‘The Flash’ Episode 2.7 “Gorilla Warfare” (8 out of 10) Starring Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes, Jesse L. Martin, and Tom Cavanagh. Guest starring Shantel VanSanten, Ciara Renee, John Welsey Shipp, David Sobolov.  First broadcast November 17, 2015 

When we left Flash last week, he had been put into a wheelchair by Zoom. The villain fled back through a breach into Earth-2, and Barry was left licking his wounds. We find him recovering in S.T.A.R. Labs, where Dr. Wells’ old wheelchair is coming in handy again. Barry’s walking with a cane and halting steps, but when he tries to run, he gets flashes (ha!) of imagery — Zoom cutting into him again — that seem to be more than just memory. Joe calls Henry Allen in from (Coast City I think?) his self-imposed exile to have a series of heart-to-hearts with Barry. While all that is happening with our main hero, we also have our major threat for the episode — Gorilla Grodd is back in town. 

The superintelligent telepathic giant ape has been laying low, but after a string of heists from research labs, Joe and Patty figure out that it’s Grodd. You know, from the gorilla hair that’s left all over the crime scenes. Really. I guess they shed even more than my cat and dog do. Which is one more reason to not bring home a gorilla. Anyway. Grodd’s in town, and he’s stealing chemical compounds that can be used to ramp up the intellect of other apes. Basically, Grodd sees that he’s alone, and like Frankenstein’s monster, doesn’t want to be. He ends up kidnapping Caitlin Snow, not just in a Fay Wray kind of move (although it kind of is, and they hide in an abandoned bell tower even), but because he needs her to help him finish the process of creating the serum that will smarten up some ape buddies. So it’s not just that she’s beautiful and wearing a white outfit that definitely recalls Fay Wray’s. But it doesn’t hurt.

With Barry sidelined for the time being, Cisco and “Harry” (Wells from Earth-2) get the idea that they can use Grodd’s daddy issues towards Reverse Flash to their advantage. So they suit up Harry in the black and yellow and try to reason with Grodd–they can help him finish his project, but he’ll need to let Caitlin go. It doesn’t end well. 

Ultimately, they need the help of the Flash to save the day (and the girl), and Barry pulls it together enough to conquer his fears. With the help of Harry’s knowledge of Earth-2, they’re able to get Grodd to a breach that leads to a “settlement of apes who have been used in lab experiments.” Which…it’s Gorilla City.

Gorilla. Effing. City.

First they casually told us that Atlantis was on Earth-2 (and that one of Jay Garrick’s best friends lives there)(Aquaman)(sploooosh), and now Gorilla City? I don’t even like gorillas. Or apes. Or monkeys. Or most primates. Including humans. But holy shit I love the comic-booky balls this show has, and it just doesn’t care if someone will think it’s silly or stupid or whatever. They’re owning every bit of it. And it’s only making the show stronger. Wow.

Uh…Cisco also gave us our first glimpse of Hawkgirl, as he accidentally Vibes on Kendra Saunders on their date; he’s freaked out and runs at first, but later comes back to her. Good job, son. You’re going to lose her to Hawkman any day now. So enjoy the flight while it lasts.

Next week we won’t have new episodes of “The Flash” or “Arrow,” but the episodes following will be the first big crossover event of this season. Which promises to be brave and bold and legendary and everything that these shows can be. This is a golden age, my friends. 

‘Arrow’ Episode 4.6 “Lost Souls” (6 out of 10) Starring Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, David Ramsey, Willa Holland, Emily Bett Rickards, Paul Blackthorne. Guest Starring Brandon Routh, Charlotte Ross, Neal McDonough, Echo Kellum, Caity Lotz, Jimmy Akingbola. First aired November 11, 2015 

“Arrow” as a television series is very busy. Too busy. So even when I like things that are happening, it all gets so bogged down in a dozen different characters that it can be hard to either remember or care what’s happening. A big part of the problem is in the flashbacks, which add even more characters, spread across a slower storyline. Just let me watch my damn stories! This episode, like a few others on both “Arrow” and “The Flash” this season, is lining up some of those characters to be sent off into their own spinoff, “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.” Which will hopefully help clean up the stories of the parent series. It will at least get some of the characters off the plate. 

That was behind reviving Sara Lance over the last few episodes (she goes on a mission, but loses control, and goes off into the sunset as a lone wolf in this episode), and it’s behind Felicity’s subplot for a few weeks, as she and Curtis Holt decode the messages coming from the Still Alive Ray Palmer. 

Turns out Ray’s alive, but very very small. And being held captive by Damien Darhk. The stress and guilt of discovering all this takes its toll on Felicity, who takes out some of that pain on Oliver and their relationship. And Oliver, bless him, trying to have a healthy normal relationship for the first time in his life, does all the wrong things. Tries to fix her problem, invites her mom over for dinner, offers to make the dinner — and Felicity throws up walls at every turn. She has good reasons, and it’s kind of nice and kind of not to see her lose control. 

