Crisis on Earth-X - Recap and Review
This post contains heavy spoilers for the CW event Crisis on Earth-X.
Heroes vs Aliens was up till this current point in the Arrowverse's history the best crossover of any kind involving these characters. That all changed with Crisis on Earth-X. For the first time the shows did not feel at all separated. This was truly an event, and I have written down so many notes that I don't know where to begin. The best way to get out all of my nerdgasms while still cohesively discussing this fantastic television event (with one huge bad moment from me) is to start from the beginning.
Episode 1 - Supergirl:
For the majority of this episode there is no action at all. The majority of this is all of our heroes coming together for the wedding of the century. There are tons of subtle quips by characters, one I remember is when Barry is getting his tux and Oliver walks out you hear him quietly say "Damn" about Oliver. This is what I imagine a group of superheros being like when they're not fighting crime. Along with this I immediately noticed that the themes of every show are followed into the crossover not necessarily creating separation but events happening in the individual shows are mentioned during the crossover.
As the wedding begins I really started to smile, seeing all of these characters come together is absolutely great. And of course I have to make mention of this because I noticed it right away: there was a heavy leaning into the Olicity story during a WestAllen wedding. Yes that's two fandom mentions in one sentence, I may have just broke time worse than Barry. This honestly aggravated me although I didn't let it get to me, but as the crossover went on there was tons of moments involving this and it only tugged at me more. One thing I want to mention something that wasn't really brought up again, there was a curious waitress who had a curious likeness to Iris... hmm?
Finally, for the part of this episode that was the best: the chapel fight. This was incredible, we were able to see things that never happened before and interactions with heroes that we couldn't believe (Oliver jumping through a breach, Frost and Heatwave fighting together, and Alex and Sara fighting Earth-X Prometheus. Along with this, there is a lot of villain exposition (Season 1 Reverse Flash is the Speedster villain of the crossover). In all honesty, this episode may have been one of the weaker of the group, but it still was miles better than anything Supergirl, The Flash, or Arrow had put out in their first six weeks.
8/10
Episode 2 - Arrow:
Right away, Arrow jumped into the action. First of all the writers room gives us something all of us probably wanted from Arrow Season 5: Tommy is Earth-X Prometheus. Oliver and his conversation at Star Labs was powerful and dark, probably one of the better of the entire event. While Colin O'Donnell's role in this was small it was powerful. Another interesting thing to note is pairing of evil Oliver and Kara, which is a creative way to take their characters. Following along with this they continued to slam home the idea of Felicity and Oliver, which was unnecessary. While I understand the necessity for the story line it just aggravated me about how much they leaned into this.
Midway through the episode Barry, Oliver, and Kara have an encounter with the villains of Earth-X (after a hilarious sequence showing that Oliver doesn't have super speed). The one thing that many people are pointing out is the fact that Oliver had a kryptonite arrow. I don't believe there's any real story behind this but it solidifies Oliver Queen as the TV Batman. The sequence involving the three of them saving the building was one of the best of the entire series. CGI was top-notch throughout this entire crossover. When the group splits up with one group attacking the Nazi base of operations and the others remaining at Star Labs, it resulted in Evil Oliver attacking Star Labs to get to Kara. After fighting all of Team Arrow in the speed lab in yet another great sequence the Nazis captured the entirety of the current team and sent them to Earth-X leaving behind a few of the lesser characters such as Wild Dog and Vibe. This episode was a rather forgettable middle piece to a larger puzzle.
7.5/10
Episode 3 - The Flash:
When I reflect on my writings for the first two portions of this massive event I realize there is one major piece missing. That is Stein and Jax, they were the heart and soul of this event. With this being Victor Garber's last appearance in the Arrowverse, I expected it to be sad but I could not anticipate how sad it would be. One of the major parts of this episode is the introduction of The Ray and Citizen Cold. These two characters along with a few others are part of a resistance against the Earth-X regime. They help to save the heroes and give them an opportunity to get home. Back on Earth-1 Iris and Felicity are the only ones who can save Kara after she was captured at the end of Episode 2. Of course with all of the girl power going on this was expected but they managed to keep it pretty safe and actually create a few good scenes.
