While I have been critical of the first two episodes of this show, I know it has potential. This episode showed me that there is at least more to this show than great fight sequences, which it once again proved tonight. We got three different groups of the team tonight working together and I think they all worked in their own way. Sure, there are still a couple of things I'm not totally sold on, but that's typical of a show only three episodes in.
The first big moment of the episode came as Hunter referenced the now famous line "I've seen men of steel die and dark knights fall" which we all nerded out after the trailer was released a few months back. It didn't have anything to do with the episode itself, but those references are always fun to hear. Hunter and Sara went on a hunt for some of Savages goons or people who worship his presence and we ended up getting some great fight scenes in return.
I can never get enough Canary action and Hunter seemed to prove himself a little more as at least a capable fighter. Him 'killing' Savage was a little questionable though. That also made me think, how many times will they 'kill' him before Kendra inevitably does at the end of the season? I just hope 16 episodes of Savage doesn't get too boring. The creepy feeling of Savage and his goons having a ceremony for Hawkman's dead body was the type of tone that can separate Savage from other villains we've seen, but I still need to see more before I get too excited.
On Sara's front, her blood lust suddenly came back, which I guess means Constantine didn't fix everything with her back in Arrow a few months back, but it also makes two characters who struggled with blood lust after Thea had her big night last night on Arrow. Coincidence? Probably, but I just hope both shows start to stray away from that plot point as its getting pretty tiring. It was fun to see Sara show her skills out in the field as she hasn't had a ton of screen time to do that yet. Having her notice each of Savage's goons in the field was a nice touch as well.
Ray and Stein had to deal with Kendra as her body wasn't reacting well to her wounds from last week. Ray was forced to shrink and remove/destroy some dangerous fragments from inside Kendra's body as Stein coached him throughout like DC's version of the science bros. As much as this ordeal felt a whole lot like an old episode of Magic School Bus (seriously they do basically the same thing), it was fun to watch Ray pretty much be a poor man's Iron Man inside Kendra.
The third group was Heatwave, Captain Cold, and Jax going after an old relic that looked a whole lot like Kryptonite. Snart also felt the need to go visit his young self as they were in Central City 1975. This story line felt like a direct rehash of last week's side arc with Stein, so I was disinterested. I also felt like it was just a way for us to care more about Snart, who has always been unlikable for several reasons.
So in all, I enjoyed this week's episode more than the first two, but there's still plenty of work to be done. Savage is still feeding off more of a Christoph Waltz wannabe and a few other characters just aren't hitting the way I hoped but it's been fun so far. Hunter's story line also probably would have worked better if we didn't see him fighting Savage in the opening scene and it was just revealed later on, but oh well. I still have hope.
+Canary fights
+Ray as ATOM and Iron Man
+Hunter is improving
+Science bros
+Creepy Savage scenes
-Hunter reveal didn't work
-Savage still feels like a Waltz copycat
8.2/10
The first big moment of the episode came as Hunter referenced the now famous line "I've seen men of steel die and dark knights fall" which we all nerded out after the trailer was released a few months back. It didn't have anything to do with the episode itself, but those references are always fun to hear. Hunter and Sara went on a hunt for some of Savages goons or people who worship his presence and we ended up getting some great fight scenes in return.
I can never get enough Canary action and Hunter seemed to prove himself a little more as at least a capable fighter. Him 'killing' Savage was a little questionable though. That also made me think, how many times will they 'kill' him before Kendra inevitably does at the end of the season? I just hope 16 episodes of Savage doesn't get too boring. The creepy feeling of Savage and his goons having a ceremony for Hawkman's dead body was the type of tone that can separate Savage from other villains we've seen, but I still need to see more before I get too excited.
On Sara's front, her blood lust suddenly came back, which I guess means Constantine didn't fix everything with her back in Arrow a few months back, but it also makes two characters who struggled with blood lust after Thea had her big night last night on Arrow. Coincidence? Probably, but I just hope both shows start to stray away from that plot point as its getting pretty tiring. It was fun to see Sara show her skills out in the field as she hasn't had a ton of screen time to do that yet. Having her notice each of Savage's goons in the field was a nice touch as well.
Ray and Stein had to deal with Kendra as her body wasn't reacting well to her wounds from last week. Ray was forced to shrink and remove/destroy some dangerous fragments from inside Kendra's body as Stein coached him throughout like DC's version of the science bros. As much as this ordeal felt a whole lot like an old episode of Magic School Bus (seriously they do basically the same thing), it was fun to watch Ray pretty much be a poor man's Iron Man inside Kendra.
The third group was Heatwave, Captain Cold, and Jax going after an old relic that looked a whole lot like Kryptonite. Snart also felt the need to go visit his young self as they were in Central City 1975. This story line felt like a direct rehash of last week's side arc with Stein, so I was disinterested. I also felt like it was just a way for us to care more about Snart, who has always been unlikable for several reasons.
So in all, I enjoyed this week's episode more than the first two, but there's still plenty of work to be done. Savage is still feeding off more of a Christoph Waltz wannabe and a few other characters just aren't hitting the way I hoped but it's been fun so far. Hunter's story line also probably would have worked better if we didn't see him fighting Savage in the opening scene and it was just revealed later on, but oh well. I still have hope.
+Canary fights
+Ray as ATOM and Iron Man
+Hunter is improving
+Science bros
+Creepy Savage scenes
-Hunter reveal didn't work
-Savage still feels like a Waltz copycat
8.2/10