Arrow 6.08

‘Arrow’ 6.08 Recap: “It Was Oliver in the High Castle”

Part 2 of ‘Crisis on Earth-X’ picks up on ‘Arrow’. This crossover event harkens back to a simpler time in popular entertainment, when everybody could agree that Nazis are bad and nobody liked them. If only today’s real world had such moral clarity.

The Nazi captured at Barry Allen’s wedding is unmasked and revealed to be an alternate version of Tommy Merlyn, Oliver Queen’s best friend who died a few years ago. When the others ask how this is possible and where these Nazis are coming from, Harry explains the existence of a 53rd Earth in the multiverse, a terrible world where the Nazis won World War II and everything is awful. Evil Oliver found a way to cross universes and has now invaded Earth-1 in order to conquer another world for the glory of the Reich. Bummer.

Ollie tries to appeal to whatever amount of his friend may be in this doppelganger version of Tommy, but the guy is a total dick and takes a suicide pill rather than help stop the invasion.

When the Nazis raid a company called Dayton Optical Systems and steal a giant gemstone, Barry, Kara and Ollie race there to stop them and are immediately confronted with the evil versions of themselves. Well, it’s the evil Ollie-X and Kara-X, at least. The speedster with Harrison Wells’ face turns out to be Eobard Thawne. What’s more, he’s the original, Earth-1 Eobard Thawne returned from the dead once again without much explanation. (The lack of an evil Barry makes me assume that he’s being held back as the Big Bad behind the invasion, probably the Chancellor of the Reich. If so, that would be disappointing considering that we just came off a season of ‘The Flash’ where Barry had to fight an evil doppelganger of himself.) Ollie-X and Kara-X flaunt that they’re married and in love, which grosses out the originals.

Another battle commences. Good Ollie wounds Kara-X with a kryptonite arrow he just happens to keep on him at all times. He only hits her in the shoulder, which seems like remarkably poor aim for the world’s greatest archer. Ollie-X instructs Kara-X to attack a nearby construction site, distracting the heroes into rescuing the innocent construction workers (who are working at night for some reason) while the villains slip away.

Harry determines that the stolen gem is a “sub-light emitter” which can be fashioned into a neutron bomb. That sounds bad. Felicity is able to track Kara-X by radiation in her blood or something, so the gang suit up and head out to another warehouse. This leads into another big Nazi battle. Ollie-X is mysteriously absent this time. In his place, the villains invite the now-fully-android Metallo (rather poor CGI), who arrives in time to stomp all the good guys.

Meanwhile, Ollie-X sneaks into S.T.A.R. Labs (still lacking in security) and easily overcomes both Mick and Killer Frost. The other members of good Team Arrow show up to save the day, but don’t fare much better. Felicity and Iris hide to avoid detection.

The Nazis capture everybody. A gloating Ollie-X then reveals that they came to Earth-1 not just to subjugate another world, but to save Kara-X, who has been poisoned by too much solar radiation and needs a heart transplant. The only compatible donor is of course regular Kara. Too bad for her. Metallo does something that knocks everyone unconscious. When they all wake up, they find themselves in a concentration camp on the Nazi Earth. That can’t be good.

Episode Verdict

Reflective of the general tone of ‘Arrow’, part 2 of the crossover is a little more dour and glum than Part 1 on ‘Supergirl’. It holds together pretty well, though. The plotting and group character interaction are all strong (by the standard of these shows). Halfway through, this seems to be a big improvement over last year’s ‘Heroes vs. Aliens’ event and the best of these Arrowverse crossovers to date. Of course, I reserve the right to eat my words depending on how the next two parts go.

Next: ‘Crisis on Earth-X, Part 3
Back to: ‘Crisis on Earth-X, Part 1

3 comments

  1. Guy

    I want to know where Oliver got Kryptonite (while knowing damn well they’ll never explain it). Is this confirmation that Krypton blew up in the Earth-1 universe? Are the Super cousins somewhere on Earth-1 right now just laying low during alien invasions like last year? Did they die when Krypton-1 was destroyed and that’s why we don’t know them? If none of those are the case, did Oliver somehow travel to an Earth where the Super cousins are around to snag the green rock? I was too busy thinking all this to find that moment as cool as they wanted me to.

    • Josh Zyber
      Author

      Since this crossover introduced the idea that there are multiple Supergirls (previously it seemed like she only existed on Earth-38), I did wonder where Earth-1 Supergirl is.

      Other possibilities: Perhaps the cousins wound up on a different planet after Krypton exploded, perhaps they’re both stuck in the Phantom Zone, or perhaps they’ll come out of the Phantom Zone in a later time period and wind up on Earth in the future.

  2. Guy

    Their multiverse is all plot convenience at this point so anything is possible. Earth-2 Oliver is dead. Barry couldn’t find doppelgangers of anyone he knew on Earth-38 when he visited Supergirl a few years back. Bruce Wayne was mentioned by name on Arrow this year yet there’s never been a reference to Batman, whereas Supergirl has mentioned The Dark Knight indirectly as a vigilante friend of her cousin’s a few times without saying Bruce Wayne ever. Add in that death means absolutely nothing on these shows (Hello, Sara.) and that a lack of logic is no obstacle (How are you, Reverse-Flash?) and anything Earth-1 Supergirl- or Superman-related could happen at any moment. It’s a big factor in why I’m excited to visit Earth-X this evening. Literally anyone could pop up as a hero of Nazi.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *