IMPACT! WRESTLING - March 22, 2019

IMPACT! WRESTLING – March 22, 2019:  We get the fallout from the Johnny Impact heel turn on Brian Cage, Family collides as Sami Callahan faces off with Rich Swann for the X-Division title, Ace Austin looks to go 2-0, and Eli Drake & Eddie Edwards look to solidify the most unusual tag team pairing against KM & Fallah Bahh.  Plus, Ethan Page takes on Willie Mack, and Trey Miguel looks to try and tame Moose.

Tonight’s show opens up with Moose taking on Trey Miguel of the Rascalz, since they mocked Moose last week.  Trey exhibits his agility early by being able to counter and avoid the big paws of Moose.  He manages to get a hurricanrana to Moose to get him out of the ring, he then tries to go for a dive on Moose, but Moose nails him.  Moose then mocks Trey’s Rascalz signature, but gets hit out of the ring by Trey.  Trey tries to land another rana, but Moose slams him onto the ring apron, and it’s brutal.  Moose rolls back into the ring, and lets the ref get most of the 10 count but, Moose rolls out, to grab him.  He gets Trey back into the ring and tries some offense, but as he goes for yet another hurricanrada, Moose catches him again and slams him into the ring steps.  Trey is stunned, and Moose tosses him back into the ring, works Trey over with some right hands, and stands on him for a two count.  Trey is in the corner to get yet another hurricanrana, but yet again, Moose catches him, and tries for a powerbomb, but Trey rolls off his back and gets a sunset flip but Moose kicks out.  Moose drills him with a nasty clothesline, but only gets a two count.  He kicks Moose in the corner, and tries for his finishing move, but Moose prevents it.  Trey continues the offense, and he then lands a frog splash, but can only manage a one count.  Moose lands a powerbomb, but can’t get the victory.  Both men trade big move counters, and Trey lands a back kick, but only gets a two count yet again.  Eventually, Moose prevents a codebreaker by Trey, and nails him with a spear for the win.  Great effort by Trey…getting better each week.

Sami Callahan and OVE are cutting their promo on Rich Swann, saying he’s going to take the X-Division Title from him.   OVE says they’re taking over everything.

Melissa Santos is with Tessa Blanchard, asking her that since Gail was suspended, does she feel vindicated.  Tessa says no, she doesn’t.  She says she’s taking legal action, and blames IMPACT Wrestling for Gail’s actions.  She wants Gail to publicly apologize to her, then she wants Gail fired.

KM & Fallah Bahh head to the ring as they’re going to battle Eddie Edwards & Eli Drake.  Drake and Bahh square up and Bahh gets the early offense, as him and KM tag out.  Eli then nails KM, and tags out to Eddie.   They work some quick tags before KM and Bahh regain the offense.  KM lands a splash, but only gets a two count.  Offense getting traded equally in this match.  Eli gets knocked off the apron, but Eddie faces off against KM, but Eli comes in and lands a neckbreaker.  Eddie and Eli again get on the offense.  Bahh comes back and lands a flying crossbodyblock on Eddie, but can’t get the pin.  Eli is down on the outside, but Eddie gets Bahh down, and heads out to get Kenny.  The ref stops him, and while KM is hanging on the bottom rope, he tosses Kenny out to Eli, who smashes KM with it, Eddie then lands the Boston Knee Party, and they score the victory.  This team is working well…even if they have to break the rules to do it. 

We see Rolando Melendez catch up to Johnny and Taya as they arrive at the arena, asking why they did what they did to Brian Cage, and they said he can wait to find out like everyone else.

Rolando Melendez once again tries to get to Johnny and Taya, and gets tossed by Taya for his troubles.

Ace Austin is up next against Damian Hyde.  Ace is putting on quite a highlight reel, as his aerial moves have stunned Hyde in this match early on.  He stays on the attack, by landing a reverse senton, a series of powerful kicks, and then hits his move called “Aces Up” as he dominates in a squash match, giving him a little more exposure to the audience.

We cut to a black and white musical promo that shows a woman gearing up for a run. We can't see her face, but there's a card that says "2 weeks".  Is it the return of The Queen Bee, Madison Rayne?  We then see video package promoting tonight’s X-Division Title Match between Sami and Swann. 

Josh Matthews is in the ring to interview the Impact World Champion and his wife, the Knockouts Champion.  Josh asks him why did he do what he did to Brian Cage.  He says Josh and the fans are smart marks.  He said he was going to be a fighting champion.  He says that the fans don’t care about him, that the fans come to see him like they watch NASCAR---only there for the wrecks.  They only came to see him break his body.  He says Brian is dumb, and that nobody cares about him or Brian.  Josh then asks about Taya’s title match against Jordynne Grace, and she puts her down.  She plays on Johnny’s remarks about calling the fans smarks, and says that THEY dictate the rules now.  Josh asks Johnny if he’s going to give Brian his title shot at REBELLION.  Johnny says that he’ll beat Brian, and says that he hopes Brian can stay healthy.  He ends the interview with saying there’s only two things that matter most to him…Taya and the title.  Typical heel promo, nothing special.

James Mitchell is looking in the mirror when Rosemary shows up, wondering why she didn’t get Allie’s soul.  Mitchell said he gave Rosemary what she wanted, and she doesn’t agree, and she says she’ll do what she has to in order to restore the Bunny.  Mitchell says that as HIS right hand man, he can’t let Rosemary back into the Undead Realm.  She says she doesn’t care, and that if she has to go into the Undead Realm to reclaim the Bunny’s soul, that’s what she will do.  Then she disappears.

Ethan Page is in the ring ready to face off against Willie Mack.  Ethan and Willie get a little back and forth to start out.  Willie gets the edge and lands a standing moonsault, but only gets a one count.  Ethan gets tossed from the ring and Mack goes outside and both trade blows until Page sends Mack into the ringpost, that Mack blocks, but turns around and gets squared up with a kick to the face.  Page gets Mack in the ring and works him over.  Willie gets back on the offense, lands a couple of big knees to Page in the corner, then an atomic knee drop, a reverse atomic knee drop, then sends him into the corner.  Willie lands his signature body roll into the corner.  He then goes for the cover, only gets a two count.  He goes up top, but Page catches him with a kick.  Page gives him an armdrag off the top rope, then lands an elbow on him, but can’t get the pin.  Willie once again regains the offense, and nails the stunner on Page for the pin and the win.

