Friday, May 24, 2019
Starman Plays Batman: The Enemy Within - Part 12
In which we enjoy some guy talk and coffee with John, manage to piss off Commissioner Gordon even more and have a meeting with John as Batman.
Tuesday, May 21, 2019
The Flash Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 22 - Legacy
For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.
Plot
The Reverse Flash has been freed thanks to his indirect manipulation of the timeline. Now, Barry Allen and his allies must face his greatest enemy once again.
Influences
The Flash comics of Geoff Johns
Goofs
Cecile's powers are now described as being emphatic rather than telepathic. (She could be both, but she's always been shown as more of a mind-reader before.)
How does Iron Heights acquire Cicada's dagger in 2049 when Cicada had never been captured or identified in the original timeline Nora came from?
Why isn't Orlin Dwyer restored to life after Cicada II is made to have never existed? Logically, if she never existed, she never could have killed him. (Come to that, killing Dwyer should have made that version of Grace Gibbons stop existing, since she said that he trained her and mentored her to become the new Cicada in her timeline.)
Why does the dagger not disappear until just before Thawne is to be executed? Logically, if the dagger was destroyed decades earlier, it never would have been there to keep Thawne imprisoned in the first place.
It isn't made precisely clear why the destruction of Cicada's dagger causes Nora to stop existing. It could be either because Nora never felt the need to come to the past to fight the one enemy her father never beat or because Thawne wasn't around to teach her how to use her powers.
Performances
Again, Jessica Parker Kennedy steals the show with her speeches and the earnestness with which she handles Nora's death scene.
Flash Facts
When Thawne escapes, he tells Barry he will see him at their next crisis. This is almost certainly a nod to the 2019 Crisis On Infinite Earths crossover event.
In the closing montage, Ralph is seen in his office looking at a file labeled Dearbon. In the classic DC Comics, Ralph married an heiress named Sue Dearbon, who became Sue Dibny and eventually a member of the Justice League. She was the only non-powered person with no codename to do this.
Technobabble
Upon examining Ralph after he is shot with the mirror gun, Caitlin says that his cells have become kinetically inverted.
Caitlin says that the last time Ralph lost control of his body, they created a stabilizing enzyme that reset his body back to its original form using vulcanization and muscle memory.
Sherloque says a vibrational jolt should help Ralph to reassert himself.
Swiss Ash is one species of the flowering ash trees indigenous to Europe, but also makes up a sizable amount of the Kollins Woods - the closest forested area to Central City.
A speedster with a connection to the Negative Speed Force can use it to negate a paradox that would cause them not to exist. This is apparently how Thawne has managed to survive in some form despite being erased from existence twice.
Dialogue Triumphs
Nora: (V/O) I always wanted to be a hero, to use my extraordinary abilities to help people. That's why I came here. To meet my family, to stop Cicada, help fix the Flash's legacy, and save him from disappearing in the future. I believed I could do the impossible, but I never imagined it would turn out like this.
Barry: Sometimes in life, all we can do is just live with the consequences. So what you have to ask yourself is what kind of hero are you gonna be? One who takes a do-over after every mistake? Or one who lives with it and moves forward?
Killer Frost: What a bunch of sentimental crap. You two sound like a friggin' Hallmark movie. (This is doubly funny given Danielle Panabaker has been in a few Hallmark movies.)
(The Cicada Dagger disappears. Thawne regards the guards preparing him for execution.)
Thawne: Gentlemen. I hate to inform you... but you're all dead.
(Thawne stares down all of Team Flash)
Ralph throws himself in front of the mirror gun blast. This causes him to turn into something resembling a man-size geode.
All of the metahumans not cured in 521 are sent to a secure CCPD facility.
Barry and Nora discover a wood fragment at CCPD they think might lead them to Cicada.
Sherloque figures out what Ralph deduced - that Thawne was helping Nora to stop Cicada, because Cicada's dagger is being used in the future to negate Thawne's powers and keep him imprisoned.
Cisco reveals that he works at STAR Labs and is Vibe to Kamilla. She is cool with it and says she has no trouble with him trying to date her and be a hero.
Caitlin makes reference to 404 and the first time Ralph lost control of his body.
Cisco makes reference to how he was playing Lady Gaga when Barry first woke from his coma in the Pilot.
Ralph is left unable to speak straight for a short time after being vibrated back to normal.
The wood fragment Nora and Barry found is revealed to be Swiss Ash and is traced to Kollins Woods, which is 12 miles from Central City.
Cecile is used as an early-warning system, being able to sense Cicada's hatred.
The team breach Cicada II into Cisco's force-field at STAR Labs, giving Nora the time she needs to help the child Grace Gibbons get out of her coma and convince her to take the metahuman cure.
The shard of metal inside Grace Gibbon's head is soaked with enough dark matter it negates the metahuman cure. This means Team Flash still needs to destroy Cicada's dagger with the mirror gun in order to defeat Cicada II.
With her metahuman powers as a child neutralized, Cicada II ceases to exist.
In Iron Heights 2049, the Cicada dagger blinks out of existence just as Thawne is about to be executed.
Barry can now use his powers to briefly reverse time.
Nora vanishes from existence because with Cicada's dagger destroyed, there was no reason for her to ever come to the past.
Thawne says that Nora can save herself by running into the Negative Speed Force, but she refuses to give herself over to it to save herself.
Sherloque returns to his Earth to be with Rene Adler.
Cisco removes his powers with the metahuman cure.
Grace Gibbons is set up with a nice foster family.
Captain Singh announces that he's been appointed the new Chief of the CCPD and is promoting Joe West to the rank of Captain.
Captain Singh reveals that he figured out that Barry was The Flash.
Cisco reveals that he made Caitlin and Killer Frost a new costume.
Nora's time diary and a video she made remain behind.
As the episode ends, time changes and the newspaper from the future which said Barry disappears in 2024 changes, with the date rolling back 5 years to show that Barry now disappears in 2019.
Location
Iron Heights - 2049
The Bottom Line
Nonsensical, painful and poorly explained on every level. Granting that the rules for time-travel have never been consistent and are driven by what is the most dramatic rather than any decent standard set of physical laws, the script for this episode needed a few rewrites.
It isn't clear, for instance, if Carlos Valdes is leaving the series or not now that he's removed his own Vibe powers. There were rumors he was leaving the show, but nothing that was confirmed with the same sense of certainty as Emily Bett Rickards leaving Arrow. We don't have a scene of him resigning his job from STAR Labs and there is no reason in the episode why he would need to do so.
Still, Nora gets a great ending to her story but the selling of it is due more toward Jessica Parker Kennedy's charisma than any craft in the writing or special effects. Both Cicadas are finally dead and gone. And it looks like we'll be getting Ralph and Sue together in Season 6, just in time for the end of the world.
Plot
The Reverse Flash has been freed thanks to his indirect manipulation of the timeline. Now, Barry Allen and his allies must face his greatest enemy once again.
Influences
The Flash comics of Geoff Johns
Goofs
Cecile's powers are now described as being emphatic rather than telepathic. (She could be both, but she's always been shown as more of a mind-reader before.)
How does Iron Heights acquire Cicada's dagger in 2049 when Cicada had never been captured or identified in the original timeline Nora came from?
Why isn't Orlin Dwyer restored to life after Cicada II is made to have never existed? Logically, if she never existed, she never could have killed him. (Come to that, killing Dwyer should have made that version of Grace Gibbons stop existing, since she said that he trained her and mentored her to become the new Cicada in her timeline.)
Why does the dagger not disappear until just before Thawne is to be executed? Logically, if the dagger was destroyed decades earlier, it never would have been there to keep Thawne imprisoned in the first place.
It isn't made precisely clear why the destruction of Cicada's dagger causes Nora to stop existing. It could be either because Nora never felt the need to come to the past to fight the one enemy her father never beat or because Thawne wasn't around to teach her how to use her powers.
Performances
Again, Jessica Parker Kennedy steals the show with her speeches and the earnestness with which she handles Nora's death scene.
Flash Facts
When Thawne escapes, he tells Barry he will see him at their next crisis. This is almost certainly a nod to the 2019 Crisis On Infinite Earths crossover event.
In the closing montage, Ralph is seen in his office looking at a file labeled Dearbon. In the classic DC Comics, Ralph married an heiress named Sue Dearbon, who became Sue Dibny and eventually a member of the Justice League. She was the only non-powered person with no codename to do this.
Technobabble
Upon examining Ralph after he is shot with the mirror gun, Caitlin says that his cells have become kinetically inverted.
Caitlin says that the last time Ralph lost control of his body, they created a stabilizing enzyme that reset his body back to its original form using vulcanization and muscle memory.
Sherloque says a vibrational jolt should help Ralph to reassert himself.
Swiss Ash is one species of the flowering ash trees indigenous to Europe, but also makes up a sizable amount of the Kollins Woods - the closest forested area to Central City.
A speedster with a connection to the Negative Speed Force can use it to negate a paradox that would cause them not to exist. This is apparently how Thawne has managed to survive in some form despite being erased from existence twice.
