The Superhero Mid-Season - Discussion and Review

This article contains minimum spoilers for the shows discussed.

Superhero TV shows are a dime a dozen. There was a time not long ago where Arrow was a show that stood on it's own in a very quiet genre. Little did we know 6 years forward this world would be exploding with shows from every network you can think of. Since there are so many of these shows on television I don't have time to dig deep into each of them, but I have kept up with as many as possible. In this article I'm going to take a little time to discuss every superhero property that I am watching weekly, and give my own score for it up until this current moment. So, let's start with the ones everyone knows: the Arrowverse. 

Arrow

Let's all be honest with ourselves as Arrow watchers: this show is  in a bad place. I know some of us refuse to admit that Arrow is on a downward slope yet again, but with the direction they're taking the show it just is getting worse and worse every week. While Stephen Amell's Oliver Queen continues to try to carry the series, and some of the best supporting characters like Wild Dog do their part to help him, but the show is going nowhere fast. The villain of the season has a very weak reason to be angry with Oliver Queen and his agenda quickly devolves into destruction for destruction's sake. The series in general  is making up story and trying to course correct on the fly and this creates awkwardly done episodes that viewers simply don't care about. Moving forward the CW needs to make changes fast or Arrow may be the first show of the Arrowverse to be removed from the air.

6.5/10

The Flash

This show really has me confused. After two solid seasons of entertainment, it seems The Flash is happy with being mediocre. The writers seemed to understand that Barry Allen is at his best when he's happy, and seeing a happy Barry without the weight of the world on his shoulders is great. The problem though, is that none of these episodes really feel all that interesting. Villain of the week already was a bit lame and a means to stretch out a season, but making the first six episodes of the season villain of the week episodes just wasn't a good means to get the show back on track. The Thinker is a bright spot, being a great villain for the show that doesn't require Barry Allen to "get faster" as the other three villains did. Amunet Black and Frost's storyline is also a welcome introduction, but I fear it could take over too much time from the arc of the Thinker. With Barry and Iris' wedding out of the way and the melodrama falling to the background, I have one major question left: When's Wally going to have something to do?

7/10

Legends of Tomorrow

Finally! The one bright spot of the Arrowverse this season. Legends of Tomorrow, while the campiest of all the shows, fully embraces the weirdness and runs with it. New addition Zari is a great addition to the cast and helps even the numbers of male and female cast members. Taking down time anachronisms against the rules of the Time Bureau, the Legends are having yet another great season to follow up their previous breakout showing. Who else wouldn't love more Damien Darhk after how well he was handled in the last season? I'm curious to find out more about Mallus, and really am looking forward to the upcoming Constantine arc. While the loss of Firestorm will surely be felt, I can only hope the show will continue to build on it's momentum. There's only one thing I believe that could make this show even better: Wally West. He's not doing anything on The Flash, and with the loss of Firestorm the CGI budget is freed up for another crazy super powered hero! Here's hoping Warner Bros pulls the trigger.

8/10

The Gifted

The Gifted is an interesting show. Being on Fox, the budget is much larger than anything we've seen on the CW and that is immediately obvious when the powers actually look realistic. Along with this the Mutant Underground is full of standout characters including Eclipse, Polaris, and most of all Thunderbird. The story seems to drag itself out a bit though, which is a problem for me as it follows the same process every episode: go to save a mutant or stop Sentinel Services from finding out where their home base is, and then Sentinel Services attacks them. It does become trying and it's become ever more prevalent as the season moves on. Another problem I have though, is that it takes heavily from the CW in that it really plays up the drama and angst between characters. Andy and Lauren's parents are constantly nervous about sending their children into battle and have to have a "Oh my god I was so worried" scene every episode. It has gotten to the point that I just skip those scenes. With the recent developments involving the mutants during outFox, I believe the show is heading in the right direction.

7.5/10

Marvel's Runaways

Thank the Marvel God's we have another truly interesting superhero property. Runaways does something different than most shows that air weekly: it follows a consistent arc that continues through each episode. Hulu, granted, only has 10 episode to complete this story so they do have to keep things moving, but they got me invested in this group of young kids immediately. Alex, Nico, Gert, Karoline, Chase, and Molly all have their own unique characteristics that connect with fans. There are a few changes that I can gather from the comic book run, but being that I don't have in depth knowledge of these characters, I'm invested in the story of Pride and these kids who were lost and have to trust one another in order to stop their evil parents. None of these kids have powers that are really common in the Marvel universe also, I mean there's a witch and a girl that glows constellations like come on that's just cool! At this point I feel I'm just gushing about this show, but I believe if there was only one of these shows to check out up until midseason, it would be Runaways.

8.5/10

Thank you all for checking out my Mid-Season discussion of all of these superhero properties. I know there may be some disappoint that I didn't cover all the major properties (Agents of Shield, Supergirl, and Gotham), but with more shows coming in the new year I surely will have no shortage of superhero shows that will have your interest. I simply do not find some of those other shows as interesting anymore and many just seem to play to their audience. Moving forward I won't be doing any weekly superhero discussions, but if I see an episode that needs discussion I will be making an article for it so keep an eye out for those!