‘Arrow’ is a series that’s very busy. Too busy. 

We also bring Curtis Holt closer into Team Arrow, with him providing not just tech support, but being an active role in rescuing Ray Palmer, and closer to his full-on superheroing as Mister Terrific. He’s a fun character, and obviating everything I said above about this show being too crowded, he’s one I’d keep around. As Felicity has become more intense, we’ve needed comic relief, and he’s fun. He examined Oliver’s face closely, putting up a hand to mask his eyes…deciding for himself that Oliver is not Green Arrow. 

Other than springing Ray Palmer from his fishbowl, not much happens in the way of moving stories forward. He and Sara are moved into position so they can be launched into “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,” but otherwise it’s a pretty mundane episode. Yes, Felicity and Oliver’s relationship is strengthened. Yes, it looks like Thea’s moving on to her next chiseled boyfriend. And yes, I’m pretty sure Felicity’s mom and Laurel’s dad are hooking up. But otherwise, a quiet outing for Team Arrow. I hope things get more interesting soon. 

‘The Flash’ Episode 2.6 “Enter Zoom” (9 out of 10) Starring Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes, Jesse L. Martin, and Tom Cavanagh. Guest starring Shantel VanSanten, Malese Jow, Violett Beane, Tony Todd.  First broadcast November 10, 2015 

“The Flash” is very, very good. It’s the best of the superhero series currently on television. Personally, I think it’s the best superhero live action series ever. That said, it does follow the same formula week after week. There’s an overall story arc for the season and the series, but most episodes are just a standard villain of the week. Villain emerges, attacks the first time, which attracts the attention of the Flash. The second time, villain and Flash fight, the villain wins. Flash goes back to S.T.A.R. Labs, they find a new way to stop the villain, and Flash rounds up the baddie either for the cops or for their own little Guantanamo underneath S.T.A.R. Labs. That formula works great. It worked well last week when that villain was Doctor Light…until we found out that she was the doppelganger for our own Linda Park, Barry’s ex. 

The uncanny likeness has Barry hatching a plan to train Linda to masquerade as Doctor Light, killing Barry and sending proof of his death through a breach to Earth-2, where Zoom would get it, come to our Central City, and the S.T.A.R. Labs kids could capture him. It all sounds really stupid. So of course they decide to try it. 

Everything goes well, it goes according to plan. We get the Training Linda montage, we get more interaction between Barry and Patty, we see more of the bond between Iris and Linda. We even let Linda in on the Worst Kept Secret Identity Ever, so she knows that Barry’s the Flash. But overall, it’s a very standard, very safe episode. Their trap fails, Barry’s kind of bummed, but otherwise things are fine. Caitlin pushes Cisco to use his “Vibe” powers on “Harry” Wells to get more information on him. Cisco tries a few times, and eventually breaks through, seeing that Zoom has Wells’ daughter Jesse caged up on Earth-2. Wells knowing that she’s still alive might bring him closer into Team Flash, but he’s also not HOLY SHIT AND THEN ZOOM SHOWS UP.

We’ve seen Zoom here and there, in the shadows on Earth-2, fighting with Jay Garrick, threatening other characters…but this is the first time we’ve really seen him. He comes roaring in, snatching Linda and taunting Barry – “You like to fish with bait? I do too.” – dropping her from a roof. Barry saves her of course, but that moves him into a closer confrontation with Zoom, who proceeds to beat the hell out of the Flash. Barry uses his latest trick, hurling lightning at Zoom, which Cisco sums up with “Can he catch a bolt of lightning with his demonic claws? Yeah, saw that.”  Barry tries everything. But where Reverse Flash/Harrison Wells was a known quantity (once they figured him out), Zoom…is different. We don’t know his past, his history, his motivation, other than that he wants to be the only one with access to the Speed Force. And he is scary. 

I wish I hadn’t seen the costume in publicity or set photos without the visual effects added in. The costume, a black version of the Flash costume, but with no gold or white accents, and bizarrely, with no “mouth hole” (I don’t know what that would be called)(sorry)…looks terrifying with the visual effects “on.” Even without them, it’s a frightening design. Add Tony Todd’s incredible voice to it, and this thing will give you nightmares.

Nothing is scarier than when he takes Barry by the throat and runs him through Central City. On top of buildings, through the streets, into the newspaper offices of Central City Picture News, on top of the Central City Police Department. He shakes Barry like a rag doll, he eventually digs into Barry with those lightning-catching claws, only stopped from eviscerating him at the last second. We’ve never seen our hero less…heroic, or this close to death. 

This episode, only six into season two, is something that other shows would do for a season finale. I know that the Flash is the star of the show. I know that within a few weeks he’ll be recovered from this momentary paralysis and be running again. But man. This episode was some scary shit. And I loved it. 

