Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Starman Plays Quest For Glory 2 VGA, The Thief Path - Part 26

In which we finally wind up in jail, but for a crime we didn't commit. Thankfully, escape proves easy thanks to a gift from our Katta friends. Unfortunately, we soon get dragged off by our new old dear friend Ad Avis, who needs some hero of prophecy to get something for him out of a treasure-filled cave. Sound a bit familiar?

Monday, June 28, 2021

Starman Plays Quest For Glory 2 VGA, The Thief Path - Part 25

In which we fail to save Ugarte, but are handed another opportunity to be a hero, as well as the finest pixelated nudity 1990 had to offer. We also discover the stuff that dreams are made of, as we take on a job for Signor Ferrari and give him the bird.

Sunday, June 27, 2021

Superman and Lois: Season 1, Episode 11 - A Brief Reminiscence In-Between Cataclysmic Events

 For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.


Plot

Clark recalls his earliest adventures as Superman and how he fell in love with Lois and started a family, but there's something strange about this walk down memory lane.

Influences

For The Man Who Has Everything (Superman being trapped in an artificial world based on his memories), Action Comics #1 (a tribute to the cover), Superman: The Movie (Clark's background and the general style, the creation of the Fortress of Solitude), Superman For All Seasons (Clark's line about his mom making his costume), the Adventures of Superman radio show (character of Atom Man) and Man of Steel (the Fortress sequences, the montage where Clark ages to adulthood while flying) 


Goofs


In the initial broadcast of this episode on CTV in Canada, a temporary VFX shot was left in the sequence where Tal-Rho's fortress is created.


Performances

Anyone who doubts Tyler Hoechlin's ability to play Superman after this episode clearly hasn't been watching this show.


Artistry

The special effects showing the creation of the Fortresses are on-par with the Superman movies made almost 10 years ago.


Super Trivia

See 101 for explanations of the scenes repeated from the pilot.

No specific year is given for when Clark returned to Smallville, but it seems likely it was 2004. This is based on the fact that when he sees Lana and Kyle at the local movie theater, the Marquee is promoting a Harry Potter double-feature and Friday Night Lights.  The film version of Friday Night Lights was released in 2004.

One flashback sequence in this episode has Clark changing out of his Superman costume and into his street clothes in a phone booth. This was a frequent occurrence in the classic Superman comics.

One passerby quotes the classic introduction to Adventures of Superman, saying that Superman flew off  "like a bird or a plane" just after his first appearance. 

There is a brief mention of Jimmy Olsen getting a picture of Superman, after Lois and Clark meet for the first time, but the character himself does not make an appearance.

While not identified by name in the episode, the reporter character who tells Lois that he's going to get a Pulitzer for his story about the flying mystery man is credited as Ron Troupe - one of the most enduring members of the supporting cast of the Daily Planet in the comics and Lois and Clark's brother-in-law in the Post-Crisis reality, where he married Lucy Lane.

Henry Miller, the Nazi criminal Superman confronts during his first meeting with Lois as Superman, is based on the classic Superman villain Atom Man. Originally created for the Adventures of Superman radio show and later adapted into live action for the second Superman serial, Atom Man Vs. Superman, he was introduced into the comics in World's Finest #271 in September 1981.

The Arrowverse version of Henry Miller is not identified as Atom Man. Also, his powers are based around a super-suit, whereas the comic book Atom Man had energy protection powers based upon Kryptonite; the result of an experiment by his scientist father to create a super-soldier.

As in many Superman origin stories, the Superman name was Lois' idea.

Lois evokes the classic Superman credo when asking him what he stands for. He mentions Truth and Justice but dithers when she says "The American Way," but only because he thinks its a ploy to get him to admit to where he grew up.

On Supergirl, when Lois discovered she was pregnant, she and Clark traveled to Argo City where they could be certain the yellow sun wouldn't cause their child to kick its way out of the womb. This is retconned by the scene in this episode of Lois giving birth, on Earth, in the post-Crisis timeline.


Technobabble

According to Jor-El, Kryptonian cells absorb the yellow solar radiation of Earth's sun in ways humans cannot, creating nearly endless energy.

Tal-Rho employs a Kryptonian device created by the scientist Ter-Lock, which allows the wearer to navigate the resting mind of another.


Dialogue Triumphs

Clark: I'm ready, Father. I can feel it.
Jor-El: In body and spirit, yes, but there is something else you need to learn. Something which I cannot teach you here.
Clark: What is it?
Jor-El: Why you wish to help them. Go. Reconnect with the world. Open your heart to them. Find out why you wish to be their champion.

(Everyone in the newsroom is talking about the latest Superman sighting.)
Clark:  Seems like a pretty big story.
Lois: Yeah, which every reporter here is tripping over themselves to cover. (sighs) Boys and their heroes. 
Clark:  Aren't heroes a good thing?
Lois: Yeah, of course, and I know that we need this guy. It's just that ever since he showed up, he's been dominating the conversation. Metropolis has so many problems that aren't just rescue operations. They're systemic. Here, look at this. 
(Lois shows Clark a picture of a burned-out building.)
Clark: These lightning bolts...?
Lois: Nazi symbols. They've been popping up all over lower Metropolis along with a rash of arson attacks against minority-owned businesses. 
Clark: Do you have any idea who's responsible? 
Lois: By all accounts, some psycho in a metal mask and a trench coat. 
Clark: (stunned) I didn't know about this. 
Lois: That's my point exactly. I have been covering this for months, only my reporting keeps getting drowned out by everyone's favorite miracle man. 
(Clark looks down and seems to make a decision.)
Clark: How can I help? 
(Lois slowly smiles in response.)

(Superman has just beaten Henry Miller. A crowd cheers as police sirens in the distance get closer.)
Lois: 
How'd you know about this? 
Superman: I've been reading your reports in the "Planet", but also my hearing.
Lois: Your hearing?
Superman: Oh. (chuckles) My, um,  super-hearing.
Lois: We haven't formally met. I'm Lois Lane.
(Lois grabs his hand before he has a chance to pull it away. Not that he takes the chance.) 
Superman: It's nice to meet you, Ms. Lane.
Lois: And you are who exactly? Mister Metropolis? Red and Blue Man?
Superman: (chuckles) I'm sure you'll come up with something.
(Clark takes off and the crowd gasps. Lois just watches him.)
Man: Who was that?
Lois (inspired) Superman.

(Lois and Clark are in bed together.)
Clark: I can't believe I married Lois Lane.
Lois: I'm all yours, babe. For better or for worse.
Clark: You know, I... I kept my secret from everyone for so long, and now I know why. It's for you. So we could have this life together.
Lois: There's no one I'd rather share it with.
Clark: This might be a weird time to say it, but I can't wait to tell my dad about the wedding. He's gonna be so excited. I mean, as excited as a hologram can get, I guess.
Lois: (smirking) Well, he's gonna have to wait till after the honeymoon. 

(Lois and Clark just found out they are having twins.)
Lois: Do you think this is because of Superman?
Clark: My father assured me everything's gonna be fine.
Lois: He also didn't know we were having twins, and that is a pretty big curve ball. 


Continuity

Most of the flashbacks in this episode are extended versions of the scenes detailing Superman's life in 101.

The opening sequence shows a teenage Clark Kent wandering into the Arctic, guided by his sunstone, and using it to create the Fortress of Solitude.

Clark apparently did not return home to visit Martha Kent during the time he was training with Jor-El.

Clark explains about Krypton to his mother.

Clark intends to go to Lana Lang to tell her about his powers, only to change his mind after seeing her with Kyle Cushing and noting that she had an engagement ring.

Kyle just got a job at the fire station when Clark came back to visit Lana.

Martha Kent had a dream about Clark flying and was inspired to make him his first Superman costume.

When Clark first arrives in Metropolis, he is trying to find Milledge Avenue and an apartment complex there just before he makes his first public appearance as Superman.

Clark was inspired to apply for a job at the Daily Planet after a passerby at the scene of his first rescue as Superman said someone at The Planet should write about that.

Clark is able to persuade Perry White to hire him, despite a lack of experience as a professional writer, after agreeing to pick up his dry cleaning every Thursday.

Clark was assigned to follow Lois Lane and learn the ropes upon being hired.

Clark helps Lois with a story involving someone burning down minority-owned businesses and leaving behind Nazi symbols.

Clark's work impresses Lois, who offers to talk to Perry about getting him a beat of his own. Clark says she doesn't have to because he enjoys working with her.

Lois attempts to confront her prime suspect - a hardware store employee named Henry Miller - about his crimes. This leads to her first meeting with "Superman" as he arrives to protect her and the innocents in the area, when Miller attempts to kill several people in "Little India" with flame-throws and grenades. 

After defeating Henry Miller, Clark notices a faint figure flicker in and out of view as if a ghost were watching him.

Lois conducted the first on-camera interview with Superman for the "Daily Planet Today" web series, one year after his first appearance.

Superman reveals that he's from a planet called Krypton and that he was raised since infancy on Earth, but he doesn't discuss where he was raised.

Clark speaks every language on Earth, but claims this is a matter of study and not a superpower.

Lois' producer Janet notices that Superman seems to have a crush on Lois, but she dismisses this because she's in love with Clark Kent.

Clark revealed his secret identity to Lois on their first trip to Smallville to meet his mother.

Clark told the Jor-El hologram about his wedding. In the middle of it, Jor-El suddenly shouts that he needs Clark to get out of there, now!

Lois used three pregnancy tests to confirm she was pregnant.

Clark notices something odd about the time Lois tells him about how she's pregnant, but is drawn back into the illusion by her happiness.

Lois wanted a daughter. Clark just wanted their child to be healthy.

Clark notices the flickering figure again as he and Lois find out they are having twins. This leads him to discover that he's in some kind of simulation based on his memories, when Lois continues to talk to open air like he isn't there.

As Lois mentioned in 105, she was in labor for 27 hours delivering the twins.

Tal-Rho appears in the hospital and encourages Clark to watch his sons being born again.

Clark realizes that Tal-Rho now knows everything about his past and that Lois is his wife and Jonathan and Jordan his sons.

Clark wakes up in the Fortress of Solitude, where Tal-Rho is waiting.

Tal-Rho claims he wanted to understand Clark and what could cause him to betray Krypton.

Tal-Rho destroys the sunstone holding the Jor-El hologram.

Kyle Cushing says he feels like he drank ten whiskey chasers after being possessed by a Kryptonian.

