Sometimes life gets crazy, and weekly recaps don’t happen. Trust me when I say, it’s not you, it’s me…or, us. But we’re back this week to go over our favorite CW Arrowverse shows so, can we give this another shot?

This week, The Sweetest Lou & The Grumpy Geek will touch on both Week 4 and Week 5’s entries into the Arrowverse.

Grumpy note: I got busy last week. What can I say?

Supergirl

Lou: A lot of stuff happened over the course of 2 weeks on Supergirl. Kara took on a cult, with the show making profound statements on faith and religion, Adrian Pasdar’s villainous Edge proved himself a worthy “big bad”, and…oh, who am I kidding… You want to talk about “Sanvers”, right? Yep, me too. Not only did this show give us an incredibly healthy view of a relationship between Alex and Maggie, it gave this universe quite possibly its most realistic relationship, not only when they were together, but in the heartbreaking complication that is a breakup, no matter what form it takes. Watching Maggie walk out of Alex’s house may or may not have choked me up (hint: it did), because they were one of the few couples within the confines of the multiverse that I felt seemed truly meant for each other. It’s incredibly sad to see Maggie leave.

…oh! And Sam’s bulletproof. So there’s that, too. I’m all in for this Reign storyline.

Grumpy: Two weeks ago, at the beginning of the episode I was all like… whaaaaat? We’re going to do cult stuff? But, by the end, I actually loved the episode. One of my favorite scenes in a superhero show yet was the end of the episode where there was the montage of all of the different characters doing their version of praying. All peacefully enjoying their moment of reflection with their own deity. Nice little bit of social commentary there that boils down to – why can’t we all just do our own thing and get along? I thought it was a sweet ending…. both sweet and saaaweeeeet. I liked the episode too, not just that little moment. I thought it was a nice little – all of the problems in the superverse don’t have to be caused by super villains and aliens episode. Real people, even good people, looking for hope anywhere they can find it, can sometimes be easily swayed. Episode 5 turns out another real, human episode. We knew it was coming, but I have to agree with Lou, watching Maggie walk out the door was a tear-jerker, though I was happy that it was Alex making the call. Showed strength, and selfishly, I don’t want 3 or 4 episodes of weepy Alex. I like that they gave Alex some layers as a character, but I like that Alex is tough too, and I think sometimes they dragged weepy Alex out unrealistically long. I was pretty sure that Adrian Pasdar’s agent was better than one episode, so we have ourselves a bad guy. And he is as despicable as thy come. Poisoning the kids to frame Lena? Dude needs a super kick in the stones. The Morgan Edge character is no newcomer to DC Comics, making his first appearance in 1970. In those days he was a ruthless media mogul, while real estate developer seems to be his thing in this incarnation, although his attempt to buy CatCo out from under Cat Grant, fit in nicely with his roots. I am still all-in on the strategy of the slow burn up to Reign making her appearance.

Shop: S.T.A.R. Labs: Cisco Ramon’s Journal is available for pre-order

The Flash

Lou:The Flash is slowly getting back to what made this show so special to begin with: it was fun. I’m still skeptical about Wally leaving the show, as he has nearly as much to do with Flash-lore as Barry himself, but I AM growing fond of Hartley Sawyer’s smarmy ex-cop Ralph Dibny, aka the Elongated Man. Essentially, he’s an a–hole, which puts him at odds with the entirety of Team Flash, adding a new, fun dynamic to the show. Cisco also got to meet Gypsy’s Dad, played the incomparable Danny Trejo, which lead to a meta-human, life or death version of hide and seek. While the short episode arc sounds awesome, and I love Danny Trejo as much as the next guy, it fell flat for me. Hoping if they convince Trejo to come back, it’s more “menacing bad ass,” less “overprotective dad with superpowers.” Cecille fits nicely into the BA ladies’ squad, and I’ve enjoyed watching Caitlin’s transformation (de-transformation?) into the current Killer Frost, but Katie Sackoff’s turn as the villainous Amunet Black was the pitch perfect highlight of the last couple of weeks, with her action and accent stealing the show. I’m thrilled that she escaped, leading us to believe she’ll be a thorn in Team Flash’s side for the forseeable future. And for the record, I for one completely understand drunk Barry’s love for chicken wings. I feel that love, sober, every day.

Grumpy: Two old style Flash episodes back to back. This is the program I loved in its first season. Great sense of humor and some great action, as well. It’s funny that the new guy is Barry’s old nemesis. It’s even funnier that the firs thing Barry noticed when he woke up after the lightning strike was “Lightning gave me abs” and the first thing Ralphy does with his new power is to give himself a washboard. I’ll agree that while fun, Episode 4 with Danny Trejo was mostly fluff. I’m sorry, I can never look at the guy the same way after his Marsha Brady Snickers commercial. Great piece of work there. I also am enjoying the Caitlin story arc. I love that there is an inner struggle going on. I love that Frost can’t just over power the more passive Caitlin, and that there is actually a struggle going on for both characters. I actually loved the “Girls Night Out” episode. I really like stronger and in charge Iris. I may have mentioned that before. It was great fun having Felicity in town for the episode. I loved the Iris keep trying to bolster Caitlin by letting her know how important she is to the team and as a friend. Sweet moment at the end. The fact that Dibny hijacks the boring bachelor party and takes them to a strip club…hilarious. Grant Gustin really had great fun with drunk Flash. I laughed out loud every time he announced to the whole bar “I’m the Flash”. Cracked me up. No doubt that Kate Sackoff most definitely gets the episode MVP. Her portrayal of Amunet Black was so good. Attitude, accent, costume, swagger. Perfection. I do hope she is around more. I was a bit surprised by the Weeper’s response to his rescue. Maybe that will play out in later episodes. And it was nice to see The Thinker get out and about. I was beginning to think his assistant had him tied up or something. I like the build up we have going on.

