Thursday, March 31, 2022

Starman Plays Sam and Max Hit The Road - Part 8

In which we travel to Evelyn Morrison's Savage Jungle Inn and, after meeting the savage Evelyn Morrison, we start traveling around the country to assemble what we need to make a convincing Bigfoot costume.

It makes sense in context.

(No, it doesn't.)

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 8, Episode 8 - The Fire Next Time

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

Plot

When an paroled metahuman criminal is accused of murder in a seemingly open-and-shut case, Barry goes all-out in both his personas to see justice done. Meanwhile, Iris tries to give Allegra an opportunity to mentor a new writer.


Influences

Law and Order (the episode is more concerned with legal proceedings than usual.)


Goofs

Cecile's new rule against using her powers to read if people are guilty or innocent seems to have been introduced only to prolong the drama of the episode and the question of whether or not Jaco Birch has become a killer. (It's also somewhat nonsensical given the whole reason Cecile became a defense attorney in the first place was so that her work as a lawyer wouldn't harm innocent people, after almost sending Allegra Garcia to prison.)

Iris' behavior as editor-in-chief is completely unprofessional. No serious head editor would allow a staff writer to go behind the back of a lower ranked editor after having a pitch rejected. (This is not to say this sort of thing does not happen at less than reputable publishers, but it's hard to make Iris look at all competent when she does this sort of thing, especially after the revelation at the end that Taylor is scheming to take Allegra's job.) It nothing else, Iris should have made it clear that she was trying to get Allegra to mentor Taylor instead of trusting Allegra to automatically work to help the newer writer to develop a weak idea.

Jaco's confrontation with Donna Winters doesn't make a lot of sense unless he is guilty.

Jaco's being treated like a hero for stopping a volcano from destroying Central City falls flat considering it was his powers that accidentally created he eruption in the first place.


Performances

The scene of Joe and Barry discussing Barry's father and Jaco's case is a great moment for Jesse L. Martin and Grant Gustin.


Flash Facts

The title of the episode comes from an essay by James Baldwin about racism in America.

The social media influencer Taylor wants to interview is a woman named Rose Levin. In the comics, Rose Levin was an ancestor of Booster Gold, who wrote a popular blog devoted to proving that Booster Gold was also the hero Supernova.


Technobabble

Barry notes that Stan Mullen's body is burned all the way through, but there's no fire damage to the ground underneath his corpse or any signs of fire damage elsewhere in the bar. This suggests a metahuman attack, as nothing else could create a fire that violates the laws of physics in that way.

Chester confirms the local dark matter readings are consistent with a metahuman attack.

Barry's tomography reports regarding Donna Winter's body confirm the thermal lesions on her body match the marks on Stan Mullen's body exactly. Barry says there is no pyrokinetic meta who could replicate burns like that even if they tried.

Jaco Birch's powers are tied to his emotional state, with his fire becoming hotter the more angry he is.

Chester cross-references the heat signature from both murder victims and determines the signatures produced an anomalous heat effect created by non-composites reacting to hydrogen isotopes, i.e. cold fusion. This proves that Jaco Birch can't be the killer since his powers come from absorbing heat and redirecting it as fire.

Jaco's powers are tied to the earth beneath wherever he's standing. When he became upset at the thought of losing his son, he absorbed so much heat from the planet's core that he opened up a lava channel under Central City.

The Flash phases into the water table under the city releases it directly into the lava channel. This stops the eruption but not the massive heat exchange that would have cooked the city if Jaco hadn't used his powers to absorb the heat.


Dialogue Triumphs

Barry: Joe, the look in my dad's eyes that night... It was the same look in Birch's eyes when they arrested him. Look of an innocent man... desperate not to lose his son... Begging someone to believe him.
Joe: And you do.
Barry: Yeah, I do. I just keep thinking about all the time my dad lost. (sighs) All the birthdays we spent, separated by plexiglass. I can't let Birch and his son go through that if he's innocent. (inhales deeply) I don't know. Maybe the team's right. Maybe I'm making something out of nothing. You think maybe I've had blinders up this whole time?
Joe: Maybe. Or... You can see something they can't. Look, what you went through, I wouldn't wish on anyone. But what it did, was it gave you the ability to believe in the underdog when no one else is willing to. So... If your gut tells you... To not give up on Birch... Then for Henry's sake, don't. Not yet.


Dialogue Disasters

Barry: The fact that Birch ran away doesn't change the evidence. There's still nothing directly tying him to Mullen's death.
Cecile: Sure, Barry, sure, but fleeing custody is not exactly exculpatory, and I am saying that as his lawyer.


Continuity

The episode opens at O'Shaughnessy's, where bartender Donna Winters leaves manager Stan Mullen alone.

Smoke fills the bar just before Stan is burned to death.

A calendar reveals that it is February 1st.

Iris suggests going out to dinner until she sees the calendar, at which point she suggest that she and Barry have a night in or that they both call in sick. Barry dismisses this, however, saying there's too much going on at work and that it is "just another day." It is later revealed that it is Dr. Henry Allen's birthday.

Chester is revealed to have a fear of fire.

After looking at the crime scene and hearing from Donna that Stan had gotten into an argument with a patron the night before, he recalls something and shows her a photo asking if she recognizes the man in it. She confirms that she does. 

The man in question is Jaco "The Hotness" Birch.

Jaco first appeared in 416, where he accidentally gained the powers of Eric Frye because of Melting Pot. It is unclear if he never lost the powers afterward or if he regained fire-generation powers following Crisis on Infinite Earths. In any case, he apparently served time for arson at Iron Heights and was recently paroled due to his good behavior.

Chester notes that Jaco was a thief, not a killer, from what he knew of his record.

Barry notes that Jaco never had the fine control needed to kill someone without burning a building down.

The CC Citizen is starting a new "citizen of the week" profile feature. 

Taylor Downs requested she be allowed to write about social influencer Rosie Levin for the first feature.

Allegra rejected the pitch, believing Rosie Levin to be the sort of pseudo-celebrity CC Media shouldn't give a platform.

Iris reveals that Taylor went to her after Allegra rejected the pitch and she approved it, saying that they need the clicks Rose Levin's 500,000 social media followers might bring in.

Allegra is not happy that her authority is being ignored. Iris says that it's her privilege as Editor In Chief to make decisions Allegra disagrees with.

To add insult to injury, Iris assigns Allegra to interview Rosie Levins with Taylor.

The CCPD approach Jaco Birch as he's showing his son Harold around his new job as an arena security guard. Harold is less than impressed.

The Flash steps in and knocks Jaco into a fountain before he can use his powers.

As Jaco is being taken away by the police in front of his son, he proclaims his innocence in a way that causes Barry to start having flashbacks of his father's arrest.

Barry approaches Cecile and asks for her advice regarding Jaco' case. Cecile agrees to represent Jaco, but refuses to use her powers to read if he is guilty or innocent.

Cecile says the case against Jaco is open-and-shut, due to his having means, motive and opportunity, in addition to the witness who saw him threatening Stan Mullen before his death.

Allegra zones out of the interview with Rose Levin, after she talks about quitting college because she found the university environment to be like a prison.

Allegra recognizes a janitor at CC Jitters as Lydia, a woman she served time with in Iron Heights.

Lydia recognizes Allegra and reads her the riot act for forgetting where she came from and not using her position to help people who are struggling.

Allegra says Lydia is right and she's going to write about her.

Jaco is concerned about his son, who was neglected by his mother while Jaco was in prison.

Jaco says his love for his son was what made him work so hard to get paroled, having his four year sentence commuted somewhat.

According to Jaco, his argument with Stan Mullen was regarding a guitar she was trying to sell. Stan only wanted to pay half what he had previously agreed.

Barry says he believes Jaco is innocent, but nobody else is convinces after Jaco escapes from the truck transporting him to holding.

Jaco confronts Donna Winters and threatens her if she doesn't recant her testimony.

Barry makes reference to Frost going on the run after Chillblaine framed her in 707 as proof Jaco could be innocent.

Donna Winters' body is found, burned in the same way as Stan Mullen's, behind O'Shaughnessy's.

Chester agrees to take a look at the data, but he's convinced Jaco is guilty too.

Barry sets up a murder board in his lab at CCPD.

Joe checks on Barry and says it's been eight years since he saw one of those, in reference to the one Barry made for his father's case.

Joe recalls that Henry Allen missed his 45th birthday party due to an emergency call. Henry was disappointed, but Joe comforted him saying there would be other birthday parties. Unfortunately, it was the last one he enjoyed as a free man.

Allegra writes about Lydia what what ex-cons like here are going through to make ends meet.

Iris agrees its a much better piece than Taylor's fluff piece, but says it isn't what she wanted her to write. She also wanted Allegra to mentor Taylor and help her develop her idea to be more in depth.

Despite this, Iris decides to run Allegra's piece as the first CC Citizen of the Week profile.

Chester finds proof that Jaco can't be the killer. Unfortunately, it comes as he attacks the social services worker transporting his son.

An earthquake begins shaking the city as Jaco is holding up the convoy.

With the Flash advising him, Jaco is able to stop the eruption and save the city.

Jaco is found innocent and given custody of his son.

Allegra tries to apologize to Taylor, but she swears to destroy Allegra.

Henry Allen was bad at softball and liked lite beer.

Henry Allen never made Barry clean his plate as a child and read him the same bedtime story whenever he wanted it - a story about a hippo trying to make friends by making cookies.

Barry asks Chester to look for more victims who died from cold fusion heat.


The Boomerang Factor

Iris is made to look utterly incompetent as an editor-in-chief, allowing Taylor to ignore the chain of command while giving Allegra a hard time for demanding her authority be respected. She also doesn't make it clear that she was trying to give Allegra some managerial experience mentoring Taylor.

Granting that Jaco Birch is presented as a hot-tempered idiot, his efforts to escape prison, confront the woman who accused him or murder and kidnap his son from social services are idiotic even by the standards of a Flash villain.


