REVIEW: DC'S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW - SEASON 5, EP. 0: "Crisis on Infinite Earths Part 5"
It has been QUITE a crossover for our heroes. We have seen the Anti-Monitor destroy several universes, full of heroes and villains, and watched as our heroes of the Arrowverse were faced with trying to stop him, with one man---Oliver Queen---sacrificing his life, so that Barry Allen and Kara Zor-El may live to save the multiverse from total extinction. After having falied to stop the Anti-Monitor from destroying everything, our heroes made one last attempt at the dawn of Time itself to kickstart the universe once again. In the process, Oliver--now wielding the power of The Spectre, commits one last act of heroism to restart the universe. He succeeds, but finally dies in the process. There's a new Earth---and now we see the results of just what they managed to do in the process. But is the Anti-Monitor TRULY dead? Only one way to find out....
We begin with Kara waking up in her apartment, having been dreaming about the past events of what went on in the Crisis. She sees Alex there, and Alex inquires as to what the dream was about, and Kara tells her about being at the dawn of time, looking to save the universe. Alex tells her that she seems a little out of it, and Kara is trying to get her bearings, peeking out the window, and seeing National City as it was, with nothing out of place. She then gets a call from Nia, who tells her she needs to hurry down to the Nobel Prize Ceremony they're supposed to cover for CatCo. Kara rushes out of there as Alex heads to work, and she meets Nia, with time to spare. She asks Nia to check her dreams later, and when Nia inquires what it's about, Kara tells her. Nia's taken aback, because she can't understand what she's talking about. The ceremony begins, and the recipient of the award is none other than Lex himself. He strolls up to the podium, spots Kara, who is in shock, and winks at her. Kara is VERY confused, and asks Nia what's going on. Nia says that Lex is one of the good guys, which Kara finds VERY hard to believe. Lex then gives a speech about fighting for mankind, being one of the good guys, and so on. Kara feels lost when J'Onn shows up, and tells her that only the paragons left know that there was a multiverse. Everything has been reset.
Back at the DEO, Kara goes on about how Lex is a master villain, to which Alex states that he is not only of the good guys, that he is HER boss! Kara looks down and sees the DEO logo, with the additional bit of "A Division of Lexcorp". Kara is itching to release some anger, when there's a call about a supervillain on the loose. Supergirl decides to go an handle it. It's when we see Weather Witch terrorizing people when Supergirl shows up, having zero idea of who she is. Weather Witch is aware of her, and says that Supergirl is no match for her power. Supergirl informs her that it's a bad idea to be messing with her, and is just about to take her out, when a streak zips by, and knocks Weather Witch out. It's Flash, and he apologizes, says she's one of his villains. They both question each other about being on each other's Earth. Just then, a man named Marv comes up, and asks for an autograph of the two, telling them how much he enjoys when they all team up, which only confuses Flash and Supergirl even more. While back in Central City, two city workers beneath the street in the tunnels find Nash Wells where we had seen him before the Anti-Monitor captured him.
Sarah is in Star City, oblivious as to how she got there. She's wandering around, trying to figure out what's going on, and deciding to look for Oliver. She is disoriented enough that she almost gets run over. J'Onn finally meets up with her, and tells her what's going on. Sarah asks him about Oliver, but J'Onn says he hasn't seen him. She heads off to the Bunker, calling out to him, but she runs into Diggle, Dinah, and Rene. She askes about Oliver, and about him being the Spectre, but they are not sure what she's talking about. They had asked Felicity to find him, but she didn't have any luck. J'Onn then lets them know what happened. Diggle breaks down, feeling like he failed Ollie. Rene and Dinah are crestfallen as well. Oliver is truly gone.
Back in Central City, we see Nash being checked out by Caitlin at STAR Labs. J'Onn arrives, and begins to chastise Nash for his role in the Crisis. Caitlin is unaware of what J'Onn is talking about when he gives them the lowdown with his powers. Caitlin is upset, but Nash now sees his role that he played. He says that they managed to fix his mistake, but J'Onn assures them that they didn't exactly FIX it.
