Arrow S05 E09: What We Leave Behind

One of the things I found interesting in the aftermath of the Heroes V Aliens Invasion! Crossover was the way it seemingly ended or at least chilled ongoing plots and subplots in the individual shows. "Supergirl" tied up most of its loose ends, "The Flash" had an Alchemy and Savitar free week, the Legion of Doom took the week off from "DC's Legends of Tomorrow," and the cast of "Arrow" literally dreamed Prometheus and Artemis away. It's nice to get back to normal, almost without missing a beat.

Interestingly we open on the big mayoral holiday party a surprisingly stable Thea has thrown, where she and Oliver discuss agreeing to not talk about aliens and yet do anyway for a good few minutes. Oliver's date arrives, Susan Williams, who I predict will betray him worse than Artemis, and we get small talk and character advancement until Prometheus attacks Curtis and his husband Paul as they leave.

Paul is introduced to 'the gang' just as Billy Malone, Felicity's boyfriend is. If the DCTV shows have proven nothing, they've definitely demonstrated how outdated the secret identity concept is. Jeez, just tell the truth. If you can't tell the person you love the truth, that relationship is doomed. Curtis lies right up to and through his beating at the hands of Prometheus, and continues while hospitalized. I'm shocked, and my respect for Curtis has dropped.

Even when Paul confronts Curtis outright, he still lies. Paul knows that was the throwing star killer, knows Curtis has become a better fighter, can't he put it together? I was happy however that Billy wasn't falling for any bullshit. He figures out Curtis is Mr. Terrific pretty easily, now knows Prometheus is targeting Team Arrow, and wants Felicity protected. Billy should have a real chat with Paul.

When Curtis does confess, after basically being cornered, Paul is angered by being lied to all this time. He gives Curtis an ultimatum, the marriage or being a vigilante. Yeah, Curtis chooses the latter, and is crushed when Paul leaves. On the other side of the coin, Felicity is showing the same resistance to Billy, but that takes more dangerous consequences when he's kidnapped by Prometheus.

Some convoluted clues lead Team Arrow to trap set by Prometheus, where Artemis finally shows her hand. The clue comes from a dead man on The List, Justin Clayborne, mentioned in the series pilot, but never seen until now. Flashback Island this episode takes a break from the Bratva to concentrate on this untold case. Nice to see Oliver in the old Hood togs, and highlighted by appearances of younger Diggle and Felicity.

Is there any way we can get more of the new guys, Wild Dog and Ragman? I loved the gift giving bit at the Arrowcave, and the continuing bonding between the Dog and Diggle. I dug the stockings. Anyone else notice that no one got Artemis anything? No wonder she turns on them. And is weirdly not seen again. Did Prometheus kill her too?

Little details come out throughout the episode as to Prometheus' identity. He might be Claybourne's son, or he could be someone completely out of left field - I'll get to that in a moment. Prometheus stages a crime scene exactly as the Hood left it when he killed Claybourne the senior, then allows Oliver to kill a helpless Billy dressed as Prometheus. Oliver is crushed and defeated when he returns to the Arrowcave.

So that's Quentin down, Artemis, and Curtis effectively, and Felicity now. Also, as a seemingly afterthought, Diggle gets captured by the authorities. Oliver goes to drown his sorrows with Susan, which will surely come back to bite him in the ass. And then he goes back to the Arrowcave for the shock ending to end all shock endings. Laurel is there waiting for him.

Not so much her possibly being alive, it's the possibility she might be Prometheus that startles me. With hints dropped last week during the invasion and in this episode, I have to wonder how much traction the showrunners will be giving Flashpoint as a plot device and reality reset. Could Laurel really be alive? Could she be Prometheus?

This was an intense episode, with many potential dead ends for characters and plotlines. It's going to take a lot to keep this all together. Hell, it's going to take a lot to hold Oliver together.

DC Comics Rebirth Continues

A couple weeks back, I looked at the introductory comic, DC Universe Rebirth, and since then more than a few first issues of this new continuity dynamic have come out. Here I'll look at some of them briefly.

Superman - One of the bits in the above-mentioned comic that I didn't care about was the death of the New 52 Superman. This comic picks up on those hanging threads as the pre-Flashpoint Superman visits the Fortress of Solitude and reminisces about Doomsday with the New 52 Lana Lang. It was more fun and much better than I expected. I want to read more, despite the huge amount of baggage here to move forward.

Batman - Much like Superman, I'm not thrilled with the new Batman costume. Sorry, I'm a traditionalist and resistant to most change. If it was an alternate Batman, I'd be cool, but not the 'real' Batman. Much of the issue is taken up by the Calendar Man and his antics, including a weird new supernatural twist of his aging and rejuvenating through the seasons. There is also the inclusion of Duke Thomas, who may or may not be a new Robin, or perhaps a Lark, or something new. Darker and more sociopathic than I like my Batman, I'll pass.

