Flash: Heart of the Matter, Part One

The end is near… of season seven, anyway. The beginning of the two-part season finale has speedsters at war, two old friends coming back, more nods to the comics, and another attempt at redeeming a supervillain.

Superman and Lois: Through the Valley of Death

Superman and Lois has consistently been a pleasant surprise. The show excels on every level, and continues to impress everyone I’ve talked about it with, including surprised people who tell me they’ve never been Superman fans.

Flash: P.O.W.

There are multiple, apparently identical, speedsters running around, Team Flash is outnumbered and arguably out gunned, and one of their depleted number goes off on their own.

Stargirl: Summer School Chapter One

Now, in season two, we see some of the aftermath of the heroes’ big win, as well as new characters and complications. There’s a lot to learn in “Summer School: Chapter One.”

Flash: Enemy at the Gates

Flash’s long-term planning has been all sorts of thrown off over the last year or so. COVID changed the spacing and timing on a few major plot elements, and in some ways it feels like they’ve been struggling to get back on track ever since. When in doubt, they toss the mysterious Godspeed into the mix.

Batwoman: Power

The surprisingly good second season of Batwoman finally comes to an end with “Power.” Black Mask makes his big play, alliances shift and reform, there are some more surprises and nods to the comics, and one issue I’ve commented on that puts Batwoman at a disadvantage compared to most of the other Arrowverse heroes finally gets rectified.

DC Comics screws over Legends of Tomorrow and its fans with inane decisions

All of which makes one of the most recent decisions by the head honchos at DC utterly incomprehensible. John Constantine has been a popular character in DC’s darker titles for many years. He was the lead character of a movie that had mixed reviews at best, and was also the lead of a short-lived tv show on NBC. Fan reaction to the cancellation was so strong that the character, played superbly once again by Matt Ryan, made an unexpected guest appearance on Arrow, thus becoming part of the growing Arrowverse. That one appearance met with great approval from the fans, and Constantine found his way to Legends of Tomorrow, adding some mystical muscle to the team. He’s been a great addition and provided some snark, sexual tension, and bi representation, which is unfortunately rare. Now, suddenly, because of an upcoming project from JJ Abrams on HBO Max, the show has been told they can’t use the character any longer.

Legends of Tomorrow: Stressed Western

Now, everyone wants to get back to normal, so they literally revisit the past. Sadly, their usual Western contact doesn’t show up in “Stressed Western.”

Superman and Lois: A Brief Reminiscence In-Between Cataclysmic Events

The broad strokes of Superman’s origin is a story I’d wager the majority of the world knows. The fine details have changed with various retellings over the years, and bits have been added on to the mythos (Kryptonite didn’t show up until the radio show began, for example), but the bare bones of who he is and how he got here are common knowledge.

Flash: Rayo de Luz

It says something in the confidence a show has in their ensemble when the main character takes off for an episode and lets the various supporting characters take center stage. This has happened a few times on Flash now, and they pull it off pretty well.