TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Elseworlds Part 2!

So…who wants a Batwoman series? Same here. Ruby Rose’s Kate Kane may not have had the most screentime in “Elseworlds Part 2”, but it worked for setting her up in the character role, and teasing a lot of what could happen should the CW go forward with the series.

The real problem with Elseworlds Part 2 though was the similar problem with Elseworlds Part 1. Too much time focused on smaller subplots, and not enough time spent on the overall issue of what was going on with reality.

Much of the episode was spent trying to figure out where Dr. Deggan was and what he was doing in terms of distorting reality. Then, it became about trying to open the book…which lasted all of 10 seconds before Deggan got it back again. You see, I don’t find Deggan a compelling character, and the Monitor said that he “had vision”, and while I’m glad that they enforced the whole “there’s a learning curve to changing realities”, it didn’t make things any easier to swallow in terms of how things only changed a little instead of a lot, like we are now after that new cliffhanger.

This also wasn’t helped by John Wesley Shipp’s data dump at the end of the episode where he literally spelled out the entire backstory of the Monitor in all of a minute.

And, not unlike Batwoman, he was gone in a blink. Sure, he is likely to return, but I’m not sure, it’s all up in the air right now.

Use of time was really critical here in the crossovers. Ironically, “Crisis on Earth-X” did a great job of balancing things out because they had 4 episodes to do things and thus didn’t have to worry about much in terms of rushing. Here, they seem focused on Barry and Oliver’s relationships with their wives. I mean, seriously, we just had Oliver and Felicity break up in the last episode, and now, we have them basically getting back together. Really? If they had trimmed that storyline, it could’ve allowed more time for Shipp’s Flash to interact with the others more, and thus give more feeling to everything instead of a rushed thing.

Fortunately, like episode one, the “fun” of the episode really carried things. From the Batman-esque music, to the Batman Begins/Batman V Superman shot of Ruby Rose looking at her Batsuit, to the numerous Easter Eggs in Arkham Asylum, to the very cool fight scenes, and the possible relationship between Batwoman and Supergirl (I’m just saying…), they really packed the fun into the episode. Sure, some of it seemed random, like the Nora Fries arrival and fight with Killer Frost, but still, it worked for the most part.

And the Superman twist at the end was very well handled, as it was teased as being one thing, but now it’s clearly another, and that’s cool.

“Elseworlds Part 2” did a well enough job of moving things along. But it’ll have to be a heck of a finale to make it all work by the end.