DC TV Roundup: A Week Marked By Returns

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. Multiply those possibilities due to a handful of these shows now existing and we’re being 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 recap the most memorable moments in DC TV each week, analyzing all the unforgettable developments to occur on Gotham, Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, provided a new episode airs. Check it all out on the next page and be sure to comment down below letting us know what your favorite moment was this week from DC's TV universe. 5) In The Shadows We Are Legion With Eobard Thawne working mostly from the shadows thus far in season 2 of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, it seemed like it would be only a matter of time before the Legion of Doom came to the forefront. For better or worse, it finally happened this week. Already known to be colluding with Damien Darhk, The Reverse Flash added another wrongdoer to their number in the form of Malcolm Merlyn. But unlike Darhk, who is dead in the present, it seems like Thawne has plucked the most current version of Merlyn from the timeline, which may be for the best, lest viewers become too confused. And although “The Chicago Way” was a pretty decent midseason finale, the first coming together of such an iconic supervillain group felt a bit underwhelming. It also doesn’t help matters that Captain Cold is appearing only as a hallucination in the mind of Heat Wave, something we hope swiftly changes because we were told he would be counted among the LoD’s rank. Furthermore, could the Legends please stop killing droves of people in the past? With all the scrutiny they put The Flash under – along with Martin Stein being criticized for creating a time aberration in the form of a daughter whom had previously never existed – you would think they could deduce what major shakeups to the timestream they’re causing. When you kill someone in the past, no matter how vile they may be, you’ve just wiped their descendants from existence. Do the producers even think of this stuff? 4) Don’t Call Him Joker One of the most memorable moments on any DC TV show this week had to be Mark Hamill’s welcome return to The Flash, regardless of its brevity. Having played a variety of incarnations of both The Joker and The Trickster since 1990, it isn’t hard to figure out why he holds a special place in the hearts of so many fans. Since reprising his role as the latter on The Flash, it became quite obvious from the start that this version of Trickster was written more like the Joker, with Hamill obviously using his now infamous character voice that was once exclusive to the Clown Prince of Crime. It’s as if the producers said, “hey, Mark, use your Joker voice when playing Trickster. We doubt a single fan will complain.” Despite his short-lived cameo as Earth-3’s Trickster (who looked very much like The Jokester, Earth-3’s version of Joker in the comics), this will no doubt live on in the minds of many because it’s probably the closest thing we’ll get to seeing Hamill portray the Ace of Knaves in live action. 3) In The Name Of The Future So much happened involving Savitar on the midseason finale of The Flash that it may take us until the show’s January 24 return to process it all. In short, Barry Allen is, like, so totally screwed. Not only did we learn that Alchemy is a product of the God of Speed hijacking Julian Albert’s consciousness, but the Demigod also played tricks on Cisco Ramon, invoking the dead brother card that will continue to cause his relationship with Barry to be strained. But perhaps the biggest bomb to be dropped was that Savitar’s wrath was incurred due to something Barry did to him in the future and, on that note, the Scarlet Speedster found himself flung five months from now to witness his newest nemesis delivering the deathblow to his beloved Iris West. This perpetuates the whole Flashpoint conundrum causing us to wonder if this would have even happened if Barry had he not altered the timeline. There is hope, however, as Jay Garrick offered some reassurance when he pretty much riffed on Terminator’s “no fate but what we make” adage. The very possibility that Iris’ fate isn’t set in stone adds an extra measure of excitement to the back 14 episodes of season 3 and is sure to keep us glued to our sets. 2) Prometheus Makes His (Or Her?) Move It’s arguable that the best villains are those who possess the ability to tear a hero’s life asunder and that’s exactly what Prometheus did this week on the midseason finale of Arrow. After first delivering a brutal beatdown that sent Curtis Holt to the hospital, season 5’s big bad sent Green Arrow on one of the most violent scavenger hunts we've ever seen. Blending past and present with some perfectly executed editing techniques, viewers were sent on a high-octane ride as Prometheus’ motivations were detailed along with showing how Oliver Queen’s brutal methods at the start of his vigilante career have come back to haunt him in kind. With the lives of several members of Team Arrow now in shambles, it comes as only a minor disappointment that the identity of Prometheus has yet to be revealed. But we did get a nice consolation prize from the producers near the end of the episode when it was subtly hinted that Susan Williams, Oliver’s current girlfriend and my top suspect for a while now, is under the mask. Should she not be, it’s a solid bet that she's in collusion with the antagonist at the very least, which ultimately won’t help our hero with his trust issues. 1) Laurel Lance Returns! While there’s not much offered regarding this subject, the closing scene from this week’s episode of Arrow marked the surprise return of Laurel Lance, The Black Canary. Despite being killed in season 4, we knew to expect her in the midseason premiere, so this shocker was most welcome and has sparked a brushfire of discussion amongst fans. It remains to be seen whether she's back from the dead, this is Laurel from another Earth, or some unexpected third option. We can, however, rule out her being a hallucination because Echo Kellum, Mr. Terrific himself, recently told us that “Curtis definitely will interact with her,” so that statement informs that she’s very much tangible. Whatever lies ahead, let’s take solace in knowing one of the most crucial elements of the Green Arrow mythos is now back in play.