Arrowverse Couch Club, Week 2: March 8-10 episodes (Black Lightning season finale)

Black Lightning
SPOILER ALERT!

Welcome to the second week of DCU’s Arrowverse Couch Club! With most of the shows back from hiatus, we have a full slate of recent episodes to talk about this week…only to be met with the last episode of Black Lightning’s third season. (Do I have great timing or what?) While the Pierces may be taking an early exit as usual, we can still celebrate what was quite an eventful finale, along with the other fantastic episodes from this past week.

Batwoman – “Grinning from Ear to Ear”
• At the end of the episode, Mary found a pretty cryptic way to basically tell Kate that she knows her secret, but will hold out until Kate trusts her enough to confirm it herself. This will definitely weigh on whether or not Kate wants to tell Mary, but do you think Kate fully picked up on what Mary was really saying?

Supergirl – “The Bodyguard”
• Ever since Kara found out what William was really reporting on earlier this season, it seems like the series has only shown in a positive light – perhaps too positive? Do you think that William’s excessive politeness is indicative of his true character, or is it too good to be true with something darker lurking underneath?

Black Lightning – “The Book of War: Chapter Three – Liberation”
• With the reveal that Gravedigger survived the explosion in The Pit, it looks like he’ll still have a role to play beyond this season. Now that Markovia has been (seemingly) eliminated as an active threat and Tobias is primed to make his return to Freeland, how do you envision Gravedigger’s character participating in season 4?

• Between Jamillah Olsen, Helga Jace, Bill Henderson and more, the finale certainly wasn’t afraid to kill off some major characters. Which death did you think was the most emotional/impactful, and what was your favorite moment with that character?

The Flash – “Death of the Speed Force”
• This episode was incredibly eventful, as we not only saw the death of the Speed Force, but the full return of Reverse Flash. This seems to be setting up a big new direction for the rest of the season, but what about Black Hole? Between Iris’ investigation, Eva McCulloch and Sue Dearbon, that thread is still very much alive, so how will the show be able to balance the two plots in the final 8 episodes?

Legends of Tomorrow – “Mr. Parker’s Cul-De-Sac”
• While nobody is ever truly gone in the Arrowverse, this episode did see the presumed end of Damien Darhk’s journey while also setting up Ray and Nora’s farewell next week. With three major characters leaving over the course of two weeks, do you feel that these departures are premature, or is the show giving them a proper sendoff?

Lastly, what was your favorite episode from this week? (I know I’m cheating with the last option, but I just can’t help it. Aside from Supergirl, I really felt that every other show brought their A-game this week, and it was absolutely fantastic to see.)

  • Batwoman – “Grinning From Ear to Ear”
  • Supergirl – “The Bodyguard”
  • Black Lightning – “The Book of War: Chapter Three – Liberation”
  • The Flash – “Death of the Speed Force”
  • Legends of Tomorrow – “Mr. Parker’s Cul-De-Sac”
  • I just can’t decide!

0 voters

From Kate’s perspective, it does seem a bit random that Mary would say something like that to her, even if she did phrase it in the non-specific way that she did. She may very well be suspicious that Mary knows her secret, but either way, it does look like Mary’s words resonated with her. Kate knows how crucial Mary’s help has been in her mission and she is family, so if she’s thinking about the issue critically, I feel like it makes sense to trust her enough with this secret. Mary’s already been put in harm’s way because of her connection to Kate, and while she may not be much a physical fighter, she’s smart and crafty enough to take care of herself, so this shouldn’t be an issue of worrying about putting her in danger by telling her.

I do think there’s a real chance that William will turn out to not as good as he’s coming across, and perhaps could even reveal a connection to Leviathan. It’s just suspicious that we haven’t seen any overt flaws from him since his initial impression, and remember that this isn’t technically the same William we were introduced to – that was Earth-38 William, but this is Earth-Prime William. I’m not sure if he’ll turn out to be a full-on villain, but I really get the feeling that there’s more to him that meets the eye, and not in a good way.

But honestly, even if there isn’t some sort of direct betrayal, I already really don’t like where this “romance” is heading, and I put that in quotes because none of this has felt natural. Kara didn’t show any outward interest in wanting to date William until he asked her out and her friends started pressuring her into it. Even after she turned him down, he was still pushy and didn’t seem too respective of her boundaries, which came across as more of a subtle flaw. Somehow this all led to Kara accepting the date, which just makes no sense. What’s more, I truly feel like this is a bad message to send to people, especially young girls watching: that it’s OK for a woman to be pressured into going out w/ a guy she turned down. The show already went down this path w/ Mon-El, which I felt was a mistake, and it’s baffling that they’re doing something similar again. This whole thing might be coming across better if Melissa Benoist and Staz Nair had some real on-screen chemistry, but I have yet to see any between them.

