Crisis on Earth X

I realized that this crossover covers all four CWDCTVU shows, so I've started a separate discussion. I hope that is okay.

Thoughts on Parts One and Two (with some spoilers):

The Big Day arrives for Barry and Iris. Several people encounter trouble getting to town. Two guests are squabbling, while two others have a too-public debate about their relationship.  One guest acts like a drunken obnoxious doof.  Two others drink a little too much and wake up in bed together.

In short, it begins like every wedding ever—until the point where it resembles every superhero wedding ever, and Nazis, accompanied by alt-reality versions of some familiar heroes, crash the party at the most predictable point imaginable….

This crossover plays like an actual crossover comic movie, instead of linked episodes. We have DC’s traditional Crossover Event title, and some fun examples of superheroes coordinating their efforts and powers.

Mick Rory is the perfect obnoxious wedding guest, and provides laughs almost every moment he’s onscreen.

The encounter between Ollie and a certain villain seems a little off—until we learn the full truth.

I could have done with fewer CW musical scenes (Melissa Benoist notwithstanding), but at least the CW drama feels character-driven, and integrated with the story, rather than slathered on top of it.

The CW Earth-X combines Earth-X with Earth-3 and, of course, ignores questions like multiple doppelgangers would exist on an earth where the Nazis won World War II by nuking multiple cities.

Why does the episode treat the two key Nazi villains’ identities as a big reveal—twice? They can only be alt.Ollie and alt.Kara. We know that from the start, and the heroes, despite their frequent lapses of intelligence, should figure it out, too.

Behind-the-scenes and contractual issues can affect the story, and we have to accept that. Still, it seems odd that, with so many heroes, only the three leads turn up for the confrontation with the three major villains—and then they banter before going head to head. They’re like kids meeting to fight after school.

If you want to catch Kid Flash, don’t blink; however, the episode gives him a reason to disappear. But the combined teams seriously need help. Can we have an in-universe reason why Supergirl doesn’t call in her overpowered cousin to help, given what is at stake? It would be wrong, dramatically, but it should be explained. Cisco isn’t the only one who can open portals.

It’s great to see an actual DC Crisis tale on the screen, with the superpowered fight scenes we expect. Believe it or not, that was William Katt, star of The Greatest American Hero (and Carrie White’s doomed prom date) playing the Minister.

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  • I liked both parts so far. I stopped watching Legends a while ago (and I never watched Arrow regularly), so it was nice seeing a crossover between my two (although one is more populated) favorite TV superhero universes. All the characters got an equal amount of exposure; I don't even know which show other than Supergirl it was I watched last night. I saw another subtle dig against Our President, perhaps a bit more subtle than the last. Whenever Nazis crash a wedding (or, by extension, show up at any event at all), the only thing one need say is, "I hate Nazis." There really is no other response.

  • JD DeLuzio said:

    Can we have an in-universe reason why Supergirl doesn’t call in her overpowered cousin to help, given what is at stake? It would be wrong, dramatically, but it should be explained.

    Earth-X Kara told us that her pod landed in Nazi Germany instead of the U.S. Who knows where Kal-El’s pod landed. It’s also stated that a nuclear armed Third Reich nuked New York, London and at least one other major city. Some of the heroes wouldn’t exist as dopplegangers, and neither would I.

    Jeff of Earth-J said:

    I don't even know which show other than Supergirl it was I watched last night.

    The show after Supergirl was Arrow. I like that they didn’t waste time recapping the first installment. It’s sort of like a comic written for a trade paperback. I’m sure that before long they’ll be putting out a DVD collecting the four parts as a movie.

  • Supergirl, not Overgirl. The Good GuysTM have a bunch of powerful friends they don't even discuss calling in for help. I recognize that's not going to happen and shouldn't, from a dramatic point of view, but they could at least give a reason why the good Kara doesn't call in her established friends, for example.



    Richard Willis said:

    JD DeLuzio said:

    Can we have an in-universe reason why Supergirl doesn’t call in her overpowered cousin to help, given what is at stake? It would be wrong, dramatically, but it should be explained.

    Earth-X Kara told us that her pod landed in Nazi Germany instead of the U.S. Who knows where Kal-El’s pod landed. It’s also stated that a nuclear armed Third Reich nuked New York, London and at least one other major city. Some of the heroes wouldn’t exist as dopplegangers, and neither would I.

  • In part two, several of those powerful friendsdo  come into play.

    We get more effects, but some of them are weaker (TV budgets, after all), and an amplification of some of the plot silliness. The Nazi invasion involves a bunch of guys who march into a line-up of metahumans? And no one brings along one of those handy metahuman dampeners from Earth-X?

    I still enjoyed seeing the heroes get together.

    Sad though it was, it seemed appropriate the shows should lose one major player in so significant a conflict.

    Given that der furher and the resident Kryptonian are dead, and given that Earth-X's heroes helped them out, wouldn't it be appropriate for the heroes to take this opportunity to help the resistance back on Earth-X???

  • My earlier comment about Superman's pod landing elsewhere needs expansion. Since we have an Earth-X Kara we obviously have a Krypton-X in that universe. If this Kara went into the pod as a teen or pre-teen like our Kara, she must have been inclined toward Nazi-type ideas before then or it wouldn't have been as easy to turn her into what we saw. This means that Krypton-X may be Nazi-like or the El family is Nazi-like. For all we know, Kal-El either didn't exist or died when Krypton-X exploded (if it did).

    Episodes 3 and 4 haven't aired yet in the Pacific Time Zone, so I haven't seen them yet.

