In two of these episodes (The Flash and Arrow), our heroes make some really bad choices, and in the other two (Supergirl and Legends Of Tomorrow), some familiar faces return to shake things up. Here’s what happened:
Supergirl 3×07 “Wake Up”
A lot happens in this episode of Supergirl. Last week’s little jaunt back in time was fun, but we’re back into the thick of things. J’onn’s father Myr’nn is back, and while J’onn and Winn worry that he feels trapped in the DEO, Myr’nn actually thinks J’onn is the one trapped by his job. I guess this different perspective impacts J’onn, because he gets the two of them an apartment and they agree to work together to build a new home and life. This was the simplest and easiest plot arc in the episode.
As for Sam, we’ve so far this season we’ve been getting weird hints that there’s something more to her, and this episode is a big one in that regard. As she makes dinner for Ruby, she decides to test her unknown power by putting her hand in boiling water (as ya do!), and when her hand comes out fine, she realizes that she’s definitely going to need more answers. So she sends Ruby to a friend’s house and then goes to see her adoptive mom. She and her mom aren’t on good terms since her mom kicked her out for getting pregnant at 16. They bicker for a little bit, but then Sam asks if she ever did anything weird growing up. She explains how she got shot but didn’t feel it, and this prompts her mom to take her out to a shed behind the house, where, locked inside is a spaceship. Apparently, Sam wasn’t legally adopted, as she just crashed down to earth as a baby, so her adoptive mother just kept her and raised her, hoping to tell Sam when she was older…until she kicked her out. Yeah, kick out your pregnant alien daughter. That sounds like a good plan. Sam touches the ship and from it comes a glowing crystal thing. With this new knowledge, Sam decides she needs more answers, which is understandable, considering she has the same origin story of Superman so far (side note: the whole illegal adoption and spaceship and key hidden in a shed thing? Very Smallville). After setting Ruby up with a babysitter and promising that she’ll be back as soon as she does some self-discovery, Sam drives off, with only a crystal thing to guide her. And guide her it does. It takes her into the middle of a large desert-like area and then, as she walks, the crystal glows and from the ground rises a sandy fortress exactly like Clark and Kara’s fortress in the Arctic. Sam goes inside and is greeted by a hologram of the weird cloaked being she’s been having dreams about. The hologram explains that she is from Krypton and possesses great power. Though just as Sam begins to imagine herself as a hero, the hologram corrects her: no, she won’t be a hero. She’ll be called Worldkiller and will cause havoc, even forgetting Ruby when she becomes Reign. Before Sam can argue or process this information, the hologram does something that brings out the power in Sam, and we last see her scream in pain as her body twitches.
Back over to the DEO, Winn notices that on the city’s scan of the water, there is what appears to be a 12000 year old ship made from non-earthly metals. So J’onn, using his Martian powers, manages to vibe himself, Kara, and Winn down through the ground and into the ship. They see these pods with people in them, but one’s empty. Its owner? Mon-El. Love him or hate him, from the shadows a bearded Mon-El appears, and when he sees Kara, they embrace. Cut to the DEO’s med bay where Mon-El is resting and Kara, Winn, Alex, and J’onn are wondering how he’s here and able to breathe and how he got into that ship. But what’s important is that he’s back, and Kara is overjoyed. Until, that is, Mon-El sneaks out of the med bay and attacks two agents before Kara stops him. She puts him in a cell and a tearily demands answers, but he has none. When Winn stops by the cell, he tries for answers too, and while Mon-El doesn’t give him much, he does say that Winn needs to help him or Kara could be in trouble. So the guys manage to get back down to the sunken ship (how did they do this?) and Mon-El sets Winn up with the ship’s computer, but before things can happen, Kara arrives. As she yells at Mon-El, she sees that he still has her ring on a necklace, proving that he is the same Mon-El that she sent off seven months earlier. Mon-El finally reveals what’s up with him. Though it’s been seven months since Kara saw him, he’s lived seven years. He went through a space wormhole and ended up in the 31st century where there was a cure for the anti-Daxemite gas. He kept Kara’s ring as a reminder of who she was and what he became from her. Before they could say more, the ship malfunctions a little and one of the pods starts flooding with water. Kara breaks the glass and out falls an unconscious woman Mon-El calls Imra. Back at the DEO, as Kara and Mon-El chat lightly, Imra wakes up and Mon-El immediately kisses her before awkwardly admitting to Kara that Irma is his wife. Oh boy, this will surely send Kara into an even darker state of angst. Can’t wait.
