Written by Phil Klemmer & Marc Guggenheim & Greg Berlanti & Andrew Kreisberg
Directed by Glen Winter
Kendra (to Carter): "I'm not afraid of my past. I'm just unwilling to believe you're my future. The more you keep repeating we're destined to be together, the more I wanna prove you wrong."
One of the issues that I've had so far in both the Arrow/The Flash crossover episodes and even the first part of this pilot was the whole destiny between Kendra and Carter. I haven't felt the connection between them and the show itself reflected that even with Kendra struggling to connect with Carter as well, until this episode kind of resolved the problem in an unexpected way.
As characters, both Hawkman and Hawkgirl are meant to die over and over again with the goal of finding each other. It's a never ending circle they're trapped in along with Vandal Savage but actually having Carter die in this episode was not something I expected. I mean, I expected him to die because character wise, there's more scope with Kendra than him but I thought his death might have been kept until later in this season. His demise in this one however has opened up possibilities.
It's nothing against the actor but at the same time, Carter's death just didn't affect me. I felt a bit bad for Kendra and it did certainly make Savage feel a bit more of a threat but I hadn't connected with the character enough for it to be truly affecting. Even the gang's "for Carter" speech at the end wasn't quite as effecting but prior to his death, at least Kendra was remembering more of her past and we do know she's the one who can actually take Savage out in the long run, so that's something.
The rest of the episode along with Carter's death was seeing our gang of misfits screwing up massively in the past. An arms deal in Norway 1975 went massively awry due to both Stein's own arrogance and Ray leaving bits of his suit behind while a meeting with a younger Marty also caused some near catastrophes as well.
I did however like a lot of the pairings in this episode. Okay, the Kendra/Carter scenes lacked a little even if they were plot necessary but the joy of Stein, Sara and Jackson interacting with the younger version of Stein was absolutely priceless. Sara really has emerged as the star of the show with Caity Lotz clearly having such a ball exploring the newer facets of her unpredictable assassin and also finding some perfect comic timing as well. Especially during a moment where younger Stein got a literal bong hit too.
Then there was the scenes with Ray, Cold and Heatwave. Personally I actually liked both Cold and Heatwave taking Ray down a few notches and I also liked getting a bit more insight into Cold as a character. Ray himself also improves a lot as a character when his hubris is challenged and considering that he messed up a bit (leaving bits of his suit, setting off an alarm etc), it's nice to have other characters call him out when it's needed.
As for Rip, he was mostly background in this episode. Any scene he did appear in was purely to scold members of the team for screwing, effectively playing the straight man but he also showed Stein that the latter hadn't wrecked his own future as well. Rip probably wasn't as well used in this one as he was in the first part but he still had his moments though.
- Keeping with the crossovers, Damien Darkh popped up in this episode briefly. I hope we get to see Zoom or Reverse Flash next.
- Sara flirting with the younger Stein was so funny. Central City being potentially destroyed in 2016 is a bit worrying.
- I'm guessing despite Carter biting it in this one, we'll be seeing other versions of him for most of the season though.
- Chronology wise, more or less in Norway and Ivy Town in 1975 this week.
The second part of this pilot certainly helped to explain the mostly known time travel rules churned out by every show/movie but it did it well and with some genuinely funny moments, character insight and a nice curve ball in the status quo as well. I'm definitely sticking with this series.
Rating: 8 out of 10
No comments:
Post a Comment