We see the Champion Couple backstage as they approach Killer Kross.  Kross leans down to Johnny’s ear and says “bravo”, giving him props for the interview.  He then moves to Johnny’s opposite ear, and can’t hear what is said, but Johnny laughs, puts on his shades, smiles, and comments that his day is getting better and better, and walks off with Taya, who gives Kross a dirty look.  Kross does NOT look pleased.

Rolando Melendez returns to interview Disco Gilbertti, who’s at a bar doing shots, and he says that women’s wrestling is nonsensical, and that when he meets her in the ring, it will be a one star match…six for him, negative five for her.  He’s going to prove that women don’t belong in the ring.  He then tips the bartender next to nothing and leaves.

Melissa is outside IMPACT Management offices, discussing Gail Kim’s situation, and Gail comes out, says that her hands are tied, since Tessa’s got her lawyers involved.  Gail says that she will do what she has to do.  Just as Melissa is about to answer another question, Gail moves them out of the way as a locker room door busts open, and we see LAX and Luchas in a knockdown, drag out brawl that goes on in the hallway for a couple minutes before officials break them up.  Was hoping to hear what Gail will decide to do, but the LAX/Luchas War has just gone DefCon 1.

Willie Mack heads backstage and into a locker room when the Crist Brothers follow behind and sneak attack him with the door closed.  We see Willie open the door and walk about with a chair, as he turns and locks the door. 

Main Event time, as Sami Callahan is ready to do battle for the X-Division Champion Rich Swann, with the title on the line.  Rich comes down the ring, and before we know it, the fight’s on.  They trade blows, and Sami rolls out of the ring.  Swann lands a suicide dive outside the ring.  Rich gives chase, but Sami gets the offense on him.  He pulls the ring steps aside, and tries to toss Rich on the ring steps, but Swann blocks it.  He then rakes Swann’s eyes and goes for a piledriver, but Swann blocks it.  Sami pushes Swann off the steps, but Swann flips and runs up to nail Sami with a kick to the face.  Rich then runs and lands a splash on Sami.  Sami then nails Swann again, and hits an exploder suplex on Swann on the ramp before we head to break.

Back from the break, we see Sami slow the pace on Swann with a headlock.  Sami takes a couple of blows from Swann, but Sami fights back, and pulls out of the ring, tells Swann to quit, but Rich won’t.  He drags Swann’s face into the bottom rope.  Sami continues to punish Swann.  Swann tries fighting back against Sami.  Swann manages to get a flurry of offense in, including a hurricanrana, then a superkick.  Sami nails him, only to go up top and get caught with a kick to the face, and then an Frankensteiner off the top rope.  Swann can’t get the three count.  He goes for another move, but Sami strikes back with a brutal clothesline, a huge knee to the face, then hits the Get Outta Here, but only gets a two count.  Sami takes off the wrist tape.  He goes for the piledriver, but Swann lands a kick to the face, heads to the rope, and Sami drills him with a knee.  Rich counters with a kick, then lands a 450 splash, but can’t get the three count.  Rich goes for another Frankensteiner, but Sami catches him and lands a vicious powerbomb.  Again, Sami cannot get the three, and Rich kicks out, only for Sami to get him into a crossface submission.  He then breaks it, only to put it on the other side.  Rich rolls to the rops and breaks it.  Sami then spits in Rich’s face, and Rich goes off on him.  Rich hits a kick to the face, flips to the ropes, flips back to land a cutter.  Two count.  Then Rich gets Sami into a cradle to score the win and retain the title.  Sami then attacks Swann after the match and goes for a chair, but Rich sees it coming and kicks him.  As Rich goes for the chair, a masked man heads to the ring and nails Swann with a powerslam.  It’s a guy named Mad Man Fulton, and he picks Sami up, puts him on the top rope, and shows his loyalty to OVE.  He’s the new member.  Mack comes to the ring to take down the 7 foot behemoth, but gets laid out for his troubles.  Sami then grabs a bat, and Fulton holds Swann as Sami drills him.  Sami and Fulton stand tall as Swann and Mack are laid out in the middle of the ring as the show goes off the air.

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This was not a bad episode of the show.  Once again, two hours fly by pretty fast. 

We got the answer from Johnny and Taya for the heel turn, and…well, it was what I expected.  The signs were there pretty much from BOUND FOR GLORY when Austin Aries no sold the finisher, and I think that left a sour taste in the fan’s mouths, not only from the perspective that Aries was a jerk, but for the fact it made Johnny look like a weak champion.  And despite his putting the belt on the line several times, they made him look weak in most every match.  This was the path that they had laid down for his heel turn just recently.  That, and Cage calling in Option C to give up the X-Division Title for a World Title shot.  Johnny couldn’t remain a babyface forever, so, while it served the purpose to have him crap on the fans, and the “smarks” (nice of them keeping up to date and using current trending terms for fans now), it still is a typical way of getting a babyface to turn heel.  Plus, Cage is the more over babyface, so it made sense to turn Johnny heel.  Honestly, I didn’t quite see him getting over much as a babyface, anyway.  So, they made the right choice here.  Naturally, Taya would follow suit, and her victory over Tessa to win the title was somewhat tainted, though through no real fault of Gail Kim, but we’ll get to that.  But having her heel sets it up nicely for her to face off with the likes of Jordynne Grace, Kiera Hogan, and…should they decide to revisit it…Rosemary once again.  There are nice options for a few feuds you can have for Taya…she’s got a few challengers.  Same for Johnny…though, right now, he’s set for a showdown with Cage at REBELLION.  And what’s his deal with Killer Kross?  Where is THAT story going?

Eli Drake and Eddie Edwards, as unconventional as they are, make a pretty damn good tag team.  Once again, Kenny plays a big part in their victories, but it’s getting in the job done.  And, they could be moving up the tag team ranks.

Trey Miguel continues to impress me with his in-ring work.  Moose was a big challenge, but he performed well even in a loss.  I still see him slotted into getting and X-Division title shot somewhere down the road.