Most of the people of Smallville only know the broad strokes - that Morgan Edge was giving people powers but messing with their minds to control them. The DoD has left out the part about people being possessed by alien minds.

The DoD are still patrolling downtown Smallville.

Sarah thanks Jonathan and Jordan for telling her the truth about her father.

Sarah asks for a moment alone with Jordan, during which she kisses him and says she doesn't want to be just friends anymore.

Kyle apologizes to Lois for doubting her.

Tal-Rho arrives at the Kent farm, just after Lois, Jonathan and Jordan return home from the Curhings.

Clark promises to surrender to Tal-Rho is he promises to let his family live unharmed.

Tal-Rho takes Clark to his Fortress of Solitude, which is in a desert somewhere.

Tal-Rho created his Fortress in the year 1987.

Zeta-Rho was a much crueler teacher than Jor-El, torturing Tal-Rho as part of his education.

The Zeta-Rho hologram and Tal-Rho begin to torture Superman in the same way Tal-Rho was conditioned.

Lois calls a man named John and tells him that she thinks Superman has just been turned.


Location

Tal-Rho's Fortress of Solitude, located in a desert somewhere - 1987
Tal-Rho's Fortress of Solitude, located in a desert somewhere - 2021


Untelevised Adventures

The episode reveals how Tal-Rho formed his own fortress, with a hologram of his father to advise and train him.


The Bottom Line

One hell of an episode with one hello of a cliffhanger.

Starman Plays Quest For Glory 2 VGA, The Thief Path - Part 24

In which we explore what little there is to see in Rasier before checking in at the Blue Parrot Inn - the best hotel in Rasier! It is also the only hotel in Rasier. We also run into two familiar looking characters who offer us some good intel about the dangers of living a thief's life in Rasier.

Thursday, June 24, 2021

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 14 - Rayo de Luz

 For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

When Ultraviolet returns to Central City, Allegra becomes determined to redeem her wayward cousin. Meanwhile, Joe pursues his new lead that Kristen Kramer might not be what she claims.

Influences

The MCU's Black Widow (Sue's action scenes in her leather catsuit.)


Goofs

Allegra's map shows Metropolis being in New York, presumably close to, or in place of, New York City. This contradicts what has been shown in Superman and Lois, which suggested Smallville, Kansas was only a few hours drive from Metropolis and in the same state division for high school football.

Despite only being the Interim Captain of the CCPD, Kramer already has a name plate on her desk reading "Captain Kramer."


Performances

Again, Natalie Dreyfuss is a delight and it's so good to have the show bring her back.


Flash Facts

The episode title translates to "Ray of Light" in Spanish.

This episode was directed by Danielle Panabaker. This is her third time directing an episode of The Flash.

This is the first episode not to feature Candice Patton, except in archival footage for flashbacks.

The map of Ultraviolet's recent crimes which Allegra chows Chester places Opal City in southeastern Illinois. This is the first time the location of Opal City on Earth-Prime has been confirmed. The same map shows Metropolis is in New York state and Central City is in western Missouri.

While actress Alexa Barajas plays Ultraviolet in this episode, this is the first time she did not also voice the character. The voice of Ultraviolet in this episode was provided by Erika Soto.

After nearly being blasted by Ultraviolet, Allegra comments that Chester almost wound up with a hole through his body. This literally happened in the comics, where a lab accident transformed Chester into what was essentially a sentient black hole.

At one point Chester evokes the name of Rao, the Kryptonian sun god. ("Great Rao!")


Technobabble

Chester says it's impossible to track where Ultraviolet is based on her energy signature since she radiates pure light and light is pretty much everywhere. However, he is later able to track her by measuring Allegra's powers and using them as an input signal. With that done, the satellites will search for its counterpart signal. 

Sue has a photonic stun grenade, which neutralizes the powers of metahumans with light powers.

Caitlin gives Chester Naproxen for his pain.

The STAR Labs van can generate an EMP. However, the van only holds enough power for a single pulse.

Dr. Olsen's guards are armed with electro-pulse rifles.

Sue is able to take on all the guards using a taser line weapon reminiscent of the Widow's Bite.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Sue describes how her parents willingly worked for Black Hole.)
Sue:
Carver bought my parents' loyalty for billions. And once they got a taste, they needed more. And what happened, once Carver was gone? My parents were in too deep. And worse, they got used to this lifestyle. And no matter how hard I tried, I could not pull them out. Because they didn't want out.
Allegra: Which is why you have to pull with everything you have. When I first met Team Flash, it was in handcuffs. When they first met you, you were robbing a bank. We didn't want help either, but this team never gave up on us.


Dialogue Disasters


The entirety of Allegra's "Care Bear Stare" scene using the power of love to save the day, complete with glowing heart.


Continuity

The episode opens with a flash-forward of Allegra fighting Ultraviolet 12 hours after the episode opens.

Barry and Iris plan to leave for a day to take a vacation at a secluded island somewhere in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Barry says they'll be completely off the grid, since the phone service and Wi-Fi are spotty.

Barry credits Chester with the idea of him and Iris going away, referencing the incident in the Starchives from 713.

Frost says she hasn't heard anything about any villains being on the loose, so as far as she's concerned they can take the day off from superhero business.

Chester invites Frost to join his Dungeons and Dragons game, but she declines, saying she has some personal business to attend to. When asked if she needs help, she says she's going to be shopping.

Chester then asks Allegra if she'd like to join his game, but she says she has a news tip she has to check up on. This involves a picture of Ultraviolet that was sent to her, along with the texter asking if that's the metahuman assassin Allegra was looking for.

Joe took a recorded statement from a soldier who claims to have seen Kristen Kramer arguing with a man named Adam Creyke at a café near the base on the day before her squad was killed 6 years earlier. To make matters worse, Creyke was apparently telling her to 'stick to the plan" and Kramer was AWOL at that moment, having not signed out at the base.

Kramer is now effectively head of the CCPD, despite being officially titled as the Interim Captain.

Despite everything, Joe still believes Kramer seems like a straight-arrow cop and there's something not right about this whole situation.

Chester shows up at Jitters wearing fake elf ears.

Marco, a barista at Jitters, was apparently part of Chester's D&D group at one point. He was kicked out for using fire spells in what was meant to be an unarmed duel.

Allegra tells Chester that she was trying to find her cousin, Ultraviolet, and was using the Citizen Tip Line to get reports of where she had been. She had tracked her to two assassinations in Metropolis and Opal City and gotten word she was back in Central City.

Allegra says she thinks she can talk to Ultraviolet and make her give up crime and be good.

Ultraviolet shows up at Jitters and tears it apart, telling Allegra to stop looking for her.

Sue Dearbon shows up and fights Ultraviolet.

Sue can speak Spanish.

One of the reasons Sue hung around in Central City was that she heard a former Black Hole assassin was back in town. This is how she stumbled across Allegra and Chester - she was already following Ultraviolet.

Allegra is nowhere near as proficient with her powers as Ultraviolet and can't build up the energy or focus to melt someone's face off.

Chester has no luck finding Ultraviolet's current location, but he does use satellite images to figure out where she was.

Sue uses Chester's map to guess where Ultraviolet's target is, noting that she appears to be using a standard Black Hole recon pattern.

Allegra suggests Chuck stay behind since this could get violent. He agrees.

Allegra and Sue are able to catch Ultraviolet, but discover the man she was going to kill wasn't a target - he was Dr. Olsen; the Black Hole scientist who experimented on her.

Ultraviolet says that her voice was cut out of her by Dr. Olsen. She then reveals the extensive scars on her neck that are su

Sue and Allegra argue about whether or not to help Ultraviolet. Allegra thinks Dr. Olsen sounds like a danger, which Sue agrees with, but Sue says they can't trust Ultraviolet since working for Black Hole warps your mind and destroys your soul.

Joe confronts Kramer with the documents he found from something called Operation Griffin. 

As Joe enters Kramer's office, she's reading the file of Roy G. Bivolo.

Kramer is enraged when she learns that Joe was looking into her past and threatens to arrest him.

Ultraviolet tries to train Allegra in how to use her powers offensively by destroying coffee cups in a make-shift shooting gallery in the Speed Lab.

Sue picks a fight with Ultraviolet, during which Chester is caught in the crossfire and his arm is hurt, requiring a sling.

Ultraviolet escapes, saying she will look for Dr. Olsen herself.

Allegra says that she and Ultraviolet have matching yin-yang tattoos which they got in a back alley as teenagers.

Joe tells Cecile about his meeting with Kramer and how she acted like a guilty person. 

Joe is about to contact the governor's office about what he found, when Kramer texts him and asks for a meeting. Joe decides to go, despite Cecile asking him not to.

Sue encourages Allegra to give up on saving Ultraviolet. When Allegra says she knows nothing about what it's like to lose your family to crime, Sue reveals that she discovered her parents weren't really being blackmailed by Black Hole - they were Joseph Carver's willing accomplices, but he used blackmail material to keep them compliant for years as they managed his international accounts. Sue tried to pull them out once Carver was dead, but they were too far gone and didn't want to leave crime behind them.

Chester is able to track Ultraviolet using Allegra's powers as an input signal - the yin to Ultraviolet's yang.

Chester insists on going as back-up in the STAR Labs van.

Ultraviolet finds Dr. Olsen but he asks her if she would consider one last experiment before she kills him.

Dr. Olsen offers to restore Ultraviolet's voice if she kills everyone else who knows about his former operation - including Team Flash.

Dr. Olsen says Allegra and Ultraviolet's powers are fueled by hate. Allegra says that isn't true and channels more energy than she ever did before, thanks to her love of family. 

Caitlin describes Allegra's new "supernova" power as a leveling up.

Caitlin takes care of Ultraviolet and looks at Dr. Olsen's note. She thinks she can use them to restore Ultraviolet's voice.

Kramer meets with Joe at O’Shaughnessy's - the bar in Keystone City where Frost fought Chillblaine in 707.

Kramer explains that Adam Creyke was her brother - not by blood but he was the only other Native American kid who grew up off the reservation where she lived as a child. This led to them bonding and joining the Army together.

Kramer denies knowing that Creyke had sold out their unit at the time - only that he was trying to talk her out of going on the mission, for some reason. This was why they had argued the night before.

Kramer asks Joe to help her find Adam Creyke and bring him to justice.

Allegra asks Chester out for coffee that night. When he says he's busy with his D&D and asks for a raincheck, she asks if she could join his game.

Barry returns from his vacation and says he and Iris are thinking of getting a time share on the island in question.