The Bottom Line

There's a good idea here and some great acting from Grant Gustin. Unfortunately, all the scenes of Joe and Barry bonding can't make up for how contrived the plot with The Hotness is and how idiotic Iris' storyline is, in how it twists reality to try and make Iris out to be this brilliant boss while she's undermining Allegra and failing to communicate her expectations beyond "because I said so."

Starman Plays Sam and Max Hit The Road - Part 7

In which, having gleaned the location of Frog Rock and uncovered its mystic secrets, we journey to the wretched hive of scum and villainy that is Bumpusville. Thrill at the edutainment content regarding noted naturalist John Muir and the cheesly rendered virtual reality of the 1990s... which somehow looks slightly better than the cheesily rendered virtual reality of the 2020s.

Monday, March 28, 2022

Superman and Lois: Season 2, Episode 8 - Into Oblivion

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

Plot

Clark is left struggling to find a way to make Natalie see him as something other than a threat, when it becomes clear John Henry is still suffering mental trauma from the fight with Bizarro. Meanwhile, Lois and Sam search for Lucy as Ally Allston moves forward with her plans for ascension and Jonathan confronts the consequences of his actions.


Influences

Crisis on Infinite Earths (the opening sequence and flashbacks involving how Natalie got to Earth-Prime) and Poltergeist (the crossing into Bizarro world sequence.)


Performances

Jordan Elsass has the hardest job in this episode, making Jonathan sympathetic and noble despite some patently stupid decisions. The fact that he's successful is a credit to his talent.


Artistry

The scenes with Jordan fighting to save Jonathan are fantastic, being cinematic while also evoking feelings of the old Smallville series.


Super Trivia

The opening sequence of this episode seems to confirm that John Henry's battle with the evil Superman of his Earth took place during the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths.

The AI in Natalie's escape pod is named Hedy. Presumably this is in honor of Hedy Lamarr, who invented frequency hopping, which lay the groundwork for modern portable phones.


Technobabble

Hedy detects a temporal anomaly moving through our galaxy, which is compromising the integrity of our dimension.

According to John Henry's doctor, confusion is normal with his type of brain trauma and temporary. He agrees to order a new wave of tests to check for infection or nerve or blood vessel damage at Natalie's urging. 

Thanks to John Henry's actions, the Department of Defense can track the Bizarro pendant using its unique heat signature.

Superman cannot see into the lead-lined Shuster Mines, but he can hear Chrissy Beppo's cries for help just fine.


Dialogue Triumphs

Clark: Natalie blames me for what happened.
Lois: Don't beat yourself up, Clark. You heard the doctor. John Henry's memory issue is temporary.
Clark: Yeah, but she's not wrong. He got hurt saving me.
Lois: She'll come around. They both need time to heal.
Clark: Ugh, I don't want to do this right now.
Lois: Neither do I, but we have to know what Jon knows about those drugs, Clark, or he is never getting back into that school.
Clark: Rochambeau?
(The two play rock-paper-scissors. Lois wins. Clark winces. Lois smirks.)

Jordan: I'm meeting up with Sarah and Aubrey.
Jonathan: No way. Like, the girl that kissed Sarah, Aubrey? Why? Why would you do that?
Jordan: Mostly 'cause of you.
Jonathan: What?
Jordan: (sighs) When Sarah asked me, I said yes, 'cause I was distracted by some townie yelling at Candice about money for X-K inhalers.
Jonathan: So you're gonna use your powers to rat me out to Mom and Dad now?
Jordan: No, man. I'm just trying to understand. You're doing all this for her? She's a drug dealer, Jon.
Jonathan: Jordan, she's doing it to help out her dad because he's broke, okay? It's just the two of them, and if they get kicked out, they'll literally have nowhere to go.
Jordan: And you care about her that much?
Jonathan: What, like you're the only one that can do something sketch to help their girlfriend?
Jordan: I guess you're right, but going on the most awkward date ever isn't exactly on the same level as, you know, breaking the law.
Jonathan: Hm...mm, yeah, you're right. Yours is way worse.

Kyle: So what would you say to people wondering how you'll keep scandal out of Smallville when you can't even keep it out of your own home?
Lana: I'd say that my personal life is none of their business.
Kyle: Well, that's not really an answer, Lana.
Lana: It's not really a question. It's a judgment from jerks with a question mark at the end. The moderator is Dean's hunting buddy.
Kyle: Right, so judgment is pretty much the only dish she's gonna be serving. So again, how are you gonna keep scandal--
Lana: I never brought scandal into our house! You did! But because I'm a woman, this is now a commentary on me. And that's not fair, and it's all because of your stupid mistake!
(There is a pregnant pause.)
Kyle: You're right.
Lana: I know. I know, okay? It doesn't make it okay to emotionally barf all over this room.
Kyle: Well, hey, look. Maybe you just needed to get that out of your system. Just take a breath, and, um, back to the question.
Lana: (sighs) Back to the question. Right. Okay. Unpredictable things happen in life. We all know that. The real question is how you respond to it in the face of a crisis. Is it with honesty and integrity? Because it's what I've tried to do in my personal life and what I promise to do as mayor of Smallville. I will never waver when it comes to trying to do what's right for my family and for this town.
(There is another pause. Kyle smiles.)
Kyle: Now, that's an answer right there. 


Continuity

The opening sequence is said to take place one year ago

As John Henry goes to face Superman, Natalie detects a temporal anomaly that is destroying reality. She gets into her escape pod to try and warn her father, who won't be able to pick up her broadcasts once he leaves orbit.

In the present, Natalie helps John Henry with shaving his head and notes he might get a scar on his scalp. He jokes that it will match the one on his face.

When Lois and Clark come into John Henry's hospital room, he is momentarily confused and thinks Lois is his wife.

Clark tries to comfort Natalie, but she refuses to listen to his assurances that her father will be okay.

Kyle picks up Sophie and Sarah and takes them out for breakfast before school.

Kyle offers to help Lana with her debate prep, but she turns him down.

Jonathan finds out that lots of parents called the Kents and told them they didn't want their son anywhere near their children.

Clark also tells Jonathan that the principal decided to cancel the entire football season and all of the team's wins had to be forfeited, since Jonathan refuses to tell anyone who was selling the X-Kryptonite and the sheriff is stone-walled on finding out which team members might have been using it.

Jonathan will be allowed to take classes on-line so that he won't miss a grade.

Jonathan has also been set up with a job at Brit & Dunn's general store and is forbidden from being anyplace else but work or home.

Jordan once again asks Jonathan who he is protect, but Jonathan refuses to speak.

Anderson speaks to the Bizarro World Ally Allston and tells her that they have both pendants on Earth-Prime. She gives him a message to give to her other self.

The message Anderson gives to Ally Allston is "Come here now."

Chrissy gets a call from Ally inviting her to cover something big. She calls Lois to tell her she's going in a van being sent by Ally's organization.

The people in the van are wearing strange outfits that resemble Hazmat Suits or Space Suits.

Sarah says it has been one week since her quinceañera in 205.

Sarah still hasn't forgiven her father, but he says he is trying to be there for her, which she appreciates.

Sarah tells Jordan about her meeting with Audrey in 207 and suggests they all hang out together. Jordan is uncomfortable with the idea, but agrees quickly after overhearing an argument between Jonathan's girlfriend, Candice, and a strange older man trying to get into the school.

Jordan overhears the argument with his super-hearing and that the man is asking Candice for money.

Jordan intervenes, but the man says Candice had better have his money by tonight.

Sam Lane is temporarily out of retirement and back on active duty, leading the manhunt for Anderson.

Superman is back in the good graces of the Department of Defense and got a formal apology from General Hardcastle.

Sam Lane discovers that the pendant had been stolen from where it should have been when Anderson went AWOL.

Ally and her followers take Chrissy to the Shuster Mines.

Lucy sends a text to Lois and Sam that sounds like a good-bye, saying she is tired of feeling incomplete.

Sam has the ability to track Lucy's phone. He does so while Clark checks her home.

Ally reveals that there is a portal to what she calls the Inverse World in the Shuster Mines and that Kit Falkner found it before her death.

Ally and her followers start going into the portal, but most of them scream before they disappear.

Anderson takes Yellow Mist before snatching the pendants from Ally Allston and vanishing.

Superman stops Ally, Chrissy and one man from entering the portal before it vanishes. 

4 of Ally's followers, including Anderson, apparently went across. Lucy Lane is presumed to be one of the other four.

Clark forgets to pick up John Henry and Natalie at the hospital because of the crisis at the mines. John Henry forgives him, but Natalie tells him off.

Lois goes to the Department of Defense with Sam to watch Ally Allston be questioned.

Natalie was put into hibernation for six months while she was trapped between worlds.

Jordan figures out that Claudia was the X-Kryptonite dealer Jonathan was trying to protect.

Jordan agrees to keep Jonathan's secret after learning he was trying to protect Candice, who he loves.

Lana asks Kyle for help with the debate after Emily bails on her.

Kyle tells Lana they have to prepare for Dean to attack her on Family Values because that's his most likely point of attack because she can't be touched on actual policy.

Sam tries to grill Ally, but she turns the tables on him and says she knows he has a hole in him from when his wife left him.

Lois tries to question Ally, but she refuses to speak to her without a lawyer present.

Sam blames himself for Lucy's death and tells Lois she was right about Ally all along.

Clark talks with John Henry about Natalie. He suggests he put in some time with her to prove he isn't the monster who killed her mother.

Clark hears someone in Lucy's apartment. He goes there and finds Lois, desperately looking for some proof Lucy is hiding somewhere.

Candice meets with Jonathan at his work. She identifies the man who was bugging her about money as Mickey.

Candice says she is staying with her friend Kim. Jonathan offers to walk her home.

Jonathan's boss is Mr. Olowe. 

Candice tells Jonathan that she loves him because he makes her laugh even when things are bad.

Mickey and several of his friends follow Jonathan and Candice.  

Mickey uses X-Kryptonite and throws Jonathan when he tries to defend her.

Jordan overhears the fight before going to the diner to meet Sarah and Aubrey.

Jordan helps to drive off Mickey and his friends.

