- Title: Supergirl – The Bottle Episode
- wiki: link
I didn’t expect the first episode of Supergirl coming out of Crisis would be a Brainy (Jesse Rath) episode, but it works (and not only for mercifully killing the puppy-dog romance that had been used too often this season as B-story filler). With National City’s hero, CatCo, and the DEO all transplanted to the new Earth, Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) struggles with the machinations of Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer) who has managed once again to take advantage of the Crisis (this time setting himself up as the world’s most famous humanitarian). While Lex, and his team-up with Lena (Katie McGrath), is a looming threat to be dealt with later in the season, the more immediate threat is the sudden arrival of multiple versions of Brainac-5 all from former Earths who are slowly being killed off one by one.
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- Title: DC’s Legends of Tomorrow – Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Five
- wiki: link
If the climax of Crisis turned out to be a bit underwhelming the epilogue brings back some fun. The first episode of the Fifth Season of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow introduces us to a new world. Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) and the Paragons didn’t rebirth the entire Multiverse, only a single universe with one Earth where all our heroes live. Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) is doubly surprised to find out she shares her Earth with Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and that Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer) had one last move up his sleeve in resetting his role on the new Earth as a beloved benefactor rather than sociopathic villain. Only the Paragons remember the events of Crisis, although J’onn (David Harewood) is able to remedy the siutation fairly quickly to clue in the rest of the heroes as to what is happening, including a final appearance of the Anti-Monitor.
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- Title: Arrow – Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Four
- wiki: link
After a month hiatus, the Crisis crossover continues. More than any episode of the crossover, “Part Four” does feel the limits of a television budget as the big climactic moments feel a bit rushed and underwhelming. The return of Green Arrow (Stephen Amell), now revealed to be the Spectre (although not looking any different), helps free the Paragons from Vanishing Point on a two-pronged attempt to stop the Anti-Monitor. While Supergirl (Melissa Benoist), Ryan Choi (Osric Chau), and Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer) attempt to prevent the the Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) from opening the rift that allowed the Anti-Monitor into our universe 10,000 years ago (a plotline that ultimately never leads anywhere), the rest of the heroes head for the Anti-Matter Universe with a stopover in the Speed Force that offers a few scenes from the past and one more cameo from another alternate version of one of our heroes.
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- Title: The Flash – Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Three
- wiki: link
Since the creation of The Flash the writers have foreshadowed the character’s death in a Crisis set in the not-too-distant future. “Part Three” sees those events come to pass. Again, pulling from the original source material, we get the Anti-Monitor’s canon and the one hero whose speed can stop it and save the Earth. Knowing that The Flash wasn’t looking to kill off Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and permanently leave a hole in the show left the writers looking for an out, and they found one that might even work better than Gustin’s Flash giving his life as it plays on well-developed themes of Barry seeing those he loves die and hits just the right nostalgic notes for fans of the original Flash television series. While one Flash does dramatically sacrifice his life to stop the anti-matter wave, it’s actually the Flash of Earth-90 played by John Wesley Shipp reprising his role from the 90s television show (complete with a flashback and use of The Flash‘s opening score).
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- Title: Batwoman – Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Two
- wiki: link
Hey, an episode of Batwoman that is actually good!? The Crisis crossover continues with the heroes searching for a very specific Superman before Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer) can kill them all. Sorry Smallville fans it isn’t that one (although we do get a cameo by Tom Welling on the Kent family farm). The Superman (Brandon Routh) they are looking for turns out to look an awful lot like the Atom (also Routh) living on Earth-96 (based on Kingdom Come and also the various Superman films starring Routh and Christopher Reeve). That Superman is one of seven paragons necessary to fight the Anti-Monitor. That leaves Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) and Batwoman (Ruby Rose) in search of another paragon in Gotham of Earth-99 where the pair run into that world’s Batman (Kevin Conroy). I don’t mind the episode making Conroy a red herring, as it was unlikely Crisis would suit him up and throw him into the big battle scenes to come. Instead he offers a cautionary tale for Kate Kane to take another step forward as a hero (now if she could just find a show worthy of her).
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