Next up, Gorilla Grodd’s back in town. And he hates bananas. 

‘Arrow’ Episode 4.5 “Haunted” (8 out of 10) Starring Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, David Ramsey, Willa Holland, Emily Bett Rickards, Paul Blackthorne. Guest Starring Matt Ryan, Neal McDonough, Echo Kellum, Caity Lotz, Brandon Routh, Jimmy Akingbola. First aired November 4, 2015 

I’ve never read any of the John Constantine “Hellblazer” comics. I never watched any episodes of his short-lived, now-canceled series on NBC. I know he’s British, I know he’s in a trenchcoat, and he’s a magician of sorts. In DC Comics lore, there are several magicians who turn up as occasional members of the Justice League or Justice Society — chiefly Zatanna and Dr. Fate. Both of whom I really like. Constantine — between his snarky non-team-player attitude and his smoking habit, has been kept offscreen for most of his adventures. So it was interesting to see how this mysterious, magic-wielding guy would interact with Team Arrow, a relatively grounded, “realistic” group of heroes. 

Star City is (again) under siege, this time by a savage blonde woman. She’s going after HIVE ghosts and gangbangers and muggers, but leaving a trail of bodies in her wake. We the audience (and Laurel and Thea) know this is Sara Lance, recently reanimated, but without a soul. She’s fueled by bloodlust after exiting the Lazarus Pit, and the bloodlust is pushing her towards killing Thea…the one who killed Sara at the beginning of Season Three. Eventually this leads Sara to cross paths with Oliver, Diggle, and the rest of Team Arrow. Oliver’s shocked, sad, and furious that Laurel and Thea would go behind his back, taking Sara to Nanda Parbat to resurrect her; even though he did exactly the same thing when Thea was near death. This leads to some of my favorite Oliver moments of this season (and possibly the series) with him needing to reconcile the way he has kept secrets for the good of his friends and family–and how they’ve done the same to him. Laurel and Ollie’s friendship is under the microscope for this entire episode. I liked it, and liked that it came to resolution and a closer friendship instead of a(nother) schism for half a season. 

Sara’s body is alive. It needs her soul. This goes beyond the techie abilities of Felicity Smoak or even the mysticism of Ra’s Al Ghul. It requires magic. Like, legit, occult, magic. That’s where John Constantine comes in. Turns out when Oliver was employed by Baron Reiter on Lian Yu, he and Constantine had a little adventure involving an artifact. Ollie saved John’s life; Constantine owes him one. 

We get the flames, we get the stylized seal of Horus, we get the nonsensical mutterings and spells and oaths. Everything that makes the rest of Team Arrow WTF-y, but gives Ollie and Laurel hope. When the Big Event happens, and Constantine, Ollie, and Laurel journey to the Other Side to retrieve Sara…it’s kind of a let down. “You’ll need to battle for her very soul, and it won’t be easy”…or something like that. But really? It was pretty easy. Kill a few minions dressed like the League of Assassins crew, pull Sara out of the Lazarus Pit…and they’re done. It took maybe six minutes of the episode. Probably less. 

Other than that decidedly tame adventure, this was a good episode. I liked Constantine and how he worked with the team, but it just whetted my appetite for other mages. I can easily see Dr. Fate turning up on Earth-2 on “The Flash,” and Zatanna coming to either Star City or Central City. Now that the door to mysticism and magic has been opened, it can happen again. It shouldn’t be commonplace, it shouldn’t be part of their standard quiver, but it would be cool to see how they can bring a different flavor to the series. 

The other thing that stuck out to me about this episode — I’m liking Damien Darhk. I haven’t been sure what to make of him. He’s not the growling menace of Deathstroke, or the Machivellilan Malcolm Merlyn, or the cunning Ra’s Al Ghul. He’s…funny. He reminds me more of a “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” Big Bad than anything else. Still a threat, to be sure. Deadly. Unforgiving. But with a wry wit and a twinkle in his eye (okay sometimes glowing magical eyes) that makes him more unpredictable than other villains have been. His interactions with Quentin Lance have left Lance alive after every encounter. Undoubtedly for Darhk’s own purposes, but other villains we’ve seen would have offed him by now. 

