We’re into the second half of the Crisis on Earth-X crossover event and they don’t let us the majority of our heroes are trapped on Earth-X while Supergirl is going under the knife of Eobard Thawne.

Stakes are high and we catch-up with our heroes in a concentration camp which is surprising given that the Nazis have won… I imagine there’d be some resistance but I thought they would have a less WWII-y mindset and be more akin to The Empire from Star Wars. Those purely Empire worlds are pretty idyllic from what I remember but hey, it’s Nazis, gotta have ze camps. Surprisingly, Earth-X’s Quentin Lance is in charge with an accent that can’t decide if it’s going full-Nazi-stereotype or British-people-playing-Germans-in-war-films.

There we meet Ray Terrill, Earth-X’s exclusive hero – The Ray. Russell Tovey, who you may remember from Doctor Who, Sherlock, and Being Human, is kind of an odd duck since he’s from Earth-1 but somehow got transported to Earth-X and is in a relationship with Leo Snart (Earth-X’s Captain Cold). That’s pretty much it in terms of character. Unfortunately, with everything else going on and with bigger character moments, Ray comes up short.

Leo Snart is a much more jovial rendition of the Snart we’re used tobut is every bit the hero ours was. Wentworth Miller is always welcome to come back in my eyes but with this being his swansong (though he seems to be staying on The Flash until the mid-season finale apparently), he does a fair amount ingratiating himself with the Earth-1 heroes and even sharing a scene with Mick, where we find both have lost their partners.

In terms of action, we get a fight to secure our heroes’ way home with Flash and Ray fighting Red Tornado, a weapon unleashed by Resistance Leader Winn Schott, which is weird because the poster had Tornado on the Nazis’ side and I thought that would be a connecting point to Freedom Fighters: The Ray but I guess not? Odd. Still, the design they use is a marked improvement to the awful suit used in Supergirl’s first season.

There’s also fight between the captured Team Arrow, Cisco, the Legends and Metallo while they rescue Kara which is pretty cool and then we have the final battle which I marked out for super-hard because this kind of line-up is rarely seen in the West but is a staple of Japanese Super Sentai/Kamen Rider shows. It tickled me just right. Sure, it devolves into a schmoz immediately but we have several key points to cover.

Flash Fact: The Gideon equivalent on Earth-X’s Wellenreiter is voiced by Susanna Thompson, who long-time Arrow viewers will recognise as Moira Queen, Oliver’s mother!

Barry. Lets. Thawne. GO! This is why you get all the bad things happen to you, Barry! Because you’re god damn idiot!

This moment right here? Perfect. Melissa Benoist continues to prove that she is worthy to wear the S-Shield and that a “Super” character can shine bright even when having inner turmoil, something the movies seem to be struggling with.

And then I have to talk about the thing that broke me. Two characters I’ve neglected to mention until now has been Jax and Stein, the two halves of Firestorm. Throughout the crossover, they’ve been butting heads about their upcoming break-up. The dissolution of Firestorm would leave them both pwerless but Stein could return to his family but it’s not that simple. These two have been, figuratively and literally, inseperable for the better part of two years (give or take, time travel’s weird, yo) and they have grown closer than even Ronnie and Stein did.

Jax became more confident in his own skills and ingenuity thanks to Stein and Stein became a more accepting and warmer person because of Jax’s influence. They’re so close as to consider each other family and admit to it during this event, but during the siege on the Nazi’s breach building, Stein is mortally wounded. Fusing into Firestorm to keep his partner alive, Jax starts to cough up blood back on the Waverider. The two are linked, body and soul, and if one dies…

It was after this scene that I had to stop. I don’t know how to explain it because I’m usually not overly-mushy when it comes to father-son talks (growing up sans-father will do that) but the performances of Victor Garber and Franz Dremah were powerful, heartbreaking and I genuinely cried as Stein sacrificed his life to save Jax, the son he wished he’d always had.

Martin Stein died a Legend and that sticks with the team even to the end of the crossover as it hits each of the Legends who knew him personally and to the others who have their unique goodbyes at his funeral. It was a tough sit through both those scenes, I’ll admit but they’d never end this on a down note and the story ends off with Barry and Iris.

