I finished the series finale of Arrow and have been reflecting on it. To be honest, as an episode, I can't say I really liked it. The thing that I wasn't terribly fond of is that it was like the denouement of a movie. But, if you look at the entire final season as one long episode then the episode becomes a lot better. I appreciated that they brought all sorts of people back and that they reunited Oliver and Felicity. I also appreciated that they wrapped up people's stories where Oliver was involved and how he impacted their lives.
I think what got me is that they wrapped up Oliver's story with the Arrow episode of "Crisis on Infinite Earths", so this episode felt a little superfluous. In many ways, the way I felt about the episode mirror the way I felt about the series.
I loved this episode from the beginning. The first two seasons were absolutely awesome and had two of the greatest Arrowverse villains: Malcolm Merlyn and Deathstroke. The third season was a let down because R'as Al Ghul was not that great of a villain, Season 4 gave us Damien Dahrk who is another awesome villain and season 5 gave us Prometheus, who I also enjoyed. Unfortunately, Season 5 also gave us New Team Arrow who I cannot say that I liked. Seasons 6 and 7 had the worst villains in Arrow, particularly Ricardo Diaz. Season 8 was enjoyable, but not as good at the first 2 seasons since the show had lost some of its luster after seasons 6 and 7.
I do also love that Arrow spawned a whole universe of other shows and gave us the yearly crossovers. For that alone, I will always love this show. But that being said, I am in no hurry to rewatch the show again. It's not that I don't like the show, but I think I need time between the show ending and me rewatching it.
If this seems ambivalent, it is because it is reflecting how I am feeling right now. With most series finales, I get nostalgic about the show, but I don't have that with Arrow. I am not sure how much of that is because the characters may carry on in other Arrowverse shows and how much of it has to do with the main wrap-up being during "Crisis". I wanted to be sadder about the show ending, I wanted to feel a sense of nostalgia, but I don't.
I was really hoping that writing this would help me sort through things, but it hasn't, so I suspect that only time will help me with that. I may come back in a while with new thoughts, I am not sure.
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Crisis on Infinite Earths Reaction
I finished watching the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover and it ended very strongly and with a couple of really cool surprises.
First, the cameos. Ezra Miller as the DCU Flash was really cool. I was so not expecting the movies to be tied into the Arrowverse, so that was a cool surprise. Then there was Marv Wolfman, aka the guy who asked the Flash and Supergirl for their autographs in the combined Earth. For those who don't know, he was the writer of the Crisis on Infinite Earths comics, so having him cameo was just a fun Easter egg.
I have to admit that I was surprised when the heroes seemingly defeated the Anti-Monitor in Part 4 (the Arrow episode). I was expecting that fight to actually happen in Part 5 (the Legends episode), so having it happen sooner was a little unexpected. I did appreciate that Oliver (as the Spectre) was the one to defeat the Anti-Monitor in the Arrow episode. That was quite fitting, as was the fact that he died with Sara and Barry close by him, particularly since he did so much to inspire the two of them. While it would have been nice for Diggle to be present, given everything, that was never going to happen.
If I understand everything properly, the entire multiverse has been collapsed down to one Earth, much like the comic crossover. My one reason for questioning this has to do with Oliver's voiceover near the end, which seemed to indicate that there were other Earths out there, at least the Earths from DC's streaming service. That did confuse me, I must admit. Hopefully they will answer that question definitively relatively soon. At the very least, the Paragons and their Earths have been collapsed into Earth-Prime (no longer Earth-1 since it combines at least 3 Earths).
I loved it when the Flash revealed the Justice League table at the end of the episode. Having a central place for them to gather will make crossovers a little easier to do in terms of story now. I don't know if they plan on doing a crossover next season, but it would be cool if it involved the Justice League.
I am wondering how they will manage the last couple of episodes of Arrow with Oliver Queen dead and gone. I know the next episode is the backdoor pilot for the Canaries series, but there is another episode after that, so I am really wondering how this is going to work. Is Oliver Queen some sort of celestial entity now as the Spectre or is it going to be something else entirely?
I have to say overall that the crossover was quite good. I had high expectations for it and; for the most part; it met them. The last two episodes were particularly good after somewhat disappointing second and third episodes. It didn't blow me out of the water the way I hoped, but it was really good.
First, the cameos. Ezra Miller as the DCU Flash was really cool. I was so not expecting the movies to be tied into the Arrowverse, so that was a cool surprise. Then there was Marv Wolfman, aka the guy who asked the Flash and Supergirl for their autographs in the combined Earth. For those who don't know, he was the writer of the Crisis on Infinite Earths comics, so having him cameo was just a fun Easter egg.
I have to admit that I was surprised when the heroes seemingly defeated the Anti-Monitor in Part 4 (the Arrow episode). I was expecting that fight to actually happen in Part 5 (the Legends episode), so having it happen sooner was a little unexpected. I did appreciate that Oliver (as the Spectre) was the one to defeat the Anti-Monitor in the Arrow episode. That was quite fitting, as was the fact that he died with Sara and Barry close by him, particularly since he did so much to inspire the two of them. While it would have been nice for Diggle to be present, given everything, that was never going to happen.
If I understand everything properly, the entire multiverse has been collapsed down to one Earth, much like the comic crossover. My one reason for questioning this has to do with Oliver's voiceover near the end, which seemed to indicate that there were other Earths out there, at least the Earths from DC's streaming service. That did confuse me, I must admit. Hopefully they will answer that question definitively relatively soon. At the very least, the Paragons and their Earths have been collapsed into Earth-Prime (no longer Earth-1 since it combines at least 3 Earths).
I loved it when the Flash revealed the Justice League table at the end of the episode. Having a central place for them to gather will make crossovers a little easier to do in terms of story now. I don't know if they plan on doing a crossover next season, but it would be cool if it involved the Justice League.
I am wondering how they will manage the last couple of episodes of Arrow with Oliver Queen dead and gone. I know the next episode is the backdoor pilot for the Canaries series, but there is another episode after that, so I am really wondering how this is going to work. Is Oliver Queen some sort of celestial entity now as the Spectre or is it going to be something else entirely?
I have to say overall that the crossover was quite good. I had high expectations for it and; for the most part; it met them. The last two episodes were particularly good after somewhat disappointing second and third episodes. It didn't blow me out of the water the way I hoped, but it was really good.
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