The Flash has changed the intro again, which was a good switch. He doesn’t sound like he’s frantic to the point of breaking like he did in the first episode, but that’s understandable. Barry hasn’t fixed everything, but he’s at least realizing he can’t. I’m so glad Jay spoke with him about that as part of the ongoing series of “CW heroes get told to get their act together” by their nearest and dearest. This week’s episode is titled “Magenta.”
“The Last Children of Krypton” begins with the CW tradition of updating their introductory voice over, with Kara now mentioning she’s a reporter, which I still think is a bad idea. After that, Kara and Kal-El help out National City’s Fire Department when there’s a major blaze. Kara fights the flames directly while Superman does something new and different and somehow makes it rain. That’s a new power. Maybe it was a speed-vortex that sucked up the water from the hoses. Then they fly off to break up an armed robbery. That goes as smoothly as you’d expect for two normals fighting two Krpytonians. Superman even shakes his head at one of them, saying, “If the bullets don’t work, why the punching? I’ve never understood that,” echoing an in-joke among comics fans for years.
The Legends of Tomorrow are back with a new line up, new season, and the introductory voice-over by Martin Stein gives a brief rundown of the members. The season opens with the somewhat ominous title of “Out of Time,” which starts us off in a new status quo. A lot has happened since the last time we saw the team.
Arrow’s new voiceover at the top of the show mentions that he’s working as both hero and mayor. I like that they adapt the voiceover/introductions for the CW hero shows as they go. It’s a nice touch, and a nod that the shows change as time passes. Arrow is now trying to deal with “Recruits.”
Flash’s second episode is “Paradox,” as Barry continues to find differences between what he remembers and the changes and ripples he’s caused by traveling in time. They do a good job of this even with the new voice over. Instead of the heroic narration, Barry sounds like he’s not very far from a nervous breakdown, which was both entertaining and gave a feel for how bad things are for the Fastest Man Alive.
Supergirl returns for a second season with “The Adventures of Supergirl.” Most likely that’s a reference to one of her past comic book titles, “The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl.” Not only is she back for a new season, she’s on a new network and has several changes from the opening forward. For one thing, now that she’s on the CW with most of DC’s other currently running shows (Gotham over on Fox being the exception), she’s being drawn into the “CW-verse” or “Arrow-verse” as I’ve heard it called. Flash appears in her opening credits from their crossover episode, which I thought was a nice touch.
Arrow returns for season five with “Legacy,” a concept that’s a part of a lot of DC’s history. Unfortunately, they don’t live up to the word on pretty much any front. I’ve been a fan of the show with varying degrees of intensity over the years. If nothing else, I like the show for starting off the “CW-verse.” But this may be, in my opinion, one of their worst individual episodes.
At the end of last season, Barry once again gave in to temptation and returned to the night of his mother’s murder. It must be getting very crowded at that moment in time, with so many versions of Barry and Reverse Flash cluttering up the background. This trip, Barry saved his mother and caused a massive paradox, changing many events in his timeline (and presumably changing things for Arrow and the Legends of Tomorrow folks as well, since it’s a shared universe. Maybe this is how Supergirl gets integrated into the CW-verse?). In “Flashpoint,” a name full of meaning for a lot of DC Comics fans, we see the new world.
By now, I’m presuming anyone that’s interested saw “Schism,” the season finale of Arrow. If not, be warned, there are spoilers here for that. And some news about season five. So, with that in mind, off we go.
Arrow’s fourth season comes a close with “Schism.” Damian Darhk is on the loose, and he’s even more unhinged in the wake of his wife’s death. This means nothing good for Star City, and, as we find out, the rest of the world. It’s a finale with some weird twists and not so much a cliffhanger as a major status quo change at the end.
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