Dialogue Triumphs
Nora: (V/O) I always wanted to be a hero, to use my extraordinary abilities to help people. That's why I came here. To meet my family, to stop Cicada, help fix the Flash's legacy, and save him from disappearing in the future. I believed I could do the impossible, but I never imagined it would turn out like this.
Barry: Sometimes in life, all we can do is just live with the consequences. So what you have to ask yourself is what kind of hero are you gonna be? One who takes a do-over after every mistake? Or one who lives with it and moves forward?
Killer Frost: What a bunch of sentimental crap. You two sound like a friggin' Hallmark movie. (This is doubly funny given Danielle Panabaker has been in a few Hallmark movies.)
(The Cicada Dagger disappears. Thawne regards the guards preparing him for execution.)
Thawne: Gentlemen. I hate to inform you... but you're all dead.
(Thawne stares down all of Team Flash)
Thawne: Isn't this nice? Team Flash, back together again with a
new guy. (nods to Ralph) Ralph Dibny. Welcome. You should be dead.
Ralph: Yeah, I guess we have that in common.
Thawne: (chuckling) We'll take care of that in a moment.
Nora: Hi, Mom and Dad. If you're watching this, it means that something went wrong. But I don't want you guys to be sad. I'm not. I always wanted to be a hero, to use my extraordinary
abilities to help people. That's why I came here: to meet my family, stop Cicada, help
fix the Flash's legacy, and save him from disappearing in the future. I believed I could do the impossible, but I never imagined
it would turn out like this. I'm glad it did. I wouldn't change anything about my time with you, my sweet
parents, the most important people to me in the world. I wish I could be there to celebrate every new chapter, to
witness every success. Just know that no matter where I go in my life, you'll
always be my side. Because of you, I know I will never, ever,
truly be alone, and I will feel your love and support like a warm hug
comforting me, wishing me to be the best person I can be. Thank you for everything For making me a hero and for loving
me even if I wasn't perfect. Please remember that I love you both and I always will, no
matter what the future brings.
Continuity
Ralph throws himself in front of the mirror gun blast. This causes him to turn into something resembling a man-size geode.
All of the metahumans not cured in 521 are sent to a secure CCPD facility.
Barry and Nora discover a wood fragment at CCPD they think might lead them to Cicada.
Sherloque figures out what Ralph deduced - that Thawne was helping Nora to stop Cicada, because Cicada's dagger is being used in the future to negate Thawne's powers and keep him imprisoned.
Cisco reveals that he works at STAR Labs and is Vibe to Kamilla. She is cool with it and says she has no trouble with him trying to date her and be a hero.
Caitlin makes reference to 404 and the first time Ralph lost control of his body.
Cisco makes reference to how he was playing Lady Gaga when Barry first woke from his coma in the Pilot.
Ralph is left unable to speak straight for a short time after being vibrated back to normal.
The wood fragment Nora and Barry found is revealed to be Swiss Ash and is traced to Kollins Woods, which is 12 miles from Central City.
Cecile is used as an early-warning system, being able to sense Cicada's hatred.
The team breach Cicada II into Cisco's force-field at STAR Labs, giving Nora the time she needs to help the child Grace Gibbons get out of her coma and convince her to take the metahuman cure.
The shard of metal inside Grace Gibbon's head is soaked with enough dark matter it negates the metahuman cure. This means Team Flash still needs to destroy Cicada's dagger with the mirror gun in order to defeat Cicada II.
With her metahuman powers as a child neutralized, Cicada II ceases to exist.
In Iron Heights 2049, the Cicada dagger blinks out of existence just as Thawne is about to be executed.
Barry can now use his powers to briefly reverse time.
Nora vanishes from existence because with Cicada's dagger destroyed, there was no reason for her to ever come to the past.
Thawne says that Nora can save herself by running into the Negative Speed Force, but she refuses to give herself over to it to save herself.
Sherloque returns to his Earth to be with Rene Adler.
Cisco removes his powers with the metahuman cure.
Grace Gibbons is set up with a nice foster family.
Captain Singh announces that he's been appointed the new Chief of the CCPD and is promoting Joe West to the rank of Captain.
Captain Singh reveals that he figured out that Barry was The Flash.
Cisco reveals that he made Caitlin and Killer Frost a new costume.
Nora's time diary and a video she made remain behind.
As the episode ends, time changes and the newspaper from the future which said Barry disappears in 2024 changes, with the date rolling back 5 years to show that Barry now disappears in 2019.
Location
Iron Heights - 2049
The Bottom Line
Nonsensical, painful and poorly explained on every level. Granting that the rules for time-travel have never been consistent and are driven by what is the most dramatic rather than any decent standard set of physical laws, the script for this episode needed a few rewrites.
It isn't clear, for instance, if Carlos Valdes is leaving the series or not now that he's removed his own Vibe powers. There were rumors he was leaving the show, but nothing that was confirmed with the same sense of certainty as Emily Bett Rickards leaving Arrow. We don't have a scene of him resigning his job from STAR Labs and there is no reason in the episode why he would need to do so.
Still, Nora gets a great ending to her story but the selling of it is due more toward Jessica Parker Kennedy's charisma than any craft in the writing or special effects. Both Cicadas are finally dead and gone. And it looks like we'll be getting Ralph and Sue together in Season 6, just in time for the end of the world.
Starman Plays Batman: The Enemy Within - Part 11
In which we start Episode 3, catch-up with Catwoman and go looking for another secret workroom inside of The Riddler's deathtrap-filled lair.
Sunday, May 19, 2019
Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 4, Episode 22 - The Quest For Peace
For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.
Plot
Lex Luthor descends on Washington D.C. as the hero of the hour and the most beloved man in America. With all of her allies but Alex occupied, Kara has only one chance to stop Lex Luthor's plans. Will the Power of the Press prove capable of doing what Supergirl can't?
Influences
Superman 4: The Quest For Peace (title), Iron Man (the sequences of Lex fighting the Kaznian military in his Lexo-suit while singing "My Way"), the President Lex storyline from the Superman comics (Lex sets himself up as the defacto leader of the USA, if not the actual President), the Martian Manhunter comics of John Ostrander (character of Ma'alefa'ak) and the Batman comics of Grant Morrison (Leviathan organization).
Goofs
It beggars belief that Dreamer and J'onn are put to work in a slave labor camp and just happen to wind up next to friends of J'onn who are looking for someone to lead a rebellion against the guards after less than a minute.
The guards also don't seem to care about stopping the alien workers from talking to each other, which would be unusual even if J'onn and Al weren't being incredibly unsubtle about talking about rebelling. They don't even whisper!
The slow-motion fight scenes in the fifth sequence just don't work. Especially James vs. Ben Lockwood.
It is said that President Baker is removed from office by the Cabinet's invoking the 25th Amendment. Even if The Cabinet does declare The President unfit for duty, a 2/3rds majority vote in both houses of Congress is still required to remove him from office.
Performances
Once again, Jon Cryer steals the show as Lex Luthor.
Melissa Benoist gets a wonderful death scene as Red Daughter, playing opposite herself.
Artistry
The special effects budget for this season was clearly saved for this episode and the CGI is largely theatrical quality.
Super Trivia
The opening logo once again shows the symbol of the Red Daughter and her name in Russian, along with Supergirl's name and the Supergirl logo.
The new President who takes over after Phil Baker is named Plastino. Al Plastino was the name of the artist who co-created Kara Zor-El along with writer Otto Binder.
It is revealed that Eve Teschmacher was recruited to manipulate Lex Luthor on behalf of a group called Leviathan. First appearing in Batman: The Return #1, Leviathan is a splinter-group of the League of Assassins formed by Talia Al Ghul, which developed into a criminal syndicate of unimaginable power.
The Monitor brings a Green Martian to Earth and encourages him to seek revenge against the brother who wronged him, who is revealed to be J'onn J'onzz. This would seem to be a reference to Ma'alefa'ak - the brother of J'onn J'onzz, who was introduced into the Martian Manhunter comics by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake.
Technobabble
An astral projector can appear in any environment, but they cannot interact with people in that environment. However, an astral projection can interact with and ionize other forms of energy, such as by writing in water molecules that accumulate as condensation on a window.
Brainiac-5 says that it will take 20 pods to overload the power core of the Claymore satellite in the time they had left. He further says that J'onn has only an 18% chance of successfully using his own psychic energy to overload the core and a 98% chance of dying in the attempt.
Dialogue Triumphs
(An alien man begs for mercy as he is locked into Luthor's machine, repeatedly muttering "Please don't.")
Lex: (cheerfully) Don't worry. It won't hurt.
(A metal plate slides over the man, who begins screaming.)
Lex: (nonchalant) Hmm. Guess I was wrong.
(Eve Teschmacher looks at the screen for the device as Lex examines the gauntlet he is wearing.)
Eve: Alien energy transfer complete. Your gauntlet should be charged.
Lex: Only one way to find out. (looks around the room and points to a guard on a balcony overlooking the room) Um... excuse me? Uh... stand very still!
