Friday, February 15, 2019
Starman Plays Batman: The Telltale Series - Part 6
In which we have our first confrontation with the Penguin, do the worst job possible of blending into the crowd at a seedy bar, further ruin Batman's reputation by scaring the mayor, further ruin our relationship with Harvey Dent and end Episode 2 with several major diversions from the history of Batman in the comics.
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
The Flash Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 14 - Cause and XS
For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.
Plot
After Iris is endangered by Cicada, Nora starts using time-travel to try and save the day, only to progressively make the situation even worse. Meanwhile, with the metahuman cure nearly complete, Cisco takes a night off for a date with his new friend, the bartender Kamilla.
Influences
The movies Groundhog Day (the character keeps relieving the same day over and over trying to find a way to break the loop) and Run, Lola, Run (a woman running to save her boyfriend causes slight variations in the chain of events as we see the same sequence play out multiple times)
Goofs
If Ralph was at his office when Cicada attacked Iris the first time, why wasn't he the first one there when Iris' panic alarm was activated?
Really, how many more times is the team going to take down Cicada and then just stand there as he gets away? Just dog-pile him and put the meta-blockers on him!
Honestly, the most unforgivable aspect of this episode is they didn't go with the much better title of Run, Nora, Run.
Artistry
The effects work and transitions as Nora runs back in time is rather nice.
Flash Facts
Nora attempts to change the past 52 times. This is yet another repeated use of the number 52, which, as has been noted before, is a number of some significance in the DC Comics Universe.
Cisco says that he doesn't have to dress like Ozone to impress Kamilla. This is a reference to the movie Breakin'.
Technobabble
The metahuman cure requires one month to fully synthesize.
Sherloque suggests the Speed Force might be used to enhance the synthesis process. All compounds are formed by a catalyst and the most efficient catalyst for a compound that negates dark matter is super-luminal particles like tachyons. Since the densest tachyons in existence lie inside The Speed Force, a trip with the metahuman cure through the heart of the Speed Force should prepare it in the span of an hour.
Cicada's dagger is revealed to allow him to detect nearby metahumans. This allows him to find Ralph in the office across the hall from Iris' office, when Cicada goes looking for Iris and she isn't there.
When Cisco is lying about what kind of workouts he indulges in, he mentions pilates for the core, plyometrics for the quads and circuit training along with finger push-ups.
Dialogue Triumphs
(Nora, having just traveled back in time, runs into Ralph, who asks if Cisco has left for his date yet.)
Nora: I don't think so.
Ralph: Great! I get another chance at this.
(Ralph walks into the main lab. Nora looks into the room and sees everyone else, realizing where.. and when... she is.)
Nora: ... we do.
(On the third time through the loop.)
Barista 1: One Zoom and one decaf Flash.
Kamilla: Thank you.
(Cisco is about to reach for one of the cups then stops himself.)
Cisco: Something's wrong.
(Barista 1 gives him the side-eye.)
Cisco: And I think I have to go.
Kamilla: Right now?
Cisco: No. (pointing to his phone on the table) Right... now.
(The trouble alert on Cisco's phone goes off.)
Cisco: (sadly) Yep. Gotta go. (getting up) Umm - I'd ask if we could have a do-over, but, um, something tells me we already have.
(Cisco exits, leaving a stunned Kamilla behind, stammering in shock.)
Barista 1: The men in this city.
Barista 2: Tell me about it.
Cisco: Nora, sometimes we fail because all we worry about is not failing.
Dialogue Disasters
Cicada: You said you were going to beat me, but tonight... (growling) I'm going to beat you. All of you.
Continuity
Cisco has started looking at Kamilla's photos on-line in anticipation of their date. He worries she might be too good for him.
Nora refers to Barry having to stay in the Pipeline for 24 houirs in 510 and Iris' encounter with Cicada in 513 to persuade Barry not to go into the Speed Force alone right now.
Ralph has written a companion book to The Book of Ralph from 502 called The Book Of Love. It follows up his 27-step plan for getting over a bad-breakup with a blueprint for approaching a first date. The book includes chapters on Initial Planning (Chapter One), Knowing Your Terrain (Chapter Six) and Intelligence and Reconnaissance (Chapter Thirteen). This last step involves looking at her public profile on social media and determining what kind of men she has been interested in in the past.
Caitlin and Sherloque excuse themselves to finish working on the injection device for the metahuman cure.
Iris goes back to her office to work on a story.
At 8:27 PM, Iris is knocked out by Cicada.
There is a drink called The Cicada at C.C. Jitters.
Based on a picture of Kamilla with some guy in a suit and slicked-back hair, Cisco shows up for the date in a suit with slicked back hair.
Cisco tries to play the suave businessman but only comes off as a conceited prick who profits off of other people's work after Kamilla asks why he wears a business suit in the lab (remembering his using science terms when they first met in 512) and he lies about working for Ramon Industries.
Kamilla's drink of choice is a Decaf Flash.
Cisco's drink of choice is the Zoom.
When Cisco gets Iris' alarm warning, he asks Kamilla for a raincheck. She doesn't even say goodbye as she leaves.
Iris' alarm sounds at 8:52 PM.
Cicada throws his dagger in a long arc and commands it to hit Killer Frost in the back when it comes back to him, having seen XS and Killer Frost coming.
Nora runs back in time to just as Ralph was arriving at STAR Labs with The Book of Love.
Sherloque seems to recognize something is wrong when Nora comes back the second time.
Nora persuades Iris to stay at STAR Labs on her second time around.
This time, without Nora in the lab to watch Cisco as he is looking through Ralph's photos of Kamilla, this time he sees one of her being lifted up by a large, sporty-looking fellow.
Cicada goes to Iris' office but she isn't there. This leads to him sensing Ralph, who is across the hall in his detective agency, and Cicada knocking Ralph out. This time, he recognizes Ralph as Elongated Man but otherwise gives the same speech about beating all of Team Flash tonight.
The second time, Cisco shows up for his date in a t-shirt and ball-cap. He tries to play the part of a gym rat, but Kamilla said she thought he was the kind of guy more concerned with flexing his mental muscles than his physical ones.
This second time, Cisco touches Kamilla's hand as they reach for the same drink instead of being stopped by the barista. He vibes the baristas making derisive comments about his not knowing a decaf from his own drink by looking and how the men in Central City are idiots.
Once again, Kamilla leaves when Cisco asks for a do-over date, without saying a word.
The second time, Raph shouts a warning about Cicada's dagger and Nora moves Killer Frost out of the way, only for Ralph to be stabbed by Cicada's dagger.
The third time, Sherloque definitely seems to think something is up with Nora but says nothing.
Nora convinces Iris to stay and write her article at STAR Labs and convinces Ralph to stay and try some of the brownies she has in the lounge.
Nora encourages Cisco to look at Ralph's collection of pictures of Kamilla. This time, when he handles them, he vibes Kamilla saying that she thought he was a man who flexes his brain rather than his muscles from the second time Nora time-traveled.
Sherloque also seems to notice Cisco's odd reaction, which Cisco describes as deja vu.
It is 8:07 PM when Cisco leaves for his date the third time.
The third time, Sherloque goes to Iris' office and is ambushed by Cicada at 8:27 PM.
The third time, Cisco shows up for his date looking like a male model and claiming to be a social media influencer. He gives Kamilla a business card. This time, when he touches her hand, he vibes her saying that the last time they spoke he was talking about genomes and DNA so she assumed he was a scientist.
The third time, Kamilla orders their drinks instead of Cisco.
This time, Nora goes in to face Cicada alone, not taking Caitlin with her. Unfortunately, being Cisco left his date earlier, he gets there just in time to get stabbed in the back by Cicada before Nora gets there.
The fourth time, Nora takes everyone into the lounge and tells them they have to stay there for one hour.
