This week saw the season finales of both Legends of Tomorrow and Batwoman, and since this is the first time either of these shows has ended a season without a confirmed renewal for next season, there’s some extra pressure on these two eps. If things go wrong, they could end up being series finales.
The Batwoman finale … was fine. It’s a decent enough outing, but almost feels like it wasn’t meant to be a finale. Rather than a big turning point for the characters, where everything they’ve been dealing with all season comes to a head, it feels like a standard we-beat-the-bad-guy-now-let’s-get-back-to-business ending, just with slightly higher stakes.
Part of that’s likely due to this season being on the short side (just 13 episodes), with several of those episodes devoted to the Poison Ivy arc that got it’s own, self-contained resolution a few eps back. That leaves just the Jada & Marquis drama to drive the home stretch of the season. And that’s kind of a shame, because while this season’s had a lot of fun and interesting villains, Marquis is not one of them. I get that theoretically he’s an emotional sore point for Ryan, but he’s played as too much of a basic spoiled brat to sell either the menace or the pathos that this story wants.
Overall, though, you could chalk the tone of this finale up to Batwoman just being a lighter, less emotionally fraught this season than in its first two years. There’s been drama and conflict and angstiness and all that, but there’s been more of a lighthearted adventure flavor to the whole thing, full of wacky gadgets and outrageous characters. I mean, this episode has a “Bat-Blimp”, a joybuzzer MacGuffin, and a reference to the Condiment King. What more need be said?
As for Legends, its finale was maybe a little too busy to give everything the time it deserved (Nate’s departure, despite having buildup earlier in the season, was pretty darn abrupt), but it was still a bunch of fun.
I know the character most folks are gonna be talking about is Booster Gold. People have been complaining for a while that the show hasn’t been using enough DC Comics characters, and fans have been calling for this specific character to show up pretty much since the series began. And, yeah, the guy was a hoot, and I can’t wait to see more of him when/if we get Season 8.
But my MVP of the Week was undeniably, without question, Captain Sara Lance. Caity Lotz has mastered the art of Badass Sara, Best Bud Sara, Romantic Sara, Seductive Sara, and Dark & Troubled Sara, but she’s rarely had the opportunity to play I-Am-Freaking-Out-Here Sara. Yet she absolutely nails it here, making Sara’s pregnancy panic thoroughly hilarious while still absolutely fitting her character.
That also provided a nice way to bookend the season, with Ava comforting a hysterical Sara the same way Sara comforted hysterical Ava in the season premiere. We also had the return of the Astra/Spooner/Gideon trio from early in the season, getting a pretty nice fight against Mean Gideon. (And, I know this is a small thing to focus on, but I like that the spell Astra used to escape through the floor is the same one Constantine used during the Thong Song fight from the Season 5 finale. Just a nice little continuity touch.)
As for the Legends all being arrested by Time Cops … I’m not saying I’d want a whole season with them stuck in a penal colony for time travelers, but there’s definitely promise to the idea.
Oh! There was also a Superman & Lois episode this week. I do intend to watch it, but it’s 11:45 on a Saturday night as I type this, and watching whole ‘nother hour of television and writing up my thoughts on it before I can go to bed … I’m too tired for that.
Question of the Week: What’s been your biggest “I’m surprised Warner Bros. let them use that character” moment in the Arrowverse?
