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Well, I think the JSA existed in complete secret.  Much like the JSA in Smallville.  If costumed heroes were no big deal on Smallville, then it wouldn't have taken Clark so long to be used to the idea.  The whole Warrior Angel thing existed because it was a novelty.

I think Supergirl is trying to say that the alien stuff is really recent (this season).  So she had to grow up in secret because no one knew about the aliens.  Now?  I'm not even sure why Kara has to keep her identity a secret anymore....all her friends and family can protect themselves (they're all basically superheroes or spies).  I guess people would be mobbing her all the time, but that's just the life of a celebrity.

To me, it isn't so much about being "grim" or "dark" - it's how the characters relate to me and how I relate to them.  When I look at Clark Kent or Bruce Wayne, I look at people who are braver than me.  Who are stronger than me.  Who are better versions than I could possibly hope to be.  I want to make myself more like them...I don't necessarily want to see myself in them.

I know his ideas on Clark are controversial (American Alien is still sitting on my bedside table unopened), but Max Landis had a little rant after Man of Steel that really helped me understand why Superman is such a fascinating character.  The guy has all the powers, and people see that as boring.  But, to him, it's not his powers that make him interesting or notso....it's the way he reacts to his powers.  That he basically has two options in life - save the world or rule it.  And that he decides "why not" try and save it.  That, instead of absolute power corrupting him absolutely, absolute power absolved him of all the petty crap that we deal with.

So, yeah, Clark would have problems, but at the end of the day, I think he'd understand how freakin' lucky he is to be who he is.  How much fun he'd get to have on a daily basis.  He might've lost his whole family, but he's had a great family his whole life.  He might be alone, but he doesn't even necessarily identify as Kryptonian.

That's why I liked Smallville's Clark.  He has normal human problems (relationships, school, purpose, etc), but at the end of the day, the guy is a beacon that brings a lot of people to the light.  At the end of the day, he can run off to Europe with Bart or super-basketball with Pete.  My lasting memory of Clark in Smallville isn't him brooding over Lana or wearing the black suit that one season.  It's him smiling on the farm.  Clark has a great life, and he knows it.  Even on the CW.

Even Batman is a similar type.  Yeah, he's dark.  He's brooding.  But even he seems to understand that he has it better than most.  That's why he's willing to take punishment to save people - he can and they can't.  There's a weird dichotomy between the Batman who is alone and the Batman who keeps rescuing kids and putting them in colorful costumes, but I think it's a natural evolution of the character.  Like the boxing gym down the street, some kids need to channel their violence in a healthy way.  Bruce knows this as well as anyone.

I don't like the Christopher Reeve Superman, and I don't like the Henry Cavill Superman.  To me, they both get it wrong.  Superman can't be all happy, but he shouldn't be too challenged either.  I don't want to see myself in him.  He should be better.

I still live in a fantasy world.

Now I'm picturing a DC series called "Afterlife" that takes place in some form of purgatory.  Once a hero dies, he joins the fight in the afterlife.  No resurrections....just a continuation of their story fighting alongside other fallen heroes while they await judgment.

They all sorta have their roles.  Felicity is sorta the internet/hacking person.  Cisco is the tech guy.  Caitlin *should* be the doctor (but you're right, no one is using her that way, not even Arrow, really).  Stein should be the physicist.   

Cisco should primarily be on Flash, but he's a fun character and has made a ton of tech for Team Arrow.  Caitlin has never really had much to do so her floating around being the medic when things go bad wouldn't be the worst idea.  Diggle should also stay on Arrow most of the time, but he could've been really valuable on Flash when there weren't a half-dozen speedsters he could've left in charge of defending Central City.

Heck, Wally could be a guy who could come in and save the day when Oliver or the Legends get in over their heads.  He gives the four shows a speedster who could be on loan to save the day in a pinch so that they don't have to always use Barry (Wally could've been the one to cameo on Arrow a couple weeks ago).

But it's not just appearances that are down....even casual mentions seem to be down this year, outside of a handful of fun stuff that I've already mentioned (the Cisco/Gypsy fight and the aforementioned Arrow/Central City stuff).  Those don't require special contracts, but they still seem to be happening less.  I wonder if they were told to focus on their own shows and worry less about fun "ARROWVERSE" moments.

Is there some weird scheduling issue with some of these shows?  Supergirl's Valentine's Day episode aired a week after Valentine's Day (instead of the day before) and a Legends of Tomorrow Christmas episode aired in February.

I've also noticed that there's been a lot less intra-show referencing and any reference to what's happening on the other shows so we know what the timeline is.  And very little of main characters crossing over (Felicity on Flash, Sara on Arrow, etc).  I thought there'd be more of that considering the contracts they were signing.  I wonder if that's all in reaction to what happened with the Arrow flash forward / Zoom / Barry's powers mess.