Other plots progress, like Diggle finally finding out why his brother Andy was targeted by HIVE — I’m not sure yet if that’s going to bring him closure or just sharpen his need for revenge. The other, biggest (and also smallest) thing is that Felicity finds out that Ray Palmer is still alive. He’s encoded a message onto a thumb drive — that somehow, for some reason, Felicity is requiring Curtis Holt’s help to decipher. Which is weird, because this is the thing that Felicity does. She could do this in three minutes. With her hands tied behind her back. Underwater. With piranhas nipping at her. Maybe the shock of hearing from Ray, maybe the stress with her friend being reanimated — it’s fine. And I’m liking Curtis. We find out that in addition to a brilliant mind, he’s also an Olympic decathelete (although only a bronze medalist). Anyway. We like him. Turns out Ray’s been alive for the last seven months, and he’s in danger. In the preview for next week, we see that he’s been shrunk down to itty bitty size (he is The Atom after all), and it looks like Damien Darhk has him captive. I’m excited to see what happens on that front. I’ve loved Brandon Routh as a recurring character, and I can’t wait to see what he brings to “Legends of Tomorrow.” 

Yesterday I was in Target. Ostensibly I was looking for some Halloween decorations or something, but I wandered into the t-shirt section to see if they had anything new and geeky. Because what I need is more geeky t-shirts. A DC Comics shirt caught my eye. Forty different heroes and villains (mostly heroes) on a black t-shirt. It’s beautiful. 

That’s the clearest image I could find of the shirt from Target’s website. What I love most about it is the particular era of characters and artwork that it represents. Most if not all of the charactes are drawn by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, who came up with the style guide for DC Comics in the early 1980s. It represents the “Bronze Age” of DC Comics history, when they had a satellite in orbit, and before the Crisis on Infinite Earths happened. Before Frank Millers “Dark Knight Returns,” before “The Killing Joke,” before a veil of darkness obscured the joy of the DC Comics I grew up with. I love every character pictured on this shirt.

But there are dozens of others that are missing. Not only missing, but blatantly missing. There’s not a single female character on the shirt. Looking at the characters on the shirt, they represent a particular time period, but also a particular branding, “Super Powers,” which was a line of action figures in the 1980s. That line only had one female character, Wonder Woman. Batgirl and Supergirl were both in the wave on the way when the line was canceled. Cool. Whatever. The shirt also includes about twenty characters who didn’t make it into the Super Powers line. So. Off the top of my head, this is who’s missing from the shirt that I would include:

• Wonder Woman
• Black Canary
• Zatanna
• Batgirl
• Supergirl
• Hawkgirl
• Raven
• Starfire
• Wonder Girl
• Power Girl
• Barda
• Mary Marvel
• Katana
• Mera

This is off the top of my head, without Wikipedia or whatever. This also doesn’t include Fire, Ice, Vixen, or Miss Martian, who I would include but I believe they all came after this time period. Vixen just barely, Miss Martian by a lot. 

Oh yeah, there are some villains on there. So add:

• Catwoman
• Poison Ivy
• Cheetah
• Killer Frost
• Terra
• Granny Goodness
• Giganta

Well, but, what if Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez never drew those characters in that style? Target/DC Comics licensing couldn’t just whip up some ladies in his style and shoehorn them into the shirt. That would be weird, and possibly unethical. Welp.

In every team shot in Garcia-Lopez’ style guide, the women of DC Comics are there alongside their male colleagues. Not in a 50/50 proportion of course, but definitely represented. Often front and center. 

I can’t believe that DC Comics licensing (or Target, I’m honestly not sure who would be to blame here) went through the image vaults or files or whatever and left out the women of DC Comics accidentally. Because they’re all over the place in the style guides. And they’re used on other merchandise. I also don’t believe that it was done out of malice or some kind of anti-woman agenda. It was probably done with the idea that “men won’t buy a DC Comics t-shirt with chicks on it.” So some marketing dude made the conscious choice to exclude them. Not just exclude, but remove. 

I’m not a person who notices things like that necessarily. Recent years and events have made me realize it more, and I like seeing progress like finally giving LEGO Wonder Woman her Invisible Jet this year — but it’s not something I generally complain about. But this is too blatant to overlook. It’s offensive. I didn’t buy the shirt. I loved who was on it. I can’t get over who was left out. 

“Gotham” 2.6 – By Fire (7 out of 10) – Written by Bruno Heller and John Stephens, Megan Mostyn-Brown Based on characters created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Howard Chaykin, Frank Miller, Greg Rucka; Starring Ben McKenzie, Donal Logue, David Mazouz, Sean Pertwee, Morena Baccarin, Erin Richards…; Rated TV14. Aired on Fox 10/26/15.

“By Fire” brought a nice end to Bridgit’s arc into Firefly and served its purpose of setting up a interesting story for the rest of the season. There were still things that didn’t flow as well as others but all in all it was an entertaining episode.

Given what we know of the Firefly from the comics I don’t think there were many fans of the show who were surprised with Bridgit’s fate of burning alive, giving us the villain who has burn scars all over her body. It was a nice nod to the cannon while still allowing the writers of “Gotham” to put their own spin on things. I might be going out on a limb here but I don’t think there are many fans of the show who aren’t a fan of the Batman universe which could be comics, video games or just the movies in general. So it’s nice when the show has these little easter eggs woven into the story.