Disco Inferno once again showing that he’s nothing more than a comedy act.  But he plays it well.  Look forward to his match with The Smokeshow very soon.

The OVE/Rich Swann feud just got A LOT bigger now with this Madman Fulton guy with OVE.  Not sure how Rich and Willie Mack will be able to survive the feud with this guy.  He looks unbeatable. 

Everyone pretty much on board with the fact that Gail Kim is coming OUT of retirement to wrestle Tessa Blanchard to blow off this little feud?  Everyone expecting it to happen at REBELLION?  I do.  Don’t you?  I don’t see Gail apologizing for crap.  If the Queen of the Knockouts is going down…it’s SURE as hell NOT without a fight.  I wanna see that match.

Rosemary is not happy that she didn’t get The Bunny back.  James Mitchell does his best to manipulate the Demon Assassin, but this is a woman with no fear, was IN the Undead Realm, and will do so again to get Allie’s soul back.  They need to wrap this up quickly.  As everyone knows by now, Allie’s contract was NOT renewed by IMPACT, and she has just signed with AEW.  So, Allie’s going away once this story is finished.  It’s sad to know that this story COULD have had a bit more legs on it, but with Allie leaving, it’s best to tie up the loose end, and give everyone a finish that will make sense, and not drop it totally.  Allie’s farewell is coming.  It’s a shame, really….she’s been one of the backbones of the Knockouts Division for the last few years, and I think it’s a mistake for IMPACT to let her go.  But now she’ll get a chance to shine on a bigger stage, with a company that’s going to have a solid TV contract, and more eyes on HER.  That’s only a feather in HER cap.  But she’ll be VERY missed on the Knockouts roster.

One last thing before we wrap up for this week---the Lucha Bros and LAX in a backstage brawl.  Well, I think it’s safe to say that the bad blood brewing for the last month plus has now spilled over.  So much for Konnan wanting things to stay “competitive, but civil” when it comes to family fighting family.  Once again, he has seen family ripped apart for the sake of competition, to prove who’s the best.  If we’re getting at least one more match out of these two teams…it’s time to up the stakes.  A ladder match, steel cage, falls count anywhere, something.  We’ve seen what they both can do in a typical tag match, but with the bad blood overflowing, this needs to have a special stipulation involved.  And it needs to be the blowoff to this feud, so that some of the other tag teams in the division can have a chance at the straps. 

Once again, I appreciate you guys checking out the blog.  I can’t beg enough to subscribe, tell your friends, and please leave a comment.

Until next week…

THE FLASH - Season 5.17

THE FLASH – Season 5, Ep. 17:  “Time Bomb”

Team Flash find out about a new metahuman – a suburban mom named Vickie Bolen – and she is in danger.  They are racing to save her before she falls to the new Cicada.  She’s been hiding her abilities from her family.  Barry, however, urges her to share her secret with her family.

We start in 2049, Nora races to Eobard, freaked out about the new Cicada disrupting the timeline.  She wonders why things haven’t changed.  She asks Eobard for help, and he’s not sure who or what is going on.  She is frantic about what to do, and begs him to find a way to help.  The only thing he suggests is that Nora tell her father the truth.

We head back to the present, where Orlen wakes up, still groggy, but healing.  Grace tells him it will take awhile, but he will heal.  He asks who she is, and she hands him the dolls that he gave her.  She tells him that she grew up and became the woman before him.  He says she’s from the future, like Flash’s daughter.  She says she came back to work with him, finish what he started.  She goes to leave, and he asks where she’s going, and she says she has something to take care of, and he sees her hesitate in pain, and sees her wound.  She says that when she gets back, they’re going to see about getting his powers back.

At the hospital, Joe and the team are interviewing one of the nurses about Ambres and her past.  The nurse says that once her family was killed, she became distant, except when watching over Grace.  Joe asks the nurse if she would know where Dwyer is, but she says no.  Cecile confirms it, and Joe asks her to keep in touch.  Barry notices Nora seems a bit off, but she says she’s got a lot on her mind.

At the lab, Sherloque is going over Nora’s journal entries, but doesn’t see who she’s working with.  Cisco calls him, and says the lab won’t clean itself.  He heads into the lab, and they’re getting a hit on an artifact stolen from the archives.  They split into teams to look for what’s missing.  Turns out, Cisco and Sherloque find Thawne’s time sphere in the forest, meanwhile, Caitlin and Ralph see it in the archives.  They deduce that someone took the sphere from the future, and travelled back to the past.  Sherloque also deduces that it appeared the same time this new Cicada showed up.

Speaking of Cicada, she arrives at the police station, looking for apparently a file or something, where she fends off a guard, and makes off with it.

Barry, Joe, Nora, and Cecile arrive at the station, and look over the scene.  Barry does a speed check of it, and finds out Cicada was looking for a cold case from 2017.  Joe decides to do some digging.  We then check out Jitters, where Cisco is on his date, when all of the sudden, Ralph shows up, kind of ruining the date.  He lets Cisco know Barry wants to see him.

Iris comes upon Sherloque working in his space, asking him what he’s working on, and has he found it.  He says he’s close.  She asks him if he’s been working on it the whole time, he says yes.  He then leaves, putting down what he was reading, which was the blueprints for the lab.  Iris sees it as he takes off.

Cisco, Barry, and Nora arrive at an ATM, where they say the cold case came up empty.  The camera was destroyed and they had no evidence. They want Cisco to vibe, but he says he can’t.  But he sees burn marks, and is able to vibe that.  He sees a woman using powers to steal from the ATM…then two people arrive to use it, and the ATM explodes, killing them.  There’s a little girl in the car who witnesses the whole thing.  It turns out that the people who died were Grace Gibbons’ parents, and she witnessed it.  They all discover that SHE is the new Cicada, coming back from the past to kill whomever killed her parents.

At her secret hideout, Grace talks to her Uncle Orlen about how she found the file on her parents’ death, and that the CCPD did nothing to help her.  They felt that it was a job for The Flash, according to her.  She says that she came back to finish his plan.  He wonders what plan.  She says the plan eliminate all metahumans. 