The final scene has Frost tracking down Chillblaine, whom Norvock told her had escaped from Iron Heights.

Chillblaine claims that he had his record expunged after turning State's Evidence on other metahuman criminals and that he's now "one of the good guys" like Frost.


Location

O’Shaughnessy on the south side of Keystone City.


Untelevised Adventures

Sue Dearbon apparently had several encounters with Ultraviolet over the past year, including one in Belize.

Sue's acquiring an experimental photonic stun grenade involved two trips to New Delhi, a helicopter crash and a very deadly quinceanera.


The Bottom Line

A mixed bag, all in all. The Kristen Kramer story isn't that riveting since there's no reason to sympathize with her and nothing to justify Joe's faith in her. Still, the season does seem to be pushing the theme of forgiveness and that no one is entirely evil. Allegra's storyline plays into the same theme and it is all right. Unfortunately, when the best parts of the episode leave you hungry for a Sue Dearbon spin-off, something is drastically wrong.

Batwoman Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 17 - Kane, Kate

 For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.


Plot

As Alice and Safiyah cross paths once again, Black Mask raises the stakes in the battle for Gotham, as Kate Kane goes to work, thinking she is Circe Sionis pretending to be Kate Kane.


Influences

Batwoman: Rebirth and Batwing


Goofs

It's a minor thing and all part of the drama of superheroes, but one wonders why Black Mask even bothers bringing Ryan into the police station when the police in his employ could have just killed her and said she was "resisting arrest."

"Circe" leaving the rest of the Bat-Team alive is similarly nonsensical, but at least there there's a possibility that Kate is influencing her actions.


Bat Trivia


Circe steals the weapons and tools of several classic Batman villains from the Bat Cave; not all of which are identified in the episode. The identified items are a sample of Clayface's mud, one of Killer Croc's teeth, Joker's acid flower, Bane's Venom distribution pump (and Venom) and a sample of one of Poison Ivy's plants. The unidentified items are the Mad Hatter's hat and one of the Penguin's umbrellas.


Technobabble


Mary identifies the drug used to knock her, Luke and Sophie out as haloperidol. Side effects include nausea, confusion and vomiting. 


Dialogue Triumphs
.
Ryan: Guys, she went from attacking Mary to ditching Sophie to treating half the lesbians in Gotham to an open bar. Is anyone else worried about what she's gonna do when she wakes up?
Sophie: Well, if I found out my memory had been wiped and then reprogrammed into a dead supermodel, I'd go on a 12 hour bar crawl, too.

Black Mask (addressing the Crows) Every one of you signed up to protect this city with a noble purpose in your hearts, and what did you get in return? Your hands tied by corrupt politicians who care more about some criminal's rights than what is right, a system more concerned with the red tape than the red blood running through our streets. The people you're there to defend would rather defund. Well, I'm here to pick up the tab. I'm gonna give you the tools you need and the free rein to use them, so what do you say? Who wants to take off the gloves... and put on the mask? 

Roman Sionis: I am merely a concerned citizen trying to restore justice to a lawless city like you.
Ryan: We are nothing alike.
Roman Sionis: We both wear masks to avenge the wrongs perpetrated against us. I must say I feel that, uh, given the right push together we could give this city its soul back.
Ryan: Yeah, and all I have to do is give up mine.
Roman Sionis: Well, now you're just being selfish. Why should you be the only masked vigilante who gets to be the arbiter of justice? Why shouldn't everyone have the same opportunity? After all, it feels good, doesn't it?
Ryan: It does. It feels good to fight for people who are powerless, people trapped by a broken system, people like your daughter. I know what happened to her, how she was assaulted, how the Crows covered it up, made her look crazy, then threw her in Arkham, where she suffered and died. Where she was murdered. You know what? Maybe we do have something in common because... I know that rage you feel, the need to make someone pay, but using her to justify what you're doing is dishonoring her memory.
Roman Sionis: I don't put much stock in the words of a repeat drug offender. Neither do judges for that matter, not that you're going to live to see one. No hard feelings, Wilder, but I can't have you getting in my way. Good-bye, Batwoman. 

(Safiyah is offering Alice a place by her side.)
Safiyah: Come back with me. Come home.
Alice: You want me to come back to Coryana with you? (laughs) Well, that depends. Do you have any non-smoking rooms available? No, because I'm pretty sure that I turned your little island into an all-inclusive ashtray.


Continuity

This episode opens roughly 10 hours after Kate disappeared in 216.

Ryan questions a security guard as Batwoman, noting that the machine pistol he carries is far too high-end for a typical security guard. This, and his ammunition, reveal that he's part of the False Face Society.

The Rebirth make-up line includes two perfumes called Rekindle and Remember, which Ryan uses as improvised pepper spray to torture the guard.

The guard has no idea where Black Mask is, save that he's gone underground. He also doesn't know where "Circe Sionis" is.

Luke has had no luck tracking Kate with facial recognition scans through satellites or traffic cams.

Mary confirms non one matching Kate's description has been checked in at the hospitals or morgues.

Kate is eventually found in the Hold Up, buying drinks for everyone. The team doesn't notice this until a report of a belligerent drunk who acts like she owns the place.

A seemingly drunk Kate recognizes Mary's face this time, but claims not to remember how she knows her.

Mary goes off to look for Alice and finds her with Ocean's body in his subway car base.

Mary lies and says that Kate is doing fine and that she just came to Alice to thank her for helping.

Alice says she should have left Gotham with Ocean when she had the chance.

Luke gives Kate her old journals in a bid to jog her memory.

Luke makes reference to Kate surviving gas attacks (106), a bomb-throwing bird (117) and a vampire (113).

Kate recalls not liking the beach.

Luke gives Kate the keys to her motorycle.

"Kate" is revealed to be Circe Sionis, pretending that she's an amnesiac Kate, apparently having had her doubts in 216 quieted by Black Mask.

"Circe" gives Black Mask Kate Kane's journals, which she describes as a user's manual to the Batcave.

Safiyah says there is one more thing she needs from Black Mask before she will give him her blessing to continue with his plans for Gotham City.

Ryan starts packing up to move out of Kate's loft.

Sophie offers Ryan space on her couch, but Ryan already has a new apartment lined up.

Black Mask recruits the recently fired Crows for the False Face Society.

Russell Tavaroff is among the recruits, but Black Mask notices he looks hesitant. When Tavaroff says he doesn't want to go from being a cog in one machine to being a cog in a different machine, Black Mask says he understands and will help Tavaroff become a machine in his own right.

Ryan overhears Circe, as Kate, telling Luke and Mary that she can't wait to get back in the costume.

Ryan moves back into her van and drives back to where she first found the Batwoman suit.

Ryan is arrested by CCPD officers that are also False Face gang members on suspicion of being a Snakebite dealer.

Alice cremates Ocean and scatters his ashes on the beach. She is joined by Safiyah. 

As Ryan is taken into GCPD HQ, Roman Sionis gets in the patrol car while the cops stand watch. He tells her that he knows she is Batwoman . She, in turn, lets him know she knows he is Black Mask.

Sionis tells Ryan that he's going to have her killed.

Sophie shows "Circe" the letter that Kate wrote her revealing her secret identity.

Ryan uses her one phone call to warn Luke that she's been arrested and Black Mask likely knows who all of them are if she's been exposed.

Luke, Sophie, "Kate" and Mary begin planning how to rescue Ryan. However, "Circe" reveals herself and knocks them all out with tranquilizer darts.

Ryan's parole officer is called and reads her the riot act, not believing her when she says she is innocent. She also doesn't believe it when Ryan tells her that she is the new Batwoman.

Four police officers attack Ryan and her parole officer after she says she needs to speak to Judge Hamada. After Ryan is able to knock all four cops out, the parole officer believes she is Batwoman.

The parole officer offers Ryan her car keys and badge to get out of the parking garage/

Safiyah tells Alice she came without guards because Alice wouldn't kill her if it wasn't fun.

Safiyah says a storm is coming to Gotham and Coryana is the only place Alice may be safe. She offers Alice a place by her side.

Mary, Sophie and Luke wake up locked in the Batcave elevator.

Mary says that Kate must be fighting Circe for control, because that's the only reason they weren't killed. 

Circe steals several items from a Bio-Hazard container deep in the Bar Cave.

Ryan comes to the cave and fights Circe to free the others. 

Safiyah tells Alice that she intends to regrow her Desert Rose fields using the plant Ryan Wilder gave her and a Poison Ivy vine sample that should allow her to accelerate their growth. 

Safiyah also tells Alice that she's getting the sample from Black Mask, in exchange for having killed the man responsible for assaulting his daughter and having her sent to Arkham. 

"Circe" beats Ryan and escapes the Batcave, telling Ryan not to feel bad because Kate wasn't strong enough to beat her either.

Alice stabs Safiyah with a Desert Rose dagger, agreeing that killing her wouldn't be fun but making her suffer will be fun and that they can talk after she gets her family back.

Luke determines that Circe stole all the dangerous weapons Bruce had confiscated from his enemies over the years.

Black Mask offers Tavaroff the Venom system once used by Bane.


The Killing Jokes

The villains make the mistake of not killing the heroes when they are helpless for the sake of drama.


The Bottom Line

An oddly sedate penultimate episode, which raises the stakes for the season finale but doesn't feel all that tense despite that.

Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Starman Plays Quest For Glory 2 VGA, The Thief Path - Part 23

In which we say goodbye to all our friends in Shapier, discover the secret of our strange Saurus companion and make our way to the cursed city of Rasier. We also get to try out one of the new additions for the VGA remake - a Saurus who actually fights with you, as Ali Fakir promised!

Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 6, Episode 7 - Back to the Finale: Part II

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

Faced with the prospect of Sara's death, The Legends (minus Ava) decide to risk a trip back to the night of her abduction, to prevent her from ever being kidnapped in the first place, despite the potential damage to the timeline. This leaves Spooner wondering what her life would be like had she never joined the team. Meanwhile, Sara, Mick and Gary join forces to take down Bishop once and for all.


Influences

Back To The Future II
(referenced by title, and in the episode, which is centered around time travelers trying to avert a bad alternate future while avoiding their past selves) and Escape From New York (the alternate future Nate is clearly based on Snake Plissken.)

Goofs

Shouldn't the toilet paper disappear along with Future Nate?


Performances


It's great to see Caity Lotz and Lisseth Chavez play off each other and give Spooner and Sara a chance to bond.

