Title: The Flash: “Crisis on Infinite Earths Part 3” Review
Release Date: December 10th, 2019
Network: The CW
Genre: Superhero, Drama, Action
(This review will contain spoilers for the Crisis on Infinite Earths Arrowverse crossover)
With writing these reviews so soon after the episode airs, it’s easy to stick to a gut reaction when it comes to your thoughts on something or the episode overall. In retrospect, I do wish I was harsher on the first Crisis on Infinite Earths episode. I can see now why many people were upset with how Oliver Queen died and how rushed the whole death scene was. The reason I bring this up is to illustrate that I do regret giving that first episode a 5 out of 5. If I had a chance to change the rating, it would probably be a 3 out of 5 at best — considering the ridiculous levels of awesomeness we received in the past two episodes.
I may not have enjoyed the catalyst for Oliver’s story in Crisis on Infinite Earths, but I’ve adored the journey we’ve gone on. The clever Lazarus Pit resurrection was a highlight, but the BEST aspect of Oliver’s story has been Lucifer Morningstar’s official introduction to the Arrowverse. Just a few months ago, actor Tom Ellis told ET that he would not take part of Crisis on Infinite Earths, despite rumors of his cameo appearance. I think I can speak for many of us when I say I’m glad Ellis lied to ET there. It made that moment where you see “Earth-666” and Ellis’ face so much more satisfying. I’m fine if this was it for Lucifer in the Arrowverse, but I would be game to see the character make an appearance in Legends of Tomorrow somewhere down the line. His interaction with Constantine here was pure gold.
As for Oliver Queen being on Lian Yu in Purgatory and becoming the new Spectre, it’s a bold new direction for sure. I’m not too familiar with this character. It’s hard to keep track of everything in DC Comics — which is why the Crisis on Infinite Earths comic event happened in the first place — but from what I’ve gathered, The Spectre is essentially a god. So it seems that Oliver Queen got a significant upgrade just in time for a massive fight against the Anti-Monitor. Considering that The Monitor, Harbinger, and Pariah are all gone, I guess that makes Oliver the most powerful being left in the multiverse Vanishing Point. I think that makes up for a disappointing death.
Kara and Kate took a welcomed backseat in tonight’s episode. I know their storyline was done to build up their roles as Paragons. However, I couldn’t help but think about the potential of an Injustice-esque crossover a few years from now.
It’s not that I dislike these two. Kara is one of my favorite characters in the Arrowverse, and Kate is an enjoyable Batfamily character who gets too much hate for reasons we will not get into here. It’s solely that Crisis on Infinite Earths has been a crossover built up by Arrow and The Flash. Both of these shows and their characters have been placed on the backburner to set-up other storylines. This is fine, but I’m happy to see the two heroes who started the whole thing finally get back in the spotlight.
We’re going to get to that ending, but we should probably dive into The Flash and the moment where he vanishes in Crisis. This moment was handled much better than Oliver’s in the first episode. The fact we saw Barry say his tearful goodbyes to Caitlin, Cisco, and Iris beforehand made you believe it was time for Barry Allen to make his sacrifice. With everything going on with Oliver right now, killing off Barry with the intention to bring him back before the crossover ends would entirely undercut any potential of high stakes. And I think we all want there to be some severe consequences coming out of Crisis.
Just like the Lazurus Pit resurrection, using the John Wesley Shipp version of The Flash to take Earth-1 Barry’s place not only saved the crossover from undermining the promise of significant fallout, but it also provided some actual closure for the 90s The Flash TV show. At the end of the day, this version of The Flash saved what’s left of the multiverse. I thought it was cool, and I never even watched that series. Imagine being someone who saw it in the 90s and then got to see this? Unfortunately for that, Barry Allen, this only briefly stopped the destruction of all the Earths.
Okay, we should talk about that cliffhanger now. To summarize, the multiverse is gone, The Monitor is dead, the Anti-Monitor won, Kingdom Come Superman is also dead, Lex Luthor has taken his place, and the remaining Paragons are stuck in the Vanishing Point. What a fantastic and disturbing way to bring us all into the holiday break! I’m sure some will dislike the death of Kingdom Come Supes, but I think it’s a classic Lex Luthor move. As much as I’ve liked Brandon Routh’s portrayal as Kingdom Come Superman, Jon Cryer has crushed it throughout the crossover. Who knows? Maybe Lex can be the wild card the heroes need to defeat the Anti-Monitor.
I didn’t enjoy everything about this episode, though. Black Lightning’s involvement was lackluster other than his moving talks with Barry. There is great potential for Black Lightning in the Arrowverse, and building up a friendship with Barry is a big part of that. Despite a lack of screentime, Cress Williams put on a fantastic performance as well. But, it looked like Black Lightning was only brought into the crossover to help stabilize a treadmill and talk to Barry Allen. I’m not saying he should have been a critical player or one of the Paragons either. I was only hoping to see a little more out of the Jefferson Pierce character. We do have 2 hours left of Crisis, though. He and the rest of the now-dead heroes will likely be brought back for some absurdly insane final fight against The Monitor. I would be okay with that.
The Ryan Choi scenes didn’t resonate with me for some reason. I think it’s mainly due to this guy being one of the core people responsible for saving the multiverse despite not being apart of past DC media beforehand. Not that I don’t like Ryan Choi. Think of it like Captain Marvel in Avengers: Endgame. That was her first crossover, and people were concerned about her taking focus away from longtime vets such as Iron Man and Captain America. With Ray Palmer actor Brandon Routh leaving the Arrowverse soon, there’s also a chance Choi joins the Legends and takes up the Atom mantle. I don’t think we needed Choi to have such a significant role, but maybe I’ll be proven wrong in January.
Verdict: Crisis on Infinite Earths continues to be a success for the CW. While it has a few issues, which can be expected considering the scope of the crossover, this has been a wildly fun ride that I’m not sure is getting enough credit for being just that. It’s not on the same level as the MCU or high-quality television like The Sopranos or Breaking Bad. Crossovers such as this are pure entertainment, and at the end of the day, isn’t that what we want from these superhero shows? Regardless, I guess we’ll have to impatiently wait throughout the holidays to see how Crisis on Infinite Earths’ ends. 2020 can’t get here quick enough.
The Flash: “Crisis on Infinite Earths Part 3” Review
Oliver’s journey
Barry Allen’s sacrifice
Every scene between Barry and Jefferson
Flash and Arrow are starting to get back in the spotlight again just in time for the latter part of Crisis
Kara and Kate’s side-story
That cliffhanger ending
The awesome cameos continue
Just a really fun way to cap off this section of the crossover
Black Lightning’s involvement was a bit lackluster
Ryan Choi’s scenes didn’t resonate
Although The Spectre stuff was cool, it was a little rushed
We have a month to wait for the last 2 hours of Crisis
