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I watched season 3 of Daredevil over Christmas break.  I'm really bummed that this show was cancelled.  It's been the one whose quality has remained fairly high throughout, and it might be the only one that can consistently support 13 episodes.  Not only that, I think Wilson Fisk is one of the best villains, not just from these series but from the MCU as a whole.  I don't know how much of the Netflix stuff is worth preserving if this world is truly dead, but I think Cox as Daredevil and D'onofrio as Fisk are definitely worth keeping around, even if they're watered down into an MCU-acceptable version.

I just really liked the whole season.  Matt is broken from his experience and sees no value in Matt Murdock.  His friends are both hoping he's alive and wanting to move on with their lives.  Fisk gives the appearance of being broken and desperate to save Vanessa.  And I thought all the moves and turns in the season were earned and made sense.  I really liked the addition of Ray Nadeem, although I wish that things had turned out better for him.

The Fisk stuff was legitimately terrifying and disturbing.  I loved how they used the imagery of the penthouse to really send home how much power he'd accumulated.  He goes from a barren room with nothing, wearing his prison jumpsuits to an elegantly decorated room wearing his trademark suits.  He goes from being watched to watching them.  He goes from being yelled at by guys like Poindexter and other agents to having them call him sir and take his orders.  Again, it was a bit disturbing and made me worry about the system in the same way that Matt does.  I'm sure stuff like this happens all the time....maybe not to this extent but to a large-enough extent.  Fisk felt so powerful, so untouchable, and even going into the last episode, it seemed like there was no hope.

I was a little disappointed that we never saw Matt back in the red suit, but I understand why they didn't.  And unlike the other Netflix shows, which feel dragged out - they actually only told half of Poindexter's story - as he now can truly become Bullseye.  I thought he was another 3-dimensional character who made a lot of sense.  I really loved the scene where Fisk is overlooking Dex's childhood memories.  That was effective.

All in all, I really liked the season.  I'd have loved to see where they were going for season 4, and I'm sad we won't get these characters again.

Yeah, I don't think they'd have time for politics.  No matter what's happening in the world, they've always got bigger fish to fry.  Global warming isn't a concern when Michael wants to end the world right now.  That would definitely skew any of their thoughts on any real-world issues, all of which they'd consider to be minor and petty compared to what they're dealing with.

But if I can humor myself for a while, I'm considering a world where Sam and Dean exist but monsters do not.  Sam might've gone to college, but I don't see him as a lawyer.  Honestly, I think he'd probably be better off as a teacher, but I could also see him in medicine of some sort.  I think he'd want to do something where he's helping mold or save lives.  I don't see him in a court room at all.  I could see Sam getting into politics.  Volunteering for people he believes in, trying to stir up support and votes for those people.  I think he'd skew liberal, caring about issues with the planet and animals.

Dean would be mostly apolitical.  But I think he's more resistant to change, and I think he'd lean conservative.  He'd be someone who'd support Republicans but would be sorta lost in modern politics.  I think he'd probably have gone into the army for a stint and then come back to be a police officer or federal agent.  He'd find harmony in the order of that, and he'd live off the thrill of danger and saving lives.

I'm now picturing an alternate world where Sam and Dean both live in a small town in Kansas.  Dean is either the Sheriff or a deputy, and Sam is the medical examiner.  They solve crimes together.

I saw Mission Impossible: Fallout finally, and I just wanted to bring back up how silly the whole mustache thing was.  I know they might've wanted to separate Cavill from Superman by giving him some facial hair, but the mustache was such a weird move in today's society where mustaches are sorta out.  Cavill pulls it off, and I thought he was pretty great in the movie.  But I'd still love to know if this was Cavill's decision (if so, it was very shortsighted) or if it was Cruise/McQuarrie's decision (in which case, it's weird and maybe a little vindictive?)

That's actually an interesting dilemma.

For some reason, now I'm trying to figure out where Dean sits politically. I'm fairly certain Sam would be a progressive liberal, but I'm having trouble with Dean.  I think he'd be a conservative, but he's definitely not a MAGA conservative.  He might be a bit more of a John Kasich republican?

