DC TV Weekly #35

Supergirl 'For Good' Review
Wait a second...did they say Superman killed Zod? You're just going to gloss over that like it's not a big deal? This ain't Snyder's Superman, this is actually a good representation of the character, don't act like Superman killing Zod is not a big deal! Give me more information please! Yeah I know, it's a small detail that doesn't really matter in context of this review, but honestly, the fact that the biggest takeaway I have from this episode is just a throwaway line like that should show how uninteresting the rest of this episode was. It's fascinating how each of these shows has different issues with balancing filler vs main plot, looking back at the season so far, the best episodes are the ones that have very little to do with the main story for the season (Far From The Tree & Midvale), meanwhile episodes that further the main plot tend to be less interesting. Come to think of it, all three seasons of Supergirl have suffered from this problem, the main story is never that interesting and often feels like they didn't really know where they were going until it was too late to properly develop it. They've been building up Reign for half the season, and it had a great pay off, but now they're introducing several more Worldkillers even though it seems unnecessary. Particularly with Reign, they're putting a lot of focus on how this will effect her relationship with her daughter, but it's hard to be invested in that when her daughter is played by a terrible actress. Out of all the characters, Lena Luthor is still one of the more interesting ones, after all, she's from a terrible family, trying to do good but everything in the world keeps pushing her down, including the Trump-Reflection, so I enjoy seeing the focus be put on her. Also the fight between Supergirl and Lillian Luthor in the LexSuit is incredibly goofy, but it's the kind of goofy I enjoy in these shows. This episode started off quite boring, but was able to redeem itself by the end by focusing more on an interesting character and having some fun action, but man, that first half sure did drag. 5/10.

The Flash 'Honey, I Shrunk Team Flash' Review
I never realised how little character Cecile has until they actually tried to give her a character. She just fits so well into the background I completely forget she even exists, it's hard to believe she's been here since season two. Frankly, I'd like her to go back to that please because this was just a weird episode for her. She's developed temporary meta-powers because she's pregnant, but the baby isn't a meta, and technically neither is she, it's just the pregnancy...what? Oh, and having the powers to read minds means she's become a complete dumbass who verbalises every thought-both her's and someone else's. Meanwhile there's a new meta villain who has the power to shrink and grow things, and that was decently fun, Cisco and Ralph shrunk got a few laughs, and the way the villain fights by just carrying a round a whole arsenal in his pocket made for a creative fight scene. Finally there was the continuation and resolution of Barry's story in jail where he helps an innocent convict escape jail and is somehow able to run all the way from Central City to China within a matter of seconds...I know the limits of Barry's speed has always been inconsistent, but that is really pushing it. 5/10.

Black Lightning 'LaWanda: The Book of Burial' Review
Again, really enjoying the fact that this show is just telling one continuous story, I understand that technically all the DC Shows are telling one continuous story, but there is a lot of fluff within them. I'm just really paranoid that for season two they're going to extend Black Lightning's season to the usual 22 episodes, to that I say PLEASE NO! If anything, shorten everyone else's! You have enough shows right now, you could easily cut down to 13 and still fill those time slots. Black Lightning is showing the strength of focusing your story, it's very well paced, actions in one episode have consequences in another, and there has so far been some genuine drama. It's almost difficult to review the show because so far the past three episodes, the elements of the show that are great are still great, the elements I'm not a fan of aren't changing either. The show is maintaining a consistent level of quality. The only thing different about this episode was Gambi seemingly having a bit of treacherous side to him, considering so far he's been the least interesting character (I know, we're really early in, shouldn't be judging too harshly) it's a little note of intrigue there that has me invested in the character as I'm not too sure where his motivations lie. The rest of the episode is just what I said, what's good from before is still good, what's bad from before is still bad, so let's give it the same rating 7/10.

Arrow 'All For Nothing' Review
It makes sense to want to expand on the less developed characters, but you could probably write a class on why this is the wrong way to go about it. Seeing the backstory of Vince & Dinah, but not really, the only new piece of information we get is seeing them meet for the first time, everything else is just pointless detail on an event we already know, the two were undercover, discovered and Vince was killed during it. At no point in these flashbacks do we learn how they felt about each other at the start, what made them fall in love, how long it took, no new information that would flesh out the characters or their relationship at all. Then they end it all by killing him off again, now let's say the flashbacks actually did their job and developed these characters, you went from a dull character to an interesting one, just to end his life then and there, the audience still wouldn't have been connected enough to care. Not that any of this matters because this was supposed to help us see things from Dinah's perspective but it doesn't because like I said, nothing was actually developed! Gosh, how long has it been since I've given a good review to an Arrow episode? I can't even say the bad episodes make the season as a whole bad, just...dull. 4/10.

-Danny