This Week In DC 11/17
Welcome to This Week in DCTV, where the Twisted Cape examines, breaks down, and gives a quick review of all the original shows that DC has released this week. This will run weekly and start on Sunday and end on Saturday, so we catch everything on the CW, Fox, and the DC Universe streaming service. We will eventually be incorporating all of it, including the content from other networks, like Syfy. We’ll also include an average on the week to help determine whether the week was a success. Keep in mind there will be spoilers on a regular basis so read on at your own risk.
Weekly Score (Out of 5) – 3/5
Solid week, but some shows have fallen back a little bit (I’m looking at you, Titans). Twist of the week goes to the prison fight scene in Arrow.
The CW
Supergirl – 2.5/5 – “Parasite Lost”
Kara writes an article to help the alien population, but instead puts them in harms way. Colonel Haley makes her presence felt at the DEO. SPOILERS – When Kara thinks she can help the alien struggle, it actually makes things worse and sends people after aliens, playing right into Agent Liberty’s hands. Speaking of the villain, he makes his presence felt both in and out of mask this week. The parasite used on the former DEO agent provides an interesting foil for Supergirl. Speaking of the DEO, Colonel Haley provides Alex oversight, and then reveals her prejudice at the end of the episode. It feels like a weird move, but we’ll see how it pans out. Guardian becomes an unintentional mascot for the anti-alien movement. J’onn begins becoming a Private Investigator for aliens. At least this episode had interesting elements. I’m hoping it turns and becomes interesting again or this show may become a chore to continue to watch.
Arrow - 3/5 – “The Demon”
Oliver hatches a plan in Level 2 to get information out, while Felicity and crew look for a way to get Oliver out. Curtis has an identity crisis while undercover with Diggle and the flashforwards continue to develop. SPOILERS – Ollie is in Level 2, which is an off the books illegal facility, and comes across Talia. He helps her escape and deliver information to Felicity to help her. Felicity, meanwhile, has teamed up with Dinah and Laurel to find a way to free Oliver and help take down Diaz, which is helped by Talia. Dig and Curtis do ARGUS work and Diggle helps Curtis regain his confidence to be in the field. Again, this episode didn’t include the lead anywhere near as much as it could have. Finally, the flashforwards reveal that Felicity is now recently dead in the future. This episode has some cool points, especially that prison fight, but it loses a step without it’s lead.
The Flash - 3/5 – “All Doll’d Up”
Barry and Iris connect on “date night” which is tracking down Rag Doll. Nora spends some time with Cecile, and the rest of Team Flash helps Caitlin track down her father. SPOILERS – Iris feels isolated from Nora due to her apparent future actions. This leads to her and Barry spending some time together working on a case and Barry doing his best to connect with his wife. I actually really liked this plot point because you don’t get to see much of Barry and Iris being domestic, which is a nice turn of events. Nora learns about her mom through Cecile tricking her into thinking that she’s hearing stories about her dad, which helps her come around. Sherloque, Ralph, Cisco, and Caitlin continue to track down Caitlin’s dad, putting Cisco at risk when using his powers. The weak part of this episode was Rag Doll. He was more in the villain of the week mold, despite the fact that he should have been far more creepy than he was.
Black Lightning - 3/5 – “The Book of Blood: Chapter One: Requiem
Tobias Whale starts to rebound and rebuild his life of crime. The Pierce family suffers a loss and deals with it. SPOILERS – Gambi is apparently killed off early on, but no body to me always means no death. Jefferson started out this way, but soon begins to process his grief. Anissa tries to have a relationship in the wake of her loss, while Jennifer begins talking to Khalil again. Lynn loses half of the pod kids due to her forced partner. All this seems to be at the behest of Tobias Whale who makes his presence felt publicly. My biggest issue with him as a villain and with the show is that they keep talking about Syonide like she was important, but never, ever developed that character, which makes him a little bit whiny. Especially that he keeps bringing it up to a high school age kid. We’ll find out soon enough if Gambi’s absence is permanent or temporary.
Legends of Tomorrow – 3.5/5 – “Wet Hot American Bummer”
The Legends along with Ava head back to the 80’s to stop kids from disappearing and being killed. SPOILERS – Rumors of a Swamp Thing (not actual Swamp Thing, which is alluded to in the episode) abducting and killing kids sends the team back to the 1980’s and they bring Ava along for the ride. The kids are sneaking off and being captured and no one can figure out why. The kids are meeting up to have their first kiss and being abducted by a creature posing as a counselor. Constantine uses magic to make Ava and Sara kids so they can go under cover, also granting Ava a shot at a childhood. Still a good episode, but it slowed down a bit.
DC Universe
Titans – 3/5 – “Jason Todd”
Dick is rescued by the new Robin and goes on a detour when his loved ones are being targeted by a serial killer. SPOILERS – this is the first episode that I can actually say I was disappointed by. While diving into Dick’s backstory is important, the flow is broken up by separating the team mostly. Jason Todd comes off as an absolute brat and an unhinged dick later on. The serial killer turns out to be Dick’s parent’s killer’s son. Yeah, I know, that reads like the silliest sentence of all time, but that’s what happened. The best moments of the show happen when the entire team is together, however briefly it is. I like their overall chemistry together. I’m curious how the developments will affect the show moving forward. Also, how come they haven’t checked in on Hawk and Dove yet? It’s been like 3 episodes.