From the very early reports on this year’s Arrowverse crossover, it was clear that it would be a massive event. And once the news broke that Barry and Iris’s wedding will be at the heart of it, I had no doubt that it will be huge. However, only when watching the actual crossover (and writing this Crisis on Earth-X review) I realized how monumental this 4-parter actually is.
It had everything and then some. From heroes and villains and weddings and fights (yes, there were multiples of all of these things) to happiness and death. This crossover definitely topped last year’s alien invasion and did it in a mind-blowing way. How will they be able to do it next year? I simply don’t know. But while we wait and see, let’s get into the recap of Crisis on Earth-X.
Warning, spoilers ahead!
Heroes assemble
Right out of the gate the Arrowverse crossover started with action and humor. After the short lead in showing Earth X and the villains hatching their plan to get to Earth-1, we saw characters from all four shows heading to Iris and Barry’s wedding.
Iris complained to Barry about the fact that not everyone had RSVP’d, while Barry was taking down a giant shark. Felicity asked Oliver if they are going to the wedding while he was fighting some ninjas. The Legends fought Sheriff Nottingham’s men somewhere in Medieval England and realized that they have a wedding to catch. And Supergirl took down a stray Dominator in National City and decided to stop wallowing in her misery and actually go to her friend’s wedding with Alex in tow. You know the usual pre-wedding superhero stuff.
But once all heroes arrived in Star City, the celebration could really start. A little bit of pre Rehearsal dinner pampering for the ladies. Last minute suit fitting for the men. And the drinking began. I have to admit, the Rehearsal dinner probably was one of my favorite scenes of Crisis on Earth-X. Mainly because it was hella fun as well as featured a very unexpected Olicity scene. More on that later.
And then came the big day. Kara sang. Iris walked down the aisle in a beautiful wedding gown. Barry had tears in his eyes. Mick was sleeping and everyone was happy. Yet, if we know one thing about superhero weddings it is that the heroes rarely actually get to marry the first time around. And this superhero wedding was no different. Because it was crashed by Nazis. From another Earth. With a few super-people amongst their ranks. Ain’t that a spectacular way how to interrupt a wedding?
Nazis? I hate Nazis!
After a group of intruders crashed the wedding, a fight broke out and the heroes managed to win, even capturing one of the intruders. So they all went back to Team Flash HQ to figure out who the invaders were. And they discovered that they were attacked by people from a place called Earth X. An Earth where Nazis won the war and has been ruled by a similar oppressing regime ever since.
But as it turned out the attackers weren’t just any Earth-X supervillains, they were the Earth-X equivalent of Supergirl, Green Arrow, and The Flash – Overgirl, Black Arrow, and Reverse-Flash. Which made things a lot more difficult for our heroes. On top of that, the Earth-X villains’ objective was to not only conquer and rule Earth-1, as Earth-X’s Prometheus revealed to Oliver. But also to get Supergirl’s heart, so they could transplant it into Overgirl who was dying from radiation poisoning.
So while the villains were regrouping, the heroes were devising a plan how to find them and stop them. But in the end, the Nazis kind of found them. And it turned into a fight between Kara, Oliver, Berry and their Earth-X counterparts, who were retrieving something called a prism. And the villains got away with what they needed while the good guys were saving a building from falling. Luckily, Green Arrow shot Overgirl with a Kryptonite arrow, which lead the heroes to obtaining Earth-X Kara’s blood and tracking her using it.
Adventures on Earth-X
The Earth-X villains were hiding in a shipping depo. So Green Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Firestorm, White Canary and Alex Danvers went there to stop the villains from using the prism to create a weapon of mass destruction. However, Metallo, Reverse Flash, and Overgirl overpowered them, captured the heroes and revealed them that they aren’t going to use the prism to build a bomb. Rather to weaken Kara, so they can transplant her heart into Overgirl. So Kara gave herself up and the rest of the group was sent to a concentration camp on Earth-X.
But just as it seemed that the captured heroes were at the end of the line, powerless and guns pointed at their heads, it was revealed that Earth-X has its own set of heroes. A group of people who are rebelling against the Reich. So our heroes were saved by The Ray and Leo Snart and brought to the rebellion’s base. Where they were met by Winn Schott’s Earth-X counterpart – Freedom Fighter General Schott. Who told them that he is going to blow up the only way our Earth-1 heroes can get home.
Fortunately, The Ray and Citizen Cold of Earth-X managed to talk General Schott into giving the team an hour before he destroys the Gateway aka the only device that could take our heroes home. So they devised a plan. And heroes got to work.
Earth-X battle
Oliver played evil Oliver aka The Fuhrer, fought a bunch of Nazis and won. But during the fight the controls to the Gateway were damaged, so they decided to fight their way through more Nazis to get to the Gateway and get home.
While Oliver, Alex, Sara, Leo, and Firestorm were fighting Nazis, Ray and Berry were stopping Red Tornado from destroying the Gateway. But, since our heroes were outnumbered, in order to open the breach professor Stain and Jax ended up separating and the professor got shot multiple times. The Earth-1 team with the addition of Citizen Cold and The Ray got home, but Professor Stain wasn’t in good shape.
Operation: new heart
Meanwhile, while one part of the heroes were fighting the villains and then trying to get back from Earth-X, Earth-X’s Arrow broke into STAR labs, captured Mick, Caitlin, and other heroes, and took over the facility to perform Overgirl’s heart transplant.