Joe, Barry, and Nora head to a party, where they meet a woman named Vickie Bolen, who they ask about the ATM machine back in 2017.  She says she touched it, and it started sparking, so she ran off.  People thought she may have robbed it, and she didn’t.  She was glad no one got hurt.  The trio pause, and Joe finally says that someone is going to try and kill her, and Joe offers protective custody.  She refuses, and asks them to leave.

We hook up with Ralph and Cisco again, and Ralph believes that he’s helping Cisco again, by hooking up his girlfriend with Iris’ newspaper for a photography gig.  Cisco isn’t thrilled, but his gal wants to celebrate, so they take off. 

We see Sherloque deep in the archives looking for something from Eobard Thawne.  He ends up finding the wheelchair that Eobard had used as Harrison Wells.  He also discovers the power source Thawne used to increase his speed.

Joe, Barry, and Nora talk about Vickie, but can’t figure out what to do.  Joe takes a call from Cecile, and Barry and Nora debate about Vickie telling her family about her powers.  Barry says keeping a secret like that, and not giving the family a choice isn’t right.  Just then, Nora gets a vision.  She can see Cicada coming.  Her and Barry quick change, and get the kids out of the area.  Cicada shows up, and she takes on Flash and XS, but disables them.  Vickie then uses her powers to take out Cicada, but in the process, her daughter gets hurt.  Flash and XS gets the family out of there.

At the hospital, they look in on Grace, and they can’t imagine how she can become evil.  Cecile can sense her anger…the anger she got from Orlen.  They hear arguing in the other room, and Vickie’s husband wants her to go away, and all she tried to do was save her family.  Her daughter just wants her dad right now, and Joe breaks up the argument.  Vickie walks off in frustration.  Barry and Nora talk, and Nora feels that all this just made matters worse.

Cisco is working in the lab when Ralph comes across him and they talk.  Ralph thought he was the problem, but it turns out, Cisco feels that HE is the problem…his double life.  He was hoping to never expose Camille to his superhero world, but Ralph reminds him that he can’t keep it from her forever…and if he tries, it will tear him to pieces.  He leaves Cisco to think.

Grace returns to Orlen, and says she failed to get her.  Orlen went over the file, and said that nothing made sense.  It just seemed like an accident.  Grace doesn’t believe it, and feels that her uncle has gone soft.  She plans on finishing the job, and he feels she needs to let go, but she pushes him away, and she heads off to find Vickie and kill her.

Sherloque heads into the secret space and talks to Gideon, putting the cube into her, and seeing a video file of Thawne…who had cracked a code on how to make time malleable. 

At the hospital, Vickie has been talking to her daughter, telling her the truth.  Barry says they’re a good family.  Just then, Cecile sensed Grace’s hate, and Nora sensed her yet again.  Joe gets Vickie’s daughter out of the way, and Flash tells XS to run, and take Vickie with her.  She takes off, as Flash goes to confront Grace.  He tries to appeal to her, but she ends up fighting him.  Cisco and Ralph arrive a distance away to help XS as she’s being chased by Cicada’s knife.  Cisco manages to breach her and Vickie to the lab, keeping them safe.  Just as Ralph and Cisco go to head through the breach, Cicada stops them from coming through…a new wrinkle in her power.  She incapacitates him, and just as she’s about to hit the death blow, Dwyer shows up.  He tries to appeal to her, and asks her to let her anger go.  He says it’s too late for him, but not for her.  She says it is too late…for him.  She ends up killing him with his own knife.  As he dies in Flash’s arms, Dwyer asks him to save Grace.

Later at the lab, they talk about Vickie and her family in protective custody. Caitlin tells the team that because Grace’s dark matter is in her head, it makes her more powerful than Dwyer was.  And because her and Nora are from the same time, they’re psychically connected.  As they’re all about to leave, Nora stays behind, hesitant.  They ask her what’s wrong, and it’s then that Sherloque reveals to the team Nora’s secret---that she’s been working with Eobard Thawne this whole time, as part of his plan to alter the timeline.  Barry and Iris asks her if it’s true, and she apologizes for not telling them sooner, that she wanted to, but before she can say anything else, Barry grabs her and locks her in the pipeline.  She apologizes to her dad, and says she’s sorry, but Barry, says so is he.  And walks off.  We see her crying in her cell as the show ends.

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First of all…I KNOW this is LATE…but---I had internet issues, and couldn’t post until this afternoon.  My apologies, guys!  I’ll TRY to make sure it doesn’t happen again!

This was an emotionally charged episode…but a good one, as things begin to fall more into place, and the big secret is now out in the open.

Grace’s Cicada powers are definitely more powerful and more versatile than Dwyer’s.  To be able to not only fend off and take the powers of metahumans, she was able to also block Cisco from being able to breach.  I wonder how she managed to learn those things.  We also see the motivation for her return….to kill the person who caused the death of her parents (which was accidental), but to help her uncle finish what he started.  She has carried his anger with her and made it her own her whole life.  And while it was nice to see Dwyer finally come around, and see the consequences of his actions as Cicada, but to see how his anger corrupted his niece, seeing that destructive emotion at a glance, he finally got it.  But at a price….his own life.  This I kind of saw coming earlier in the episode after he tried to appeal to her humanity before, and she blasted him.  Grace is now more dangerous than ever, and it will be tough to be able to stop her.

Good to see Ralph back, helping the team out.  Again, he was the comic relief, but he’s also shown a lot of wise support as of late.  Helping Cisco out…or at least TRYING to…and seemingly making matters worse for Cisco…especially in regards to Cisco’s relationship with Camille.  However, what we see is him trying to help his friend realize that he can’t keep his two worlds apart from Camille forever….otherwise it will eat him up inside, and mostly, cause his relationship with Camille to fall apart.  Honestly, to see Cisco struggle with this, he should be asking the ONE person who dealt with this first hand:  Barry.  He saw the consequences when Iris finally found out Barry was The Flash.  It was NOT an easy road for them.  Hopefully, we’ll be able to see Cisco overcome his own personal demons, and go from there.