(I don't mean to get this political - Lauren's talk about modern imagery got me to #metoo and wondering how the boys would think about modern topics).

That's pretty interesting.  Maybe it's only because I've only been familiar with post-S3 JRD quotes, but I always figured that JRD was completely on board with Tracy and his vision.

Outside of simply making Arturo the star and doing less comedy, do we know what JRD would've done differently?  It seems like you're saying he wanted them to do more "Last Days" stuff where Arturo saves the world? Just episodes where the Sliders arrive, and Arturo uses his massive science brain to save the day?

I thought, overall, it was fine.  I did agree with the podcast that I posted in the sense that it did feel like a setup more than a complete story.  Some quick thoughts:

- The Flash suit did look terrible on Amell.  I wonder if they thought it looked terrible too.  If they did, it wouldn't have been out of the realm of possibility to put him in an older version of the suit that might've looked better (if it is, indeed, the chin strap).

- I was actually surprised by the Deegan-as-Superman reveal.  I thought he'd just created an evil Superman to get rid of Oliver and Barry.  I also liked his "My name is John Deegan...." intro.  I also liked the Barry-as-Oliver one for the Arrow episode.  I was just sad that we didn't get a Oliver-as-Barry intro.  I feel like they could've restructured the opening to allow that.

- So did Deegan change anything else the first time around besides swapping Oliver and Barry?  Was there any other indication that anything else was different?  Because it seems weird that Deegan, who seemed to have some (at least to him) altruistic goals thought that he could fix the world by swapping the Flash and Green Arrow.  He didn't really seem like he knew that'd happen, and it definitely didn't seem like he had a plan for them if he did.  Were Deegan's changes only in his own little world at Arkham, and Oliver/Barry were side-effects?  Or maybe tampering from the Monitor, since they're the only ones who remember their true selves?

- Was Deegan responsible for Bruce Wayne leaving?  If so, is that still canon?

- So did the Monitor kill Earth 90 Barry?  Or did he just send him back to his world?

- Did the Monitor not consider it cheating that Earth 1 used multiple heroes from another Earth to defeat Deegan?  If this was a test of Earth 1, they really didn't win on their own.

- I really like this version of Superman, despite what that podcast guy thought.  I don't think he honestly doesn't think that the world needs him or that Kara is so much stronger than him.  Throughout the series, especially in Season One, he was acting as a guide and mentor.  I think he's still trying to build her up, more than anything.  It's a little weird that she just accepts it when he says stuff like that.  You'd think she'd have a more humble reaction, but maybe she knows what he's doing and doesn't want to make him feel bad.

- How did James Olsen end up on Earth 1?  Deegan only knew about Kara and Clark because they fought Amazo.  James never showed up.  Does this mean that James exists on Earth 1, or does it not really mean anything?

- Same question but with Alex.

- Crisis on Infinite Earths - I wonder if this is, partly, the Arrowverse realizing that they're not going to make it to 2024.  Because the Flash is still, *this season* working off the newspaper clipping from Season One.  Is this going to be separate from that?  Or is the timeline getting moved up, possibly as a result of something Nora is going to do?  If so, the newspaper hasn't updated (like it did with Iris' name).

And I'm interested in seeing what happens with Oliver.  We were teased with TF's thought in Part 3 - both Barry and Kara were supposed to die, and they're the ones who die in the original Crisis.  Obviously Oliver made some sort of deal with the Monitor to die in their place - but does that mean that Arrow won't get renewed?  Or would they really be able to kill off Oliver mid-season, possibly on an episode of a different series?  If they announce that Arrow is going to only be 11 episodes next season, won't that be a pretty big tip-off that something is going to happen?  Or would they actually try and do a final half-season of Arrow without Oliver on it?

(I'm guessing that Oliver did make a deal, but like Sam and Dean do all the time, he'll either get out with some other consequences or he'll die and then come back somehow).

If this were a few years ago, I'd have faith that there was going to be a unified plan from the whole Arrowverse team.  But I'm a little worried in recent seasons that there isn't as much control at the top as there used to be.

I stumbled onto this today....is this you, Informant?!!?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJe5KHfOtlM

Watched Part 2 of Elseworlds.

I'm still not hugely into this (again, probably more because I would've done it differently - which I know I need to let go), but I think it's been a pretty fun series.  After their Smallville Easter Eggs, it was fun to get a couple of fun ones with the 90s Flash.  The biggest one, IMO, was 90s Barry thinking that John was a Green Lantern.  They've teased that for a while, and I'd love to get a mini-arc on that.  I don't know if they could consistently do a convincing Green Lantern on the CW, but I'd love to see them try.  Maybe John gets the ring, uses it a bit, and then has to pass it on to someone else when he realizes he can't leave Earth full time (and bring in someone like a Guy Gardner for a cameo).

There were also a TON of fun Gotham-related Easter Eggs.  I sorta like the idea that Bruce has been gone and left Kate Kane in charge.  I also like that it appears that Wayne Enterprises is down the tubes (joining both Queen Industries and PalmerTech) in his absence.  The fun little nods to all the villains in Arkham was cool, although I felt the Nora Fries cameo was a bit of a waste.  I guess they took what they could get and got Amell's wife on the show.

I also liked the nods to Batman of Earth 38.  When they kept talking about Batman, I was surprised that Kara wasn't speaking up since she knows who he is.  But then she did.  She's pretty good at keeping secrets, I guess.

Looking forward to part 3.

Legends.

What the heck is this show?  I had a lot of fun with "Legends of To-meow-meow" and it's *insanely* clear that the actors on the show had fun with it.  This is a show that, essentially, has no rules now.  They don't really exist in the Arrowverse anymore, to the point where Nate writes off calls from Barry, Oliver, and Kara as "the annual crossover."  They do time travel still because it gives them the excuse to dress up in fun costumes and occasionally cast someone as a famous historical figure.

But even inside their own universe....what is this show?  The Time Bureau is now an official place with an official building that appears to sanctioned by the American government and food couriers can simply walk into.  And yet the Time Bureau is now tasked with hunting down and capturing magical creatures.  Their A-Team is now the Legends, although I'm not sure we ever see a B-Team anymore (when, last year, the Legends were the Z-Team).

Not only that....I don't really understand what the Time Bureau is even capable of.  Legends of To-meow-meow revolves around Charlie and Constantine going back and altering the timeline to try and have their cake (Des lives, Charlie is a shapeshifter) and eat it too.  They do the one thing they're not supposed to do (rule 1 of time travel is you don't interfere with times in your own life), and it ends up with all kinds of wacky consequences.

But if the Time Bureau cannot detect changes to the timeline (so they can go back and fix them), then what the heck is their purpose?  What are all those people running around doing, and if they're all handling magical creatures, what were they doing before the magical creatures took over their lives?  Didn't the Time Masters exist outside the timeline so that they could sense when the timeline was altered?

This season has made it perfectly clear that this show 1) doesn't matter in the grander scheme of the Arrowverse and so 2) zaniness is their calling card and they can play it whenever they want.  And within the confines of a 42-minute show, I think it's a blast.

But what is it?  Is it supposed to be anything concrete, or is it just what it is whenever it's on?

To be fair, I enjoy all the shows.  I'm not hate-watching any of them.  I still think it's a little bizarre that Supergirl has stayed on Earth 38, but maybe some of this Crisis-level stuff will end with them all on one merged Earth.  At times, Supergirl doesn't really feel like a part of the Arrowverse, and I think that's strange, if only because I think the worlds mesh really well when they're combined.

I think Flash is fine.  The problem is that they've really boxed themselves in a few places.  Barry and Iris are together so they're not really able to work with that angle anymore.  Caitlin's character has been muddled so much that I'm not 100% what's up with her and Killer Frost (at this point, there doesn't seem to be much, if any, difference in the "separate" characters).  Cisco is fun but they don't do a ton with him, especially now that Gypsy is gone, and any other romance plot will probably follow a similar line.  We all feel like the Tom Cavanaugh situation isn't sustainable.  And with villains, they have this weird line they walk where they don't really know how to do action sequences with the Flash.  If it's a speed villain, the "action sequences" end up being CGI races.  If it's a non-speed villain, the plan has either been to power-up the guy (DeVoe) or power down the heroes (Cicada). 

