Arrowverse Discussion – January 25

Someone asked whether we could have a thread like this moving forward, so we’ll give it a shot with the return of the shows this week. Disclaimer: I don’t watch LOT or Arrow.

Supergirl: Kevin Smith directs the return of my new favorite superhero show, and DAMN there continues to be tons of chemistry between Supergirl and Mon-El. The scene in the "waiting room" with "Paris City" was great and Chris Wood just fits perfectly into the show. The plot was a little weak, in that they get beamed to an alien planet and it’s pretty much "Oh, it’s a red sun and we’re powerless, whatevs" and they just move forward from there waiting for the DEO to make the save. And the false drama in the Alex-Maggie relationship was a bit forced, since they ran through all this awesome stuff building up to Alex coming out and having a relationship and now it’s like David and Maddie are together on Moonlighting and the writers need somewhere to go with it. Just let them be happy and move on, Berlanti! Anyway, some good Kevin Smith-y lines and fun to be had here, as always with the show. Except Guardian, who is the Dino Bravo of the Arrowverse this season.

Flash: The differences between the comic and the TV show continue to weird me out, as I’ve been reading the comics where Wally doesn’t know Barry’s secret ID for the past couple of months while the show is on hiatus, and then we return to the show where EVERYONE knows Barry’s ID. Apparently the powers that be now want to spin off a FIFTH show from Arrow, in this case Young Justice with Wally and presumably Mon-El and Miss Martian and such, which is good because having multiple speedsters running around Central City (SEE WHAT I DID THERE…running…never mind) is kind of a drag. I still maintain that HR is much more than he appears, like Abra Kadabra for instance. I like that there’s a clear path to the season finale now, with four months to solve the riddle of time travel and save Iris, although if shows like this have taught me anything, it’s that saving Iris will mean someone else gets fucked over, probably Joe. Also, didn’t we spend 2.5 seasons with Barry learning MESSING WITH THE TIMELINE IS NOT OK, and now the whole point of this season is GUYS LET’S TOTALLY MESS WITH THE TIMELINE TO SAVE IRIS! and Team Flash is all "YEAH THIS IS A GREAT CHALLENGE!" HR and Cisco continue to have almost as good chemistry as Supergirl and Mon-El, although I feel like Cisco is going to Vibe something he shouldn’t see from HR at some point and that’ll be the end of that. Julian continues to exist and will now be moping around STAR Labs as well, so lucky us?

Winner this week: Supergirl thus far.