The Clock Tower: Love Was In The Air Throughout The Arrowverse 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 week! Warning: this Clock Tower is filled with spoilers. Proceed at your own risk.)What's Valentine's Day without a little murder? Love is in the air in the Arrowverse this week, but more than a few people are going to lose their lives while they're looking for love. Though it's still just The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, both shows gave us plenty of fun moments to dive into on this week's edition of The Clock Tower.
Mirror, Mirror
Last week, Iris West-Allen got sucked into a mirror while following a lead. This week, she knows how to cook, speaks Italian, and will not hesitate to smash a bottle over the head of any thug that crosses her. When she's confronted by her confused husband, she reminds him that she had to figure out how to build a life without him when they were sure he was going to die in Crisis. It's an exceptional moment for the character. Too bad none of it was really her. The reveal of the real Iris remaining trapped in the mirror was expected but frustrating. That frustration isn't because it was obvious, but because of the aforementioned moment where we finally see Iris stand up for herself. Everything Mirror Iris said to Barry in her moment of irritation was correct. She is her own person and she shouldn't be expected to be The Flash's damsel in distress any longer. Here's hoping that when this plotline is resolved they stay that course.
Fatal Attraction
This week's episode of Legends of Tomorrow was that middle part of the venn diagram where my exact interests intersect. A superhero show with a slasher episode? Yes, please and thank you. The Legends have to chase down the encore of The Prom Night Slasher, better known by his classmates as Freddy Meyers. When things don't go as planned. Captain Lance sends Ray Palmer, Nate Heywood, and Nora Darhk back to 1989 to try and get Freddy to realize he can be good before all the murdering begins. Thing is, it's not really Freddy doing the murdering.This episode is filled to the brim with fun horror nods, with Freddy's name being the first and most obvious. We also get shout outs to Carrie, a delightful Friday the 13th twist, and some pretty solid kills for a network television show! If we don't get more of Ava's StabCast I'll be very sad.
It’s a Family Affair
The Flash's side plot this week finds Frost trying to help Allegra rekindle a spark with a lost love. It's Frosty's first Valentine's Day, and she wants to pay forward some of Ralph's "exceptional" life coaching. Things go about as well for her as they did for Ralph at first, but our favorite Ice Queen quickly gets her feet underneath her with the help of one Nash Wells. The very same Nash Wells that is still going to great lengths to hide that Allegra Garcia is his daughter's doppelgänger. Though not so far as to not follow her everywhere. Smooth, Nash. By the end of things, Allegra's smoothed things over with her old beaux, and Frost is very much onto Nash Wells' connection with their young friend. Now that the connection's been revealed, we have to wonder if this poor dude is living with the fact that he's the reason that daughter is gone, or if something happened to his Allegra before Crisis took place.
“Dysfunction Doesn’t Get to Choose Who You Are”
Bless Nora Darhk. Her arc has been one of the best Legends of Tomorrow has seen since Leonard Snart. Though it will unfortunately be just as short, we still have some time left to enjoy with the character. While it was expected that Ray Palmer would be the one who helped young Freddy come around, Nora was the one who was forced to step in by way of her fairy godmother curse. A great call, because it's a much better story.Though Freddy wasn't ultimately the one who needed to be saved, Nora using her dark past to help show a scared young man that things can be different was a quietly relevant arc amidst this week's episode's slasher fun. Hopefully we'll get more of this before Courtney Ford (Nora Darhk) and Brandon Routh's (Ray Palmer) time on the show has come to an end.
These Are a Few of My Favorite Things
Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel
Now that the Superbowl and the Oscars have stopped taking up Sundays, Supergirl and Batwoman will be making their triumphant returns this week. The Legends are going to go play in the French Revolution while rocking some heavy Marie Antoinette vibes, and Iris is doing everything she can to get out of her mirror trap so she can get that creepy doppleganger of hers away from her husband. Lots to look forward to!