The fourth time, Cisco vibes Ralph showing him the photos he took from Kamilla's profile and the details from his previous dates about what kind of man she thought Cisco was.
The fourth time, Cicada breaks into Iris' office and finds a picture of Iris with Joe and Cecile.
The fourth time, Cisco texts Kamilla and says he won't be able to make their date because of a problem at work.
The fourth time, Cicada takes Cecile Horton hostage and she is stabbed with the dagger before Nora arrives.
This leads into a rapid fire montage where everyone dies again, several times, in different ways, with Ralph in costume as Elongated Man dying at one point.
Nora tries entering into the Speed Force to find her dad and get his help, but she can't do it for some reason. She also can't go back to before Barry entered the Speed Force.
After 52 attempts, everyone figures out that Nora is reversing time.
Ralph says this may be one of the fixed points that The Legends theorized and that there's no way to alter things so that nobody dies.
Cisco tells Nora about how he once died in an alternate timeline in 115.
Nora has seen both Breakin' movies.
Team Flash finally breaks the chain by having Iris lure Cicada to the roof. He throws the dagger as he sees XS approaching, at which point Vibe, Elongated Man and Killer Frost arrive. Vibe creates two portals as Elongated Man stretches his arm and Killer Frost ice blasts toward Cicada. The dagger almost hits Ralph, but it goes backward as Nora reverses time. She uses Elongated Man's arm as a dragline and runs through Killer Frost's blast, which slows her down enough to steer her way throubh one Vibe portal and out the other. This lets Nora push Cicada into the path of his own dagger. He is still somehow able to super-jump away.
This time, when Cisco goes on the date, he is himself, doesn't lie, is honest about being a tech guy more than a scientist but the passion with which he speaks about helping people with his new project hooks Kamilla's interest instantly. He also calls their orders ahead and says he just had a feeling about what Kamilla would like. This time the baristas speak of him with approval, saying he's not like most of the men in the city. This time, Cisco asks for a do-over and Kamilla agrees.
Barry is stunned when Nora tells him about how she traveled in time 53 times trying to fix the situation. He gives her the same speech Jay Garrick did in 302 using a broken coffee cup as a metaphor for time. He also tells her that no one can account for how things can be changed by a trip through time. This stuns Nora, who seems to have been told differently.
Sherloque is seen working on translating the time-code again
Nora goes back to 2049 and asks Thawne is he is sure he knows what he is doing. He angrily insists he is the only speedster who knows what they are doing before assuring Nora that if she follows his instructions, they can defeat Cicada, destroy his dagger and save her father.
Location
Iron Heights Prison - 2049
The Bottom Line
A decent enough filler episode, though Cisco's attempts at playing someone else to impress his date reek of the Idiot Ball and don't jibe with Cisco's usual empowered nerdiness. Still, the effects work is great though Legends of Tomorrow really did this storyline better twice with Here I Go Again and Legends of To-Meow-Meow.
Plot
After Iris is endangered by Cicada, Nora starts using time-travel to try and save the day, only to progressively make the situation even worse. Meanwhile, with the metahuman cure nearly complete, Cisco takes a night off for a date with his new friend, the bartender Kamilla.
Influences
The movies Groundhog Day (the character keeps relieving the same day over and over trying to find a way to break the loop) and Run, Lola, Run (a woman running to save her boyfriend causes slight variations in the chain of events as we see the same sequence play out multiple times)
Goofs
If Ralph was at his office when Cicada attacked Iris the first time, why wasn't he the first one there when Iris' panic alarm was activated?
Really, how many more times is the team going to take down Cicada and then just stand there as he gets away? Just dog-pile him and put the meta-blockers on him!
Honestly, the most unforgivable aspect of this episode is they didn't go with the much better title of Run, Nora, Run.
Artistry
The effects work and transitions as Nora runs back in time is rather nice.
Flash Facts
Nora attempts to change the past 52 times. This is yet another repeated use of the number 52, which, as has been noted before, is a number of some significance in the DC Comics Universe.
Cisco says that he doesn't have to dress like Ozone to impress Kamilla. This is a reference to the movie Breakin'.
Technobabble
The metahuman cure requires one month to fully synthesize.
Sherloque suggests the Speed Force might be used to enhance the synthesis process. All compounds are formed by a catalyst and the most efficient catalyst for a compound that negates dark matter is super-luminal particles like tachyons. Since the densest tachyons in existence lie inside The Speed Force, a trip with the metahuman cure through the heart of the Speed Force should prepare it in the span of an hour.
Cicada's dagger is revealed to allow him to detect nearby metahumans. This allows him to find Ralph in the office across the hall from Iris' office, when Cicada goes looking for Iris and she isn't there.
When Cisco is lying about what kind of workouts he indulges in, he mentions pilates for the core, plyometrics for the quads and circuit training along with finger push-ups.
Dialogue Triumphs
(Nora, having just traveled back in time, runs into Ralph, who asks if Cisco has left for his date yet.)
Nora: I don't think so.
Ralph: Great! I get another chance at this.
(Ralph walks into the main lab. Nora looks into the room and sees everyone else, realizing where.. and when... she is.)
Nora: ... we do.
(On the third time through the loop.)
Barista 1: One Zoom and one decaf Flash.
Kamilla: Thank you.
(Cisco is about to reach for one of the cups then stops himself.)
Cisco: Something's wrong.
(Barista 1 gives him the side-eye.)
Cisco: And I think I have to go.
Kamilla: Right now?
Cisco: No. (pointing to his phone on the table) Right... now.
(The trouble alert on Cisco's phone goes off.)
Cisco: (sadly) Yep. Gotta go. (getting up) Umm - I'd ask if we could have a do-over, but, um, something tells me we already have.
(Cisco exits, leaving a stunned Kamilla behind, stammering in shock.)
Barista 1: The men in this city.
Barista 2: Tell me about it.
Cisco: Nora, sometimes we fail because all we worry about is not failing.
Dialogue Disasters
Cicada: You said you were going to beat me, but tonight... (growling) I'm going to beat you. All of you.
Continuity
Cisco has started looking at Kamilla's photos on-line in anticipation of their date. He worries she might be too good for him.
Nora refers to Barry having to stay in the Pipeline for 24 houirs in 510 and Iris' encounter with Cicada in 513 to persuade Barry not to go into the Speed Force alone right now.
Ralph has written a companion book to The Book of Ralph from 502 called The Book Of Love. It follows up his 27-step plan for getting over a bad-breakup with a blueprint for approaching a first date. The book includes chapters on Initial Planning (Chapter One), Knowing Your Terrain (Chapter Six) and Intelligence and Reconnaissance (Chapter Thirteen). This last step involves looking at her public profile on social media and determining what kind of men she has been interested in in the past.
Caitlin and Sherloque excuse themselves to finish working on the injection device for the metahuman cure.
Iris goes back to her office to work on a story.
At 8:27 PM, Iris is knocked out by Cicada.
There is a drink called The Cicada at C.C. Jitters.
Based on a picture of Kamilla with some guy in a suit and slicked-back hair, Cisco shows up for the date in a suit with slicked back hair.
Cisco tries to play the suave businessman but only comes off as a conceited prick who profits off of other people's work after Kamilla asks why he wears a business suit in the lab (remembering his using science terms when they first met in 512) and he lies about working for Ramon Industries.
Kamilla's drink of choice is a Decaf Flash.
Cisco's drink of choice is the Zoom.
When Cisco gets Iris' alarm warning, he asks Kamilla for a raincheck. She doesn't even say goodbye as she leaves.
Iris' alarm sounds at 8:52 PM.
Cicada throws his dagger in a long arc and commands it to hit Killer Frost in the back when it comes back to him, having seen XS and Killer Frost coming.