My biggest complaint here is with the Legends. I understand that the Legends are a lot of characters and eat alot of budget, but if they were alerted they could come to any point in time at any moment. Saying they will be a bit is just a cheap cop out. Regardless the second half of this episode was all action. There was plenty of comic book worth moments such as The Flash and The Ray fighting a comic book accurate Red Tornado sent by the resistance to destroy the Nazi homebase on Earth-X. Along with this, all of the action inside the facility protecting the breach to get home was great as well. One thing I believe that just needs to be stated here is that I have never seen better choreography of fight scenes than I did here. The major thing to note here is that Jax and Stein separate to open the breach, resulting in Stein getting shot multiple times in a heroic final act. For a third part, this and Episode 4 were fairly even in quality and miles above any other episodes shown this season outside of Episode 7 of Arrow and The Flash.
9/10
Episode 4 - Legends of Tomorrow:
After returning to Earth-1, there is an immediate pump of Felicity and Oliver once again, not off to a good start finale. Regardless, seeing Atom save Kara from the knife and beating up Reverse Flash quickly was a great entrance for the Legends who end up taking on another comic book accurate villain in Metallo. Once the entirety of the team is on time ship there is a few conversations that are rather great. Firstly it is that of Citizen Cold and Heatwave, who have an oddly touching conversation about their versions of each other possibly leading to a decision Citizen makes later in the episode. The other conversation was without a question the best scene of the event and one of the best of the entirety of this Arrowverse. Stein has to beg Jax to give him the means to separate them so that Jax can live. This conversation had me tearing up and seeing a father and son have to say goodbye to one another really broke me. These two were a major heart and soul for Legends of Tomorrow and seeing this happen really hurt.
In the usual final battle, we have the entirety of the team facing off with the Nazi regime. Supergirl vs Overgirl, The Flash vs Eobard Thawne, and Oliver vs The Furher. This was the best fight scene of the event and seeing all of the different groups connect and work together was great. While the previous crossover did something similar it felt more interconnected and organic so to speak here. They were fighting for something, their homes and they were doing it all over, not just on one random rooftop somewhere. Nate manages to slip in one "Man of Steel" mention before the fight ends, which gave me one last laugh. As the event came to an end we had a few great moments; Citizen Cold is staying, Stein's funeral (not great in a positive just in a moment for all the characters), and the final goodbyes. This is the specific moment that this episode lost me. After all of the characters leave much more abruptly than last year, Barry and Iris decide to have a quiet ceremony with both Oliver and Felicity (officiated by Diggle). This felt right in so many ways as Oliver and Barry are extremely close after all this time. The part that lost me was Felicity interrupted as they were about to seal the marriage, asking Oliver to marry her, to which he responds yes. At this point the anti-Oliciter in me went crazy upset. While in the grand scheme of things it wasn't that awful and I'm curious where it goes, it just didn't feel right to have Felicity have one last Felicity moment at a major moment for these characters. Regardless it was still a great finale.
9/10
Final Thoughts:
Alright I'll admit it, I'm shedding a tear writing this final paragraph. These crossover events always get to me being a fanatical superhero fan. While I acknowledge that these shows have not been great to this point, they are at their best when they come together. Knowing they all go their separate directions after this and won't reconnect for a year just hurts as a comic book fan. Regardless, Crisis on Earth-X was leagues beyond Heroes vs Aliens and I'm so glad I got to check it out. Thank you all for letting me gush about something I'm truly passionate about (whether any of it made any sense). So, to sum together all of my scores, I believe this event was more than the sum of its parts. Remember to check in after next week for my midseason reflection on all of these shows and more!