We saw a complete character arc with Bridgit in just two episodes but given the shows history of one shot villains this was a nice change of pace. She got kidnapped by her brothers this week and was abused into submission by having firecrackers thrown at her. After being told to make their food she put on her gear and burned them where they stood. Although her transformation was quick I really enjoyed seeing her switch from victim to villain. Her fight with the GCPD was nice as well, on one hand we have Gordon trying to do his best to save her peacefully and on the other we have Firefly making the choice to continue to be the villain. Her flamethrower malfunctions and she burns alive.

Later in the episode Gordon tells Selina her friend is dead despite doing all he could and this pushes Selina even farther from the light. She even says herself “I never should’ve trusted a cop.” Having her friend die at the hand of police helps her character become the thief we know from the Batman rouge gallery and overall I was very pleased with how it all played out.

Things that didn’t mesh as well were Riddler’s story this week. He finally wins Ms. Kringle’s affection and actually opens up to her about being a murderer. It was nice to see her recoil from him in horror and try and get out of the apartment, however she wasn’t the smartest about it. She instantly calls him a psychopath and tells him he’s going to jail. This causes Ed to freak out and choke the life out of her while yelling he would never do anything to hurt her ever again. After he realizes what he’s done we see the old Ed come back and scream at the murder he’s just committed.

I was happy to see this particular story close because it’s been going on pretty much sense the start of the show, but I still can’t figure out how this Ed becomes The Riddler. As far as the show goes. Ed represents the good and bad that resides in all of us and has trouble with which side is in control. I hope the evil side wins out or he meshes into one because as I’ve said before split personalities is Harvey Dent and Two Face’s thing.

We also saw more of Bruce’s training which included a sucker punch to the face from Alfred to prove to Bruce that he’s not ready to take on the corruption of his company. Then we later saw Bruce eating dinner with the Galavans and Theo promising Bruce that when he becomes mayor he would help Bruce root out the corruption that got his parents killed. Not much happened on the Bruce and Theo front so we’ll see where this leads.

Lastly was the Butch and Penguin story of sending Butch in as a mole into Galavan’s organization. Their plan failed miserably and Tabitha was able to break Butch and send him back into Penguin’s camp in order to lay a trap for him. Penguin, I assume is too blinded by the grief of his missing mother in order to see the trap for what it is or at least that’s how it seems. I hope he actually hasn’t had the wool pulled over his eyes and turns the tables on Galavan in the end.

For the end of the episode and possibly the biggest reveal in the show’s history we find out that Bridgit didn’t actually die and has been shipped off to “Indian Hill: A division of Wayne Enterprises.” Fans of the show will remember that back in season one Indian Hill was a place in Arkham and called a toxic waste dump on top of an old indian burial ground. We now know that there is a secret villain testing bunker underneath and no doubt the show will pull from here for its future episodes.

We were able to see a few of those future villains while Firefly was being wheeled to her room. There’s a lot of speculation about who they are and I have my own thoughts to add to the mix. First up we see what looks like a reptilian hand and then a fetus being held up. This leads me to believe this is the start of Killer Croc.

Then we have a man with a bandaged face wearing nothing else but a black speedo. There’s vents above him pumping something into the room. This could be either Mr. Freeze or even Bane, it’s hard to tell because we didn’t get a lot to go on. You can see one of the techs wearing a gas mask so clearly the air isn’t safe to breathe without one.

Then lastly we see a woman, dressed all in black with what looks like electrodes hooked up to her. My theory here is that this woman is Livewire.

I hope that we don’t see all of these villains during this season and “Gotham” doesn’t seem to mind taking their time with things, like revealing what “Indian Hill” really was. For the record though if you’re going to do experimental test on humans make sure it’s not in a bunker that has the company’s logo you work for by the doors. That’s just asking for someone with powers to come and kill you.

This week episode was on par with last week and did a very nice job tying up the Firefly arc. I’m excited to see what’s next and I’m still hoping Galavan will shine like the villain he’s trying to be. He’s evil no doubt but doesn’t do as good of a job as playing the city’s hero and the villain in the shadows as I think the character is cable of.

‘Arrow’ Episode 4.1 “The Candidate” (7 out of 10) Starring Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, David Ramsey, Willa Holland, Emily Bett Rickards, Paul Blackthorne. Guest Starring Neal McDonough, Echo Kellum, Alexander Calvert, Jeri Ryan. First aired October 14, 2015 

“The Candidate” opens with Team Arrow still trying to clean up Star City’s ghost problem. These agents of HIVE are all over the place, and it’s taking all four team members to keep them in check. Felicity is behind the scenes as always, giving them the intel they need to stop a bomb threat. There’s bantering back and forth between Oliver and Felicity, as usual…what’s more unusual is that Oliver’s actually smiling now and then as he’s using a spray (?) to stop the explosive from…exploding. I’m liking this lighter Oliver, and even as parts of the episode turn dark, he doesn’t. Also, I agree that Felicity needs a code name. A lot of nerds want “Oracle.” I don’t know about that. She’s certainly the Oracle role, but that’s Babs, man. Babs.  