Since they were rudely interrupted by invading Nazis, the pair decide on a simpler ceremony just to make it legally binding. Felicity points out that Diggle is ordained and Barry wastes no time messing with his day (because it’s a crossover tradition at this point) so, amongst the scenic park and Diggle’s puke wafting in the air, Barry and Iris get married. And then Felicitiy ruins the moment by spontaneously deciding to marry Oliver despite spending the last four hours not wanting to FUCK THIS IS WHY NO ONE LIKES YOU FELICITY FUCK! But yes, the crossover ends with the big two ships of Flarrow tying the knot and it’s all hunky-dory. So what is my final verdict on Crisis on Earth-X?

I loved it! Strong character dynamics, lots of action, lore-building and genuine fun makes for a fantastic four-hour superhero movie that even DC’s big budget outings can’t match. If I had to nitpick then I’d have to say that a lot of the ropey CGI, The Ray’s lack of development, alongside Kid Flash’s absence and Felicity being Felicity are some of the weakest parts of this crossover but the rest more than makes up for it.

I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did and be sure to let me know your favourite moments down in the comments but next week we see the return of Amunet Black as Barry and Cailtin are both trapped in desperate situations in Don’t Run.

I was alredy looking forward to The Fury of Firestorm this week but after watching it, I can say that it was my favourite episode of the season so far but let’s cut this down to the key points, shall we?

The inclusion of Jefferson ‘Jax’ Jackson as the Stein’s new partner is an odd choice, not because he’s a young black kid teaming with an old white guy but because he’s the wrong young black kid. Why is this character not Jason Rusch?

I’m legitimately asking because even though Jax is a character from the comics, I don’t think he was ever part of the Firestorm Matrix. Regardless, Franz Dremah (best known for his role as Dennis in Attack The Block) brings an inherent underdog charm to the character and I hope to see more of the relationship between Jax and Stein soon.

So Iris has a half-brother, eh? A (presumably) black half-brother with the last name West? Considering the knowledge that we’ll be seeing a lot of speedsters show up this season, is it too much to assume that this will be Wally West? I hope so!

Speaking of surprises, who knew Chekov’s Shark Teeth were a thing? The apperance of King Shark was a huge mark out moment for me! He looks great and while his appearance is super short, I can only hope we’ll get a legit fight soon but for now, Patty and Barry are saved by an all too familiar stranger.

Harrison Wells makes his move, first skulking around STAR Labs and then taking down King Shark with some tech he stole from Mercury Labs earlier in the episode. From next week’s promo, it appears that this isn’t Eobard Thawne but is the true Harrison Wells of Earth-2, here to help Team Flash stop Zoom. Why? Because he created Zoom. DUN DUN DUUUUUUUN!

The Fury of Firestorm is a fantastic episode and I really had fun watching it. Just like my buddy Josh from CDX said, the Flash continues to get better and better every week. Let’s hope that streak continues next week when we see the The Darkness and The Light.

Family of Rogues has everything I love from The Flash: Wentworth Miller acting the fuck out of every scene, awesome foreshadowing, Jesse L Martin being Best Dad and cute character interactions!

Speaking of, whose sailing the Caitlin/Jay ship because they’re doing a bang-up job. Danielle Panabaker and Teddy Sears have such an awesome chemistry, it almost rivals that of Panabaker/Gustin. With Jay sticking around for a while (He went and got a new haircut and everything) , hopefully we’ll get more of these guys being cute as hell week-to-week.

On the other ship, Cisco and Lisa Snart being cute is great. These two have a fun dynamic and this week sees them take a step closer to becoming a little more than frenemies. Loved it.

Oh, Joe… Bless your heart. I have no fucks to give about the Iris’s Mother plotline (though Iris continues to be pretty good compared to last season) but if Jesse L Martin cries, so will I. Something about that man crying really gets to me.

You’ve gotta feel sorry for Michael Ironside too. He’s a perfectly capable actor but he shares every scene with Miller and thus, is little more than set dressing.

Flash Fact: Michael Ironside and Peyton List previously played a father/daughter duo on Smallville.

What a bastard of a character, eh? If nothing else, this motivation lets Miller play with Cold’s emotions a little more and god damn, it’s a powerful performance. Cold’s humour, fear, cockiness and the implicit trust that he shares with Flash, despite being enemies is fantastic. Easily the highlight of the episode.

Running Gag Week 2: Professor Stein stroking out mid-sentence but this time with a twist! The Firestorm Matrix is going bandit and the good Prof needs another partner to stabilise it! We’ll be seeing more of that next time and before we wrap up…

Harrison Wells appears through the portal like the god damn Terminator. More as this develops.

