TV Review--Crisis on Infinite Earths, Parts 1, 2, 3

First, a disclaimer; I am unfamiliar with the comic book (excuse me, graphic novel) that is the basis for the CW crossover event, Crisis on Infinite Earths.  I have read the works of several commentators who do know the origin material, and it seems to be a mixed blessing—they praise what was adapted well, but grouse about small changes that probably arose because an actor was unavailable or the schedule didn’t allow for it.  So, I am coming to this fresh.

The CW has a mixed history with these crossover events.  The first (Invasion!) was frankly only so-so.  Each episode clearly showed the differences in writing staffs and production design of the participating shows, so it felt like a game of Telephone where one show produced an hour and then handed it off to the next show, which took the narrative in a slightly different direction.  It lacked a cohesive structure.  The second, Crisis on Earth X, is just about the best thing I’ve seen on TV in the decade of the 2010’s.  It was not four individual episodes but a 4-hour miniseries that wove the elements of the participating shows together wonderfully.  Last year’s Elseworlds was hit and miss, mostly miss.  It started with an inexplicable body swap between Oliver Queen and Barry Allen (really, a guy is given a book that allows him to change reality and he decided to do a Freaky Friday on Green Arrow and The Flash?), but then seemed to morph into an excuse for running up a trial balloon for Batwoman.  That said, it was very funny when Supergirl looked her up and down and said, “Boy, you do have a lot of tattoos.  Sorry; x-ray vision.” 

Crisis on Infinite Earths starts of more or less in media res, with an antimatter wave wiping out the Earth where Alexander Knox (Robert Wuhl) helped (sort of) Batman defeat the Joker, and another Earth where Robin (Burt Ward, looking like someone who ATE Burt Ward) was another Batman’s loyal sidekick.  But nothing to worry about, as there are Infinite Earths and infinity minus two is still, well, infinity.  But we eventually get the exposition that the antimatter wave will wipe out all matter in all of the multiverses unless it can be stopped by various characters who are in TV shows on the CW network.

The production values are great, and the inside jokes are uniformly amusing.  Just trying to keep track of all the DC cameos is a chore; not only do they actually play a scene from the 1990 version of The Flash, but they even work in a cameo from Ashley Scott from the little remembered WB series Birds of Prey.  I was also surprised to see an appearance by Tom Ellis from the Fox/Netflix series Lucifer, even though they apparently filmed the scene in front of a fire door somewhere on the studio lot.

While the cameos are fun, they do lead to questions better left unasked.  Why do all the Supermans (Supermen?) look different?  Why does one look like Ray Palmer?  And where is the Superman from Lois and Clark, played by Dean Cain (the producers must have his contact info as he plays Supergirl’s adopted father)?

I do get the feeling that I am missing out not knowing the source material.  A big deal is made about (SPOILER!!!) the death of Oliver Queen, but I’m thinking that since there are infinite Oliver Queens on infinite Earths, it’s no big deal as there must be lots more Oliver Queens out there.  But it is a big deal for reasons possibly explained in the graphic novel but somewhat vague here.

The exposition, frankly, consists of a LOT of hand waving to justify the action sequences.  Black Lighting shows up so he can shoot lightning bolts at the big machine generating the antimatter wave, but why that needed to be done isn’t quite explained.  There are SO many Earths, and SO many universes, that it is impossible to keep track of them all.  And when the Monitor locates the seven “Paragons” needed to stop the Crisis, six of them just happen to be (once again) characters on DC programs.

The most surprising thing about the acting is Ruby Rose, who rarely gets to emote on Batwoman.  Here she is given some emotional heavy lifting and pulls it off flawlessly, and at the same time establishes some on screen chemistry with Melissa Benoist of Supergirl (I am going to assume that this will remain platonic, because I don’t think even DC wants to go there). 

I don’t know if the decision to broadcast the last two episodes in January is based on having to do more filming in the intervening weeks, or just a tactic for pumping up the January ratings.  Given the magnitude of a cliffhanger the third episode left on, with all of the universes wiped out and everyone in every universe dead except for six Paragons and Lex Luthor (don’t ask), the four-week hiatus will either create a huge buzz for the remaining two episodes or cause a huge yawn when the show returns.

It looks like the CW is pulling out all the stops as this will likely be the final crossover event of the Arrowverse, given that Arrow is coming to an end.  But the Super-producer Greg Berlanti is running about 18 shows by now, and as long as the same man is pulling the strings, anything is possible.  With two episodes left to go it is too early to make a final judgement, but at this point it appears that they have tried to go too big and have relied on the spectacle alone to make the project worth doing. 

But, frankly, that is exactly the attitude that rescued Legends of Tomorrow from a mundane first season and propelled them into a third season that ended with the universe being saved by a giant Furby.  Going too big is infinitely more interesting than staying to small.