Across the Arrowverse
Week 6

Each and every week, we watch and recap all of the Arrowverse show so you don’t have to! We break them down for you and let you know what’s going on … Across the Arrowverse!  Not too much crossover work but we do get two references to Gotham this week, one from Talia al Ghul in Arrow and another from Seaver, the architect, in The Flash. As we know, Gotham will play some role in the “Elseworlds” crossover event in December).

Check out last week’s action here.

Supergirl
“Parasite Lost” (Episode 405)
November 11, 2018

Team Good Guys begin the episode with a lovely rooftop garden party (which Kara planted by herself in one day – super speed helps). The takeaway is that Brainy gets drunk fast but sobers up even faster; he found Nia Nal (to a stalkerish degree) but didn’t realize that also included the part where he should have called her; and James is trolling the internet about how he and his Guardian persona are being received (Spoilers – its mixed message because the internet is a toxic wasteland).

At Agent Liberty’s Lair, Jensen is still adjusting to the after effects of his parasite implantation. Agent Liberty tells him the parasite was meant to be a gift and shows him the things he can do … like take an alien’s powers and also kill said alien in the process. Win win in the war to save humanity. RIP Infernian (Trevor Hinton).

DEO. Colonel Haley calls Alex into her office and proceeds to commend her on a change Alex made on deployment time … though does it with such a tone as to seem like she was being scolded. Colonel Haley needs to lighten the fuck up.  Alex gives an update and the search for Jensen and Haley sends her on her way with an atta girl.  Weird.

Kara has scored an interview with renowned alien healer, Amadei Derros (Adam Levy).  We see him doing his healing thing before sitting down with Kara. Amadei tells her he’s agreed to the interview after being silent for years because people need to understand aliens and that they really aren’t a threat.  He admits that his greatest wish is to heal the human heart (though his powers currently don’t work on humans).

Catco. Lena catches James watching more anti-alien rhetoric but does a double take when she sees its Ben Lockwood on the screen – he’s been hired by a fringe group to be their talking head. She explains her connection to him through the steel factory shut down and James explains how Lockwood wanted him to do a piece on the cost of aliens. Lena tells James that he’s been invited to give a key note speech at the Mayor’s Annual Media Summit … so not everyone thinks Guardian is a fringe lunatic.

At the National City Promenade, Jensen shows up to cause some trouble for a shapeshifter that’s entertaining the crowd when Supergirl arrives.  The DEO’s facial recognition program had spotted Jensen.  She engages him but realizes quickly that he’s been infected by Parasite. Ruh roh! Not getting anywhere against Jensen, Supergirl is saved when the DEO shows up guns a blazing. Jensen absorbs (and kills) the shapeshifter’s powers and runs off disguised as a little girl. They lose him. Back at the DEO, Alex has to explain to Colonel Haley about Parasite and the powers it has and damage it can cause. They’re just lucky he didn’t keep a hold on Supergirl any longer than he did and also, his gained powers are temporary.

Alex explains to Supergirl that she has to sit out this fight against Parasite because they can’t risk the cost of losing her.  But, she can fight as Kara and use the power of the press.

At Agent Liberty’s Lair, Jensen returns and is confused about the short lived powers. Liberty tells him he has to keep feeding.

At Catco, Nia and Kara are going over the comments on her Amadei story. Kara is disheartened when she sees the backlash comments. Some run to the very violent calling for the death of Amadei.

J’onn’s is interrupted at his alien support group by Amadei’s assistant, Cassian (Kwesi Ameyaw). Something is wrong with Amadei. Kara joins J’onn and Cassian at Amadei’s apartment where we see Amadei in bed, dying. Someone stole his amulet during the night.  J’onn reads Amadei’s mind and pulls up a picture of a young woman. He posits she might have been the last one Amadei saw and therefore, the one that took his amulet.  He has Brainy run a facial recognition on the woman’s appearance.  He locates Elizabeth Hawkings (Shannon Chan-Kent) quickly enough and Kara and J’onn go to investigate.  She initially acts like she has no idea what they’re talking about but then admits that Amadei is her father and has never met her so she doubts she was on his mind at all.  J’onn and Kara listen to Elizabeth and her mother talk about Amadei ran for the hills when he learned a baby was coming and they agree to leave the Hawkings women. But, J’onn assures Elizabeth that she was on Amadei’s mind in his final moments and so, whatever is happening — she’s involved.