Luckily, Iris and Felicity hid, so they were free to try and stop the Earth-Xers from getting what they want. But after they couldn’t free Cisco and the other’s from their cells, they sent out an SOS signal to the Legends, hoping that they will get there in time to help. And in the meantime, did all they could to help as well. For example, cut power to STAR labs before Eobard Thawne could cut into red sun-weakened Supergirl.
But then, after Iris and Felicity rescued Supergirl, all three of them were captured again. And Reverse Flash threatened to kill Felicity if she didn’t give them the code to restore the power. Felicity, of course, refused, but Supergirl interjected and told her to give up the code, so no one else except Kara would die because of the Nazis.
However, as we all know, the Legends have impeccable timing. So just as Eobard Thawne was about to pierce Supergirl’s skin to start the surgery, they showed up, kicked some Nazi ass, freed everyone and sent Reverse Flash, Black Arrow, and Overgirl packing.
A hero dies, a fight is won
Now that the team that was sent to Earth-X was back, the Legends were here and everyone was freed, it was time to figure out how to win the battle against the Earth-X trio and all the Nazis. But before that could happen, Caitlin and Gideon had to take care of professor Stein.
Unfortunately, there was no saving the professor. In the end, he ended up saving Jax by drinking the liquid that separates them. And the team was down a hero. Which only made them have more motivation to end the Nazi intruder reign once and for all. Besides, if they don’t eliminate Overgirl soon, she will explode and demolish the planet either way.
So the team assembled and went to fight. Doppelganger versus doppelganger. Hero versus villain. Waverider versus Waverider. Earth-1 versus Earth-X. Everyone put their skills to use and used every trick they knew. And the heroes won. Kara carried Overgirl into space so she doesn’t destroy the Earth. And Earth-1 was rid of Nazis once again.
The Ray went back to Earth-X. Leo stuck around Earth-1. Those closes to Professor Stein buried their friend and mentor. Kara and Alex went back to Earth-3. Diggle married Barry and Iris and Oliver and Felicity. And the world lived to see another day.
I have to say, I liked this Crisis on Earth-X crossover better than the last year’s one. For three reasons. Firstly, the plot was a little more grounded than the one for previous Arrowverse crossover. Secondly, this one had much higher stakes. And not just for one character, but for almost all of them, which made the crossover more exciting and thrilling. Lastly, everybody on the team were already friends, which made it that much more interesting to watch the dynamic between different characters during Crisis on Earth-X.
Last thoughts on Crisis on Earth-X
While all this was going on, there was also a few smaller storylines that weaved all through Crisis on Earth-X. And one of the bigger ones was the relationship between Oliver and Felicity. Earlier in this Crisis on Earth-X review, I mentioned that during the rehearsal dinner there was an unexpected Olicity scene. That scene was them talking about marriage. Or rather Oliver asking Felicity to marry him. But instead of Felicity agreeing, she shouted no. Rather loudly, I must add.
And it brought tension to their relationship all throughout the crossover. What with Oliver wanting to marry Felicity, while Felicity wanting to be with Oliver, just not officially marry him. Luckily, Nazi invasion and near death experiences tend to bring some perspective and change some minds. So, in the end, Olicity got married alongside Iris and Barry. I have to say, a double wedding is a damn good way to end a crossover. And a damn good way to make Olicity permanent.
The second smaller storyline that ended up being a huge part of the crossover was Dr. Stein trying to come up with a way to separate himself and Jax and therefore end Firestorm.
Right from the start of Crisis on Earth-X, we saw Cisco and H.R. find a way to successfully un-bond Stein and Jax. But it quickly became clear that it isn’t quite what Jax wants. Because it means that he can’t be a Legend with Stein anymore, who is like a father to him.
However, when the two faced the realities of being on Earth-X and almost dying there, they talked out their differences. And even though the professor ended up dying in this crossover, it was for the right reasons and with Jax by his side. Way to say goodbye to a character!
Episode highlights:
• the whole wedding guests assemble sequence
• the rehearsal dinner
• Kara singing at the wedding
• The wedding fight sequence
• Mick bothering Caitlin about her powers
• the relationship between Earth-X’s Kara and Oliver
• Jax admitting that Stein is like a father to him
• Oliver and Earth-X Promethius’s conversation
• Alex being weird with Sarah
• Kara’s reaction to Overgirl and Dark Arrow being married
• Alex being worried about Kara constantly
• meeting The Ray, Leo, and Winn from Earth-X
• the relationship between Leo and Ray
• Iris and Felicity being a power duo and trying to save everyone
• the Legends arriving just in time to save Kara
• Jax and Stein’s goodbye
• the whole final battle sequence
• Nate catching Kara
• Jax’s speech at the funeral
• Alex taking Sara’s advice and deciding not to go back to Maggie
• Diggle marrying Westallen and Olicity
Episode low points:
• Felicity not wanting to marry Oliver
• Eobard Thawne being creepy
• that professor Stein died
• some of the special effects weren’t quite up to snuff
Quotes of Crisis on Earth-X:
Barry: “What happened with Mon-El?”
Kara: “What didn’t happen? The end of the world?”
Barry: “Faced it three times.”
Kara: “Time travel.”
Barry: “I’ve been there. A lot.”
Kara: “He’s married to someone else.”
Barry: “Oh, that’s.. I’ve got nothing for that.”
Oliver: “Just a quick reminder. Superspeed. I don’t have it.”
Kara: “Noted.”
Felicity: “Do you know how to get to the pipeline from here?”
Iris: “I think so.”
Felicity: “Lead the way, McClane.”
Kara: ”What? How did you?”
Nate: “I figured it would take the Man of Steel to catch the Girl of Steel.”