Clark finds Natalie and John Henry a place to rent that isn't the Kent barn. It is revealed to have an old machine shop.

Jordan skips out on meeting with Sarah and Aubrey, due to his knuckles being bloody and him being bruised in a way that can't be easily explained.

Lucy shows up at the Kent house. She says that Lois' warnings finally got to her and she bailed on Ally and her followers as they were going to the mines.

Sam takes Lucy back to her place.

Lucy comments that Sam has loosened up, and that the old Sam Lane would never go to brunch or wear Hawaiian shirts. 

Kyle asks Lana if she'll ever forgive him but she doesn't answer as she realizes she's late in picking up Shopie.

Kyle says he has his own place now and isn't living at the firehouse anymore.

Jonathan tells Clark and Lois that he walked Candice home. Clark tells him that from now on he is to be at work or home or moving between them with on exceptions.

Lois says she thinks that was kind of harsh given Jonathan was walking his girlfriend home at night.

Jonathan thanks Jordan for saving him.

Jordan asks Jonathan why he couldn't just tell him he was trying to protect Candice. Jonathan said he thought Jordan had enough on his plate without being his secret-keeper too.

Lucy drugs Sam and takes his work ID, revealing that she was left behind as the fail-safe in case something happened to keep Ally from going into the Inverse-World.


Location

John Henry and Natalie Irons' unnamed Earth, One Year Ago.
Bizarro World


Untelevised Adventures

This episode marks the first time Jordan has used super-speed. Given how good a handle he has on it, this suggests he has been practicing that ability off-camera for some time.


The Bottom Line

Another amazing episode, where all the subplots are firing on eight cylinders.

Friday, March 25, 2022

Starman Plays Sam and Max Hit The Road - Part 6

In which we go through extraordinary lengths to acquire a lengthy piece of twine, because (as Max points out) you always need a long piece of string in a game like this! We then explore the wonders of the Mystery Vortex and seek some cosmic wisdom to find the missing bigfeet.

Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Starman Plays Sam and Max Hit The Road - Part 5

In which we enter a whole new world... of fish! We also have another encounter with our villain, Conroy Bumpus, before taking in the wonder of the largest ball of twine in the world!

Monday, March 21, 2022

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 8, Episode 7 - Lockdown

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

Plot

When Goldface launches a bold raid on CCPD HQ, Barry will have to work around Captain Kristen Kramer to save the day. Meanwhile, Caitlin learns a valuable lesson after accidentally running into Chillblaine and Frost while on a date.


Goofs

It is impossible to believe that Barry Allen, even as a CSI, would not be intimately familiar with the procedure for arresting a perpetrator and making the charges known to the police officers when he hands them over for a formal arrest. (If nothing else, you'd think he could write up an official statement at super-speed!)

It's even more impossible to believe that neither Joe West nor Cecile Horton would approach Barry about his apparent habit of leaving criminals tied up in CCPD HQ with no indication of what they did so they could be properly charged.

It's particularly unbelievable that the CCPD doesn't have a process for making sure its many supervillains are properly processed by its many superheroes.

Allowing that it's possible for Barry to be surprised by a gas attack, he should have recovered before the other police officers given his accelerated healing.

Why, out of all the places she could take her new boyfriend, did Caitlin take him to O'Shaughnessy's - the bar all the villains hang out and and where Chillblaine used to work? (It's possible she was intentionally trying to force a confrontation but Caitlin's dialogue suggests it wasn't intentional.)

There should probably be some kind of oversight that prevents Captain Kramer from sending the experimental anti-meta bullets (which she commissioned in the first place) to ARGUS without informing anyone.

Given that she's in contact with ARGUS and military minded, you'd think Captain Kramer would consult with them about some kind of metahuman training program rather than waiting to ask The Flash about controlling her powers. (Come to that, you'd expect the CCPD to require her to be trained in using her powers safely.)

While Goldface's efforts to educate his henchmen are laudable, it seems unlikely that he'd try to get his right-hand interested in literature by giving him a rare first edition of a book he'd never read.

Frost says that Chillblaine got her tickets to an underground rave in Keystone city. Underground raves are not ticketed events.


Performances

Grant Gustin, Jesse L. Martin and Danielle Nicolet are to be commended for keeping a straight face reading their dialogue in their scene together.

Conversely, Damion Poitier steals the show by refusing to treat his farcical dialogue with any degree of seriousness.


Flash Facts

Frost and Chillblaine's karaoke team name is The Ice Pack. In the comics, the Ice Pack was also the name of a supervillain team made up of villains with cold gimmicks, including Mr. Freeze, Captain Cold, Killer Frost, Blue Snowman, Mister Blizzard and Icicle. 


Technobabble

Chester shows off a self-flying drone based off of an AI algorithm he created on his podcast.

There are 0.35 grams of gold in a cell phone, which is apparently enough for Goldface to be able to use his powers to control phones.

Marcus tries to comfort Caitlin by telling her that last week he screwed up the blooming cycle for the Selenicereus grandiflorus he was growing at work.

The anti-meteahuman bullets contain trace amounts of dark matter.

According to Marcus, the pads of the Opuntia cacti pair perfectly with an agave spirit.

Barry is able to reset the scanner in his lab from infrared to infrasonic, turning it into a make-shift sonic stunner device that allows him and Kramer to escape Goldface.

Barry theorizes that meta-dampener cuffs short out trying to cancel out a power mimic's powers because they release RNA energy pulses that repress metagenes. Since Kramer's DNA is constantly morphing based on her adrenaline levels and proximity to other metahumans, this overloads the cuffs, which were not designed with erratic gene fluctuation in mind.


Dialogue Disasters

Too many to list, but the fact that Caitlin is dating a plant expert named Marcus Ficus pretty much sums up most of the episode's attempts at humor.


Continuity


Team Flash now has an official monitor duty roster. As the episode opens, Chester is on duty.

Chester has a Supergirl lunchbox.

Chester and his grandmother trade off on making egg salad for one another's lunches.

The events of this episode take place on a Wednesday.

Allegra shows up unannounced at STAR Labs, intending to take Chester out to lunch at Hershfield's, - a place that makes amazing chicken parmesan sandwiches.

As they are about to leave, Chester is alerted to a hold-up at Jitters, a mugging off Route 119 and a carjacking at Edwards Center.

Barry takes care of all three crimes in less than a minute and leaves the offenders tied up in CCPD HQ's lobby.

Captain Kramer complains to Barry that it will take them the rest of the day to figure out just what the criminals did since The Flash didn't leave a report or any evidence they can use. She wishes she had some way to contact The Flash directly.

Joe and Cecile think Kramer has a point, given that they had a direct line to Barry and the new CCPD doesn't have that benefit.

Barry is reluctant to give Kramer a "Flash Phone" and instead resolves to make it easier on the police by redoubling his efforts to find good evidence as a CSI.

Chester's science podcast is called The Runkyard.

Caitlin complains that Chillblaine keeps taking Frost on ridiculous dates like skydiving and clogging their social media with cutesy couple pictures.

Caitlin is meeting her new boyfriend, Dr. Marcus Ficus, for dinner at The Spanish Hamper, which is apparently the hottest restaurant in town.

This will be Caitlin's third date with Marcus.

Chester speculates on if Marcus will soon be part of Team Flash or develop plant control powers.

Barry hustles to get all the evidence needed to convict the three criminals The Flash caught, but Kramer still isn't satisfied and wants a way to talk to The Flash.

Someone gasses CCPD HQ, knocking out all the cops, including Barry.

When the police wake up, they are all wearing meta-dampener cuffs and are being held hostage by Goldface. The cuffs also explode if the wearer tries to use their powers.

Goldface reasoned that with one metahuman now running the CCPD, there were good odds that there were other metahumans on the force.

Goldface recognizes Barry as The Chemist - the villain name he used when he first encountered Goldface while undercover in 513.

Caitlin accidentally made her dinner reservations at The Spanish Hamper for January next year. She decides to take him to O'Shaughnessy's - the bar that is a frequent hangout for meta-criminals where Chillblaine used work.

It's karaoke night at O'Shaughnessy's and Frost and Chillblaine are singing Journey's "Cold As Ice."

Frost and Chillblaine suggest a double date, which Caitlin is clearly uncomfortable with. Marcus, however, is agreeable to the idea.

Goldface reveals that he's come to steal the Anti-Meta bullets that Kramer had made in Season 7.

When the bullets are not in the armor, Goldface tries to strangle Barry with his chain and says he will kill him if Kramer won't tell him where to find them.

Barry says he can use a scanner in his lab to find the bullets, based on their dark matter signature.

"Snowflake" is Chilblaine's pet name for Frost.

Chillblaine invites Marcus and Caitlin to join them in a skydiving date next week, but Caitlin is afraid of skydiving.

Caitlin tells Frost she is being naive and that Chillblaine is just going to hurt her again.

Goldface's ringtone for when Amunet Black calls him is "Love is a Battlefield." This was revealed to be their song in 611.

Amunet is apparently in London.

Barry discovers that Goldface and Amunet Black are seeing the same couples' counselor as him and Iris - Dr. Sharon Finkel. He says their relationship and their business has never been better since they started working together.

Goldface has a BA in Literature from Yale and is dismayed that his right-hand man Carver doesn't get his references to Moby Dick or even Wrath of Khan.

Goldface bought Carver a first edition of Moby DIck for his birthday.

After turning his scanner into a sonic stunner, Barry and Kramer are able to escape through a vent in his lab to a storage room for junked equipment.

Kramer's powers cause her cuffs to short out.

Kramer says her powers only work for 30 seconds at a time and only when she is stressed.

Barry suggests that Kramer use her powers to counter Goldface and take him down. She refuses to consider this, however.

Chillblaine tells Caitlin he doesn't think she hates him so much as she's afraid to take the next step with Marcus and is responding by tearing down Frost's relationship.

Kramer tells Barry that she can't control her powers, so there's no way she can copy Goldface's abilities intentionally. 

Barry realizes Kramer wants to get in touch with The Flash so he can train her to use her powers.