(Lex aims the gauntlet at the guard and shots him with a ray. The man screams briefly as his body breaks down into a mass of liquid. Lex looks suitably impressed, but not surprised.)
Lex: Hmm... get a mop.
Red Daughter: Supergirl is dead. What happened?
Lex: (shrugging) The Kaznians invaded.
Red Daughter: Your signal was late! I was supposed to lead the attack!
Lex: No, Ryzhaya Dch. You did exactly what you were meant to do.
(A missile approaches in the air. Lex nonchalantly reaches up with one hand and shoots a laser blast that destroys it.)
Red Daughter: You betrayed me! Betrayed Kaznia!
Lex: What can I say? I'm proud to be an American.
(Lex reaches up and fires his gauntlet as the scene fades to black)
Eliza: Lex and The Preisdent have succeeded in convincing the people that all aliens are dangerous! That Supergirl is the enemy-
Alex: And Lex is the hero.
Kara: Then I guess it's my job to show them who Lex really is. Show them the truth.
(Lena is sarcastically rude to Lex.)
Lillian: Now, now! You play nicely. This is the first family gathering we've had in ages and I'd like to enjoy myself.
Lena: Your murderous son has duped the world into thinking he's Earth's hero. This is hardly Thanksgiving dinner.
Lillian: Sounds perfectly normal for our family.
(Lex describes his plans to turn aliens into giant disposable batteries and growing rich selling the power to the world.)
Lena: That's vile!
Lex: Vile AND viable. As another world leader once said, "I don't see why man shouldn't be as cruel as nature."
Lillian: Try not to quote Hitler in public, dear. It'll hurt the brand.
(As Lex leaves the room.)
Lena: You're not buying this, Mother?!
Lillian: Of course not! I've already poisoned his tea. If he'd stop running his mouth long enough to take a sip, he'd be dead by now.
(Dreamer is confused why nobody can see her astral form.)
Dreamer: Guys?
Brainac-5: If my calculations are correct, Dreamer has just astral projected into this office.
Dreamer: You anticipated me being here?!
Brainiac-5: She is here. She's wondering in this exact moment how she can contact us. Because an astral projectee can place themselves in any environment, but they cannot interact with that environment.
Alex and Nia: (together) So how is that a good plan?!?
Nia: (to Alex) Thank you!
Lex: The truth is meaningless. The people of Earth believe I am their savior. They needed a human hero and I fulfill that need. Nothing will ever change their minds.
(As Lex continues speaking, we cut to the streets of National City, where two young men are walking. One of them stops the other as he gestures to a news report on his phone. It is Kara's article.)
Lex: Facts are irrelevant. All that matters is spin.
(We cut to outside the White House, where a mob of people are waving signs cheering Lex Luthor. One of them looks at their phone and is shocked as she sees Kara's report.)
Lex: People are so stupid. They don't even read. And even when they do, they certainly don't think. I am the leader of this nation now. And nothing can stop me.
J'onn: During the battle for my home planet, I ran. Millions died. I will not make that same mistake again!
Lex: How are you alive?! How did you do it?
Supergirl: How do you think I did it? I'm Supergirl.
Lex: Just like your cousin! No matter how many times I stamp you out, you miraculously resurface! With your glossy cape and your prefect hair!
Supergirl: Let me let you in on a little secret, Lex. Truth and Justice always prevail.
Lex: (chuckling) You and your cousin are such saps. Luckily, I came prepared.
(Lex taps a button on his gauntlet. His hands begin to glow with green Kryptonite energy. Supergirl looks uncomfortable for a moment but then steels herself.)
Supergirl: So did I.
(Supergirl presses in on the S-shield on her chest and the armored suit Lena made for her slides into place. Lex looks stunned.)
Supergirl: You can thank your sister for this.
(Red Daughter is dying of Kryptonite poisoning, while being held by Supergirl.)
Red Daughter: You were right. My Alex was nothing like your Alex. Protect your people... as I protected mine.
(Lex's suit starts falling apart as he plummets toward the ground. Suddenly, he is caught by one hand by Supergirl. He struggles to wiggle free of her grip.)
Supergirl: Let me save you!
Lex: (scoffs) Saved? By a Kryptonian? I'd rather die!
(Lex's gauntlet releases from the rest of his armor and he falls to the ground, his armor seemingly erupting in a wave of green energy and a fiery explosion.)
(Lena draws a gun on Lex)
Lex: (impatiently) Come on, Lena. This is no time for theatrics. We both know, no matter how much you despise me, you're not ruthless enough to pull that trigger-
(Lena pulls the trigger twice, unloading two bullets into Lex's chest.)
Lena: The world will never be safe with you in it.
Lex: I'm about to die, but at least I lived without ever being a fool. You're left with no one and nothing!
Eve Teschmacher: Who are you?
Old Woman: You already know that, dear.
Eve Teschmacher: I did everything you asked. I worked for him. I hurt people for him!
Old Woman: Lex was supposed to move the needle. He failed.
Eve Teschmacher: So let me go!
Old Woman: Sorry, sweetie. That's not on the agenda.
(Eve looks around and sees that everyone on the street, from the homeless man to the cops, are watching her.)
Old Woman: Leviathan is everywhere. Leviathan is everyone. And Leviathan is coming.
(A breach opens and a figure in a black-hooded robe emerges. The Monitor steps forward to meet him.)
Figure: Where am I?
The Monitor: Earth.
Figure: It can't be!
The Monitor: You've been trapped for too long. A phantom to your people. Now it is time you avenge yourself against the brother who wronged you.
Figure: Will you help me?
The Monitor: It was I that brought you here. You must walk the path yourself. Besides... I have one more place to visit.
(The Monitor walks off as the figure lowers its hood, revealing itself to be a Green Martian.)
Figure: (in Martian) I 'm coming for you, J'onn J'onzz.
Dialogue Disasters
Again, every time Ben Lockwood opens his mouth.
Continuity
The episodes opens with Kara's escape from the Red Daughter in 421
Red Daughter returns to Lex and says she failed him by not killing Supergirl.
Lex says she didn't fail him and it was his fault for thinking that Kryptonite exposure alone could kill Supergirl.
He applauds Red Daughter for making Supergirl bleed and gives her a photo of Eliza Danvers, telling her to attack Supergirl where she is most vulnerable - the heart.
Lex is confirmed to be using the alien prisoners to charge his new power suit.
Eve witnesses Ben Lockwood killing Otis Graves. Lex asks her to send a team to kill Lockwood.
President Baker's first name is revealed as Phil. He was a state senator before becoming Vice President.
Lex reveals that he was responsible for Phil Baker's rise to power, having taken out President Marsdin's original running mate and then pulling strings to put Phil Baker on the ticket. He then arranged for President Marsdin to be outed as an alien, putting Baker in the White House.
As in 416, the montage of the Kaznian invasion and Red Daughter fighting Supergirl is set to Frank Sinatra's "My Way."
The battle between Red Daughter and Supergirl was seen in 421.
Lex uses his new suit to fight the Kaznian military, single-handed.
Lex seemingly kills the Red Daughter on National TV.
It is revealed that Lex didn't really kill the Red Daughter but weakened her and has loaded her into one of the energy-draining pods at Amertek's refinery.
President Baker calls a second press confrerence, declaring that Otis Graves was found dead with a manifesto detailing his philosophy and taking credit for the crimes that were pinned on Lex Luthor. As such, he gives Luthor a full Presidential Pardon and appoints him as the new Secretary of Alien Affairs.
Ben Lockwood learns about this watching TV while hiding at his steel mill. He survives an assassination attempt by a squad of Eve Teschmacher clones and asks the one who doesn't disappiate after he knocks them out at super speed why Luthor had been using him.
It is revealed that Shelley Island has been turned into a slave labor camp, with those aliens who can't output energy for Luthor's refinery being put to work assembling electronics for Amertek.
J'onn winds up working next to Al - the alien who runs the alien dive bar - and the two begin to plan a rebellion.
Brainiac-5 escaped to L-Corp and regrouped with Lena.
The two watch a news report where it is revealed that Lex donated an experimental power source to replace the destroyed power grid on the eastern side of the United States.
Brainiac-5 is able to recover Kara's evidence of Luthor's wrong-doing that was stored on the CatCo servers.
Brainac-5 tells Lena, Kara and Alex about how Luthor was not only using alien prisoners from the DEO desert facility in his experiments but alien civilians abducted by Ben Lockwood and the Children of Liberty.
Lena gets an invitation from The President to meet him at the White House. The invitation turns out to be from Lex, who has taken over the Oval Office and also arranged for Lillian Luthor to be freed.
Lex reveals his master-plan, now that the Luthor name is cleared, is to build his fortune on his new power source - supercharged disposable batteries, powered by alien energy.
Lena asks what makes Lex think Superman is going to sit idly by on Argo and let him do this. Lex says that the first batch of aliens are being used to charge a revised Claymore satellite that will allow him to destroy Argo from a distance.
Eve Teschmacher objects to Lex's plan to kill Superman, which she was not consulted on. Lex says that killing Superman once and for all was always the point and he doesn't care if half the energy they've gathered will be burned up destroying Argo.
