Warning: this review contains full spoilers for the final two episodes of Crisis on Infinite Earths. Since The CW aired the final two parts of Crisis on Infinite Earths on the same night, we opted to do a single, combined review for Parts 4 and 5. We’ll also be doing a review of the crossover as a whole in a few days, so check back for that. If you need a refresher on the crossover, check out our review for Part 1 here, Part 2 here and Part 3 here.
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It’s always frustrating having to wait a month or more as the various Arrowverse shows go on their midseason hiatus. This gap has been especially excruciating, however. Last time we saw our heroes, the entire multiverse had been annihilated and only six heroes and one sneaky Luthor remained to oppose the Anti-Monitor. That’s quite a cliffhanger, but the important thing is that the wait was well worth it. The final two chapters of Crisis on Infinite Earths cement this crossover as the most entertaining and most ambitious Arrowverse adventure yet.
Part 4 resumes the crossover on an appropriately glum note, with the Paragons trapped in limbo in the Vanishing Point and mourning their dead worlds. Fortunately for them, it’s not long before Oliver Queen returns in his new, supernatural form to restore the crossover’s momentum. Right away, it’s clear this shift in direction is just what the crossover needed. Crisis had begun to bow under the weight of so many characters in Part 3. Wiping those characters off the table and consolidating the cast down to a handful of heroes and a few cosmic entities really helps refocus and remind viewers of what’s at stake. That we get to see the human side of Mar-Novu and learn what sort of man he was before becoming an aloof, immortal meddler doesn’t hurt, either.
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It’s a shame the same can’t be said for his archenemy, the Anti-Monitor. That character never amounts to much more than a faceless threat and an obligatory, all-powerful punching bag in these final two episodes. The decision to keep the Anti-Monitor confined to the shadows until these final two episodes gives the writers little opportunity to flesh out the main villain of Crisis.
To be fair, it’s not as if the original comic series is much better in that regard. There really isn’t a lot of depth to the Anti-Monitor. Geoff Johns tried to punch up the character a bit in Justice League: The Darkseid War (with this crossover loosely acknowledging that source material), but ultimately he just isn’t that compelling an antagonist. So, ultimately, it’s hard to knock the crossover too much for not wasting more time on the villain when it has bigger priorities.
Among those priorities is giving Oliver Queen his final sendoff. And Crisis most certainly succeeds in that regard. We’ve known the Arrowverse has been building towards Crisis since The Flash debuted in 2014. But these episodes go a step further in establishing Crisis as a natural extension of everything since the very first episode of Arrow. It’s a fitting end to Ollie’s rocky, painful journey. Transforming him into the Spectre and having Ollie sacrifice himself to Rebirth (always an interesting, loaded word in the DCU) the multiverse is as poetic and ending as one could ever hope for. These final two episodes more than justify the decision to resurrect Ollie after his heroic sacrifice in Part 1. They do even more to bring the character full circle and complete his arc. Ollie’s story has always been about the sacrifices he makes for the greater good, and what better way to end that story than by having the Arrowverse’s first hero give his life so that its best heroes can continue the fight?
And after all that, it’s not as if we have direct, 100% confirmation that Ollie even is dead. There are still two episodes of Arrow remaining. Given the way Season 7 wrapped, I’d be willing to bet Ollie is still alive (in some form) and waiting to be reunited with Felicity so they can both finally have that happy ending. This is one area the series can and really should be able to have its cake and eat it, too.
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One of the more impressive aspects of Crisis is the way each episode manages to reflect the identity of its respective series while still acting as a cohesive whole. Part 4 is clearly an Arrow episode — smaller in scale, darker in tone and fixated on Ollie’s legacy. Yet it’s never grim to a fault. The hilarious backstabbing antics of Lex Luthor is enough to ensure that, as is the incredible, “How the hell did they pull that off?” cameo from Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen. I guess this means the DCEU won’t ever be doing its own version of Crisis?
Part 5, meanwhile, is very much a Legends of Tomorrow episode, and thank Beebo for that. Part 5 really manages to subvert expectations by skipping right to the part we all expected wouldn’t come until the end. Multiple Earths have been fused to form Prime Earth, meaning all the Arrowverse shows finally take place on the same world. But as Part 5 quickly shows, that’s not the end of the conflict. The finale manages to deftly balance the whimsical, self-aware tone of legends with the gravitas needed as our heroes confront the Anti-Monitor one last time. And where the crossover previously suffered from a few too many characters, somehow Part 5 manages to juggle its many moving parts elegantly, even as it draws most of the Legends into the fray for good measure.
Again, the Anti-Monitor never developed into a deep villain over the course of the crossover, but the final battle still delivers all the necessary drama, weight and spectacle. The special effects are mostly up to the challenge of conveying that titanic battle, in a way the earlier Superman vs. Superman battle in Part 2 wasn’t. What really matters is that Crisis hits home on an emotional level as it crosses the finish line. Like so many of the best Legends episodes, humor and heartache wind up going hand-in-hand.
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The end result of five episodes of cosmic spectacle is a heartwarming and extremely endearing ending sequence that really sets the tone for the Arrowverse going forward. Ollie’s sacrifice is honored as closer bonds are formed between heroes who now all have to share the same planet. The montage of cameos serves as both a testament to the power of the DC multiverse and manages to nip most of those pesky technical and continuity questions in the bud. It all exists, and it’s all part of a gigantic cosmic structure. Even those lovable idiots in Doom Patrol.
And in perhaps the best gift of all, Crisis ends by giving the Arrowverse a proper Justice League. The jury’s still out on whether The CW can actually use the name, but “Super Friends” will always do in a pinch. As much as this crossover is the culmination of eight years of storytelling, it’s also the launching point for many new stories. I don’t know about you, but I’m excited to see what’s next for every single one of these shows.
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