Welcome to Geek Girl Authority’s Into the Arrowverse. Each week we recap the weekly episodes of Arrow, Supergirl, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman, and Black Lightning. And preview the next episode. Since GGA provides full recaps of The Flash, only The Flash preview will be featured in this column.
This week was premiere week for Batwoman, Supergirl, and Black Lightning. Arrow returns on Tuesday October 15 after The Flash. DC’s Legends of Tomorrow will return in Spring 2020. We will cover these shows as they appear
Warning: Spoilers ahead for all of the Arrowverse shows. If you haven’t watched the latest episode, stop reading now. Otherwise, continue reading.
Batwoman (S01 E01) “Pilot
New to the Arrowverse, we first met Kate Kane/Batwoman (Ruby Rose) in the Elseworlds crossover. This is Batwoman’s origin story and an introduction to the rest of the recurring cast. It’s been established that Kate is Bruce Wayne’s cousin. Her father is Jacob Kane (Dougray Scott), owner and manager of Crow Security, the answer to the absence of Batman. He’s married to Catherine Hamilton-Kane (Elizabeth Anweis) who has a daughter from a previous marriage, Mary (Nicole Kang). Mary and Kate are pretty good friends for being step-sisters. Mary is also a med-student who is running an underground clinic to help the less fortunate. And then there’s Luke Fox (Camrus Johnson), the guardian of Wayne Enterprises.
There are some flashbacks to when Kate was a kid. She had a sister named Beth. Beth died in a car accident with their mother. There’s some resentment from Kate towards her father regarding that accident.
Another flashback is of Kate in a military academy, starting a relationship with Sophie Moore (Meagan Tandy). Sophie denies that she is gay, but Kate is expelled. Sophie says she needs the military training so she can have a future. We find out later that Sophie is married.
So Batman is gone. And so is Bruce Wayne Some people have hope that Batman will return. Others are preparing to live without the Bat. On the night they turn off the Bat signal, the villain of our story, Alice (Rachel Skarsten) attacks the Crow Security and kidnaps Sophie. Mary calls Kate to come home, but Jacob doesn’t want her help.
Kate finds Alice easily, but Alice is too much for her. She says she took Sophie because she knew it would get Jacob’s attention. Kate tries to take Sophie’s place, but Alice is certain that Jacob doesn’t care about Kate.
Basically, Kate finds the Bat Cave and discovers her cousin is Batman. She rescues Sophie using Batman’s toys and Alice gets away. Jacob admits he doesn’t want Kate to be a Crow because she’s all he has left. Kate decides to take up the Bat mantel. And at the end, she puts the puzzle pieces together and realizes that Alice is Beth…her sister.
Next time on Batwoman:
“The Rabbit Hole” – Jacob Kane and the Crows up the stakes; Kate continues to look to Bruce Wayne’s legacy for guidance as Luke Fox inadvertently gets pulled into Batwoman’s vigilante heroics; Sophie and Kate are forced to team up.
Batwoman airs Sundays at 8 PM Eastern on The CW
Supergirl (S05 E01) “Event Horizon”
Supergirl — “Event Horizon” — Image Number: SPG501a_0002b.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Melissa Benoist as Kara/Supergirl and David Harewood as Hank Henshaw/JÕonn JÕonzz — Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW — © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
The Arrowverse heroine has some personal problems lingering from last season. Lena (Katie McGrath) is so mad at Kara (Melissa Benoist) that she wants to hurt her. She has a plan in motion that includes the sale of Catco to Andrea Rojas (Julie Gonzalo). Andrea is the daughter of the CEO of Obsidian North, a tech company housed in the same building as Catco. She is changing the way they report the news because Andrea is more interested in getting clicks on the internet. Her tactics force James (Mehcad Brooks) to resign from Catco.
Kara received a journalism prize for her in depth reporting. On the night of the ceremony, Kara told Lena the truth. Lena planned to give Andrea an exclusive, outing Kara as Supergirl. But she changed her mind at the last minute.
Nia (Nicole Maines) and Brainy (Jesse Rath) shared their first kiss. Alex (Chyler Leigh) and Kelly (Azie Tesfai) are officially an item. Kelly started working in National City at Obsidian North using tech to heal dementia and PTSD patients.
The big bad this time around is Midnight (Jennifer Cheon Garcia). Midnight comes from the Phantom Zone and J’onn (David Harewood) is the one who put her there. Midnight creates a black hole and tries to throw J’onn in. Supergirl saves him and Alex blasts Midnight back to the phantom zone.
All of this was made possible by a shapeshifting little girl who later appears to J’onn. The shapeshifter reveals themself as J’onn’s brother. J’onn is certain that he never had a brother. The two martians butt heads, proving they are of equal strength.