Wonder Woman - Greg Rucka returns to the Amazon Princess in this issue, and while his run was critically acclaimed, it was not by me, as you can see here. This Rebirth issue, while well done, enticing, and encouraging, is one of those 'everything-you-know-is-a-lie' stories that may or may not return Wonder Woman to what I consider greatness, or create yet another version of the character I won't be reading. It's a great start, let's hope it's the former and not the latter.

Titans - I miss the Teen Titans, and yeah, I'm in get-off-my-lawn-mode, but I was never a big fan of the New Teen Titans that everyone went gaga over in the 1980s. They were cool, yeah, but my Titans were the Nick Cardy teen hero generation of the early 1970s. What's weird is that these Rebirth Titans are twisted versions of the ones I dug. I looked forward to this book as Wally West was the best thing about DC Universe Rebirth and I wanted to see more - what I got instead was a distorted revisionist history of characters I thought I knew. It isn't the same, as a matter of fact, it's all-new. I don't know who any of these people are, and I'm not interested.

Green Arrow - One of the tragedies of the new 52 in my opinion was the rejuvenation and Tony Stark-ization of Green Arrow, as well as the removal of Black Canary as his romantic and 'business' partner. Their reunion is about all I liked about this new start, I disliked the art and the story as well.

Green Lanterns - I'm sure Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz are someone's favorite Green Lanterns but I'm just not that into them. This book is more about them than Hal Jordan, and if I'm going to read a Geoff Johns Green Lantern comic, I want Hal Jordan. Pass.

Aquaman - Speaking of Johns, another great bit from the original Rebirth comic was Aquaman proposing to Mera, thereby breaking the unspoken rule about no happy marriages in the DC Universe. The problem of course is that Johns is not writing the new Aquaman series, so who knows what happens next. Dan Abnett, who had been writing the regular series, feels right at home with this soft reboot. I look forward to more of this, and more of Black Manta.

Flash - As I said, Wally West was my favorite part of the book that started all this, so like Titans, this was another I was looking forward to. The first thing that struck me was the art. It's not bad per se, but it's definitely not suited to the character of The Flash. Carmine Di Giadomenico is a terrific artist, and I admire his attempts to pay homage to Carmine Infantino, but for me, it just doesn't work. We don't get much more in the way of story than we did in the initial Rebirth book. It reminded me very much of the retelling going on in Marvel's Civil War II. I'm still on the fence with this one.

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox ~ Flashpoint is both the last storyline of the old DC Comics universe, and the prologue to what's become known as The New 52 DC Comics universe. It's a time travel tale that centers on The Flash, alters his past and sets into motion an entirely new timeline, and not necessarily a good one. In the comics it is the fixing of this time travel tampering that creates The New 52.

I find it really odd that this would be a story the folks at DC would want to make an animated movie of. It's complex, it's confusing for newcomers, and in that the Reverse-Flash murders young Barry Allen's mother as the catalyst, and I'm not even including the bloody war between the Atlanteans and the Amazons - this is not for kids. Why this? I'm not even sure it was all that well received sales wise. Nevertheless, here we are.

The animation has a very anime feel, much like Superman Vs. The Elite, not that I mind it, but let's just say I've been spoiled by the Paul Dini DCAU. It starts with Nora Allen's murder, although we don't see it and moves to present day with a regretful Barry Allen. He's still the Flash and heads over to Flash Museum to fight a handful of Rogues.

I dug this part a lot. It made me wish for a straight Flash animated series. The scarlet speedster takes on Captain Cold, Heatwave, Mirror Master, Captain Boomerang, surprisingly The Top, and of course the original Reverse-Flash. Some of the costumes are tweaked a bit, I hate Mirror Master's chunky suit, but the rest are cool. Look close and have a finger on your pause button and you'll see Inertia. Too bad the Justice League had to show up.

The voice casting is classic, some of it dating back to the Dini days. Kevin Conroy returns as Batman; Hynden Walch, the voice of Harley Quinn, plays Yo-Yo, her new timeline alternate; Dana Delany reprises Lois Lane; and Nathan Fillion plays Hal Jordan again. Also on tap this time are Ron Perlman as Deathstroke, Cary Elwes as Aquaman, Kevin McKidd as 'Batdad,' and C. Thomas Howell as Professor Zoom. Starring as Flash/Barry Allen is Justin Chambers from "Grey's Anatomy."

While it is a bit violent for my tastes and it gets a bit tedious toward the middle (obviously from trying to squeeze in ever detail from the comics), all in all, it's not bad. The beginning in the Flash Museum and the end in the Batcave are my favorite parts. And while it is not said aloud, the Batman and Flash seen at the end are The New 52 versions, which marks the division for later animated movies to come. The New 52 is now the status quo for the DCAU.