DC TV Weekly #39

The Flash 'Enter Flashtime' Review
Well I'll be, last week I complain about Flash being so blandly average, and the very next episode they bring in the most inventive and original episodes the show has ever done. Barry stuck in Flash-Time and one by one dragging in everyone else to try and stop a nuclear bomb as it's exploding. Right from the start you could tell this episode was different, beginning in-media-res to establish the tension by showing Barry at his most desperate, and from there the rest of the episode is formula breaking in more than one regard, even down to the cinematography had a very distinct style to it, the go-pro pen shots, the focus on the glass shaking during the climactic moments, the beautiful cgi on the Speed Force, also having three speedsters all working together and trying to solve a problem through science rather than fighting it. It also gave Grant Gustin a chance to act his butt off, the man has shown time and time again how talented an actor he is, and he really got to show off here. Also just a small moment but I really want to mention it is when Jesse first shows up and Barry says "Wally's not here" was a perfect comedic moment, the way it was shot to have Barry obscured from view, to Gustin's delivery, really was as well executed the small joke could have been. This is why this episode sticks out to me, everything feels like it just had a little more effort put into it than would have been expected. From the writing, to the acting, to the directing, everyone seemed to dedicate just more energy to this one episode than everything else they've done this season. I've been looking back on my reviews of the season so far and it upsets me how many "meh" reviews that I've had to give this year, even the stand out episodes upon further reflection only stand out in comparison to the rest of the season. This is the first episode that I can say is truly outstanding, one of the best the show has ever done. 9/10 (Very tempted to give it a 10/10, but I'm gonna hold back for now, see how I feel later.).

Legends of Tomorrow 'No Country For Old Dads' Review
Hm, apparently it's the trend of the week for DC shows to be trying something new. A whole episode dedicated to Ray, the kindest and most gullible of the Legends being held prisoner forced to work alongside Damian and Nora, and by the end he actually sees a possibility of redemption within her. Not gonna lie, I really enjoyed their interactions, seeing Ray empathise with Nora's situation, and getting some actual solid development between Damian & Nora's relationship, though the show seems to forget Damian did have another family in Arrow that he doesn't seem to care about, but we'd all like to pretend that season existed. While I may complain that Damian as a villain has been overplayed at this point, but my god Neal McDonough is just having so much fun in the role I can't help but be entertained by him, even something as dumb as a "Hi Annoyed, I'm Dad" joke. The rest of the Legends didn't really get that much to do in this episode, but a part of me actually likes that, it gave them plenty of more time to focus on Ray and the villains, and like I already said, the three of them play off of each other so well that they were able to hold attention for the majority of the episode. Also Wally's officially joined the team and looks like Grodd's returning next episode, yippee! 7/10.

Black Lightning 'Equinox: The Book of Fate' Review
Boy howdy was I ready to give this episode a negative review, heck, I was even excited for just so that I had something new to talk about with this show, but then gosh darn it did they do a 180 on me in the final act of the episode. Let's start from the top. For the majority of this episode all I could think was "boring" and it's not even the show's fault for some of it. The conversations between Anissa and Jefferson about him being a superhero and she wants to team up but of course he doesn't want it to happen, it's dull, it's predictable, but it has to happen because of course those are the conversations you have in a story like this, it's just the fact that we all know they're going to get to that place eventually, I just wish there was a way to skip all the meandering. Then there was the ending, with so much plot progression occuring in such a short span of time, Tobias' sister is killed, Lady Eve is killed and Black Lightning framed for it, and then Lala coming back to life, boy howdy was I more invested in those final few minutes than the rest of the episode combined. I'm glad the episode at least ended on a high because it meant my feeling as a whole came out positive, but it certainly dragged it's feet getting there. 6/10.

Arrow 'Doppelganger' Review
So Roy's back, that's pretty neat. Apparently he's back for several episodes, that's super neat. It also seems this is the show's way of writing Thea out for good, that's less neat, but also makes sense, Thea was missing for a chunk of the season near the beginning, it makes sense that they might send her off soon, and if she goes away with Roy then at least they both get a happy ending. Speaking of the early parts of the season, it's amazing how many storylines I completely forgot about (and seemingly the show did as well) that are now being addressed. Ollie's trial, Rene's daughter, the fact that Ollie being the Green Arrow was supposed to be a temporary thing. This season as a whole has felt rather unfocused, like the writers couldn't decide on what the main plot could be, so just threw everything to the wall to see what stuck, unfortunately multiple things stuck so they just decided to incorporate them all. And now there's a Ra's Al Ghul related sub-plot that's being set up...more than halfway through the season. Ah well, it's not like the "main" plot of the season takes up all that much time, might as well see if we get anything good from this one. This episode as a whole didn't offer much in terms of quality, but nothing that bad either, at least we got to see Roy again, which is nice, so I'll settle on a 6/10.