After months of teasing and anticipation, just like that the much anticipated Arrowverse crossover is over and boy, was it nonstop bombshell after bombshell.
As with previous Arrowverse crossovers, each episode stands on its own. But since they flow seamlessly from one into the other, The Fandom is writing one comprehensive recap and guide to all things “Elseworlds”.
Immediately, within the first few minutes of the three-hour saga, we got a look into the story that “Elseworlds” executive producers wanted to tell. While last year’s four-part story was very much all about its action packed display of fighting Nazis, this year seemed to have a different focus. More specifically, the relationship between Oliver and Barry and their loved ones.
We start off with an omnipresent glance at Dr. John Deegan (Jeremy Davies) presenting some less than rational ideas to his colleagues. Obviously his audience isn’t exactly on board with this crazy ideas and refuses to be a part of Deegan’s brainchild. So as the audience, we can see why he was so drawn to the Book of Destiny when The Monitor presented him with it.
Then we blast into the present where we see the effects of Deegan’s tinkering. Long story short, Oliver and Barry swap lives and Barry Allen winds up looking like Stephen Amell and Oliver Queen looks like Grant Gustin. Not exactly Freaky Friday and if you think you’re confused, you bet your life that poor Barry and Oliver were less than impressed. And the kicker is, no one else noticed.
So cue the laugh track. This switch-a-roo made for a lot of comedic memorable moments: from Amell’s face when he realizes he’s now Iris’ husband to Barry’s struggle with choosing the “right arrow” when he goes out with Diggle to try and break up a firefight.
And for our poor superheroes, when they meet up to try and figure out what’s going on, well, guess the universe is no longer on their side. Team Flash doesn’t believe them and locks them up in the pipeline.
Ignoring the nitty gritty details, Oliver and Barry manage to break out of the pipeline and convince Team Flash that they aren’t crazy. With the brilliant idea of jumping to Earth-38, Oliver and Barry find themselves in Smallville (what a brilliant nod to a former WB show).
Thankfully Kara doesn’t share Team Flash’s ignorance and immediately recognizes Oliver and Barry for who they actually are and quickly introduces them to her cousin and his fiance. Also I must mention how much I loved that Lois Lane introduced herself as “Lois Lance, Daily Planet.”
Even though Oliver and Barry’s training and adjusting to their new powers start off a bit tense, they eventually realize that even though they are different as heroes, they’ve also always grown when around each other.
But just as we’re all getting into our feels, in rush Cisco with some bad news: Amazo, an Ivo Labs-created android that can mimic anybody’s powers, is attacking Central City. We finally get some punches and badass action scenes before it’s time to go back to the problem at hand: fixing reality.
And with that means a visit to GOTHAM CITY.
Enter Batwoman!!
In our second hour of the Elseworlds saga, Barry, Oliver and Kara travels into Gotham City where they meet not Batman (because who knows if Batman is real right Oliver?) but instead, Batwoman. How they meet though may have you a little bit surprised. Turns out that despite his recent stint in jail, Barry just couldn’t seem to stay out of trouble. In an unfortunate ambush, in broad daylight, Barry tries to channel his inner Oliver and help get the three of them out of trouble, which of course attracts Gotham City’s Police’s attention since, you know, he’s the Green Arrow. So off to jail they go.
When they suddenly get bailed out, in walks Kate Kane, aka Batwoman, who share with them the story of Gotham and why Bruce Wayne is no where to be seen.
Meanwhile, Team Flash shows up in Star City and accidentally tells Felicity about the body swap. This leads to a heartwarming moment between her and Caitlin, who tries to comfort her and not give up on the love that she and Oliver feel for each other.
Enough with the Hallmark moments already, CW!!
Just as with the first hour during The Flash, this episode ends with an action packed fight scene when Oliver and Diggle attempts to confront Deegan. Naturally, he escapes and cause a prison break in the process which has our heroes slightly distracted. In flies Batwoman to save the day and for the umpteenth time, tells our heroes to get out of her city. For once, our heroes decide to listen and obey and with the Book of Destiny recovered, they return to Star City.
All is right in the world right? One would think but with Barry Allen and Oliver Queen, nothing ever stays right for long. The Monitor shows up, makes Earth-90 Flash disappear, snatches the book back and hands it to Deegan, who rewrites reality… again.
And just like that, we’re onto the final hour of this season’s Arrowverse crossover ‘Elseworlds’.
