Two shows. Two nights. Two heroes. Two worthy foes. Two underwhelming finales.
The Flash: "The Race of His Life" (Season 2, Episode 23)
I really liked the way the finale opened with the immediate aftermath of Henry's death rather than immediately going straight to the funeral, which is what I was expecting. The emotion and intensity Grant Gustin delivered was superb, as was Teddy Sears, who has been totally embracing the role of "Villain you love to hate" these past episodes. Their quick chase seemed a bit iffy, but it was still a sight to behold.
If there's one thing I think this episode, as a whole, did very well was showcasing Barry's desperation to get rid of Zoom for good. Barry's scene with Joe in the Pipeline is one of my favourites of the season, as was Barry's realization that his team "turned" on him. Speaking of the team, it was a bit of fun to see them operate on their own against Zoom. Question, though. Even if they did kick Zoom back to Earth-2 losing Joe in the process, couldn't Zoom come right back because he can create breaches, as was stated at least twice in the episode? Maybe the answer eluded me somewhere amongst the Multiverse technobabble.
Barry's "race" (It's not really a race, is it? More like a high-stakes game of tag.) with Zoom turned out to be the finale's big stumbling point. Zoom's defeat seemed way too anti-climactic. Vandal Savage's defeat in last week's Legends of Tomorrow finale was way more satisfying, and that was a tad anti-climactic as well. It's just "knock Zoom around once or twice and have him get carried off by Time Wraiths. Bye. Zoom!" Not the way I would've envisioned the defeat of a guy who's been a massive thorn in the side for our heroes. And don't get me started on another time travel logic rant. The gobbledy-gook about time remnants was such nonsense that I feel like the writers did it just to grind my gears.
Now, let's talk about the ending. Wow. I was not expecting the show to go the Flashpoint route right now. Sure, it seemed like a huge possibility further down the road, but I certainly wasn't expecting it to be the lead-in to Season 3. I'm not complaining, by the way. Not only does this have me absolutely hooked for next season, but it worked perfectly with Barry's gripes in the episode. He's lost his mother and his father, and he just doesn't care anymore. It'll be interesting to see what elements from the story carry over to the show (Robert Queen as the Green Arrow, perhaps?), and how Barry's actions will affect the Arrowverse as a whole.
Other Thoughts:
- Yeah, it was great to learn that John Wesley Shipp will still be on the show, but as the real Jay Garrick now. He looks awesome in the costume, but would he really use the helmet of a murderer?
- It is pretty cool to think that Barry has come so far over the past few seasons that he can time travel just like that.
Rating: 7.4/10 hologram Caitlins
Arrow: "Schism" (Season 4, Episode 23)
*sigh*
I'm at a loss for words here, guys. I really, genuinely wanted this season to stick the landing after a handful of fumbles towards the end, but instead the season just, well, fell face-first into the dirt.
Where do I start?
Remember Seasons 1 and 2? Remember their finales? Remember the amount of tension and suspense in those episodes? Merlyn's Undertaking. Slade's siege. The build-up over both seasons to those events were spot-on, leading to some of the most exciting TV I've seen in recent memory. But this one? You'd think having over 15,000 (I repeat, over 15,000) nukes being launched around the world would lead to some intense storytelling, spurring Team Arrow to take arms and defeat Darhk in order to prevent Armageddon. You'd think that. But instead we just get two lackluster action scenes, too many pep talks, an abrupt conclusion to the worst flashback story yet, and an ending that convinces no one who's decided to drop the show to continue on.
The Ghosts' assault on the Bunker was OK. I liked how they just burst in to the surprise of the team. But the rest of the fight was just really unengaging. Besides Diggle getting a flashback of Andy when he's pointing the gun at that one Ghost, I couldn't tell you what happened because I honestly zoned-out. And the street brawl. So much stupid stuff happened during that part. Like Darhk's magic just flipping off like a switch (but somehow he's still able to kill Cooper from halfway across the city) just because like 20 people randomly on the street had hope or some bullcrap. Or how about Darhk reminding Oliver that he was once a member of the League...and the two proceed to punch each other in the jaw like they're in an Indiana Jones film? And after all that talk about optimism and hope...Oliver freaking kills Darhk. Really? After telling Diggle that Laurel wouldn't have wanted that? After choosing to spare Slade after everything he'd done to Oliver? And, yes, I know Darhk brings that up just before Oliver kills him, but then Oliver says he has no choice. There's always a choice, dude! (Unless the only way of stopping the nukes was to kill him. In that case, it's something to consider.) Show you're the better man! The guy's a father! What will happen to his daughter, who is basically innocent in all this? Get rid of that idol again, and throw Darhk in the Lian Yu prison with Slade and Boomerang. Then we can have a potentially awesome team-up between the 3 as they break out and - whoops, my bad. I forgot that they trashed that possibility.
So, after all that, the team heads back to the Bunker, where Lance, Thea and Diggle all make it known that they intend to leave the team. This leaves just Oliver and Felicity. And look, I've gotten more and more annoyed with Felicity as the season has progressed, but I kind of like the idea of keeping Team Arrow small again. It wouldn't have to just be Felicity either. If it were just Oliver and Diggle or Oliver and Thea, my interest would be peaked. But it seems safe to assume that the first one or two episodes next season will bring the band back together, so there's no emotion behind those guys leaving, and no reason to get excited for a smaller team. Besides the flashbacks implying that Oliver's heading to Russia, there was nothing to tease the next season, which is something I always look forward to with finales like this. I want something that will have the show on my mind for the next 4 months like Agents of SHIELD's Season 2 finale. But Season 4 of Arrow just ends with Felicity telling Oliver there's no chance she's leaving. Yay.
Let's get to the Other Thoughts. I'm tired.
Other Thoughts:
- Hacking. They stop the nukes by hacking the nukes. I hate this.
- So, after a season and a half, we're suddenly supposed to care about Cooper?
- The obvious Dark Knight Rises tribute would've been cooler if they didn't already do a better one last season.
- Ghosts with machine guns charge an unarmed crowd and none fire a single shot. Logic.
- Still no hint or mention of any remorse about that town they nuked two episodes ago.
- Oh, hey. Merlyn's a good guy now. Whoopty-doo. Give him something interesting to do please.
- Speaking of characters in need of something to do, Lance's purpose in the last few episodes has been to drive people places and just watch some monitors. I mean it in the nices way possible when I say he should've been the one in the grave.
- Those flashbacks. Reiter goes out like a chump. Oliver kills Taiana. Plane explodes. Just...just whatever.
Rating: Void
It's a good thing I'm currently re-watching Daredevil. It's good pallet-cleansing.
Noah
No comments:
Post a Comment