The Clock Tower: The Arrowverse Was Full Of Emotional Highs And Storytelling Lulls This Week

(Welcome to The Clock Tower, where we'll break down the goings on of the The CW network's Arrowverse. We'll touch on things like themes, cultural impact, lead-ins to major events, ships, and more every other week! Warning: this Clock Tower is filled with spoilers. Proceed at your own risk.)Remember last week when I talked about those lulls? Well, they heard me and they're here. But only for half of the shows! While Batwoman and Arrow both brought it, The Flash and Supergirl both delivered middling episodes. With that in mind, even middling episodes can have solid moments or set up something fun for the future. We got a quick check-in with that rascally Monitor as well! 

Harrison Wells, regardless of iteration, always manages to be one of my favorite characters in one capacity or another. This even includes the ones I ultimately couldn't stand. For example: any of the chipper ones. I like my Wells' grumpy. This means that, up until now, the OG has been my favorite (with Harry's wicked tea spitting behaviors as a close second). Enter Nash Wells. Adventurer, treasure hunter, misanthrope... Sorry, Harrison. You've been overthrown. So, what happens when this cranky adventurer finds himself trapped in some wreckage with human beacon of hope Joe West? Magic, boys and girls. Magic happens. Logic tells Nash that no one's going to save them as they rapidly run out of air, while hope tells Joe that someone will be on their way shortly. The end result is a battle of ideologies capped off with a tale of hope from Joe that may or may not choke you up just the tiniest bit. All around good guy Ralph Dibney slides in to save the day just in time! On the flip side, having faith really didn't pay off over on Batwoman this week. Beth had faith her family would find her, Kate had faith her sister wouldn't drug her or steal people's faces, Jacob had faith that his daughter wouldn't shoot him, and Mary had faith that her mother wasn't an absolute monster. Everyone in Gotham City is having a very bad day. But, I mean, what's new? 

Hoooo boy. Father/daughter stuff wrecks me, so I was definitely expecting something between Mia and Oliver to be what took me out this week. Turns out William would be the one to win that honor. After the initial shock of the kids being in 2019 wore off, Oliver and William had a sit down. William, unsure about how much time they'd get together, wanted to be sure his dad knew he was gay. With a warm smile and kind eyes, Oliver Queen gave his son a very simple "yeah buddy, I know." And that was that. Tears aplenty! Of course, Mr. Queen had to follow it up with "Felicity and I knew. We just hoped that you'd come to us when you were ready. And you didn't get that chance." Well, alright. Can someone punch something already because I've got the feels. 

Mia Smoak was there to fill that need of someone punching something. As is her way, she punched many somethings, but it was all the kind of latent rage we've seen from her father for years. Fittingly, it was also directed at that father! While Oliver doesn't quite deserve the rage, it's hard not to empathize with Mia's abandonment issues. Add that to the fact that she just lost one of her best friends and the girl's vendetta makes a little bit more sense.Thankfully, Auntie Laurel's around to talk Mia off the murder ledge just like she was for her momma last season. While it was Oliver's intervention that ultimately stopped his daughter from stepping over the ledge he'd thrown himself off hundreds of times, it was really cool to see the seeds of The Canary Network be planted this week. 

Supergirl might have had a nothing episode, but Arrow and The Flash are both working on taking their respective futures into their own hands. Barry might not have come around on the idea that there can be a future where his family lives and he doesn't have to die, but Nash Wells seems pretty darn convinced he can save our lil martyr. We're not quite sure what his plan is just yet, but includes The Monitor and being incredibly dashing. Meanwhile, Diggle isn't about to let his son murder his buddy's daughter in the future. Rene's not hanging around to give up on The Glades, and Dinah and Laurel aren't hanging around and just waiting for The Canary Network to take wing. Everyone's got a plan. Except Mia and William. They have grilled cheeses, and they deserve them! 

Oliver might have Curtis working on a way to recreate The Monitor's... snap? Swoosh? Glow-y white light? Whatever it was that took out Earth 2! But Mar Novu is prepared to return it all into existence in exchange for Laurel betraying her new team. In her own words, for those who don't remember, she used to play for Team Villain. Her deciding to side with The Monitor wouldn't be a stretch even if she hadn't previously been of the villainous persuasion. It's a whole world, after all! But, hopefully we won't have to sit with this information for long. There's not a lot of season, and Laurel betraying the newly formed Canaries is a boring way to start things off. 

There were a few really great things that happened this week that don't really belong in a huge section. A quick breakdown:

Next week features a whole host of fun adventures. The Flash will be James Bonding it up! Barry and Ralph will find themselves in a spot of trouble while Nash Wells works with Team Flash to save the Speedster's life. Supergirl rocks some inception vibes as Lena Luthor continues her plot to stop all humans from doing harm, and Batwoman will continue down, down, down the rabbit hole. Arrow will continue to ramp up, as it has the shortest season and we're headed toward series finale territory. Next week, Mia and Oliver head to Russia where the two will have to participate in a fight club. We're gonna get some killer father daughter fights, I'm probably going to tell you about how I cried real hard again, and Ollie's gonna take a bullet for his kiddo! It's going to be great fun all around. Y'know, except for maybe the getting shot part.