And that’s it. As much as I don’t like how Sam’s story is such a silly copy of Superman’s, it is kind of interesting, and it’ll be weird seeing her adapt to this news. Will she tell Kara and Lena? And what about Ruby? As for Mon-El, though I never loved him, this too is interesting. How will he adapt to being back at the DEO with Kara? Will his wife adapt? Not a stellar episode, but decent.
The Flash 4×07 “Therefore I Am”
This is an engaging episode of The Flash for sure. We pick up basically where we left off, with Joe and Barry meeting Clifford DeVoe and his wife in their normal, not-evil looking home. Joe and Barry ask the happy couple a few questions and show them pictures of the bus metas, but they don’t seem to have a connection. So Joe and Barry leave, but they’re unsure what to make of the situation. At the lab, they all agree to do some more research into DeVoe, splitting up the work, but everyone reports back that he’s clean. The only one who doesn’t believe they’ve got the wrong DeVoe is Barry. He’s very skeptical and very paranoid, but more on that in a sec.
What makes this episode particularly interesting is that throughout it we see flashbacks to Clifford and his wife Marlize dating back to over four years ago. They’re both professors with plans to build a device that’ll unlock a brain’s full power (because us silly humans only use a disheartening 20% or something like that, right?). They have all the plans for this thinking cap, but they need a huge power source. Good thing there’s a new particle accelerator about to debut! On the night of the explosion, Clifford is standing outside in the rain with a high-tech contraption on his head, and from that, he got immense thinking powers. But at a cost! Since his brain then works in overdrive, the rest of his body slowly reaches a state of paralysis. He’s confined to a wheelchair, but he thrives the most when he’s in his high-tech brain chair that literally connects to his brain by peeling back his fake scalp. It takes some adapting and the support of Marlize, but Clifford has got the most powerful mind ever, and he’s using it to ruin Barry’s life, apparently. Why? We don’t really know yet. They also seem to have it out for Harrison Wells and STAR Labs, so maybe Barry’s just a pawn in a larger game. Either way, it’s clear that he’s gonna give Barry a run for his money.
Back to Barry and the team, everyone is convinced that Clifford and Marlize are regular, nice people, but Barry is determined to prove that DeVoe is the one. Though Joe and Barry get a stern talking-to from Captain Singh at CCPD after the DeVoes report them for harassment, Barry continues to investigate behind everyone’s back. He even breaks into their house at night and snoops around. And in typical Barry Allen fashion, he screws up big time by not wearing a mask or disguise or anything and getting caught on a hidden camera in their house. Marlize takes that image right to Singh, and Barry is sent on a two-week suspension and gets a restraining order. I honestly can’t decide what was a bigger screw up: this or the whole Flashpoint debacle? Either way, Barry had me screaming at the TV. Iris notices how obsessive he’s getting and tries to talk him out of it, reminding him that they’re getting married in a week(!) but he’s not ready to give up. The thing with this episode is that since we know Barry is right, it’s hard to watch him get so crazy and have the team not know how to deal with it.
So despite the restraining order and the fact that he is on very thin ice with his fiance, friends, and in his job, Barry decides to talk to DeVoe again, finding him at the school. This exchange is at least productive. Clifford reveals he knows that Barry is the Flash and then explains his powers, letting Barry know that he’s in for a wild ride. Barry reports this back to Team Flash (and Wally, who’s back!), and they finally believe him, but don’t know what to do about it. Besides, they have a wedding to prepare for!
