Another year, another successful crossover for the CW Arrowverse. Admittedly, it's extremely difficult for any crossover to live up to the incredible feat they pulled off last year with Crisis on Earth-X, and it showed over the last few nights.
I can't necessarily pinpoint what it was about this crossover that felt underwhelming and dull, but it felt like the magic was gone. I don't want to say for sure it was the lack of Legends available, but doesn't it seem like there was a legitimate lack of unique character interactions and funny one-liners? We've been so spoiled by what the shows have been able to accomplish over the last few years that this one (even with Superman) was just lacking. Also, why was John Wesley Shipp barely in this crossover? It was sure built up over social media to be way more than just a brief cameo, but that's essentially all it was.
On a different note, I enjoyed seeing Tyler Hoechlin get to stretch his acting ability a bit with him playing both regular Superman and John Deegan's version of "Dark Superman". He was surprisingly good at playing the latter.
It's also fun to watch Barry and Oliver play out this crossover like a buddy cop mystery story, and cap it off with a drink at the bar (as they typically do, albeit without the annual hug). Which really brings the episode to the shocking/maybe not so shocking reveal of Crisis on Infinite Earths for next year's crossover. I guess we don't have to wait and wonder all summer as to how the CW will top the crossover from the previous year. Instead, we're left asking what exactly Oliver promised the Monitor in order to save Kara and Barry's life. Could it be that somehow Oliver disappears in Crisis and not Barry?
8.5/10
I can't necessarily pinpoint what it was about this crossover that felt underwhelming and dull, but it felt like the magic was gone. I don't want to say for sure it was the lack of Legends available, but doesn't it seem like there was a legitimate lack of unique character interactions and funny one-liners? We've been so spoiled by what the shows have been able to accomplish over the last few years that this one (even with Superman) was just lacking. Also, why was John Wesley Shipp barely in this crossover? It was sure built up over social media to be way more than just a brief cameo, but that's essentially all it was.
On a different note, I enjoyed seeing Tyler Hoechlin get to stretch his acting ability a bit with him playing both regular Superman and John Deegan's version of "Dark Superman". He was surprisingly good at playing the latter.
It's also fun to watch Barry and Oliver play out this crossover like a buddy cop mystery story, and cap it off with a drink at the bar (as they typically do, albeit without the annual hug). Which really brings the episode to the shocking/maybe not so shocking reveal of Crisis on Infinite Earths for next year's crossover. I guess we don't have to wait and wonder all summer as to how the CW will top the crossover from the previous year. Instead, we're left asking what exactly Oliver promised the Monitor in order to save Kara and Barry's life. Could it be that somehow Oliver disappears in Crisis and not Barry?
8.5/10
