Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Recap: The Flash 4.8 "Crisis On Earth-X, Part Three"

The saga of Agent Canary continues,with Part Three of the major DC crossover "Crisis on Earth-X" taking place in Season Four of the The Flash.

When we rejoin our heroes, most of them are in a concentration camp on Earth-X. They are also wearing collars that dampen their powers. It also turns out that Alt-Captain-Lance, Sara's dad, is a Nazi. He encounters Sara in the camp, notes that she has blond hair and blue eyes, and asks why she's there. She says she's bisexual and he gets disgusted, implying that he killed Alt-Sara for that reason.


The heroes at first try to escape using meaningful eye contact and discreet hand signals with each other, but Alt-Captain-Lance is on to them and he lines them up to execute them. Just when it appears they're going to die, Alt-Snart comes in with his cold gun and shoots the Nazis. It turns out Alt-Snart has a boyfriend, a hero called The Ray, who is imprisoned in the camp.

Alt-Snart takes them to some sort of queer resistance headquarters (my interpretation), and tells the heroes that there's a portal thingy back to Earth One, which is guarded by Nazis. It turns out that Alt-Winn is the General of the resistance. We know he's counter-culture because he has a scruffy beard and is wearing a quasi-military jacket and fingerless gloves. Anyway, he had been developing a plan to destroy the portal, which would prevent the heroes from returning home.


General Winn, however, refuses to help the heroes. Sara then calls him "Fingerless Gloves," which doesn't help the situation, and Alex talks to him privately, but even she's unable to convince him not to destroy the portal.

Alex is upset because Supergirl, meanwhile, is tenderizing under a red lamp on Earth One. Alt-Wells is prepping her for heart surgery, because apparently he can do heart transplants.


We get a solid Agent Canary scene this episode. I really like Alex as a character. I have always liked Sara too, but with the cast of Legends of Tomorrow being more ensemble than Supergirl, we've gotten fewer glimpses into Sara Lance's personality. In this episode, however, I think Sara and Alex work really well together, both being strong, yet thoughtful, people. Alex and Sara are both leaders in their own right, but there's no hokey power struggle between them. And, Sara seems to acknowledge Alex's ambivalence about where she's at, internally, with Maggie and gives her space.

In other queer news, Snart convinced his boyfriend to help him convince General Winn to let the heroes go through the portal thingy before he blows it up. More importantly, Snart, Snart's big fluffy coat, and Snart's boyfriend gay kiss:


How many homophobic-nerd-rager heads exploded at that?

Back on Earth One, Iris and Felicity are still basically the only ones in the group who haven't been captured. They're crawling around in some air vents at Star Labs, trying to come up with a plan. I can't help it, I really want them to be the ones to save the day.

Just as Alt-Wells starts the big "heart transplant," Iris and Felicity cut power, drop down from the vents, and punch some Nazis.


They make a valiant effort, but some sort of Alt-C-3PO robot captures them. And then, on Earth-X, while trying to escape to the portal with the other heroes, it appears that Stein gets shot and killed.

So, by the end of Part Three, the following dramas need to be resolved in the finale:
  • Will Alt-Wells do the heart transplant, killing Supergirl?
  • Will the other heroes be able to return home to Earth One?
  • What will happen to Earth-X? Will the queer resistance take over? 
  • What will happen to Iris and Felicity?
  • Will Stein live?
  • Will the Nazis destroy all the other worlds with their atomic bomb?
  • Will Felicity and Oliver break up, since Felicity turned down Oliver's marriage proposal?
  • Will Iris and Barry actually get married?
  • What will happen with Alex and Sara??

Deep Thought of the Day: This episode was super-queer. I'm not sure I thought I'd ever see something so queer in the CW/DC-verse. I like it.

Note: CW/Supergirl Executive Producer Andrew Kreisberg has been fired after a sexual harassment investigation. 

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