Nora runs back in time to just as Ralph was arriving at STAR Labs with The Book of Love.
Sherloque seems to recognize something is wrong when Nora comes back the second time.
Nora persuades Iris to stay at STAR Labs on her second time around.
This time, without Nora in the lab to watch Cisco as he is looking through Ralph's photos of Kamilla, this time he sees one of her being lifted up by a large, sporty-looking fellow.
Cicada goes to Iris' office but she isn't there. This leads to him sensing Ralph, who is across the hall in his detective agency, and Cicada knocking Ralph out. This time, he recognizes Ralph as Elongated Man but otherwise gives the same speech about beating all of Team Flash tonight.
The second time, Cisco shows up for his date in a t-shirt and ball-cap. He tries to play the part of a gym rat, but Kamilla said she thought he was the kind of guy more concerned with flexing his mental muscles than his physical ones.
This second time, Cisco touches Kamilla's hand as they reach for the same drink instead of being stopped by the barista. He vibes the baristas making derisive comments about his not knowing a decaf from his own drink by looking and how the men in Central City are idiots.
Once again, Kamilla leaves when Cisco asks for a do-over date, without saying a word.
The second time, Raph shouts a warning about Cicada's dagger and Nora moves Killer Frost out of the way, only for Ralph to be stabbed by Cicada's dagger.
The third time, Sherloque definitely seems to think something is up with Nora but says nothing.
Nora convinces Iris to stay and write her article at STAR Labs and convinces Ralph to stay and try some of the brownies she has in the lounge.
Nora encourages Cisco to look at Ralph's collection of pictures of Kamilla. This time, when he handles them, he vibes Kamilla saying that she thought he was a man who flexes his brain rather than his muscles from the second time Nora time-traveled.
Sherloque also seems to notice Cisco's odd reaction, which Cisco describes as deja vu.
It is 8:07 PM when Cisco leaves for his date the third time.
The third time, Sherloque goes to Iris' office and is ambushed by Cicada at 8:27 PM.
The third time, Cisco shows up for his date looking like a male model and claiming to be a social media influencer. He gives Kamilla a business card. This time, when he touches her hand, he vibes her saying that the last time they spoke he was talking about genomes and DNA so she assumed he was a scientist.
The third time, Kamilla orders their drinks instead of Cisco.
This time, Nora goes in to face Cicada alone, not taking Caitlin with her. Unfortunately, being Cisco left his date earlier, he gets there just in time to get stabbed in the back by Cicada before Nora gets there.
The fourth time, Nora takes everyone into the lounge and tells them they have to stay there for one hour.
The fourth time, Cisco vibes Ralph showing him the photos he took from Kamilla's profile and the details from his previous dates about what kind of man she thought Cisco was.
The fourth time, Cicada breaks into Iris' office and finds a picture of Iris with Joe and Cecile.
The fourth time, Cisco texts Kamilla and says he won't be able to make their date because of a problem at work.
The fourth time, Cicada takes Cecile Horton hostage and she is stabbed with the dagger before Nora arrives.
This leads into a rapid fire montage where everyone dies again, several times, in different ways, with Ralph in costume as Elongated Man dying at one point.
Nora tries entering into the Speed Force to find her dad and get his help, but she can't do it for some reason. She also can't go back to before Barry entered the Speed Force.
After 52 attempts, everyone figures out that Nora is reversing time.
Ralph says this may be one of the fixed points that The Legends theorized and that there's no way to alter things so that nobody dies.
Cisco tells Nora about how he once died in an alternate timeline in 115.
Nora has seen both Breakin' movies.
Team Flash finally breaks the chain by having Iris lure Cicada to the roof. He throws the dagger as he sees XS approaching, at which point Vibe, Elongated Man and Killer Frost arrive. Vibe creates two portals as Elongated Man stretches his arm and Killer Frost ice blasts toward Cicada. The dagger almost hits Ralph, but it goes backward as Nora reverses time. She uses Elongated Man's arm as a dragline and runs through Killer Frost's blast, which slows her down enough to steer her way throubh one Vibe portal and out the other. This lets Nora push Cicada into the path of his own dagger. He is still somehow able to super-jump away.
This time, when Cisco goes on the date, he is himself, doesn't lie, is honest about being a tech guy more than a scientist but the passion with which he speaks about helping people with his new project hooks Kamilla's interest instantly. He also calls their orders ahead and says he just had a feeling about what Kamilla would like. This time the baristas speak of him with approval, saying he's not like most of the men in the city. This time, Cisco asks for a do-over and Kamilla agrees.
Barry is stunned when Nora tells him about how she traveled in time 53 times trying to fix the situation. He gives her the same speech Jay Garrick did in 302 using a broken coffee cup as a metaphor for time. He also tells her that no one can account for how things can be changed by a trip through time. This stuns Nora, who seems to have been told differently.
Sherloque is seen working on translating the time-code again
Nora goes back to 2049 and asks Thawne is he is sure he knows what he is doing. He angrily insists he is the only speedster who knows what they are doing before assuring Nora that if she follows his instructions, they can defeat Cicada, destroy his dagger and save her father.
Location
Iron Heights Prison - 2049
The Bottom Line
A decent enough filler episode, though Cisco's attempts at playing someone else to impress his date reek of the Idiot Ball and don't jibe with Cisco's usual empowered nerdiness. Still, the effects work is great though Legends of Tomorrow really did this storyline better twice with Here I Go Again and Legends of To-Meow-Meow.
Black Lightning Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 13 - The Book of Secrets: Chapter Three: Pillar of Fire
For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.
Plot
Lynn begins working on the Green Light Babies in a new secure location, as Jennifer begins plotting her revenge on Tobias Whale. Meanwhile, Anissa makes a startling discovery about her girlfriend, Grace Choi, and Jefferson receives some interesting news regarding the possibility of his becoming Principal again.
Influences
Batman and the Outsiders (character of Shakedown) and Judd Winick's Outsiders (Grace Choi's background as a child sex slave.)
Performances
Again, this is China Anne McClain's show to steal.
Artistry
The direction and pacing of the story by Robert Townsend is top-notch.
Trivia
The episode title - Pillar of Fire - is a Biblical reference to one of the forms taken by God to be a guiding light to the Children of Israel.
The first of the super soldiers Tobias wakes up is a man named Marcus Bishop aka Shakedown, who it is said can control and emit vibrations. In the original Batman and the Outsiders comics, Marcus Bishop had the same code name and powers and was part of the mercenary group known as The Masters of Disaster.
Rather than just generating earthquakes, this version of Shakedown is able to use his powers in a manner similar to Count Vertigo, causing intense pain in people's heads.
This episode reveals that Grace Choi was the victim of human trafficking and sold into a prostitution ring when she was 16. In the original Outsiders series, Grace was kidnapped and sold into sex slavery at a much younger age, escaping when her powers manifested at puberty. Her father's identity was never confirmed, but her mother was revealed to be a part of the Bana Amazons who exiled themselves from Themyscira.
Technobabble
The power grid of Gambi's sanctum is built to withstand the electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear explosion, yet Jennifer is able to short it out while outputting half of her total power.
Gambi has a Geiger counter built into his watch. He uses it to determine that the pods kept in the secret room of the clinic were slightly radioactive and left behind a residue.
The super-soldiers are awoken by use of a special serum and controlled through an implant in their heads that corresponds to a watch worn by their handler.
Lynn says that she's discovered a way to jump-start the neurotransmitters in the pod kids' brains, speeding up their recovery and reviving them permanently.The treatment involves using a derivative of Looker's silver element, which can supercharge deteriorating nerve cells in metahumans.
Dr. Jace says she has some new theories on how to tackle the pod kids' cellular matrix deficiencies.
The drug Grace was taking is a custom compound in a mega dose of a medication used to treat schizophrenia.
