We’re celebrating a special milestone this week at the Arrowverse Couch Club, as The Flash official joined Arrow in the 150-episode club! Also serving as the full live-action debut of Bart Allen and the penultimate episode of season 7, there was a lot to digest in this one. With Barry and Iris’ kids having traveled back to the past to track Godspeed from their present, it’s a full-on West-Allen family reunion as all of Team Flash continued fighting off the Godspeed drones while trying to (literally) get into the mind of the man responsible for this war: August Heart. Also in the future, though only by a couple years, Legends of Tomorrow shifted the focus to Behrad as the team’s newest mission took them to Vancouver, where an adorable alien crashed the set of his favorite sitcom. And in Smallville, Superman & Lois returned from a brief hiatus to showcase Clark’s attempts to resist being brainwashed while his family back home worked to figure out if they stood any chance of saving him.
Legends of Tomorrow – “This Is Gus”
Now that it looks like Zari 1.0 will be sticking around for at least a little while, what are you hoping to see her do as a proper Legend once again?
The Flash – “Heart of the Matter, Part 1”
What did you think of Bart Allen’s live-action debut?
Do you think Jay will survive the season finale?
Superman & Lois – “Through the Valley of Death”
After getting through to Superman and taking down Edge, do you think John Henry has done enough to redeem himself, or does he still need to do more before he can earn that title, possibly as Steel?
The main thing I’m hoping for which I’m sure the show will deliver on plenty is for her to spend plenty of time w/ her brother. I know Tala Ashe and Shayan Sobhian have had plenty of screentime together, but that hits a lot differently when it’s the OG Zari, since most of what she knows about this version of her brother has come via secondhand info. Seeing them get a chance to really bond for a significant period of time would be amazingly heartwarming, though I also wouldn’t be surprised to see some typical sibling squabbles thrown in as well. It’d also be fantastic to see them team up in fight scenes as well. While I know current Zari is very much getting the hang of using her totem, I’d imagine she still isn’t quite up to Zari 1.0’s skill level. And since Behrad also has plenty of experience there, their combined abilities could make for some really awesome action sequences
It’d also be great to see her interact w/ characters she hasn’t really had a chance to yet like Astra and Spooner. And while I know he’s off looking for the Fountain of Imperium, I’m hoping we can get at least 1 awkward scene w/ Constantine seeing her and possibly getting mixed up when it comes to “his” Zari. All in all, there’s a lot of potential here, and this could be an effective long-term solution for having both Zaris on the show w/out them having to share the same body
It’s safe to say that I’m over the hesitancy I had about Bart being changed from Barry’s grandson to his son, so I can now truly say that Jordan Fisher was fantastic! The frantic energy he brought to the role was just what Bart needs, but he’s also a good enough actor to bring the drama and ensure that Bart isn’t just some caricature of a hyperactive, immature kid. Seeing him deal w/ the old wounds of Jay’s death was pretty compelling, and it makes me want to learn even more about this version of the character. I’m really hoping we’ll get to see Bart and Jay interact either in the finale or in a future episode, as it’d give Bart a chance to say all the things he wanted to before his Jay died
I can also better appreciate the decision to change his lineage, because making him Nora’s sister instead of her son (possibly nephew) really worked for these 2. They had great chemistry together, showing that they both care about each other deeply despite the constant bickering. And it was interesting to see Nora more matured from the last time we saw her, as she was very much protective of her younger brother. Though it was frustrating to see them go back to the usual trope of benching him because the situation is too dangerous, I do also feel like Bart’s involvement has elevated my interest in the Godspeed situation in general, which was definitely needed. All in all, this was a great debut, I’m excited to see what Bart manages to do in the finale and my early hope is that next week won’t be the last we see of him. I don’t think he needs to be a regular on the show or anything, but maybe someone who pops up from time to time
Well I certainly don’t want him to die, especially before we get to see him develop a relationship w/ Bart. But w/ so many speedsters and other heroes gathering together to fight this huge threat, I feel like that increases the odds that not everyone will make it out alive. True, mentioning his death in the future in this episode could be their way of setting up a subversion of our expectations where he actually lives, but it could also very well be just regular setup for his death. I could definitely see them doing something where Bart and Jay do get to have just 1 meaningful conversation, and then Bart has to suffer through losing Jay all over again. Plus the Arrowverse has already killed off 2 of John Wesley Shipp’s characters, so why not go for a trifecta? Because it would be very painful to watch, obviously, but the writers aren’t exactly thinking from a fan perspective. I’m certainly not fully convinced that Jay’s gonna die, but if someone does, he seems like the most likely candidate, so I’m definitely prepping for the worst in that regard
Yes and no. As fans w/ the benefit of knowing his entire character history, we know he’s supposed to be a hero, so this arc makes sense. We’ve been speculating about ways in which he could go from being an enemy of Superman to an ally, and it seems like learning the truth about his life on earth was the key to him having a true change of heart. We also know from getting to know him over the course of this season that he’s not a bad person, but someone who’s willing to go to extreme lengths to do what he truly feels is right. Someone like that who’s not acting out of some sort of selfish motivation is much more likely to make a positive change like this, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see him operate as a hero from now own, albeit a somewhat morally ambiguous one
That said, the characters on the show don’t have all of that knowledge. They know he’s not destined to be a hero, they only know what he’s done. True, a good chunk of that is seeing how he wasn’t this monster on his earth, but they’ve also seen up close how he’s attempted to murder Clark on several occasions. That really doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that’d be so easily forgiven, and yet it seems like everyone was ready to do just that at the end of the episode. I could understand if more people seemed cautiously optimistic about him having turned a corner, but there really didn’t seem to be any reluctance at all. So yeah, from our perspective it seems all good, but from the characters’ perspective this seems kinda abrupt. I’m hoping it’ll be brought up at least a little bit at some point during these last 3 episodes
Flash - The final battle in this season finale is going to have Iris getting unstuck in time in the first place and/or getting re-stabilized. how it is involved with the godspeed/impulse cycle is still anybody’s guess.