Agent Liberty tells an ailing Jensen that a Child of Liberty has stepped up and found a cure for Parasite’s loss of power.  He promises Jensen he will be a true hero – one that ends Earth of its alien problem.

At the DEO, Colonel Haley, Alex and Brainy work together to formulate a plan to create a forcefield to trap the radiation of a nuclear blast they plan to use to stop Parasite.  Great Team Work!

At the Annual Media Summit, James and Lena run into Ben Lockwood. He wants to talk to James about Guardian, about how he is a symbol of human hope.  James makes it clear he doesn’t want to be associated with Ben’s brand of hate and Ben tells him that his followers aren’t crazy, they’re scared. And, when people like James dismiss them, it drives them “deeper into darkness.”  James warns Ben to not lay his issues at James’ feet.

Alex finds Kara and J’onn at Kara’s apartment – she brought them pizza! Kara is having a pity party about her article making Amadei out to be a saint and how that may have put a target on his back, seeing as how he wasn’t. They go back 20 years to when Amadei used to give lots of interviews and Elizabeth’s mother appears next to him in all the photos.  Which makes her a liar saying they had a one night stand.

Hawkings House. Elizabeth’s mother tells J’onn and Kara that she kept all of Amadei’s letters from Elizabeth but that, after their last visit, Elizabeth found them and told her mother she betrayed her – denied Elizabeth from knowing the alien part of herself.  Elizabeth’s mother confesses in a fit of anger about taking Amadei’s amulet and giving it to a Child of Liberty. They plan to give it to a human who can take away roaches powers and use that power to kill.  She’s totes on board with the Children of Liberty’s goal to rid the planet of the roach infestation.  J’onn and Kara report in to the DEO and Brainy deduces the next logical spot for Jensen would be Amadei’s vigil which is forming outside his home.

Cut to Jensen, wearing Amadei’s amulet, and he’s on an alien killing streak! Alex and team arrive on sight and Brainy fires up the Matrix Dome. Time to hunt some Jensen Parasite!

At the Media Luncheon, James and Lena are chatting with Domingo (Chris Violette), who Lena refers to as one of the saner voices in the community and a centrist voice. Domingo responds by intimating he is thinking more along the lines of Ben Lockwood these days and that maybe Ben is the real centrist voice …

The Mayor interrupts his own lunch to announce the Jensen attack going on.  Ben nominates Guardian to go help out — surely a speech isn’t more important than saving people …

On the ground, Alex lands a square hit on Jensen but it doesn’t keep him down for long. The power of the amulet is keeping him going. It’s not long before he is able to overload the dome and bust a hole.  Guardian arrives on the scene.  With the dome’s imminent collapse, Supergirl begins to evacuate bystanders but that doesn’t last long before Jensen finds her. She repels his first attack and Alex, on his other side, begins to talk him down.  Despite Haley calling for his death in Alex’s ear, Alex continues her peaceful approach and gets Jensen to removes his amulet.  He collapses and a purple flash shoots into the air – I assume that was Parasite leaving his body?

With the amulet back in his body, Amadei regains consciousness and finds Elizabeth by his side. Amadei thanks her and J’onn for their work in healing him.

At the DEO, Colonel Haley commends Alex on her day’s work but reminds her to not disobey orders. Unfortunately, all of the goodwill Alex has built up for Haley is evaporated when she mentions that she called for J’onn’s removal when his true alien nature was revealed.  That an alien living in secret threatened the DEO’s mission.  “I am glad order’s been restored” Haley says.  Alex stands up for J’onn but Colonel Haley disagrees and says that  from now on, they are by the book – including following the chain of command. She makes Alex salute her before taking her leave.  She tells Alex that she still has hope for converting  Alex to her side of things.

At the Alien Bar, J’onn realizes that he’s getting a reputation for being an alien go to when crimes happen and they can’t go to the police.  A rogue policemen as it were.

Lena and James discuss they days events. Lena is shook by how deep the anti-alien rhetoric goes and James hatches a plan to stop disavowing the fringe as a way of getting inside and finding their leader. Together, he says, he thinks they can do it. Meanwhile, at Catco, Kara and Nia catch up about how Kara’s story led Elizabeth to her father and helped her change her mind on Amadei.  She pitches an idea of doing an “alien of the week” feature, spotlighting how the aliens aren’t all that different from us. Nia says it’s a great idea but continues to act like she has an issue with this alien talk.  It was a vibe she was putting down all episode.

