Though Black Lightning began its hiatus this week, we still had plenty of big moments in the Arrowverse, and we’ll be breaking them down in this week’s Couch Club! In a big episode for Batwoman, Ryan made a desperate trip to Coryana in search of the Desert Rose while Alice seemed to finally be on the verge of finding and killing Kate. On The Flash, we saw the return of the greatest magician of all time – Abra Kadabra – as he sought to destroy Central City right as it was beginning to rebuild. And on Superman & Lois, the Kents prepared to celebrate Smallville’s first Harvest Festival without Martha as the mysterious Captain Luthor set his sights on Lois.
Batwoman – “Survived Much Worse”
Now that Black Mask is set to make his debut in what’ll be the second half of the season, would you rather he be the only big bad for these episodes or have him share the spotlight with Safiyah?
Though it wasn’t made explicitly clear at the end of the episode, we did get official confirmation right afterwards that not only is Kate still alive, but that she’ll be recast and played by Wallis Day for the remainder of the season! Are you excited to see this new version of Kate, or do you think they should’ve just left her character alone after this episode?
The Flash – “Central City Strong”
Between the multi-colored lightning that shot out of STAR Labs at the end of last week’s episode, the apparent Strength Force user who killed Abra Kadabra this week (Fuerza?) and the appearance of Psych next week (Sage Force), it looks like this season will, at least at the outset, focus on the different forces that were introduced in the comics just a few years ago. Are you excited at the prospect of seeing this story play out in live action, or does it still feel too new to adapt?
Superman & Lois – “The Best of Smallville”
Is there a chance that moving back to Metropolis without his family could actually be the right move for Jonathan, or is it a foregone conclusion that he’ll, as Clark hopes, come to love Smallville like the rest of his family?
Now that we know Captain Luthor was married (presumably) to his world’s Lois, could she end up being a difference-maker in stopping Luthor from killing Superman?
Between Roman’s debut, Kate’s return and Ryan continuing to carve out her legacy, the 2nd half of the season is already gonna be dealing w/ plenty of threads, and I feel like keeping Safiyah around as a consistent presence will just make things feel overcrowded. On the other hand, I can’t imagine that she’s not gonna want to take the fight to Alice as revenge for destroying her supply of the Desert Rose. It’s her entire livelihood, and there’s no way in hell she’d just let that slide. Maybe what could happen is that Roman can function as the big bad for the majority of the season, but toward the end of the season, or maybe even in season 3, Safiyah could make her return, perhaps even venturing outside of Coryana into Gotham w/ her army in order to seek out and kill Alice. They could say that she was just taking time to build up her army stronger than ever, thus making her return hit that much harder. Regardless of what happens, I just don’t want this to be the end of Safiyah’s story on the show, as it’d feel kinda anti-climactic if that ends up being the case
Considering all the fancasting that was done w/ Wallis after Ruby Rose announced she was leaving, the fact that there are still open threads from Kate’s story and that Ryan will still be Batwoman going forward, I think I can really get behind this move. Not only does Wallis look and kinda sound like Ruby, but she’s expressed plenty of enthusiasm toward playing the role in the past, so I’m confident that she’ll be able to play a pretty convincing post-op Kate. Obviously seeing Kate interacting w/ the cast again won’t feel quite the same as if Ruby was returning to the role, especially for when she’ll meet Ryan, but there’s still plenty of compelling material that can come from Kate’s return in general. And given the current circumstances, I also think it’s the right move to keep Ryan as Batwoman for as long as the show continues. It’s already been strange enough having the show’s lead chance even just once, so another change would just be too much. And like Ryan even said in the episode, having 2 Batwomen around would probably be a little too confusing in the long run, though I also definitely want to see Wallis suit up and team up w/ Ryan for just 1 episode – maybe the season finale?
