After watching the Crisis on Earth X 4 part cross over of all the DC shows on the CW I can’t help but feel disappointed. I waited until each part had aired to watch them all in succession, binge style if you may. I wasted my time!
Since DC started to expand their universe on the CW the shows have been linked with cross overs and cameos. Last year they decided to do a big sequence and linked all of them together for a 4 part cross over. It worked out decent and fans were looking forward for it happening again. This time it had to be bigger, it had to be better. If you are a DC fan you almost certainly got excited when you saw the title “Crisis on Earth X”.
Warning Spoilers Below!!!
Yes! we were going to get some alternate earth awesomeness with some doppelgangers that play for opposite teams. This was a perfect idea for the cross over. Lots of players to choose from. After we got through all of the wedding, love stories, and partner quarrels in part 1(I will complain more on this theme later) we get to some meat. The mask comes off and Prometheus is no other than Colin Donnell playing Tommy Merlin. Hell ya Tommy Merlin is recast as a bad ass assin. Except after some banter with Oliver, nope he kills himself. So much for that bomb. With a quick 1 2 and Tommy is out for the count again.
You learn that the main bad guys are the doppelgangers of Arrow, and Supergirl, and from earth 1 Eobard Thawne, who is once again alive and wearing a Harrison Wells skin suite. This was expected and not really a shock. Comon I want a shock. I literally called Tommy Merlin minutes before the unmask, ask my fiance she was there… she will corroborate, can’t we have a twist!
The heroes are beaten send to… Earth X! Yes set in the hell hole where nanzi’s won the war. Captain Lance is the lead lieutenant of the baddies, not a bad pick there. The hereos are about to meet their doom and who walks in? Leonard Snark, with his ice gun. The bad guy turned good guy who died for his friend is a full on good guy on earth X. Good start, throw something light at us and then feed us the big bomb shell. Except there is no bombshell. That was it. There were more familiar faces, but no jaw droppers.
There was so much to work with, how do you mess this up? You have all of these good guy turned bad doppelganger parts, but just a surface scratch of the reverse. No broken down Malcom Merlin running the resistance? No vandal savage playing a beacon of hope. No Damion Dark humanitarian? There were so many options and opportunities that were just there to take.
The show arc was really starting to feel tiring so they try to spice it up by killing half of fire storm team, Martin Stein. It was supposed to be dramatic and inspiring to pull the team together, but it felt like a cheap trick. If the plan was to kill stein they should have saved it for a regular episode where they could give the main character a proper send off and not during the crossover.
Besides the listed issues the writing was terrible. It was all over the place. Nothing felt genuine. The flow was so broken up by love drama that I almost felt I was child at home during the day when my mom would watch soap operas. They could barely get through a fight scene without jumping into someones love or drama story. That is part of the show and to a limit be expected, but this was overboard.
I could keep ripping the arc apart but I think I am going to leave the review at this mark. It’s time to give The CW DC shows a break and see where they land in a few months.