The Clock Tower: Let's Say Goodbye To 'Arrow'
(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 week! Warning: this Clock Tower is filled with spoilers. Proceed at your own risk.)What an odd week it was! It feels so strange to be finishing this week's column with the knowledge that the show that sparked it all is done for good. The Green Arrow is dead. What he's left behind is a legacy that will never be forgotten. A big part of that legacy exists outside of his own show, and with the series' that came as a result of Arrow's success. Each one of them had strong enough entires this week that there's plenty to dive into from all sides, so let's just hop on in!
There Can Only Be One
We always knew that life After Crisis was going to be a little, well, complicated. Infinite Earths getting smooshed into one reality was bound to make a mess, but whatever's happening with Beth Kane seems to be a little different from any other remaining doppelgängers. We've already seen what happened with Crisis on Infinite Brainys, and just this week multiple Winn Schotts occupied the same space without meltdown.Whatever it is that's ruining Beth and Alice's days will get explored when Batwoman returns, but my money's on us digging a little deeper into Beth's quantum physics research before all's said and done.
Except When There Are Two
It's strange. I really, really hated Winn Schott in the first season of Supergirl. The show was still finding its stride, and Winn's love for Kara was presented in one of the worst ways imaginable. As a huge Broadway nerd, you can imagine what a struggle it was to not care for Jeremy Jordan in something. But, once the show found itself, Winn quickly became a favorite. Then the aforementioned Jordan went back to 42nd Street and we had to say goodbye to the funniest Super Friend. All of that's to say that seeing his face again (and in his very own super suit, no less) was a welcome smile this week. His visit confirms that The Legion of Superheroes came out of the other side of Crisis unscathed, and that somehow the timeline he occupies hasn't figured out that Lex Luthor is a super villain just yet. Kinda makes you wonder if we're headed for President Luthor on Earth Prime.
Shade Never Made Anybody Less Gay
Batwoman choosing to explore the fallout of Gotham's newest Caped Crusader outing herself on the cover of CatCo Magazine was a bigger surprise than it should have been. As a fierce champion for Supergirl, I really have no explanation here. We've watched several of the Arrowverse properties choose to tackle current events time and time again, so it stands to reason that their newest property would. All the same, that surprise was very welcome. The long and short of it is that the GCPD didn't want to call Batwoman for help because they didn't want to be "political". Never mind the fact that a child of one of their own is being held hostage by Alice's cronies. Kate and Beth save the day regardless of their stupidity, and you expect that to be that for the time being. The bigotry would continue, Kate and team would continue to deal with it, and the show would go on its way. But that's not how things played out.Instead, we see wide scale protests outside of the GCPD demanding that Batwoman be brought back into the fray. We see the citizens of Gotham refuse to deal with bigotry on top of all the other crimes that run rampant in their city, and I'm into that in a big way. These folks deal with a myriad of terrifying things on a constant basis, and this is what they chose to stand up for. Good job, Batwoman.
You Have Saved This City
It's so weird to think that there won't be a new episode of Arrow next week. If you're here it means you were impacted by it in one way or another. There's no denying how flawed it was. Heck, the show's been a part of my beat for five years now and there was a point where even I was about to bail on it. But those flaws eventually became part of the point.There's always been something so infuriatingly human about Arrow. In the beginning, it was just murder Batman in green. Later, it became a show whose sole focus was being cruel. Then, at its own glacial pace, it became the show we love (or, in some cases, love to hate).The series finale spends a lot of time acknowledging those flaws and more. Like the series, the finale wasn't perfect. But, also like the rest of the series, it still manages to punch you right in the gut. When it's not needlessly spinning its wheels on unnecessary side-plots, it's hitting every emotional beat you want it to. It's also delivering some series best fight sequences that remind us that even when the narrative wasn't at its best, its fight choreography was always there to keep us on our toes.I will miss this show a great deal.
These Are a Few of My Favorite Things
So, there were a lot of little tidbits this week that don't necessarily fit into one area here or another! The quick and dirty:
I Will Go Down With This Ship
Just last week I was talking about the potential for this Brainy/Nia split to result in some sparks between Lena and Brainy. I stand by the excitement for that potential, but that doesn't mean this week didn't hurt a great deal. Nia's quiet hurt coupled with Brainy's breakdown with Winn just gets ya right in the heart! Something tells me those crazy kids will end up ok, but it was cool to see Nia owning her power in the interim.And then there was Olicity. Like most OTPs, this one caused some strife among shippers. We won't dive into the toxicity that runs rampant in that culture, but I'll definitely acknowledge that this relationship wasn't for everyone and those folks made themselves heard. That acknowledgement goes hand-in-hand with the fact that Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak's relationship wasn't just an integral part of the series, it's a huge part of what eventually saved it. The two are opposites of the same coin. Her humanity made him better. His darkness taught her to be hard when she needed to be. There was definitely some trial and error on both sides as the show sorted itself out, but you get the idea. Their ending (the pocket universe everyone had suspected) was perfect. No more wars, no more vendettas, just the rest of their lives in their own little corner with each other.
Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel
It's the Superbowl this week, which means Batwoman and Supergirl are taking the week off. Legends of Tomorrow will be up to its usual nonsense, and The Flash returns for the first time post-Crisis. Oliver Queen is gone, and the world spins on without him. Some of you may take more joy from that sentiment than others!