Sherloque is one crafty detective.  He lives up to his name well.  To put the pieces together, and discover Nora’s secret, it shows that he’s no bumbling fool.  He’s definitely proven his worth to the team time and again, and breaking THIS news was HUGE.  You gotta hand it to the guy that, no matter the distractions Nora tried throwing in his path, he stayed the course.  It WAS kind of a bummer, though that HE was the one that spilled the beans to Team Flash instead of Nora.  Finally, that cat is out of the bag….and now she is going to suffer the consequences of her actions.  Her working with her father’s greatest enemy is a punch in the gut to Barry AND Iris.  Both lost so much because of Eobard, and for their own flesh and blood to be working with him in the future, it smacks of ultimate betrayal.  And no matter what she’s going to say, or how she tries to explain it away, the trust between parents and child has been severely eroded.  Her willingness to hide the truth from her parents finally caught up to her.  And now, she gets time in the pipeline for her troubles.  One of the things that, sadly, has been a fallback plot device on a lot of these shows…The Flash especially…is the “betrayal by friend or loved one” narrative.  It worked the first season brilliantly.  But the more they did it…with Zoom in season two, and now Nora this season…it’s going to the wishing well one too many times.  I get this is a tad different because this is Barry and Iris’ daughter.  However, the premise is still the same, and it’s something this show needs to break the cycle of. 

As for Eobard…we saw in the journal clip shown by Gideon, that he KNEW how to manipulate time…thus making it malleable.  It makes you wonder just how much he’s strung Nora along in the future.  And, having gotten what HE wanted, he probably managed to manipulate Nora enough that when she DID confess to working with him, he KNEW that they would never believe her again, and would shatter the family apart.  One more chance to poke fun at the Flash.  I also would NOT be surprised if he had left enough clues for Grace to find the time sphere and use it to travel back in time to disrupt things, and take her revenge.  Motivate another villain to do his dirty work---sounds like Thawne.  It will be very fascinating to see if this is how the story unfolds in the weeks to come.

We’ve reached the end of this lap of the season, and we have a bit more to go, but the pace is picking up.  Thanks for checking out the blog, and hope you guys subscribe and pass it on down the line.  Drop a comment too, I’d love to hear from ya!

Until next week…keep on running!

ARROW - Season 7.16

ARROW – Season 7, Ep. 16:  “Star City 2040”

Team Arrow steps to the side tonight, as we head to the future and focus on Mia and William, who go on a dangerous adventure in the Glades in order to find Felicity, and uncover what her long term plan is.  Meanwhile, Dinah, Roy, and Zoe deliver some devastating news.

We see a cabin house out in the woods, where there’s a female grunting.  It’s Felicity giving birth to Mia.  It’s a special moment for Oliver and Felicity.  We see a montage where little Mia is being trained by Nyssa on how to fight.  Felicity watches over.  Nyssa says she’s ready, as they open up a box, and Mia pulls out the bow and quivers, and fires one.

Mia arrives home from school, letting her mom know she’s home, but she gets no response.  She’s looking about the house, and ends up nearly killing Felicity as she sneaks up behind her.  Felicity was on the phone with Smoak Tech, and Mia wonders why she doesn’t go into work.  Mia wants to leave Bloomfield and explore the city.  But Felicity says that the city isn’t safe.  She asks for a movie night, and Mia agrees.  She goes to shoot an arrow to split and apple, and it hits a picture.  The picture fluxuates, and Mia then discovers that it’s the key to open a secret door to a secret room, where she sees Felicity’s set up like Overwatch.  She starts toying with the keyboard, looking up stuff, but it sets off a self destruct sequence.  Felicity comes in and stops it, and says it’s just something she’s working on that’s not work related.  Mia accuses her of being a vigilante, and Felicity says it’s just propaganda.  Mia is upset that her mom lied to her, and says that she’s leaving to go to the city.  Felicity goes to look for Mia, who left a letter, saying that she left to head to Star City to find out the truth, and that she doesn’t want her mom to try and stop her.  We later see her getting a tattoo, wanting to erase any part of her old life.  Then, it heads to the future “present”, where she’s doing a handstand while her brother is watching.  She asks if he’s ready to head into the Glades, and he says to risk their lives.  She says she’s got nothing better to do, as she grabs her quiver.

We see the pair scaling the wall to get into the Glades.  They argue about Felicity, and then they continue their quest into the Glades.

Back at the Lair, Dinah, Roy, and Zoe are trying to locate the bombs, and Dinah says she has an informant at the SCPD.  They go to see him, but he’s not exactly forthcoming with information. Though they DO find out Felicity is alive and her death was faked.  It also turns out that he had his walkie talkie with him the whole time, which sets Roy off.  He pounds on the guy until Dinah pulls him back, saying they have to go.

Mia and William know they need to enter the Galaxy One Building, but feel they’re going to get caught.  William says not to worry, as they enter the building, where he barks orders at Mia, acting like she’s a secretary.  They get to the security scan, and William gets through just fine.  Just as he gets through, the security guard forces her to scan, and the alarms go off.  The guard is about ready to pull her aside, and she gets ready to fight, but Connor shows up, waving a badge, and the guard says he didn’t know she was with him, and Connor, known as Agent Hawke, says that is the whole point.  He scans in and they go through.

As they have gotten in, and talk, Mia is upset that Connor lie to her again.  He says he works for Knightwatch, which William points out is the “good” version of ARGUS.  They lay out a plan to try and get information on where the bombs are.  Connor heads to the sublevels, while William and Mia head up to the office to meet with the CEO.  They try to ascertain information about a company associated with Emerald, but the CEO, Kevin Dale, says that they ended their relationship with them.  While William is distracting Kevin with business talk, Mia is getting Kevin’s DNA from the coffee cup he had.  She then says that they have business to conduct back at the office, and they leave.

Dinah, Zoe, and Roy are back at the Lair, when they run into Rene.  He is disappointed that Dinah didn’t say away from Zoe, and Zoe tells him that she’s upset with him that he gave up his fight to work with terrorists.  Galaxy One is a front for an organization called Eden Crops.  He says that he knows they’re looking for the bombs…and they need to give it up.  Dinah tells him that he’s being played.  He says the bombs are part of a reclamation project for Star City.  But the real plan is to bomb the entire city…and the people with it.  Rene says that isn’t true.  He was under the impression that the people would be evacuated.  Zoe tells him that the father SHE knew…the hero…would’ve NEVER let this happen. 