Dialogue Triumphs
(Jennifer has just shorted out the computers in Gambi's sanctum while testing her powers in a sound-proof shield-zone.)
Jefferson: So my hot-headed 16-year-old daughter is a walking nuclear bomb?
Gambi: Not nuclear, Jeff, but like Perenna said, she is powerful. Extremely powerful.
Jefferson: After all she's been through... I'm not sure she's stable enough to keep her abilities in check.
Jennifer: Dad?
Jefferson: (walking over to the microphone) Yeah?
Jennifer: You know Anissa taught me how to read lips, right?
(Jefferson's face drops.)
Jennifer: (sarcastic) So thanks for your vote of confidence. I appreciate it.
(Tobias inspects the tech used to manage the super soldiers.)
Tobias: I'll give those evil child-snatchin' bastards one thing. They've got great taste in watches.
Tavon: You know, it's not right what Lowry's doing. Garfield is your school. All he cares about is making rules and making himself look better in front of his bosses, and that's not right. I mean, all the students think so. The teachers, too.
Jefferson: Okay, look, Tavon, I was the one who wasn't here for Garfield when it needed me most. Not Lowry.
(Tavon nods and starts to walk away but then turns around.)
Tavon: You always say that Garfield is a place for second chances. Where's your second chance, Principal Pierce?
(Jefferson stands there, stunned and gratified.)
Napier: (from behind Jefferson) If you wanna bask in this "Lean on Me" moment a little longer, I can come back a little later.
Anissa: I know you're frustrated-
Jennifer: Please. Don't do that. I already know what you'll say. You'll side with Dad and say I need to be responsible.
Anissa: Hell no!
(Jennifer is surprised.)
Anissa: Look, Tobias has to go. But what I do agree with Dad is, is that Tobias is dangerous. And we can't be running around half-cocked with no plan. We cannot take Tobias down if he kills us first. Jennifer: Wait, did you just say "we"?
Anissa: You thought I'd let you go out there alone?
Continuity
50% of Jennifer's power out-put is more energy than Jefferson was able to handle in his prime as Black Lightning.
Anissa taught Jennifer how to read lips.
Agent Odell offers Lynn a lab at Bowman College and a $1 million grant in exchange for her help in moving the Green Light Babies. Lynn refuses until she is given straight answers about what the ASA is up to.
Agent Odell tells Lynn about Markovia's metahuman weapons program and how the instability of the metahumans they created resulted in them being put in stasis. With Lynn close to stabilizing the Green Light Babies, Lynn has become a target of the Markovian government, which could use her research to make their army viable in the long-term.
Lynn agrees to help move the pod kids on the condition that Dr. Jace be kept away from her.
Anissa searches Grace's abandoned apartment and finds a photo of her with a couple she assumes are Grace's parents. She also finds one of Grace's pills. She eventually asks Gambi for help analyzing the drugs.
Henderson and Gambi investigate the hidden room in the free clinic. Gambi is unable to say if the four large objects removed from it are a different design of suspension pod, but he does confirm they are radioactive but only in the degree to be a power source - not a weapon.
Dr. Jace gives Tobias a syringe full of a serum that awakens the soldier-metahumans and several of the watches that control them.
The first soldier Tobias awakens is a man named Marcus Bishop who was called Shakedown who has vibration control and emission powers. His powers are such that he can overpower Cutter's telekinesis and he is able to match her in pure hand-to-hand fighting.
Jefferson is apparently teaching English Literature now.
Dr. Napier Frank, last seen in 201, shows up to tell Jefferson that he thinks he can get Jefferson reinstated as Principal after the footage of Lowry's racist response to a student protest in 212 was posted on-line by students and went viral.
Tobias and Cutter have entered into a sexual relationship.
Lynn is using a derivative of Looker's silver "element" to treat the pod kids. Looker was last seen in 207.
Gambi is making a supersuit for Jennifer.
Tobias offers to make Shakedown a partner in his organization rather than a puppet.
Jennifer crashes at Anissa's house for a few days just to get away from her parents' home for a bit.
Anissa agrees to help Jennifer get revenge on Tobias, but says they have to come up with a solid plan of attack first
Lynn wants to take Wendy Hernandez (last seen in 202) and move her into the isolation wing of the hospital.
Jennifer attacks some of Tobias' men at Club 100 trying to find where he is.
Gambi discovers that Grace Choi's real name is Shay Li Wylde and that she was a foster child until she was abducted and forced into prostitution at the age of 16, where she was until she was freed by ICE. She disappeared until she emerged in Freeland as Grace Choi.
Jefferson advises the school-board to let Lowry keep his job and be given more time to implement his program.
Grace is apparently schizophrenic.
Anissa saves Jennifer after she goes after one of Tobias' runners at the Seahorse Motel.
Shakedown and Cutter try to take over the ASA lab where the Green Light Babies are.
Dr. Jace acts to seal the base when she sees Cutter and Shakedown on the security camera.
Shakedown recognizes Dr. Jace.
Dr. Jace has one of the watches that lets her control the four super soldiers.
Dr. Jace agrees to help Cutter and Shakedown collect the rest of the Green Light Babies.
Dr. Napier tells Jefferson not to expect any more favors from here after he wasted all the capital he had on a chance for Jefferson to get his job back, only for Jefferson to speak in favor of Lowry.
All of the Green Light Babies except Wendy Hernandez are abducted by the time Black Lightning and Thunder get to the ASA base.
Perrena says that Jennifer is full of anger and she may literally explode if she doesn't find a way to cleanse herself of it.
Dr. Jace says she can get the Green Light Babies fully healed in two weeks to a month.
Todd Green is given a new car (which explodes) now that the's outlived his usefulness, with the Proctor Briefcase hacked and Dr. Jace now overseeing all the Metahuman Pods for Tobias.
The Fridge Factor
Grace's entire background is based around rape and trauma, with the added bonus of it being used to give Anissa angst.
The Winick Factor
Grace was one of Judd Winick's pet characters who was entirely defined by a laundry list of traits (Chinese, ex-child sex slave, lesbian) rather than an actual personality. Thankfully, the show has taken steps to mitigate this, but it is still saddening they went back to her shock-based origin story.
The Bottom Line
A well-directed, well-acted episode which managed to get all of its subplots moving along a little bit. A fine episode to end with before going into a three week break.
Plot
Lynn begins working on the Green Light Babies in a new secure location, as Jennifer begins plotting her revenge on Tobias Whale. Meanwhile, Anissa makes a startling discovery about her girlfriend, Grace Choi, and Jefferson receives some interesting news regarding the possibility of his becoming Principal again.
Influences
Batman and the Outsiders (character of Shakedown) and Judd Winick's Outsiders (Grace Choi's background as a child sex slave.)
Performances
Again, this is China Anne McClain's show to steal.
Artistry
The direction and pacing of the story by Robert Townsend is top-notch.
Trivia
The episode title - Pillar of Fire - is a Biblical reference to one of the forms taken by God to be a guiding light to the Children of Israel.
The first of the super soldiers Tobias wakes up is a man named Marcus Bishop aka Shakedown, who it is said can control and emit vibrations. In the original Batman and the Outsiders comics, Marcus Bishop had the same code name and powers and was part of the mercenary group known as The Masters of Disaster.
Rather than just generating earthquakes, this version of Shakedown is able to use his powers in a manner similar to Count Vertigo, causing intense pain in people's heads.
This episode reveals that Grace Choi was the victim of human trafficking and sold into a prostitution ring when she was 16. In the original Outsiders series, Grace was kidnapped and sold into sex slavery at a much younger age, escaping when her powers manifested at puberty. Her father's identity was never confirmed, but her mother was revealed to be a part of the Bana Amazons who exiled themselves from Themyscira.