Barry and Kara arrive at the Bunker back in Star City, and realize that everyone is now on the same Earth. A new Earth. But Oliver did not survive, and truly died. Everyone feels down and depressed at his loss. The monitor buzzes, and there's a threat on the streets of the city---a giant Beebo. Sarah contacts her team, and Ava and Nate answer, saying everyone else is busy, and asks if she needs them, she says for them to stay put, but they inform her that Mick is not aboard the Waverider. At the book signing, Mick is enjoying himself when he hears a commotion outside the bookstore, and sees the giant Beebo stomping on the streets. He's perturbed as he has to leave to go play hero.
The team attempt to take Beebo down, as per Sarah's instructions, but it turns out that it's a giant hologram, and not sure what they can do. Batwoman arrives, and is in disbelief as to what she sees. They figure out that Beebo there is just a distraction, while something else is going on. We see a criminal named SargonThe Scorcerer robbing a bank, to which Flash and White Canary find him, and stop him. Nash shows up back at the Bunker, after some of the team celebrate the victory, and tells them there's an antimatter energy spike popping up, and that means trouble.
Sarah is sitting alone, looking at a tree across the street that she used to climb on with her sister Laurel when they were kids. Barry catches up to her, and they chat. Sarah feels that since Oliver is gone, she doesn't quite feel tethered to home anymore. Losing Laurel, her Dad, and now Oliver, it feels like she has nothing left. Barry talks to her about losing his own parents...and feeling lost, depressed, and that moving on was difficult, but he's found a way. All of the sudden, they're under attack from a shadowdemon, which they vanquish, but realize that the Anti-Monitor hasn't been destroyed. The two of them have been attacked, and they figure out that the other paragons must be under attack as well. They go after Ryan Choi, who's the powerless one of the bunch. We see him at home running from the shadowdemon when Sarah dispatches of it, and saves him.
They all reunite at the Bunker, trying to come up with a plan to stop the Anti-Monitor once and for all. Ryan comes up with the idea of creating a weapon that will destabalize his antimatter energy and shrink him into a microverse. Sarah is good with the plan, and tells him and Ray to get to work on it, and Nash goes to help. She sends Mick with them as protection just in case. Before he leaves, Ryan gives some words of encouragement to Sarah.
The shadowdemons arrive by the hoards, and the new super team is ready to go into battle. The final battle begins, and the team starts taking down the shadowdemons, but then the all dissipate, and swirl around, forming into the Anti-Monitor. He informs them that their time as come to die.
Back at STAR Labs, Ray, Nash, and Ryan are working quickly on the device, when they come under attack by shadowdemons. Mick is there to run interference, as is Killer Frost. When more start to come, Black Lightning shows up, and blasts the last remaining ones away. The Anti-Monitor plays his last card, and shields up as the super team attacks. He manages to fend them off, and starts to grow in size. They press the attack nonetheless, and Ray informs Sarah that the weapon is almost ready, but can only assemble it so fast. Flash races back to STAR Labs, and helps them get it done quicker. It's ready to go, and Atom joins him, as they race to save the universe yet again.
Dinah is running point at the Bunker, letting everyone know where the shadowdemons are. Many of them are fighting them off, as the more powerful heroes such as Supergirl and Superman, are battling the Anti-Monitor himself. At one point, the Anti-Monitor grabs Superman, and is trying to crush him, when Supergirl sets her sights on him, and is about ready to go at him full boar with all her speed and strength. Just as she gets closer, the Atom interrupts her with the weapon. She tosses it right at the Anti-Monitor and it explodes. He shrinks into nothingness, and he's finished. The shadowdemons disappear, and the final battle is over. The team wins. Superman, however, got shrunk in the explosion, but the Atom quickly gets him back to regular size. They won the battle...for Ollie.