During this opening battle, Speedy loses her shit (again) beating a HIVE agent nearly to death. And then later she breaks a thug’s arm. Viciously. Still later, she burns a guy nearly to death (although that one could have been accidental, I mean she intended to electrocute him sure, but not necessarily burn him with fire). Oliver has been trying to hide her (and the other team members) from the possible side effects of resurrection via the Lazarus Pit, but the truth comes out. Thea is alive, but pretty damn nuts. As the episode plays out we learn more about the magical restorative/crazymaking effects of the Lazarus Pit, and Laurel (bless her heart) sees only that this would be a great way to bring her dead sister Sara (aka the Canary, aka the Better Canary, aka, I’m starring in a spinoff coming in January, so I need to be reanimated somehow) back from the grave. Which leads us to her grave by the end of the episode. Another reviewer said it was a mistake to show her dessicated corpse. I think it was gross, but I also think we needed to see Sara dead. And not pretty “she’s only sleeping” dead. We need to know that she was really really dead, and that the Lazarus Pit will really bring someone back. Anyway. That’s one thing going on.

The A-story is ostensibly about a new mayoral candidate for Star City, Jessica Danforth (played by the still incredibly gorgeous Jeri Ryan). She’s a friend of Ollie and Thea’s parents, so she should know better than to run for Star City mayor…but she does anyway. And is immediately attacked by Lonnie Menchin, a guy working with Damien Darhk. Alexander Calvert plays Menchin with a kind of unhinged charisma that “Arrow” doesn’t always have in villains, and with a level of crazy that makes him unpredictable. We get little details like he cut off his own fingerprints and rearranged them in order to be anonymous, he enjoys ripping teeth out of people, overall, he wants to bring anarchy to Star City. In the Batman comics, he’s “Anarky,” and that’s who he’ll be by the end of the episode. Jeri Ryan was fine as Danforth, but I felt like she was wasted in this one-off role. Having someone that connected to the geek community, it would have been nice to have her in a stronger, multi-episode arc. 

We don’t get much more about Darhk in this episode, which is okay, because the story is already overstuffed. Oliver is still mulling over how to be something different — is “Green Arrow” enough of a change to help Star City? Captain Lance doesn’t think so. By the end of the episode, Ollie tells Felicity that he wants to run for mayor of Star City. Which…is something from the comic books, he was mayor of Star City for a few years…but I don’t think I was ready for “Arrow” to go there quite yet. It could open up some interesting stories, but also just make an already crowded series have one more layer of…busy-ness. I’m not sure how I feel about it yet.

This episode also introduced us to Curtis Holt, played by Echo Kellum. He works for Felicity at Palmer Industries (she inherited the company when Ray Palmer blew himself up), and he’s got the cute geeky stuttery awkward but brilliant thing going for him that Felicity did in season one. And still does sometimes. She actually stops him at some point and says “Hey. I’m the only one allowed to talk in sentence fragments around here.” He’s funny, he’s smart, he’s married to his fella (but, as with Sara Lance’s bisexuality in season two, it’s not a big deal, it doesn’t define his whole character), and he’s able to help Felicity out of a jam with the board of directors. We like him. After knowing him for one episode. Of course, he’s going to end up the superhero Mister Terrific, a tech-based hero who’s kind of like a mashup of Steve Jobs and Tony Stark and Stephen Hawking. That may be a bad example. Anyway, he’s cool. Yet another DC Comics superhero I never thought I’d see on the big screen or small screen or any screen that wasn’t a cartoon.  

I’m the only one allowed to talk in sentence fragments around here

This was a good episode; even with everything going on, there was enough cohesion that it didn’t feel as messy as many of last season’s episodes. We got nice moments for every major character, making for a nice ensemble piece. The action scenes were intense, with Thea pulling her own weight (and more) — I like adding her dynamic to the team. And there’s one shot of Ollie, Thea, Laurel, and Digg jumping down through four skylights that was gorgeous. My one complaint about the action is with Laurel…I think she’s only used her upgraded Canary Cry twice. We need to see her use that more. Come on. She’s Black Canary.

Next week’s episode features the villain Double Down. With a title like “Restoration,” I’m guessing we’re gonna see Sara’s corpse take the plunge into the Lazarus Pit. Gross.  

‘Arrow’ Episode 4.1 “Green Arrow” (7 out of 10) Starring Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, David Ramsey, Willa Holland, Emily Bett Rickards, Paul Blackthorne. Guest Starring Neal McDonough. First aired October 7, 2015. 