Technobabble
The power grid of Gambi's sanctum is built to withstand the electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear explosion, yet Jennifer is able to short it out while outputting half of her total power.
Gambi has a Geiger counter built into his watch. He uses it to determine that the pods kept in the secret room of the clinic were slightly radioactive and left behind a residue.
The super-soldiers are awoken by use of a special serum and controlled through an implant in their heads that corresponds to a watch worn by their handler.
Lynn says that she's discovered a way to jump-start the neurotransmitters in the pod kids' brains, speeding up their recovery and reviving them permanently.The treatment involves using a derivative of Looker's silver element, which can supercharge deteriorating nerve cells in metahumans.
Dr. Jace says she has some new theories on how to tackle the pod kids' cellular matrix deficiencies.
The drug Grace was taking is a custom compound in a mega dose of a medication used to treat schizophrenia.
Dialogue Triumphs
(Jennifer has just shorted out the computers in Gambi's sanctum while testing her powers in a sound-proof shield-zone.)
Jefferson: So my hot-headed 16-year-old daughter is a walking nuclear bomb?
Gambi: Not nuclear, Jeff, but like Perenna said, she is powerful. Extremely powerful.
Jefferson: After all she's been through... I'm not sure she's stable enough to keep her abilities in check.
Jennifer: Dad?
Jefferson: (walking over to the microphone) Yeah?
Jennifer: You know Anissa taught me how to read lips, right?
(Jefferson's face drops.)
Jennifer: (sarcastic) So thanks for your vote of confidence. I appreciate it.
(Tobias inspects the tech used to manage the super soldiers.)
Tobias: I'll give those evil child-snatchin' bastards one thing. They've got great taste in watches.
Tavon: You know, it's not right what Lowry's doing. Garfield is your school. All he cares about is making rules and making himself look better in front of his bosses, and that's not right. I mean, all the students think so. The teachers, too.
Jefferson: Okay, look, Tavon, I was the one who wasn't here for Garfield when it needed me most. Not Lowry.
(Tavon nods and starts to walk away but then turns around.)
Tavon: You always say that Garfield is a place for second chances. Where's your second chance, Principal Pierce?
(Jefferson stands there, stunned and gratified.)
Napier: (from behind Jefferson) If you wanna bask in this "Lean on Me" moment a little longer, I can come back a little later.
Anissa: I know you're frustrated-
Jennifer: Please. Don't do that. I already know what you'll say. You'll side with Dad and say I need to be responsible.
Anissa: Hell no!
(Jennifer is surprised.)
Anissa: Look, Tobias has to go. But what I do agree with Dad is, is that Tobias is dangerous. And we can't be running around half-cocked with no plan. We cannot take Tobias down if he kills us first. Jennifer: Wait, did you just say "we"?
Anissa: You thought I'd let you go out there alone?
Continuity
50% of Jennifer's power out-put is more energy than Jefferson was able to handle in his prime as Black Lightning.
Anissa taught Jennifer how to read lips.
Agent Odell offers Lynn a lab at Bowman College and a $1 million grant in exchange for her help in moving the Green Light Babies. Lynn refuses until she is given straight answers about what the ASA is up to.
Agent Odell tells Lynn about Markovia's metahuman weapons program and how the instability of the metahumans they created resulted in them being put in stasis. With Lynn close to stabilizing the Green Light Babies, Lynn has become a target of the Markovian government, which could use her research to make their army viable in the long-term.
Lynn agrees to help move the pod kids on the condition that Dr. Jace be kept away from her.
Anissa searches Grace's abandoned apartment and finds a photo of her with a couple she assumes are Grace's parents. She also finds one of Grace's pills. She eventually asks Gambi for help analyzing the drugs.
Henderson and Gambi investigate the hidden room in the free clinic. Gambi is unable to say if the four large objects removed from it are a different design of suspension pod, but he does confirm they are radioactive but only in the degree to be a power source - not a weapon.
Dr. Jace gives Tobias a syringe full of a serum that awakens the soldier-metahumans and several of the watches that control them.
The first soldier Tobias awakens is a man named Marcus Bishop who was called Shakedown who has vibration control and emission powers. His powers are such that he can overpower Cutter's telekinesis and he is able to match her in pure hand-to-hand fighting.
Jefferson is apparently teaching English Literature now.
Dr. Napier Frank, last seen in 201, shows up to tell Jefferson that he thinks he can get Jefferson reinstated as Principal after the footage of Lowry's racist response to a student protest in 212 was posted on-line by students and went viral.
Tobias and Cutter have entered into a sexual relationship.
Lynn is using a derivative of Looker's silver "element" to treat the pod kids. Looker was last seen in 207.
Gambi is making a supersuit for Jennifer.
Tobias offers to make Shakedown a partner in his organization rather than a puppet.
Jennifer crashes at Anissa's house for a few days just to get away from her parents' home for a bit.
Anissa agrees to help Jennifer get revenge on Tobias, but says they have to come up with a solid plan of attack first
Lynn wants to take Wendy Hernandez (last seen in 202) and move her into the isolation wing of the hospital.
Jennifer attacks some of Tobias' men at Club 100 trying to find where he is.
Gambi discovers that Grace Choi's real name is Shay Li Wylde and that she was a foster child until she was abducted and forced into prostitution at the age of 16, where she was until she was freed by ICE. She disappeared until she emerged in Freeland as Grace Choi.
Jefferson advises the school-board to let Lowry keep his job and be given more time to implement his program.
Grace is apparently schizophrenic.
Anissa saves Jennifer after she goes after one of Tobias' runners at the Seahorse Motel.
Shakedown and Cutter try to take over the ASA lab where the Green Light Babies are.
Dr. Jace acts to seal the base when she sees Cutter and Shakedown on the security camera.
Shakedown recognizes Dr. Jace.
Dr. Jace has one of the watches that lets her control the four super soldiers.
Dr. Jace agrees to help Cutter and Shakedown collect the rest of the Green Light Babies.
Dr. Napier tells Jefferson not to expect any more favors from here after he wasted all the capital he had on a chance for Jefferson to get his job back, only for Jefferson to speak in favor of Lowry.
All of the Green Light Babies except Wendy Hernandez are abducted by the time Black Lightning and Thunder get to the ASA base.
Perrena says that Jennifer is full of anger and she may literally explode if she doesn't find a way to cleanse herself of it.
Dr. Jace says she can get the Green Light Babies fully healed in two weeks to a month.
Todd Green is given a new car (which explodes) now that the's outlived his usefulness, with the Proctor Briefcase hacked and Dr. Jace now overseeing all the Metahuman Pods for Tobias.
The Fridge Factor
Grace's entire background is based around rape and trauma, with the added bonus of it being used to give Anissa angst.
The Winick Factor
Grace was one of Judd Winick's pet characters who was entirely defined by a laundry list of traits (Chinese, ex-child sex slave, lesbian) rather than an actual personality. Thankfully, the show has taken steps to mitigate this, but it is still saddening they went back to her shock-based origin story.
The Bottom Line
A well-directed, well-acted episode which managed to get all of its subplots moving along a little bit. A fine episode to end with before going into a three week break.
Starman Plays Batman: The Telltale Series - Part 5
In which we take a walk down Memory Lane (i.e. Crime Alley) and question Carmine Falcone about the effort to besmirch the Wayne family name before we find new ways to piss off the GCPD and try and make Vicki Vale like us.
Monday, February 11, 2019
Arrow Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 13 - Star City Slayer
For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.
Plot
Disappointed that William lied to him and Felicity, Oliver takes some time off from his Green Arrow duties to focus on his family. Luckily, the rest of Team Arrow is now sworn in as deputies and ready to deal with the new serial killer that is plaguing Star City... until it becomes apparent that the Star City Slayer is targeting them!