Mia, William, and Connor are in an elevator trying to get to the sublevel, and Mia connects the dots, and says that Emerald was a company Felicity set up for William, due to the fact that Emerald connects to Emerald City from The Wizard of Oz, which was Felicity’s favorite book.  They get into the level, and have a quick battle, and they find out how to get to the lower level. 

They get to the sublevel, and they find Felicity, trapped inside some electronic cage.  Connor manages to get her out, and her and William reunite.  She says the coordinates were only for the team, and not the kids, but she’s glad to see them nonetheless.  She knows they need to disable the bombs, and they find out that they’re being followed, but it turns out the team finally arrives.  Dinah, Roy, and Zoe are happy to see Felicity alive.  She says she had to infiltrate this company to stop the bombs, but got caught.  They all agree that they need to stop the bombs, and they head out, except Mia and Connor.  Connor gives William the DNA device.  Mia is against going.  Her and Connor have a heart to heart about their relationship, and Connor tells her that while he wasn’t happy at the fact that his parents made the sacrifices, he’s proud of them.

The team tries to find out how to disarm the bombs, but it turns out, that it’s a cube that Kevin happens to have on his person, and that there’s a party going on to celebrate the project.  They don’t know how they can infiltrate the party, and Rene says to leave it up to him, now that he has discovered the truth.

It turns out to be a costume party, where they can get signatures on people through their clothing.  William and Felicity are trying to find Kevin, and Mia just happens to brush into him and follow him.  She finds him, and tells him to hand over the cube.  He says he won’t, and thought it would be a Canary that killed him.  He sends his guards, but Mia easily takes them down.  He makes his escape into the crowd.  They follow him, and Mia then gets her bow and manages to shoot the cube out of Kevin’s hand and onto a wall, disabling the bombs. 

The team then sees the press conference Rene gives, saying that vigilantes invaded the party and there’s a warrant out for Arsenal, Black Canary, and The Calculator…dead or alive.  They know Rene had to give that speech to keep up appearances.  Kevin and Rene have a chat, and Kevin thinks that Rene was a leak, but Rene manages to convince him that things are cool.  Then Kevin shows Rene the new device that will get rid of vigilantes forever.  We see a helmet with goggles on it. 

Mia and Felicity have a talk, and Mia had hated vigilantes for so long, but seeing what her Mom was willing to do and sacrifice has made her think differently.  Felicity says she’s proud of Mia, and says that her and her father did what they could to protect her and everyone else.  Mia asks her mom if taking down Galaxy One has anything to do with her father, and we Flashback to present time, where Felicity completes the ARCHER Program, which, as Felicity states earlier, needs to be destroyed because no one should have that much power.  Felicity finishes the ARCHER program, and it comes online.

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Well....we certainly got a lot out of this episode, and the future makes a hell of a lot more sense after tonight.  It also raises some new questions about what's to come for the future of the Arrowverse.

First of all...we get to see just how bad ass Mia got to be. Being trained by Nyssa, who is a member (or former member) of the League of Assassins---it's a top level education on combat.  And without Ollie there, it appears that Felicity went with the next best thing.  We also got to see the focal point of Mia's anger at vigilantes...Felicity herself.  With Felicity being Overwatch behind her daughter's back, it made Mia feel as if she wasn't as important as the city.  Mia only saw one side of the issue.  And her anger was warranted...to a point.  But she also saw that her mother was willing to risk her life, so that she could save the city.  And deep down, I feel Mia didn't want to see her mother die.  So, she did what her father would've done---save the city, save her loved ones.  It was a touching moment at the end to finally see a reconciliation between Mia and Felicity.  It was also good to see that William and Felicity reunite as well, with him not harboring the hate as Mia did.  And, he's a chip off the old Overwatch block.  Him and Felicity working together was great to see.

Overall, it was also good to see Team Arrow back in action.  It didn't take long for everyone to fall back into team mode, with William and Mia as the new additions.  And Rene---FINALLY---got the wake up call that was needed...thanks to Zoe.  It's the one thing that's been the bummer has been Rene's naivete'.  Of all the members of the team I feel that would've been on top of everything...and not "sell out"...it's Rene.  But with his eyes wide open now...the team now has an inside man keeping eyes on what's going on.  And Roy...he seems to have some anger issues.  I wonder if that's why he was on Lian Yu.  And I saw a video where someone suggested that MAYBE Roy took a dip in the Lazarus Pit?  And what of Thea at this point?  What happened to her?  And Nyssa?  She may have trained Mia, but she's gone at this point?  Just some things that are curious as we look at this bleak future.

Felicity's ARCHER program....this is reminiscent with the OMAC Project that Batman created in the comics---with DISASTEROUS results.  A Brother Eye initiative to keep tabs on other metahumans, and act appropriately should one of them go rogue.  I see that Felicity's program will have the same outcome...and that's not good.  

Something else I thought about...this story takes place about 20 years from now.  Vigilantes are outlawed and we don't know which ones went into hiding, and which ones are dead...or missing.  Now...on The Flash, we have Nora's time at 2049...Nine years AFTER the events going on in Star City.  Is what happened during the 20 year span between NOW and 2040 ALSO effect what happened in the rest of the Arrowverse?  What about Central City?  Where are the Legends?  Are metas outlawed still nine years AFTER in Nora's time after the events in Star City?  These are some interesting thoughts as we push forward with both Arrow AND The Flash.

Hopefully, we'll get more answers as the season marches on.  Overall, it was a solid episode that, while it didn't have A LOT of action, it was heavy in plot, which---sometimes---isn't a bad thing.  We learned a little more, building the story towards its climax, where I feel we might get a bit more action.  

That's it for this week, folks!  Please subscribe and pass the good word along.  And don't be afraid to drop a comment.

Until next week....keep your sights on the bullseye.