Call me crazy, but I think there may stand a chance at redemption next season. As we saw, he actually wasn’t aware that he was a Pierce until Jeff told him, and even though it didn’t seem to have much of an impact on him at the time, it could be one of those developments that just takes some time to sink in. It’s surely been decades since he’s had any real family connections, so perhaps the prospect of that could cause him to rethink his mission. The way he was in disguise at the hearing indicates that he’s not immediately out for blood, so it looks like the potential is there.

Then again, he could also just be biding his time to strike, as he clearly underestimated the Pierces and might just not want to make that mistake again. Also, the fact that he’s shapeshifting indicates that Lynn’s boost antidote only worked temporarily, so he may very well still have a full array of powers at his disposal. Regardless of what role Gravedigger (hopefully) plays next season, I mainly hope that his journey won’t run parallel to Tobias’, leaving Jeff to fight 2 separate wars on 2 different fronts. I’ve been really impressed at how Black Lightning is able to tackle a continuous storyline over a long period of time, so I think going back and forth between the threat of Tobias and the threat of Gravedigger in season 4 would be a mistake. Then again, it’s also possible that 1 could be the big bad of 4A and the other could fill that role in 4B, which wouldn’t be quite as bad.

It’s probably the easy answer, but Henderson’s death was easily the one that hit the hardest for me. He was easily one of my favorite characters on the show, and while Damon Gupton had already announced that Henderson wouldn’t be back next season, I was holding out hope that he’d be written off instead of killed off, maybe even shifting to the Superman and Lois show. Regardless of my hopes, seeing him die at Jeff’s side was an incredibly emotional moment that brought me to tears, but I’m at least glad that he was able to go out a hero – he deserved nothing less.

When I think back on the series so far, my favorite moment w/ Henderson was when he finally found out Black Lightning’s secret identity in the season 2 premiere. I had thought throughout the 1st season that he was too smart not to know Jeff’s secret, and it was really satisfying to find out that he was. More than anything, Gupton’s amazing performance as a conflicted man who felt betrayed by his best friend but still held plenty of respect for the work that the hero had done really sold the scene. It’s one of my favorite scenes of the whole show and really helped to sell me on Henderson’s character.

While I did think that this episode was fantastic on its own, it does definitely present problems for the season as a whole. It’s possible that this new thread could be wrapped up quickly before the focus shifts back to Black Hole, but it would seem almost pointless to introduce a plot with such a huge scale only to have it be essentially a diversion. Then again, if this does become the focus, it begs the question of why Black Hole was even introduced in the first place. It would seem like the writers may have to find a way to balance and connect the two threads, but that really seems like too tall an order to manage, especially considering that the season’s more than halfway over. I’m very much interested to see how these threads play out, as the show is hooking me more than it has in a while, but I’m also concerned that it could just result in an even bigger mess.

As much as I’ve loved seeing Ray, Nora and Damien living it up on Legends, I have to admit that the way they’ve been set up to leave the show isn’t coming across as forced. I’ll certainly miss all 3 of them a lot, but I also have to respect the fact that the writers are able to craft a sincere, meaningful exit for any notable character, let alone 3 in 2 weeks. W/ Damien, despite all the evil he’s done, it felt oddly appropriate that he and Nora were able to enjoy 1 loving night together as father and daughter, though more so for her sake than his. I appreciate that Nora could finally have this 1 moment w/ him, the kind of which she was deprived of for all her life, while not falling back under his influence or trying to defend his previous actions.

And for Ray, after seeing him go through several failed relationships, it’s been nothing but joyful to see him in a romance that seems so unlikely on paper, but feels so natural when they’re together (helped greatly by the fact that Brandon Routh and Courtney Ford’s real-life marriage). Damien may be evil, but he did make a good point about the Waverider not being an ideal place to settle down and maybe even start a family. If Ray has to leave, I can at least be comfortable knowing that he’s leaving for a good reason.

Legendary Island of Misfits for this week is now up!
See my thoughts on this week’s episode:

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Hello!

Haven’t watched batwoman yet so I’ll comment about that later.