Influences
The Green Arrow comics of Kevin Smith (concept of Star City Slayer, Mia)
Goofs
Any drama to the Star City Slayer targeting Dinah is nullified by the fact that we know Dinah is alive 20 years in the future.
The Claytons say they should have filed for custody of William years ago. One wonders, in retrospect, why they didn't. As they say, Oliver is a convicted felon and that he is a professional superhero who was absent for most of William's life. Even though Samantha's dying wish was that Oliver take care of their son, there's no way to prove that in court and everything Samantha had done before then was aimed at limiting Oliver's influence on William. Throw in the multiple kidnappings and yeah - there's no way any judge in Star City would think twice about getting William out of Oliver's home.
Curtis' T-Sphere is much less conspicuous and likely to attract attention than the giant Maglite that Diggle is carrying when he tells Curtis not to use his T-Sphere.
Granting that Stanley Dover is insane, why hang onto his old prison jumpsuit?
Stanley Dover's miraculous drug completely paralyzes a person's muscles... except for the ones needed to talk.
Felicity says that it gets really cold in Central City in the winter. Given that Star City is based in the Arrowverse where Seattle should be, it should be pretty cold there in the winter too.
Performances
Juliana Harkavy steals the show in both timelines.
Artistry
The production team did a good job establishing a creepy mood with the Star City Slayer house. The lighting, music and set decoration are all fantastic, though the creepy stuffed monkey and music box were a bit much.
Trivia
The concept of The Star City Slayer was first utilized in Kevin Smith's story Green Arrow: Quiver. The name was given to a serial killer who was kidnapping children and murdering them. He was eventually unmasked as Oliver Queen's friend, Stanley Dover.
Curtis says that the phone number Diaz called trying to reach Dante was traced to a line in Egypt belonging to one of Dante's contacts who is named Virgil. In the Green Arrow comics, Virgil was a member of the Ninth Circle and one of Dante's chief lieutenants. In the Divine Comedy, the Roman poet Virgil acts as Dante's guide to Hell.
When talking on the phone with Dinah about her difficulties in coping with her job now that her status as a metahuman has been outed, Captain Singh refers to a case Dinah handled as an undercover cop where she brought down the Bludhaven-based organization of a gangster called Blockbuster single-handed. Blockbuster was the codename of Roland Desmond - a gangster who ran the criminal underworld of the city of Bludhaven and was the arch-enemy of Nightwing.
Felicity makes reference to Oliver making his famous chili. In the comics, Oliver Queen is indeed renowned for his chill cooking skills,. Ollie's preferred recipe is said to be so spicy it can break Hal Jordan's concentration, burn Superman's tongue, dehydrate Aquaman instantly and allow The Flash to resist the effects of Leonard Snart's cold gun. The only people who can safely eat it besides Oliver himself are Black Canary and Batman. His recipe can be found here.
Technobabble
The Star City Slayer is tied to eight murders in Central City through the angle of entry in all of the victim's wounds.
Curtis says that all of the Star City Slayer's victims had elevated levels of magnesium in their blood. This wouldn't be a red-flag on its own, but high levels of magnesium in the blood coupled with a decreased red-blood cell count indicates the presence of a drug called Mivacurium - a neuromusclar blocking agent that could be used to paralyze someone, which wouldn't show up on a standard toxicology scan due to its rarity.
Curtis has been working on a new mini-infrared laser that proves capable of cauterizing Dinah's throat wound.
Dialogue Triumphs
Dinah: It was one thing when all the people in our inner circle knew about my secret identity, but now everybody knows. The cops at SCPD. Everybody. I dunno - maybe I'm just worried people are gonna treat me differently now that the secret's out?
Curtis: Look at us. Working together again. Being targeted by a homicidal maniac. Feels like a Monday.
(Blackstar claims Felicity is still alive.)
Zoe: Don't listen to her! She's a liar! She'll say anything-
(Blackstar slaps Zoe.)
William: You didn't need to do that.
Blackstar: No, but I enjoyed it.
William: Come on! Don't give me a reason to pull this trigger.
(Blackstar shoves Dinah away.)
Blackstar: You're not gonna shoot me.
(Blackstar drops her knife.)
William: You sure about that?
Blackstar: Yeah. Because my name is Mia Smoak. I'm Felicity's daughter. And your sister.
Continuity
The Star City Slayer develops film the old-fashioned way and uses a type-writer to make his threatening notes.
Dinah finds a letter on her desk at work which says "I SAID I'D KILL YOU ALL. NOW YOUR TIME HAS COME."
Diggle finds a note in his mailbox which says "YOU WILL SUFFER."
Rene Ramirez finds a note taped to his door which says "I CAN FIND YOU ANYWHERE."
A newspaper headline on the Star City Slayer's murder-board confirms that Dinah's secret identity as Black Canary has been revealed to the public.
William was expelled for fighting with another student. He says he won and went for the nose, like Ollie taught him over a year ago. He refuses to discuss the matter further.
Diggle had a DNA rest run n the note that was left in his mailbox.
Curtis says that the phone number Diaz called trying to reach Dante was traced to a line in Egypt belonging to one of Dante's contacts who is named Virgil.
Curtis tells John he was offered a job with the Kohler Humanitarian Institute in Washington DC, creating technology that could help people on a global scale and that he intends to take it.
Dinah has begun teaching Zoe martial arts. She's thrilled to be learning how to "kick ass" from the Black Canary.
Rene shows Dinah the threat he got. She tells him about her threats and the one Black Siren got in 711.
The Star City Slayer kills former Star City Councilman Kullens after injecting him with a paralyzing drug. Kullens was last seen in 618. Apparently Kullens was forced from office and imprisoned after being revealed to be taking bribes from Ricardo Diaz, but his lawyer was able to get him released.
Kullens received a note which read "DO YOU THINK YOU"RE SAFE NOW? YOU'RE NOT."
Oliver asks if the two victims from the murders referred to in 712 might be connected to Kullen's murder. Dinah says those victims also had their throats slit and, after further questioning, their families revealed that they had gotten threatening notes as well.
Black Siren is said to be at a conference in Washington D.C. this week.
Oliver says that nobody on Team Arrow knew the first two victims.
Dinah says she encountered a similar serial killer when she was working undercover in Central City.
John offers Curtis a job as the head of ARGUS' science and technology division. He would be in charge of shaping the future of ARGUS and making all the decisions, just like he wanted.
Captain Singh from The Flash makes reference to some new metahuman villain sending most of his officers to the hospital before The Flash and his friends saved the day. This could be a reference to a future episode of The Flash.
Felicity reveals her favorite Rubik's cube pattern - a cube within a cube - to William. This was referred to in the flash-fowards in 704.
Oliver tells William that he'd like for him to live with him and Felicity.
Mr. and Mrs. Clayton - William's grandparents - show up because he called them. They tell Oliver that they intend to file a suit for guardianship.
William says he wants to live with his grandparents because he has no chance at a normal life with Oliver and Felicity.
The Star City Slayer committed 8 similar murders over the course of 2 months in Central City.
Curtis determines that the Star City Slayer is using a drug called Mivacurium to drug his victims. It is a rare neuromusclar blocking agent that doesn't show up in toxicology screenings. It is so rare that only one shipment of it has been sent out within the past month in Star City. It was sent to a condemned house in The Glades to a man named John Doe.
Diggle finds bloody hand prints in one bathroom in the condemned house.
Curtis finds a Slabside Penitentiary jumpsuit hanging in the closet in the condemned house.
Dinah finds the murder board with her pictures on it, as well as the Star City Slayer's typewriter and two new notes. One says "DEATH IS COMING FOR YOU AND ALL THOSE YOU HOLD DEAR." The second one says "YOUR FUTURE IS IN THE HANDS OF A VENGEFUL PAST." She also finds a scrap book of recent news articles about Oliver.