But w/ this move, the question also has to be asked – wouldn’t it have just been better to recast Wallis from the beginning so that Kate’s story wouldn’t have as big an interruption? I’m more torn on this aspect. On the one hand, I defeintely understand Caroline Dries’ comments that a recasting like this shouldn’t just happen w/ no explanation and needs a story reason behind it. While I still know that Wallis and Ruby have similar looks, it’s not like they’re identical twins, and we’d know that Kate would look noticeably different if they just recast her w/out saying anything in the story. That said, I also feel like they could’ve done all of this w/ Kate in a much shorter amount of time. The season premiere could’ve still started w/ her plane exploding, but instead of her going completely missing, the team could’ve found her alive but w/ her face mutilated like it presumably already is under those bandages. She could then receive whatever operation she’s going to, and then you’d have Wallis set to take over right away. I feel like that all could’ve been done in the premiere w/out sidelining Kate for more than an episode, similar to how Black Lightning explained Jen’s recast in just 1 episode
But despite all that, it’s an argument that only goes so far because it can’t change the fact that Ryan is still Batwoman, and I don’t actually want her to leave. I’ve gotten pretty invested in her character and I recognize the importance of having a Black woman wearing the Bat symbol. There’s probably no perfect way for Ryan and Kate to fully co-exist on the same show, so I think this is about as good a compromise as we can get given the circumstances
While I’ve still been enjoying this season in the early goings so far, I really can’t say I’m excited to see this get brought to the show, though I can’t say I’m particularly surprised. This is continuing the trend of taking big bads directly from Joshua Williamson’s Rebirth run, as both Bloodwork and Black Hole from last season were his creations. For the most part, I found both of those threats to be underwhelming, which is similar to how I feel about Williamson’s run (though I did love his final arc, “Finish Line”). On the whole, I still don’t find it to be this iconic, character-defining tenure that many people make it out to be, and the fact that these storylines that are only a few years old are getting so much attention when there are still plenty of decades-old elements from Flash comics that haven’t been adapted is just disheartening. It’s not like I’m completely opposed to the modern comics being a part of the show, but when the source material isn’t that interesting to begin w/, it makes it harder for the adaptation to also be particularly interesting. I’ll try to keep as much of an open mind as possible as this storyline goes on, but my initial fears are still probably gonna stick for a little while
I don’t see any real chance of Jonathan leaving his family behind, unless it’s maybe an end-of-season cliffhanger that gets reversed in the next season’s premiere or something, but it does seem like he’s still very much gonna want to go back to Metropolis more often than everyone else. True, he might not have a girlfriend back there anymore, but he still has friends and other strong connections there. That’s not to say that Lois and Clark don’t also, but it’s different for a teenager who’s still developing as opposed to adults wanting the best situation for their family. I could see a situation work out where maybe Jonathan does go to Metropolis every so often (maybe monthly?). I have little doubt that he’ll come to appreciate Smallville in his own way before too long, but this could also be an effective way to mostly keep moving forward while still being able to not lose those prior connections completely
I have to figure the truth will be known to all eventually, and when Lois realizes that this Luthor was married to her doppelgänger, I fully expect her to make an attempt to try to reach him on an emotional level when things get desperate. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to hear her use lines like “What if your Lois was here? What would she think of what you’re doing?” Of course if Luthor was in fact shipping off specifically to go and fight evil Superman, his Lois might actually approve of what he’s doing, which could also end up being his rebuttal. Regardless of how that interaction goes, I have to figure that it won’t be the end of Luthor’s threat. That’ll almost certainly come down to a full fight between him and Superman, but it would be interesting to see Lois take a more active role in the conflict, even if just for a little while
My preference is for Black Mask to be more of the focus than Safiyah. To me, it seems they have dragged on the Safiyah storyline for too long. It seemed to me in this episode they closed up a lot of the loose ends related to her, with Ocean, with resolving the mystery of who framed Safiyah for the plane crash, with the issues that Alice had with her time on the island. THe only open issue they left was the destruction of the miracle flower, which at least removes a deux a machina for any mortal wound that may come forth in the future. Honestly, I find it funny they flower they needed was in the plant Ryan’s mom had and they did not need to travel all this way for it anyways. I am a little confused how it got there.
Yeah, the end was a little confusing for me when they had the person bandaged up at the end. Of course all the outlets ruined it for me by saying they recast the part of Kate Kane. I saw that in the reports, and then tried to remember if they even mentioned it in the episode I just watched. It bothered me that they all said this as a spoiler from the previous episode when it did not get revealed in there as far as I know.
I had watched Krypton (great show gone too soon) and the choice of the actress to play Kate Kane was a good one. She has a very similar look to Ruby Rose and I could believe her as Kate Kane. I think its great that they have someone in the role so they can close on her remaining story, while still leaving Ryan to be Batwoman. This holds to the show runner’s statement that they will not follow the trope of killing the gays, which is great. It did feel Kate had too many relationships to just completely write out, and this gives them a chance to take time to close on these. I still enjoy Ryan as Batwoman for her fresh perspective and I hope this continues even if Kate becomes team Bat.
By the way, I had to laugh at the conversations Luke was having with Ryan about traveling to the island. Ryan wondering why they don’t have their own batplane (which looks cool against a full moon) or a batsub. MY favorite though was when he joked of having shark repellant in the utility belt as a throwback to the Batman movie from the 60s. Hilarious!
TO be honest, I am not familiar with this storyline. I am more familiar with the 1990s Flash storylines (Wally West will always be my Flash in the comics), so these references to more recent storylines just means I end up being more surprised by what happens next. It’s like when you go to see a movie based on a book, but you watch it without having read the book. True, there may be changes to the storyline, but they often follow similar beats and you can anticipate what happens if you have ready the story. If you haven’t, you get surprised by any twists and you don’t go, ooh I know that name, I wonder if that character will do that thing they did in the story…
OK, I know he is the Paragon of Love, but this is the second episode in a row where they defeat the bad guy/gal by talking. Now don’t get me wrong, it showcases their intelligence that they can find an alternate solution, but I do look forward to action as well. It seems anticlimatic when the villain just gives up.
I did like the showcase of fallout from the rewriting of reality from crisis and its impacts such as the removal of Abra’s family (sorta like how Wally’s family was removed when he came back from Flashpoint). I also like the callback to the memory devices Cisco worked up for the Arrow and Canaries of the future (I still feel bad this show did not get picked up for series but I guess you need more variety and not just more Arrow).