there is still a lot of the usual shenanigans: this is personal about Impulse. let’s put him on the sidelines. Resist being put on the sidelines.
Tech Vibe to the rescue! And if the final battle is in August’s mind, it will be almost all talking.
S&L - Half of the battle was Lois and Jon asking JHI not to kill Clark.
Diggle and glowing boxes.
LoT - I like that it was Zari 2.0’s idea to make the switch. Capitalizing on a time loophole.
Considering she’ll be getting her speed powers back and joining the fight against Godspeed(s), I figure that’ll probably happen pretty early
I anticipate the scenes in August’s mind will have a considerable amount of info, but w/ all the speedsters teaming up as per the promo, I’m sure there’ll be some actual fighting as well
August vs Barry specifically will be talking. which is the battle that decides victory. the speedster team up with all the punching is more like proverbial gravy or icing on the proverbial cake.
I am hoping to see her spend time with the brother she never got to before. She seemed so happy to see him happy and healthy and among her family again. This was a large part of her life that was taken from her and I hope she can see how much he has become a Legend in his own right. Part of me also hopes to see her put Astra in her place. Astra still seems snarky and has her moments especially this episode where she was mocking Behrad for always being late. I would want her to come back with a few barbs of her own.
Finally, I would want to see her be part of the bridal party for Ava and Sara. She had been with them the longest and she should deserve to see her closest friends get married.
On the other hand, Zari 2.0 has shown so much character growth over the season and I actually miss her. She was continuing on her journey and she even was taking pieces of her old life mixed with her new found compassion for others and really became a great character of her own. It is a testament to the actress that I feel in love with her character twice in two different ways, especially as I was primed to hate 2.0.
Bart’s live action debut was perfect! They captured his rapid fire brain and his need to be impulsive (though they needed to lay off that word as it was used too many times and the wink wink was gone). I loved the fact that he connected with Uncle Jay the most because everyone else did not get him like he did. He understood you do not stifle the creativity that may come out from taking chances; as long as you do not foolishly run into danger. I miss the fact that they do not have a Max Mercury on the show, but I like that Jay has taken on the older mentor role for him here.
I hope Jay survives the finale! They already mentioned Godspeed had killed Jay in the future and that this caused him to be Bart’s Thawne. I do not want to see this darkness on this show, and I want Bart to have a feeling of closure in saving Jay now. We have already seen that although things are fated on this show, destiny can be unwritten. I also know from other sources that Jay will appear as part of the JSA on Stargirl, so he would not be gone completely but I still want him to remain on this show. We need the Flash family like in the comics, and I love the link to the 1990s Flash through the actor.
As an aside, I noticed Nora saying she was 30, no wait in another 4 years. SO if she comes from 2049, this means she is 26, which means she will be born in 2023, which is only a couple of years away. And Bart is in 2030, as he is 19. Sorry I saw the math and I thought it was cool.
I think he has made major strides towards redeeming himself, and I think he has a better understanding of this world’s Superman and how the love of a human family made this one turn out differently from his world. I think he may become inspired by how strong this world’s Superman is and maybe honor him with an update to his suit? In either case, he looks cool enough in his suit and he really is a great character with many levels. Initially he was going to kill Superman but he did appeal to his human side.
I also want to know what he will find when he finds his sister on this earth, as they started that storyline but got interrupted by Lois’ call. Who is his sister and is it a character we know from comics? I did notice he was on campus at Metropolis Institute of Technology (MIT…lol) so she is as smart as he is, so I am intrigued.
Also, Morgan Edge seems to be exactly where he wants to be based on his smirk at the end. He powered up the Eradicator and I wonder if he did not gain Kryptonian spirits into him in addition to his own to restart the world. At first I thought when it exploded, it was spreading out in our atmosphere to start the process of control again, but I now think it changed Edge himself.
I also liked the scenes with Lana and her family, as they dealt with the backlash of being talked into supporting Edge when he turned out to be the bad guy. They really acted like a family again.
Also can we say how cool that the consciousness being placed into Kal El was Zod? Zod?!?!
Also, just using Diggle to bring Argus tech seemed like a waste in this episode with not much for him to do. We will have to wait some time for the next appearance and I hope they discuss more about whats in the box. What’s in the box?!?
Not sure if you saw the new episode, but I can definitely say that’s not the case, though I’m sure we’ll get into it more w/ the new discussion going up tonight
