The Flash: Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Three
December 10, 2019 6:19 PM - Season 6, Episode 9 - Subscribe

Pariah enlists Black Lightning to help stop the Anti-Monitor after Flash-90 shares what he learned from his battle in 'Elseworlds.' With the help of Black Lightning, Barry, Cisco and Killer Frost come up with a plan that could save them all. Meanwhile, Iris has a heart-to-heart with Ryan Choi, while Diggle, Constantine, and Mia return to an old familiar stomping ground.
posted by oh yeah! (19 comments total)
 
I'd forgotten we were getting a Lucifer cameo in the crossover until the moment he appeared onscreen. Loved it!
posted by oh yeah! at 6:53 PM on December 10, 2019 [2 favorites]


Despite knowing a lot about the various Superman/Batman actors we'd be seeing in this and some of the other cameos, I had somehow totally escaped knowing Lucifer would be making an appearance, so that was delightful. (I suppose it's probably too much to hope for that we get some John Constantine in the next season of Lucifer, but that would be awesome.) I know Osric Chau was gonna be in it but it was still nice to see him, even though I don't know anything about Ryan Choi (he's going to be the Atom I guess?)

Also, I mean, the speed of everything is so breakneck that almost everything feels a little short-changed but I was glad they took the time for a Black Lightning/Flash heart-to-heart and didn't just leave it at "Hey guys, here's Jefferson, he's helping now."

Also, sardonyx's theory that Oliver was headed for Spectre-dom from a couple weeks ago seemed like a stretch to me at the time but wow, totally nailed it. I am duly impressed!
posted by mstokes650 at 8:36 PM on December 10, 2019 [3 favorites]




“Ignore him. It’s his first crossover.” LOL

Well, all the worlds are gone and almost everyone, at all, is gone. Damn.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:59 PM on December 11, 2019 [3 favorites]


This was great. Lucifer's cameo was pitch perfect and it was set in his playboy days before he met Chloe. Note the Watchmen billboard when they show Lucifer's building (Lucifer once had a Supergirl billboard in the background of a scene).

I had read somewhere that Cress Williams or the Black Lightning producer agreed to be in the crossover only if Jefferson's role was more than a cameo.

I know it would never be done but how wild would it be if the story in the first post-Crisis episode of Black Lightning was about Jefferson Pierce mourning the loss of his family and world, adjusting to life on Earth-1, and getting a teaching job in the Glades.
posted by plastic_animals at 8:13 PM on December 11, 2019 [5 favorites]


Aaah Huntress! Man I'm so glad they're giving that show a shout-out, but it was a WB show too.

A LOT happened in this episode! I can't believe everyone "died", or that Earth 1 is also gone. Obviously they're all coming back...
posted by numaner at 10:01 PM on December 11, 2019 [1 favorite]


The clip of Earth-90's Barry and Tina melted my cold, cold heart.
posted by hanov3r at 10:37 AM on December 12, 2019 [4 favorites]


I loved the Lucifer scene - it was interesting to see him in his playboy days. Now I'm curious to know just what Constantine did to help Mazikeen, resulting in Lucifer owing him a favor. There's bound to be a great story there.
posted by Roger Pittman at 2:34 PM on December 12, 2019 [3 favorites]


Gee, shucks, mstokes650. Thanks. My theories are usually the wrongest kind of wrong, but every once in a blue moon something seems blindingly obvious to me, and this was one of those times. Sadly, I never have these kinds of revelations about things that could actually benefit me like stock market picks or the commodities price index.

Spectre makes a lot of sense for a TV show and universe like this. Depending on what operating conditions they place on the Spectre (and in the comics there have been a number over the years as his power levels have been ramped up and toned down), he is an easy character to depict. Since he's a ghost or a soul or some other kind of celestial entity who is co-habitating in a human body, they can just have the actor play the human host--no fancy suit or special effects needed. When the Spectre is absolutely needed, just throw a hooded cloak on and slap on a bit of white make-up and instant moon-face. In contrast to somebody like Deadman, Spec is simple.

The version of Spectre that I'm most familiar with was the one that allowed both host Jim Corrigan and Spectre to have independent minds and personalities. In essence, they could live their own lives, Jim as a law enforcement officer and Spectre as spirit of justice and vengeance--as long as Spectre popped into Jim once every 24 hours to recharge. That means if they need Oliver to interact with other members of the Arrowverse as Oliver, he can do that. If they need Oliver to keep shooting arrows at people, he can do that. And finally, if they need to bring the "real" Oliver back, Spec can change hosts. I think all he needs is a recently dead, decent guy, and there is no shortage of those in these kinds of shows.

