User blog:Eobard95/Problems with Crisis on Earth-X

So people have been saying Crisis on Earth-X was awesome but personally I didn’t like it that much. There were many good/emotional aspects such as seeing the Earth-X versions of Green Arrow, Supergirl and Captain Cold, the return of Reverse-Flash, more comic-accurate appearances from Metallo and Red Tornado, Sara and Alex interactions and Martin Stein’s death. The action scenes were also quite enjoyable and well done considering the budget these shows are limited to but the story behind it felt flawed and incomplete and frankly I enjoyed Invasion! much better.

I couldn’t help but feel as if the entire story was all an elaborate scheme to accelerate Olicity to the wedding stage. The main villain is an evil version of Oliver Queen who is married and instigates a chain of events that makes Oliver and Felicity realize “life’s too short not to be happy” and the events conclude with them marrying each other. The main reason the Earth-X Reich was attacking Earth-1 was so Black Arrow could kidnap Supergirl and give her heart to his wife Overgirl and while Reverse-Flash wanted to conquer Earth-1 wasn’t much to suggest they would’ve kept these promises. In terms of Olicity itself I honestly thought this was the crossover featured some of their worst moments to date (and that saying something). Oliver tried to convince Felicity to marry him while they were at the rehearsal dinner for another couple’s wedding like an inconsiderate prick and I actually started to dislike him as much as Felicity so when Black Arrow fought him, I couldn’t decide which Oliver I disliked more.

Actually that’s a lie I kinda liked Earth-X Oliver as a character which I find awful to admit considering he’s a Nazi but he was just so much more intimidating and threatening than Earth-1 Oliver has been in years. I also still hate Dinah, Curtis and Rene so I was actually happy watching Black Arrow kick their asses, and when he admitted he enjoyed hurting them lol. What’s even more disturbing is that Black Arrow and Overgirl had more conceiving chemistry than Olicity so to have the Nazi versions of the heroes be more likable really shows how badly they’ve messed things up. I also didn’t like the fact that it spent so much time on Felicity and Iris trying to overcome their fears for their boyfriends safety and help save the world when Felicity is so annoying and Iris is so useless (by the way since Flash 2x13 I believe Iris should’ve been a cop not a reporter in this series). As for Felicity maybe I’m just being pessimistic but I’ve accepted it’s easier to assume anything Felicity says or does will be annoying and even if not she will inevitably do something annoying so it’s pointless to even try and give her a chance anymore.

Finally that double wedding was perhaps the worst stunt I’ve seen not just in the Arrowverse shows but on all of network television. Realistically nobody would be ok with another couple interrupting their wedding at the last minute even if they had just survived a near-death experience. If they’d just waited 5 minutes for Barry and Iris to be done Oliver and Felicity could’ve married then and it wouldn’t have been as bad. I honestly think Iris’ “I’m not bitter” comment in The Flash 4x09 was an inside joke and acknowledgement towards this. Also the fact that they shoved this in just seconds after Stein’s funeral, who was one of the more popular characters in these shows, makes me even more disgusted. Also while I’m not much of a WestAllen shipper I think it sucks for those who are considering all the series has been building towards Barry and Iris’ wedding for 1.5 seasons now and just when it finally happens, another pairing crashes the party? I honestly think Clifford DeVoe is a better person than Oliver and Felicity because at least he let them get married before going through with his vendetta against Barry lol.

Now onto the other story flaws now that I've gotten the biggest issue out of the way doesn’t it bug anyone else that the Earth-1/Earth-38 heroes didn’t at least try to help save Earth-X from the oppression of the Reich? Instead they just went home; killed the Nazis already on their Earth, then just went their separate ways knowing an entire world is still being oppressed. Hell Barry didn’t rest until Earth-2 was freed from Zoom’s control so why didn’t he of all characters have the same desire to free Earth-X from the Reich? I get the entire planet of Earth-X is under Reich control and it wouldn’t get solved in one day otherwise the Freedom Fighters would’ve already won since they no doubt have other superhumans fighting for them too.

But when you consider the sheer number of heroes that comprise Team Arrow, Team Flash and the Legends as well as Supergirl herself and if they’d brought in the Legion of Superheroes, Superman, Martian Manhunter, Guardian, Kid Flash, Jay Garrick, Jesse Quick, Gypsy, Ragman, Hawkman, Hawkgirl and the Freedom Fighters themselves, wouldn't that combined force be enough to topple the Nazi government and cripple the Reich? It would’ve been a prime opportunity too with Black Arrow, Overgirl, Prometheus and Metallo dead and Reverse-Flash deserted so the Reich is without their leaders and is vulnerable. I know Barry said to Ray and Leo they'd be there to help if they needed it but it kinda seems they just up and ditched when they should've stayed and fought, and obviously a Reich that's stood for almost a century isn't gonna fall because a few of its leaders died.

Another thing that bugs me is the fact that Earth-X Prometheus was Tommy Merlyn. Don’t get me wrong I was stunned when he unmasked too and yet like 5 seconds later he gives the same speech Adrian Chase gave to Oliver before killing himself and that’s the end of it. I’m aware that Colin Donnell is a series regular on Chicago Med so he probably couldn’t have been more involved but if that’s the case why not make Earth-X Prometheus somebody who actually more available like Roy Harper? Colton Haynes is returning this year which was hinted towards before season 6 even started so he could’ve been more involved as Earth-X Roy which also would’ve been strange for the Team Arrow recruits since Roy was kinda the original recruit. If EX-Tommy was more involved it might've been worth it. Personally given how utterly pointless Adrian Chase was as a villain I think I would've preferred the E1-Prometheus is Tommy theories actually were true instead, but to me Adrian's lackluster plot and EX-Tommy's short run has made Prometheus one of the most underwhelming villains in the Arrowverse.

Also there were a number of goofs and unaddressed plot points that I noticed fairly quickly. Where were Thea and Earth-2 Laurel? You’d think they’d at least try to include Thea in the crossover given Prometheus-X turned out to be Tommy Merlyn and since Earth-X Oliver was the main villain, and with Sara back in the present you’d think they’d at least try to have an interaction between her and E2-Laurel or at least an indication she knows of her existence. Also Harrison Wells and Jay Garrick have both said before that there are infinite Earths in the Multiverse and now Supergirl claims there are 52 with Wells saying Earth-X is a 53rd. For starters how does Kara know how many Earths there is when she didn’t even know the Multiverse existed until she met Barry and why is Wells now saying there’s 53 and not infinite?

Also where did Oliver get the Kryptonite arrow? Did he secretly travel to Earth-38 with Cisco to obtain some? And as for the whole Nazi invasion of Earth-1 thing how exactly where they going to pull that off with just a Waverider and a couple of superhumans? Where they going to use their Waverider to go back and alter the outcome of Earth-1's World War II? Again it seemed like they were so focused on the saving Overgirl plot that they neglected to explain the rest of their plan. Also I’m hoping it will explain this at some point but why didn’t they even try to explain how Eobard Thawne is still alive? Is Eddie alive? Did Flashpoint-Eobard actually survive Black Flash? They better provide some explanation otherwise that’s kinda silly and I’m still trying to figure out how that time remnant of him from 2x11 even still existed.

So maybe I’m just being cynical but there were a lot of things that bugged me about the Earth-X crossover and their demonstration of such incompetence is already making me consider skipping the next one. Hell this one took me over a month to watch because it took me that long just to mentally prepare for it.