All that matters is

DCEU 1
MCU 0

Well, my guess is that the Colt played it's purpose in Kripke's version of the show (killing everything it needed to kill), and when it couldn't kill Lucifer, it was discarded.  If you just watch seasons 1-5 (which, in Kripke's mind, is all there is), then it's not really even a plot hole.  Whether Bobby has it, Crowley has it, Dean has it, or it's still in that field....Sam is dead and Dean is no longer hunting.  Who has the Colt isn't important.

So there wasn't a shot of the Colt going missing or a mention of it because it no longer mattered in the 5-season arc that Kripke was telling.  And, as you said, the new writers either didn't know what to do with it, couldn't justify where it was supposed to be (since Kripke left no bread crumbs to follow) or just ignored it because it was too powerful.

I think it's a really interesting conversation.  Do we know if Kripke still follows the show?  I wonder if he's like Torme and doesn't really care anymore, or if he still watches as a fan.  I wonder where he'd think the Colt went.

Either way, it's cool that it's back.  And I wonder if they'll even worry about filling in the blanks.  Will they do a scene re-enacting the attack on Lucifer?  Or do we have all they're going to give us?

I agree with this sentiment as far as the first couple seasons went.  Every episode there was a name-drop or a wink or a reference.  Nick Fury would show up.  Or lesser characters from the movies (Sif from Thor, for example).  And whenever a movie would come out, they'd scramble to change for it or have an "event" episode in the aftermath.  There was a big, complicated story arc on AoS where they explained how they obtained a Helicarrier for Nick Fury to use.  It's a big part of Age of Ultron, but the show isn't mentioned at all (or even a wink to the show - he just has it).

Since they did the Inhumans arc, the show's sorta done its own thing.  And, this season, magic has been at the forefront, but they aren't tying it to Dr. Strange.  In season 2, the whole season would be about helping Strange and there'd be a cameo from Wang or something.  Instead, they're focusing on other aspects of magic, and (as far as I know), Strange hasn't been mentioned.  No references at all.

And, yeah, there's not Emmy-level performances or really deep characters, but I feel like they've grown a lot more.  It used to be a show that I just watched, but now I look forward to it.  It's fun.

I enjoyed the Gorilla City episode of Flash, but....

1. Why does Flash always use Cisco to open breaches?  Jesse was able to speed her way to Earth-1.  Barry can too.  Is it just ease?

2. Wouldn't this have been a better reason to unite the four teams?  I know they have a team of speedsters, which is better than basically anyone in the Arrowverse but Kara....but wouldn't it be better than fighting a bunch of aliens that hadn't been mentioned before?

Yeah, I'm guessing that's a new contract.

Regarding the characters on Agents of Shield, I think they've grown into their roles.  They weren't entirely sure what to do with Daisy/Skye, but I think her progression has been mostly organic.  Coulson has been Coulson.  And they've humanized May to the point where she's a character you can sorta understand, especially this season.  Putting Fitz and Simmons together has humanized them to where they aren't just the science team.  I think Mac is a pretty cool character, and putting him with Yo-Yo has shown off his depth.

When you listen to Chloe Bennet talk about how they're virtually ignored by the MCU, you see how proud she is of the show and how disappointed she is that it doesn't get treated the same way.  And I know you don't like LoT or Supergirl, but I think there's a place on TV for those kind of shows - something just engaging enough but also fun.  I think, at it's best, AoS can be as good as Flash or Arrow.  I think Amell and Gustin are just more charismatic and can carry a show.  As much as I like the character of Coulson, he's not strong enough to be the lead, and the ensemble isn't strong enough for it to be completely engaging.

But when it's good, it's pretty good.  And there've been fewer and fewer bad moments the last season or two.  It might not matter because it's on the bubble, and Marvel might want to focus on the Inhumans TV show and their Netflix shows.  But we'll see.

I mean, I don't see it as any worse or better than any of the DC/CW shows.  The characters that are still on the show are good, and I like them.  And the show is fun - the action is usually pretty good for TV, and the narrative is usually compelling.

What I've noticed is that they're sorta moving into their own territory.  They don't name-drop the Avengers as much, and when they do, it's usually just in relation to Coulson (like when he talks about getting stabbed by Loki).  They aren't just a clean-up crew for whatever the other movies are doing.  While they're doing a lot of magic this year, I'm pretty sure they haven't had a single mention of Dr. Strange or anything related to him.  At the same time, it feels like the Marvel universe, and it wouldn't be bizarre to have more cross-pollination if that's what the movie side wanted.

But since they don't, I like that the show isn't just filling the gaps of the Marvel movies.  It's its own thing.  And it's a fun show.