But even then, I don't think Season Five has really established why Cicada is a threat.  He's literally wounded, and he doesn't have a backstory that indicates that he'd be an incredible fighter.  I don't seen any reason why Oliver couldn't beat him fairly easily.  I'm also not 100% sure why Barry didn't drag Cicada 1000 miles away once his spear was taken away.  Everyone just sorta stood around until he got it back, even when they knew it was coming back.  The Killer Frost solution is good for the characterization on the show, but in story, to not even try Oliver is weird.  And now with the crossover, to not use Kara or Clark is weird (as their powers are, also, not related to Dark Matter).

I agree with your thoughts on Arrow, Legends, and Supergirl.  They're all watchable and fun, if not deep or outstanding in any way.

************************

I only watched the first part of the crossover, but I thought it was interesting.  I still wish that it wasn't a body-switching thing.  I feel like, for some reason, they want this to be impactful.  There were still references to Cicada and Oliver going to prison and Kara quitting the DEO, and it seems like this "darkness in Barry" is something that might play out at some point down the line.  Also, I don't know if this is intentional, but it seems that Iris really doesn't like Oliver (if not outright hates him).  Is that something that's been played with before?

But, honestly, I don't think these episodes even really need to be in continuity.  It's why I was really hoping for some sort of "Elseworld" story where Oliver's parents never died and he ended up with speed.  And maybe instead of ending up with the Wests, Barry ends up an orphan who ends up on Lian Yu.  If they wanted to do Batwoman stuff, have him end up with the Waynes (they adopt Barry after their son Bruce was killed by a gunman in an alley).

I think that way, they wouldn't have to worry about any sort of continuity, and they could've had a lot of fun with it.  They could've even played around with some of the other characters.  Imagine Cisco as Speedy, Caitlin as a Black Canary, etc.  Then imagine Felicity as Killer Frost, Diggle as Vibe.  Maybe you bring back Lance in the Joe role, or you bring back Merlyn as the Wells/Thawne role.

That's sorta the fun of Elseworlds stories to me.  So the Monitor changes everything, and either Supergirl comes to investigate, or you throw her into the mix too (maybe it's Kara who was adopted by the Waynes - heck, maybe she's the Batwoman).

The way they did it was a bit lazy, I think.  Still fun.  But lazy.

Although it was basically all forgiven when I heard "Somebody saaaaaaaaaavvvvveeee me" with that overhead shot of Smallville and the Kent Farm.  They get it.

Well, I think making a 3+ hour movie is a little ambitious.  People didn't have a problem with the length of BvS in the theaters, but they might've had an issue if it was an hour longer.  The problem is that he made a movie that was so dense and complicated that it couldn't be cut without chopping out huge chunks of plot and story.  And I think the main reason for that was that the story itself was so ambitious.  Between Man of Steel and Justice League, Snyder had to introduce *so many* key characters, while still following through with enough stuff to make it feel like a genuine sequel.

To be fair, I have no idea if the ambition of it was Snyder's or the studio's.  Because if I were the Kevin Feige of the DCEU and it was 2013, I might've done a traditional Man of Steel sequel with Luthor as the villain and Bruce Wayne as a side character.  Maybe end that movie with the idea that Bruce is going to go after Superman.  Then you do the Batman v Superman movie, giving time in that movie to introduce Batman's world and maybe Wonder Woman.  So while Man of Steel 2 would've been from Superman's perspective, Batman v Superman would've been from Batman's.  You'd get the fight, Luthor's revenge, and death of Superman.  Then you do Justice League as two movies.  So two BvS movies and two Justice League movies (which, I think was the original plan).

