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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?

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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.

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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.

Is there an in-universe reason why Earth has become such a hotbed for alien immigration?  Is there similar levels of alien immigration on Earth-1 and it's just not an issue?  Because I feel like this would be a better topic if, like Supergirl, these aliens had nowhere else to go.  Earth is already overpopulated by humans, and it seems weird that aliens would rush here just to be persecuted.

The political stuff doesn't really bother me because it's such a lazy "a special episode" form of it.  It's only when the show takes itself too seriously (like with the gun episode last season) that it starts to bother me.  I understand that these writers feel some sort of obligation to speak out in a post-Trump world, but I think they'd get the same message across by simply showing the good guys being kind to everyone as opposed to writing these big monologues where people say we have to be nice to each other.

There's the new transgender character and she talks about standing up to bullies and how important it is for her to be accepted.  I think they could simply write her as being accepted, and it'd have the same effect, I'd think.

They should write the world the way they think it should be, and kids watching it should 1) notice the differences and strive to make the world more like the world they're seeing or 2) simply live the way their heroes live.  I don't think cramming a message down people's throats with big, emotional monologues drives the point home any further.

I was also a little uncomfortable with some of the media ethics in the episode, just because I sorta agreed with James' stance from the first part of the episode.  I think the world needs *fewer* editorials, especially since we have entire publications that are seemingly *all* editorial.

Update to my last post -

They actually referenced the absurdity of the plan in the episode, blaming it on fascist megalomania.  They also made it fairly clear the plan wouldn't really work even if they wanted it to.

So props to them on that.

Well there's the thought that Disney might want them all back for the streaming service, but there's also a thought that Disney might not want anything old or tarnished on the streaming service.  I think the Netflix shows might be successful in their own right, but Disney might want to lead more with a Loki show or a Scarlet Witch show.  Something more tied to the MCU.

If that's the case, it's kinda sorry on Marvel's part.  If the Netflix shows being cancelled are being cancelled, I think we'd need a Defenders season 2 to wrap stuff up and give the Marvel Netflix - averse a conclusion.  If it ends like it ends now, I'd be very disappointed.

I hadn't noticed, but you're right.  Doing a lazy check on twitter, a lot of people are concerned, but no one seems to know anything.

I didn't read your Arrow opinions so maybe that's what it's about.....but isn't this exactly what you're looking for?  Something completely out of continuity where they could do fun stuff with it without bending the plot?

If they're moving Iron Fist to the streaming service, I'm guessing they'd eventually move all of them.  That's what I sorta meant.  Daredevil is just releasing season 3.  Jessica Jones is filming season 3 now.  Punisher season 2 is in pre-production.  Depending on whether or not Luke Cage was renewed for season 3 before or after the streaming service was official and in business, Iron Fist might've been the first show that they could've made the renew/cancel decision for.

If that's the plan, I'd expect to get a cancellation notice for Daredevil in the next couple months.  If it gets renewed, maybe they're just moving away from Danny and Colleen.

I watched Solo: A Star Wars movie.

That sure was a movie that I watched.

(that's my entire review)

It's possible that Gunn wasn't the main reason why Guardians 1 was great.  I don't know.  I just feel like a quirky, edgier ensemble film is the right place for him at DC.  If it sucks, it's not a key cog in the DCEU.

I mean, again, putting aside whatever happened in Gunn's personal life, if DC is going to hire him (and it was widely reported that they want to), I think Suicide Squad is the franchise to give him.  It's a quirky, sorta off to the side, group of misfit characters in a distorted/zany universe of its own.  Guardians worked with a nice ensemble cast of characters, and I think Gunn could do the same with the Suicide Squad cast (which, if anything, was well cast).

It'd be better than giving him something like Flashpoint, Cyborg, New Gods, etc.

I finished Iron Fist Season 2, and I agree with ireactions' assessment of the whole thing.  It, sorta, spoiled the way that the season ended up going, but I thought it was a really fun season.  I think it's easily the best season in a while and ranks up with Daredevil season 1 and Jessica Jones season 1 as one of the better Netflix Marvel seasons.  It's incredible the way they made all the boring characters into people I was interested in watching and following.

And while I don't understand the ending, I liked it.  Looking forward to more Danny and Colleen.

I've been considering getting into comic books, but the whole thing just seems so daunting.  Even with things like DC Universe and Comixology, tracking which stories go where and which issues of other runs I have to read to follow major storylines just seems like too much.

This years Crossover title will be "Elseworlds" - so this could be an out-of-continuity story so that they don't have to worry about in-series continuity.  They could also have, perhaps, a dead Batman without having to commit one way or another to Batman on Earth 1.

https://tvline.com/2018/09/26/arrowvers … an-gotham/

Apparently Thomas Wayne is going to be in it so it'll definitely have connections to DC.  I think it could actually be one of the "better" DC movies because it's so simply its own thing, and it won't have to worry about franchises or anything like that.

Joker.

http://www.superherohype.com/news/42199 … ker-makeup

What did Johns want for Green Lantern?

The only reason I mention that Aquaman is a step away from the DCEU is that Wan has repeatedly said that it's "isolated" from the rest of the DCEU.  Which is fine...like I said, there don't have to be shoehorned Justice League cameos for no reason.  But if the movie doesn't address the growth Arthur's character went through in Justice League, it'll be weird.

I heard something about DC finally naming their universe officially "The Worlds of DC" - but that might be a more-inclusive label for all their properties, including animation, TV, and video games.

And, again, this is where a spokesman/figurehead/centerpiece would be beneficial.  Just someone to stand up when rumors happen and say "listen, I'm the only one who is speaking officially on this.  Cavill is not out.  Aquaman and Shazam are very much in our connected universe, which is proceeding.  The Joker movie is (blank).  We're excited about developing movies for (whoever) and you'll get more information on that when it's ready."

It doesn't have to be anyone with any real power at DC.  If they don't want a Kevin Feige, they don't need one.  But someone who can speak for the company when rumors start swirling.

But maybe they don't care.  Maybe they like the rumors.  Maybe they create the rumors themselves to float ideas.  I have no idea.

Well, I think WB has no idea what they're doing.  I think they gave Snyder the bandwidth to make his three-part story, and that's essentially all they had.  Without Snyder, they're scrambling for someone to have a vision.  In the mean time, they had Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman, which had their own separate visions that really didn't tie into the Snyder movies.  With Wonder Woman 1984 still keeping itself separated from the regular continuity (as another prequel), Aquaman doing its own thing, and the Joker movie being in a completely separate continuity (unless they surprise us all and end it with a Jared Leto cameo of Joker being someone like Jason Todd or Dick Grayson), they're moving away from a shared universe.

I don't think their strategy is a bad one.  All these movies don't have to tie together like Marvel does.  There's no need to shoehorn Cyborg into an Aquaman movie to make it work.  Wonder Woman has a huge hole to fill in her history, and doing a movie in the 80s makes sense.  And if Joker is an Elseworld, then it opens up the idea of doing other Elseworlds.  It might even make it easy to replace actors or follow the model from the animated movies (where each movie is its own thing, and voices are always changing).

But I'm still looking for someone to have a vision for where this universe/multiverse is going.  WB has been very reactionary, and it's messed with the tone of both the universe itself and the individual movies.  They're trying to copy everything about the Marvel model except for the stuff that makes Marvel feel cohesive - singular leadership at the top whose sole purpose is to keep the universe feeling connected and moving forward.

The main problem, in regards to the media, is the fact that no one is the face of DC right now.  I hate to keep harking on the Feige thing, but if Feige says something, it's news.  It's official.  At DC, it's the Wild West so rumors are free to run wild and rampant.

With dozens of ideas floating around tied to dozens of creatives, it's hard to tie down what's really happening at DC.  Only a couple of movies are official, and it does seem like DC is in the process of going from more of a shared universe to more of a multiverse concept with a standalone Joker movie and a potentially-standalone Batman movie among the likelier films to get made.

Rumors like this don't happen at Marvel - good or bad.  I think that's because everything flows through Feige.  If he hasn't confirmed it, it's not real.  When there's no one to confirm or deny, anything is potentially true.

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Speaking of rumors, there was a thought that WB might want Kit Harrington star as Batman.  That's just such a bad idea that I'm hoping Informant's thoughts on the media is 100% right.

Oh yeah you need to find those.  There's even a deleted one that they put back in which was pretty funny.

I truly respect people who dress well consistently.  I've always been a fan of casual/comfortable clothes, and I always feel out of sorts dressed up.  Even at formal events, I just feel awkward.

I'm much more like Tom Welling.  Only fashion-wise haha.

Yeah I need to make sure to rent this before all the TV shows kick back into gear. I still can't believe I didn't see this in theaters.

The day after the election was over, the popular article was "who is going to run in 2020?"  Outlets easily came up with 20 candidates.  None of whom even tried to run in 2016.

Only two people have made any effort to beat Hillary Clinton in a Democratic primary.  One was a no-name junior senator from Illinois, and one was a no-name senator from Vermont who wasn't even a Democrat.  She lost to one of them, and she made sure there was no way she'd lose the next one.  She'd essentially won the nomination with Superdelegates before a single vote was cast.

I think she completely bungled the Bernie stuff because there was zero reason for that to get nasty.  There was zero chance that Bernie was going to beat her, and her winning his supporters over should've been the easiest thing in the world.  Then she went into the general election so confident in her victory that she didn't even campaign in several "home run" states.  She lost some of those states.

Let's not forget that it was the Clintons that actually helped convince Trump to run.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/08 … l-run-2016

Of all the people to blame for Trump, Hillary Clinton and her lust for power has to be pretty high on the list.

* And before anyone says "Oh my God, Hillary lost and people are still kicking her into the ground." - that actually goes toward my point.  This is a woman who, fair or not, people despise.  There have been articles going back to 1992 that discuss, at length, why people just don't like her.  She rubs people the wrong way.

And that's exactly why she was the wrong candidate in 2016.  There were people that were never going to vote for her, and there were people that were going to vote for the other candidate just so she wouldn't win.  As beloved as she is by her supporters, she's *hated* by so many other people.  If the Democrats had run a legitimate primary (I don't mean anything other than the fact that only one true Democrat even ran), and if they'd picked almost any other candidate, more people would've been energized to go vote against Trump and less people would've held their nose and voted for Trump.

I've heard an explanation that makes sense - Kraven shows up to hunt Venom.