We see the President of the United States give a speech about the threat of the Anti-Monitor. She goes on to talk about Oliver Queen being the Green Arrow, and giving his life to save the universe. During this montage, we see Alex, Kara, and Kate at Kara's, Barry and Caitlin watching, Lyla and Diggle watching with their family, and everyone else joining the President in a moment of silence to mourn Oliver Queen. Meanwhile, Lois calls to Clark, who's flying around, informing him of a situation with their kids.
We then hear Ollie's voice, talking about the creation of the multiverse, and as he gives this speech, we see the creation, and various other Earth's having returned in the process: Earth 2, where the Justice Society lives (including new hero Stargirl), Earth 12, where lives the Green Lantern Corps (including Ryan Reynolds' Hal Jordan), Earth 19 is where the Swamp Thing resides, Earth 9 is restored for the Titans, and now Earth 21 is home to the Doom Patrol. and finally, Earth 96 is restored, and we see Superman once again, flying into space, winking at us as he flies off screen, with a bright new logo on his chest. The black in that chest emblem replaced by the familiar yellow.
Back on what we now call Earth Prime, the new team assembles in the old research lab that is owned by STAR Labs that we saw during the Invasion. They have Ollie's Green Arrow suit encased in glass...a monunment to him. Kara, Barry, and Sara all give their thanks and goodbyes to their friend. Kara then uses her heat vision to light an eternal flame to honor their fallen friend. Jefferson Pierce comments that while he never got to meet Oliver, he seemed like a cool dude. Barry nods in agreement. They then turn their attention to Barry, who has decided to use this research facility/warehouse for them to meet at, since it's off the grid, which Batwoman approves. Barry feels that this will be a place for them to meet, should the world be threatened once again, which Jefferson then realizes seems to happen more often with this group. Barry unveils one final surprise: their meeting table with the League logo on it, and chairs with their own logos on it. Superman approves. There's even a seat with a Green Arrow logo on it---indicating that there will ALWAYS be a seat at the table for Green Arrow. Sarah approves. They all sit down, and the Justice League is born. They then hear a strange noise eminating from the rafters. Sarah comments that the place needs some pest control. In the back near some of the boxes in the warehouse, there's an open cage that had a banana peel there, and on the cage, it says "GLEEK". And you hear the Super Friends theme as we end the crossover.
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Okay! Well...once again, we get through another crossover, but this was the granddaddy of them all. It was an immense undertaking to make sure everyone got some screen time, and played their part in this series. We got a more refined Arrowverse, and our major heroes are all in one place. It will make it easier to guest star on each other's shows now without having to use an extrapolator to bounce between Earths (though I am sure that will still happen at some point).
BUT....I have to honestly say--while this episode wrapped things up in a pretty bow, and we got to bid farewell to Oliver Queen...it left me kinda flat, to be honest. I felt that this last episode didn't have that feeling of an epic finale. It seemed....rushed. While it was a given that the main paragons were going to have to fight off the Anti-Monitor again, we didn't get EVERYONE involved. No Vibe, no Elongated Man, no Briany, no Steel....it just felt like...I dunno...a quick way to end the crossover because, writing wise, they ran out of gas by the time they got to the final part. The Anti-Monitor came across as a little weaker, and his last stand just seemed...dull. Uneventful. I was hoping that the ENTIRE Arroweverse would be on board, battling him in his enormous size, and either having Superman or Supergirl deliver the last blow. She did....but not how I expected. It lacked juice. And there were some things I was HOPING to get out of this. Why didn't we get Diggle becoming Green Lantern. This would've been the PERFECT time to pull that trigger, but they balked. That's a cop out. And what about Lex? Does he still have his powers? He still have the page from the Book of Destiny? I KNOW for a FACT that his little facade as a "good guy" and now running the DEO is just an act---once a villain, ALWAYS a villain. Either THAT story gets answered in Supergirl or Superman & Lois, much like Kara's renewed friendship with Lena on this new Earth.
