Arrow: Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Four (8x08)

This is not going to be a normal review, I'll just warn you right off the bat. My utter insistence that I will not be watching the cross-over events means that I went in to part four out of five of this story, having seen nothing of the first three parts, and having no plans to watch the ending either. That's my decision, and I'm sticking to it - so be prepared for utter nonsense!

Cons:

I feel like I need to say it one more time - I did not watch the episodes leading up to this. And like - I was supposed to. I know that. I am not honoring the intent of the storytellers, so anything I complain about is going to ring false. Because maybe the other episodes dealt with these issues.

Can I just say, though, how disappointing and hollow I felt, to have Oliver die with only Barry and Sara there to see it? Sara makes a certain amount of sense, given their history, and I know Barry is a dear friend. But this is still an episode of Arrow, isn't it? This emotional beat didn't hit as hard as it should have, because Oliver wasn't really dying as Oliver, and that's disappointing. I know he "died" earlier in the Crisis, and had a big broment with Diggle... and that's all well and good, but still. Here at the end... I guess I wanted more.

Batwoman sure didn't have anything to do, did she? I guess it makes sense in that she has less of a rich history to pull from, but still. When Memory!Oliver said "who are you"? I was like... bitch, same!

This episode employs a method where Barry is trying to bring all his friends together by accessing various memories, and Oliver is anchoring it somehow. Cool, whatever. The point is, we get to see these little flashes of old scenes from the various shows, and then characters who weren't actually there break in and the lines of reality start to blur. Awesome idea, but once again I feel like I need to say... this is an episode of Arrow. And sure, we got a couple of Arrow scenes here, but a lot of it was from other shows that I haven't watched, and most of the moments lacked the power and emotion that I was hoping to feel. This could have been a poignant and nostalgic look back at key scenes, but it wasn't.

Also where the hell are Mia and William? I'm sure the other episodes explain. But whatever.

Pros:

I've always loved the friendship between Barry and Oliver, even though I wish both characters were anchored more firmly to their own story-lines, here, instead of just playing off of each other. But for what we got, I will admit I was extremely touched when Barry talked about how much he trusted Oliver. He even repeated it later on. And he's there for Ollie when he dies, which is touching in its own way.

The most gimmicky comedy moment of the episode actually worked really well for me - Ezra Miller's cameo as Barry Allen from another universe was absolutely hilarious, and I don't think anybody knew it was coming. They quipped about the differences in their costumes, they both expressed confusion and dread about what was happening... I don't know. It was very fan-service-y and very fun. Totally worked for me.

The final confrontation didn't look good, exactly, but I'm oddly charmed by the CW putting together these ambitious action sequences given their budget. It's just kind of cute, and I'm very forgiving of it, the same way I am when there's bad CGI in an episode of Supernatural. Like... so what? That's not even the point here. And the fight choreography looked neat.

I love Osric Chau, so it was a treat to see him here as Ryan Choi. It's hard to know for sure without having seen the rest of the story, but I feel like his inclusion was a really smart way to highlight the themes of the story itself. You've got all these people, and they have super powers, or if not, they've led these incredibly magical and insane lives, and they're all embodying things like "truth" and "hope" etc. etc. And then at the center of all of that, there's a guy who's just a guy. And he's not brave or special because he's spent years going through trauma after trauma and it has made him a hero. He's just brave because he's a good person, and he was told he could help. That's the embodiment of humanity, and it does help to anchor all the crazy time and space shenanigans going on in the rest of the episode.

If there's one other show I would maybe consider watching in the Arrowverse, it would be The Legends of Tomorrow. I love Sara, and I love the wacky energy the show seems to bring in, more so than any of the others. All that to say... I liked spending some time with Sara, even if it was brief!

So there you have it. I hope anybody reading this doesn't take me too seriously. It's a point of pride with me now that I'm not going to sit through these crossover events. I started watching Arrow, and I like Arrow, and I'm not getting sucked in to the rest of it, thank you very much!

6/10