In the previous episode, The Monitor was urging Dr. Deegan to think real big in his second stab at rewriting reality. And boy did he think big. In fact, he thought super big. Yep, your Dr. Deegan turned himself into a black-clad Superman.
After an embarrassing loss against a powerless Barry and Oliver aka the Trigger Twins, Dr. Deegan decides that he needs to do some taunting to heal his bruised ego. So off he goes to the pipeline where a powerless Kara finds herself trapped in. Kara doesn’t rise to his attempt at getting a rise out of her and so poor Dr. Deegan brings in someone who most certainly will.
In walks alt-Alex with long, raided hair and a taser-like zapper that hurts Kara when pushed. Realizing Alex was Kara’s Achilles heel, the doctor threatens to kill Alex should Kara misbehave.
Meanwhile, Oliver and Barry’s off in search for Cisco where they wind up running into The Monitor who congratulates them on outwitting a superman. The Monitor also calls Oliver’s hubris and anger his strength, which Barry finds odd. But before he can process what The Monitor meant by his words, the pair is thrown back to Earth to continue their search for Cisco.
They eventually finally find him, counting money in a throne-chair. Turns out in this alter-reality, Cisco’s a crime boss who orders Jimmy Olsen to “take care of this problem”. In a desperate attempt to avoid execution, Barry tells Cisco that he knew his brother Dante. Luckily for the Trigger Twins, this works and Cisco decides to hear them duo out in their plan to get rid of Super-dick.
Meanwhile, Kara’s attempting her own convincing in trying to get this Alex to let her out. Getting no where, Kara tries desperately to freeze-breath her way out of the cell but only succeeds in receiving more pain from her beloved sister. In pain, Kara gasps out a phrase in Japanese, which causes Alex to take pause.
Kara immediately latches onto this break in Alex’s wall and says that despite being an alter-reality, she still sees her sister in front of her and pinky swears that she will stop the imposter if Alex lets her out.
Of course, escape isn’t that easy and Super-dick catches the sisters just as their escaping. But timing is everything and Cisco had perfect timing when he opened a breach between them just as Super-dick was about to eye-laser the both of them.
In flies the real Superman and while he’s fighting his doppelganger, the others start looking for the Book. Finding the book but unable to open it due to her time in the pipeline, Kara flies it over to her cousin who immediately thrusts it open and the energy the flows out returns Kara, Barry, and Oliver back into their suits. Their powers are back and in a one last desperate attempt to stay in control, Super-dick grabs Barry by the neck and threatens to kills him if Superman doesn’t stop.
Kara and Oliver manages to save Barry but not before Super-dick escapes once more with the book. In order to stop him, Barry suggests that he and Kara race around the globe in opposite directions to try and slow down time. Clark is hesitant with this plan though, Because he saw this exact plan in the book and the result was less than ideal. “You both die.”
But of course being Kara and Barry, they are undeterred and set out anyway to put this plan into motion. So Oliver seeks out The Monitor and tells him that his darkness isn’t what The Monitor needs. The Monitor says that if he rewrites Kara and Barry’s destiny, then he needs something else to maintain the balance. So what does Oliver, the first person ever to confront him, suggests?
Looks like the powers that be have decided to keep that a mystery from us, at least for now. Because, after The Monitor’s words, we jump back to Earth where Barry and Kara are starting to burn under the strain of their plan. When it looks like our heroes are about to lose, Oliver arrives with a blue-glowing arrow that he shoots into the book turning Super-dick back into Dr. Deegan.
He withers into a zombie…. mummy…?? and the book pages start to char. So it looks like things are back to normal as our heroes go back to their lives. But um… what about that deal that Oliver supposedly made with The Monitor? Are we just expected to accept that he did that out of the goodness of his heart and didn’t extract anything from Oliver in exchange?
Listen, we watch Supernatural, which means we know those kinds of deals aren’t things you play around with and we’re desperate to know what exactly Oliver agreed to in an effort to get The Monitor to pull back.
Whatever it was, Oliver thinks he’ll become a better man someday thanks to Barry. But hugging it out is still off the table.
Then, because again, nothing ever stays normal for long, Oliver gets a call from Batwoman, who says that Deegan made a friend. Cut to Arkham Asylum, where a masked man in the cell next to Deegan intones: “Everything is as it should be. The stage is set. Worlds will live. Worlds will die. And the universe will never be the same.”
And now, we’re forced to wait a year to find out about “Crisis is on Infinite Earths”. Oh boy, this is going to be a long wait. What an Arrowverse crossover!!