The first chapter of The CW’s Crisis on Infinite Earths mega crossover kicked off with the Supergirl hour, and you could say that I’m not a happy camper. Not in the slightest. Not when I have to watch my favorite titular DCTV hero die right in front of me without a warning. Honestly, how the hell was I supposed to know that it would happen so quickly into the crossover?
While it didn’t really feel like anything happened, it felt like a lot happened in the first hour. So much that if you blink you possibly missed something important. It was actually hard to follow in the beginning. Everything was moving so quickly — so many faces, so many shoutouts, so many storylines that one couldn’t keep up with. But there was no missing the deflating blow at the end of the first hour of the five-part crossover: Oliver Queen’s death.
My first reaction was to sob uncontrollably. My second reaction was to shout a diverse group of expletives — directed at the producers that thought killing Oliver Queen was a good fucking idea. My third reaction was to sob and shout expletives. My fourth reaction was to start writing this damn review.
There’s plenty — one could say too much — to digest from the first hour. But I’ll try.
Oliver Queen might be dead, but he won’t stay dead
Let’s get one thing clear: I was never going to be prepared to watch Oliver Queen die. Not again. Not like in the season 3 midseason finale. Not in a definitive sense, which this feels like is as close as it’s going to ever get considering we’re nearing the end of the series. (Because I refuse to believe Oliver is going to stay dead.) But watching Oliver die was a gut-wrenching feeling that shattered my heart.
But even before that — what led to his death — was just as heartbreaking. When the Monitor pulled everyone to Earth-1, Oliver stayed back on Earth-38 and continued to fight. He continued to fight to give those civilians time to escape to safety on the ship. He fought until the arrows ran out in his quiver. He continued to fight even without his bow. And he bought time for those to escape. He saved one billion lives while sacrificing his own. While other heroes might possess superpowers, Oliver has proven that the greatest superpower is heart. And there’s no hero with a bigger heart than Oliver Queen.
While Oliver Queen has taken a brunt of hate and criticism over the years, he’s easily my favorite of our central heroes. He’s underrated, under-appreciated and far better than many will give him credit for. He’s the best hero this universe has produced. He’s undergone the best journey of any hero in this universe.
Also, let’s get one thing clear: Oliver might be dead, but he’s not going to stay dead. I’m sorry, but there’s no way you kill Oliver in the first hour if he’s not coming back. Kind of like you have to believe that Earth-38 will be brought back…somehow. Don’t get me wrong, it hurt like hell and I’m still crying as I write this — especially as Mia had to watch her dad die in front of her — but all I want to do is fast forward to whatever part of this crossover brings Oliver back so he can finally get his happy ending on Arrow‘s series finale.
We’ll keep Oliver in our hearts — until this show gives him back to us.
Coming Full Circle
Things got off to a boom as Argo City was destroyed fairly early on in the first hour. A planet that housed Kara’s family and surviving people, her mom, Clark, and Lois went to escape. Only there was just one escape pod. Because of course. Didn’t you learn the first time when Krypton blew up? Where are the lifeboats for crying out loud?
There was no way you missed the full circle moment when Clark had to put his son Jonathan in a pod and send him to Earth to save him — especially as their planet was about to be destroyed. It was a nice callback to Superman’s origin story, and a heartbreaking one to say the least.
For a little bit in that first hour, Jonathan was lost, but luckily they were able to locate him on another Earth — with an Oliver Queen, no less.
Keeping Krypton alive
As Kara and Clark feel helpless to do anything, the two had a nice heart to heart where they discussed their struggles and how they’re trying to live up to the expectations they placed on themselves. With Argo being destroyed, their people were officially gone. It’s just Kara and Clark now, which has to be a lonely feeling.
Kara reminded Clark that this planet has embraced Krypton — how the spirit of Krypton lives on in them and the hope that they inspire. While Krypton, the place, might be gone, the spirit of Krypton — the hope and the sacrifice — lives on in Supergirl and Superman.
Oliver passes down the mantle to Mia
I really should’ve seen this as foreshadowing, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t. I just thought it was foreshadowing down the road — much later on in the crossover. But the moment where Oliver presented his daughter with a Green Arrow costume of her own had me reaching for the tissues.
While Mia believes that only her father should wear the Green Arrow costume, Oliver insists that she’s earned it. She’ll carry on his legacy and write her own story in a way that will make her father — and her entire family — proud as hell. And we can’t wait to watch her story unfold.
Is there any Earth where Oliver Queen isn’t sad?
Honestly, is it too much to want to go to another Earth and find an Oliver Queen that’s actually happy? Like who decided that Oliver had to be sad? Can Barry take his turn to be sad so Oliver can get a happy ending — particularly on Earth-1 with his family? When Sara, Lois, and Brainy traveled to Earth-whatever (honestly, I couldn’t keep up with the numbers, and I don’t care) in 2046, they happened upon older Oliver, who was — what else? — alone and sad in the Arrow cave. Okay, so not totally alone, considering Clark and Lois’ son had landed there in his escape pod.
This Oliver was shocked to see Sara. Apparently on his Earth, Sara actually did die on the Gambit, and he’s blamed himself for her death for practically his entire life, it seems. It doesn’t seem like he had Felicity or Diggle or his family. He was sad and alone and waiting to die, which is probably how most Olivers on other Earths are because this show just can’t let Oliver be happy.
Sara took a moment to talk to this Oliver — to tell him that if his Sara was like her, she made the decision to go on the Gambit and it wasn’t his fault. She told him about her Oliver — how he’s a hero, a husband, and a father. And he seemed to take solace that — at least on another Earth — he was happy. Well, if only for a second.
Before our trio had to retreated, Sara took the time to tell Oliver: “You’re a good man. On every Earth.”
And there have never been truer words spoken.
