Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part 2: Paragons and the Lazarus Pit
The second installment of Crisis on Infinite Earths delivers on the cameos and action, but it leaves fans with plenty of questions heading into “Part Three.”
The Crisis has officially begun this week, and Crisis on Infinite Earths has wasted no time throwing fans into the action. The first installment, which aired on Sunday, showed the destruction of two planets — one of them Supergirl’s home — and ended with Oliver Queen sacrificing himself so that the people he loves could escape Earth-38 before the antimatter wave annihilated it. All in all, it was an epic way to begin the crossover.
And “Part Two” opens with Oliver’s friends remembering him, as Sara Lance and Kara Danvers toast to his memory. Unfortunately, they don’t have much time to sort through their feelings, though. The antimatter wave is still making its rounds, and they still need to save the universe.
The Monitor explains that seven heroes will need to be brought together to save the multiverse, referring to them as Paragons. This sends the characters on a wild goose chase to find these heroes (although given the twists throughout the episode and the nature of the series, we have to think that most of them were probably sitting in that room already).
Paragon of Courage
Kate Kane and Kara head to Earth-99 to find Batman, a mission that doesn’t go all that well for them. On the bright side, fans do finally get to meet Kevin Conroy’s Bruce Wayne, but well… he’s a bit disappointing, especially when you pit him against Kate. This version of Batman has given up faith and become corrupted by his power, and he’s even killed Superman. Evidently, he hates extraordinary beings, because he moves to kill Kara too. And that results in Kate stepping in and accidentally killing him. Talk about an oops.
Oddly enough, this enables Kate to step up and take on the Paragon of Courage role — which does mean The Monitor’s prediction came true. A “future version of Batman” is the hero they need. It’s just Batwoman, not actual Batman.
Also, kudos to whoever decided on all of the Kate and Kara scenes throughout “Part Two.” Those two are a power duo if there ever was one, and we need more crossovers involving Supergirl and Batwoman.
Paragon of Truth
Speaking of Superman, we also get Tom Welling’s cameo during this installment. After The Monitor resurrects Lex Luthor (just why?), he takes The Book of Destiny and runs off to kill whatever versions of Superman remain throughout the multiverse. Of course, Clark, Lois, and Iris chase after him — leading them briefly to Smallville and Tom Welling’s Superman (and Erica Durance’s Lois Lane!).
Their mission also brings them to Earth-96, where Lex pits Clark against Brandon Routh’s Superman. The Superman vs. Superman fight is probably one of the best parts of the entire episode, even if its conclusion is a little cheesy. Lois convinces them to stop fighting one another because of “love” — and eh, it works, we suppose.
The Lazarus Pit
And finally, Barry, Mia, and Sara spend the majority of “Part Two” attempting to resurrect Oliver — which, honestly, is a little disappointing. It’s totally understandable that these three characters would want to bring him back, regardless of the costs. But “Part One” of Crisis on Infinite Earths set the bar high by killing off one of The CW’s biggest characters, and undoing that just feels a little cheap.
That said, they haven’t successfully brought Ollie back just yet. Though they found Constantine and brought Ollie’s body back using the Lazarus Pit, they’ve yet to recover his soul — and if Constantine can’t get his act together, it’s looking like poor Ollie could remain a monstrous version of himself forever. Yikes.
All in all, “Part Two” of Crisis on Infinite Earths had plenty of fun cameos and action sequences, but it’s mostly setting up what’s to come when the Paragons band together to defeat Anti-Monitor. And by the way, we get a glimpse of the villain during the very last moments of the installment, as he runs into Harbinger and asks her to help him with his goal of destroying the multiverse. That can’t be good, can it?
Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part 1: The Crisis begins with a sacrifice. dark. Next