The device Lillian Luthor built to extract the Harun-El from a human system is completed.
Dreamer eventually notifies the team that the alien captives are being held on Shelley Island, after realizing she's invisible and inaudible to people in her astral form. She is able to write out a message after Brainiac-5 breathes on a cold window.
Brainiac-5 determined that Lex is using Shelley Island to charge the new Claymore satellite and that it is aimed at Argo. He says that he will try to hack the power core while Kara, Jimmy and Alex try to save Dreamer and J'onn.
Ben Lockwood shows up with a group of Children of Liberty he says that he gave the Harun-El treatment to and start fighting Supergirl, Alex and Jimmy.
Upon finding they can't disable the power core for Claymore, J'onn tries to overload it with his psychic powers.
Lena and Lillian escape the White House by struggling with Eve Teschmacher for a gun and pistol whipping her with it and macing two Secret Service agents, respectively.
Lex files to Shelley Island and begins blasting everything with his new Lexo Suit.
Lex reveals that his suit has the ability to generate Kryptonite radiation.
Thankfully, Kara came prepared and puts on the armored costume Lena made for her.
Dreamer pools her dream energy with J'onn's psychic powers but it is not enough.
Seeing two people do something so illogical causes Brainiac-5's previous personality to reassert itself and start saying words of encouragement to Dreamer and J'onn.
Brainiac-5 finally tells Dreamer that he loves her.
James is able to inject Ben Lockwood with the Harun-El removal device.
Red Daughter is freed by J'onn and Dreamer. She flies to Supergirl just in time to take a lethal Kryptonite laser bolt for her.
The Red Daughter dissipates into a cloud of purple energy which Kara seems to absorb. This gives her the power she needs to overpower Lex's Kryptonite beams and blast his gauntlet with her heat vision, which glows purple.
Lex refuses to let Supergirl save him from falling to his death as his armor starts to fall apart. He seemingly falls to his death but actually teleports to a secret base under his childhood treehouse... where Lena is waiting to inject him with the Harun-El extractor.
Lena shoots Lex. He applauds her for finally proving how ruthless she is but asks who is left to be proud of her.
Lex reveals that Kara is Supergirl and that all of Lena's friends and Lillian knew and lied to her about it before he dies.
As far as the world is concerned, Lex Luthor died blown up on Shelley island.
The Cabinet invoked the 25th Amendment to remove President Baker from office and he was arrested.
Ben Lockwood was arrested on a new battery of terrorism charges.
James lost his right eye in the fight with Ben Lockwood.
The new President Plastino ends martial law and reinstates the Alien Amnesty Act pending a new vote in Congress.
Col. Haley holds a press conference to apologize to Supergirl
Alex kisses Kelley Olsen for the first time..
Lena shows up for game night but is clearly uncomfortable.
Kara wants to tell Lena the truth about her secret identity but Alex wants to let her just have one night to enjoy with her friends. Kara agrees.
George Lockwood is seen talking to a crowd and preaching against his father's message of hate on the news.
Eve Teschmacher is confronted by an old woman at a bus station in National City, who tells her that "Leviathan is everywhere, Leviathan is everyone and Leviathan is coming."
The Monitor brings someone to Earth through a breach - a Martian who must avenge himself upon the brother who wronged him. This brother is identified as J'onn J'onzz.
The Monitor says he has one more place to visit.
Lena cracks the glass in the picture of herself, Alex and Kara together in her office while using it is a coaster for her drink.
The episode ends with The Monitor manifesting in Lex's secret lab and regarding Lex's corpse, as his hand starts to open another breach.
Location
Washington D.C. - 24 hours earlier.
Amertek Energy Refiner - 6 hours earlier.
The White House - 1 hour earlier.
Midvale - Today.
Amertek Energy Refiner - Today.
Lockwood Steel Factory - Today.
Shelley Island - Today
The White House - Today.
Luthor Manor - Today.
The Bottom Line
Much like Season 4 of Supergirl, it's a bit of a mess overall, but the parts that work work very well. There's just not a lot of middle ground. The inclusion of the Children of Liberty and Ben Lockwood just feels pointless and seems to be there just to give James something to do... much like James suddenly having lost an eye. A lot of things are resolved too quickly to register (such as Brainiac-5's personality being restored) and it seems like most of the cast is just treading water until the Lex vs. Supergirl fight.
That being said, the special effects work is great and the fight between Lex and Supergirl is everything we hoped it might be. It looks like we'll have multiple villains again next season, which is worrying on multiple levels, even ignoring what might happen with Lena an whatever the Monitor is up to. Either way, Season 5 of Supergirl won't be boring!
Plot
Lex Luthor descends on Washington D.C. as the hero of the hour and the most beloved man in America. With all of her allies but Alex occupied, Kara has only one chance to stop Lex Luthor's plans. Will the Power of the Press prove capable of doing what Supergirl can't?
Influences
Superman 4: The Quest For Peace (title), Iron Man (the sequences of Lex fighting the Kaznian military in his Lexo-suit while singing "My Way"), the President Lex storyline from the Superman comics (Lex sets himself up as the defacto leader of the USA, if not the actual President), the Martian Manhunter comics of John Ostrander (character of Ma'alefa'ak) and the Batman comics of Grant Morrison (Leviathan organization).
Goofs
It beggars belief that Dreamer and J'onn are put to work in a slave labor camp and just happen to wind up next to friends of J'onn who are looking for someone to lead a rebellion against the guards after less than a minute.
The guards also don't seem to care about stopping the alien workers from talking to each other, which would be unusual even if J'onn and Al weren't being incredibly unsubtle about talking about rebelling. They don't even whisper!
The slow-motion fight scenes in the fifth sequence just don't work. Especially James vs. Ben Lockwood.
It is said that President Baker is removed from office by the Cabinet's invoking the 25th Amendment. Even if The Cabinet does declare The President unfit for duty, a 2/3rds majority vote in both houses of Congress is still required to remove him from office.
Performances
Once again, Jon Cryer steals the show as Lex Luthor.
Melissa Benoist gets a wonderful death scene as Red Daughter, playing opposite herself.
Artistry
The special effects budget for this season was clearly saved for this episode and the CGI is largely theatrical quality.
Super Trivia
The opening logo once again shows the symbol of the Red Daughter and her name in Russian, along with Supergirl's name and the Supergirl logo.
The new President who takes over after Phil Baker is named Plastino. Al Plastino was the name of the artist who co-created Kara Zor-El along with writer Otto Binder.
It is revealed that Eve Teschmacher was recruited to manipulate Lex Luthor on behalf of a group called Leviathan. First appearing in Batman: The Return #1, Leviathan is a splinter-group of the League of Assassins formed by Talia Al Ghul, which developed into a criminal syndicate of unimaginable power.
The Monitor brings a Green Martian to Earth and encourages him to seek revenge against the brother who wronged him, who is revealed to be J'onn J'onzz. This would seem to be a reference to Ma'alefa'ak - the brother of J'onn J'onzz, who was introduced into the Martian Manhunter comics by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake.
Technobabble
An astral projector can appear in any environment, but they cannot interact with people in that environment. However, an astral projection can interact with and ionize other forms of energy, such as by writing in water molecules that accumulate as condensation on a window.
Brainiac-5 says that it will take 20 pods to overload the power core of the Claymore satellite in the time they had left. He further says that J'onn has only an 18% chance of successfully using his own psychic energy to overload the core and a 98% chance of dying in the attempt.
Dialogue Triumphs
(An alien man begs for mercy as he is locked into Luthor's machine, repeatedly muttering "Please don't.")
Lex: (cheerfully) Don't worry. It won't hurt.
(A metal plate slides over the man, who begins screaming.)
Lex: (nonchalant) Hmm. Guess I was wrong.
(Eve Teschmacher looks at the screen for the device as Lex examines the gauntlet he is wearing.)
Eve: Alien energy transfer complete. Your gauntlet should be charged.
Lex: Only one way to find out. (looks around the room and points to a guard on a balcony overlooking the room) Um... excuse me? Uh... stand very still!
(Lex aims the gauntlet at the guard and shots him with a ray. The man screams briefly as his body breaks down into a mass of liquid. Lex looks suitably impressed, but not surprised.)
Lex: Hmm... get a mop.
Red Daughter: Supergirl is dead. What happened?
Lex: (shrugging) The Kaznians invaded.
Red Daughter: Your signal was late! I was supposed to lead the attack!
Lex: No, Ryzhaya Dch. You did exactly what you were meant to do.
(A missile approaches in the air. Lex nonchalantly reaches up with one hand and shoots a laser blast that destroys it.)
Red Daughter: You betrayed me! Betrayed Kaznia!
Lex: What can I say? I'm proud to be an American.
(Lex reaches up and fires his gauntlet as the scene fades to black)
Eliza: Lex and The Preisdent have succeeded in convincing the people that all aliens are dangerous! That Supergirl is the enemy-
Alex: And Lex is the hero.