I'm curious to what you're referring to.  Like I said, I fell into a hole the other day of the Snyder cut stuff, and it doesn't seem like a ton of overall stuff was altered.  There was stuff at the beginning of the movie that fleshed out Barry, Arthur and Victor.  Lois came to the Superman fight on her own instead of being a weapon of Batman (and apparently had her own journalism arc like in BvS).  There's the black suit stuff, but there's also been still images of Snyder working with Cavill in the blue suit so I'm wondering if that was just an easter egg.  There's the mother box possibly corrupting Victor, but I don't know if that would've also been a minor thing in the third act.  There was a final scene with Arthur and Mera, and it looks like the final scene with Bruce and Clark might've taken place somewhere else...but that doesn't mean the meat of the scene would've changed.

As ireactions said, I don't know if the movie was altered that much.  It was definitely butchered a bit, but like the Ultimate Cut of BVS, it would've fleshed out the movie but not *drastically alter* it.

That being said, there's a chance that the stuff that was shot was already from an altered vision, and the only one who knows that would be Snyder.  There was definitely going to be two movies, and it ended up being two.  But I don't think they crammed two movies into two hours...I'm assuming Justice League ends in the same place it was supposed to end.  I think Snyder's plan was a 9-hour trilogy (BVS/JL1/JL2).

Well one thing we're not considering....

Agents of SHIELD has already been renewed for Season 7.  If Marvel TV wanted the Defenders to continue, they could hypothetically add them (even just as guest stars) to that show with some time to possibly introduce the characters at the end of the upcoming season 6.

That being said, that might be a HARD change.  Those two universes don't seem to mesh at all.

Yeah but nothing I've seen makes it seem like it would be drastically different.  Some flashback scenes with Cyborg.  A little more with Flash (saving Iris).  Lois does a bit more investigation, and she shows up to help Clark on her own (instead of with Batman).  There's a bit with the black suit (but I've seen no indication that he'd wear it at any point).  And maybe Steppenwolf would use the mother boxes to either turn Cyborg or Superman (again).

It'd be like the Ultimate Edition vs the regular edition - a bit more background and character stuff but not a huge departure from the plot.

There's also the matter of....how would they reshoot 30% of the movie?  I don't really know how the Donner stuff worked, and I'm sure in 20 years, they'll be able to CGI whoever they want back to their Justice League performance age and recreate whatever they want.  But people are demanding the movie now....wouldn't it take months, millions of dollars, and getting the cast back together to even make that feasible?

This is old news apparently, but Ayer says that Steppenwolf/Boom Tubes were going to be involved in the original plan for Suicide Squad.  That would've led into Justice League and Darkseid.

I also fell into the whole "Zack Snyder Cut" controversy.  I'd be interested in seeing it, just out of sheer curiosity.

From everything I've read, this is a closing down of these properties.  The Disney Streaming Service is being run by Marvel Films, not Marvel TV (that's why they're suddenly doing properties related to the films, not using the limited roster that TV was able to use).  As ireactions has documented at length, those two sides hate each other.  Since the Netflix series' are Marvel TV, I'm guessing they're just axing them with no regard for them at all.

It sucks.  Some of them were terrible, but I think it'd be nice to get a resolution.  At this rate, we're either going to get a "finale" for this universe with Jessica Jones or Punisher...easily the two shows that are most on the outside of this sect of the universe.  And it's probably too late to turn either of them into any sort of wrap up.

Even if there was just a Defenders 2-hour movie on Netflix, that'd allow for a proper wrap-up.

I would like to watch a show about the two of you traveling in an old VW van and solving mysteries.

More details have emerged about the Crossover, including confirmation that Barry and Oliver are doing a body-switching movie, essentially.  I maintain it would've been more fun if we were simply watching a story where a carefree Oliver Queen ended up as the Flash and events led to Barry Allen becoming the Green Arrow.

They've also directly answered the Batman question.  Apparently Batman has been gone for three years, and he's still regarded as a potential urban legend.  Oliver doesn't believe he exists.  Barry does.  So it's possible he showed up around the time Barry got his powers, but he didn't stay long enough to meet anyone and now he's "gone."

Well one thing that Marvel does better than DC (and "better" is subjective) is hype.  Marvel builds hype to the next movie, to the next trailer, to the next *title*.  They have sold-out halls to announce future titles, and they have the internet going insane over speculation on what the next Avengers movie will even be titled.  They do fun little videos with the characters, and they're setting up to do more TV-style projects with some of the lesser Avengers.  Yes, it's corporate, and yes, it's ultimately pointless.  But everything Marvel does is streamlined, and I think that's to their benefit.