Supergirl- I hadn’t really thought much about Williams true motives. I really see him as a useless character to be honest. During E38 continuity I thought he was really investigating Andrea, but E-prime he’s investigating Lex, right? Its confusing. It’s honestly baffles me that Supergirl was around for the whole watch Launch, as was William and Andrea, but Kara (a top journalist there) wasn’t needed at all?? Anyways, I digress… I figured William was up to something at the beginning of the season but he hasn’t really shown much besides wanting to get revenge. For him to have another ulterior motive, there isn’t enough to go on. I’m much to worried about Lena most of the time and how Lex is manipulating her. Why would you even want to work with someone you previously murdered?!

Very good point. I don’t really trust Supergirl’s writing to handle this well but we will see where it goes.

Agreed. I feel they also did this with Lena/James. Lena wasn’t interested until someone pointed it out to her.

Yes, the main lead needs a love interest (according to tv “rules”) but why do we have to suffer through another no chemistry relationship.

The best part of Supergirl this week was of course the other Brainy. He’s always so much fun to watch.

The Flash- This season has been really drawing me in. I liked the first arc and I feel like the after-crisis episodes have been just as strong. The iris arc is very interesting to me. And I agree why spend so much time on black hole only to not go anywhere with it? I think it will all tie together. Eva is definitely moderately insane with the way she speaks and acts. What I don’t understand is how she acts and knows everything about Iris so well that even when Wally mentions it to Joe he isn’t like immediately agreeing with Wally. Sidebar: where did the gun take Camilla?

The arc with Ralph might be more than they can handle since he’s barely around but I do immensely enjoy what I’ve seen. #seemoreRalphy2k20

Legends: I felt like this has been the best episode this season. It really had a lot going for it. Including moving the plot forward. I love Damien Darkh on legends. He’s such a fun character and I was happy to see him back. As much as I don’t want to see Ray leave, I don’t feel like any of their departures are being forced. Nora has kind of always done her own thing. I don’t even feel like the wedding was that fast considering the history of Ray’s past relationships. Mick’s daughter storyline feel a lot like Steins daughter storyline. Still fun though.

This Legends episode was my favorite this week because I couldn’t stop laughing and I said to myself NOW THIS IS A LEGENDS EPISODE. Between mick passing out, Sara and Ava puppets, All of Gary’s scenes, and that captain cold ref! It was classic legends.

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading!

-Kelly

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Couldn’t agree more on this. There was plenty to work w/ in 5A, but 5B has just really been a disaster so far. An unfocused plot, an overreliance on Lex, who I loved at 1st but is really wearing out his welcome, more mistreatment of Lena, interesting characters getting sidelined and Kara being forced into a relationship she clearly had no interest in pursuing. It’s just baffling to me that a show that prides itself on being overtly feminist and LGBT-inclusive can present such poor writing.

I guess we won’t know for sure until Tuesday, but I would guess she’s in the mirror dimension w/ Iris and Eva

Mick passing out upon finding out he has a daughter may have been the funniest moment of the season so far, and I don’t say that lightly. I also got a real kick out of train Gary. This really is where Legends shines - balancing gut-busting humor w/ emotional moments in a way where they flow perfectly together

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I think that Kate has a suspicion that Mary knows something. I don’t think she knows fully by the look on her face but I think she knows something is up. I hope they resolve this sooner than later as she would be a great addition to the team. I wasn’t sure what to think of Mary at first and she wasn’t my favorite but she has definitely grown on me. I love how she is more of a fully developed character, in my humble opinion , than Kate is. I also love her enthusiasm to want to help Kate and I really really want her to team up with Luke!

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I like that they didn’t go the route of killing off the villain. Wayne Brady has done an amazing job with the character and he has been such a delight to watch when he strategized as well as brute strength.
I don’t think it will be too crowded as I expect Tobias to return and be a big part. Gravedigger could be in the shadows and used sparingly so it will be unexpected when he turns up. Anticipating his return more.
@arkhamassassin I think he still has no additional powers. The shape shifting at the end looked more technological in nature and reminded me of the disguises Gambi would wear when infiltrating the ASA. I could be wrong.
I felt Olsen’s death was too quick to have much of an impact and they really didn’t develop her character beyond the sound bites which is a shame.
Jace’s death was deserved especially as I was annoyed by her fake chats with Lynn and how she really showed no remorse in talking about anyone dying. I only wish Brandon had been the one to do it.
Henderson’s death hit me the most. I loved that he died a hero and by the side of his best friend. They may have had disagreements in the past but they were there for each other. I will admit I cried a little though I knew where it might go.

