does nothing on-screen, while Brainiac-5 ends up having his fight off-screen. Brainy is also uncharacteristically gung-ho and scarily competent, one-shotting Amazo, and I genuinely am taken aback. Was he just trying to look good in front of Clark?

Anyway, whatever Oliver's mysterious deal with Monitor was, he ends up showing up with a blue arrow just as time is being slowed down, blows up the Book of Destiny, and this reverts Flash and Supergirl's burning up. Oh, and turns Deegan's face into Dr. Destiny's skull-face.

And as such, Elseworlds and its insane reality-warping nonsense is over, and... and it sort of ended in a far less interesting way than it had started off. Yeah, I really, really wished they had done more, or told a more comprehensive story to the end.

The epilogues are definitely interesting and charming. We get the typical bit of MCU-style Stinger with the Psycho-Pirate deliciously quoting Crisis on Infinite Earths comic books. ("Worlds will live, worlds will die!") as he's Dr. Deegan's next-door cellmate in Arkham Asylum, and the final shot of the episode teases the Crisis itself. We also get Batwoman calling Oliver to warn him about the duo, again, setting up Batwoman for her own series. All of these are definitely interesting, but when the actual storyline of Elseworlds: Hour Three felt so superficial, I'm not sure if these end up really working out at all.

What I do love, though, is the little ending between Clark and Kara. Again, the two really feel like they're part of the same family, and I do love just how casually Clark kicks a gigantic bundle of hay while conversing with Kara. Clark basically re-affirms that Kara Zor-El will always be a hero wherever she is... and actually gives us an explanation for an absence by Superman and Lois Lane -- Lois is pregnant, and to avoid any super-baby shenanigans they're going to be living in Argo for some time, and Superman's happy to leave the planet to Supergirl for a while. Also, Superman proposes to Supergirl with a coal diamond ring, which is just dorky as all hell, but works so well for Superman. We didn't really spend much time with these pair of characters, but d'awww.

Anyway, it's definitely significantly weaker than the first two hours of Elseworlds, and I really wished Kara got a lot more screentime... but I can't lie -- I am entertained. Superman fighting Superman was great, and I was freaking out a little over the Crisis crossover news. But, on the other hand... yeah, definitely could've been handled better. 

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• The idea of Superman being a tyrant that rules the Earth as its greatest protector and tyrant is a storyline that's been used a couple of times -- the Crime Syndicate universe, an episode in the animated Justice League series, and more famously, the Injustice alternate-universe video game series.
• Forgot to talk about the Book of Destiny in my previous segments. It's basically the artifact of one of the Endless, the metaphysical primal forces of the universe that are the main characters of DC's award-winning Sandman series. The Book of Destiny is basically the artifact of Destiny of the Endless. John Dee's comic-book counterpart was briefly empowered with the artifact of Destiny's brother, Dream, during his guest star appearance in Sandman.
• John Deegan's appearance after being caught in the reality-alteration explosion gave him a skull-like face makeup, similar to his comic-book counterpart's skull mask.
• When Dr. Destiny!Superman is fighting the real Superman, one of the random bystanders calls out "Bizarro", a reference to the classic Superman enemy of the same name.
• The hammer that Lois wields is the Solar Hammer, famously depicted in the All-Star Superman Elseworlds story (ha!) as an artifact that Superman uses to craft miniature suns to feed to his pet Sun-Eater. This was confirmed by the show creators over Twitter. 
• The idea of Flash and Supergirl dying in a red skies crisis is a reference to how both of them are the two biggest names to die during the original Crisis on Infinite Earths in the comics -- Barry by running too fast and disappearing into the speed force (as well as time) to stop the Anti-Monitor's biggest cannon, while Supergirl famously died in combat against the Anti-Monitor. 
• "Worlds will live, worlds will die" is a famous tagline during the original Crisis on Infinite Earths comic-book.
• In the comics, the Psycho-Pirate ranting in an asylum, being one of the few characters to remember the Infinite Crisis' details, ends up being one of the final scenes. 
• The idea of running fast enough around the Earth to slow down time is, of course, a reference to the infamous climax of the Christopher Reeve Superman movie, where he reversed time to reverse Lois Lane's death.  
• The evil Superman holding Barry in a chokehold is, of course, a reference to the much-derided climax of Man of Steel.
• Superman and Lois have had babies in various continuities -- most famously, the main-continuity pair had a son called Jonathan Samuel Kent, who was born during the "Convergence" period that led from the New 52 reboot to the Rebirth reboot. 
• Superman crushing a piece of coal into diamond is a reference to various scenes -- Smallville's 100th episode, where he also did the same to propose to Lana Lang; as well as the Superman III movie, and the final scene of the Earth-1 story "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow", where Superman's son did the same thing to a piece of coal.
• Green Arrow's blue arrow might be a reference to the blue Phantom Zone Arrow that the Mia Dearden Speedy had and used for emergencies, only using it in Infinite Crisis while fighting Superboy-Prime (a different evil Superman).
• During the reality-changes, we briefly get to see the Earth-X version of STAR Labs.