Well folks, here we are with our wall to wall coverage of “Invasion,” the ‘Aliens Vs. Superheroes’ crossover on the CW. Aside from the tagline being silly (because, you know, Supergirl is an alien), this is a genuinely exciting event. Alice and Brian, our usual CW reviewers, will be discussing the crossover, show by show, and then wrapping up by talking about the crossover as a whole. Keep reading for MEDUSA – Multiversity’s Extended Discussion Unto Superhero Action!
Part 1: Supergirl‘s “Medusa”
Brian: Well, those two minutes of a crossover sure were something!
Alice: Right? I feel mildly annoyed at how little this episode actually had anything to do with the crossover – more setting up how Supergirl gets involved than anything else – but I do understand the reasoning that they wanted the mid-season finale of Supergirl to be it’s own thing outside of the crossover.
Still, I feel like CW could have been clearer in saying that while Supergirl the character was a part of the crossover, Supergirl the show wasn’t going to tie in to it.
Brian: As I have to watch/review three CW shows a week, I tend to stockpile Supergirl episodes to watch while the other shows have a week off. So, in the interest of the crossover, I watched “Medusa” without having seen the previous four episodes. And, while I will watch them, I sort of don’t want to now, as I know how all those plot points resolve.
Sure, we saw a few breaches open up, but aside from Barry and Cisco’s appearance in the show’s last two minutes, there was nothing that related to the crossover.
Alice: Yeah, because this was the mid-season finale, I felt like the show had dragged some stuff out a little long just so everything could wrap up in this episode. Most of it worked, but some of it didn’t and I would say that there’s not much to go back for other than seeing the Alex stuff or seeing how the show tried to turn itself into Arrow last week.
But, yeah, it was a little disappointing to realise just how little this episode would factor into the crossover itself. It was a good episode, I really enjoyed it, but I feel like I was sold on the first part of a crossover only for it to only factor into the very last scene.
Brian: Again, I’m a month behind, but didn’t everything seem to get wrapped up just a little too neatly? I mean, it seemed like every single dangling plot point was resolved. Lena’s intentions were revealed, we got a kiss from Mon and Kara, J’onn is cured, Alex is out. I guess James being Guardian is still out there?
Alice: Yeah, you’re not wrong. It did seem to heavily resetting the status quo for the show. I’m assuming the crossover is either going to have some lasting ramifications on Supergirl’s earth or we’re going to see everything get upended when the show returns in the new year.
God, don’t get me started on Guardian, though. Apparently the CW only knows what to do with black men in their shows is to strap a dumb helmet on them and send them out to fight crime. Last episode was so Arrow that it actually ended with a fight in a warehouse.
Brian: Goodness gracious.
So, I have a question for you, as someone who (I believe) is behind on The Flash: what did you make of Barry and Cisco’s interaction with each other?
Alice: Oh, this feels like entrapment. Full disclosure, I haven’t seen an episode of The Flash since ‘Flashpoint’. Mostly it’s because I haven’t the time thanks to the great celestial maw of 2016 swallowing all of my time, but also because ‘Flashpoint’ left such a bad taste in my mouth that I had to take a break from the show before going back to.
That being said, I didn’t notice anything too out of the ordinary? I mean, I was surprised that Cisco was so impressed by the entire universe based on Kara’s apartment, but I mean, it is a pretty nice apartment.
Brian: It is a lovely apartment.
Continued belowWell, I was wondering how you took Cisco’s comment that he and Barry weren’t really friends, but “people who work together.”
Alice: Yeah, now that you mention it… that did come off as rather strange.
Do I want to know how much Barry has ruined everyone’s life this time?
Brian: Well…a lot.
The big thing to know is that Cisco recently found out that Dante, his brother, is not dead in the pre-Flashpoint world. In the current timeline (which isn’t Flashpoint, as Barry doubled back and undid Flashpoint, but is still different), Dante died as a result of a drunk driver, and Barry refuses to time travel to save him, citing how much that would fuck up reality.
Of course, he did just that, which led – indirectly, I suppose – to Dante’s death, so he and Cisco are on the outs.
To catch you up: Barry has a new CSI partner (well, sort of, he made Barry quit) who is secretly Dr. Alchemy, Caitlin is quickly becoming Killer Frost, and Wally is fully Kid Flash. Dr. Alchemy somehow knows what happened in Flashpoint, and is effecting folks who had powers there, and helping them to have powers here. Wally was in a cocoon for awhile…it got messy.
Alice: Yikes. I know it’s an overplayed joke, but that really does sound like the darkest timeline.
So, wait, is Dr Alchemy giving people powers in the current timeline because he knows they had them in Flashpoint? Am I getting that right?
Brian: We don’t really know why Alchemy is doing that, but he is doing that, yes.
Alice: Interesting. Did the last episode of The Flash set up at all why Barry and Cisco would be travelling the Multiverse to recruit Kara? I know they’re going to be fighting aliens and that’s about it.
