Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Recap: Arrow 6.8 "Crisis on Earth-X, Part Two"

The Agent Canary, er I mean the Supergirl crossover fun, continues with Part Two of "Crisis on Earth-X" being featured in season six of Arrow.

Here we learn more about Earth-X and it sounds terrible.

It's an alternate Earth where the Nazis developed the atomic bomb first and won World War II. A few more interesting facts we learn about the doppelgangers is that they're looking for "the prism," Oliver seems to be the ringleader, and he and Supergirl are together. We also know that doppelganger Supergirl is a bitch, I guess, because in addition to being a Nazi, they have her wearing dark red lipstick.


These revelations lead me to further questions. Specifically, where are the Felicity, Mon-El, and Lena doppelgangers?

On the relationship front, Oliver wants to marry Felicity, but she's not keen on the idea. Shrug. I guess the powers-that-be were looking for a reason to make Oliver even more broody than he already is?

Speaking of break-ups, it seems that the Stein half of Firestorm wants to retire, but Jax doesn't want him to. What will become of Firestorm?


In Very Important Agent Canary News, the first (and really only) Alex/Sara interaction of the episode comes as an awkward exchange when they meet at an elevator. Alex is feeling angsty about their one night stand and wondering if she made a mistake in leaving Maggie.


Alex, just no. The answer is no. Breaking up with Maggie was not a mistake. I liked Maggie, but the kids thing is an issue that would have never gone away. Also, see Sara, above.

Back to the doppelgangers, they obtain the prism and we learn that they want to use it to build a bomb so they can rule over this Earth. The heroes go to the doppelganger base and they have a massive Nazi-punching fight that includes witty repartee, dramatic entrances, and general hero posing. Here's our Supergirl, for instance, mid-fight:


Despite everything, the heroes lose this battle, leading "Oliver in the High Castle" to basically call of our heroes weak cucks. Also, Doppelganger Supergirl is sick, apparently, so the Nazis want to cut out our Supergirl's heart and give it to Doppelganger Supergirl.

In conclusion, pretty much everyone gets captured and transported to Earth-X, except for Felicity and Iris. Okay nerds, it's on you.


Deep Thought of the Day: This crossover is finally my opportunity to note how supremely fucked up it was, in season one of Legends of Tomorrow, that Stein drugged Jax to get him to join the Legends against his will.

On top of the drugging, Jax, the only main Black male character on the show, was written to be completely unconcerned by, and forgiving of, the fact that Stein roofied him into joining Rip Hunter's time traveling club. In this episode we further learn that Jax has come to view Stein as a father figure. Coupled with the obvious homoerotic subtext to the Firestorm character, which requires two male characters to "merge" into one, the "predatory homosexual" trope can also be read into Stein's character.

How and why has this plotline been completely glossed over?  What role did an Executive Producer who was later fired after a sexual harassment investigation have in greenlighting and/or advancing this plotline and character development?

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