Kara: Then I guess it's my job to show them who Lex really is. Show them the truth.
(Lena is sarcastically rude to Lex.)
Lillian: Now, now! You play nicely. This is the first family gathering we've had in ages and I'd like to enjoy myself.
Lena: Your murderous son has duped the world into thinking he's Earth's hero. This is hardly Thanksgiving dinner.
Lillian: Sounds perfectly normal for our family.
(Lex describes his plans to turn aliens into giant disposable batteries and growing rich selling the power to the world.)
Lena: That's vile!
Lex: Vile AND viable. As another world leader once said, "I don't see why man shouldn't be as cruel as nature."
Lillian: Try not to quote Hitler in public, dear. It'll hurt the brand.
(As Lex leaves the room.)
Lena: You're not buying this, Mother?!
Lillian: Of course not! I've already poisoned his tea. If he'd stop running his mouth long enough to take a sip, he'd be dead by now.
(Dreamer is confused why nobody can see her astral form.)
Dreamer: Guys?
Brainac-5: If my calculations are correct, Dreamer has just astral projected into this office.
Dreamer: You anticipated me being here?!
Brainiac-5: She is here. She's wondering in this exact moment how she can contact us. Because an astral projectee can place themselves in any environment, but they cannot interact with that environment.
Alex and Nia: (together) So how is that a good plan?!?
Nia: (to Alex) Thank you!
Lex: The truth is meaningless. The people of Earth believe I am their savior. They needed a human hero and I fulfill that need. Nothing will ever change their minds.
(As Lex continues speaking, we cut to the streets of National City, where two young men are walking. One of them stops the other as he gestures to a news report on his phone. It is Kara's article.)
Lex: Facts are irrelevant. All that matters is spin.
(We cut to outside the White House, where a mob of people are waving signs cheering Lex Luthor. One of them looks at their phone and is shocked as she sees Kara's report.)
Lex: People are so stupid. They don't even read. And even when they do, they certainly don't think. I am the leader of this nation now. And nothing can stop me.
J'onn: During the battle for my home planet, I ran. Millions died. I will not make that same mistake again!
Lex: How are you alive?! How did you do it?
Supergirl: How do you think I did it? I'm Supergirl.
Lex: Just like your cousin! No matter how many times I stamp you out, you miraculously resurface! With your glossy cape and your prefect hair!
Supergirl: Let me let you in on a little secret, Lex. Truth and Justice always prevail.
Lex: (chuckling) You and your cousin are such saps. Luckily, I came prepared.
(Lex taps a button on his gauntlet. His hands begin to glow with green Kryptonite energy. Supergirl looks uncomfortable for a moment but then steels herself.)
Supergirl: So did I.
(Supergirl presses in on the S-shield on her chest and the armored suit Lena made for her slides into place. Lex looks stunned.)
Supergirl: You can thank your sister for this.
(Red Daughter is dying of Kryptonite poisoning, while being held by Supergirl.)
Red Daughter: You were right. My Alex was nothing like your Alex. Protect your people... as I protected mine.
(Lex's suit starts falling apart as he plummets toward the ground. Suddenly, he is caught by one hand by Supergirl. He struggles to wiggle free of her grip.)
Supergirl: Let me save you!
Lex: (scoffs) Saved? By a Kryptonian? I'd rather die!
(Lex's gauntlet releases from the rest of his armor and he falls to the ground, his armor seemingly erupting in a wave of green energy and a fiery explosion.)
(Lena draws a gun on Lex)
Lex: (impatiently) Come on, Lena. This is no time for theatrics. We both know, no matter how much you despise me, you're not ruthless enough to pull that trigger-
(Lena pulls the trigger twice, unloading two bullets into Lex's chest.)
Lena: The world will never be safe with you in it.
Lex: I'm about to die, but at least I lived without ever being a fool. You're left with no one and nothing!
Eve Teschmacher: Who are you?
Old Woman: You already know that, dear.
Eve Teschmacher: I did everything you asked. I worked for him. I hurt people for him!
Old Woman: Lex was supposed to move the needle. He failed.
Eve Teschmacher: So let me go!
Old Woman: Sorry, sweetie. That's not on the agenda.
(Eve looks around and sees that everyone on the street, from the homeless man to the cops, are watching her.)
Old Woman: Leviathan is everywhere. Leviathan is everyone. And Leviathan is coming.
(A breach opens and a figure in a black-hooded robe emerges. The Monitor steps forward to meet him.)
Figure: Where am I?
The Monitor: Earth.
Figure: It can't be!
The Monitor: You've been trapped for too long. A phantom to your people. Now it is time you avenge yourself against the brother who wronged you.
Figure: Will you help me?
The Monitor: It was I that brought you here. You must walk the path yourself. Besides... I have one more place to visit.
(The Monitor walks off as the figure lowers its hood, revealing itself to be a Green Martian.)
Figure: (in Martian) I 'm coming for you, J'onn J'onzz.
Dialogue Disasters
Again, every time Ben Lockwood opens his mouth.
Continuity
The episodes opens with Kara's escape from the Red Daughter in 421
Red Daughter returns to Lex and says she failed him by not killing Supergirl.
Lex says she didn't fail him and it was his fault for thinking that Kryptonite exposure alone could kill Supergirl.
He applauds Red Daughter for making Supergirl bleed and gives her a photo of Eliza Danvers, telling her to attack Supergirl where she is most vulnerable - the heart.
Lex is confirmed to be using the alien prisoners to charge his new power suit.
Eve witnesses Ben Lockwood killing Otis Graves. Lex asks her to send a team to kill Lockwood.
President Baker's first name is revealed as Phil. He was a state senator before becoming Vice President.
Lex reveals that he was responsible for Phil Baker's rise to power, having taken out President Marsdin's original running mate and then pulling strings to put Phil Baker on the ticket. He then arranged for President Marsdin to be outed as an alien, putting Baker in the White House.
As in 416, the montage of the Kaznian invasion and Red Daughter fighting Supergirl is set to Frank Sinatra's "My Way."
The battle between Red Daughter and Supergirl was seen in 421.
Lex uses his new suit to fight the Kaznian military, single-handed.
Lex seemingly kills the Red Daughter on National TV.
It is revealed that Lex didn't really kill the Red Daughter but weakened her and has loaded her into one of the energy-draining pods at Amertek's refinery.
President Baker calls a second press confrerence, declaring that Otis Graves was found dead with a manifesto detailing his philosophy and taking credit for the crimes that were pinned on Lex Luthor. As such, he gives Luthor a full Presidential Pardon and appoints him as the new Secretary of Alien Affairs.
Ben Lockwood learns about this watching TV while hiding at his steel mill. He survives an assassination attempt by a squad of Eve Teschmacher clones and asks the one who doesn't disappiate after he knocks them out at super speed why Luthor had been using him.
It is revealed that Shelley Island has been turned into a slave labor camp, with those aliens who can't output energy for Luthor's refinery being put to work assembling electronics for Amertek.
J'onn winds up working next to Al - the alien who runs the alien dive bar - and the two begin to plan a rebellion.
Brainiac-5 escaped to L-Corp and regrouped with Lena.
The two watch a news report where it is revealed that Lex donated an experimental power source to replace the destroyed power grid on the eastern side of the United States.
Brainiac-5 is able to recover Kara's evidence of Luthor's wrong-doing that was stored on the CatCo servers.
Brainac-5 tells Lena, Kara and Alex about how Luthor was not only using alien prisoners from the DEO desert facility in his experiments but alien civilians abducted by Ben Lockwood and the Children of Liberty.
Lena gets an invitation from The President to meet him at the White House. The invitation turns out to be from Lex, who has taken over the Oval Office and also arranged for Lillian Luthor to be freed.
Lex reveals his master-plan, now that the Luthor name is cleared, is to build his fortune on his new power source - supercharged disposable batteries, powered by alien energy.
Lena asks what makes Lex think Superman is going to sit idly by on Argo and let him do this. Lex says that the first batch of aliens are being used to charge a revised Claymore satellite that will allow him to destroy Argo from a distance.
Eve Teschmacher objects to Lex's plan to kill Superman, which she was not consulted on. Lex says that killing Superman once and for all was always the point and he doesn't care if half the energy they've gathered will be burned up destroying Argo.
The device Lillian Luthor built to extract the Harun-El from a human system is completed.
Dreamer eventually notifies the team that the alien captives are being held on Shelley Island, after realizing she's invisible and inaudible to people in her astral form. She is able to write out a message after Brainiac-5 breathes on a cold window.
Brainiac-5 determined that Lex is using Shelley Island to charge the new Claymore satellite and that it is aimed at Argo. He says that he will try to hack the power core while Kara, Jimmy and Alex try to save Dreamer and J'onn.
Ben Lockwood shows up with a group of Children of Liberty he says that he gave the Harun-El treatment to and start fighting Supergirl, Alex and Jimmy.
Upon finding they can't disable the power core for Claymore, J'onn tries to overload it with his psychic powers.
Lena and Lillian escape the White House by struggling with Eve Teschmacher for a gun and pistol whipping her with it and macing two Secret Service agents, respectively.
