Title: Arrow: “Elseworlds Part Two” Review
Release Date: December 10th, 2018
Network: The CW
Genre: Superhero, Drama, Action
“Elseworlds” Part One started off the annual Arrowverse crossover on an extremely high note. Unfortunately, I feel that its second act has drug the event down (just a little bit).
Don’t get me wrong, this was a great episode. However, it stalled in the most frustrating ways possible.
The most talked topic leading into “Elseworlds” was the inclusion of Batwoman and Gotham City. The casting of Ruby Rose and announcement of a spin-off for the Bat-family member only put more anticipation on the event. Unfortunately, I came out of Part Two of “Elseworlds” wanting more.
Maybe this was by design. The character is getting her own spin-off after all. But for so much anticipation to be put on how Batwoman factors into the Arrowverse, it was fairly disappointing when this episode concluded without a big focus on her. It seemed that Supergirl’s lines at the end there signaled towards another crossover down the road (they would be the “World’s Finest” after all) and a conclusion to Batwoman’s arc in the “Elseworlds” story.
I may be wrong and Batwoman may play a huge role at the end of all of this. It just felt like I was watching a teaser for her spin-off rather than her official introduction. I liked Ruby Rose in the role when she was first cast and I still do after watching this episode. She had the charm and skill you would expect from a member of the Bat-family. I just wanted to see more. That’s all.
As for the city of Gotham, I thought it was explained well for the Arrowverse. Batman has vanished for over three years and the city has become a dumping ground for criminal activity ever since. Seeing the banter over the existence of the Batman with Barry and Oliver was hilarious. Of course, Oliver wants to believe he was the “first” vigilante in the Arrowverse.
Dr. John Deegan (played by Jeremy Davies) didn’t play a large role in Part Two. Which is really surprising seeing as he wasn’t present for that much of Part One either. Although I like Davies as an actor and the character intrigues me, I hope we see more of Deegan in the conclusion tomorrow night.
(For all of my thoughts on the many Batman easter eggs and Batwoman’s character, I would go down to the bullet points down below)
Last night, Barry and Oliver had to emulate each other to defeat Amazo. It was an interesting way to show the audience where these two are mentally and how good these two heroes are when they share the same screentime.
We saw more of that here and it was actually pretty sad. I know Barry has sacrificed a lot but so has Oliver. The thing is though is that everyone forgives Barry and everyone seems to find new ways to blame Oliver for problems (although Oliver deserves it sometimes). It isn’t right that Barry is always the beacon of hope while Oliver is seen as the black hole that swallows everything in its path.
Seeing Oliver talk about this with Barry was a bummer but I can’t shake this feeling that we are in store for a character change for the Emerald Archer down the road. I hope this compelling aspect of the crossover continues long past the conclusion tomorrow.
Which brings me to my second (and final issue) with “Elseworlds” Part Two. In previous Arrow reviews, I have stated that I do not hate Felicity as a character but there are times where the show has put the best hacker of the Arrowverse in a tough spot. Her lines in “Elseworlds” were just plain aggravating.
I get that Felicity is changing to a more ruthless person. That’s fine. I don’t like the explanation that everything is Oliver’s fault though or the idea to keep the body-swapping news from Felicity. It just came off as your typical CW drama and dragged down the episode.
Along with Batwoman, it looks like everyone is going to be talking about the craziness that transpired at the end of “Elseworlds” Part Two. It was nice seeing the 90s Flash become Arrowverse canon. I’m not sure if this is the last we’ve seen of John Wesley Shipp’s character but if it was, I’m fine with it. I saw this as a sweet cameo and fan service to those who watched the old series.
What’s really interesting here is the Injustice-like new reality we have, with an evil Superman at the head of it all. Man, seeing the Arrowverse take bigtime risks with stories like this just makes me dislike the DCEU more. And it looks like we’ll get Crisis on Infinite Earths in the near future as well!
Here are just a few bullet points for some of my observations from Part 2 of the “Elseworlds” crossover that didn’t make it in this review:
- Well at least we got Deathstroke in the crossover
- The setup Batwoman has underneath Wayne Enterprises is awesome, as is the Batwoman suit
- I couldn’t stop smiling when Kate said that the wi-fi password was “Alfred”. I know, I need to get a social life.
- When the cops showed up to arrest Barry, Kara, and Oliver, they referenced being located at Nolan & Burton. Nice little reference to the previous directors of the Batman franchise
- The friendship between Kara and Kate has some serious potential. I’m excited to see the two team up together as soon as possible
- Riddler, Penguin, and Poison Ivy were the names I recognized at Arkham Asylum. I wonder if these villains escaped in the riot and will appear in the Batwoman series?
- Nora Fries is definitely coming back in the Batwoman series. There’s no way she played that small of a role
- It was cool to see Barry and Oliver fight each other’s greatest fears (Reverse-Flash and Dark Archer)
- The Arrowverse has finally given us John Diggle as a Green Lantern. Technically? I still want a spin-off series though
- Okay, so LaMonica Garrett is playing The Monitor and wants our characters to succeed. My bad. Again, not a comic reader
Verdict: “Elseworlds” Part Two had some bumps but it still delivered in setting us up for an exciting conclusion. Although the developments with Batwoman left me wanting more, I’m totally on board with the upcoming spin-off series and can’t wait to see how the character is integrated with the Arrowverse (long-term). As for “Elseworlds”, it looks like the Supergirl-centric conclusion is going to send us off to the Holiday Break with a smile.
“Elseworlds” will air its final episode tomorrow with Supergirl on The CW.
Arrow: “Elseworlds Part Two” Review
Ruby Rose as Batwoman
Batwoman and Supergirl’s friendship
Gotham’s fall
The easter eggs and references
There’s potential for a character change with Oliver Queen
Crisis on Infinite Earths coming soon?
Again, Dr. John Deegan and The Monitor weren’t featured all too much but come off as interesting villains for the Earth-1/Earth-38 heroes
Felicity’s dialogue and the decision to keep the body-swapping information away from her
It felt like Batwoman’s time on-screen was a little too short