Brian: Not really. If I recall (and, again, I review the three other shows, so things tend to blend together), the only mention of the crossover was at the end of Legends of Tomorrow, Sara interrupted a conversation by saying “We have to go – our friends in 2016 need us.”
Alice: Legends Of Tomorrow is going to be the really difficult one for me. As much as I enjoyed it, I fell way behind and didn’t even finish season one so all I know about this season is that they’ve met the JLA?
Brian: JSA. Commander Steel, Vixen (not the same Vixen from last season of Arrow, her grandmother), Obsidian, Stargirl, Hourman, and Doctor Mid-Nite. But only Vixen is traveling with the team right now, which is down a Captain Cold (who is dead) and a Rip Hunter, who is lost to history. They have picked up Nate Heywood, aka Steel (not Superman’s Steel, but the third generation JSA member sometimes called Citizen Steel) as a member, so the lineup is White Canary, the Atom, Firestorm (Stein + Jax), Vixen, Heatwave, and Steel.
Alice: Man, now I just wish that Supergirl would introduce John Henry Irons at some point.
Brian: Wait until Season 4, Alice.
Any Arrow questions? Do you know about the ‘new’ Team Arrow?
Alice: The only episode I’ve seen of Arrow since Moira died was the introduction of Vixen because I covered your review that week. I know nothing about what’s going on with Arrow and I’m generally fine with leaving it that way, but I feel like you should get me up to speed.
Brian: Woah boy. OK…
– Roy is in Bludhaven.
– Laurel is dead
– Felicity and Ollie are no longer an item, and she’s dating a cop
– Thea is retired from superheroics for the moment
– Quentin Lance is deputy mayor to Ollie’s mayor, may or may not still be in rehab
– Diggle is a fugitive, but still on the team
Side note on Diggle – the only time travel wackiness on this show is that when Barry undid Flashpoint, he changed the gender of John’s child from female to male. This helps the show line up with Legends of Tomorrow, where John Diggle Jr assumed the name of “Connor Hawke” in 2046. Let’s pour one out for Sara Diggle.
Continued belowSo, with only Diggle still suiting up (and Felicity doing her Oracle thing), Ollie puts together a new team, which features:
– Curtis Holt is now fully Mister Terrific, and he has invented t-spheres, but doesn’t use them on the show (don’t ask, I don’t know why)
– Wild Dog is on the show, and is played by one of the dudes from the short-lived CW demon show Reaper
– Artemis is a female archer who came to Ollie’s attention after she posed as Black Canary after Laurel’s death. She’s recently been revealed to be a mole, place on the team by Prometheus
– Ragman is a thing, and he’s a thing on this show.
– Vigilante is on the show, too, but not a part of the team. They don’t agree with his “I kill criminals” routine.
Alice: Oh my god, I have so many questions.
1. Prometheus is in it now? The Anti-Batman who cut off Roy’s arm in the comics?
2. Ollie actually got elected? I feel like that’s as much an injustice as the Trump presidency.
3. What is a Ragman?
Also, I love the fact that the Arrowverse writers are now just straight up using time travel to fix their weird continuity mistakes.
Also also, Reaper was the shit. I loved that show.
Brian: I loved Reaper too! To answer your questions:
1. He’s not quite that yet, but he is on the show, and he dresses exactly like Ollie and Ragman do. I made this collage a few weeks ago to illustrate this:
2. Well, funny you mention that. Ollie lost the election to Damien Darhk’s wife, but after she got dead, he was handed the job by some weird logic about how he inspired people, and even though he had dropped out, had the second most votes due to write-ins.
3. Ragman is a classic DC character, horribly bastardized by Arrow.
Alice: “Horribly bastardised” sounds like the series motto for Arrow! Hey-o!
Brian: You may want to sit down for this, Alice: Arrow is the best non-Supergirl show this season.
Alice: Oy. Is this because it’s actually stepped up by itself or because The Flash tripped itself up rushing to do ‘Flashpoint’?
Brian: Both. The show realized it is a street level show, and so ditched a lot of the magical bullshit that held down last season.
That said, Ragman has mystical rags that saved him from a nuclear bomb, so you know.
So, do you have any sense as to what to expect for tonight? Any feelings or hunches?
Alice:: Honestly? I got nothing. My attention has been so focused on Supergirl as a show that I really don’t know what to expect from this crossover in terms of forwarding the stories of the other shows.
I do hope the larger scope of covering three episodes allows for a grander scale than we saw last year (which basically felt like an extra long episode of The Flash) and that introducing aliens expands on the kinds of villains we see in The Flash and Legends Of Tomorrow.
Also, there’s genuinely no way of this happening, but if the crossover finds a way of bringing Supergirl’s world into the same universe as the rest of the world, that would be so cool.
Brian: I feel like, if that were the plan, it would’ve been done with Flashpoint being the catalyst. But I’m with you – put all the important Supergirl characters in a room, and somehow zap that room into the Arrowverse.
See ya tomorrow, Alice!