I mean, sure there are times when the work-life-retribution balance slips between Sped and Jim and when one tries to take over the other--or when somebody else tries to take over one-half of the duo, or do something like kidnap Jim and shield him from Spectre's all-seeing vision, but that's comic-book drama.

Anyway, getting back to this episode, it was great seeing Huntress from Birds of Prey again, especially wearing Black Canary's logo at her throat.

Lucy's appearance was full of charm, just like the devil himself. The exchange between him and John about how to properly pronounce "Constantine" was brilliant, especially since it flipped the traditional comic book version of right and wrong. (There's an old Hellblazer forum that used to refer to the Keanu Reeves movie version as Constanteen--or something similar to that--because it was the bastardized American version that got every fundamental aspect of the character wrong.) I wonder what John things about being compared to an Angel, or if he even realizes that's what Lucifer is implying.

I think we all suspected that another Flash would die, not Earth-1 Barry, but that just makes this whole series-long tease of Iris' article more annoying. There is no reason why the Earth-1 Iris would ever need to write this piece because the Earth-1 Flash will still be around after Crisis (assuming they restore the Earth) and nobody would know who the dead Flash is or what he sacrificed.

I know I shouldn't judge Ryan Choi based on this one appearance, but at this point, I don't feel like we're coming out to the better in the eventual Atom trade. Sure he has the science know-how and the earnestness, but Ray seems to have a sense of joy and fun and innocence that this character lacks. I feel the Waverider will be poorer without those qualities.

I loved Kara's reaction to Routh's Superman, first appreciating his physique then re-evaluating her reaction when she found out who he is.

The Kara-Kate and Barry-Jefferson heart-to-heart scenes were all strongly acted. These crossovers really bring out the best in everybody involved.
posted by sardonyx at 5:49 PM on December 12, 2019 [2 favorites]


BTW I haven't seen mordax's name in these Crisis threads. Does anybody know if he is still watching or is okay? I think the rest of the DCCW MeFi gang is all here, right?
posted by sardonyx at 5:53 PM on December 12, 2019


Ugh, I just realized the Kara-Kal bit was in an earlier episode. They're all starting to blend together in my head.
posted by sardonyx at 5:55 PM on December 12, 2019


I was just thinking about how the Batwoman timeline doesn't really make sense. She met everyone a year (?) ago in the last crossover, at which point she seemed to be a fairly seasoned hero. In her own show, she's only been active for a few months (?).
posted by sevenyearlurk at 6:18 PM on December 12, 2019 [2 favorites]


Mordax buttoned. Check out his last comments on metatalk if you want to know why.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 6:40 PM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]


That's a shame. I knew he was growing frustrated with the moderation and the way people of colour are treated on this site, but I didn't realize he felt it necessary to pull the plug.
posted by sardonyx at 7:13 PM on December 12, 2019


You're absolutely correct Homo neanderthalensis. There is something jarring about how the other characters are treating Kate. She should be the rookie of the bunch, but apparently wearing a Bat conveys automatic authority and gravitas, or something. For TV marketing reasons, this treatment makes sense, but in-universe continuity-wise and character-development-wise it doesn't.
posted by sardonyx at 7:16 PM on December 12, 2019


They mentioned on Batwoman a few episodes back that Mouse broke out of Arkham Asylum during the riots "a couple of weeks ago". Since those riots took place during Elseworlds that constrains Batwoman to being several months to almost a year behind the other shows. There was no mention of how much time had passed between the mad tea party and Batwoman beating up Alice's henchmen, but that is presumably when the show made up the time to sync up with the other shows. So, Kate's been in the hero business for a few months, certainly a short time compared to Oliver, Barry and Kara. But, given that she lives in Gotham, she probably got a lot of practice during that time!
posted by plastic_animals at 8:40 PM on December 12, 2019


Okay, so who's left alive? White Canary, Batwoman, Supergirl, Lex Luthor, Flash...who am I blanking on?

That was ONE HECK of a twist at the end. Lex Luthor is truly an evil genius.
posted by rednikki at 8:42 PM on December 14, 2019


J'onn and Ryan Choi
posted by sardonyx at 9:29 PM on December 14, 2019 [1 favorite]


Osric Chau seems to be having a streak of roles in which his characters are paired with a woman named Amanda.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 11:05 PM on December 15, 2019 [1 favorite]


« Older Book: White Fragility, by Robi...   |  Six Feet Under: Static... Newer »

You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments