Alright so there we have it, our first post Flashpoint Flash
episode and our very first CW Supergirl Season 2 episode. Now they went back to back, probably the two
most popular television superhero franchises out there. Arrow is…eh doing alright and Legends of
Tomorrow hasn’t come back yet so we’re going to reserve judgement until then.
THAT said this is the first time we get to see Barry really
dealing with the consequences of his actions, really in a way that we never
have before. So let’s jump into my
favorite: The Flash, Season 3 Episode 2: PARADOX.
Paradox opens up shortly after where we left off last week,
with Barry chasing down a motorcycle riding jewel thief. After some witty banter he returns to STAR
Labs and meets with team Flash, all of whom are dealing some serious tension. Barry tries lightening the mood but the team
isn’t having any of it. It appears that
the only thing that did cross time lines is Iris’ affection for Barry, which is
fine, but to see Cisco giving him the cold shoulder and nobody wanting to talk
about…anything. It was Twilight Zone
level creepy. Carlos Valdes (Cisco)
rarely gets the meaty emotions and I’m very pleased with the way he conveyed
the mixture of sadness, grief, and anger towards Barry. We soon learn that his brother was killed by
a drunk driver and he (for reasons you’ll have to see) blames Barry.
We don’t really get much in the way of explanation for why
Iris and Joe aren’t talking; only that apparently Joe “did something stupid”. But later it’s stated that Cisco revealed
Barry’s secret to the police captain, so…we still have no idea what
repercussions came from that. Maybe it
feeds into why Julian, Barry’s new work partner, isn’t exactly fond of him.
Let’s talk about Tom Felton as Julian Albert, CSI #2 to
Central City’s police. He’s a very
different kind of character. We’re not
used to seeing someone not trusting Barry, and openly stating so. Albert is a forensic scientist and for whatever
reason he does not like Barry at all. He’s
also not stupid, and can pick up on Barry’s inconsistent stories very
quickly. While Patty Spivot from season
2 took literally all season long to work out Barry’s secret, Julian will
probably riddle this out in very short order.
I’m jumping around a lot and I really hope you sit and watch
the episode in its entirety. Without
giving away any major plot points, I will instead point out a really cool
Easter Egg team either threw in intentionally or accidentally.
Namely it’s revealed in the reset timeline that John Diggle
from Arrow doesn’t have a daughter anymore.
He has a son. This is a call out
to a film called “About Time”, which is a romance centered on a character with
the ability to time travel. Whenever he
goes back in time and alters history, things are obviously changed in the
present. In one instance, after he has a
daughter, he goes back to change history and when he returns he has a son. It’s a very good movie, please go watch
it. It’s called “About Time”. Go, grab your girl or your guy and go watch
it tonight.
Where was I?
THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERGIRL!
Okay,
prior to the jump I had not really given the show that much of a chance, and I
regret that now. Season 2 starts off really
strong picking up literally where season 1 left off with the team locating
another Kryptonian escape pod, this time with a comatose male inside. The whole shooting match is taken to the DEO’s
other location, which Kara rightfully complains that she never knew about and
looks much better than the cave they had her hanging out in, and the inclusion
of Winn as a probationary employee for the government agency. Winn is a much better fit for the DEO than he
ever was at CAT Co., so I was pleased to see that. His tech savvy and personality work much
better alongside their more unusual encounters, and his current assignment is
to translate the data log from the crashed ship.
We also pick up with James and Kara’s first date, as they
try to determine if this relationship-thing is going to really work out. Long story short, probably not. Also Cat Grant is making Kara choose a new
job and has given her a deadline to determine what her new career will be. I liked Calista Flockhart a lot better in
this episode than I had in previous ones, because I think she was allowed much more
range in her personality.
There was something else they added to this episode…what was
it?
Oh yeah…Lena Luthor.
Taking over her now imprisoned brother’s company she tries to make a
name for herself by re-christening it “L Corp”, which makes as much sense as
Cat Co, but there you go. Folks behind
the scenes apparently have other ideas as it seems Lex has hired John Corbin to
straight up murder his little sister.
Thanksgiving must have been fun.
The plans are, of course, thwarted by our heroes and Corbin
is last seen being experimented on in Cadmus.
That can’t be all…what else happened. Oh, Cat got a new assistant, Miss
Tessmacher. For those of you too young
to know, Miss Tessmacher was the name of Lex Luthor’s assistant in the 1978
Superman movie, and Calista really nailed shouting that name out ala Gene
Hackman. A very nice call back.
Now what was that other thing they added this season?
Oh right…Superman.
Clark appears and lends an assist to Kara’s adventures and I do
appreciate that they were very conservative with how they used him. He was present, he made a difference, but he
didn’t dominate the show, it still very much felt like Supergirl’s show. Tyler Hoechlin did a very good job in both
roles, portraying a Clark that was reminiscent of Dean Cain’s turn with a little
Christopher Reeve thrown in for good measure.
They even reference his “clumsy” persona, with Clark sheepishly
admitting that occasionally it’s for real.
His interaction with Kara was also really great as you can tell there is
genuine affection for each other, and that they are family first and foremost,
even giving each other a hard time every now and then.
His Superman was very well done. I was genuinely surprised because they made
it clear that seeing Superman is an event for a lot of people. When he walks into the DEO and the soldiers
and staff part, its like watching the president come in. There’s a lot of respect both from those that
encounter him and with the way he treats other people. This is hugely different from Man of
Steel/Batman v Superman’s take where there is a major divide between the hero
and the people he saves. Here he’s more
connected with them. They don’t fear him
and he makes a point to say hello and be friendly with the bystanders.
All said and done, I’m really excited to see where this
season is going for the girl of steel.
Ultimately I can’t wait to see how her show folds into the greater CW DC
universe.
Thanks for reading.
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