Family of Rogues is a fantastic episode but then, I’m completely biased but I think every one will find something to dig in this episode. As cool as this episode was, next week will heat things up so come back next week for The Fury of Firestorm.

Flash of Two Worlds is what fans have been clamouring for since the show started; Barry Allen, the novice hero and Jay Garrick, the elder statesmen joining forces to take down a villain so heinous that it requires two Speedsters to do it. Sand Demon.

Wait, who? No, I’m actually asking in the tone of Djimon Hounsou because who the hell is Sand Demon? If you were going for someone from Jay’s world or even from his rogues gallery, I’d have gone for Icicle. Not only because of the obvious parallels but because it’d make for some fun banter. But there’s a lot of introductions this episode so we must press on!

Patty Spivot, a character from the comics who, in the New 52 at least is Barry’s love interest, makes her first appearance and she’s clearly a fan of Barry’s work, sharing some good chemistry together. She’s eager, boastful but deep down, she wants to join the Anti-Metahuman Taskforce because the Marden brothers killed her father. She’s a fun character, I can’t wait to see more of her.

Zoom, The Flash’s true nemesis, makes his first full appearance. Clad in in a black version of the Reverse-Flash costume, a mask that looks like it’s suffocating the poor suit actor and with cobalt blue lightning, he makes an intimidating first impression by robbing Jay of his speed. He’s also voiced by Tony Todd, just in case you weren’t quite intimidated enough. I think they could have down more to make him seem more demonic, rather than just Reverse-Flash in black. The vibrating really bothers me.

Jay Garrick! A lot younger, buffer and attractive than I thought they’d go with Jay but just like Caitlin, I was swooning. He’s got a bit of Nathan Fillion about him and he’s incredibly charming throughout the entire episode, overcoming Barry’s suspicions to become his new mentor. He’s played Teddy Sears who I really know from Torchwood… Miracle… Day… Well, we won’t hold that against him. He’s too dreamy.

Flash of Two Worlds was an utter delight from start to finish. It established the mutliverse, it had a fun dynamic between our two heroes and set-up even more plot points to come but we’ll have to see how that goes next time with a whole Family of Rogues!

What?

What do you mean I forgot something? Oooooooh…

Yeah. I’m glad he’s back too :)

The Flash returns for a second season with a rolling start, immediately jumping six months into the aftermath of the singularity, with a brand new status quo that thankfully gets fixed by the end of the episode. Maybe Barry has been listening to Ollie too much but distancing yourself from your team NEVER works. Ever. They always have to come in to save your arse and thankfully, Team Flash does this in 42mins as opposed to the 3 episodes it would usually take Arrow.

So what’s new in Flash world? Well, Henry’s free! And now he’s leaving! Wait, why? It’s such a stupid, obviously for production move. Wells, further proving to be the best kind of redeemable villain (aka Not-Grant Ward) and videos himself confessing to the murder of Nora Allen, thus allowing Henry to go free. Which is awesome! They throw him a party and everything but then he takes Barry aside at his welcome home party and says he is leaving. It’s so fucking stupid and it’s a shame because I’d have liked to have John Wesley Shipp on Team Flash full-time.

Speaking of Team Flash, they’re this season joined by Iris and Professor Stein. Iris is actually tolerable this episode, mourning Eddie’s loss and doing a solid job of not annoying me. Good work. Cisco and Caitlin return and are equally on-form and with the absence of his other half, Martin Stein becomes part of the team and even earning his place by naming this week’s bad guy…

Atom Smasher! Because he’s atomic powered and he smashes things. Good one, Stein. Traditionally Al Rothstein is a good guy, often associated with the Teen Titans and the Justice Society. I love the mask but the costume itself is a little bland. Adam Copeland (aka the wrestler Edge from WWF) does a pretty solid job portraying the gruff bruiser and, interestingly, reveals that he’s not from this world. He only wanted to kill The Flash because it was the only way he could get home. When asked he promised him that, Al simply replies…

CHILLS. With the apparent casting of Tony Todd as the voice of Zoom and seemingly able to transport people through the multiverse, this season’s antagonist is shaping up to be a real threat. Smarter, faster, deadlier. But Zoom isn’t the only speedster in town as a mysterious stranger bypasses all of STAR Labs’ new security system and introduces himself…

Yoooooo, it’s Jay Garrick! Now we’re in business! Sure he’s a little young but the prospect of having a Flash team-up is too awesome!

This season premiere was pretty damn fun but I’m really looking forward to next week’s adventure, Flash of Two Worlds.