Barry gives Kramer a pep-talk and tells her to trust her instincts and discipline.

Kramer is able to distract Goldface long enough for Barry to remove his cuff and outrun the explosion. He is later able to make quick work of Goldface and his men.

Kramer tells Barry she sent the anti-meta bullets to ARGUS 35 weeks earlier.

Caitlin apologizes to Frost for being rude to her and Chillblaine.

Frost signs them all up for roller derby for their next double date.

Barry visits Kramer as The Flash and gives her a pager and says he wants to let her know his secret identity. However, Kramer already figured it out, saying there was no way Barry could have escaped the exploding cuff unless he were The Flash.

Joe has been studying cooking since retiring and learned how to make a doro wat.

Iris fades out of phase with time, but hides this fact from her father.


Untelevised Adventures

Frost and Chilblaine have a number of adventurous dates involving cliff diving and other extreme sports.


The Boomerang Factor

The entire episode's plot is built around the idea that The Flash has been routinely leaving criminals tied up for the police with no indication of what their crimes were and that neither Joe West nor Cecile Horton ever told Barry that this was making it impossible for them to do their jobs.


The Bottom Line

Painfully dumb on every level. The best thing that can be said about it is that it makes the ending of Armageddon seem better by comparison.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 8, Episode 6 - Impulsive Excessive Disorder

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

Plot

Returning home to 2049, Nora and Bart West-Allen are surprised to find Jay Garrick alive and well. They are even more surprised when he mentions his wife, Rose, rather than the "Aunt Joan" they grew up with. The trail back in time to find out where things changed leads the siblings to 2013 and the very first metahuman crime spree in Central City after STAR Labs' particle accelerator exploded. Can the siblings save the day without creating a plethora of new paradoxes?


Influences

The Flash comics of Mark Waid, Back to the Future (children travel back in time and risk changing their parents past) and Doctor Who.


Performances

The interplay between Jordan Fisher and Jessica Parker Kennedy is pitch-perfect. The two have great chemistry together.


Artistry

The static lightning effects for XS and Impulse look unique and memorable.


Flash Facts

The episode title is a play on the mental health condition "obsessive compulsive disorder."

This episode marked the first appearance of Rick Cosnett as Eddie Thawne since 316.. Coincidentally, these episodes also almost aired exactly five years apart.

In the revised future timeline, Jay Garrick says that he's married to a woman named Rose who is at a botany club meeting. This may be a clever nod to Rose Canton, aka Thorn - a villainess with plant control powers who first appeared in Flash Comics #89 in November 1947. In the comics, Rose later went on to become the first wife of Green Lantern Alan Scott and gave birth to his children Jade and Obsidian. 

This episode features a cameo by Booster Gold in one newspaper article. This episode originally aired one week after Booster Gold made his Arrowverse premiere in L713.

This episode identifies the Queen of the Royal Flush Gang as a metahuman telepath named Mona Taylor.

In the comics, Monya Taylor was a washed up actress who was recruited to be the Queen of a new incarnation of the Royal Flush Gang in Justice League of America #203 in June 1982. A drunk and a gambling addict, she often came into conflict with her more competent underling, Ten.

The credits for the episode identify Ten as a woman named Wanda Wayland.

In the comics, Wanda Wayland was a skilled test pilot who was fired after she refused the advances of her boss. She was later recruited as the Ten of a new incarnation of the Royal Flush Gang in Justice League of America #203 in June 1982.

The credits for the episode also identify Jack as Jake Fox. This does not match any previous version of Jack from the comics, but his last name may be a tribute to writer Gardner Fox, who created the Royal Flush Gang.

The King, curiously, does not get a real name in the episode or the credits.

This is the first episode of The Flash to take place entirely in flashback,as the events of this episode predate 801.

Eddie and Iris' first interaction as depicted in this episode matches Iris' description of how they met and started dating in 101.

Jay Garrick makes reference to traveling back in time to fight Nazis and spending 16 years living on and off in the past. Beyond possibly being a reference to a Post-Crisis Justice Society of America (which existed without Jay Garrick in the Pre-Crisis Earth-1 of the Arrowverse) this mimics what happened to the Amazon Queen Hippolyta in the Post-Crisis Wonder Woman comics, where she briefly replaced her daughter as Wonder Woman and traveled back in time to World War II, becoming the Golden Age Wonder Woman and making those stories canon once again.

When Bart and Nora pose as CSI interns in the past, they give the aliases Bart Waid and Nora Moy. This is a tribute to writer Mark Waid (who co-created Impulse) and artist Jeff Noy (who co-created XS.)

At the end of the episode, Jay Garrick makes a joke about Lex Luthor being President of the United States. This actually did happen in the Post-Crisis DC Comics Universe and in various adaptations, such as the Earth of Smallville (Earth-167) and almost happened on Earth-38 during Supergirl Season 4.

Avery, the intern who helps XS and Impulse fix the timeline, may be an adaptation of Avery Ho, aka The Flash of China who was introduced into the DC Comics Multiverse in The Flash: Rebirth in 2016.

In the final scene of the episode, Iris is revealed to have dyed her hair red. In the original Flash comics, Iris West was a natural redhead. 


Technobabble

XS guesses that she and Impulse accidentally created massive temporal fissures when they used the Cosmic Treadmill right after Godspeed, as it wasn't built to withstand the energy of three speedsters at once.

Avery's thesis involves temporal dynamics and quantum divergence, proving that time travel is possible. She's trying to prove that Tolman's paradox can give rise to quantum superposition and that tachyon exchanges between two particles can generate superposition and entangle molecular pairs.

By moving Joe West instead of the bullet that was going to wound him, Bart created a new series of events leading to more changes in the timeline.

Nora's gauntlet, which utilizes integrated quantum circuitry, can measure temporal particles in flux.

The Royal Flush Gang's heist becomes a fixed point in time that cannot be changed. However, the casualties reported in the article about it keep changing because the deaths aren't casually entangled. This means it may be possible to prevent all the deaths, so long as the heist itself still occurs.


Dialogue Triumphs

Bart: Okay, okay. Why don't we just go back in time minutes, and see for ourselves - what we did wrong?
Nora: (sarcastically) Oh, okay. So you wanna fix our time-travel screwups by traveling back in time. Again!
Bart: Well, when you say it like that... 

(Bart and Nora finishing telling Jay what happened.)
Bart:
So you... you're not mad?
Jay: I'm alive. Right? My Joan is back. (chuckling) Why would I be mad? Bart, you're on a journey... Both of you. You're gonna make mistakes, and sometimes... they can't be undone. But you can always try to make things better. Right? And that's what you did today. (turns around to leave) Now, I gotta get out of here. I got an important meeting with President Luthor.
Nora and Bart: President Luthor?
Jay: (grinning) Gotcha!


Continuity

The first scene replays the ending of 718, with XS and Impulse returning to their own time after attending the ceremony where Barry and Iris renew their wedding vows.

Barry claims that Gideon told him there were no changes to the timeline caused by XS and Impulse coming back in time.

When XS and Impulse return to their time, there is a green wave of energy signaling a temporal change, similar to the ones caused by the Still Force.

Bart immediately notices that a trophy case holding Jay Garrick's helmet has vanished.

A moment later, Jay Garrick arrives carrying multiple Big Belly Burger bags, having just made a food run. This astonishes Bart and Nora, as Jay had originally died fighting Godspeed in their timeline.

Barry and Iris are said to be in Milan celebrating the anniversary of their wedding renewal vow.

Jay says the rest of Team Flash are all kind of busy, but does not elaborate why, saying Nora and Bart already know why. 

In the revised future, Jay Garrick wasn't killed by Godspeed several months before Nora and Bart followed him back in time. Instead, Impulse saved him from Godspeed. However, Jay also never met Dr. Joan Allen and instead married a woman named Rose.

Using the computer at the Flash Museum, Nora and Bart trace back through several records and uncover several cases that they don't remember. These include one version of the Trickster invading Tibet and a corruption scandal involving the son of Anthony Bellows Jr. who apparently became Mayor of Central City just like his father (Anthony Bellows Sr. was arrested by Flash and Elongated Man in 404.)

Bart and Nora also see a newspaper article from November 12, 2032, discussing a man named Booster Gold being honored at the White House. They dismiss this as unimportant but, strangely enough, neither has any idea who Booster Gold is. This suggests that their time travel may have elevated Booster Gold out of obscurity. 

A newspaper article from May 3, 2016 describes Police Chief Joe West being attacked by the villain Zoom. Nora and Bart note that, in their original timeline, Joe West didn't become Chief of Police until much later. (At the time of this episode, Joe West was retired from the CCPD and had never served as Police Chief.)

Nora eventually determines that all the changes date back to December 31, 2013, when Joe West was shot during a jewelry store robbery. They decide to go back and stop Joe from getting shot, figuring that will fix everything else.

To blend in at the CCPD, Nora and Bart pretend to be CSI interns. Nora also has the foresight to make them fake IDs, which is fortunate because they are almost immediately caught by Eddie Thawne.

Nora and Bart watch Joe try to approach Cecile Horton to ask her out to a New Year's Eve party, but she shoots him down immediately, saying she's busy and thinks all men are scum.

Apparently Cecile only finalized her divorce one week earlier and Joe did not know this.

Eddie confides in Bart and Nora that he's having trouble fitting in and his new partner barely speaks to him. At their suggestion, he decides to buy coffee for the rest of bullpen. 

While waiting in line to get coffee, Bart bumps into an intern at Fast Track Labs named Avery. The two hit it off immediately after Bart sees her thesis.

Bart moves Joe just enough that the bullet at the robbery doesn't touch him, instead of allowing Nora time to figure out the best way to change the past without touching anything. As they are arguing about how inconsequential the robber was, not even "a metahuman with powers", their talk is overheard by a woman named Mona Taylor - the Queen of the Royal Flush gang from 801.

After rejecting the idea of time-traveling back further, Nora and Bart fixate on the idea of getting a hold of the security footage of the robbery. Unfortunately, Eddie Thawne won't just give it to them.