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I felt they missed having Reverse Flash during Crisis. For Crisis, I noticed other than Lex, Anti Monitor, and shadow demons there was a lack of villains. Psycho Pirate was in last crossover teasing it and Thawne said he’d see Barry soon. I feel it’s a little forced having him back, as he’s had his time.
They need to have Iris freed soon because that subplot is starting to get boring. They are trapped and bad Iris is doing, something. They need to move this forward and hopefully it ties up with Black Hole so they can kill two birds with one stone with so few episodes left. It does seem they juggled too many and they need to be tied together. Maybe Thawne is secretly the leader of Black Hole?!?
Can we also lament the disappearance of Kamilla by fake Iris? Where did she go and I assume they will bring her back. Maybe this means the slow burn will turn into a raging inferno now.
Barry has to watch his “mom” die for what, the second time at least? It was sad but the last time was the force so I didn’t feel as bad as when Barry’s dad died.

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I thought the Gravedigger disguise was not from shapeshifting but the ASA tech similar to what Gambi was using after his alleged murder. I am assuming his original power set is still intact after the anti-booster.

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I definitely agree that Mary is another standout on the show. She’s got a unique enthusiasm that, combined w/ her intelligence and humor, makes for a really interesting character. I’m more on the side of arguing that she’s just about as developed as Kate instead of more, but it is really a testament to her strength that we’re even looking at her from that perspective.

I actually forgot about that, but you both bring up a very good point. If that is the case and he has access to this kind of technology, then he’d have to still have connections that would make him a potential threat again. Having him stick to the shadows and biding his time for most of season 4 could make for a really satisfying full return when he’s ready to strike, if that is the kind of path he ends up going down.

It does seem strange that Thawne made a point to tell Barry in the S6 finale, “See you in our next Crisis,” only to not show up at all. It’s certainly possible that this arc could be making up for that, though I’d certainly hope that it’s more substantial than just wanting to make up for something like that. Even though I can understand the argument that Thawne may feel played out at this point, I still appreciate the fact that he’s an honest-to-God recurring villain. Considering how many great Arrowverse villains have been either killed off or redeemed, I love the fact that Thawne is still around to stir sh*t up every so often.

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Official thoughts for the week…

Batwoman: kate telling Mary her identity is the proverbial double edged sword. Yes Mary figured it out, but is refraining from confronting Kate. Kate telling Mary is the sign of trust that would make Mary more of an ally, plus another civialian who can cover for Kate to keep her secret identity. But at the same time, Mary can be a target because of the knowledge. I am hoping Mary tells Luke she knows in a moment of influencer exasperation for lack of a better term.

I also enjoyed the label on the canister: “Fear Toxin”. someone knows their OSHA Right-to-Know job site regulations.

Supergirl: I didn’t get any bad news vibes from William, but it’s still early…

Black Lightning: Seeing Gravedigger survive means we should see more of him next season. The question is if his arc will be about revenge or redemption.

Henderson’s death hit me the hardest. And this is coming off the actor’s death in Criminal Minds before his gig on Black Lightning. Seeing his role in the underground was a great reveal, making his death even harder. “I can’t move you. there’s a hole in your chest.”

Flash: they might wrap up the black hole thing quickly since Sue Dearbon is also investigating the organization. I wouldn’t be surprised if Eva is running Black Hole, but it better be a good explanation. Is the mirror duplicate of Iris is the first time that ever happened? And if Camilla isn’t dead, where did she go?

Legends: I am going to miss Ray. but at least it’s a written off vs a killed off. The exit does feel natural/organic, so i can’t really complain. Officially. Or without sounding like some filthy troll. A lot of my discussion of this show happened in the legendary thread.

And now that i told you all that, i can now watch the latest episodes of Supergirl and Batwoman.

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This is really interesting to think about. Can she only have one duplicate at a time? How long can they last? considering she healed Mirror-Iris. She did mention her husband visited her everyday and then he stopped? Why would he just stop? She does seem mentally unstable though so I doubt she can carry this on for much longer.

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At this point, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this happens. Mary is clearly desperate to be part of the team, and if her “subtle” hints don’t work, she may get so frustrated that she’d just blurt out that she knows.

Considering the scope of that whole plot, I feel like it’d be really rushed if they just finish it quickly. W/ multiple characters’ arcs tying into it, it’ll need more time to further develop and finish up, unless they leave it to pick up again next season that is.