Dominic Purcell delivers a fantastic but brief monologue as Mick convinces Sara that she's still her, even in a modified body.


Artistry

The script does a good job of meshing itself with all the other Season 6 stories and bringing everything together at the end.


Technobabble/Arcana

According to Bishop, there is no antidote for a Zaguron sting.

The liquid Bishop gave Sara before her death in 605 is revealed to be a primer to prepare the nanobots to rebuild her body.

Merging human and alien DNA requires tremendous mental fortitude.

Bishop's cloning technology is run through a cloud server and utilizes technology very much like a 3-D printer to create bodies. It takes roughly 10 minutes to create each clone body.

Bishop created the clone Sara's body by merging her with an unidentified alien species with regeneration powers. 

In working out his exploding mannequin plan, Behrad has Gideon reverse model on the pods' disbursement, and, accounting for temporal drift, in hours and minutes, timing the explosion so the ship will be in the exact location it was when Sara sent aliens into the timeline. This will lead to the aliens being scattered and Sara being saved, but the Legends still having a reason to recruit Spooner.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Nate is checking on a clearly depressed Ava.)
Nate: Okay, well, if you need anything...I guess you're gonna ask Gideon, but I'm here for you, too. We all are.
Ava: Thanks. How's everybody else doing?
Nate: They're grieving in their own way. 
(Cut to John and Spooner, getting drunk.)


(Mick and Kayla lean back against the wall of the pod, having just finished having sex. Both look disturbed yet happy.)
Mick: 
That was great. Except for the ear thing. 

(Mick is surrounded by Ava Clone Soldiers.)
Mick:
 I really hate clones.
Ava Soldier: Yeah, we don't care much for you either. 

(Gary and Mick find Sara.)
Mick:
We got to go!
Sara: I can't until I stop Bishop. He's got this crazy intergalactic plan to try to clone me.
Gary: A planet of clone Avas and Saras? Are we sure we want to stop that?

(Past Sara and Spooner bond over a drink.)
Spooner:
Twenty years ago, I was abducted by aliens. Now, they did something to me, and ever since, I feel things, hear voices from aliens, and it's freaking me out. What if there's something inside me that I can't control, and the people I live with... They're gonna think I'm some kind of monster. And now you think I'm crazy.
Past Sara: No, crazy is the word people use when they're afraid of what you're capable of. I'm not afraid. I am intrigued.
Spooner: Wow. You really are cool.
Past Sara: Look, it sounds like you're on the beginning of an amazing journey, and if I could give you one piece of advice, from experience, don't go at it alone.
Spooner: And what if I hurt them?
Past Sara: What if they help you?
Spooner: Well, what if I can't live up to their expectations?
Past Sara: Yeah, I feel you on that one. I was supposed to propose to my girlfriend tonight, and then I realized that she's probably gonna say yes.
Spooner: That's great, right?
Past Sara: Oh, I don't know. I've been so many different people in my life, and I am worried that this version of me might just be a phase, and I would get a lifetime of the woman I love, but I can't promise she'd get the same in return.
Spooner: Look, I just met you, and I certainly don't know your girlfriend, but my gut tells me that she can handle change. Hell, might even be good for her.
Past Sara: And what if I hurt her?
Spooner: What if you help her? 

(Mick sees the new clone Sara "printing.")
Mick: 
What is that?
Sara: It's me.
Mick: What?
Sara: I died.
Mick: Again?
Sara: Yeah, but this time, I didn't make it back.
Mick: So who am I talking to?
Sara: A monster! Which is why you need to make sure that you take this version of me home with you. All right? This body, it's not me.
Nurse Ava: One minute until Bishop's upload is complete.
Mick: Then blow it!
Sara: No, don't! Don't. Look, I can't go back to the team half-alien. What if I hurt you guys? What if I hurt Ava?
Mick: Listen, that creep can't get away with it!
Sara: That creep changed me, Rory! Look, I don't even know what I am anymore. All right? You cannot see it, but I'm damaged.
Mick: Damaged? No. I see someone who's been through hell but never stopped being herself. I see Captain Lance. I see Sara, my oldest friend. We need you. Please.
Sara: Let's get the hell out of here.
(Mick grunts approvingly.)

Astra: Are you okay?
Behrad: It's my fault. I got Sara abducted. If I never tried to warn her, she just would've kept walking, just never would've been sucked up into space.
Astra: I'm pretty sure they would've gotten her elsewhere, but all right. You convinced me. It's all your fault.
Behrad: You have an unorthodox comforting style.
Astra: Yeah, we don't really do a lot of comforting where I grew up. Look, if you hadn't tried to save her, you would've spent the rest of your life wondering, "What if I had?" I should know.
Behrad: You still miss her? Your mom?
Astra: Every day, but losing her brought me here, and that's not all bad. 

(Gary starts to walk toward Ava and Sara's room.)
Gary:
Ava will want to know I'm okay, too.
Mick (grabbing Gary and dragging him down the hall) No, she won't. 

John: You know, tonight got me thinking. What if I don't get my magic back?
Zari: Okay.
John: Then I still got you.
Zari: You do, but I know you're gonna try.
John: I'll turn hell upside down, love.
Zari: Well, it's going to come in handy having a superhero girlfriend then.
John: (smiling softly) Yeah.

Sara: (To Ava) When I was up there in space, floating further and further away, I realized something. No matter where I go or when I am, I will never be lost because I have you. You are my North Star. You are my guiding light, and wherever you lead me, that's my home. 


Continuity

As the episode opens, Ava is repeatedly watching the video of Sara which David Bowie filmed in 601.

John and Spooner are drinking Mezcal together, with Astra and Zari watching.

Nate notes that Ava's favorite meal is a certain kind of quiche, which Gideon made and she ignored.

Behrad hasn't left the lab since the news of Sara's death, taking it almost as hard as Ava.

Nate declares himself the "reluctant default interim Captain" in Ava and Sara's joint absence. Zari follows his example, declaring them both "reluctant default interim co-captains"

John compares Mick Rory to a cockroach, saying he can survive anything.

Kayla says she intends to leave as soon as possible, but agrees to give Mick until the third moon sets to save Sara.

Bishop learned about Sara Lance from the romance novels Mick Rory wrote as Rebecca Silver. Apparently he based several of his heroines on Sara and that fact became public knowledge in the future.

Bishop plans to mass produce a line of Sara Lance/alien hybrids and colonize the galaxy with them.

Bishop takes Sara's engagement ring for Ava and has his Avas take her to be incinerated, saying he will remake her but hopefully more agreeable... eventually.

Mick is captured by a squad of Ava Soldiers that are working with Gary.

Nate and Zari enter the lab and find that Behrad has been listening to his thinking music and smoking his thinking weed. They also discover a blackboard covered with notes and the final one circled "Back To The Future: Part II."

Gideon confirms that Behrad is not on the ship.

All of the Legends, except Ava, follow Behrad through a Time Corridor, back to the events of 515. They agree to help him avert Sara's kidnapping.

The club Charlie and The Smell were playing at was called The Hole.

Astra notes they can't pull the fire alarm at The Hole because they didn't have fire alarms.

The only other buildings near The Hole are all all-night curry shop and a fireworks factory.

Spooner points out that if they completely avert Sara being kidnapped, she'll never have joined the Legends.

Spooner refers to the events of the last two episodes, being attacked by an alien Amelia Earhart (606) and being turned into a fork (605).

Behrad plans to approach Sara while his past self is taking a smoke break: something he does every night at midnight and did that night while standing on the roof of the club.

Behrad briefly ponders telling Sara that her sister and dad called, but can't remember if they're still alive in this timeline - a nod to Laurel Lance (she isn't alive, but her doppelganger is) and Quentin Lance (who is alive now, as of A810.)

Past Sara shows Behard the ring she's going to use to propose to Ava, which she got from her mom.

Past Ava notices that Behrad has his hair streaked differently than he did originally that night.

John and Zari reveal that they vanished from the celebration for a time to "get friendly" but they disagree on how much time they were gone. John says 20 minutes at first and Zari says 8. He then goes down to 15 and she says it was 8.

John and Zari run into Past Ava trying to get to Sara. Zari lies and says they needed to find Sara because Sara borrowed her make-up and now John needs it.

John and Zari find Past Sara throwing up in the bathroom, having had a touch of nerves about proposing. When they reveal they know about her planning to propose, Sara assumes Behrad told them.

John encourages Sara to go and propose to Ava right now, saying that he loves love. This confuses Sara, as John has never been a romantic and she thinks it is Charlie shapeshifted into John, messing with her.

Zari figures out that something is up since John agreed to this crazy plan rather than tryin magic. This leads her to conclude that John lost his power and that Astra was covering for him.

Zari gets John to promise to stop lying to her.

Past Ava sees Past John and Past Zari sneaking out of a room in the club, having just seen them in the bathrooms and realizes they must be from the future.

Past Ava confronts the Future Legends, tells them to stop whatever they are doing, and then goes to get so drunk she won't remember seeing them. This explains Ava's uncharacteristic hangover in 601.

Sara discovers that her new clone body has regeneration powers.

Sara injects Bishop with a sedative so he won't automatically go into a clone body when he dies.

Behrad suggests dressing a mannequin like Sara and filling it with fireworks so that it explodes the alien ship when it gets abducted. While the Legends dismiss this plan as stupid, Behrad actually had Gideon do the math to make it work.

Sara asks the Nurse Ava to make a clean, completely human clone of her.

Spooner goes into The Hole and winds up talking to Sara about her being abducted by aliens and her fears about letting her new friends down. 

Sara, in turn, vents to Spooner about being nervous over proposing to her girlfriend.

Sara runs into David Bowie, making the video about proposing to Ava, after leaving Spooner.

Zari styles the wig of Behrad's mannequin. 

Nate runs into the bathroom after eating too much mushroom curry.

After Nate leaves, a future version of Nate who has a deeper voice, a meaner attitude and an eyepatch enters the curry restaurant. He has a roll of toilet paper, which he says his past self will need. Nate is also wearing John Constantine's coat.

Future Nate claims that Behrad's plan caused all the aliens to crash in the Gilded Age and they took over Wall Street, after Gary and his alien friends made a U-Turn and kidnapped Sara anyway after they realized they had a mannequin. 

Future Nate also claims that John was poisoned by a Calavax in the trading pit.

According to Future Nate, he just got back from impersonating John at a magical cult meeting to stop an alien invasion.

Future Nate disappears after Behrad leaves to directly confront Sara.

