Review: Legends of Tomorrow Special – “Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part 5”
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Director: Gregory Smith
Writer: Keto Shimizu & Ubah Mohamed
Starring: Stephen Amell, Grant Gustin, Melissa Benoist, Caity Lotz, David Harewood, Ruby Rose, LaMonica Garrett, Brandon Routh, Tyler Hoechlin, Danielle Panabaker, Dominic Purcell
Reviewed by: Joshua Raynor
Summary
The spark has been lit, the flames have been fanned, and the universe has returned… but not the way it was. Our heroes, the seven paragons, awake to find themselves back home, or so they think, but they soon discover their worlds have merged and things are quite different now.
Positives
Right away we learn that Lex Luthor has rewritten his own destiny, turning himself into a beloved hero who owns the DEO. Will this stick? Who knows, but I’m intrigued to find out. Jon Cryer is phenomenal as Lex, and with his memories being in tact, I just have to wonder how long it’ll be before the other shoe drops. However, if it does, it seems like it’ll just be redundant of what they’ve already done. Also, how will Lex owning the DEO affect the daily workings and the Supergirl series as a whole?
I love that they were able to bring other non-paragon heroes into the fold by using J’onn’s powers to restore their memories of the events that transpired. It’s really a double-edged sword though, as giving them the memories allows them to understand what is happening and be able to help, but it also places the burden of what happened on their shoulders.
This, however, turns out to be a positive thing when they learn that the Anti-Monitor has returned, as, like matter, anti-matter can neither be created nor destroyed, only altered. The heroes then devise a plan to stop him which involves putting him in a state of perpetual shrinking, and this is where we official hear the term “Microverse” used, coined here by Ryan Choi. This ends the threat of the Anti-Monitor and saves this new Earth, Earth-Prime, from destruction.
That’s right, folks, this new Earth is now called Earth-Prime and it isn’t the only Earth out there as the Multiverse has been reborn. Toward the end, we get glimpses of various Earths out there, including ones for Titans, Doom Patrol, Swamp Thing, a Green Lantern one, an Earth with Brandon Routh’s Superman, and even an Earth for the upcoming series Stargirl, giving us a look at the JSA. And yes, this whole scene confirms that the DC Universe shows all exist on different Earths, explaining why Doom Patrol’s The Chief looks and acts differently than The Chief that was introduced in Titans season 1.
Another great thing about this episode is that we get to see the return of a Legends of Tomorrow staple… BEEBO!
To end things off, we got our main group of heroes saying goodbye to Oliver in a beautiful moment. Included in this was Supergirl, The Flash, Batwoman, Superman, White Canary, Martian Manhunter, and Black Lightning. Then Barry reveals that the old STAR Labs facility they’re in will serve as a base for them for future world-ending events. They don’t name it, but it’s totally the Hall of Justice, and I was jumping out of my seat during this part. Is this our Justice League? If so, I’m totally okay with it.
The episode ends with a tease as the heroes hear a loud noise followed by the sounds of a monkey. The camera pans over to a cage that’s been busted open and on the front is the name “Gleek”. Gleek is the monkey partner of the Wonder Twins from the old Super Friends cartoon. Does this mean that Zan and Jayna exist here as well and will pop up soon? One can hope.
Negatives
I only have a couple of issues with this Legends of Tomorrow Special, but nothing that ruined my love and enjoyment for this amazing crossover. And speaking of the word “crossover”, that’s my first issue. I can’t stand that they use the term “crossover” within the show. It’s far too meta and takes me out of the scenes that it’s used. It’s less jarring when the Legends do it, as I’m used to the tone of that show, but hearing other heroes use it just doesn’t sound right.
And the other thing that bothered me a little bit was the absence of Lex Luthor. We got to this Earth and discovered that Lex is now this amazing, well-loved person. And as we saw in the previous episode, he turned himself into a Paragon and was instrumental in saving the Multiverse. So why wasn’t he there? Even if he wasn’t going to fight, he could’ve at least been there to help Ray and Ryan build the shrinking bomb. I honestly didn’t notice it until the end, but after I did, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Verdict
Despite the couple of minor problems I had, this Legends of Tomorrow Special was a great episode and a fantastic cap to this epic crossover event. I never thought I’d see a great adaptation of Crisis on Infinite Earths, but I was wrong. I’ll definitely be going back to rewatch the event in its entirety multiple times .