The big takeaway is that there is a lot of tech in this episode. Lena is talking to an AI, siri/alexa type named Hope. Obsidian North created virtual reality contacts that lets users run virtual reality simulations. And Brainy created a new super suit for Supergirl. He made it so small that the trigger fits on Kara’s glasses. She activated it before going after Midnight. And y’all…she has pants!
Next time on Supergirl:
“Stranger Beside Me” – Supergirl, Alex, and Brainiac thwart an alien attack while William investigates Kara. J’onn J’onzz and Kelly use Obsidian tech to solve a problem.
Supergirl airs Sundays at 9 PM Eastern on The CW
Black Lightning (S03 E01) “The Book of Occupation: Chapter One: Birth of Blackbird”
Another newbie to the Arrowverse, Black Lightning deals with forced service to a possible tyrant organization. Agent Odell (Bill Duke) tried to force the Pierce Family to work for him at the end of season two. Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) made a deal to leave Lynn (Christine Adams) and the girls out of the war with Markovia. Since then Odell has put Jefferson through meta testing. He’s testing all of the Green Light metas that he can find. On the day he is released, Odell takes both Pierce and Lynn into custody. Odell doesn’t want the Markovians to get Lynn because of her work with meta humans and Green Light.
The ASA has declared martial law in Freeland, taking anyone who may be a metahuman. They are keeping them in a detention center, in cages. Anissa (Nafessa Williams) is moonlighting as a hero called Blackbird to help those suspected as metahumans. The ASA tracks her convoy. The suspect metahumans get away and are put in the care of Reverend Jeremiah Holt (Clifton Powell). But during the last rescue, Blackbird is caught in a blast and is knocked out cold.
Jennifer (China Anne McClain) is using a hologram device, courtesy of Gambi (James Remar) to disguise herself so she can live a somewhat normal life out in the open.
And Odell is using Issa Williams (Myles Truitt) to get information about of Tobias (Marvin Jones III). Odell is most interested in what is in Tobias’ briefcase and where it is. The briefcase contains information that Martin Proctor, season one villain, works directly for Odell who gets his orders directly from the president. Odell’s mission is to obtain as many metahumans as he can in Freeland, turn them into weapons and erase any evidence of the President’s involvement. As to the location, well, it turns out that LaLa (William Catlett) has the briefcase.
Next time on Black Lightning:
“The Book of Occupation: Chapter Two” – With Freeland under full-blown occupation, the Pierce family gets pulled in different directions. Jefferson (Cress Williams) and Lynn (Christine Adams) find themselves at odds with each other. Meanwhile, Anissa (Nafessa Williams) rebels as Blackbird while Jennifer (China Anne McClaim) feels powerless despite having powers.
Black Lightning airs Mondays at 8 PM Eastern on The CW
The Flash – (S06 E02) A Flash of the Lightning” Preview
The Flash — “A Flash of the Lightning” — Image Number: FLA602b_0039b.jpg — Pictured (L-R): John Wesley Shipp as Jay Garrick and Grant Gustin as Barry Allen — Photo: Robert Falconer/The CW — © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved
Arrowverse favorite, the Flash (Grant Gustin) keeps running into road blocks. The Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) approached Barry (Gustin) and Iris (Candice Patton) to warn them of the Crisis that’s coming. He told the West-Allens that in order to save Billions…that’s BILLIONS of people, the Flash must die. The Flash will disappear on December 10, 2019. This puts a wrench in Barry and Iris’ plans for a life together.
RELATED: Read the Full THE FLASH “Into the Void” Recap Here!
In the next episode of The Flash, Barry time travels to find a solution to the upcoming Crisis.
“A Flash of the Lightning” – JOHN WESLEY SHIPP TO GUEST STAR – Faced with the news of his impending death, Barry’s (Grant Gustin) resiliency suffers as he struggles to fight fate. Meanwhile, Cecile’s (Danielle Nicolet) career as a D.A. conflicts with her identity when she crosses paths with a villainous meta-human. Chris Peppe directed the episode written by Sam Chalsen & Jeff Hersh.
The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 PM on The CW
Everything leads up to the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover. See you in the Arrowverse!
RELATED: ARROWVERSE Update and Photos Released Ahead of SDCC
News Editor, Senior Contributor, and Press Editor. Coordinate breaking news, trailers and press releases. I also contribute reviews, recaps and interviews. Creator of the Indigenerd Wire, a column dedicated to the Indigenous creatives in pop culture.
GGA's resident Indigenerd, a little bit rez, a little bit classy...with a love for all things Star Wars, zombies, science fiction, and Indigenous. My ultimate goal is to start my own podcast.
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