“Arrow” has always been a kind of sluggish show. It spends several episodes doing what “The Flash” does in one. When last season ended, with Oliver and Felicity driving off into the sunset, I assumed that they’d spend the first six episodes of this season working their way back to Starling City. Instead, we saw about ten minutes of their domestic bliss (jogging in a green hoodie, Felicity burning breakfast with Oliver growling what may be my favorite line in this entire series, “You have failed this omelet,” mimosas with boring neighbors), culminating in what was about to be a marriage proposal. But proposal interruptus. It happens to all of us, Ollie. Thea and Laurel need the Arrow to come back home. 

you have failed this omelet

It seems that shortly after Ray Palmer blew himself to hell (but like really microscopic hell, I’m guessing), Starling City’s leadership changed the name of the city to “Star City,” which has been the traditional home of Green Arrow in the comic books. So Star City is once again under assault by a supervillain. Gang members called “ghosts” are terrorizing the good citizens and the leadership of the city; Star City has had three mayors killed in as many years, and now the city council has been assassinated. It turns out the ghosts are agents of H.I.V.E. (it was an acronym in the comics, here it may just be “Hive”), under the leadership of Damien Darhk. We were introduced to the name last year, a member of the League of Assassins and rival to Ra’s Al Ghul. It looks like Darhk has some kind of mystical powers, where he can suck the life force out of you with a touch of his hand–something that Team Arrow isn’t quite ready to handle. 

All of that isn’t enough to get Oliver Queen back in the game. He likes being happy. He likes being domestic. He likes what he has with Felicity. After the events of the episode, especially seeing how close to the edge Thea is, he decides to come back. Of course. Turns out Cisco from “The Flash” has upgraded his suit again, going sleeveless, a little more armored, and a little greener. With Roy Harper taking the fall and faking his death last year as “the Arrow,” Ollie takes a new name for himself in a speech broadcast from his bunker — “I…Am…Green…Arrow.” So he finally gets the name he’s had coming for four years. He’s fighting alongside Black Canary and Speedy, he’s got a happy life with Felicity, and he’s repairing his relationship with Diggle (who also has a new costume for the first time — more tactical armor with a Magneto/Judge Dredd helmet — I’m liking it more than I’m not). Things are looking up for Ollie.

There are three things that were genuine surprises for me in this episode:

The flashbacks started out in Coast City (we even see a “Jordan” pilot’s jacket in a bar — Green Lantern team up yay?), but Ollie’s quickly kidnapped and dropped out of a plane…back on Lian Yu. The island he was stranded on for the first two seasons. I liked the Lian Yu flashbacks more than the Hong Kong ones of season three; but I still don’t like them. I think the whole format slows the episodes (and the series) down, and only rarely pay off in the present. We’ll see I guess. 

One of the heroes of Star City is in league with Damien Darhk and H.I.V.E. I’m not sure why. It was only semi-explained. It seems very out of character for that hero, but again…we’ll see I guess.

The last surprise was in the “stinger” for the episode–the very last thing before the closing credits. Six Months Later”.. Oliver Queen and Barry Allen are standing by a fresh grave. “It’s my fault,” Ollie says. “She wanted…something…to fight…help…mission…” I don’t remember what Barry says back. In any case. Someone’s dead six months from now. That could all change, of course, but who is it? Thea? Felicity? Laurel? Right now my money’s on Lyla, Diggle’s wife. Because that would change the series the least. We’ll. See. I. Guess. 

Next week’s episode introduces the Batman vigilante Anarky — I super hope he has a big hat. 

‘The Flash’ Episode 2.1 “The Man Who Saved Central City (8 out of 10) Starring Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes, and Jesse L. Martin. Guest starring Victor Garber, Teddy Sears, Dominic Purcell, Wentworth Miller, Robbie Amell, John Wesley Shipp.  First broadcast October 7, 2015.

Spoilers from the Season 1 finale are in the next paragraph. A lot. 

This season premiere had a lot to live up to. “The Flash” ended with one of the most epic season finales I can remember, of any series. It was more epic than most series finales. Harrison Wells/Reverse Flash/Eobard Thawne had been defeated, but only by Eddie Thawne sacrificing himself. As Eddie died (being Eobard’s ancestor in a way that only time travel can allow), Reverse Flash disintegrated before their eyes. As this was happening, a time and space singularity erupted over Central City, and the swirling vortex was sucking up cars and buildings and people and would destroy the whole city if the Flash didn’t stop it. As the final scene, Barry Allen was racing up the pieces of debris into the singularity itself, and *freeze frame on Barry’s face*…end credits. 