I was pissed that Team Flash was COMPLETELY ignored here. No Iris? Come on....Barry deserved THAT. Now, I guess they'll sort all the personal stuff out on their respective shows. But still. This last episode just lacked the excitement. Now, don't get me wrong---I KNOW that they only used the original comic as a guideline, and that they were going to create their own version of it---take their own creative license in order to fit their narrative. But it just fell with a thud to me. Another thing---I get that they still have to keep the movies separate, as well as the shows on the DC Universe platform...but if I'm not mistaken, didn't the Titans and Doom Patrol occupy the same Earth? Why did they change it? We now know there's an Earth 2, but it's heroes are the Justice Society, where Stargirl is going to be taking place. So, with that in mind, I'm guessing that the Earth 2 that Black Siren Laurel Lance used to live on is no more, replaced with THIS Earth 2. Or do they follow the old comics here, and rewrite her story as the Black Canary of Earth 2 who jumped to Earth 1? I have no idea how they explain that one.
I DID find it cool that we FINALLY have the Justice League (though not in NAME as yet but I'm hoping hat's coming). And the roster sits like this: Flash, Superman, Supergirl, Black Lightning, Batwoman, Martian Manhunter, and White Canary. And Thea Queen got her wish: that Barry turn that warehouse/research facility into something. We now have the Hall of Justice (not in NAME, but---again---hoping it will come LATER). And the last part of this---was the ode to the Super Friends with the theme song. And good grief...STAR Labs had Gleek this whole time?! For those that need to know: Gleek was an alien monkey, who accompanied the Zan and Jana - the Wonder Twins, along with the Justice Legue in the old Super Friends cartoons. So, if we have Gleek---Zan and Jana are NOT far behind.
The BEST part...was the return of the Brandon Routh Superman. And in homage to the late, great Christopher Reeve...Routh did a STELLAR job giving us that one final look at his Man of Steel. I LOVED how they took the Kingdom Come emblem, and returned it to a bright red logo with the yellow background...his faith, and truth restored. And the little wink to the camera---his ode to Reeve...touched my heart. He just LOOKED like Superman...FELT like Superman. It was awesome.
And since this is now Earth Prime...anyone notice that Diggle and Lyla were at home with their DAUGHTER and son? It seems that the cosmic balance has been returned, and that Barry's Flashpoint goof up was corrected. Now, I'm assuming that the son is STILL Connorm, since we hear NOTHING about Bronze Tiger at all. Oh...and another thing---does Lyla remember ANYTHING at all? Or did her powers go in this reset? Does she even remember being Harbinger? I'm curious. Plus---this was my OTHER gripe---WHY was there NO REVERSE FLASH?!! We got a major hint dropped in the season finale of The Flash, when Eobard said that he'd meet Barry in "the next Crisis". What a letdown! We got nothing out of that! What a waste! And Nash....what about him? Is he the only Wells we get now? The thing about having limited universes now, is that we don't have an abundance of Harrison Wells dopplegangers hanging around. So, is this the end of that? Are we stuck with Nash Wells for good? And the other thing I noticed: Lois and Clark have ANOTHER kid??!! And if some things from Barry's Flashpoint misadventure has been corrected...that mean that Cisco's brother isn't dead? What about Gypsy? Or Captain Cold?
Greatest cameo of the entire crossover? The guy Marv, who wanted the autograph. That is actually CRISIS writer Marv Wolfman, who had the dubious task of streamlining the DC Universe back in 1985. He was also responsible for making The New Teen Titans one of the hottest books of the decade during his run with artist George Perez.
I still have an abundance of questions....but for now, this will have to do. Though I'm curious about YOUR questions and thoughts of this crossover. Did it live up to the hype? Did it deliver on its promise to be epic? Or did you feel the ending was a letdown like I did? Let me know! Subscribe to my little place on the web, pass the good word around, and leave a comment!
Until next week, when Legends kicks off it's 5th season---time is on our side
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