That's really cool analysis.  And, yeah, I get it.  I struggle with certain shows/stories sometimes because I feel protagonists have it too easy.  Shows that tell us that the world is dangerous but the main characters always escape at the right moment.  It makes something like Supernatural feel good because the show openly says that the brothers die all the time, but another force keeps them alive until they get it right.  That's awesome....we're seeing the perfect version of all events where the boys get away with it.

By all means, the Turtles should have miserable lives in mutilated forms.  But, yeah, once you go down that road, there's not joy in it.  It becomes a story of survival with no hope of peace - it becomes the Walking Dead where you no longer care about any of them.

It's an odd dynamic.  We want the danger to feel real, but we want our characters to survive.  We don't like it when there's a ton of death but the main characters always survive (Walking Dead), but we get mad when there's a ton of death and our main characters die (Sliders).  We don't like it when the characters have it too easy, either (Star Trek: Voyager)

Not having ever read any of the comics, I can't say how I'd feel to read Volume 3.  But as someone who enjoys creative risk, I'm glad it exists.

Don't forget this happened the last time a republican was in office:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That%27s_My_Bush!

I've never read a TMNT comic....which is odd because I still have a soft spot for the Turtles.  When I read about Volume 3, I sorta loved the ambition.  I don't know how "hyperviolent" it was, but if these guys are running up against ninjas....they probably would be pretty brutalized.  They'd lose limbs and be seriously injured.  Wasn't this also the segment of the comics where Raphael became the Shredder?  Was it also the one where aliens came and the Turtles were free to walk around New York freely?

I like when writers get the free reign to take characters to dark places.  Where you genuinely don't know what will happen next, and any fight could have serious consequences.

I'll have to check that out.

Yeah, it was definitely lazy and one of the few things about Kripke's run that a) Kripke didn't tie up neatly and b) other writing staffs didn't go back and tie up themselves.

I'm sure there's going to be a line about it once the boys find out it's back in the game, but it's gonna be a really late explanation.

I think the glowing was just another Tarantino reference (the briefcase that glowed).

The gun was useless without bullets, but after they used the last one (killing Yellow Eyes?), Ruby helped them make new ones.  They used it a handful of times with the new bullets until they tried it on Lucifer and it disappeared.

Hahah, it's not a matter of money.  I've overloaded myself with TV shows and haven't had the patience to devote 3 hours to it.  In addition to the couple dozen shows I'm watching, I'm also trying to get through the original run of Twin Peaks before May.  And Rick and Morty.

This summer, I'll get to it.  Until then, I'll abide by the ban!

I guess so!  It's just weird that it's been gone so long, considering how important it was.  They had a way to make new bullets, and just because it couldn't kill Lucifer doesn't mean it couldn't kill a lot of other things

Did they ever say the four other beings that it couldn't kill?  I'm guessing the archangels...and God?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGqG0PAtkkg

Dean flies off, but there's never any indication of what happens to the gun.  And as far as I know, it hasn't been mentioned (in the present) since.  It was in the Old West episode, but that was in the past.

If they were even going to do this episode, they should've done it while they were recruiting Rene.  How many times has Rene presumably saved Curtis' life with his guns?  Have they never had these discussions before?

It'd depend on how it was handled.  If Affleck took part in a passing of the torch (as he'd have to in both my idea and Informant's), I think it'd be okay.  That's why I wanted to make my version of The Batman be a movie about Dick Grayson literally becoming Batman piece by piece (which was actually sorta a reference to the end of the Knightfall, in reverse).  Then I think people would take it seriously and Dick could just be Batman going forward.

If they recast (like James Bond), I think it'd be taken less seriously.  It was fine with the Hulk (because no one saw The Incredible Hulk) or even Rhodey (because it's not a huge part), but this is Batman.  The difference between Bond and Batman would be the shared universe/shared continuity side.  And the fact that Affleck has seemingly been the glue that has held the story together (since he'll have appeared in every DCEU movie if the rumors about his part/cameo in Wonder Woman are true).

I think it'd be a disaster.  And that's why I don't think it's true....if he's thinking about leaving, he'll almost certainly spin it into more money.  Because I think he's the guy that DC can least afford to lose.  By far.

If you think it's going to bother you, I wouldn't watch.

And regarding your idea, I like it.  I might do something a little different and move the series in a different direction. 

Movie opens with Batman and Nightwing on a rooftop.  They're investigating something.  Shows that they work well together - both good detectives and good fighters.  They end up getting to a place where they can overlook a warehouse where Joker is.  Nightwing says they should scope the place out.  Batman says he's already sent someone in.  Dick is shocked - Jason has only been active for a few months and isn't ready.  Bruce says he is.  They get in and find Jason dead.  Dick runs off, furious.  Bruce is devastated.