At DC, it just seems more like the Wild West.  Some movies are in-continuity, some aren't.  Some have stars attached but no script.  Some have a script but no cast and no director.  You've got Superman and Batman in various stages of being involved and not being involved that seems to change by the day. 

And as far as hype goes, I don't think it's consistent enough.  With Justice League, you had a trailer well over a year before the movie came out, a huge space, and then the hype got bigger.  Aquaman was radio silent for a really long time, then a big rush for the trailer, then radio silence again.  It's a movie that I really want to see, but I constantly forget that it's coming.  Same with Shazam.

It sorta goes the same thing with their streaming services.  DC has a DC-only streaming service, and they came out with a Teen Titans show.  Marvel is going to have a Loki show and a Scarlet Witch show and a Bucky/Falcon show and a Hawkeye show.  All things that are definitely in-universe and driving people towards the streaming service.  You can argue for or against their way of doing things, but it all has a singular goal and it generates profit.

DC could've done any one of their couple dozen works and made it for their streaming service.  Do Batgirl there.  Or Nightwing.  Can't get a Flash or Cyborg movie going?  Do a show.  Or Supergirl.  If it interferes with the Arrowverse, either don't worry about it or pull the plug on it.  There's a million different heroes that they could introduce on a show and cycle in and out of movies.  But all they did was Titans.

It'd have to be a prequel to Earth 2 because Barry has Bruce on speed dial in the present.

https://www.superherohype.com/news/4273 … ver-teaser
https://www.superherohype.com/news/4274 … ver-teaser

Spoilers for the crossover if anyone cares (and I don't think anyone does).

So that's a little disappointing.  I was hoping that we'd be fully immersed in a "what if?" scenario where Barry grew up and became the Green Arrow and Oliver got the Flash powers.  I was looking forward to a fun-loving Stephen Amell and a dark and brooding Grant Gustin.

Instead, it seems like it's a body switching movie.  Which is going to be fun for a couple minutes and then (potentially) a big mess.  The crossover has been fun every year so I'm still looking forward to it, but this is not the way that I would've gone with it.

https://www.superherohype.com/tv/427161 … rek-series

Discovery is....fine.  Michelle Yeoh and her character are fairly interesting.  But, to me, Discovery's best asset is it's ability to bring me a spinoff that takes place after Voyager.  If all we're going to get are more pre-TOS stuff, it's going to get old quick.

https://tvline.com/2018/11/07/the-4400- … es-the-cw/

I really liked the 4400.  Not sure it would've made sense to do a sequel series, but I'm interested in a reboot.

The characterization on Legends has always weirded me out.  As Informant has ranted about before, I don't think there's a huge connection between Sara on Arrow and Sara on Legends.  And with Ray, he does seem to be super awkward most of the time.  He's arguably the biggest actor on the show (he did play *Superman* in a movie), and yet I don't know if the show uses him that often.  I was surprised that they even had him in the Atom suit a couple episodes ago.

Legends could/should be a show where under-utilized characters on the other shows get a chance to stretch their wings.  It's why Wally on the team made so much sense.  It's why it might be a good place for Guardian or someone like Curtis or Black Siren or Killer Frost or Elongated Man.

But if they're just going to take characters that exist and make them into something wholly different from what they were on the show they came from, they might be better off creating their own characters (which is what, for the most part, they've done since season 1).

I'm honestly a little shocked that doesn't seem to be much, if any, conversations between the writing staffs.  Based on their twitter presence, it seems like the shows get along.  But there are many, many times when these shows don't seem to be connected.

I understand not sacrificing quality in terms of a "shared universe", and I understand that's something that these shows have to tread carefully.  This is 80-something episodes a year, and it's a much more daunting task than something like the MCU or the DCEU.  But you're right, there are weird re-treading that the writers have done.  There's also been a distinct drop in the number of overlaps on the show.  I get that they use a lot of resources to do the crossover, and that they want that to feel special.  So if Cisco visited Team Arrow a couple times a season, it wouldn't feel as special when he gets to interact in the crossover.