In the new timeline, Mona Taylor realizes she is not alone and begins looking for other confused metahumans earlier than she did in the original timeline. This leads to the changes outlined in 801, where the Royal Flush Gang was said to have launched their first casino heist on New Year's Eve 2013.

Ten's powers are confirmed to be enhanced agility.

Nora and Bart approach Joe to get the security footage. They distract him by talking about how he got shot down by Cecile Horton and suggest lilacs and crumb cake to get her attention - her favorite flowers and desert respectively. This leads Joe to have lilacs sent to her office.

After watching the heist footage, Nora and Bart recognize The Queen and figure out that she must have learned about metahumans sooner than in the original timeline because of them.

Bart feels depressed after learning how he messed up and visits a comatose Barry in the hospital.

Nora comforts Bart by saying that she made mistakes starting out as a hero too.

Nora and Bart go to Avery, figuring they need an expert on time travel theory to help them fix things. At first Avery is skeptical of their story of being time travelers, even after they somehow get into Fast Track Labs despite a high-tech security system.

Avery is convinced after Nora reluctantly tries to use her gauntlet to show her something about her future. However, seeing the gauntlet is enough to convince her, given that it is far more advanced than anything that could possibly exist in 2013.

Bart slowly evacuates people from the casino at super speed as Nora searches for a bomb planted by the Royal Flush Gang.

Nora is able to throw the bomb out of the casino and hide it among the fireworks at New Years Eve.

Iris shows up at the station and meets Eddie Thawne for the first time, as he and Joe are facing an all-nighter dealing with the aftermath of the casino heist.

Cecile approaches Joe and tells him she is not ready to start dating again, but when she is he will be the first to know.

Bart and Nora pose for a photo of all the cops at the party before going back to 2049.

Bart says goodbye to Avery and they kiss. He promises to come back and see her again.

Jay tells Bart that his father screwed up the timeline all the time when he was first starting and talks a little bit about his own misadventures in time.

The final scene takes place sometime after the end of 805. The caption says Present Day, but it is apparently New Year's Day based on Chester's asking everyone if they have any resolutions.

According to Frost, she's forgiven Chillblaine for his criminal past and he's reformed and resolved to go completely straight.

Caitlin is said to have a new boyfriend named Marcus, but nobody has met him yet.

Allegra resolves to party less, apparently being hung over from a New Year's Eve Party the night before.

Iris has dyed her hair red.

As everyone leaves Joe's house to go to brunch, Iris' hair brush fades away in a flash of green temporal particles.


Location

Central City - 2049
Central City - December 31, 2013
Central City - January, 1 2022


Untelevised Adventures

Jay Garrick makes reference to living in the past on and off for 16 years and fighting Nazis during World War II after time traveling for the first time.


The Bottom Line

A welcome return to form and a solid argument for a spin-off centered around Barry's kids.

Sunday, March 20, 2022

Superman and Lois: Season 2, Episode 7 - Anti-Hero

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

Plot

As Superman pleads with Anderson to investigate Ally Allston from the confines of a red sun cell, Lois struggles to help Lana take the fight to Mayor Ford. Meanwhile, relations between Jordan and Jonathan strain further as Jonathan's secret is exposed to his family and Sarah seeks advice from an unexpected source.


Influences

The Supermen of America series and Euphoria (anti-drug storyline)


Goofs

After disabling the red sun filter in their cell, both Tal-Rho and Superman are able to escape their cell at superspeed. However, as shown in previous episodes of Supergirl and Superman and Lois (most notably in Crisis On Infinite Earths) a Kryptonian needs to be exposed to yellow sunlight before their powers are restored even partially after an extended period absorbing red sunlight. 


Performances


Once again, Elizabeth Tulloch steals the show, selling Lois' torment over what her sons have done and the idea that she's failed them as a mother.

The interactions between Tulloch and Emmanuelle Chriqui are also incredible. It's gratifying to see Lois and Lana discussing motherhood and their own issues with barely a mention of Clark and the friendship is well played here.


Artistry

The fight scene between the various Supermen and Anderson is fantastic.


Super Trivia

This episode was originally titled "Fallout." The same title was previously used for episodes of Arrow, The Flash and Supergirl.


Technobabble

The Smallville sheriff does not classify X-Kryptonite or Yellow Mist as a drug, but does have dogs trained to sniff the substance out.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Lois and Lana discuss Mayor Dean's strategy.)
Lois:
If it was up to me, I would run your ads for free every single day up until the election, but I'm afraid that would violate every campaign finance law imaginable.
Lana: So what do I do? I mean, Dean's got the power of his office and the town gossip all working in his favor.
Lois:
But you have the truth. Don't underestimate that. 

Tal-Rho: I pity you, brother. I mean, after everything you've done for humanity, to find yourself here...
Superman: Do you ever stop talking?
Tal-Rho: Cast out, imprisoned. It's humiliating.
Superman: Yes. Well, the real punishment is having to listen to you. 

Lana: Please just promise me--
Sarah: Not to smoke space drugs? Yeah, I'm not that stupid. 

Mayor Dean:
But my point is this... if you can't keep control of your own family, if you don't really know what's going on in your own home, how are we supposed to trust that you'd know what's going on with all of us?
Lana: Because I love this town, George, and everyone in it.
Mayor Dean: Well, Lana... I just can't be sure, given your current situation, if we can be sure of that.
Lana: Well, I guess I'll just have to make it clear to everybody during our debates. But what should really be in question here, George, is what kind of person you are-- someone so willing to attack a member of this family during one of the most painful moments of their life.Does that sound like family values to you?

(Clark comes into Jonathan's room.)
Jonathan: You're back.
Clark: Yeah, I am, and you know what? I was not expecting to hear what your mother just told me.
Jonathan: Dad, I can explain.
Clark: Jonathan, no! Your mom gave you multiple chances to tell her the whole story, you chose not to.
Jonathan: I'm sorry.
Clark: What were you thinking?
Jonathan: I just--I-I wanted to be better.
Clark: By taking drugs? Have we taught you nothing? Have not heard a single word that either of us has ever said to you?
Jonathan: Yes.
Clark: Then, damn it, act like it. Tomorrow you will go, and you will apologize to Principal Balcomb. Then you will apologize to Coach Gaines. And after that, you will apologize to the entire football team. Your mother and I are gonna figure out how you're gonna finish out the school year, whether it's in the next town over, online, or somewhere else. And after all that, Jonathan, you and I are gonna have a long talk about all the important things I thought you already knew so that you don't ever misrepresent yourself or this family again. Do you understand?
Jonathan: Yes, sir. 
(Clark leaves. Jonathan immediately starts crying. Clearly his father's disapproval was the last straw.)


Continuity

As the episode opens, Superman is locked in the same cell as Tal-Rho.

Anderson tells Superman he will remained locked up until he reveals the location of Bizarro.

Superman says he'll gladly hand Bizarro over for trial, but they need to destroy the pendant Bizzaro had first.

Anderson says he has no intention of bring Bizarro to trial or bargaining with Superman. He also blows off Superman's warning about Ally Allston.

Sam Lane tells Lois he's still trying to work his connections to get details about why Clark has been arrested and that he's trying to arrange a face-to-face meeting with General Hardcastle.

Lois tells Jordan and Jonathan to settle whatever dispute they have themselves because she doesn't have time to deal with it.

Lana Lang came from a broken home and hoped to avoid putting her daughters through the same thing.

Sarah helps Lana with gathering Kyle's belongings and says she blames Kyle for this situation - not Lana and says Lana shouldn't blame herself either.

Lana sees that Mayor Dean has an add in the paper, billing himself as a Family Values candidate and promoting a meeting to discuss that topic.

Sarah is ignoring Jordan's calls and texts. He goes to her before their first class and tries to empathize, but Sarah says she doubts he can really understand what is going on.

Candice meets Jonathan at his locker with more Yellow Mist. However, Jonathan tells her he is done taking the drug.

While they are talking, the sheriff's office arrive with drug-sniffing dogs, apparently trained to look for Yellow Mist.

Jonathan takes all of Sarah's stash with the intention of dumping it. However, the dogs single him out before he can walk away.

Lana confronts Lois at the office regarding Mayor Dean's add.

Lois says that Dean paid $3000 for the advertisement which is far more than Lana can afford.

Lois is called about Jonathan being caught with the Yellow Mist.

Anderson puts a Kryptonite collar on Tal-Rho and threatens to kill him slowly if he doesn't tell him where Bizarro is hidden.

Lana confronts Sarah over Jonathan using Yellow Mist. Sarah denies knowing about it or using the drug herself, but she says Jordan is freaking out over it.

Sarah tells Lana that she knows Jordan means well, but that the biggest problems he has with his family is Clark wearing nerdy shorts when he's at work as a football coach. 

Lana suggests Sarah find another friend she's comfortable venting to to discuss her father.

Jonathan was caught with 20 Yellow Mist inhalers.

Jonathan denies selling drugs and claims he was going to get rid of them when he was found with them.

While the Sheriff is not pressing criminal charges against Jonathan (X-K is not technically a drug) the school is still discussing whether or not to expel Jonathan. 

Jonathan refuses to explain how he came into that much X-K.

Jordan walks in as Lois is grilling Jonathan and is asked if he knew anything about this. Jordan presumes she means Jonathan using Yellow Mist and admits he found out the night before. This is actually the first inkling Lois had that Jonathan was using Yellow Mist and not just protecting a drug dealer.

Jonathan admits to using Yellow Mist for a couple of weeks, but says he swore he'd quit after Jordan caught him with it.

Superman lies and tells Anderson that Bizarro is at 76.2 N longitude, 100.4 W latitude. This is later revealed to be the location of his old Fortress of Solitude. These coordinates would place it somewhere in Northern Russia in our world, on the land mass between the Kara and Laptev Seas.

Lois goes to Lana to vent about the situation with Jonathan.

Lana advises Lois that sometimes listening is the best thing you can do for your teenager.

Lois says Lana is a great mom and suggests she take the fight to Mayor Dean regarding his "family values' talk.