SUPERGIRL - Season 4.15

SUPERGIRL – Season 4, EP. 15: “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”

The Girl of Steel and her friends get the surprise of their lives, as Lena’s brother…the one and only Lex Luthor…returns.  Lex has been furloughed from prison because of failing health, and seeks his sister’s help.  With life and death on the line---how much does Lena love her brother to save him?

We open this episode of the Maid of Might 4 years ago in Metropolis.  As Lex is putting forth some plan, with Lena hostage.  Apparently, he’s got the Earth under a red sun, rendering Superman powerless.  There’s a helicopter looking to capture Lex, but he blows it up.  Lex gives this speech about how HE was the Man of Tomorrow, and wants to make Superman bleed.  Lena says it’s all ego, and Lex says that it’s science.  He feels that he will prove he is right, and the people will thank him.  Back to present day, we see a caravan that has Lex in it, he’s stuck in a gurney, as he greets his sister.

We switch to CatCo, where James has been shot from last episode.  The one who shot him hits the signal watch, contacting Supergirl.  Supergirl arrives and gets him to the hospital.  Back at her lab, Lena and Lex talk, and they discuss her research, in regards to helping him get better.  He says it’s weak of him to need help and that he’s dying.  Lena says he’s not going to die…not when he still has his debt to society to pay.  And besides, she states, he IS her brother.  Just then Miss Tessmacher shows up, and informs Lena that James is in the hospital.

At the hospital, Kara informs everyone that James was shot with a hollow point bullet, and that his spine is hurt.  Alex and Lena talk, and she says that her research can save James.  Lena says she can’t rush a cure, but Alex says when the pressure’s on, that’s when Lena shines.  She says to Alex to keep her posted about James’ condition.  Kara, Alex, and J’Onn talk, and feel that it’s Manchester Black who’s responsible.  He plans on going after him, and Kara agress to go with him, and makes up an excuse to Alex that she has to go to CatCo.  They head to J’Onn’s father’s grave, and it’s on fire, thanks to Manchester Black.  He’s got one of the Martian weapons, and says that when J’Onn digs in his mind, he can dig into J’Onn’s.  He says that they’re going to finish it.

Lena goes to Lex, and asks him to help him cure both James and himself.  Lex taunts her about the irony of the situation.  He thought they broke up, but she says she pushed him away, because if he found out they were working together, it would only make matters worse.  Lex agrees to help.

At the hospital, both Nia and Brainy take blame for not being able to see this situation happen.  The doctor comes out and says that they’ve done what they could to remove the bullet fragments, but he’s in a medically induced coma to try and lessen the swelling.  They can’t make any decisions regarding his future until his sister comes in.  She says that they are family, and she goes to see him.

Kara and J’Onn try to find Manchester, and J’Onn realizes that Black has been trying to induce him into violence.  Kara reasons with J’Onn and tells him not to give into it, or Black’s games.  Just to find him and stop him.

Back at Lena’s, Miss Tessmacher comes out and asks Lena if she thinks it’s wise that she’s sharing everything with Lex after all the hard work she’s done.  Lena assures her that she understands her brother, and knows that his survival is key to himself.  After all, Lena says, Lex can’t imagine a world without him in it.  They head into the house, where the guard has knocked down Lex in his wheelchair.  Lena is upset with the guard, and asks for the keys.  He says it’s her funeral, and she helps Lex up.

Alex and Kelly, James’ sister, chat about James, and how he likes to have an “extended” family.  Kelly asks where Kara is, but just before Alex could answer, James starts coding, and the doctors rush in to help him. 

The doctor comes out and says that James is bleeding internally, and if they don’t operate, he could die.  His sister agrees to the surgery.  Alex says to Kelly that there is a way that James can be saved, and talks about Lena’s serum, but Kelly is against it because Lena and him broke up, and that her family did awful things to James. 

Alex gets ahold of Kara, and tells her that she is needed at the hospital.  Kara says that she’s helping J’Onn with a lead towards Manchester Black.  Alex is upset with her, because James needs her, and she may miss out on saying goodbye to him.  Alex then tells her good luck on her lead, dripping with content.  Kara is upset.

Lena and Lex continue to work on the serum, and they manage to break through and make it non-lethal.  She then finds out about James, and feels that she can’t help him.  Lex then tells her about the time his dog was dying when he was 7, and his mother sent him away on a trip with his father.  It was on that trip that he met this woman his father was seeing.  When he found out about the dog being put to sleep, he was upset, but this woman comforted him.  This woman turned out to be Lena’s mother.  He tells her that while his family will always be in the dark, Lena will always fall into the light…and for her to go to James.

J’Onn has a nightmare about losing Kara, Alex, and everyone he loves, because he sat idly on the sidelines.  Kara wakes him out of his state, and tells him that everything is okay.  She assures him that she understands what he’s going through, and has supported him no matter what.  So, they decide to let Manchester Black come to them. 

Alex and Kelly talk, and Alex apologizes for what she said, but Kelly understands.  This is not the first time she’s been with James in the hospital.  He always ran off to face danger as a way of coping when things got rough at home.  Turns out, Kelly is a psychologist, and has dealt with this situation many times.  Kara shows up, and Kelly is happy to see her, and understands why Kara couldn’t be there at the time.  After she goes to check on James’ status, she meets J’Onn, and Alex and Kara make up.  Kara says she hates feeling helpless, and Alex understands.  Meanwhile, Brainy is having only what could be described as a breakdown because he feels helpless.  He says that everyone in his family is evil, and he can’t do anything, not even get something out of the vending machine.  Nia kisses him to calm him down.  As they kiss, the lights in the hospital flicker, as the power is being manipulated. Back at Lena’s, Lex is reading as he notices the power flickering. Kelly and Alex go back to check on James, as the power continues to wane.  J’Onn does a mental scan, and finds out that it’s Black at the power plant, and him and Kara go to stop him.  They meet up with him at the power plant.  Black plans to destroy the dam and flood the city.  They’re at the dam, and J’Onn goes after black, while Supergirl tries to stop the dam from flooding.