Behrad distracts Past Sara, leading to her falling behind the rest of the group and nobody noticing her being abducted.

Present Sara suddenly has memories of Behrad trying to save her and figures out the Legends are trying to change the past to save her.

Bishop tricks Mick into killing him, allowing his mind back-up to go into the cloud, where he can pring himself a new body anywhere in the universe in 4 minutes. At that time, Sara has roughly 10 minutes left to complete the new pure human clone of herself.

Mick convinces Sara that it doesn't matter what body she's in.

The Ava Clones elect to stay behind.

Kayla saves Mick, Gary and Sara from a horde of Zagurons, having gotten the ship started so she could attack them from the air once the shield dropped.

Kayla is left behind, though Mick wants to go back for her after she fights the Zagurons to let the rest escape.

Astra comforts Behrad after Sara is abducted.

The team start drinking in the curry shop to celebrate Sara's life.

The movie file of Sara talking about proposing become corrupted as Ava is watching it.

Sara figures out where the rest of the team is. Ava, Mick, Sara and Gary join the wake, which becomes a party.

Gary is forgiven for abducting Sara for his role in saving her.

John affirms his lover for Zari but says he's still going to try and get his magic back.

Sara proposes to Ava, as Behrad's mannequin explodes and sets off a massive fireworks show.

Ava accepts the proposal.


Location

Bishop's Private Planet - Time Unknown
London, England - 1977


Untelevised Adventures

A future version of Nate describes an alternate timeline where aliens took over Wall Street during the Gilded Age.


The Bottom Line

A fun, heart-warming episode that brings the Sara in Space saga to a fitting end.

Monday, June 21, 2021

Starman Plays Quest For Glory 2 VGA, The Thief Path - Part 22

In which we tackle another new addition to the VGA remake: an all new job for the Thief to pull for Dinarizad! We also fight the last and most dangerous of the elementals - the dreaded Water Elemental!

Friday, June 18, 2021

Superman and Lois: Season 1, Episode 10 - O Mother, Where Art Thou?

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

The truth behind Morgan Edge's plan is revealed, as Clark, Lois, Lana and General Lane rush to protect Smallville from an enemy within. Meanwhile, Jonathan and Jordan reach out to Sara, after she storms out of her parents house, accusing her mother of covering for her father's drinking again.

Influences

New Krypton (the idea of a Kryptonian invasion of Earth) and the movie Man of Steel. .


Goofs

Who names a device meant to save lives "The Eradicator?" (Granting this is a nod to the comics, it's still a weird thing.)

If the Kryptonian people are generally peaceful and wouldn't approve of Zeta-Rho's plan for restoring Krypton, why is everyone Tal-Rho brought back on-board with helping him? (Presumably he had a list of "loyal Kryptonians" to bring back and held off on bringing back his mother until it would be too late for her to object.)

How the heck did all the Kryptonians chasing after Superman get to the ground safely? (Perhaps Tal-Rho acted to save the hosts of his people at super-speed?)


Performances


Emmanuelle Chriqui does a fantastic job showing both the steel of Lana Lang and the heart of Lara Lor-Van in this episode.


Artistry

The battle between Superman and an army of Kryptonians is another great moment. It's becoming a bit trite for me to say so many of this show's action sequences look like they came from movies, but it is true.


Super Trivia

The episode title is a play on the title of the movie, "O Brother, Where Art Thou."

Tal-Rho is an original character created for the Arrowverse. However, the conceit of a Kryptonian sent to Earth as a child being treated badly and being captured by a government and experimented upon has occurred in several alternate timelines; most famously The New 52 Earth 2 comic (with Val Zod) and the Kal-El of Flashpoint.

Tal-Rho's plan seems to be an adaptation of Zod's scheme to create a new Krypton in the movie Man of Steel, only instead of trying to recapture the genetic record of Krypton that was stolen by Jor-El, he's using the technology of Lara Lor-Van to place copies of Kryptonian minds in human bodies.

The device which Tal-Rho uses to transplant Kryptonian minds in human bodies is called The Eradicator. In the comics, the Eradicator was a piece of alien technology corrupted by the war-like Kem-L, who took what was meant to preserve the lives of dying cultures and turned it into a weapon that would preserve his fascist vision of a perfect Krypton by seeking out other civilizations and rebuilt Krypton on other worlds. He dubbed this technology "The Eradicator." The Eradicator later evolved into a sentient humanoid being with many of Superman's powers and was one of the four "Supermen" to emerge during the Reign of the Supermen story.

The Arrowverse Eradicator was created by Lara Lor-Van as a way to preserve the lives of the Kryptonian people. Why she named it the Eradicator is unclear. 


Technobabble

Dr. Donovan confirms that the minds inside the Eradicator are copies of people's minds rather than their essences. There is no way to communicate with them while they are inside the Eradicator. A consciousness requires a host to become activated.

According to Lara Lor-Van, the Eradicator works on the same principal as a computer, save that instead of placing data on a storage device, it places it within a brain. The former conciousness exists until the transfer is complete. However, this process takes days if not weeks and depends upon how willing the host mind is to accept being taken over. Until the process is complete, the Kryptonian mind can emerge at any time.

Lara says that the process that places Kryptonian minds in a human body can be reversed, but it requires them going through the Eradicator again.

The device Lara fashions to restore the humans converted by Tal-Rho requires energy equivalent to Earth's sun, if not greater. Clark empowers it by releasing all the energy in his body as a solar flare.


Dialogue Triumphs

Tal-Rho: The time has almost come, Kal-El. Our people will awaken soon. And when that happens, I need you by my side, or you will be eradicated too. 

Lana: This is my town, and at every critical juncture I’ve failed it. So don’t tell me this isn’t my responsibility. Not when I stand here about to lose everything.
Lois: I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but you have a family.
Lana: Yeah, and my husband is one of them, who is gonna to become some alien psychopath if I don’t do something. I have to save Kyle, Lois. If there’s any chance that he’s still alive, I have to do it.
Lois: What about Sarah and Sophie?
Lana: They mean the world to me, you know that.
Lois: That’s why I can’t let you do this.
Lana: No, it’s why you have to. I have to fix this for them, for me, for everybody here.
Lois: There’s no guarantee this will even work. This is alien science.
Lana: Well, it’s a good thing I’m just a local loan officer who doesn’t know any better.

Superman: You know, you don’t have to do this. There’s always another way.
Lana: I don’t think you really believe that. Also did Superman just lie to me?
Superman: (laughing) It’s not lying. I’m just, uh… I’m just an optimist.
Lana: I guess that’s what makes you a hero.
Superman: You’re the hero right now, Lana.

Lara: Tell me. What is it like being with my son?
Lois: Most of the time, it’s easy. And sometimes it’s very difficult. Most of the time, I feel very secure, and then I’ve also had some of the most terrifying days in my entire life. But there’s always love and respect.
Lara: A partnership?
Lois: Very much so. 
Lara: On Krypton, I had all the hopes and dreams one could ever have. And I lived them all. And then one day, those hopes and dreams were for the son I just had. Thank you, Lois, for making them come true.


Continuity


Morgan Edge reveals that in addition to having Kryptonian powers he can also speak Kryptonian.

Morgan Edge reveals that he is a full-blooded Kryptonian named Tal-Rho. He says he was being quite literal in addressing Superman as brother, saying that his mother was also Lara Lor-Van.

Tal-Rho's father, Zeta-Rho, was Lara Lor-Van's first partner. They had been genetically matched, but Lara found their pairing less than ideal and left Zeta-Rho to pursue a romantic pairing with Jor-El.

Zeta-Rho had plans to colonize and enslave other worlds, but never got the chance to fulfil his plans within his lifetime. After learning of Jor-El's plans to save his family, Zeta-Rho sent his son to Earth as well.

Tal-Rho threatens to kill Superman if he doesn't join in his plans for Earth.

Sarah accuses Lana of covering up Kyle's drunkenness and storms out of her house to stay with a friend, Denise.

Lois tries to call Lana to warn her about Kyle, but Lana isn't answering her phone, being too focused on trying to get Kyle to talk about what happened ever since he first went to Morgan Edge.

General Lane says he will send some of his men, who have mobilized in Smallville, to get Lana.

Clark fixates on Tal-Rho's claim that he can restore their mother.

Lois suggests Clark find out if that really is possible, assuring him they'll be find with half the DoD on their front lawn.

Clark goes to the Fortress of Solitude, where Jor-El confirms it is possible Zeta-Rho acquire Lara's technology. He also confirms that Tal-Rho is telling the truth about he and Superman being half-brothers.

When Clark asks why Jor-El never told him about his half-brother, Jor-El says he never saw any need to do so. He also says that using Lara's technology to take over human bodies was not the way Lara had intended to preserve the memory of Krypton. She had intended for their minds to be preserved in the same way the Sunstone created a hologram of Jor-El.

Jor-El says that the Eradicator Lara Lor-Van designed is beyond his understanding and that he cannot help him to use the technology directly.

Jordan texts Sarah, but she's ignoring him.

Jonathan tells Jordan about the video he saw in 108 of another world's Superman killing another version of their mother.

When Jonathan raises his concern about the idea of saving Krypton maybe getting his father to join with Tal-Rho, Lois says the difference is that, in the other world, that Clark Kent didn't have a family, and in Earth-Prime he does.

Kyle tells Lana that he went to Morgan Edge behind her back because he thought she'd lied to him about the Executive Training program because she didn't believe he was good enough - not because she was trying to protect him.

General Lane and his men capture Kyle Cushing. Thankfully, it turns out their Kryptonite weapons are effective on Tal-Rho's soldiers.

Sophie Cushing is said to be staying with Lana's parents.

Lana notes that it has been so long since anything strange happened in Smallville.

Lana singles out one odd person among Edge's personal staff: Dr. Dabney Donovan, who is listed as Edge's personal physician. He was the one who conducted all the health exams for everyone enrolled in the Executive Program.

Lois recognizes Dabney Donovan as a former professor on the tenure track at MIT and says he has dual PhDs in genetics and molecular neurochemistry. 

They try to interview "Kyle" about where the Eradicator is being kept, but he refuses to speak except to make threats.

Jonathan and Jordan meet with Sarah at the local diner.

Jonathan tells Sarah the truth - at least in so far as her father has been possessed by an alien mind and that Morgan Edge is responsible. 

Los says that Tal-Rho wouldn't be giving Superman time to make a decision about joining him if his plan didn't require time as well. 

The DoD finds Donovan and the Eradiactor.