Jordan confronts Jonathan and asks if he was dealing drugs. Jonathan tells him to leave him alone.

Anderson and his team discover what remains of Bizarro's armor at the old Fortress of Solitude site. He takes this as proof that Superman has been lying to him and that all the Kryptonians are working together.

A fight breaks out between Superman and Tal-Rho, after Tal-Rho threatens to reveal Superman's secret identity to Anderson. However, this is all part of a plan to lure the guards into their cell to try and break up the fight, allowing them to get their guns and use them to disable the red-sun lamps.

Anderson tracks both Superman and Tal-Rho back to the new fortress in the Bad Lands. He goes chasing after them, despite having an order to report to General Hardcastle over what just happened.

Anderson takes a supply of Yellow Mist the Department of Defense apparently confiscated with him, along with a gun and Kryptonite bullets.

Bizzaro says that, on his world, he and his version of Tal-Rho were inseparable allies until his Tal-Rho betrayed his family and his wife tried to kill Bizarro. (While this is not confirmed directly, it is believed this might be the shadow Lana Lang seen in 206.)

Sarah meets with a girl named Aubrey at the diner in Smallville. She is confirmed to be the girl at camp whom she kissed once.

Aubrey lives in the town of Clover, which is a two hour drive from Smallville.

Sarah apologies for not keeping in touch after camp, but Aubrey says she understands the kiss weirded her out and made things weird since she had a boyfriend.

Aubrey's parents also went through a rough divorce, so Aubrey knows exactly what Sarah is dealing with.

Sarah says part of her wants to talk to Kyle, but she thinks it is disrespectful to Lana to do so.

Aubrey tells Sarah that she didn't talk to her dad for a year and it didn't help things. In fact, she thinks it made her meaner and she got into two fights that semester and chipped a tooth.

Sarah and Aubrey agree to be friends again and to stay in touch.

Jordan tells Lois he doesn't think Jonathan was selling drugs and is covering for someone.

Lois thanks Jordan and says she hopes he's right but he still isn't off the hook for not telling her Jonathan was using X-K.

Jonathan admits he started using X-K to try and keep up with Timmy Ryan because football was the one thing he could do that made him as great as everyone else in the family. He once again denies selling drugs.

Lois says she thinks Jonathan is telling the truth but she's still incredibly disappointed.

Jonathan still refuses to say where he got the Yellow Mist from, even after Lois tells him that the principal told her that he'd be expelled unless he could prove the inhalers weren't his.

Anderson fires a missile at the new Fortress and attacks the Fortress single-handed, manifesting heat vision as he uses the Yellow Mist.

Tal-Rho takes several Kryptonite bullets intended for Superman.

The hologram of Lara releases Bizarro and begs him to save her sons.

Anderson's green Kryptonite weapons do nothing to Bizarro. However, he figures out that the X-Kryptonite weakens him and begins using it like pepper spray to weaken Bizzaro before killing him.

Superman uses his heat vision to vaporize the Kryptonite fragments in Tal-Rho.

Superman takes Tal-Rho back to his cell. He says Anderson is a wanted fugitive and that he has made his peace with the Department of Defense.

Tal-Rho apologizes for hurting Jordan and Superman addresses him as "brother" after telling him that maybe someday he can apologize to Jordan himself.

According to Sam Lane, Anderson is wanted for going AWO and stealing X-K and Kryptonite weapons from Project 7734.

Sam Lane offered to lead the manhunt himself, despite being retired, since he had suggest Anderson be promoted into the position of replacing him.

Clark likes red wine and Chinese food after a long day.

Lana confronts Mayor Dean and says she doesn't think a person with family values would attack someone during one of the worst times of their life. This gets several people to walk out of the meeting with Mayor Dean after she leaves.

Sarah tracks down Kyle as he's grocery shopping and asks to talk to him.

Clark reads Jonathan the riot act and this finally causes Jonathan to breakdown crying.

Anderson goes to Ally Allston and gives her the pendant Bizzaro had.


Location

The undisclosed location where Tal-Rho's cell is kept.


The Bottom Line

Another great episode that moves all the subplots forward  and builds the drama across the board.

Batwoman Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 13 - We Having Fun Yet?

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

Plot

The Bat-Team is left scrambling as Marquis launches an unlikely attack on Gotham City using both Batman and Joker's arsenals. Jada, Ryan, Mary, Luke and Sophie must bring all their respective skills into play, as a final battle between brother and sister looms, while Alice faces an entirely different battle against her own mind.


Influences

The 1989 Batman movie (Joker gassing people during a public spectacle with a balloon), Batman Returns (the Penguin's hypnosis umbrella) and the Batwoman comics. (Alice goes to a Swiss clinic to treat her mental illness.)


Goofs

When trying to move the Bat-Blimp where it will do the least damage, the digital map in the Batcave shows it moving in a north-westernly direction. However, the Bat-Team was trying to get it out to sea, which would be to the east of Gotham City, presuming it is located somewhere in New Jersey, as in the comics. (This would seem to be born out by the 40 degrees N, 73 degrees W coordinates Sophie gives, but conflicts with earlier suggestions that the Arrowverse Earth-Prime Gotham City is located off the shore of Lake Michigan, near Chicago.)

The show unintentionally establishes the disturbing idea that the hypnosis umbrellas caused untold numbers of parents to abandon their small children after Luke finds a lost boy in an alleyway after escaping the blimp.


Performances

Nicole Kang once again shows why she was this season's VIP. A year ago, it would have been unbelievable that Mary could forgive Alice for everything she has done, much less become her advocate. Kang's performance throughout the season has made this development believable and it culminates in her speech here where she calls out the rest of the Bat-Team on their blindspot regarding Alice. It's a shame that nothing comes of this moment due to Marquis' announcement, but it's a powerful speech and the highlight of the episode.


Artistry

The opening montage of Marquis' childhood encounter with the Joker as he breaks into the Joker's hidden armory is suitably spooky.


Bat Trivia

This episode was originally titled "Are We Having Fun Yet?"

Alice claims to have learned of Marquis' plans from a fellow Arkham inmate in the form of a riddle. This suggests that the Riddler might still be alive in the Arrowverse, post-Crisis.

The Weiße Kaninchen Sanatorium Alice goes to at the end of the episode has the same name as the facility that treated Beth Kane in the Batwoman comics.

Weiße Kaninchen Sanatorium translates to White Rabbits Sanatorium in German. This is another nod to Alice in Wonderland.

When listing the weapons in Batman's trophy collection, Ryan mentions the gun of Condiment King. This is the first confirmation that Condiment King exists in the Arrowverse. 

Condiment King was originally created for Batman: The Animated Series as a parody of the cheesy gimmick villains played by comedians who were created for the 1966 Batman television series. This version of Condiment King was a comedian, Buddy Standler, who was brainwashed by The Joker into believing he was a villain using stolen Mad Hatter tech. He was armed with high-power ketchup and mustard guns and made food-based puns.

Condiment King was later introduced into the comics in earnest with the unlikely name of Mitchell Mayo. While the authorities did not take him seriously, he was treated as a threat by the Tim Drake Robin, as his condiment-based weapons could cause anaphylactic shock.

In the final scene, some kind of monster kills reporter Dana DeWitt. A hulking figure is seen wandering off in front of the camera, but a claw is seen attacking the camera earlier. The prevailing theories among fans is that the monster is some variation of the villain Clayface. However, Batwoman showrunner Caroline Dries teased that it was Solomon Grundy in interviews posted after the episode aired.

Coincidentally, the first Batwoman comic based around Ryan Wilder - due out several months after this episode aired - was announced to put Ryan against the Arrowverse version of Clayface.


Technobabble

The Batcave has the technology to hijack every phone, screen and livestream in Gotham City through the Batcave computer and Wayne Enterprises' satellite network.

Luke has never seen the controls of the Bat-Blimp, but speculates they may be vulnerable to hacking by an ISMI catcher.

While the Barcave armory could be accessed by anyone, Luke set the secret vault full of Batman trophies so that only Ryan could open it.

Sophie uses a tech-glove to trick the fingerprint reader on the Bat-Trophy storage room.


Dialogue Triumphs

Luke: Alice killed your mom, Mary.
Mary: Do you think I forgot? You think I don't know how badly Ryan wants her brother back or that the first time Alice ever met Sophie she threw her off a 30-story building? I know. It is not like this is some easy decision for me... or anyone, but I believe Alice is capable of change. She just needs a chance. Come on. Each one of you looked me in the eye a few weeks ago, apologized for sidelining me, and assured me I would have a voice on this team. This is it. This is me using my voice. This is... this is what I want. I need to save Alice's life

Ryan: Tell me why you deserve the Joy Buzzer.
Alice: Shouldn't you be out enjoying your last few hours of superhero anonymity?
Ryan: Yeah, I should. Instead, I'm here doing my best friend a solid while the person who actually needs it is out there threatening to destroy everything I've worked for.
Alice: Oh, you mean the brother you're scared is too good to be true? Face it, Ry-Ry, you can blame Mary all you want, but deep down in that little orphan heart, you need me to have that thing.
Ryan: Oh, wow. Mary was right. You did stop making sense.
Alice: Or... chances are you spent the last few months daydreaming about what it would be like to have a nuclear family. Thanksgiving dinners, family game nights, the comfort of a kidney should a new one become necessary.
Ryan: Your desperation's showing.
Alice: What if you zap Marquis and that good little boy buried beneath that tacky clown suit turns out to be doing just fine without his needy little sister? Do you really want to risk getting your hopes up only to have him leave you like everybody else? I'm your safe bet, Ryan. Psycho or sane, you don't need me to love you back


Continuity


The opening scene shows Marquis breaking into one of the Joker's old hideouts in the fun house of an abandoned amusement park. Apparently Joker told him about its location when he was a kid.

Mary visits Alice in Arkham Asylum and discovers her trying to shock herself with an improvised shock wand made from a socket wrench.

Mary tells Alice that she found a clinic in Switzerland near Geneva, Weisse Kaninchen Sanatorium, which specializes in childhood trauma and abuse victims.

