Superman on Television

Supergirl: Episode Reviews

Arrow - S05E08 "Invasion"

Reviewed by: T.A. Ewart (aka liheibao)

Invasion Originally Aired: November 30, 2016
WRITTEN BY: Marc Guggenheim and Wendy Mericle
DIRECTED BY: James Bamford

STARRING:
Stephen Amell (Oliver Queen/Green Arrow)
Franz Drameh (Jefferson Jackson/Firestorm)
Victor Garber (Martin Stein/Firestorm)
Willa Holland (Thea Queen/Speedy)
Caity Lotz (Sara Lance/White Canary)
Dominic Purcell (Mick Rory/Heat Wave)
David Ramsey (John Diggle/Spartan)
Emily Bett Rickards (Felicity Smoak)
Brandon Routh (Ray Palmer/The Atom)
Grant Gustin (The Flash)
Carlos Valdes (Cisco Ramon)
Danielle Panabaker (Caitlin Snow)
Melissa Benoist (Kara Danvers/Supergirl)
John Barrowman (Malcolm Merlyn/Dark Archer)
Neal McDonough (Damien Darhk)
Katie Cassidy (Laurel Lance)
Susanna Thompson (Moira Queen)
Nick Zano (Nate Heywood)
Rick Gonzalez (Rene Ramirez/Wild Dog)
Joe Dinicol (Rory Regan/Ragman)
Jamey Sheridan (Robert Queen)
Erica Luttrell (Laura Washington/Cyberwoman)

3Rating - 3 (out of 5): Arrow lost the mission when it foolishly allowed Ollie to ride off with Felicity at the end of season three... then killed off Laurel as she no longer served any purpose due to being supplanted by Sara... and Felicity! Since then I resist watching Arrow, but the crossovers with The Flash are just irresistible and I usually relent for these episodes. Ollie trapped in a Black Mercy type of situation, while his friends share in it as well made for a great episode, and seeing him admit that he would never be happier than he was with Laurel, was wonderful fan service those who support the true romance that is Green Arrow and Black Canary. However, as good as the episode was for Arrow, it totally detracted from the purpose of this crossover. The Dominators are an afterthought, if that, and the other heroes have very little role. A great example is Wild Dog, who dislikes metas, until Supergirl saves him all of five minutes later. The tag-team beat down performed by Supergirl and Flash was extremely excessive... and excellent! It so rare that there is an instance to see aspects of the comics come to life, and sometimes you just have to be happy when they do.

The worst thing that can be said about the crossover, thus far, is that the premise just isn't working. This is more of a hang-out fest than the world's greatest heroes coming together to sort out a problem that besets the planet. It's closer to the JLA/JSA crossovers, than the Invasion storyline. Still, ratings are strong, and if you're enjoying what you see, you can only hope that lessons are learned from the mistakes made here.



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