DC TV Roundup: An Alien Apokolips & Prometheus’ Identity Revealed?

While Marvel and DC battle to see who wins at the box office, it’s virtually inarguable that it's the latter who dominates the small screen. Now having taken over four nights of the week when it comes to prime time programming, serialized superhero storytelling has swiftly become a cornerstone in the lives of many a geek these days. And who could blame any of us? Twenty-some episodes afford more character development and make room for introductions of heroes and villains that you would never be able to see in a two-hour movie. Now multiply those possibilities due to a handful of these shows existing and we’re treated to a Golden Age of Superhero TV that we hope doesn’t end any time soon. Given that, we've started this new column to countdown the most memorable moments in DC TV each week, analyzing the most unforgettable developments to occur on Gotham, Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, provided a new episode airs. Enjoy! 5) James Olsen Gets Bitten By The Vigilante Bug When most of us think of James “Jimmy” Olsen, we picture a nerdy photojournalist who's also historically known as “Superman’s Pal.” Make no mistake, Supergirl has captured his relationship with the Man of Steel surprisingly well, but this particular version of the character is a bit tougher than we're used to seeing. Ever since he was cast, I couldn’t help but think that Mehcad Brooks looked more like a superhero than a scrawny photographer. It’s known to comic book readers that James has taken on various personas over the years such as Elastic Lad and Turtle Boy, both of which would probably come off as silly to mainstream audiences if adapted to live action. But to boldly reinterpret The Guardian and have James take up that mantle makes perfect sense on this show given Brooks’ physique, air of confidence, and the strong sense of morality that he conveys. Although he won’t actually don his armor until next week’s episode, his need to dispense street justice was enough for us to take notice and include it in this week’s list. 4) Everybody Loves Riddler A major talking point sprung from the latest episodes of Gotham has been that of the non-platonic love Penguin has developed for Edward Nygma. What makes this worthier of our attention than your usual round of “shipping” is knowing how Oswald Cobblepot has a history of lashing out violently and, as we learned this past Monday, he doesn’t take too kindly to rivals. An added element to this cocktail was the woman Nygma had been seeing: Isabella, a spitting image of his deceased girlfriend, Kristen Kringle – whom he happened to accidentally murder last season. This deliciously macabre dynamic took a turn for the weirder when Isabella altered her appearance to look like her predecessor, effectively showing she’s on the same wavelength as the would be Riddler. But, all is fair in love and war. Therefore, Penguin literally killed the competition. With Nygma’s psyche once again fracturing, we can only imagine what he will do once he acquires the knowledge that Cobblepot pried true love from his grasp. In the end, we are the winners because this will do nothing but make for some highly compelling television as the midseason final rapidly approaches. 3) Harbingers Of Doom This week on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, another puzzle piece in the formation of the Legion of Doom fell into place when The Reverse Flash/Eobard Thawne and Damien Darhk officially began to consort their power. With Darhk’s attempts to whisper in the ear of President Ronald Reagan proving to be a failure, we saw this villain in a vulnerable place unfamiliar to both him and us. It was most fortunate for him, however, that Thawne extended the blackest of olive branches and offered him a seat in his very own timesphere. Had the Legion of Doom definitively formed, that would have easily taken the top spot on our list, but this baby step made so much of an impact that it still managed to make the cut. Sure, the evil cabal won’t come together until 2017, but the knowledge that a dastardly duo can navigate the timestream just as the Waverider crew can adds an exciting new element to a series that very much needs to distinguish its second season from its first. 2) An Alien Apokolips? We swear to you this one isn’t reaching too much, so please hear us out because it demands a closer look. By now, you're well aware that the sinister group known as Cadmus has been giving Supergirl headaches on a weekly basis. Their latest exploit saw them place alien technology in the hands of street thugs who seemed like a precursor to Intergang. Comic book readers know said gang to have ties to Apokolips, a planet that happens to be ruled by none other than Darkseid. Cadmus, led by the mother of Lena Luthor, had the intention of arming the aforementioned thugs in hopes of pushing public perception toward their xenophobic agenda. What’s more intriguing is that the Luthor matriarch’s reasoning was an impending “alien apocalypse” humanity needed to ready itself for. What we need to wonder about was whether she meant to spell that “apocalypse” or “Apokolips,” possibly building toward season 3’s threat. Let’s not forget that Pam Grier’s Amanda Waller made the same proclamation in Smallville season 9, heralding the coming of Darkseid in season 10. But even with red tape between WB’s motion picture and film divisions being thinner than ever, we must wonder if they would go for something like this with it possibly stepping on the toes of the movies. Yes, we now have two distinctly different Supermen on screens big and small, but Justice League will arrive in theaters when Supergirl is knee deep in its third season that we assume it will be renewed for. Either way, it leaves a lot to ponder over the course of the next year. 1) Prometheus’ Identity Revealed? Given what's developed in the handful of episodes to air thus far in Arrow season 5, it very much appears that Prometheus will indeed be this year’s big bad. And, like many masked villains in this shared universe, fans speculate week-to-week as to what their true identity may be. This past Wednesday, “So It Begins” closed with a shocker suggesting that the beloved Quentin Lance is under the hood. His bearing of a forearm laceration identical to the one Prometheus received in a battle with Green Arrow and Artemis – in addition to a throwing star adorning his coffee table – caused a multitude of viewers to ask themselves what just happened. Add to that the knowledge that the throwing stars were forged from metal repurposed from Oliver’s old arrows sitting around in SCPD evidence holding and things aren’t looking good the father of two Canaries. We cannot, however, rule out that this is a red herring as it seems highly reminiscent of the misdirection implying Roy Harper killed Sara Lance in season 3. I mean, why blow a mystery this early on? It could be a case of producers wanting to focus on the journey itself rather than the mystery, but this seems way too convenient. If it does hold up, we must consider the possibility of Lance suffering some kind of psychotic break brought on by unimaginable trauma endured over the past few years compounded by a love/hate relationship with the Green Arrow. And hopefully they explain where he learned all those fancy moves because his training is on par with that of someone in the League of Assassins. Perhaps Flashpoint had some effects on him?