Donovan is willing to work with the DoD, but says he barely understands how the Eradicator works and that reversing the process will require the person who made it.

Lana volunteers to act as a host for Lara Lor-Van.

Lois asks to talk to Lana in private, so she can try to talk her out of volunteering. Lana thanks her, but says it's her responsibility to fix this since she didn't stop Kyle from building up Edge to the locals and recruited everyone for the Executive Program.

Jonathan and Jordan try to take Sarah to see her father. General Lane is called out to talk to them.

Jonathan once again tells off General Lane for acting like his secrets are helping anyone.

"Kyle" mocks Sarah's concern for her father and says that Kyle is dead.

"Kyle" recognizes Jonathan and says that he'll be the first to die when he finally escapes.

Clark has a private talk with Lana, as Superman, where he says he admires her courage.

Lara Lor-Van recognizes Superman as her son instantly.

According to Lara, the Kryptonians are a peaceful people who did not, for the most part, believe in Zeta-Rho's philosophy.

Lara confirms she had no intention of using her technology to supplant another race.

According to Lara, marriages were arranged through the great houses by genetic pairings for many years on Krypton and many older families still underwent the process, but marriages for reasons of love became more common before Krypton's fall.

In an act of pettiness, Zeta-Rho stole the sunstone crystal containing Lara Lor-Van's mind from Jor-El's rocket. This left Kal-El with only a hologram of his father to teach him of Krypton's culture and their family history. 

Clark tells Lara that he had a mother on Earth - a woman named Martha - and that she made sure he was raised properly and loved.  

Lara realizes from the way Clark looks at Lois that she must be his chosen love. Clark confirms this and tells Lara about Lois and their sons.

Jonathan tells Jordan that he should talk to Sarah alone.

Jonathan says he's never going to apologize for telling the truth but right now Jordan being there for Sarah will mean more than anything.

Sarah is upset because now she's afraid the last thing she said to her dad was calling him a drunk.

Leslie Larr informs Tal-Rho that the Eradicator has been captured, but Tal-Rho is not worried and asks her to get the others ready for their arrival.  She also says he believes his brother has chosen humanity and will not stand with them.

Superman meets with Tal-Rho and learns his history and why he wants to conquer humanity in the way that he does.

Tal-Rho's rocket landed in England, where it was found by a rural couple. Rather than being welcome, he was threatened, and killed them reflexively with his heat vision after the man brandished a gun. He was later captured and turned over to the British government, being experimented upon until he escaped around the time of his 19th year. He went on to take the name Morgan Edge and started building an empire to enact his father's plan.

Lara talks to Lois in private and asks what it is like to be with her son, before thanking her for having made all her dreams for the life her son would have on Earth come true.

Jordan apologizes to Sara for not making it to her performance in 109, but she says it's okay, guessing it had something to do with the craziness around her father. 

Jordan says he is sorta glad he wasn't there since it gave Sarah a good memory of her father.

Clark powers his mother's device by releasing all the energy in his body as a solar flare - a technique first executed in the Arrowverse in S106.

Tal-Rho flies away when he senses that Superman is up to something.

Clark activates his mother's device and all the possessed people are restored to normal.

Somehow, all the Kryptonians chasing Clark were safely placed on the ground in Smallville.

Sarah goes to confront her father and is there when Kyle goes back to normal.

The DoD cannot fine any sign of Morgan Edge or Superman. 

Superman crash-lands in some icy region, clearly almost powerless.

Tal-Rho meets with Leslie Larr at the Shuster Mine and says it is just them for now, but all is not lost.


Untelevised Adventures


Tal-Rho details how he came to Earth and became Morgan Edge.

We learn that Superman's mother had a first marriage and a son before she married Jor-El.


The Bottom Line

A little heavy on exposition, but with enough great character moments to keep things from getting too dull. However, the last five minutes and the best action sequence in the show's history more than make-up for it.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 13 - Masquerade

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

A familiar threat traps Cecile and Barry in a psychic prison, as Chester struggles to fills Cisco's shoes as Team Flash's tech guy. Luckily, an old friend arrives from out of town to lend a hand. Meanwhile, Joe begins to dig into Kristen Kramer's past and makes an unsettling discovery.

Influences

The comics of J.M. DeMatteis (psychological themes, presence of Sue Dearbon), Mission Impossible (referenced, the heist scenes) and The Fast and The Furious films (referenced by Chester)


Goofs


If Roger Hayden stole the Medusa Mask from the Kahndaqi embassy, why was he allowed to keep it while he was an inmate at Arkham Asylum? Shouldn't it have been taken into evidence and returned? And how the heck did Arkham Asylum justify taking the mask and donating it to an American museum once they learned what it was?

The design of the Medusa Mask has changed since it was last seen in Elseworlds. (Presumably an intelligent magical artifact like the Medusa Mask can change its appearance or it may have been altered by Crisis on Infinite Earths.)


Performances


Natalie Dreyfuss continues to be a delight as the Arrowverse's version of Sue Dearbon.


Artistry

The direction by Rachel Talalay is top-notch.

The asylum sets are well-lit and eerie, adding to the horror of the dream sequences. 


Flash Facts

This episode is the first to not include Carlos Valdes in the opening actor montage.

The opening sequence for this episode is in black-and-white.

Chester makes a reference to the number 52, saying a replacement cable he needs is on Aisle B, Shelf 52 of the Starchives.

Sue claims that she studied ballet at the DeMatteis Academy of Dance. This is a nod to comic writer J.M. DeMatteis who, while not the creator of Sue Dearbon, has probably co-written most of her most famous stories as part of the writing team for Justice League International.

Among the posters in Chester's redecorated lab are a large photograph of rapper Tupac Shakur. This episode originally aired on what would have been Shakur's 50th birthday.

The villain of this episode is revealed to be the Medusa Mask worn by a villain called the Psycho Pirate. This is an original conceit for the Arrowverse, as the Medusa Mask in the comics did not have an independent consciousness that manipulated its host

The first Psycho Pirate was a man named Charles Halstead, who was an enemy of the Justice Society. He based his crimes around emotions and had no powers besides being a master manipulator.

The second Psycho Pirate, Roger Hayden, was a career criminal who happened to meet Charles Halstead in prison. Wishing a legacy, Halstead told Hayden of the Medusa Masks - legendary artifacts that could control the emotions of others. Hayden found the masks, melted them into a single faceplate that gave him the power of them all, and gained the ability to manipulate the emotions of other people.

The Roger Hayden Psycho Pirate is notable as one of the few beings who knows of the existence of the Pre-Crisis DC Comics Universe, having been made into a servant of the Anti-Monitor but spared from the effects of having his memories altered - presumably due to his connection to the Medusa Mask.

The New 52 Roger Hayden was depicted as a powerful psychic whose powers were enhanced by the Medusa Mask. Otherwise he was largely the same character, save that he was quite insane due to his memories of the continually resetting universes. He was powerful enough, with the mask, that he was able to manipulate every mind in Metropolis at once without straining himself.

The Arrowverse version of Roger Hayden was an inmate at Arkham Asylum, who made a cameo during the Elseworlds event, in which he referred to the coming Crisis on Infinite Earths. However, nothing came of this cameo, as the Psycho Pirate had his storyline cut for time.

The Arrowverse version of Roger Hayden claimed to have gotten psychic powers from a mask he stole from the Kahndaqi  Embassy, but nobody believed him as he was insane. The mask is said to have been taken from him by the Arkham Asylum staff and donated to the Central City Museum.

Mention is made of the Kahndaqi embassy. Kahndaq is a fictional nation in the DC Comics universe, located in the Middle East, and is the homeland of Black Adam.

The psychiatric hospital where Cecile was a patient is identified as St. Carmine's. This may be a nod to Carmine Infantino - the artist who co-created the character of Cecile Horton. 

The is no real-world St. Carmine recognized by the Roman Catholic Church.


Technobabble

Barry notes that the CSIs on the Eric Frye case found butane at the scene of the crime, indicating human arson rather than metahuman based pyrokinetics.

When trapped in the mindscape, Barry's brainwaves oscillate at a rate of .5 hertz, which is typical of a coma patient.

Sue determines that the Mask of Medusa is currently locked up in the restoration lab of the Central City Museum. It's hermetically sealed and protected by a laser security grid that is sensitive enough to detect a dust mite. This, according to Sue, is not a problem.

The problem, according to Sue, is that the museum has a Montgomery vault with a password that changes daily and is known only to a single security guard at one time.

Chester suggests tracking Cecile by her unique neurological signal.

Chester looks for more neuro-fiber to repair the Memory Machine.


Dialogue Triumphs

Barry: Cecile... I'm never gonna know what it was like for you to go through all this. But I know what it's like to lose a mom. And to blame yourself for it, even when it's not your fault. It makes you want to take that pain and bury it under a mask. Away from the people you love. But masks don't heal wounds. They only hide them. Facing those wounds can be scary as hell, but it's the only way to start healing


Continuity

This episode takes two weeks after the events of 711 and the lightning bolt that struck Cecile.

Cecile's aunt is watching over Jenna, so that Cecile can focus on recovering from her injuries.

Joe has started researching Kristen Kramer's background since he left the GCPD, but every file he keeps finding involving her is classified or redacted to the point of being unreadable.

Reportedly, Kristen Kramer has replaced Joe as Captain.

Cecile gives Joe a file she came across while prepping a client who is a metahuman and an army vet. He apparently served with Kramer at Fort Dakota.

Joe drives to Fort Dakota to check their records in person.

Cecile is revealed to be locked up in a psychic landscape resembling an asylum and someone else is pretending to be her.

Chester has repainted and redecorated Cisco's workshop, bringing in posters and his own tools. He has, however, kept the old Pinball game - something Caitlin notes Frost will be thankful for.

Chester also set up stealth audio speakers around the lab, which play dance music whenever he claps his hands. Unfortunately, the system shorts out when he claps his hands twice to crank up the bass.

Chester offers to teach Caitlin how to dance - an offer she reluctantly accepts.

Chester is inventorying the Starchives and memorizing the locations of various things.

Chester stumbles across Barry and Iris "having fun" in the Starchives. They inform him of their decision to try and have a baby.

"Cecile" calls Barry in to get his opinion on a case involving Erik Frue - a pyrokinetic metahuman, who appeared in 416.

Barry asks why Cecile called him on this case, as she handled something similar years ago. This triggers his becoming trapped in the same landscape as the real Cecile.