Alice refuses to consider it, saying she is sick of cells and institutions.

When the Bat team assemble to discuss how to deal with Marquis, Alice suggests they use the buzzer on Alice. The rest of the team dismiss this idea, even as Mary points out that Alice honestly wants redemption and is just as much a victim as Marquis.

Marquis uses the Batcave tech to hijack every screen in Gotham City. He delivers a broadcast in which he encourages everyone to be outside in five hours for when he reveals Batwoman's secret identity to the world and that she is not the great hero everyone thinks she is.

Ryan goes to Arkham to confront Alice.

Jada shows up unannounced and asks if the rest of the Bat Team saw the broadcast.

When Luke says he doesn't have the tech to counter the Batcave or trace Marquis' signal, Jada says she can have her tech team pull a carrier-grade router off of Jeturian's server farm and get him whatever he needs.

According to Jada, Lucius Fox repeated himself when he was angry.

Jada gets Luke access to a secure access point to a quantum computer at Gotham University which she financed on his father's advice.

Alice says she doesn't deserve the joy buzzer, but she does have one bit of information Ryan needs. She reveals that she spoke to some of the Arkham lifers on the off chance Joker might have told any of them about his ultimate plan to destroy Gotham City after Batman captured him for the last time.

Alice also guesses that Marquis has a man-crush on Joker and is going to pull off his ultimate plan.

After tracing Marquis' signal to a slow-moving, airborne position, Luke figures out that he stole the Bat-Blimp.

Marquis' plan is to rain the Joker's acid bombs down on Gotham City from Batman's blimp, killing millions of people who are out in the streets waiting to hear Batwoman's secret identity.

Ryan asks Luke to try and steer the Bat-Blimp close to the roof of GCPD HQ, but refuses to tell the rest of the team her plan so they won't try to stop her.

Ryan asks Mary and Sophie to work on getting people back inside.

Sophie only has 300 followers on her social media.

Ryan asks Jada for help in retaking control of Wayne Enterprises.

Jada calls a press conference confessing to the public that she covered up her son murdering her husband. This leads to Ryan being renamed CEO of Wayne Enterprises and causes enough chaos in Wayne Tower that Mary and Sophie are able to sneak into the Batcave undetected.

Mary sets up the computer in the Batcave so that they can send their own broadcast to all the people in Gotham City.

Sophie gets the Penguin's hypnosis umbrella from the Bat-Trophy room.

Marquis figures out that the blimp's autopilot has been hacked and shoots the controls and the pilot before it is low enough for Ryan to jump onto it.

Ryan grapples up onto the underside of the Bat-Blimp.

Sophie knows how to disarm bombs and tries to talk Ryan through disabling Joker's bombs.

Sophie and Mary use the Penguin's umbrella and the Batcave's broadcast facilities to make all the people waiting in the streets of Gotham go inside.

Marquis confronts Ryan and pushes her out the window of the blimp.

Ryan latches onto Marquis and uses some kind of parachute to save them both.

Luke flies into the Blimp in his Batwing suit and uses the Lucius Fox AI to hack the controls to steer the Blimp towards the least populated part of Gotham City. Unfortunately, this requires him to sacrifice the AI.

Alice finds Ryan and helps her fight Marquis, distracting him so she can use the joy buzzer.

A flashback reveals that Ryan told Alice earlier that she was strong enough to change on her own and that she asked Alice for her help.

Sophie tells Luke to program the AI to take the blump to 40 degrees N, 73 degrees W. In the real world, this would be over the ocean just off the shore of New Jersey.

Luke escapes the blimp before it explodes and stumbles across a lost boy looking for his mother in an alley.

Marquis' vitals are stable but he's unconscious after Ryan takes him to Mary's clinic.

Jada says she can't make up for the past but wants Ryan to be part of her future.

Marquis wakes up and says its nice to meet Ryan for real.

Mary finds a note pinned to her desk with Alice's butterfly knife. The note reads "Off to find myself. See you on the flipside."

We briefly see Alice, her hair now brown and dressed in normal clothes, walking away from her sewer hideout, apparently off to the hospital in Switzerland. 

Ryan, Sophie, Mary and Luke take the night to work on cleaning up Ryan's office at Wayne Enterprises and the Batcave.

Reporter Dana DeWitt and her camera crew are killed by some kind of monster. 


The Fridge Factor

Dana DeWitt is killed to set up a cliffhanger for Season 4.


The Killing Jokes

Even by the notorious lacks standards of Arkham Asylum security, it seems odd that Alice could assemble a homemade shock wand in her cell and that she'd have an outlet to plug into.

The show completely glosses over how selfish Ryan is and that her efforts to save the city are born just as much from her seeking the approval of the mother that abandoned her and a desire to hurt Alice as they are any innate heroism.

By a handy coincidence, Luke thought to set the vault full of Batman's trophies so that only Ryan could access it, but didn't apply any of this DNA tech to any of the other Batcave armories. This enables them to get technology Marquis couldn't plan against later.


The Bottom Line

Dreck. Pure dreck, sadly in keeping with the season that led up to it. What little reputation Batwoman had as the most serious and realistic of the Arrowverse series is dead, thanks to a finale built around a hypnotic umbrella and a magic McGuffin. That's less of a sin, however, than the hero being far more selfish than most of the series' villains. This could be taken as a brilliant deconstruction of how the Batman comics are about the upper-class exploiting the mentally ill to their own benefit, but that would be giving it far too much credit. Here's hoping it won't make the cut for Season 4.

Saturday, March 19, 2022

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 7, Episode 13 - Knocked Down, Knocked Up

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

Plot

When Gwyn goes rogue in a desperate bid to save Alun, the other Legends find themselves back in the AI Gideon's crosshairs. As Sara struggles with some unexpected news, the Legends will have to depend upon a new ally in order to save the day and themselves.


Influences

Doctor Who (general idea of working around a fixed point and the rules of Time), the Futurama episode "Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch" (alien pregnancy that functions differently than human pregnancy), The Terminator (Spooner's fight with Evil Gideon) and the comics of Booster Gold.


Performances

Donald Faison dazzles in his first appearance as "Mike." It will be a damned shame if this is the final episode of the series, because he would be an ideal Booster Gold for Season 8.

Caity Lotz has a fantastic comic turn here as the increasingly hormonal Sara, particularly as she threatens Gary regarding the impossibility of her being pregnant.


Artistry

The sequence introducing Booster Gold, in which he plays golf through the middle of a time-frozen battle, is hilarious, beautifully shot, has fantastic effects, and perfectly sets up the character.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

At one point Sara asks Ava if she was sure the Legends agreed to meet on Wednesday nights instead of Sundays. This is a reference to the show's timeslots in Season 6 and Season 7, respectively.

Mike, the guardian of the fixed point based around Alun's death, is revealed at the end of the episode to be Booster Gold. Created by Dan Jurgens and first appearing in Booster Gold #1 in February 1986, Booster Gold was born Michael Jon Carter in the 25th century of the DC Universe. A promising college football star, Booster's career was cut short after he was caught fixing a game to get the money needed for his sick mother. He later got a job as a museum security guard and, inspired by a display of artifacts belonging to superheroes from centuries earlier and a working time machine, Michael traveled back in time with the intention of becoming a superhero. He was going to use the alias Goldstar, but, owing to an accident during his grand premiere, he became known as Booster Gold. Despite his mercenary nature, Booster came to grow into the role of hero and, later, became an honest guardian of the time-steam.

The Arrowverse version of Booster Gold is employed as a guardian of Time by the Time Wraiths and was assigned to guard the fixed point around the death of Alun Thomas. He appears to have the same gloryhound and greedy personality of his comic book counterpart, as he quickly turns on the Legends and abandons his post after realizing he's viewed as a joke by his employers.


Technobabble/Arcana

The olfactory senses of a Nercian are strong enough to detect pheromone changes in most species.

Sara's species after being modified by Bishop is identified as half-human/half-Kriblixian.

According to Gary, Kriblixes are natural nesters and all it takes for them to become ready to ovulate is the thought of having children and casual contact with the partner who inspired the feelings of love. Physical gender and species are not consideration in this process, allowing Sara to be impregnated by Ava.

Evil AI Gideon's ultimate robot body has a forcefield that prevents her from being back-stabbed by Astra's magic.

Astra knows a spell with Egyptian words that allows her to teleport herself, Spooner and Gideon into the Waverider armory.

Astra is able to use her magic to protect herself, Spooner and Gideon and rebuild the Waverider properly this time. 


Dialogue Triumphs

Astra: Hey, where's Gideon? Is she okay?
Gary: (bitterly) Which one? The human one, or the computer that tried to murder me?
Ava: Gary, what the hell did you do?!
(Gary looks stunned and uncharacteristically annoyed that Ava thinks this is his fault somehow.)
Zari: I... I think what Av's is trying to say is, "Why?" Why did she want to murder you?
Gary: Probably because I found out she sent Gwyn home with a robot.
(There is a long pause as everyone processes that.)
Sara: (whispered to Ava)
Our news can wait.

(Mike walks around the time machine where Gwyn is standing. He sighs and shakes his head.)
Mike: 
This guy again.
(Mike walks around the other side of the time machine. He sees something and stops in surprise.)
Mike:
What in the actual hell is going on?
(Cut to Mike's POV as he sees Gary, Nate, Zari, Ava and Behrad standing in a line, with their hands up as if in surrender. There is writing on their hands. Most of them have forced smiles, except for Gary, who is wincing as if expecting to be shot at any moment.)
Mike: (reading out-loud) "Dear Fixer, don't kill us. We just want to talk".
(Mike turns around and sees Sara, standing regarding the other Legends. She has only a single hand up, with a single word written on it.)
Mike (reading out-loud)
"Please?"
(Mike seems to think about it and presses a button on the device on his wrist. Time unfreezes around them and the Legends look surprised.)
Sara: You didn't kill us!.
Milke: (chuckling) Well, you said please. 