While this episode did further the plot and seeing DeVoe’s backstory was very cool, Barry and his bad choices made it very uncomfortable to watch. DeVoe is clearly going to be a really hard villain to defeat this season, and I’m already tired. You though Adrian Chase was a handful on Arrow? Get ready, y’all, because this episode made it obvious that The Thinker is going to be so much cooler and evil.
Legends Of Tomorrow 3×07 “Welcome To The Jungle”
With Sara still in a coma, it’s up to the rest of the team to carry on work, and surprisingly, it goes okay! There are a couple of snafus (I mean, we are dealing with the Legends here), but no one dies, and Mick shows a new emotion, so it’s solid work. Anyway, they decide to go to Vietnam in the 60’s, at the height of the Vietnam war where there’s an anachronism about. Apparently, some creature is kidnapping soldiers and making them worship a new God, so the team splits up and investigates. Mick and Nate head to the last attack site as soldiers while Amaya, Zari, and Ray pretend to be journalists in a local village, and Stein and Jax remain on the Waverider, still working on their break-up problem.
In the jungle, Mick is acting particularly odd, and when asked, he tells Nate that his father fought in this war. Nate assures him that the chances of him running into his father are slim, but where’s the fun in that? Only moments later do they meet a group of soldiers, and their leader is of course Dick Rory (yes, that is his name). In case you don’t remember, a young Mick burned down his house with his father in it, and he doesn’t regret it, as apparently his alcoholic father wasn’t nice or attentive. Mick and Dick are alike though, and as we see Nate and Mick work with the soldiers to find the beast, it’s clear that they’re more alike than Mick hopes they are. In this episode he comes to understand that his father was a decent man, but probably suffered from PTSD when Mick was a kid, and as Mick interacts with him, he even comes to learn about himself and the man he has become.
As for Amaya, Zari, and Ray, they meet a lady named Ahn Ly, who takes them to the beast: Grodd. Yes, Gorilla Grodd is in Vietnam, building a whole kingdom of faithful humans. Since humans made him as he is, he’s out for revenge and has a plot to have his followers kill the American president, who’s visiting the war efforts, and start WWIII. Amaya tries to use her animal powers to help him and gain his trust so they can bring him to a prehistoric time where humans don’t exist yet. Just as Grodd agrees, his site is attacked by Dick and his soldiers, and though Amaya swears she’s not behind the attack, the damage is done. Grodd has a new plan, and it’s to steal the Waverider and go to whatever time he wants.
At this point, Stein is the only one on the Waverider because Jax was sent out to save the president. Before he left, he and Stein tried to work on their molecular equation, but even with the help of Isaac Newton and Marie Currie, who Stein brought on board to assist, they can’t figure it out. Either way, Jax knows he has to learn to face challenges alone, so he goes out into the jungle alone. It works out though because he ends up saving the president by freezing and disarming the landmine the president was about to accidentally trigger. So with Jax out being a hero, Stein is left with just Gideon to help him as he tries to fly away and shake Grodd off the outside of the ship. And to make matters worse, with Grodd so close to the ship, he’s able to control Sara’s body and has her attack Stein from the inside. Luckily, Isaac Newton is still hanging out and knocks her out so Stein can shake the giant monkey off the ship (this show is a trip!). The Legends all meet up and take to the skies, but not before Mick says an awkward goodbye to his father. Whether Mick now has some regrets or not, the course of history can’t be changed, so it is what it is. As the Legends celebrate their mini Thanksgiving, Sara wakes up properly, and for that, I am thankful. As for Grodd, he ends up being summoned to a parking lot by Damien Dahrk and a magical time-travelling stone he has. So I guess we’ll not only have to deal with Dahrk again but Grodd as well. Fun.
As much as the team held their own this week, I did miss Sara. It was a decent episode with all the normal little chuckles and action, but it was nothing special. With Mick’s storyline and us getting one more episode closer to saying goodbye to Stein, it wasn’t the most cheery of times.