The Star City Slayer is revealed to be Stanley Dover, last seen in 707.
Dinah's throat is cut by Stanley Dover.
Curtis is able to treat Dinah's wound with a laser built into his T-Sphere.
William thinks Oliver's chili is too spicy.
Stanley Dover pumps a paralytic gas into Oliver and Felicity's apartment while the power is out.
Stanley says that his father was a doctor and that he gave Stanley a lot of the same drug he now uses to paralyze people when he was bad.
Stanley says there are other people who are trying to hurt Oliver and that he did things to make sure they couldn't, like former Councilman Kullens.
Stanley Dover says his older brother tried to take his punishments to protect him but that only made things worse.
Stanley finally drugged his parents and "corrected them" when he couldn't take it anymore. When Stanely's brother found out what he did, he said he belonged in Arkham Asylum. Stanley "corrected" him too.
Before Oliver, Stanley fixated on at least three other older brother figures and began killing the people around them who he felt were getting in the way of their relationship.
Curtis decides to take the job in Washington DC rather than stay with ARGUS.
Curtis signs over his half of Helix to Felicity, making her the sole owner of their company.
Oliver agrees with William that he never really asked him what he wanted and asks what he wants now. William says he wants a normal life. Oliver says he is pretty sure he can't ever give that to William.
William moves to Central City to live with his grandparents.
Oliver says that he will come visit whenever it's cool with William and his grandparents and William will always have a home in Star City if he needs it.
Felicity gets a call from Dr. Schwarz with the news that she is pregnant.
Zoe is unable to find the bombs with The Archer Program.
Roy spent the last few days trying to find Blackstar, but he says she's very good at being a ghost.
William says the problem with finding the bombs isn't his algorithm - it's the fact that The Archer Program was designed to monitor The Glades. Star City is 10 times larger and has half the technological infrastructure of the Glades in 2038.
William guesses that the bombs haven't been planted yet and they must be somewhere off the grid. This leads Roy to guess that they are in the old Team Arrow Bunker.
Blackstar is able to take William, Zoe, Roy and Dinah down with knock-out darts.
Blackstar threatens to kill Zoe if William doesn't give her the codes to hack into Archer.
Blackstar once again denies having anything to do with the bombing plot or killing Felicity.
Dinah recognizes Connor Hawke as John Diggle's son.
Blackstar says that Felicity isn't dead. She claims to just know this and says she needs the Archer codes to find where Felicity is hiding. She says that she and Felicity owe each other.
William tells Blackstar that he's gay and that Felicity was his stepmother. She had no idea that William was Oliver Queen's son.
Blackstar and Connor Hawke are able to hold their own in one-on-one fights with Dinah and Roy respectively.
Blackstar reveals that her name is Mia Smoak and that she is Felicity's daughter by Oliver Queen.
Location
Central City
Star City - 2038
Untelevised Adventures
Captain Singh makes reference to Blockbuster and his gang in Bludhaven trying to muscle into Central City and starting a turf war with the crime families and how Dinah's work prevented a city-wide bloodbath.
The Bottom Line
A mediocre episode for so many big events. Curtis is shuffled out of the show with far less drama and violence than expected. William is likewise sent out of the picture. Yet most fans are likely to feel more relief than sadness because Curtis has felt like a fifth wheel for a while and William's presence on the show, when he has been around, felt equally unnecessary.
The whole Star City Slayer subplot feels just as haphazardly handled. After all the build-up for Stanely Dover, this was a disappointing and hasty conclusion to say the least. For all the effort to build up the horror elements of this episode, they fall flat because we know Dinah is going to survive another two decades and the audience can easily guess the killer's identity long before he shows up. Frankly, the best thing to come out of this is the revelation that Ollie and Felicity have a daughter and that she is awesome.
Plot
Disappointed that William lied to him and Felicity, Oliver takes some time off from his Green Arrow duties to focus on his family. Luckily, the rest of Team Arrow is now sworn in as deputies and ready to deal with the new serial killer that is plaguing Star City... until it becomes apparent that the Star City Slayer is targeting them!
Influences
The Green Arrow comics of Kevin Smith (concept of Star City Slayer, Mia)
Goofs
Any drama to the Star City Slayer targeting Dinah is nullified by the fact that we know Dinah is alive 20 years in the future.
The Claytons say they should have filed for custody of William years ago. One wonders, in retrospect, why they didn't. As they say, Oliver is a convicted felon and that he is a professional superhero who was absent for most of William's life. Even though Samantha's dying wish was that Oliver take care of their son, there's no way to prove that in court and everything Samantha had done before then was aimed at limiting Oliver's influence on William. Throw in the multiple kidnappings and yeah - there's no way any judge in Star City would think twice about getting William out of Oliver's home.
Curtis' T-Sphere is much less conspicuous and likely to attract attention than the giant Maglite that Diggle is carrying when he tells Curtis not to use his T-Sphere.
Granting that Stanley Dover is insane, why hang onto his old prison jumpsuit?
Stanley Dover's miraculous drug completely paralyzes a person's muscles... except for the ones needed to talk.
Felicity says that it gets really cold in Central City in the winter. Given that Star City is based in the Arrowverse where Seattle should be, it should be pretty cold there in the winter too.
Performances
Juliana Harkavy steals the show in both timelines.
Artistry
The production team did a good job establishing a creepy mood with the Star City Slayer house. The lighting, music and set decoration are all fantastic, though the creepy stuffed monkey and music box were a bit much.
Trivia
The concept of The Star City Slayer was first utilized in Kevin Smith's story Green Arrow: Quiver. The name was given to a serial killer who was kidnapping children and murdering them. He was eventually unmasked as Oliver Queen's friend, Stanley Dover.
Curtis says that the phone number Diaz called trying to reach Dante was traced to a line in Egypt belonging to one of Dante's contacts who is named Virgil. In the Green Arrow comics, Virgil was a member of the Ninth Circle and one of Dante's chief lieutenants. In the Divine Comedy, the Roman poet Virgil acts as Dante's guide to Hell.
When talking on the phone with Dinah about her difficulties in coping with her job now that her status as a metahuman has been outed, Captain Singh refers to a case Dinah handled as an undercover cop where she brought down the Bludhaven-based organization of a gangster called Blockbuster single-handed. Blockbuster was the codename of Roland Desmond - a gangster who ran the criminal underworld of the city of Bludhaven and was the arch-enemy of Nightwing.
Felicity makes reference to Oliver making his famous chili. In the comics, Oliver Queen is indeed renowned for his chill cooking skills,. Ollie's preferred recipe is said to be so spicy it can break Hal Jordan's concentration, burn Superman's tongue, dehydrate Aquaman instantly and allow The Flash to resist the effects of Leonard Snart's cold gun. The only people who can safely eat it besides Oliver himself are Black Canary and Batman. His recipe can be found here.
Technobabble
The Star City Slayer is tied to eight murders in Central City through the angle of entry in all of the victim's wounds.
Curtis says that all of the Star City Slayer's victims had elevated levels of magnesium in their blood. This wouldn't be a red-flag on its own, but high levels of magnesium in the blood coupled with a decreased red-blood cell count indicates the presence of a drug called Mivacurium - a neuromusclar blocking agent that could be used to paralyze someone, which wouldn't show up on a standard toxicology scan due to its rarity.
Curtis has been working on a new mini-infrared laser that proves capable of cauterizing Dinah's throat wound.
Dialogue Triumphs
Dinah: It was one thing when all the people in our inner circle knew about my secret identity, but now everybody knows. The cops at SCPD. Everybody. I dunno - maybe I'm just worried people are gonna treat me differently now that the secret's out?
Curtis: Look at us. Working together again. Being targeted by a homicidal maniac. Feels like a Monday.