Now, five months later, Barry is in Central City, there’s no singularity, but things have changed. He’s closed S.T.A.R. Labs. He’s closed himself off from his friends and family. He’s still superheroing when he needs to, but without the joy he had earlier. He feels overwhelming guilt for Eddie’s death, and for some other losses on Team Flash. He spends his nights rebuilding the city where he can, wearing himself ragged. Caitlin Snow has started working at Mercury Labs, Cisco has joined the metahuman task force of the Central City Police Department. Interestingly for the CW, it’s Iris who has moved on with her life best, even though it’s her fiance Eddie who died. On some CW series, she’d be grieving for five more seasons. 

Early in the episode, there’s a rally led by the mayor, presenting the key to the city to “The Man Who Saved Central City.” …it’s a title that Barry thinks belongs to other men, but he shows up at the rally anyway. This is one of the many ways Flash is different than other superheroes. Batman and (Green) Arrow live in the shadows…the Flash is finally coming into the light. He’s being photographed, he’s on the front page of newspapers, he’s accepting the key to the city. In the comic books, Central City loves the Flash. They have a huge museum in his honor. It’s nice to see the series moving in that direction as early as season two. 

The festivities are broken up when a new metahuman tosses a food truck at the mayor’s podium — of course the Flash was right there, and saved him in the nick of time. Barry runs up to hit the dude, and it’s like a fly hitting a windshield. Joe West and Cisco fire a new metahuman weapon at the villain, who grows to twice his size, Apache Chief-style. Eventually we find out this is Al Rothstein, AKA Atom Smasher. He’s usually a hero in the comic books, but here he’s a giant radiation-absorbing monster. It works. It’s also the same guy who Joe and Barry found dead in a nuclear power plant…who’s still in the morgue. This mystery isn’t ever quite explained, but I imagine it’s leading up to parallel worlds, and somehow an “Earth 2” Rothstein came through that singularity to kill our Rothstein and take out the Flash. He’s not the only one. 

This was a solid episode, but with so many loose threads to bring back together, it’s a bit disjointed. Each of the small storylines that comprise the episode is very good, and there are probably a dozen character moments that shine in that 44 minutes. There’s a lot of emotion going on, and, as when “The Flash” is at it’s best, it doesn’t ever seen forced or corny. Moments between Barry and Joe…okay, I was going to start listing characters, but there are enough pairings that it would take another paragraph. The emotions are high. Several characters take big leaps forward in this episode: Firestorm’s story, Henry Allen (in a completely unexpected direction), and Caitlin all have defining moments. Cisco has a moment of hesitation fighting Atom Smasher that is another mystery, but plays on what Dr. Wells told him last season–that he was attuned to the “vibrations of the universe.” So this brings him one step closer to becoming Vibe. Which will be great. We all love the Cisco (which sounded really Deep Space 9-ey). 

This is a very good episode with enough going on that they could have played it out over several weeks. I like the (appropriate) fast pace that the producers keep on this show. Where “Arrow” often gets bogged down in flashbacks and an oversized roster of characters, somehow “The Flash” keeps the pace and the spark that had us fall in love with it in the first place. In the course of one episode, we go from Barry saying “I need to do this on my own” to having him smiling again and being The Real Flash again. But it feels natural and right and good. It looks like next week will be the event that we’ve been looking forward to since we saw that stupid helmet come through a time vortex–the appearance of Earth 2’s Flash, Jay Garrick. I’m ready. Bring it. See the episode 2 preview below. Drink it allll in. 

It looks like the advertising campaign for next year’s “Batman v Superman” is underway; today Fortune Magazine published an interview with a supervillain. “Lex Luthor Jr.: Not Just His Father’s LexCorp” is set up as a pop culturey interview with a business mogul. We get some pieces of information, like how he feels about Bruce Wayne and Wayne Enterprises, how he feels about global threats, and hints about what he may have up his sleeve. 

Referring to Alexander Luthor Sr. as a “good businessman” is not unlike calling Napoleon Bonaparte a “competent conqueror.” The East German émigré, who passed away unexpectedly in 2000, arrived on our shores with nothing, but managed to carve out an empire of oil and machinery. By all accounts, he accomplished this feat through sheer grit and ferocity. His enemies, of which there are many, would also probably add “viciousness.”

“Well, Dad was a complicated guy,” his down-to-Earth son notes as we pass a tasteful display of his world-famous collection of meteorite crystals. “He came from a country where the government, in the guise of protector, had absolute control over the citizens. That drove him. I get it. Heck, I’d hate to see that sort of thing happen over here.”

I’m skeptical about the movie, but I’m one of few geeks I know who didn’t have a problem with Jesse Eisenberg’s casting. They want to take Luthor in a different direction than Gene Hackman and Kevin Spacey. Eisenberg can do cold and calculating. Reading this article with him in mind, you can start to see the serpent coiling. I like that. Read the whole interview on Fortune’s site — it’s a fun one. 

Oh yeah. He’s also on Twitter at @alexanderluthor. The evil bastard.