Shop: Lots of Flash gear from Amazon. Perfect Christmas shopping ideas.

Legends of Tomorrow

Lou: After complaining during Week 3 that just after warming up to this merry band of misfits, they hit me with an episode that drove me nuts with its idiocy. Then Weeks 4 & 5 came around and, in true Dumb & Dumber fashion, TOTALLY REDEEMED THEMSELVES! With 80’s references coming out of every orifice, a child of the 80s is going to buy right in, and well, I did. Seeing that the eternal optimist Ray Palmer’s childhood was less than ideal shed some light on what makes the lighthearted hero tick, Nate’s “Cougar” line while hitting on Ray’s mom had me dying, and the multiple Singing in the Rain gags made this musical theatre fan quite happy (the fact that my wife sings that particular song to my son each morning when he wakes up didn’t hurt either). Throw in a couple ET and Alien references, and I was headed back on the Legends train. Episode 5 returned Rip Hunter, brought back scene stealer Damien Darhk, and had a running joke with my 7th grade jam, “Return of the Mack.”Legends has humor and heart, and as long as it continues upon this course, it looks like we’re going to have a lot of fun this season.

Grumpy: Legends didn’t disappoint either week. It is the steady player in this universe. It’s kinda like the fullback of the CW. Just steady, never the hero, and once in awhile it scores a touchdown. It was a pleasant surprise watching Ray try to save Ray. It was totally fun that the problem was a baby Dominator with sweet tooth and a mommy that was pissed. I loved most of Episode 5. One thing, however, that irked me was Berlanti’s need to return to good things too often. I was in hook, line, and sinker on the vampire story line, and it was funny as hell that Mick just continued to read Dracula throughout the episode, but really, we had two seasons in a row of Damien Darhk. I think Neal McDonough was incredible in his portrayal, but I am done with him. Really, really done with him. If we have to watch another season of good guys not being able to fight Darhk’s powerful magic…. I’m not going to be amused. It is like the overuse of speedster bad guys in The Flash. Be done, I say. Be done. It is unimaginative to keep returning to the same well, regardless of the talent of the actor. It’s a Berlanti thing. Multiple Harrison Wells in The Flash, neither Lance sister stays dead in Arrow, and now a third season of Damien Darhk. C’mon, Greg, fresh ideas please.

Arrow

Lou: I’m sure my esteemed colleague, the Grumpiest of them all, will further elaborate on his thoughts of both Episodes 4 & 5, but guys…guys…Slade. My mercenary from another mother is back, and I could not be freaking happier. I forgot how much I missed seeing Manu Bennett as the greatest villain the Arrowverse has seen up to this point, and seeing flashbacks to a time when he played both father and murderer simultaneously was an added treat. The “Deathstroke the Terminator” name drop was nice for long time comic book fans of the character, and the Deathstroke-centric action scene shows that the Arrow fight coordination team is firing on all cylinders this season. Sure, he killed, like 23 guys in 17 seconds, but was I the only one that thought, “C’mon! No WAY Slade gets shot point blank by a random henchman!” The “twist” that Slade’s son was leading the black market group was an obvious one, but it does open up the options for the second part of this multiweek arc, and I can’t wait to see what happens to our favorite Merc with a Big Ass Sword.

Grumpy: Just for the record, I am almost done with Oliverless Arrow. It was fun-ish while it lasted, but time to get back to business. Not sure how we fix this without making him a complete ass because he lied to his kid, but I am done. Find an excuse to rename the kid Connor Hawke, start his training, give him Thea’s suit, as she isn’t using it (too soon?), and let’s get back to business. What was interesting for a minute or two was the idea of Felicity and Oliver changing places. She running out on him, as he did for so long before. Him doing her job as Overwatch, trying to man the tech in the bunker. Not for nothing, I didn’t buy it. He’s never shown one ounce of interest in how all that stuff worked. Always a pleasure to see the “Shouldn’t have been killed off” Katie Cassidy back, and Michael Emerson was great as tech madman Cayden James, slicked back hair and all. And the foreshadowing of setting Felicity up for future crimes…. good shizzle. Week 5, with the return of Deathstroke was not as awe-inspiring for me as Lou and his Manucrush. I did like the flashbacks to being dad and murderer, and when I did get it, which was early, I was disappointed by the fate of his son. It was low hanging sins of our fathers fruit. If I want that, I just turn on Star Wars. It wasn’t a bad episode, I’m just not doing back flips over it. I enjoyed Week 4 better’n Week 5.

Related: Check out all of The Geekiverse’s Arrowverse coverage

Lou’s episode of the Week(s):Week 4’s best was Legends of Tomorrow,,but Arrow takes the nod for Week 5. And let’s be honest…it’ll prroobbbaabbllllyyyy take Week 6 as well, because Deathstroke.

Grumpy’s episode of the Week(s): Week 4 I’m going with Arrow. While there was some solid meh in it, I did like the role reversal stuff, and I liked the return of Alena, and I don’t trust her, so I think we’ll see more shenanigans. Week 5 I’m going with – “I’m the Flash” (Laughter from everyone around) Drunk Barry was fantastic. Katee Sackoff was fantastic. Enjoyed every bit of it.

Lou Mattiuzzo is a full time teacher, full time father, full time husband, and full time superhero enthusiast. You can follow him on twitter @Sweetest_Lou or just stay put and read his asinine nonsense on this website instead.

The Grumpy Geek, Pete Herr is the author of 10 Things We Should Teach You In High School and Usually Dont. He is the oldest geek in the Geekiverse by a factor of two.Follow Pete Herr on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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