Jessie Robertson reviews part three of Crisis on Infinite Earths…
Part 3 of the largest TV crossover ever attempted finally brings Barry face to face with the coming crisis he’d been warned about the entire season.
Tonight’s episode kicks off with the revealing of the remaining Paragons, but one important character, in my mind, was missing from the event so far: John Diggle. His best friend dead, his wife missing; where was Dig? He showed up and helped facilitate the retrieval of Oliver’s soul in one of the off shoot storylines of the night. Since this episode is The Flash’s it makes the most sense his characters and plots are more focused on and that’s what you get here. Teaming with Pariah, Cisco (who is once again Vibe thanks to the Monitor) and Frost, they find the doorway Nash Wells found just a few weeks ago. Once opening the door, the sight inside put my eyes and brain right into comic book mode as the scene couldn’t have been removed from an artist’s page and placed onto the small screen any better. The anti-wave cannon was being powered by a Flash, running on a cosmic treadmill. That Flash just happens to be the John Wesley Shipp Flash from the 90’s TV show.
Besides the various branching plots, the main objective of tonight’s hour seemed to be to test our Paragons; As Kara puts her “hope” into using the Book of Destiny to bringing back the lost Earths, Kate finds the “courage’ to stand up to a Kryptonian- yes with Kryptonite in her pocket, but their exchange once Kara steps down is the beginnings of a bond that I think can stand the test of the time in the Arrowverse going forward. While their quick exchange last year and line about “World’s Finest’ was great fan service, I’ve felt their relationship and admiration was a bit manufactured until tonight’s conversation about using their trust of one another to give up the one thing that could take Kara down if she goes rogue; an often thought of plight from most Bat-Men of any Earth. A poignant building block moment going forward.
Easily the other great twist given was how The Flash was to vanish in the Crisis; Barry fully accepts his fate when Earth-90’s Barry tells him someone has to get on that treadmill to shut this thing down. Barry knows this is moment. Great callback having Cisco and Caitlin there as Barry tells them they were the first two faces he saw when he woke up as the Flash. Then, at the last second, the older Barry steals his speed (only temporarily) and gets Cisco to vibe him back onto the treadmill, to make the ultimate sacrifice. You can’t be a Flash fan and not feel like this moment parallels Iris’ supposed death back in Season 4 and the last second psych out. This one, while not feeling as “gotcha” packs a much heavier punch as during Flash’s death run, a clip is shown from the 90’s TV show, almost a memory coming to him as he vanishes into nothing, reminiscent of arguably, the comic counterparts’ most famous moment, when the Flash sacrifices himself. I also wanted a bit longer of a moment between Barry and Iris when he returned.
Cameos were aplenty tonight as well, something that not only gives people that fan service they so desire from these crossovers, but just feels like it’s making and breaking history all within itself. To span DC’s catalogue and give us all this stuff is just unheard of. The show opens with the Huntress from the short lived (and little watched) Birds of Prey series from early 2000’s. Later on, Lucifer himself from the former network TV procedural has a fun cameo bantering with Constantine (including an argument many fans have had about how to pronounce his damn name!), as well as Freeland’s own, Black Lightning, who felt like a must inclusion.
Our 3rd hour ends in desperate tragedy, as everyone except the 7 Paragons are now dust and all Earths are gone. Lex Luthor’s last minute sub in for Superman was an Arrowverse moment to remember and speaking of Arrow, we’ll wait until all is fully revealed but I believe comic fans know what’s in store for the Godfather of the CW-verse and his character moving forward.
9/10- A loud, bombastic, cameo filled hour with heart and a noble death- add in a shocking ending to say the least and this is a fanboy(and girl’s) dream.
Jessie Robertson