At the hospital, the power is not back on yet, and James is losing time.  Just then, Miss Tessmacher shows up with the drug, and Alex asks Kelly to not trust Lena, but trust her.  Kelly agrees, and they go to find Lena to administer the drug.  At the same time, J’Onn and Black are battling, and Black wants him to join him, and J’Onn says never.  Back at the hospital, Lena is in the operating room, telling one to get out, as what she’s going to do is illegal.  She administers the drug, and they all wait.  Back at the dam, Supergirl manages to freeze the concrete, to prevent any flooding.  Black and J’Onn continue to fight, and Black makes J’Onn relive his nightmare from home, and it upsets him.  He grabs the staff, and disintegrates Black.  Supergirl arrives, wondering where Black is, and all J’Onn says is that they need to go see James.  At this point, the healing process takes place, and James awakens, with everyone there by his side…with Kara and J’Onn on the way.

In the hospital recovery room, everyone is happy to see James recovered.  Kelly says that he’s got great friends.  Kelly says that she called their mom, and everyone leaves so that James can have his one on one.  Kara and J’Onn have another heart to heart, and she understands what he did.  But he has no idea who he is anymore.

Lena heads home, and confronts Lex.  She found out that Lex was the one who caused the power outage, because the Luthor name is over everything in the city.  And while James will live, she refuses to give Lex the serum.  Turns out, though, Lex played her, and was the one responsible for having James shot...in order for her to use the serum, since he certainly wasn't going to test it on himself.  He needed to goad her, and already got the serum.  Turns out the prison guard was really Otis Graves in disguise.  They capture Lena, and it also turns out Miss Tessmacher has been working with Lex the whole time as well.  Lex then leaves, Otis having chloroformed Lena. With Otis, and in tow, and not killing Lena, Lex takes his leave, and has Miss Tessmacher keep a watch over her.  As he leaves the Luthor home, the prison guards confront him, but they get cut down by lasers and grenades planted on the property.  Otis and Lex make their exit in a helicopter, but as they fly off, they’re confronted by Supergirl.

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WOW!  What a GREAT episode!  THIS is the kind of episode you beg for in a superhero show, and boy did we get it!  This had all the elements you wanted.  A bad guy, some super action, lots of drama, and some twists.

First of all...let's air it out upfront:  Jon Cryer NAILED it as Lex Luthor.  For a guy who essentially played a goofy Duckie-type character in Superman IV as the nephew of Lex (Gene Hackman), to bring him back as THE bad guy---well...I had my reservations.  But man did he prove me wrong!  He was sadistic, witty, dramatic, and owned this role well.  I for SURE feel he WELL outperformed Jesse Eisenberg as Lex from the DCEU movies.  The illness from the Kryptonite poisoning was right from the comic books, and his deceit is now laced throughout the season (as we will see in the next episode and the rest of the season, no doubt).  Lex is NOTHING if not prepared, and two steps ahead of EVERYBODY...including the heroes.  And I KNEW Miss Tessmacher was working with him...for her to go from ditz, to Lena's assistant---nah...I knew there was more there.  She showed her true colors tonight.  But my ONLY miss with this episode in regards to Lex...his use of Otis Graves...not a fan.  But I guess he needed a goofball stooge to be his right hand man.  I would've MUCH preferred his sister Mercy...since she'd been with Lex for so long.  But hey...may still happen.  And for the reveal that HE had James shot in order to get Lena to use the serum on him....I saw that coming from last episode.  There WERE some things that were now finally falling into place, and I have a feeling HE is the one responsible for the Red Daughter.  Remember the call the General made a few episodes back?  WHO do you think he was calling?  It's totally logical and makes sense.  And for Lex to FINALLY go toe to toe with Supergirl...I love it!  I can't wait!  Thumbs up for me on Cryer's casting.  He totally shocked me, and I couldn't be happier.

Poor Lena---taken for a ride.  To have her brother swerve her---she should've seen it coming a little quicker, but it also goes to show how much more shrewed and cunning Lex is, as compared to Lena.  She has a good heart---she got that from her mother.  But she didn't get Lex's homicidal tendencies.  So, not only did she get played by Lex, but Miss Tessmacher as well.  I wonder how far off the deep end she'll go once she finds out Kara is Supergirl?

James...glad he was healed, but I wonder what the longterm effects of the serum will be.  Will he have super powers?  Will he suit up as Guardian again?  And I should have known he had a sister.  She's pretty cool, and will be a nice addition to the Supergirl mythos for this show (I read somewhere she's going to be a series regular next year).  

Alex and Kara had a bad moment there when Kara was helping J'Onn, instead of being there for James.  But she couldn't just leave J'Onn to his own machinations.  J'Onn, despite what he tried to avoid, became a victim of his own nightmares.  He became the very thing he tried to avoid.  As much as he tried to be a man of peace...he is a superhero first...and hopefully, he'll find his redemption soon.  And while it APPEARS that Manchester Black is dead....I seriously have a feeling that he is not, and he may be captured in that stone in J'Onn's staff.  As for Kara, it was tough on her, because she tried to help J'Onn, but hoped that things would work out well for James.  And since James and her know each other well enough, he would've totally understood.  But Alex...what with her memory wipe...didn't.  Kara feeling helpless was a way to help further the re-bonding between the sisters.  And hey...let's give props to Alex for keeping the level head throughout this episode.  When everyone needed a rock to lean on....there was Alex.  For Kelly, Kara, James...Alex stepped up.  

We finally got the tease ended between Brainy and Nia....but it was bittersweet, as it was in the middle of a crisis.  And with Brainy seemingly having an emotional meltdown (which was new...and learned some things about him...such as his family's past, and some past with Mon-El), Nia did what she could to comfort him, while also trying to deal with the fact that James' shooting wasn't something she foresaw.  Both feel helpless in this episode, so it brought a bit of emotional trauma to the proceedings.  While everyone else was being strong for James...THEY couldn't.  And while Brainy turned her down, I feel their bond won't be broken quite yet.  

Overall....VERY solid episode!  NOW things are picking up, and we're streaking towards the season finale.  I'm looking more forward to the ride now with Lex aboard (and I keep thinking he's also got his hands in the President and Lockwood's respective cookie jars), making the rest of this season must-see.  Very well done, DC & CW.  

Okay kids, that wraps up this blog, but hey---subscribe, pass the good word, and drop a comment....it'll give you good karma.

Until next week:  Up, up, and away!!