The Battle of Metropolis.  Dick watches.  He reaches for his phone.  Wants to call Bruce.  Doesn't.  Months later, another call he ignores from Alfred.  Then, as he watches Superman's funeral, one from Bruce.  Ignored.  All the while, Dick is training.  Working the streets.  Taking in bad guys.  Sometimes, some of Bruce's bad guys.

Present day - Batman takes someone into Arkham.  Say...Penguin.  Dick watches on TV as the former mayor of Gotham is turned in by Batman.  Then the TV goes blank.  The feed is cut.  The anchors don't know what happened.

The next day, it's revealed that Arkham has been taken over by someone.  The police can't get in.  There's been no word from the inside.  The standoff lasts for days.  The media wonders if Batman is dead.  Dick can't take it anymore.  He collects Barbara.  Goes to Alfred.  Apologizes.  They all go down into the Batcave and find a kid at the computer.  They scare him off without getting his name.

Dick and Barbara get a clue from some mysterious source that the siege was done by a mercenary named Deathstroke.  They also find, in Bruce's computer, a secret entrance to Arkham.  As Dick scopes out the entrance, the kid is there again.  He wants to help, but Dick knows (from Jason) that kids can't be a part of this life.  He proves it by kicking the kid's ass, hoping he'll learn.  The kid runs off, licking his wounds.

With Barbara working as Oracle, Dick breaks in.  It's chaos inside as the inmates are running amok.  Dick, in his Nightwing costume, battles his way through C, B, and A level DC villains, collecting intel.  He hears that Deathstroke has Batman in the main office.   Along the way, Dick finds clues and weapons.  Gauntlets.  Batarangs.  Smoke pellets.  Just when he needs them.

Finally, right before he reaches Deathstroke, he finds a note from Bruce.  He always knew Dick would be a great hero.  Despite their estrangement, he's always kept tabs on him.  Made sure he was safe.  But more and more,  he was able to let his protege fly.  And now....

Dick finds a Batsuit.  Custom fit for him.  Putting on the Batsuit, he enters the office and fights Deathstroke.  He wins.  But Bruce isn't captured.  He isn't anywhere.  Deathstroke doesn't even know where he is - it's all been rumors. 

The movie ends with Dick as Batman.  Out of the shadows comes Tim (or Damian), the kid from earlier, as Robin.  Dick is ready to embrace the life as Batman, to forgive Bruce and forgive himself.  To take up Bruce's mantle and do it his own way.  Hopefully, a better way. 

Post-Credits - Superman (or Wonder Woman or Flash or whoever) shows up and offers Dick a role in the Justice League per Bruce's request.

Well, as someone who didn't like Trump but feared Hillary more, I was banking on him not doing much.  So not doing much of anything is basically my best case scenario

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/ … ing-214775

Trump hasn't really accomplished much of anything, good or bad.  The travel ban is the only real thing he's done, and the checks and balances of the country have worked in stopping that for the time being.  The media and social media are saying a lot about Trump being a fascist.

Instead, he's basically what he's always been - a lot of talk and no action.

I always wanted a younger Batman, and I really like Dick Grayson as a character.  It'd be something I'd be really interested in seeing.

Makes sense.  Legends is going to end a good deal before the rest of the shows (they have 6 episodes left while Flash and Arrow have 11).  So in addition to a handfull of Legends episodes, they could also have a mini-arc on the Flash if they really wanted.

That'd be an interesting move, and it could actually be used to improve Wally's character.  What if, in an attempt to go fast enough to save Iris, Wally ends up becoming the Speed Force?  To Barry and Team Flash, Wally is essentially dead.  So it drives a wedge between Barry and the rest of the team, including Joe and Iris.  Maybe Barry goes off on his own for a while to realize what he did.  Maybe he just goes into exile.

Season 4 starts with everyone having dreams of Wally.  Almost like he's haunting them.  Then, all the sudden, Kid Flash starts showing up.  Neither Flash nor Kid Flash have been seen in months, and Metas have been, for the most part, ruling Central City with the cops/ STAR Labs helpless to stop them.  The Kid Flash appearances get the attention of Joe (who's inconsolable) and Iris (who's heartbroken).  And, of course, Barry.

Barry finally finds Kid Flash but it's not Wally.  It's some....kid.  Kid Flash runs away, and as soon as Barry enters the Speed Force, he's greeted by Wally.  Wally isn't dead, but he's trapped in the Speed Force.  He seems older....wiser.  More concerned about saving lives than being a showboat....he's essentially spent an eternity in the Speed Force and has grown into a shell of his former self. 

He discovered someone coming to destroy Central City, and he couldn't make his way out.  But he could send someone who he knew would draw Barry out.  One of Barry's descendants.....Bart Allen.