Lex files to Shelley Island and begins blasting everything with his new Lexo Suit.
Lex reveals that his suit has the ability to generate Kryptonite radiation.
Thankfully, Kara came prepared and puts on the armored costume Lena made for her.
Dreamer pools her dream energy with J'onn's psychic powers but it is not enough.
Seeing two people do something so illogical causes Brainiac-5's previous personality to reassert itself and start saying words of encouragement to Dreamer and J'onn.
Brainiac-5 finally tells Dreamer that he loves her.
James is able to inject Ben Lockwood with the Harun-El removal device.
Red Daughter is freed by J'onn and Dreamer. She flies to Supergirl just in time to take a lethal Kryptonite laser bolt for her.
The Red Daughter dissipates into a cloud of purple energy which Kara seems to absorb. This gives her the power she needs to overpower Lex's Kryptonite beams and blast his gauntlet with her heat vision, which glows purple.
Lex refuses to let Supergirl save him from falling to his death as his armor starts to fall apart. He seemingly falls to his death but actually teleports to a secret base under his childhood treehouse... where Lena is waiting to inject him with the Harun-El extractor.
Lena shoots Lex. He applauds her for finally proving how ruthless she is but asks who is left to be proud of her.
Lex reveals that Kara is Supergirl and that all of Lena's friends and Lillian knew and lied to her about it before he dies.
As far as the world is concerned, Lex Luthor died blown up on Shelley island.
The Cabinet invoked the 25th Amendment to remove President Baker from office and he was arrested.
Ben Lockwood was arrested on a new battery of terrorism charges.
James lost his right eye in the fight with Ben Lockwood.
The new President Plastino ends martial law and reinstates the Alien Amnesty Act pending a new vote in Congress.
Col. Haley holds a press conference to apologize to Supergirl
Alex kisses Kelley Olsen for the first time..
Lena shows up for game night but is clearly uncomfortable.
Kara wants to tell Lena the truth about her secret identity but Alex wants to let her just have one night to enjoy with her friends. Kara agrees.
George Lockwood is seen talking to a crowd and preaching against his father's message of hate on the news.
Eve Teschmacher is confronted by an old woman at a bus station in National City, who tells her that "Leviathan is everywhere, Leviathan is everyone and Leviathan is coming."
The Monitor brings someone to Earth through a breach - a Martian who must avenge himself upon the brother who wronged him. This brother is identified as J'onn J'onzz.
The Monitor says he has one more place to visit.
Lena cracks the glass in the picture of herself, Alex and Kara together in her office while using it is a coaster for her drink.
The episode ends with The Monitor manifesting in Lex's secret lab and regarding Lex's corpse, as his hand starts to open another breach.
Location
Washington D.C. - 24 hours earlier.
Amertek Energy Refiner - 6 hours earlier.
The White House - 1 hour earlier.
Midvale - Today.
Amertek Energy Refiner - Today.
Lockwood Steel Factory - Today.
Shelley Island - Today
The White House - Today.
Luthor Manor - Today.
The Bottom Line
Much like Season 4 of Supergirl, it's a bit of a mess overall, but the parts that work work very well. There's just not a lot of middle ground. The inclusion of the Children of Liberty and Ben Lockwood just feels pointless and seems to be there just to give James something to do... much like James suddenly having lost an eye. A lot of things are resolved too quickly to register (such as Brainiac-5's personality being restored) and it seems like most of the cast is just treading water until the Lex vs. Supergirl fight.
That being said, the special effects work is great and the fight between Lex and Supergirl is everything we hoped it might be. It looks like we'll have multiple villains again next season, which is worrying on multiple levels, even ignoring what might happen with Lena an whatever the Monitor is up to. Either way, Season 5 of Supergirl won't be boring!
Arrow Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 22 - You Have Saved This City
For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.
Plot
The battle between Team Arrow and the Ninth Circle comes to a head, as old friends return to Star City to help with the coming fight. Meanwhile, over two decades later, the next generation of Star City's heroes must save their city - and the world - from a corporation intent on empowering a new police state.
Influences
The Green Arrow comics of Benjamin Percy (battle with Ninth Circle) and Judd Winick (destroying a wall that separates the rich and poor parts of Star City.)
Goofs
The Ninth Circle leadership expels Emiko from their ranks and kills her because of her vendetta against the Queen family exposing the group to the public. Yet they are perfectly willing to keep that vendetta going once Emiko is dead, because... reasons?
For that matter, even if the Ninth Circle were going after Oliver and Felicity for being thorns in their side, why not go after the whole of Team Arrow? All of whom have public identities now!
Performances
Emily Bett Rickards gives it her all one last time and steals the show in both the modern day and future segments. Somehow, Stephen Amell seems all the stronger playing against her and he's hardly a slouch. Their final moments together are Emmy-worthy.
Artistry
The fight scenes are fantastic, even for this show.
The episode's ending is absolutely perfect - both as a send-off for Felicity Smoak and as the series in general, as it seems that all of Season 8 will be devoted to Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Trivia
The female Ninth Circle member who seemingly takes over after Emiko is kicked out of the group is identified as Beatrice. In The Divine Comedy, Beatrice was the name of the poet Dante's ideal woman, who acted as his guide to the nine spheres of Heaven, just as Virgil had been his guide to the circles of Hell.
While the original Green Arrow comics introducing the Ninth Circle didn't include a member named Beatrice among the Ninth Circle's ranks, the name fits their convention of their leaders taking the names of important figures from The Divine Comedy.
Technobabble
Emiko somehow finds a way to block Felicity from tracking the Cygnus X-1 bacteria by its chemical signature.
Someone using a signal-bounced untraceable number calls in a fake bomb scare to a local shopping mall, to force people out into the open where they can be attacked by a Ninth Circle drone.
The Ninth Circle use a scrambler to make it impossible to track the detonation signal for their Cygnus X-1 bombs.
Curtis builds a number of optimized cryogenic chambers to that can be used to freeze the Cygnus X-1 bacteria.
Felicity determines all the Cygnus X-1 bombs and droves are hooked up to the same detonator. This means they only have to neutralize one target rather than over a dozen.
In Star City 2040, Penal Code Statute 10101971 governs vigilante justice.
Smoak Tech invented a line of flexible restraints, easier to store than traditional handcuffs.
The Archer program is revealed not to have a server room - its server is built into the wall that separates The Glades and Star City.
Felicity built a backdoor into the original Archer system so that anyone who had both her DNA and that of Oliver Queen would be invisible to the system. This is why Mia was able to fight the Zeta soldiers so effectively - Archer could literally not predict her next move, like all the other vigilantes.
When the wall between The Glades and Star City was built, explosives were planted in each control tower in case it ever had to be destroyed. The signal can only be activated from inside the tower.
Dialogue Triumphs
William: What are they gonna do with us?
Rene: You mean before they torture us to find out what you stole off Keven Dale's computer or after?
William: I'm gonna stop asking questions now.
Felicity: (sadly) This is not the life that Oliver and I wanted for them. They're supposed to be living happy, normal lives right now. That was the only thing that Oliver asked me to do. It was the only thing that I promised him I would do. And I failed. Some mother I turned out to be.
Sergeant Bingsley passes out and is in the back of am ambulance. As such, he can't confirm that Team Arrow didn't attack the police.
Team Arrow escapes from the SCPD thanks to Oliver's timely use of a smoke arrow.
The whole of Team Arrow have arrest warrants put out for their real names.
Curtis Holt and Black Siren return to help fight The Ninth Circle.
Ben "Bronze Tiger" Turner, last seen in 715, is revealed to have been paroled. He helps calm the crowds during the drone attacks.
Ben Turner agrees to help stop the Ninth Circle.
Lyla picks up John Jr., Zoe and Connor and takes them to an ARGUS safehouse.
Felicity tracks the signal to trigger the Cygnus X-1 release to the top floor of Palmer Technologies - what was Robert Queen's office when the building was still owned by Queen Consolidated.
Virgil tells Emiko that the rest of The Ninth Circle's leadership is concerned that her vendetta is bringing too much heat down upon them. He asks her to detonate the bombs now but she refuses.
Sergeant Bingsley tells Mayor Pollard that Team Arrow is innocent. He and several other cops join the team to swarm Palmer Industries.
Oliver offers Emiko another chance for them to work beyond their father's life and be better people together. When she refuses to take it, he offers her a dagger and tells her to kill him.
Before Emiko can make a decision, Virgial arrives with a group of Ninth Circle soldiers and a woman named Beatrice, who informs Emiko she has been cast out of the Ninth Circle.
Beatrice throws the knives that fatally wound Emiko.
With her dying breath, Emiko warns Oliver that the Ninth Circle know that Felicity is pregnant an they will stop at nothing to kill him, her and their child.
Oliver escapes from Palmer Industries just before a fire bomb destroys the upper floors.
Black Siren returns to Earth 2.
Bronze Tiger is offered a place on Team Arrow by Diggle. He turns it down, saying that he wants to focus on being with his son now that he's free of prison. Diggle understands but says ARGUS may approach him about a job anyway.
