What I’m Watching: Arrow

Arrow: Season 7, Episode 9 “Elseworlds, Part 2” (B+)

This hour was an improvement on the first part of the Elseworlds crossover, and I don’t mind checking in with this show, which I don’t watch, for an installment that worked pretty well. The intro bit with Barry as Oliver in previous scenes was a clever start, and this was a lot more about them having fun being each other rather than the serious stuff about how Barry might turn into Oliver for good even when their body-switch is reversed. In terms of darkness, Gotham City seems like a pretty miserable place to be, much grimmer than anything else in this DC television universe. I saw Ruby Rose’s name in the credits and immediately recognized her thanks to a not entirely convincing American accent, and it’s interesting to see the introduction of the Batwoman character for a potential future series launch when one isn’t yet in the works. I’m curious to see if she’ll be back again on one of these shows, though the premise isn’t nearly as appealing, far closer to that of “Arrow” than the three series I still watch. I’m not overly fond of villains like the Monitor who seem to have powers that can defeat anyone else’s, but at least another Barry Allen who looks and sounds a whole lot like Jay Garrick was able to get through and issue a warning, as well as an apparent indication that he and Diggle might be married on his Earth. Dr. Deegan’s acknowledgement of his body switch led to an even more mystifying one, turning Barry and Oliver into bandanna-clad bandits who it appears are going to have to face off against a darker version of Superman who’s not likely to buy into their story about some alternate reality in the third and final installment.