(Blackstar claims Felicity is still alive.)
Zoe: Don't listen to her! She's a liar! She'll say anything-
(Blackstar slaps Zoe.)
William: You didn't need to do that.
Blackstar: No, but I enjoyed it.
William: Come on! Don't give me a reason to pull this trigger.
(Blackstar shoves Dinah away.)
Blackstar: You're not gonna shoot me.
(Blackstar drops her knife.)
William: You sure about that?
Blackstar: Yeah. Because my name is Mia Smoak. I'm Felicity's daughter. And your sister.
Continuity
The Star City Slayer develops film the old-fashioned way and uses a type-writer to make his threatening notes.
Dinah finds a letter on her desk at work which says "I SAID I'D KILL YOU ALL. NOW YOUR TIME HAS COME."
Diggle finds a note in his mailbox which says "YOU WILL SUFFER."
Rene Ramirez finds a note taped to his door which says "I CAN FIND YOU ANYWHERE."
A newspaper headline on the Star City Slayer's murder-board confirms that Dinah's secret identity as Black Canary has been revealed to the public.
William was expelled for fighting with another student. He says he won and went for the nose, like Ollie taught him over a year ago. He refuses to discuss the matter further.
Diggle had a DNA rest run n the note that was left in his mailbox.
Curtis says that the phone number Diaz called trying to reach Dante was traced to a line in Egypt belonging to one of Dante's contacts who is named Virgil.
Curtis tells John he was offered a job with the Kohler Humanitarian Institute in Washington DC, creating technology that could help people on a global scale and that he intends to take it.
Dinah has begun teaching Zoe martial arts. She's thrilled to be learning how to "kick ass" from the Black Canary.
Rene shows Dinah the threat he got. She tells him about her threats and the one Black Siren got in 711.
The Star City Slayer kills former Star City Councilman Kullens after injecting him with a paralyzing drug. Kullens was last seen in 618. Apparently Kullens was forced from office and imprisoned after being revealed to be taking bribes from Ricardo Diaz, but his lawyer was able to get him released.
Kullens received a note which read "DO YOU THINK YOU"RE SAFE NOW? YOU'RE NOT."
Oliver asks if the two victims from the murders referred to in 712 might be connected to Kullen's murder. Dinah says those victims also had their throats slit and, after further questioning, their families revealed that they had gotten threatening notes as well.
Black Siren is said to be at a conference in Washington D.C. this week.
Oliver says that nobody on Team Arrow knew the first two victims.
Dinah says she encountered a similar serial killer when she was working undercover in Central City.
John offers Curtis a job as the head of ARGUS' science and technology division. He would be in charge of shaping the future of ARGUS and making all the decisions, just like he wanted.
Captain Singh from The Flash makes reference to some new metahuman villain sending most of his officers to the hospital before The Flash and his friends saved the day. This could be a reference to a future episode of The Flash.
Felicity reveals her favorite Rubik's cube pattern - a cube within a cube - to William. This was referred to in the flash-fowards in 704.
Oliver tells William that he'd like for him to live with him and Felicity.
Mr. and Mrs. Clayton - William's grandparents - show up because he called them. They tell Oliver that they intend to file a suit for guardianship.
William says he wants to live with his grandparents because he has no chance at a normal life with Oliver and Felicity.
Curtis determines that the Star City Slayer is using a drug called Mivacurium to drug his victims. It is a rare neuromusclar blocking agent that doesn't show up in toxicology screenings. It is so rare that only one shipment of it has been sent out within the past month in Star City. It was sent to a condemned house in The Glades to a man named John Doe.
Diggle finds bloody hand prints in one bathroom in the condemned house.
Curtis finds a Slabside Penitentiary jumpsuit hanging in the closet in the condemned house.
Dinah finds the murder board with her pictures on it, as well as the Star City Slayer's typewriter and two new notes. One says "DEATH IS COMING FOR YOU AND ALL THOSE YOU HOLD DEAR." The second one says "YOUR FUTURE IS IN THE HANDS OF A VENGEFUL PAST." She also finds a scrap book of recent news articles about Oliver.
The Star City Slayer is revealed to be Stanley Dover, last seen in 707.
Dinah's throat is cut by Stanley Dover.
Curtis is able to treat Dinah's wound with a laser built into his T-Sphere.
William thinks Oliver's chili is too spicy.
Stanley Dover pumps a paralytic gas into Oliver and Felicity's apartment while the power is out.
Stanley says that his father was a doctor and that he gave Stanley a lot of the same drug he now uses to paralyze people when he was bad.
Stanley says there are other people who are trying to hurt Oliver and that he did things to make sure they couldn't, like former Councilman Kullens.
Stanley Dover says his older brother tried to take his punishments to protect him but that only made things worse.
Stanley finally drugged his parents and "corrected them" when he couldn't take it anymore. When Stanely's brother found out what he did, he said he belonged in Arkham Asylum. Stanley "corrected" him too.
Before Oliver, Stanley fixated on at least three other older brother figures and began killing the people around them who he felt were getting in the way of their relationship.
Curtis decides to take the job in Washington DC rather than stay with ARGUS.
Curtis signs over his half of Helix to Felicity, making her the sole owner of their company.
Oliver agrees with William that he never really asked him what he wanted and asks what he wants now. William says he wants a normal life. Oliver says he is pretty sure he can't ever give that to William.
William moves to Central City to live with his grandparents.
Oliver says that he will come visit whenever it's cool with William and his grandparents and William will always have a home in Star City if he needs it.
Felicity gets a call from Dr. Schwarz with the news that she is pregnant.
Zoe is unable to find the bombs with The Archer Program.
Roy spent the last few days trying to find Blackstar, but he says she's very good at being a ghost.
William says the problem with finding the bombs isn't his algorithm - it's the fact that The Archer Program was designed to monitor The Glades. Star City is 10 times larger and has half the technological infrastructure of the Glades in 2038.
William guesses that the bombs haven't been planted yet and they must be somewhere off the grid. This leads Roy to guess that they are in the old Team Arrow Bunker.
Blackstar is able to take William, Zoe, Roy and Dinah down with knock-out darts.
Blackstar threatens to kill Zoe if William doesn't give her the codes to hack into Archer.
Blackstar once again denies having anything to do with the bombing plot or killing Felicity.
Dinah recognizes Connor Hawke as John Diggle's son.
Blackstar says that Felicity isn't dead. She claims to just know this and says she needs the Archer codes to find where Felicity is hiding. She says that she and Felicity owe each other.
William tells Blackstar that he's gay and that Felicity was his stepmother. She had no idea that William was Oliver Queen's son.
Blackstar and Connor Hawke are able to hold their own in one-on-one fights with Dinah and Roy respectively.
Blackstar reveals that her name is Mia Smoak and that she is Felicity's daughter by Oliver Queen.
Location
Central City
Star City - 2038
Untelevised Adventures
Captain Singh makes reference to Blockbuster and his gang in Bludhaven trying to muscle into Central City and starting a turf war with the crime families and how Dinah's work prevented a city-wide bloodbath.
The Bottom Line
A mediocre episode for so many big events. Curtis is shuffled out of the show with far less drama and violence than expected. William is likewise sent out of the picture. Yet most fans are likely to feel more relief than sadness because Curtis has felt like a fifth wheel for a while and William's presence on the show, when he has been around, felt equally unnecessary.
The whole Star City Slayer subplot feels just as haphazardly handled. After all the build-up for Stanely Dover, this was a disappointing and hasty conclusion to say the least. For all the effort to build up the horror elements of this episode, they fall flat because we know Dinah is going to survive another two decades and the audience can easily guess the killer's identity long before he shows up. Frankly, the best thing to come out of this is the revelation that Ollie and Felicity have a daughter and that she is awesome.
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