The tradition continues as the Sentries team up to cover the seventh annual CW/Arrowverse crossover event. This season the five-part “Armageddon” airs only on The Flash. Read “Part 1” here.
Gordon S. Miller:
As the episode opens, Despero says a new despair will fall upon Barry and he will go mad from the sorrow, “and with it the world ends.” He reveals the beginning of the end is tomorrow and if Despero senses madness within Barry, he’ll kill him. And yet again, no explanation why helping Barry isn’t an option over murdering him.
Viewers are told a little more about Despero. He showed mercy to the despot who oppressed his people, but when that villain returned to power, Despero was banished to Earth, which is why he tries to protect it.
Things are slowly taken away from Barry. He’s suspended by the police department and under investigation, suspected of working as a mole. STAR Labs is shut down because of dangerous levels of radiation and set for possible demolition.
Sotar, the psychic meta, might be the reason Barry loses his mind. But as he tries to apprehend her, he ends up back with the team, unaware that he attacked them. And he’s possibly experienced a big memory loss as he’s unaware Joe’s been dead for six months.
With Barry seemingly out of control, causing havoc around the city, Despero arrives to follow through on his threat but is stopped by Team Flash. Barry runs off to Justice League HQ and requests the help of Black Lightning (Cress Williams), who appears in the last few moments.
I understand this event isn’t an Arrowverse crossover and TV production under Covid is difficult, but was hoping for more. Part 1 offered a good team-up with the Atom, but Part 2 only delivers a two-in-one in one scene. BL will surely have a greater presence in Part 3 (hopefully), and fingers are crossed more characters join the fray.
Shawn Bourdo:
In “Armageddon, Part 1”, things went from going really well for Team Flash to “Barry’s going to destroy the world.” This week we should be able to set aside the “gettin’ to know ya” events and get down to figuring out what Despero is talking about and how to ultimately defeat him.
- Does the appearance of Alex Danvers at the beginning of the episode and at the end make this officially a crossover with Supergirl?
- Team Flash and STAR Labs are having a really bad awful day. No wonder Barry is going to go crazy on everyone.
- Flash’s encounter with Xotar shoots him into a future with no memory of what he has been doing. Is he going insane or is this some elaborate setup? Maybe it’s just an annoying way to prolong the story.
- The feel good moment of the episode is quickly offset with the bed news that they’ve been dropping hints on for the past two episodes. Is it the cause of The Flash losing his mind or an illustration of why he’s already insane?
- Black Lightning’s appearance at the Hall of Justice is better here than in the actual Black Lightning series. He was one of the best parts of the “Crisis” crossover because his powers are best when he’s not always worrying about where his daughters have gotten off to. Barry’s word “Injustice” hints at the DC Comic Event that was essentially their version of Marvel’s Civil War. I don’t see that happening here but some sort of division of “I believe Barry is good” vs “Barry should turn himself over to authorities” would seem to be in the works.
Was this better than “Armageddon Part 1”? Yes. In terms of the show The Flash, it’s not too different than what we usually deal with on a weekly basis. The Meta-Of-The-Week was a pretty lame distraction. But the mystery of Barry’s “lost time” or “memory lapses” are an interesting twist and certainly will be the more compelling part of the next few episodes.