Chester suggests that Cecile could use her powers to see if Barry is being mind-controlled, but she shrugs this off saying she's just an empath. However, Caitlin says she can at least determine if someone is manipulating his emotions.

Pushed to help, Cecile says that she can't sense Barry's emotions but feels something cold and mad, "like alight in the middle of the darkness, glowing like a gold mask."This leads Chester to conclude that the person manipulating Barry is the Psycho Pirate, based on the golden mask description in Cisco's Who's Who guide.

Reference is made to Roger Hayden, who appeared in S409. However, he is said to be a random madman who claimed to have superpowers but didn't.

Roger Hayden is said to have stolen the Medusa Mask from the Kahndaqi embassy. It was later donated to the Central City Museum by Arkham Asylum, where it is due to go on display in one day.

The Medusa Mask was said to have been used by the warrior Gilgamesh to imprison a powerful demon - or what might be considered today to have been an ancient psychic metahuman. Since that time, the mask has popped up around the world, falling into the possession of the Yoruba Tribe of Africa and a group of pirates.

The Medusa Mask moves from host to host, driving them insane before moving on.

Chester suggests using the cerebral inhibitor to break the Medusa Mask's hold on Barry, but Caitlin notes they would need the mask for that to work. This leads Chester to suggest calling in Sue Dearbon and getting her to pull a heist to steal the mask.

Cecile tells Barry she's been trapped in the psychic asylum since she was struck by lightning during the Force Storm. Barry reveals that was two weeks ago. (i.e. 711)

Barry says he thought the lighting that struck Cecile was the work of Psyche, but this doesn't feel the same as his illusions.

Barry realizes he doesn't have his powers in the mindscape and can't vibrate through the walls or doors to escape the cell.

Barry says the experience feels like when he was trapped in a psychic landscape by Grodd in 613. This leads him to conclude that they are trapped in a memory, but he has no idea whose memory.

When Sue says she can't hack the vault containing the Medusa Mask, Chester suggests that Cecile could empathically nudge the security guard into opening the vault to check on the Mask.

Sue tells Chester that this whole job feels too easy and that there's something weird about this whole situation.

Chester says he's sure this will all work out and notes this isn't even the first time he's had to save Barry's brain, making reference to 613.

Sue is a trained dancer, which gave her the moves to work her way through the laser grid and turning it into ballet. 

Cecile notes that the psychic asylum is a one-floor building. 

Barry finds a portal out of the mindscape, but it vanishes as he approaches it. This reveals a jabbering woman in a straight-jacket, who is revealed to be another version of Cecile.

Barry is forced to pass out by the crazy Cecile. This triggers an alarm in the medical lab at STAR Labs.

Sue is armed with tranquilizer darts, which she uses to knock out the guard once the vault is open.

Caitlin informs the rest of the team that she's detected a third mind in Barry's brain along with the second. This leads to the revelation that the Medusa Mask has already taken over Cecile.

The Mask, through Cecile's body, makes Sue tranquilize herself, saying that the new host shall serve her for eternity. 

Sue chews out Chester for not listening to her when she said this seemed like a set-up. This leads to Chester having a depressive episode because of his fears of not measuring up to Cisco.

Cecile comes clean with Barry and reveals that they are in her memories. The mindscape is modeled on the time she spent as a patient at St. Carmine's Psychiatric Hospital, outside Houston Texas.

Cecile had a mental breakdown during her first year of law-school, when she was interning at the District Attorney's office in Houston, Texas, following the death of her mother from cancer. Her mother died alone and Cecile blamed herself and her working too hard, even though her mother's prognosis was good.

Barry tells Cecile that he thinks the only way to escape is for her to acknowledge her past and confront her fears about being seen as crazy because she sought treatment for her mental health. Her resolution to try and face the other version of herself leads to Barry regaining his powers.

Iris gives Chester a pep talk about how his place is with Team Flash and how they've all made mistakes in the past.

Chester says he appreciates the talk, but he thinks the problem is less his scientific acumen and the fact that he barely knows the rest of the team after a year.

Chester has an intuitive leap that the Medusa Mask sought out Cecile thinking an empath would make for a stronger host, but to have a permanent host it needs something else to enhance itself - like the Thinker's Chair.

Chester has a crazy plan to stop the Medusa Mask. This ultimately boils down to Iris distracting it while he attacks the chair with a samurai sword. At the same time, Cecile confronts her past and reasserts control of her own body.

Sue apologies to Chester for being so harsh.

Sue says she's going to hang around Central City for a while since Ralph is still busy with another case. She invites everyone to drinks and a late dinner at her penthouse suite at the Lily Hotel.

Barry and Iris make sure Chester is aware that invitation includes him, despite him being more of a root beer kind of guy.

Chester accepts, but asks Barry and Iris to stop "getting freaky" in the Starchives when he is at work and just take a day off or go on vacation somewhere.

Cecile tells Joe about her time in the hospital and he assures her it is fine and he doesn't think any less of her.

Joe reveals that he found Kristen Kramer's record and determined that her last mission placed her in command with a squad meant to take out several strategic facilities - a mission that failed and ended with everyone, except Kramer, dead. Joe suspects that she was working with the enemy. 


Untelevised Adventures

Ralph Dibny is apparently busy with a case of his own, according to Sue Dearborn, which is why he didn't come to Central City with her.

Ralph and Sue apparently had an adventure in Tunisia which was much more complicated than the museum heist.


The Bottom Line

Well-directed, but badly written, with seemingly no purpose other than making a Very Special Episode point regarding the stigma of mental health. Definitely a worthy cause, but turning the Medusa Mask into the Helm of Nabu probably wasn't the best way to make the point. At least the performances are solid, even if half the cast has nothing to do for most of the episode.

Starman Plays Quest For Glory 2 VGA, The Thief Path - Part 21

Our busy Day 12 continues, as we set about saving the strange beast trapped in a cage in the desert by gathering the rest of the ingredients we need for a Dispel Potion.

Thursday, June 17, 2021

Batwoman Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 16 - Rebirth

 For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

When a familiar foe descends upon Gotham, Ryan and Mary find they must rely on each other more than ever. Alice has a has a new mission and gets an unexpected ally to join her, as Luke Fox makse a decision with the assistance of John Diggle.


Influences

Batwoman: Rebirth and the new 52 Batwing title.


Performances

David Ramsey has a brief but commanding performance as John Diggle.

Wallis Day has a commanding turn here, as both Circe Sionis and Kate Kane trying to break free of her programming.


Artistry

The nightmare sequences of Kate's mind being trapped in the Cartwright basement with Circe Sionis are truly horrific.


Technobabble

Jacob Kane uses a DNA scanner to confirm Circe Sionis is Kate Kane.

Luke has a tool for unsealing sealed digital court records.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Roman Sionis is watching the news with Safiyah on a monitor in his office.)
Roman Sionis:
I expose Kane as the godfather of a fraudulent security racket, and now these cloying half-wits in the fake news are crowning him a hero.
Safiyah: Haven't you done enough, Roman? You imprisoned the man's daughter, then brainwashed her into your own.
Roman Sionis: He murdered my Circe.
Safiyah: So toying with Kane's daughter is your way of... feeling better about him killing yours?
Roman Sionis: I apologize, Your Royal Highness, but when you gave me the details of Kate Kane's flight out of National City, you knew exactly what I had in mind for her.
Safiyah: Speaking of you owing me a favor, I was hoping to employ your daughter's services to settle my affairs in Gotham. I have reason to believe that Circe's unique attributes could benefit us both.
Roman Sionis: Whatever it is, I don't want her involved. She's finally got her life back.
Safiyah: Last I heard, she was running around with a tree stapled to her face.
Roman Sionis: Oh, she's ready to make her grand reentry into Gotham's influencer life. After all, my P.R. team covered up the incident that landed her in Arkham to begin with and her death, yada yada. They've put together a very millennial cover story to explain her disappearance. Three words... Malibu Rehab Retreat. This is the crown jewel.
(Roman clicks a remote control. The monitor switches to a make-up commercial. Circe is the model and the voice over artist.)
Circe:
A life lived but once is a life lived not at all. The newest line from Janus Cosmetics has arrived... Rebirth.
Roman Sionis: It wasn't enough that she believed she was my Circe. Between the new face and a strict regimen of Janus restorative burn cream, she now looks like her, too.
Safiyah: I know Enigma gave her Circe's memories, but who gave her Circe's face?
Roman Sionis: If you can believe it, that rambling sewer rat Alice.
Safiyah: You brought Kate Kane and Alice together? When was this?
Roman Sionis: Two days ago. Why?
Safiyah: Alice is Beth Kane, you idiot!

(Jacob's DNA scanner confirms Circe Sionis is Kate Kane.)
Jacob:
Heh. My god. It really is you.
Circe: You've got me confused with a dead girl.
Alice: No. You've got you confused with a dead girl.

(Alice and Ocean are walking away after Ocean politely introduced himself to Jacob while dropping off a bang full of Kate's belongings.)
Alice:
This "Mr. Kane" thing is definitely weird for me.
Ocean:  I want the guy to like me. Call me old-fashioned.
Alice: If you told me I'd be in the Crows headquarters with my father, my sister, and my... boy toy and I wouldn't be the one in cuffs...
Ocean: No one ever accused you of being predictable.

("Circe" describes being trapped in the same cell Alice was locked in as a child.)
Alice: That's the basement I spent my childhood in. You've been there. Do you remember?
"Circe": It's... it's more of a feeling. I'm... I'm screaming, but I can't get your attention.
Jacob: That... that's not what happened.
Alice: Maybe it's a metaphor. Circe's subconscious is a cell, and Kate needs me to free her.
Jacob:  How can you be sure?
Alice: Because it's all I ever wanted.

Batwoman: Are you Kate Kane?
Kate/Circe: Can I get back to you on that?

Tavaroff: Buddy, Gotham City is our town, and the House always wins.
(Tavaroff reveals his cards. The crowd cheers. It's a good hand.)  
Luke: I mean, people do say that. It's true. The House does win a lot because it cheats. But then sometimes, I mean, the House is just so damn stupid that it can cheat and still manage to lose.
(Luke reveals his cards. The crowd groans. It's a better hand.)
Diggle: Heh. The man made a straight.
Luke: What no applause for that... for that gut-shot straight draw? I mean, and the speech? No style points for that?
(Luke is answered with stony silence from the cops.)
Luke: Okay. Whatever.