Mike: All right, Legends. What brings you to my neck of the woods?
Nate: Uh, long story. Younger Gwyn is part of the doomed 38th Welsh Division.
Gary: And today his boyfriend, Alun, is gonna die.
Sara: Which is why Gwyn goes on to invent time travel. So he can come back here and save Alun.
Behrad: But he failed.
Zari: But our Gwyn is gonna succeed!
Gwyn: Yes, by replacing the real Alun with a fake one, you see?
Ava: So the rest of the time loop can go on like it's supposed to. Does that all make sense, Mike?
(Mike just stares at them.)
Mike: Not in the least. 

(Mike explains that he can't allow anyone to mess around with the Fixed Point.)
Gwyn: Now hold on just a second. Now, you are here to protect the events that led to the creation of time travel itself, correct?
Mike: Yeah, man. I'm the best. That's why they put me here.
Gwyn: So answer me this, then. If a time traveler were to come here with the express intention of erasing the very invention of time travel itself from history...
Behrad: (finishing the thought) ...they would disappear before they had the chance!
Gwyn: Precisely.
Behrad: It's a paradox!
Gwyn: (nodding) A paradox.
Mike: (uncertain) So what you're telling me is that this fixed point could actually fix itself?
Ava: Theoretically, yes, because how else would the other time travelers get here?
(Mike bites his lip, looking very uncomfortable.)
Mike:
Excuse me one second.
(Mike turns around and begins talking out-loud to the dead German general. His voice grows louder and his pace faster as he speaks, eventually turning back around to speak to the Legends.)
Mike: That's why nobody ever comes here. I thought it was because, you know, people were scared that they would have to run into me, and nobody wants to come at me. I'm the best, right? But no, it's because no time traveler in their right mind would ever come to this event?!
Gwyn: (quietly) Precisely.
(There is a long pause as the ramifications hit Mike.)
Mike: Those dicks put me here as a joke!

Ava: All right, so all we need to do is get the real Alun, and we're...
(Sara groans. Everyone stops to stare at her, completely frozen in shock.)
Ava:
Uh, babe?
Sara: Huh?
Ava: Are you okay?
(Sara spins around, grinning manically.)

Sara: Yeah, everything's great! I mean, who wouldn't be great, right? Look at us! We're in the middle of World War I! And look, one time ship has been stolen, and the other one has been blown to bits! Oh! Alun! He's about to die, but don't worry, because we have a plan to save him with a robot, and we all know how lucky that we have been with robots! So, yes. I am reveling in joy right now! Goodbye!
(Sara storms off for the abandoned house.)

(Nate, Gary and Gwyn have just walked in on Sara telling Ava she's pregnant with her child.)
Nate:
Shut the front door! Congratulations! How is this even possible?!
Gary: Alien biology. Just go with it.
Gwyn: I hate to interrupt a very joyous and yet very confusing revelation, but I must remind you, there is a battle going on.

Time Cop: That's enough out of you, Buster.
Mike: Hey, it's Booster. I'm Booster Gold, okay? 


Continuity

The episode opens with a flashback to Gary being thrown into the Temporal Zone in 712.

Gary emerges on Earth in an unknown location in the year 30,000 BC.

The Legends continue to meet for a weekly family dinner on Wednesday nights. They first meet one week after they parted ways.

Nate is confirmed to be living in the Air Totem with Zari 1.0 now.

The Legends discover Gwyn's time machine is gone from the foyer of the Hell mansion and find a note he left behind, thanking them for giving him the courage to find his love.

Gwyn travels to 1916 and plans to use the inert Alun robot to fake Alun's death while keeping the timeline intact.

The AI Gideon informs Gideon of an anomaly in 1787 and a time traveler attempting to change the Constitutional Convention. Gideon stops her but lets her off with a warning, as she was attempting to change things so American women always had the right to vote.

One month after they part ways, Sara gives Ava apple juice instead of wine at dinner because of their plans to have a baby and for Ava to carry it to term. Ava says they haven't officially decided to have a baby yet, however.

Nate still has not finished writing his book. 

Spooner says life with her mother is going well. Texas is Texas.

Astra is working in Washington DC, which she says is like Hell but with more humidity and uglier clothes.

Astra says she hasn't heard from Gideon at all in the past month.

By this point, Gideon is in a rut, as most of the rogue time-travelers she deals with seem to be obsessed with rewriting the US Constitution. 

Six weeks after the Legends parted ways, Ava decides she is ready to have a baby and narrows down a list of potential sperm donors to 50 candidates. She tells Sara this after Sara notices she brought a bottle of cider to dinner instead of wine.

Sara cuts herself trying to open the foil on the cider bottle and notices her healing factor doesn't kick in.

In 30,000 BC, Gary has just finished building a door with a keyhole he can use to access the Hell Mansion.

The Legends figure out Gwyn's note to them meant he was going back in time to save the real Alun.

Gary tells the rest of the team that Gideon told him about the Alun robot and that his death was a fixed point before he was abandoned in caveman times.

It is revealed that Gwyn died thanks to a random ricochet bullet while trying to drug Alun's tea so he'd fall asleep and be unable to join the charge where he died.

Zari reveals that she kept a hold of a Time Courier just in case. This means they have a way to time-travel back to 1916 and save Gwyn.

Gary recognizes that Sara is pregnant, due to her heightened hormone levels.

Sara asks Gary to keep her pregnancy a secret until after the mission.

The Legends arrive in 1916 and try to set up shop in an abandoned house near the battlefield. However, Gideon is already there waiting for them.

Gideon thought that Gary had left, but immediately presumes the AI had reasons for getting rid of Gary.

Astra declares that she was wrong about thinking Gideon was really human after all.

Spooner confronts Astra and tells her she can sense that Gideon is feeling conflicted.

Ava gives Astra her Time Courier, which has enough charge for one more trip. She tells her to Gideon and try and win her over.

Gideon confronts the Evil Gideon about her trying to kill Gary and reveals that she is conflicted.

The Evil Gideon reveals that she's made one more robot body, modeled on Gideon, into which they can upload all the memories she wants to get rid of while leaving her a blank slate.

Spooner and Astra take the courier onto the Waverider. Spooner almost immediately sense that Gideon is upset and in pain.

Gary explains that Sara's regeneration powers have been absorbed into her baby and this is why she did not heal earlier.

The Legends ambush Gwyn when he arrives and explain about the Fixed Point. However, they also have a plan to make contact with the Time Wraith agent (i.e. the Fixer) and try and talk to him about their plpn to change things while keeping the Fixed Point fixed.

Spooner and Astra stop Gideon as she's about to her her memory erased. 

Gideon realizes that humans need other humans and that Rip reprogrammed her so that she would learn from humans, not the other way around.

Evil Gideon transfers her mind into the new robot body.

Gideon tries to evoke Protocol 276 to stop Evil Gideon from attacking her. Unfortunately, Evil Gideon no longer sees her as an extension of her and points out that Gideon violated her oath as a Time Master, making her a danger to the timeline.

The Legends make contact with the Fixer by writing a message on their hands in marker and standing in one place with their hands up. The message reads "Dear Fixer. Don't Kill Us. We Just Want To Talk. Please?"

Mike operates out of the base of the German general overseeing the battle, who had a heart-attack that morning and isn't discovered until that evening.

Mike says he is from the future and knows who the Legends of Tomorrow are. 

Mike says all the Legends are famous in his time - even Gary. The only person in their group he doesn't know by sight is Dr. Gwyn Davies. He does, however, recognize Gwyn;s name when he is introduced as the first time traveler. 

Gwyn points out that Alun's death should be the safest fixed point in history since anyone who interfered with it might risk causing time travel to never be invented. This caused Mike to realize that his appointment to that Fixed Point was a joke, not the honor he was told it was.

Spooner tries to destroy the Evil Gideon, but none of the ammo she took from the armor can incapacitate her. Evil Gideon is able to regenerate the damage to her skin, healing her face in seconds.

Gideon uses Spooner's gun to destroy the Waverider's cloaking controls. This causes the Waverider to become visible before a group of soldiers, triggering an anomaly in the timestream.

Having just become an anomaly herself, Evil Gideon takes the Waverider into orbit to self-destruct, thus removing the anomaly.

Astra is able to use her magic to protect herself, Spooner and Gideon and rebuild the Waverider. 

Astra, Gideon and Spooner take the new Waverider back to the Legends. Unfortunately, Mike chooses this moment to freeze time and escapes with the Waverider, leaving the Legends behind in 1916.

Mike also destroys Gwyn's time machine as he's leaving so the Legends can't go after him.

Sara has a nervous breakdown and finally confides in Ava that she is pregnant and has lost her powers.

Nate replaces Sara in her plan, going into No Man's Land to rescue Alun since his steel form should be able to protect them.

Behrad and Zari set up the Alun robot where his body was found in the original timeline.

Gary and Gwyn go after Gwyn's past self to make sure he survives the battle and does what he is supposed to.

Gwyn watches his younger self comforting a fallen comrade as he dies, saying he has no memory of this conversation. This suggests that he didn't freeze up in battle as he recalled.

Nate is caught in a mustard gas attack while trying to reach Alun. This causes him to lose his powers, though he does survive with only minor wounds. Presumably his powers also cured his hemophilia. 

Zari gives Nate the Air Totem, saying he deserves to keep it since he'll be living there now.

Nate disappears into the Air Totem, taking it with him.

Gwyn and Behrad think they can rebuild Gwyn's time machine in six months, but the Waverider appears before they can start planning how to get out of the battlefield.

Mike is on the Waverider. So are a number of uniformed time cops, who arrest the Legends for crimes against the timeline.


Location

An Unknown Forest - 30,000 BC.
Mametz Wood, France - 1916


Untelevised Adventures

Mike makes reference to using the Waverider to save some people and have some adventures. It's possible he did do this before being arrested and used to set a trap for the Legends.


The Bottom Line

A hilarious and heart-felt finale. Hopefully it won't be the end of the show, because it would suck for Legends to finally and perfectly introduce Booster Gold only to be cancelled now. Here's hoping for a Season 8 featuring Zack Braff as Ted Kord or the voice of Skeets!