Finale time is almost upon us, and all three shows are certainly ramping up for their season finales. The Flash saw Zoom tighten his grip on Central City, Oliver sought out a magical way to defeat Darhk in Arrow, and the Legends crew spent some bonding time with Vandal Savage.
The Flash: "Rupture" (Season 2, Episode 20)
The biggest problem I had with "Rupture" was the titular villain himself. The small amount of screentime he got and his quick defeat didn't really warrant the episode being named after him. Cisco and Dante's arc had its moments, but I felt like it was a retread of what happened to the two last season. Like Cisco said, their abduction by Snart and Rory should have brought them closer together. The whole thing also felt out of place in the same episode as Zoom's invasion of Central City. If it was part of another episode, I think it could've been better.
But yeah, Zoom. Dude. As much as his origin story and motivations have been muddled and non-sensical throughout the season, no one can deny that he's one scary guy. The neck-snapping bit was one of his freakiest scenes yet this season, and his taunting of Team Flash after Barry's "death" while the they just look on in sadness was also great.
Barry's struggle with deciding to go through with Harry's idea to get his speed back or not injected some emotional tension into the story, building up to the attempt itself. With all that build-up, I was expecting Barry to get his speed back, so I was really surprised to see him start to disintegrate. So obviously, this episode ended on a very dark, Empire Strikes Back-esque note. Oh, and it looks like Jessie and Wally got their powers too. Good for them!
Other Thoughts:
- I'm thinking Rupture's costume designers saw The Force Awakens, saw Kylo Ren and thought "We want that." Same for the guys who edited the voice.
- Not sure how to feel about the return of the Barry/Iris romance. I was holding out for a Patty comeback, but that doesn't look like it's happening. Look, just don't overdo it Olicity-style, writers.
- Oh no. I can see it now. Patty comes back in Season 3 and there's a love triangle. Please. No.
- The climax was giving me some Flashpoint Paradox vibes. Now I want to see this show do Flashpoint next season.
Rating: 8.8/10 Harry Potter conventions
Next week, Barry's one with the speed-force in an episode directed by Kevin Smith...
Arrow: "Genesis" (Season 4, Episode 20)
Without a doubt, Diggle's arc was the best part of this episode. David Ramsey nailed it for the second week in a row, really selling Dig's anger unrelenting anger with his brother along with the shock and sadness after he shoots Andy. Keeping that last bit a secret from Lyla will bite him in the butt at some point, because this is Arrow. It doesn't know what it would do without its precious secret-keeping.
Oliver's sidequest with Felicity was okay. Oliver's vision of his various foes over the years (DEATHSTROKE) was the highlight, while everything else was just a bit underwhelming. I felt like Felicity's presence was unnecessary, but I'm glad this subplot didn't devolve into a "Oliver and Felicity make up" story as I feared it would.
Meanwhile. Thea was on a much more sinister version of The Truman Show. Those scenes were fine, but took away from the impact of the ending twist. Every time we went back to Thea and Alex, Thea was all like "This place is weird." It would have been better if Thea was enjoying her vacation, was called back to Star City, but was stopped by that wall. And then she climbed up that staircase and- oh no wait.
Other Thoughts:
- Rupture wasn't the only Kylo Ren impersonator on DC TV this week. Darhk used that signature Force-freeze move on Lyla. I was half-expecting him to start reading her mind too.
- Wow, that baby should not be in this much danger.
- I usually don't notice this, but I loved the directing of the episode. I couldn't get enough of the various transitions between the scenes, like the close up of that one guy's body becoming the image of it on Felicity's computer.
Rating: 7.9/10 pills your boss made you take
Next week, Darhk's plan for world domination goes nuclear...
Legends of Tomorrow: "River of Time" (Season 1, Episode 14)
This episode was essentially the middle act of The Avengers, with tension among the crew between each other and Savage, brainwashed allies, and of course, manipulative villains in cages.
After almost a full season of being somewhat underdeveloped, "River of Time" allowed Vandal Savage to take centre stage as he grappled with the Waverider crew from inside a glass prison. His scenes with Rip/Qareeb (that's how you spell it right? Aaah, who am I kidding? I probably butchered it) are always good, but we also got to see him interact a bit more with our other heroes. It was, I think, unintentionally funny how Savage's attempts to turn the crew against each other were constantly shot down (for the most part), but then Ray basically handed him freedom on a silver platter by entering the cell and trying to beat him up. So, I'm happy to give the "Stupid Decision of the Week" Award to Ray. Runner-up is Rip for just being an all-around bad captain.
The surprising highlights of the episode were the flashbacks to some of the characters' goodbyes to their friends/relatives before they took off with Rip. They really strengthened the connections between all these shows, and allowed us to see scenes like Sara's reunion with Nyssa and Stein's "farewell" to his wife. They didn't feel out of place, and fit in smoothly with the story.
The Savage/Time Masters twist was pretty easy to see coming once the crew arrived at the Vanishing Point, but I still think it played out pretty well. It also connected the two otherwise completely different big-bads in a way that made sense and could potentially enhance the story. In other words, I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes.
Other Thoughts:
- Yep. The Ray and Kendra romance was the worst part again, You'd think that after three episodes in a row ended with Kendra declaring her love for Ray, it would make sense and be beneficial to the character if Kendra did that again even with Carter back. But, nope. We've been CW'd again.
- Stein's sacrifice was an emotional subplot, but I wish it got more screentime.
- Mick got the best line of the week: "Tell your friends Kronos says 'Kiss my ass.'"
- The exterior of the Vanishing Point looks pretty sweet.
Rating: 7.9/10 robbers of ATMs
Next week, most of the crew are prisoners of the Time Masters, and it seems like it's up to Snart and Sara to save them...and kiss each other too, I guess...
Noah
Finally caught up on last weeks episodes.
ReplyDeleteFlash: Everything with Cisco and his brother felt kind of useless - it was just an excuse to drag out Barry's decision. Everything else was great.
Arrow: Best episode in a while. David Ramsey was fantastic. I enjoyed Oliver and Felicity's arc too, although it feels a little to 'simple' (they can't beat Darkh for the entire season, but can learn the required magic in 10 minutes?).
Legends of Tomorrow: Also pretty good episode! Savage's "turn the good guys against each other" plan was a little cliche, but it was executed well. Stein was great. His interaction with Savage was very satisfying.