Arrow 6×07 “Thanksgiving”
It’s Thanksgiving in Star City, but of course there are some little issues to deal with before they celebrate. For one, Oliver is arrested by the nosey FBI lady on all of the Green Arrow’s offenses. He spends a night in jail and is eventually released on bail – half a million, which Felicity pays for using money that Helix Dynamics got from investors. At the same time this is going down, Cayden James and Black Siren are back in action (though James is off-site, instructing from behind a computer). First they break into some lab to steal a nanothermite (don’t ask me what that is). Team Arrow tracks their moves and attempts to apprehend them during their next break, but in the middle of it, Diggle keels over in pain, suffering despite the prototype drug Curtis injected him with earlier. He orders the others to go after Black Siren, but she and her goons get away with some other sciencey thing that Felicity thinks can combine with the nanothermite to make a bomb.
Diggle is sent to the hospital, and as he awaits test results, he’s visited by Oliver, who is not pleased that he was kept in the dark regarding Diggle’s nerve damage. They argue a little as neither are ready to admit they messed up (Oliver by asking John to become the Green Arrow even though he has a family too, and John by doing it despite his nerve issues). Oliver visits him again later on, though, when they’re calmer, and they do apologize. In fact, John then admits that when the Dominators abducted them last year and showed them their perfect life, John saw himself as the Green Arrow, which is why he agreed to take on the role. However, his test are back and he could be permanently paralyzed soon… The other duo having some drama this episode is Curtis and Felicity. Curtis is not pleased with the fact that Felicity essentially named their startup and chose their project without consulting him. But it doesn’t affect their work too much, and at the end of the episode where they exchange apologies, he isn’t even too upset that she used the investor money to help Oliver.
With a potential bomb in the area, the team realizes that the most populated area will be the concert arena as Billy Joel is set to perform. Oliver tries to get the concert canceled, but he doesn’t have enough proof to succeed. So the team has to suit up and prepare to deal with it themselves. Diggle is out for the count, so guess who’s donning the green hood? Oliver. Yes, though he promised William he wouldn’t do it again, Oliver suits up for this mission. Is this possibly the dumbest thing he’s done in a while? Sure is. Can’t wait to see this go south! The team arrives at the arena, and we even get to see Billy Joel on stage, as they used real footage from a BJ concert in the episode (kinda cool, who doesn’t love Billy Joel, amiright?). They locate the bomb, but even from a webcam, Felicity can tell it’s a decoy. Cayden is smart though, and this is all his plan. He lures the team there for two reasons. One, so they can attack his goons who are dressed as cops and then film and release it so the public thinks the vigilantes fight cops, and two, so he can talk to Oliver Queen. He wants to personally inform the Green Arrow that his attacks on the city are revenge for Cayden losing his son. We (and Oliver) don’t know who his son is, and we also can’t be sure if his son is dead or just out of Cayden’s life, and with Arrow‘s fun habit of having dead people turn up unexpectedly, it could go either way.
The footage of Team Arrow attacking fake cops has a timely release as it’s the day the city votes on the anti-vigilante referendum, and of course they vote for it. Between that and Oliver deciding to remain the Arrow until Diggle is back in the game, it looks like Team Arrow is going to face some tough times and may have to adjust their way of conducting business. But they don’t spend too long fretting about that because Oliver gets called to the hospital – Thea is finally awake and they take that chance to all celebrate Thanksgiving together.
Not a great episode, all in all. Oliver’s choice to become the Green Arrow again is wildly stupid (who was dumber this week, Oliver or Barry?) and it will surely cause a rift in his relationship with William soon. But I guess they need a reason to have Oliver involved in the Earth-X business next week. While we finally get a motive for Cayden James, his whole fake bomb was kind of boring, as was the unnecessary drama with Felicity and Curtis. Not Arrow‘s best, but at least Billy Joel didn’t die!
None of the shows really impressed me this week. They were mediocre at best, but the fact that out of all the heroes, Mick Rory was the one to make the best choices is kind of funny. My favourite of the week does have to go to The Flash because though Barry’s behavior was incredibly exasperating, the flashbacks to Clifford and Marlize were interesting and did change the whole game. Do you agree with me or did another episode enthuse you more?