I always liked those little mini-crossovers, though.  When Diggle would show up on Flash because they needed help from Argus, it was cool.  And I loved Diggle's wonder at what Barry can do.  I get that having Barry makes Team Arrow's job seem a bit redundant, but it boggles my mind that Barry doesn't help more when Oliver is out of commission.  Or Wally.  Or even someone like Cisco or Ralph.

There didn't seem to be many ripples for Team Flash when Oliver was arrested.  I guess the FBI is cool with vigilantes as long as they don't kill?

I get that they want their shows to be their shows.  And maybe its a coincidence that both Barry and Oliver have been to jail.  And that they have future kids interacting on the show.  But it might just be both shows running out of steam at the same time.

I don't think flash forwards are a waste of time.  If a decision that Oliver and Felicity makes in the present affects the future, it's cool to see the ripple effects of that.  It could even hypothetically impact what's happening on Flash, since William's story is taking place pretty close to Nora's time, I think?

********

Speaking of Arrow, the Level 2 stuff could get pretty interesting.  I like that they've had some early season bad guys in prison so far.  I'm hoping to see some bigger names and badder bad guys on Level 2 (and maybe Level 3?).  I'm still hoping for a Supermax situation, especially if they can't do the Suicide Squad.

Although ireactions might know - apparently Lyla disbanded Task Force X when she took over for Amanda Waller?  It's in some comic?  I saw a passing reference to that online.

Fair enough

And good to know that it wasn't something more serious for Jesse L. Martin.  He seems like a genuinely good dude.

Well, to be fair, they aren't really diving into it head on.  This isn't the West Wing....they aren't having deep and meaningful conversations about anything.  The bad guys are portrayed as bad guys and Supergirl is simply trying to be (and is portrayed as) the voice of reason.

I think you're right, and I think there would need to be some sort of conversation in that real world.  At the same time, I don't think this is the show that such a conversation even belongs in.  So I think even the surface that they're scratching is partially unnecessary.

******************

That all being said, I'm with ireactions.  I had a really strong emotional reaction to the episode.  I think most Arrowverse shows would've tried to tell a normal, present-day story where they threw in some quick flashbacks to tell Ben's backstory.  But they actually committed to 95% of the story focusing on a guy who's unraveling.  He's not shown as a bad person who was always bad.  Even by the end, he's not even a cackling bad guy.  He's a guy who has a great understanding for how history has worked in the past, and he sees the forces of history working against him.

I don't really have a ton to add to ireactions' well-written piece.  I thought Witwer was fantastic, and I thought his transformation was genuine and realistic.  I really enjoyed how they had subtle clues to the changing times.  I thought it was a little too convenient that Supergirl and J'onn happened to show up at all these key times, but it was another sort of Arrowverse first...portraying how it would feel for a regular human to be a witness to these incredible beings doing incredible things.  When Supergirl swooshes in, it was done in a sort of disorienting way.  She comes off almost cold because she doesn't have all the facts.

I also thought they incorporated old footage pretty well, taking us on a tour through the show.  All the storylines kind of meld together in my head, and they did a good job of sorta pointing out exactly what danger the Lockwoods were facing at which time.

After doing a surface scratch and after showing this debate from a very one-dimensional approach, I was astounded at how they were able to make Ben such a relateable and fascinating character.  Color me impressed.

Assuming this is the prime guy responsible, I think law enforcement all around was excellent this week.  No bombs went off and the guy was captured quickly.

(I'm assuming this guy was a total whack job who made things really easy on the investigators, but still, I'd like to congratulate them on ending this pretty quickly with no collateral damage)

Yeah, I dunno.  It's during an election so I could see it being any number of factions.  My first thought was that it was a lot of people who helped Hillary Clinton beat Bernie, and that it could just as easily be a Bernie fanatic than a Republican fanatic.

I'm guessing it was a sloppy job, and once they confirmed the first one, it was relatively easy for the secret service to weed out the others.