THE FLASH (Part 3)
Possibly the best crossover in all of the Arrowverse reaches its apex in Part 3, where Oliver, Barry, Sarah, Alex, Jackson and Martin escape a concentration camp — with the help of Earth-X’s version of Leonard Snart, aka Captain Cold. Afterward, they meet the resistance led by General Winn Schott; throw in a Nazi facility portal, a race against utter destruction, a surgically-removed heart transplant, and STAKES IS HIGH! The gang of Earth-1 must try to get back home by using a portal located deep in a Nazi facility, and it’s a race against the clock as the General plans to blow it sky high. Perhaps the episode’s highlight is the race is save Supergirl; and, considering that Felicity and Iris are the least formidable opponents to these machine gun-wielding Nazis, you really feel the dread for the two as they creep through S.T.A.R. Labs to try and attempt to rescue their most powerful ally.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T-jPN-VCoA
While there isn’t a ton of fight scenes in this Crisis‘ third chapter, the action kicked ass when present. Shades of CW’s crossover will make any superhero-adoring gamer want to play Wolfenstein — or any other World War II shooter, like the new CoD — and mow down Nazi scum and kill Mecha-Hitler all over again. The ep provided the pressure of all sides, including General Schott, with everyone is just trying to save the day for themselves and their people. The result will leaves you no less excited for the finale — certainly giving Marvel’s The Defenders a run for its money, in the process 4.75/5 Dead Nazis.
-Kyle Daley
DC’s LEGENDS OF TOMORROW (Part 4)
@RobBex2
Say it ain’t so! The insanely awesome Crisis on Earth X comes to an end in ways that are both endearing and gut-wrenching. And watching this episode made me happy for CW and a little pissed off at Marvel and FOX. But more on that later. We have the Legends fighting off Thawne and Nazi Oliver, joined by The Ray (perfectly played by Russell Tovey), with the crux being The Death of Professor Stein. Even those sleeping on DC’s LoT might wind up a little misty-eyed. And that’s Kudos to CW; for the most part, the network greatly develops these characters, and leaves viewers no choice but to root for them. While Jackson does kind of look as if he was forcing some of those tears, the montage of the heroes reacting to the tragedy saves it.
This episode alone is proof that Legends is not afraid to push boundaries and make people a little uncomfortable; hell, even SS Corporal Lance drops eye-openers, calling Felicity a “jewess”! Like, what other show on a family network is going there?! The final battle was quite the treat, to boot. Seeing Killer Frost ride in on an ice sled made this geek squeal with joy a bit (and it took you THREE DAMNED MOVIES, FOX? Really?); watching Barry fight Thawne again, yet letting him off the hook gives us a surprise; Super Ollie v. Nazi Ollie was expectedly gratifying; and hearing not one but two classic Superman lines was just… it was a geekgasm. Let’s be real here: hearing Harrison tell Kara to go “Up, Up, and Away” — and not in a cheesy way — was great. But Kara telling her evil self “General, care to step outside” was just the absolute cherry on an otherwise fantastic episode. That said the ending left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, and not because our heroes get Diggle to marry Barry and Iris; but having Felicity ask Oliver to marry her right then and there was in poor taste (a faux paus if you will). Regardless of all the cheese and questionable finish, Crisis on Earth-X was, indeed, a TV superhero crossover for the books. 4.75/5 Crossover Bibles.
-Robert Bexar II