Diggle: What you have to remember is that we all end up in the same place eventually, man, and you'll see your father soon enough. What changes with time is what you get to tell him you did while you were on the earth.
Luke: Okay. So... I'm just supposed to ignore the fact that I'm still angry as hell?
Diggle: No, brother. Don't ignore it. Use it. You carry the torch for the great Fox family. You stand for justice. You're gonna need anger to win that fight. 

Jacob: Yes, she's my daughter, and her name is Beth. She's not a monster. She's a victim of evil men and women who stole her childhood and manipulated her mind, of a father who... who didn't come through for her when she needed him. Beth has had the hardest life of anyone I've ever known, and yet... she has this humanity inside of her. I can't imagine ever having that strength, so if Gotham is angry at me, then so be it. I ask only this of them as a father. When you judge Alice for her crimes, remember Beth.

Safiyah: 
There's nothing left of Coryana. Your scorching was thorough and complete. Nine villagers perished in the blaze, so if you have managed to maintain a list after all these years, do include them in your grand total.
Alice: (defiant) You told me you had my sister. What did you expect?
Safiyah: If I'm honest, that. A tantrum Because at the end of the day, Alice, you're just a spoiled child who believes she deserves more than she's earned. 


Continuity


Batwoman saves a man with a briefcase from being killed by a ninja. The attack occurs at a rooftop lot above Harper's Plaza. The ninja gets away with the man's laptop.

Batwoman has to call 911 herself since Luke isn't manning the comms. Luckily the operator is a Batwoman fangirl.

Luke says he's going to need some more time to recover from his recent trauma before he can help in the Batcave again.

Russell Tavaroff is released on bond, making him a free man until he faces trial on charges of falsifying evidence to justify shooting an unarmed man.

Jacob Kane is being hailed as a hero in the local press for speaking out against the culture of corruption in the local police. This annoys Roman Sionis, who was trying to expose Jacob as the head of a fraudulent security company.

Roman Sionis is confirmed to have been working with Safiyah.

Roman was informed about Kate Kane's flight to National City in the Season 2 premier, thanks to Safiyah. 

Safiyah wants to recruit "Circe" to do a job for her, but Roman says he's trying to get his daughter back into her old life as an influencer and he's making her the face of his new make-up line: Rebirth.

Roman Sionis confirms that it has been two days since the events of 214 and Alice making a flesh mask for "Circe."

Roman had no idea Alice was Beth Kane; a fact that Safiyah informs him of, when he reveals that Alice was responsible for creating the mask that made Kate Kane into Circe Sionis.

Alice and Jacob Kane work together to kidnap "Circe."

Ryan breaks into a government safehouse, with Mary guiding her in place of Luke. She notes with disgust the safehouse has a bidet in the bathroom, yet she couldn't get hand soap built into the new community center.

The man Ryan saved earlier in the episode was a lawyer who worked with judges to place people in Witness Protection and relocate them into new lives. The laptop the ninja stole was full of top-secret information on the relocated witnesses

Sophie helped Mary with a few of the particulars, such as hacking the phone records of the lawyer to determine who he called to warn that their identity was compromised. The safehouse Ryan goes into belonged to the first man on the list.

Ryan determines the first witness on the list was blind.

Ryan finds the first witness dead, with a sword still stuck in him. She also finds the ninja, who she recognizes this time as Tatiana, who tells her to stay out of this as it isn't her fight.. 

Ocean delivers a bag of Kate's personal belongings to Crow's HQ, where Alice and Jacob run a DNA test confirming that she's Kate.

Alice explains that since they don't know the key phrase Enigma set up to deprogram "Circe" they will have to slowly job Kate's memory with familiar objects.

Jacob learns that Enigma transformed Kate into Alice and removed her capacity to love.

Mary and Ryan identify the blind man Tatiana killed as Ezra Castellanos - the man whose eyes were gouged out by Circe Sionis five years earlier - an incident first mentioned in 213.

The case around Ezra and Circe's incident was sealed by the courts, but Mary is able to use a tool Luke has to get around the seal. Circe was a model who claimed self-defense after being assaulted at a party. She was sent to Arkham and Ezra, fearful of retaliation from Roman Sionis, went into Witness Protection. 

Ryan asks Mary about Alice asking her if someone named Circe had come after her in 215.

Luke uses a fake GCPD ID to get into a private club for police officers and security personnel

Luke confronts Tavaroff, whom he notes won the Crow's Hold 'Em tournament for two years in a row He says he just came to play some poker.

The altercation between Tavaroff and Luke is witnessed by John Diggle; ARGUS agent, former vigilante and Oliver Queen's brother in arms.. Diggle was last seen in F610.

Kate liked punk rock as a teenager.

Jacob shows "Circe" a bag which he found a joint in. He grounded her for the entire summer, but it turned out to be the best summer of her life.

Alice tells "Circe" about how Kate had a huge crush on a girl named Jenny Goldberg because she was a skateboarder.

Alice gives "Circe" a mug with "MIND READER" spelled out in rainbow letters. It was a gift from when Kate was struggling to cell her sister that she was a lesbian but Beth had already figured it out and made the mug to let Kate know she knew and was okay with it.

"Circe" says that she's having visions of being locked in a basement room that smells of formaldehyde Alice recognizes the description as August Cartwright's basement lab.

.Kate's mind emerges briefly after Alice takes her hand and says she's going to free her.

Ryan calls Luke to ask for his help, but he says he's busy with the poker tournament.

Luke says he wanted to die and that he's too depressed over the state of the world to want to live in a world where he gets shot for no reason and the gunman gets out of jail in a day and is confident the charges will be dropped.

Jacob calls Mary and tells her that Kate is alive and with him at Crow's HQ.

Jacob also tells Mary that Roman Sionis is Black Mask and that he brainwashed Kate into thinking she was his daughter, Circe.

Mary tells Jacob they think Circe is connected to Safiyah somehow, just before Tatiana and the False Face Society storm Crow's HQ. 

Jacob is captured by the False Face gang.

Alice tells Kate/Circe to run. She escapes, but is captured by Tatiana.

Mary calls Ryan while she's enroute to Crow's HQ and tells her that her father matched Kate's DNA to "Circe" and that she's been hypnotized to believe she is Circe Sionis.

Mary makes reference to the skull fragment evidence Julia Pennyworth had that Kate was dead from 209.

Ryan finds Kate and brings her back to Wayne Tower.

John Diggle introduces himself with his real name and says he's from Star City, in town on a contract for ARGUS.

Luke is able to win the final game and clean out Tavaroff by pulling a straight.

Jacob is taken before Roman Sionis. He reveals that he knows he is Black Mask.

Roman Sionis, in turn, reveals that he knows Beth Kane is Alice and that he intends to reveal that to te press.

Roman also reveals that his False Face society includes several GCPD officers, including the two in the room, who arrest Jacob with aiding and abetting Alice's escape from the police

Roman threatens to kill what family Jacob has left after making them suffer greatly if he tries to reveal anything about the Sionis family to the press.

Tavaroff attacks Luke in an alley after the poker game, but is stopped by John Diggle.

Kate/Circe told Ryan about how Jacob and Alice were trying to jog her memory at Crow's HQ before the False Face goons and Tatiana attacked.

Mary greets Kate/Circe in Kate's office, but isn't recognized.

Kate/Circe does recognize Sophie Moore, who arrives shortly after that.

In Kate's mind, Circe Sionis begins to threaten the teenage Kate. 

Mary injects Kate with a syringe full of benzos - something she's taken to carrying on her as it's a handy weapon in Gotham City.

Ryan, Mary and Sophie guess that Tatiana probably captured Alice to take her to Safiyah, so she could get revenge for the destruction of the Desert Rose fields.

Ryan says she will give up the last Desert Rose in the Batcave to save Alice's life, if Alice really is the key to restoring Kate's memories. This still leaves them with the problem of finding Safiyah.

Diggle heard of Lucius Fox's case and put together some hints as to who Luke was during the poker game.

Diggle tells Luke about how his father was a marine who died while deployed overseas when he was a boy.

Diggle tells Luke he understand what it's like to lose a father and be angry about injustice, but you have to do something to make Earth a better place before you can go be with your dad. He advises him to take his anger and use it to help others.

Luke notices that Diggle seems pained. Diggle confirms that he's had some fogginess and dizziness lately. When Luke offers to call in a contact at Gotham General's world-renowned neurology lab, Diggle says he's already got an appointment with them the next morning.

Diggle notices that the Bat Signal is blinking in Morse code. He and Diggle both recognize the message - NEED FOX HELP.

A news report reveals that Jacob Kane was arrested and word has been leaked that Beth Kane is Alice.

Jacob tells the reporter Dana DeWitt that Alice is his daughter and that she's the victim of evil me who manipulated her and that nobody can judge her.

Luke is informed that Kate is still alive.

Luke is able to track down where Safiyah is in Gotham.

Ryan goes to Safiyah as Batwoman and offers her Desert Rose plant for Alice's life. Safiyah agrees to the trade.

Ryan tells Safiya about how the plant is the last connection she has to her adoptive mother. When Safiyah asks why she would trade it for Alice, Ryan says that revenge is short-lived and she owes Kate Kane a debt for the symbol she created and the chance it gave her at a better life.

Safiya has never met Kate Kane before.

As Ryan and Alice leave, Alice gloats that she's gotten away with everything. Safiyah merely says again that Alice believes she deserves more than she earned. It is then that Alice notices Tatiana is not there.

Sophie stays with Kate, as Circe takes over her body again. However, Circe is beginning to realize she's not in her own body

Alice ditches Ryan to go find Ocean.

Alice finds Tatiana and kills her, before finding Ocean's body.

Mary talks to Jacob on the phone. He tells her the judge granted his petition to be transferred to a prison in Metropolis and to change the venue of his trial to Metropolis as well.

Jacob tells Mary not to bother trying to help him win his case as Roman Sionis has the deck stacked too heavily against him. He also tells her to work with Alice so they can maybe get Kate and Beth back.

"Circe" escapes and returns to Roman Sionis, demanding to know why she has Kate Kane's memories, DNA, finger prints and how she knew where she hid the booze in her office.

Safiyah appears and threatens to tell "Circe" the truth, if Roman doesn't.


The Bottom Line

An amazing episode, despite being packed full of exposition and a need to reveal various secrets to various characters and catch them all up on what we, as the audience know. Still, there are a lot of great character moments, some effective horror imagery and, for extra added pleasure, a John Diggle cameo kicking off a new Arrowverse storyline.