I think that Jonathan will stick it out in Smallville for a while. His brother still needs him, and he does seem to care for the other classmates like Tag the other episode. I think he needs his time to shine and this will build up his confidence to stay in town. There does not seem to be anything left in Metropolis for him, and who is to say his old group of friends has not moved on. HIs girlfriend has.
I did like seeing him react by getting drunk and ending up screwing up his brother’s date, but his brother still helps him and tries to get him home. Darn super smell from dad busted him.
I did like the characterization of Jordan’s girlfriend as she really got upset with Jonathan’s drinking as it seems she deals with it with her father at home. She has seen how it impacts her home life and does not want to see it wreck their lives. All these characters seem like real people.
I do like the Smallville Gazette person becoming the snooping reporter that Lois is and I really like their interactions.
I did tear up when I saw they dedicated a bench to MArtha Kent, as she was the best of Smallville. Any time people needed advice they would sit next to her and talk to her. The flashbacks with young Clark really hit home and showed that for how powerful he was, he was still a typical teenager wanting to do things his way just like his sons. This is great family show.
As for Luthor, I could see how Lois could be either a help to him, or a weakness which I am sure a Luthor would not never admit to. It does make you wonder what happenned to his Lois. Was she killed in the battles with Superman on his world and caused his need for vengeance? This could make it more personal? If so, there is a possibility that he may listen to her as he has shown he goes with what he knows such as aligning with her father on this world as he did on his world. I am curious to see how this turns out.
I am wondering how they will handle the X-kryptonite and the people it impacts. I just don;t want it to turn into a person to battle each week like Smallville used to have with its freak of the week due to Kryptonite. It seems Morgan Edge is developing an army of super soldiers using this by having miners disappear and volunteer.
I figure we’ve gotta get an explanation on that soon. Maybe the next episode will have Ryan remembering a small detail about when her mom got it that’ll be key in explaining how it could’ve been a Desert Rose all this time
Seriously, when Julia said that Kate was dead, my initial reaction was 1 of complete anger because I thought they were actually going back on that promise. But thankfully I reminded myself that we still had like 10 minutes left in the episode and that if Kate wasn’t at least suggested to still be alive, then I could rage properly
Very true. Just like how the hero shouldn’t always just be looking to punch their way out of a problem, the same goes for taking down villains as well. There’s gotta be a healthy balance between the approaches, and while 2 instances doesn’t indicate a trend, it can be kinda frustrating to see at such an early point in the season
I could definitely see him having an episode where he goes back to Metropolis for a party or some other event, only to then have this realization that there isn’t as much left for him back there as he thought there’d be. It’d definitely be an effective way of helping convince him to stay in Smallville
Clark only beat Lois to the punch by a few seconds. Like she said, the whole town could smell it
I didn’t even notice that parallel, but it’s a good catch. Though it does help bring Sarah closer to Jordan, it’s also an especially sad indicator of her situation that she’s having to deal w/ that kind of drunkenness twice in 1 day
It’s a perfect tribute to her. I really like how she’s taking an even more important role in Clark’s upbringing this time around
We certainly might have to wait on this for when they reveal the final fate of Luthor’s world and how exactly he got to this one. It might not be that many episodes before we do since there are just 15 this season instead of the CW’s usual 20-something, but the hiatus until mid-May is gonna make the wait that much worse
Batwoman - I would have been good with Kate being recast from the get go. The direction they chose thus far has been executed well. I liked the desert rose bloom at the end of the episode. Part of the formula is blood. I liked how everything played out with Safiyah and who framed her and Alice being Alice.
Flash - Chester and Cisco work well together. also feed each other’s geek. I did notice the multi colored blasts from last week. there was also multi colored lightning at the beginning of this episode. using something recently appearing in the comics makes sense. Also, bonus points if they do it well.
S&L - so there is a loophole with the post crisis rule of no more than one of the same person from different earths on post crisis earth: different actors. Lois is most lilkely this Luthor’s weakness. She would try to reach his humanity regardless of knowing about him and her doppleganger. Knowing more about his world and how his Superman turned is needed.
Very true, this is something that both she and Clark could end up doing, either at the same time or at different points. Once they come to understand that this Luthor is at least not driven by his ego and a desire for power the way their Luthor is, they’ll probably realize that they’ll be more likely to have some success in trying to talk to him, though I also still wanna see another full fight by the end of the season
I like this split season. It makes sure that we don’t get tired of the one villain for an entire season.
I’m actually excited. The hero turned brainwashed villain is a fun trope. Especially when Ryan didn’t even really know Kate.
It is very new. But Godspeed is also in the show and he is from the same run on Flash. I’m just excited to expand the lore of Flash.
Poor Jonathan. He loses his girlfriend, city, sport because of his father and brother. I really want something good to happen to him. But I think he will like Smallville eventually.
“Lois is the Key!!!” Oh… uhhh… sorry, wrong universe.
Anyway, yeah I think Lois will have something to do with it. But first she needs to find out who Luthor is and what he wants.
