Welcome to The Hollywood Reporter‘s weekly DC TV Watch, a rundown of all things DC Comics on TV. Every Friday, we round up the major twists, epic fights, new mysteries and anything else that goes down on The CW’s Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl and Fox’s Gotham and what it all means. Note: Gotham and Arrow did not air new episodes this week.
Supergirl
The truth: Mon-El (Chris Wood) can’t keep his secret identity hidden for much longer. Supergirl finally revealed the Daxamite’s big secret in the final shot of this week’s episode, “Exodus” and in the promo for next week’s episode, “Star-Crossed,” along with the identity of new castmembers Teri Hatcher and Kevin Sorbo’s mysterious villains. The two are Mon-El’s parents, the King and Queen of Daxam, making Mon-El the Prince. While many guessed that twist a while ago, he’s been keeping his royal lineage a secret from everyone, and that lie will no doubt cause problems for his relationship with Kara (Melissa Benoist) when his parents arrive on Earth after scouring the galaxy for him. Plus, the trailer features the first shot of the Music Meister (Darren Criss), the villain for the big musical crossover with The Flash, as he gets apprehended by the DEO.
You’re fired: Kara has crossed the line so often when it comes to journalism ethics, including reporting on herself as Supergirl, so it’s quite heartening to see the show actually call her out on that and have her fired from CatCo due to a large error in her judgment. But don’t expect Kara to give up on her dream job just yet. “Episode 18 is called ‘Ace Reporter,’ and it’s about Kara and journalism,” says executive producer Andrew Kreisberg. “That’s actually been very important to us, especially in the times we now find ourselves living in. We’re one of the few shows on television that actually has a journalist as a lead character. Especially episode 18, we really get a chance to talk about the importance of journalism, and the importance of journalism ethics, and how important having the objective truth be out there is now.”
Legends of Tomorrow
Power struggle: Now that Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) has had his mind returned to normal, he’s rejoined with his former Legends team aboard the Waverider. But what does that mean for acting captain Sara (Caity Lotz)? In a seemingly-throwaway moment at the end of this week’s episode, Rip and Sara shared a laugh over both of them answering to the name of “captain,” but it’s going to be less funny moving forward if they both believe they’re the rightful leader of the team. Does Rip deserve to sit back in the captain’s chair after everything he put the Legends team through? He wasn’t himself when he was with the Legion of Doom, since his mind had been altered. And the only reason why the Legion of Doom got to him to begin with was because when he sacrificed himself to save the Legends back in the season two premiere, he was thrown into the past, which also messed with his memory. Rip hasn’t been himself since he saved everyone’s lives, and that heroic moment alone should give him a free pass. Of course, Sara has kept the team alive ever since, so maybe they could co-lead moving forward?
Forbidden romance: Ray (Brandon Routh) spoke some wise words to Nate (Nick Zano) about his blossoming relationship with Amaya (Maisie Richardson-Sellers). Since Amaya actually matters to the timeline, as her granddaughter becomes Vixen in present day, Nate shouldn’t interfere with that destiny. Of course, that heart-to-heart didn’t stop Nate from spending the night in Amaya’s quarters aboard the ship, but that is only going to make it harder for Nate to ultimately say goodbye to Amaya when she inevitably has to go back to her own time to have a daughter. Unless that daughter is going to be Nate’s also? Crazier things have happened in the Arrow-verse!
The Flash
Prophecy revealed: Two pieces of Savitar’s three-part prophecy to Barry (Grant Gustin) have come true, and the future looks grim for the scarlet speedster. First, it was Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker), who betrayed Barry by keeping a piece of the Philosopher’s Stone for herself after Barry thought he threw the whole thing into the speed force. She was hoping to use it to reverse-engineer a way to get rid of her meta powers, but Wally (Keiynan Lonsdale) took it and threw it into the speed force, hoping that would end Savitar’s hold over him. Unfortunately, that was Savitar’s plan all along, since he was also trapped in the speed force. He used the piece of the Stone to escape, and since nature required a balance, Wally was pulled into the speed force, taking Savitar’s place, thus suffering a fate worse than death.
A short engagement: And the third piece of the prophecy is slowly coming true as well, as Iris (Candice Patton) ended her short (two-episode) engagement to Barry after finding out he only proposed because he knew Iris wasn’t wearing an engagement ring in the future when Savitar kills her. So far, Barry has not been able to change that ominous future, and now that Wally is no longer able to save Iris it’s looking more and more likely that she will be the third part of Savitar’s prophecy.
Savitar’s fate: But did this episode also reveal Savitar’s identity as well? Could Wally eventually become Savitar in the future? It’s likely that if/when Barry manages to save Wally from the speed force, he could blame Barry for getting him stuck there in the first place since Barry was keeping him out of the loop in STAR Labs. And there’s no telling just how long Wally will be trapped in the speed force and what it will do to his mind. Savitar said he was trapped there for long enough to lose his mind “several times over,” and Savitar played a major part in getting Wally his powers. Perhaps he was creating his own destiny and the Flash’s biggest foe in one fell swoop.
What did you think of all the shocking twists, reveals and mysteries on the DC Comics shows this week? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Gotham airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Fox; Supergirl airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on The CW; The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on The CW; Legends of Tomorrow airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on The CW; and Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on The CW.