Curtis announces his intention to propose to his longtime boyfriend, Officer Nick Anastas and go back to his new job in Washington D.C.
Roy says he's going to take some time to be alone and figure out a way to atone for the two guards that he killed before he joins back up with Thea Queen and Nyssa Al Ghul.
Oliver says he and Felicity are going to leave town for a while, leaving Diggle in charge of the team while they are away.
Before everyone parts ways, Oliver says he is going to design a Mark of Four based around The Four Pillars of Heroism he thought up ad that the six of them (Oliver, Felicity, Diggle, Rene, Dinah and Roy) will be able to use it as a signal if they ever need help. This symbol was first mentioned and seen in the flash-forwards of 708 when Dinah revealed she had a tattoo of the symbol to William Clayton.
Diggle helps Felicity and Oliver find a home in a rural community called Bloomfield, which is a sort of retirement community for ex CIA, ARGUS and DIA personnel who need to go into witness protection. The entire city is basically one gigantic safe-house.
Several moinths pass during which Oliver and Felicity enjoy their time together, Mia is born and Oliver and Felicity both enjoy being the parents of a young baby.
The Monitor appears in Oliver and Felicity's living room and confirms the time has come for Oliver to fufill the bargain he made in S409.
Oliver explains that he agreed to give the Monitor "whatever the Multiverse requires" to save it during the coming Crisis, in exchange for the means to save Barry and Kara during the battle with Dr. Destiny. The Monitor reveals that this means that Oliver must come with him and help him to "prevent the inevitable."
The Monitor reveals that he has seen Oliver die and that there is nothing that can be done to avert his fate. He does say, however, that it is possible to make Oliver's death mean something and that he can use it to save the uncountable lives, including those of his wife and daughter.
The Monitor also says that it is important that Mia Smoak's life be saved, but does not explain why.
Oliver is allowed a chance to hold Mia one last time and to kiss Felicity before he leaves with the Monitor.
Mia is somehow able to fight several of the Zeta droids before they focus on her and overpower her.
The rest of the Zetas are finished up by a disguised Connor Hawke.
William and Rene are saved from Galaxy One by Zoe.
Felicity reveals that Mia is able to fight the Zetas because a backdoor in Archer stops her DNA from being analyzed and her movements predicted.
This prompts William to come up with a plan to destroy Archer by using the delay caused by Mia's presence at a gate scanner to upload a virus into the system.
The virus doesn't destroy Archer but triggers a system-wide reboot which shuts it down for four minutes.
Mia volunteers to activate the self-destruct on the wall during that four minute window.
William is able to code a 60 second delay into the self-destruct so Mia can escape in time.
Rene, Dinah, Roy and Felicity agree to take the rap for the destruction of the wall.
Dinah officially makes Zoe the new head of The Canaries.
Roy thank William for getting him off of Lian Yu.
Roy says how he got on Lian Yu in the first place and a long story when William asks him how he got there.
Felicity meets with Mia and William in the woods behind what was Queen Manor at Robert Queen's gravestone.
It is revealed that there are two new gravestones there. One for Emiko Queen, who is buried on Robert's right. The other is on Robert's left and is for Oliver Queen.
Oliver Queen's tombstone identifies him as The Green Arrow and says he died in 2019.
Felicity says that this is the last time she'll see Mia and William, as she is going on a journey of her own - one that she can take now that she is satisfied that Mia and William can take care of themselves.
The episode ends with Felicity meeting with The Monitor, who asks if she is prepared because she cannot return from where they are going. Felicity replies that she has been waiting a very long time to see him as she twists her wedding ring. The implication is that The Monitor is taking her to see Oliver, but with no indication of where or when.
The Bottom Line
The first two-thirds is a bit of a rushed mess, which has no purpose but to finish up Emiko's storyline and everything involving the Zeta soldiers. The final third, however, contains some of the best moments in Arrow history and a fantastic farewell to the character of Felicity Smoak. For once, the episode is more than the sum of its part and the perfect finale more than makes up for the weak start. It will be interesting to see how the show goes on in Season 8 without Emily Bett Rickards but it will be an interesting train-wreck if nothing else.
Plot
The battle between Team Arrow and the Ninth Circle comes to a head, as old friends return to Star City to help with the coming fight. Meanwhile, over two decades later, the next generation of Star City's heroes must save their city - and the world - from a corporation intent on empowering a new police state.
Influences
The Green Arrow comics of Benjamin Percy (battle with Ninth Circle) and Judd Winick (destroying a wall that separates the rich and poor parts of Star City.)
Goofs
The Ninth Circle leadership expels Emiko from their ranks and kills her because of her vendetta against the Queen family exposing the group to the public. Yet they are perfectly willing to keep that vendetta going once Emiko is dead, because... reasons?
For that matter, even if the Ninth Circle were going after Oliver and Felicity for being thorns in their side, why not go after the whole of Team Arrow? All of whom have public identities now!
Performances
Emily Bett Rickards gives it her all one last time and steals the show in both the modern day and future segments. Somehow, Stephen Amell seems all the stronger playing against her and he's hardly a slouch. Their final moments together are Emmy-worthy.
Artistry
The fight scenes are fantastic, even for this show.
The episode's ending is absolutely perfect - both as a send-off for Felicity Smoak and as the series in general, as it seems that all of Season 8 will be devoted to Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Trivia
The female Ninth Circle member who seemingly takes over after Emiko is kicked out of the group is identified as Beatrice. In The Divine Comedy, Beatrice was the name of the poet Dante's ideal woman, who acted as his guide to the nine spheres of Heaven, just as Virgil had been his guide to the circles of Hell.
While the original Green Arrow comics introducing the Ninth Circle didn't include a member named Beatrice among the Ninth Circle's ranks, the name fits their convention of their leaders taking the names of important figures from The Divine Comedy.
Technobabble
Emiko somehow finds a way to block Felicity from tracking the Cygnus X-1 bacteria by its chemical signature.
Someone using a signal-bounced untraceable number calls in a fake bomb scare to a local shopping mall, to force people out into the open where they can be attacked by a Ninth Circle drone.
The Ninth Circle use a scrambler to make it impossible to track the detonation signal for their Cygnus X-1 bombs.
Curtis builds a number of optimized cryogenic chambers to that can be used to freeze the Cygnus X-1 bacteria.
Felicity determines all the Cygnus X-1 bombs and droves are hooked up to the same detonator. This means they only have to neutralize one target rather than over a dozen.
In Star City 2040, Penal Code Statute 10101971 governs vigilante justice.
Smoak Tech invented a line of flexible restraints, easier to store than traditional handcuffs.
The Archer program is revealed not to have a server room - its server is built into the wall that separates The Glades and Star City.
Felicity built a backdoor into the original Archer system so that anyone who had both her DNA and that of Oliver Queen would be invisible to the system. This is why Mia was able to fight the Zeta soldiers so effectively - Archer could literally not predict her next move, like all the other vigilantes.
When the wall between The Glades and Star City was built, explosives were planted in each control tower in case it ever had to be destroyed. The signal can only be activated from inside the tower.
Dialogue Triumphs
William: What are they gonna do with us?
Rene: You mean before they torture us to find out what you stole off Keven Dale's computer or after?
William: I'm gonna stop asking questions now.
Felicity: (sadly) This is not the life that Oliver and I wanted for them. They're supposed to be living happy, normal lives right now. That was the only thing that Oliver asked me to do. It was the only thing that I promised him I would do. And I failed. Some mother I turned out to be.
Oliver: You have every right to be angry. I was angry, too, because you let our father die. And that led to a ripple effect in my life of loss. I lost Tommy, my mother, Laurel, Quentin. And I wanted to kill you for all of it!
(The two struggle as Emiko tries to stab Oliver. He flips her and takes away her knife, holding it on her.)
Oliver: I know his death affected you, too.
(Oliver releases the pin and stands up, allowing Emiko to stand.)
Oliver: Instead of finding the hero that I really believe is inside
of you, you went down a dark path. And it killed your mother.
Emiko: Dante killed my mother!
Oliver: No, he didn't, Emiko. Your allegiance to the Ninth Circle killed your mother. Your hatred of our father killed your mother. His worst impulses drove you away, and it led to every
terrible moment in both of our lives. I think that together, we can be better.
(Oliver holds the knife out to Emiko.)
Oliver: So if you're gonna kill me, do it.
(Emiko hesitates, as Virgil enters the room with a squad of Ninth Circle soldiers)
Virgil: Well, if you're not gonna kill him, we'll gladly oblige.
Oliver: I've spent a long time thinking about my legacy as the Green
Arrow. I always hoped it would be saving the city. But now I know that my greatest legacy is this team. I started this mission alone. I was certain that I would end it alone, but the truth of
the matter is that every bit of success that I've had along the way is because
of all of you.
Diggle: You know, the spirit of this place will live on long after
we're gone. You've inspired so many people, Oliver. They will carry on your legacy.
Oliver: Sounds like a cycle for good.
