Written by Eric Wallace & Sam Chalsen & Caroline Dries & Marc Guggenheim & Derek Simon & Robert Rovner
Directed by Kevin Tancharoen & James Bamford & Jesse Warn
For the last week on Supergirl, Arrow and The Flash respectively we've had the same scene play out with Earth 90 being attacked, left in devastation and Barry Allen (John Wesley Shipp) fleeing as the Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) is out to test different worlds in preparation for a much bigger crisis to come. This crossover then begins with the Monitor unwisely heading to Gotham City of all places and giving a magical book to Arkham doctor, John Deegan/Doctor Destiny (Jeremy Davies), who decides to play around destiny but only small steps at first. Even a clearly deranged guy responsible for keeping some of Batman's dangerous villains locked up isn't going to go all out on his first try with his new toy.
First we get into something of Freak Friday (but not really) moment where both Barry and Oliver have swapped lives and while there's some fun to be had with the confusion, the consequences soon become apparent when both of them are forced to take a trip to Earth 38 in order to get Kara's assistance on the matter. It's here that we get to see Clark (Tyler Hoechlin) once again and to make things even better, there's also the introduction of Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch) to this particular universe as well. Now I'll go into the Lois/Clark dynamic later in the review but needless to say, it's a highlight in this entire event along with Barry and Oliver getting a respective taster on each other's skills/lives/struggles etc within these three episodes in question. Of course as Cisco vibes the Monitor, our three main heroes find themselves going to a particular city.
Yup, for the middle segment of this episode we're in Gotham City and while it looks a tad generic compared to the Gothic beauty of er, Gotham (which is back next month), don't expect to be seeing Batman anytime soon. Apparently the city has become a chaotic shithole, he's scarpered and his cousin Kate Kane/Batwoman (Ruby Rose) seems to be doing a half baked job trying to keep the chaos at bay. Now, while I think some of the online vitriol towards Ruby Rose's casting was harsh and while she also wasn't particularly awful here, neither was she great and a part of me does wonder if the CW give the go ahead for a Batwoman series (a pilot is being filmed next year, a series yet to be properly picked up), then I do wonder if she's strong enough to carry her own show. Here she's mostly hostile towards our heroes, except for Kara, whom she takes a liking to. As for the Arkham bits - the Easter Eggs are lovely but the inclusion of Nora Fries (Cassandra Jean Amell - Stephen's real life wife) adds very little to proceedings while Psycho Pirate (Bob Frazer) doesn't do a lot either. Still, it does give Deegan enough time to rewrite stuff once again as Oliver and Barry back to themselves become the Trigger Twins and Deegan does the black cape as the Man of Steel.
It's amazing that what Justice League could've accomplished last year on the big screen (but never did) that this crossover got to play with. Again, I'll comment on Tyler Hoechlin's excellent acting later on but it was fun to see this newly written history play out as Barry and Oliver had to work with a 'bad' Cisco in order to get Superman and Lois to rescue Kara from Star Labs, make a deal of sorts with the Monitor in order to put things right and give Deegan a one way ticket to Arkham as a patient. However as the ending of this crossover alluded to with Batwoman's grim conversation with Oliver, it seems that Deegan hasn't been so much as stopped but more halted until the shit really hits the fan next year. Given the title of next year's crossover event, what happened in this one is going to be a cakewalk by comparison.
Now personal bits to one side - the commentaries on WestAllen and Olicity relationships and Kara trying to find her place out of the DEO, this crossover felt like it was also setting up two potential shows on the CW. The Batwoman series, which will likely happen but could go either way is one thing but a Superman series is the more tempting prospect here. Without sounding like a killjoy towards DCEU fans (and I am one of them), I think it's safe to assume that Henry Cavill won't be donning the cape anytime in the near future and with Hoechlin's version a nod to Christopher Reeve's take on the role but adding enough of his own self into the role, the CW would be nuts not to consider doing a Superman series if we're being candid here. As for Elizabeth Tulloch, I really liked her take on Lois Lane and thought both her and Hoechlin worked extremely well together, so I want to see more of them and I don't just mean in next year's crossover event. Go on, CW, you know you want to. You already have your own Lex Luthor about to appear on Supergirl in 2019. Now is the perfect time to do it before somewhere else beats you to the punch.
- Alternative Alex had longer hair and was also in the closet while Gary Green managed to sneak a cameo in here as a bartender. James made for an unconvincing biker gang leader. Lois is also pregnant and both her and Superman are going to Argo for a long while.
- There were nods to Bane, Mr Freeze, Poison Ivy, Clayface, Penguin, Riddler and Scarecrow during the Arkham bits of this crossover. We also briefly got Amazo and Deathstroke Jr (Liam Hall).
- Smallville got some love here with the use of Remy Zero's Save Me during the Kent farm scene and their Green Arrow being among the dead on Earth 90 during the start of this event.
- The next crossover event will be Crisis On Infinite Earths, coming Fall 2019.
Elseworlds might not beat Crisis On Earth X in terms of favourite crossovers for me but it was bloody great from start to finish and the fact that we've got an even bigger one to look forward is all the confirmation I need to know that most of these shows are coming back next year. Great Easter Eggs, character bits, meta humour at the whole annual event lark and yeah, this was a lot of fun. This time next year, yeah?
Rating: 9 out of 10
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