  • I saw Parts 1 and 2 of the crossover, but wasn't home for Parts 3 and 4; I'll catch them later. Some thoughts:

    • I've been watching Supergirl from the beginning. I started watching The Flash about halfway into the first season, but, thanks to the magic of the Season 1 DVD boxed set from my friendly neighborhood library, have seen them all.* Legends of Tomorrow spun out of one of the previous crossovers and I've watched it from the beginning, although there have been moments when I've thought about dropping it. Arrow I never took to. I've seen a few episodes, and it's too bleak, except for Felicity Smoak, but there isn't enough Felicity in it for me. (If the show was "Felicity" and not Arrow, I'd gladly watch it every week.)
    • I like that they're treating this crossover as one four-part TV movie, and not as an episode of Supergirl, an episode of Arrow, an episode of The Flash and an episode of Legends of Tomorrow. Now, it'll be a mess when these shows go into syndication, and will the season DVD sets for each show include all four parts of the crossover? That's a problem for another day, but it is a problem.** 
    • Since this is one four-part movie, they can have Barry and Iris's wedding on Supergirl, and it's fine.
    • And since this is one four-part movie, they took advantage of that to have nice character moments between members of the different show's casts.
      • Like having Professor Stein consult with Harrison Welles and Cisco Ramone about how to safely separate the Firestorm matrix. Interesting that Cisco's idea was essentially the same as the way he got Barry out of the Speed Force -- tricking the energy that something was happening that isn't.
      • Or Alex's one-night stand with Sara, and Alex's overblown angst the morning after. As noted elsewhere, I thought it was kind of dumb for Alex to be so invested in her first girlfriend, but her reaction over waking up in Sara's bed tells me that's who she is, wearing her heart on her sleeve. Chyler Leigh made it charming.
      • Or Jax admitting to Stein that he doesn't want to see him go. 
      • Hey, I like seeing Supergirl sing.
    • I don't quite get the invitation list regarding the Legends. Okay, Stein was a mentor of Robbie Raymond, and thus a friend of Barry's ... and, of course, where Stein goes, Jefferson Jackson goes. But why was Sara Lance invited? Why was Mick Rory invited? As he said himself, he's tried to kill Barry more than once. As for the rest of them, Steel, Vixen and We-Can't-Call-Her-Isis are new to the team, so of course they're not invited, but why wasn't Ray Palmer?
    • Joe West's toast to Barry and Iris -- was that sweet or what? Plus, although I like the always welcome presence of District Attorney Cecile, I'm glad Joe didn't hijack the wedding and propose to her (although I am looking forward to that wedding!).
    • Oliver, on the other hand, did make that mistake and proposed to Felicity, and didn't get the answer he expected. It's clear (at least to me) Felicity wants to be with Oliver, but she doesn't want to be married, which he totally did not get.
    • The heroes face off against their evil counterparts. So the scriptwriters have been reading Silver Age comics!
    • Based on the way the previous Legends of Tomorrow episode ended, I thought Grodd was supposed to be around here somewhere.
    • Even on Earth-X, "James" Olsen as The Guardian is pretty useless.

    * Isn't it wonderful, living in the future?

    ** I note this because a few weeks ago, I saw the ER episode that was a crossover with Third Watch. Dr. Lewis's sister, a recovering drug addict, fell off the wagon and went to New York, so Dr. Lewis went there to search for her, spending the day with two NYPD uniformed officers. Since Third Watch isn't in syndication, I didn't get to see the second half of the story. Likewise, I ran across the Law & Order half of the second crossover it did with Homicide: Life on the Street, which was their version of the Jon Benet Ramsey murder case. But Homicide isn't on the air. When TNT carried Law & Order, it would show both halves of the crossover episodes, which was nice.

  • ClarkKent_DC said:

    Oliver and Felicity are a couple? I guess they've gotten past that business where Oliver punctured Felicity's boyfriend full of holes ...

    They have been working together pretty much all along, but only in the last few episodes have they gotten back together romantically.

  • Although a little disappointed with Parts 3 and 4, it was interesting to see

    SPOILERS

    that each hero disposed of his or her counterpart in a series/hero appropriate way.

    -Overgirl died at the end of her fight with Supergirl, but not because Supergirl killed her. Also, shout-out to Superman II.

    -Barry could've killed his, but just let him go, and Thawne gives a line that might as well have been "We'll meet again! Mwah ha ha!"

    -Ollie fatally shot his Nazi doppelgänger.

  • “…will the season DVD sets for each show include all four parts of the crossover?”

    Maybe the crossover will be available separately. It makes more sense that each set will include all four, otherwise a lot of people will be p*ssed if they have to buy four DVD sets for the complete story, especially if they don’t care for one or more of the other shows.

    “I like that they're treating this crossover as one four-part TV movie…”

    Ditto. Overall, I liked it. It was a good, superheroey romp, much better than the previous crossover.

  • I greatly enjoyed the crossover. Only two things bothered me. Martin Stein should have been allowed to go home to his family. He could still have been the hero and been wounded, but you don't have to die to be a hero. The other thing was Barry letting Thawne just go about his business. I accept that Barry won't kill, but that doesn't mean you let a homicidal, super-powerful maniacal genius just wander off where he wants. I have no problem with Ollie killing his dopplegander, who was Hitler 2.0, with an arrow. Even if he wanted to arrest him, it was a gun (arrow) battle between a cop and a vicious killer. And, if nobody noticed, half of the heroes were mowing down the faceless Nazi soldiers with submachinegun fire.

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