Diggle: Far better than that. A cycle of heroes. Who will fight to defend this city with
every fiber of their being.
Felicity: Anyone ever told you you always know exactly what to say?
Digg: (stone-faced) I
have been told.
(Oliver and Felicity laugh ad Diggle cracks a stoic smile.)
Oliver: So what bargain have I made? What does the multiverse
require?
The Monitor: That you assist me as we seek to prevent the inevitable.
Oliver: But that sounds impossible.
The Monitor: The multiverse is more complex than you could fathom.
Oliver: What are you not telling me?
The Monitor: I've seen your future, Oliver,
inexorable and unavoidable. I have watched you die.
(Oliver just stares at The Monitor.)
Oliver: During this crisis?
The Monitor: (nods) I am truly sorry.
Felicity:No. You are not taking him!
Oliver: Felicity....
Felicity: Oliver...
The Monitor: I am not here to bring harm to you or your daughter. Trust me, the world needs her.
Felicity: You think that I'm just going to let you leave here with my
husband's life?
Oliver: This is bigger than us... Than all of us.
Felicity: Why does it always have to be you?
The Monitor: I cannot prevent his
passing, but he can prevent the deaths of countless more, including you and
your daughter. But he needs to come with me tonight.
(Oliver exits Mia's room to find Felicity sitting in their dining room.)
Felicity: (softly)This is why we can't have a normal life. This is why our children will never have normal lives.
Oliver: I had to make the deal.
Felicity: (holding back the tears) Oh, there's always gonna be some danger or some threat. The
league of Assassins or HIVE or the Ninth Circle or the end of the friggin'
universe.
Oliver: I need you to make me a promise.
Felicity: (drying her tears) Yeah, okay.
Oliver: No matter what happens to me... No matter what... You need to do
everything in your power... You...You need to keep William and Mia safe.
Felicity: (standing, moving to feel Oliver's face) I will keep them safe. But wherever you go? Whatever happens to you? You'll never
leave me. On our wedding day, you told me that I was the best part of
you, but the truth is... we are the best parts of each other. And that is so much bigger than the friggin' universe.
Oliver: When I came back to Star City to start my mission, I didn't
think that I was... capable or deserving of love.(sobbing) But you opened up my heart in ways that I never thought
were possible. My only regret is not telling you I loved you sooner.
Felicity: (hugging him tighter) No regrets.
Oliver: Would you tell Mia that I love her every day? And I know
that she will grow up to be as smart and as beautiful as her mom.
Felicity: I will find you... again. I promise.
Oliver: I love you.
Felicity: I love you so much.
(The two kiss passionately and hug each other for several seconds. Reluctantly, Oliver lets go of Felicity as she feels his face one more time before he lets go and walks back to the living room.)
(Felicity walks through the woods near Queen Manor. She stops and The Monitor approaches her.)
Felicity: I'm ready.
The Monitor: Where I'm taking you, there is no return.
Felicity: I have waited a very long time to see him. I'm ready.
(Felicity twists her wedding ring as The Monitor opens a breach. The two step forward into it as it seals behind them, with no indication they were ever there.)
Continuity
Sergeant Bingsley passes out and is in the back of am ambulance. As such, he can't confirm that Team Arrow didn't attack the police.
Team Arrow escapes from the SCPD thanks to Oliver's timely use of a smoke arrow.
The whole of Team Arrow have arrest warrants put out for their real names.
Curtis Holt and Black Siren return to help fight The Ninth Circle.
Ben "Bronze Tiger" Turner, last seen in 715, is revealed to have been paroled. He helps calm the crowds during the drone attacks.
Ben Turner agrees to help stop the Ninth Circle.
Lyla picks up John Jr., Zoe and Connor and takes them to an ARGUS safehouse.
Felicity tracks the signal to trigger the Cygnus X-1 release to the top floor of Palmer Technologies - what was Robert Queen's office when the building was still owned by Queen Consolidated.
Virgil tells Emiko that the rest of The Ninth Circle's leadership is concerned that her vendetta is bringing too much heat down upon them. He asks her to detonate the bombs now but she refuses.
Sergeant Bingsley tells Mayor Pollard that Team Arrow is innocent. He and several other cops join the team to swarm Palmer Industries.
Oliver offers Emiko another chance for them to work beyond their father's life and be better people together. When she refuses to take it, he offers her a dagger and tells her to kill him.
Before Emiko can make a decision, Virgial arrives with a group of Ninth Circle soldiers and a woman named Beatrice, who informs Emiko she has been cast out of the Ninth Circle.
Beatrice throws the knives that fatally wound Emiko.
With her dying breath, Emiko warns Oliver that the Ninth Circle know that Felicity is pregnant an they will stop at nothing to kill him, her and their child.
Oliver escapes from Palmer Industries just before a fire bomb destroys the upper floors.
Black Siren returns to Earth 2.
Bronze Tiger is offered a place on Team Arrow by Diggle. He turns it down, saying that he wants to focus on being with his son now that he's free of prison. Diggle understands but says ARGUS may approach him about a job anyway.
Curtis announces his intention to propose to his longtime boyfriend, Officer Nick Anastas and go back to his new job in Washington D.C.
Roy says he's going to take some time to be alone and figure out a way to atone for the two guards that he killed before he joins back up with Thea Queen and Nyssa Al Ghul.
Oliver says he and Felicity are going to leave town for a while, leaving Diggle in charge of the team while they are away.
Before everyone parts ways, Oliver says he is going to design a Mark of Four based around The Four Pillars of Heroism he thought up ad that the six of them (Oliver, Felicity, Diggle, Rene, Dinah and Roy) will be able to use it as a signal if they ever need help. This symbol was first mentioned and seen in the flash-forwards of 708 when Dinah revealed she had a tattoo of the symbol to William Clayton.
Diggle helps Felicity and Oliver find a home in a rural community called Bloomfield, which is a sort of retirement community for ex CIA, ARGUS and DIA personnel who need to go into witness protection. The entire city is basically one gigantic safe-house.
Several moinths pass during which Oliver and Felicity enjoy their time together, Mia is born and Oliver and Felicity both enjoy being the parents of a young baby.
The Monitor appears in Oliver and Felicity's living room and confirms the time has come for Oliver to fufill the bargain he made in S409.
Oliver explains that he agreed to give the Monitor "whatever the Multiverse requires" to save it during the coming Crisis, in exchange for the means to save Barry and Kara during the battle with Dr. Destiny. The Monitor reveals that this means that Oliver must come with him and help him to "prevent the inevitable."
The Monitor reveals that he has seen Oliver die and that there is nothing that can be done to avert his fate. He does say, however, that it is possible to make Oliver's death mean something and that he can use it to save the uncountable lives, including those of his wife and daughter.
The Monitor also says that it is important that Mia Smoak's life be saved, but does not explain why.
Oliver is allowed a chance to hold Mia one last time and to kiss Felicity before he leaves with the Monitor.
Mia is somehow able to fight several of the Zeta droids before they focus on her and overpower her.
The rest of the Zetas are finished up by a disguised Connor Hawke.
William and Rene are saved from Galaxy One by Zoe.
Felicity reveals that Mia is able to fight the Zetas because a backdoor in Archer stops her DNA from being analyzed and her movements predicted.
This prompts William to come up with a plan to destroy Archer by using the delay caused by Mia's presence at a gate scanner to upload a virus into the system.
The virus doesn't destroy Archer but triggers a system-wide reboot which shuts it down for four minutes.
Mia volunteers to activate the self-destruct on the wall during that four minute window.
William is able to code a 60 second delay into the self-destruct so Mia can escape in time.
Rene, Dinah, Roy and Felicity agree to take the rap for the destruction of the wall.
Dinah officially makes Zoe the new head of The Canaries.
Roy thank William for getting him off of Lian Yu.
Roy says how he got on Lian Yu in the first place and a long story when William asks him how he got there.
Felicity meets with Mia and William in the woods behind what was Queen Manor at Robert Queen's gravestone.
It is revealed that there are two new gravestones there. One for Emiko Queen, who is buried on Robert's right. The other is on Robert's left and is for Oliver Queen.
Oliver Queen's tombstone identifies him as The Green Arrow and says he died in 2019.
Felicity says that this is the last time she'll see Mia and William, as she is going on a journey of her own - one that she can take now that she is satisfied that Mia and William can take care of themselves.
The episode ends with Felicity meeting with The Monitor, who asks if she is prepared because she cannot return from where they are going. Felicity replies that she has been waiting a very long time to see him as she twists her wedding ring. The implication is that The Monitor is taking her to see Oliver, but with no indication of where or when.
The Bottom Line
The first two-thirds is a bit of a rushed mess, which has no purpose but to finish up Emiko's storyline and everything involving the Zeta soldiers. The final third, however, contains some of the best moments in Arrow history and a fantastic farewell to the character of Felicity Smoak. For once, the episode is more than the sum of its part and the perfect finale more than makes up for the weak start. It will be interesting to see how the show goes on in Season 8 without Emily Bett Rickards but it will be an interesting train-wreck if nothing else.
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