TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Crisis On Infinite Earths Part 3

Man, and you thought things were depressing BEFORE! And you thought you hated Lex Luthor before! Oh no, you hate him a lot more now, huh? If “Crisis On Infinite Earths Part 3” was anything, it was the tipping point before things got really dark. Because even with 2 episodes left, you had to wonder just how dark things could go. And with some many promises, teases, and more, you knew things had to get worse.

And they did.

Starting off with the death of Birds of Prey Earth (the one from the TV series, not the movie that’s upcoming), which showed quite beautifully how one would react to the end of their world, and how much danger the Multiverse was in once again.

Then, it was the quest to find out who the final paragons were (shocker, we already had some of them…), and then get the final one, Ryan Choi (one of the many who wore The Atom moniker). Meanwhile, Team Flash and co had to go and try and stop the Anti-Matter wave, and Team Arrow (plus Constantine and Sara…who technically have been on Team Arrow before…) had to go into purgatory in order to get his soul back…and Kara was struggling with not using the Book of Destiny to try and bring all the worlds to life again. Oh, and did I mention Black Lightning finally entered the mix?

So yeah, it was a packed episode, but it made it work beautifully.

Let’s start off with the character moments. Like Ryan Choi freaking out to meet Ray Palmer, Kate and Kara’s growing bond (are they hinting more than that?), Diggle chewing out Sara about the death of Oliver and the Lazarus Pit, Kingdom Come Superman telling Lois about the meaning of his new symbol, Black Lightning and Flash talking about their fathers, and more. It was these interactions that helped make this episode feel really special. There are a LOT of characters to juggle here, but it really did work.

And I like how it was Iris who got Ryan to join them because it would make sense that a non-superhero would recruit a (currently) non-superhero. And as a family woman herself, she could see what Ryan was going through and empathize with him. I’m curious as to what Ryan’s role in the final battle will be as he’s not The Atom just yet.

Meanwhile, finding out that the Barry Allen from Earth-90 was the one powering the Anti-Matter Wave generator, and figuring out how Pariah fit into all this was nicely handled. As was the twist on the formula that a Flash DID die…but not the Arrowverse one. But rather, John Wesley Shipp’s version that quite literally ran for the last time…for the right reasons this go round (he got canceled in the 90’s). Seeing the clip from the 90’s show as he died was a beautiful touch.

Then, Team Arrow finding Oliver’s soul on Lian Yu (because of course it’s there), only for JIM CORRIGAN (“not the one I know”) to show up and basically make Oliver The Spectre made his resurrection worth it. Because the Specter is coming!!!! Oh, and did anyone else notice that that was LUCIFER MORNINGSTAR!!!?!!?!!

For the record, that was a Vertigo Comic, and that was part of the DC Comics line, so that counts! And of course, he knows John Constantine. Because of course he does.

The arrival of Black Lightning was well handled, and while it may seem like he’s “done” for now, I wouldn’t make that bet. Something tells me he’ll be back, and that scene with him and Flash just tugs on your heartstrings.

The final few minutes as Earth-1 remained, only for the Anti-Monitor to arrive in the form of Lyla to fight everyone and destroy everything, that was a nice twist on things. As was Pariah redeeming himself partially and sending the Paragons to the Vanishing Point (Legends of Tomorrow Season 1!) was clever as well.

Oh, what’s that? LEX LUTHOR SWITCHED PLACES WITH KINGDOM COME SUPERMAN?!!??!? YOU JERK!!! “What do we do now?” How about you bring back Kingdom Come Superman?!?!?!

I’m not sure how I feel about that twist, because Luthor had a big role in Part 2, and unless his role is critical in Part 4 and 5? This feels like a copout to not have to Super-Kryptonians against the Anti-Monitor. But we’ll see.

In the end, “Crisis On Infinite Earths Part 3” delivered many shocks, many surprises, and some great cameos. It’s sad though that we have to wait a month for the final episodes to air.