At his lair, Ben Lockwood is about to have a full on freak out about Parasite’s fate when he gets a call from James. He switches gears immediately and tells James he’s always got time to talk to him. James begins to lay the groundwork of his plan …

And scene.

***

Arrow
“The Demon” (Episode 705)
November 12, 2018

Slabside.  Inside Slabside, the “broken” Oliver who refers to himself as Inmate 4587 now, is taken to his new Level Two cell. He’s got a new sadistic corrections officer in charge of him and things are even worse down here with zapping wrist bands and a naughty room that we definitely don’t want to see.  During his first night, he is attacked in his cell by … Talia al Ghul (Lexa Doig reprising her role)! Wow, you never know who is going to pop in at a Security Max Prison! She freely admits to orchestrating his time in Slabside in order to get him down to Level Two and says she needs his help escaping from prison.  He tells her there is no Oliver anymore, just Inmate 4587 and also, please leave my cell by whichever way you broke into it. Oliver is still pretty sore at Talia for the damage done on Lian Yu and William’s mother’s death and such.

The next day, Oliver sees a dead body rolling out of the Naughty Room and wants to stop whatever is happening but Talis is all nope nope nope.  She also advises him that Dr. Parker duped him. Oliver engineers a meeting with the doc.  Dr. Parker says you go to the Naughty Room if you don’t make progress such as Inmate 4587 has. Oliver thinks death seems extreme and Parker warns him to not forget the progress Oliver has made or else they may need to pursue alternative treatment for him too.

Oliver tells Talia that he’ll help her escape but she’s got to help him free the Level Two prisoners.  He calls on their past history and how they once trusted each other, working together is the only way they both get what they want.

Oliver and Talia disarm the guards in the common area and then fight each other.  It’s all a set up, though, to get sent to the Naughty Room.  When Oliver regains consciousness from being electrocuted, Parker is there and tells Oliver he’s disappointed in his relapse.  Oliver calls him a monster.  Also, Oliver will break his family’s cycle of violence in his own way.

“My name is Oliver Queen.”

Oliver then dispatches everyone in the room.  Oliver and Talia remove their restraining bracelets then return to Level Two to help free everyone.  Along their way, they take out an entire squad of officers in Riot Gear – Arrow does hallway fight scenes better than anyone.  In the morgue, Oliver hands Talia a note for Felicity and then explains why he is staying behind (if he leaves – he’ll be a fugitive forever and he doesn’t want that for his family). He takes on the next squad of Riot Gear cops so that Talia can escape, eventually being overwhelmed by their sheer numbers.

Using the flash drive that Oliver had delivered to Felicity, Level Two is exposed and shutdown – homeboy is going back to Level One.  Talia isn’t quite done with her own version of revenge, though, and she kills Dr. Parker in a parking garage. She’s decked out in her League of Assassins Finest!

Oliver, back in his cell, hears Felicity’s message about finding a lead on Diaz.  Stanley thinks this good news – the look on Oliver’s face isn’t so sure.

A.R.G.U.S.  At A.R.G.U.S., Curtis is given an undercover mission. He has to use his big brain to impersonate a bio weapons engineer in order to trap a bad guy with said bad weapons. Curtis does the meet but learns that there will be a second meeting in order to get Byrd, the guy A.R.G.U.S. is after. Curtis lays down the law with Diggle, he’s out on any further work in the field.  Nope Nope Nope.  Back at HQ, Diggle tries to get Curtis to open up on losing his nerve and Curtis says that since he saw Oliver go to prison, he just doesn’t have the will anymore.  Diggle gives him room but it’s clear this isn’t the end of the conversation.

Of course, Curtis mans up and goes to the meeting with Byrd.  It goes sideways immediately and Byrd arms a bomb which will be set up with Curtis as the fall guy.  Curtis, using the mini machine gun hidden in his case and some badass moves, takes out all the bad guys as Diggle comes in with the team.

In the A.R.G.U.S. wrap up, Curtis tells Diggle that he’s been tracking the underground connection between the bank accounts from the start of the season and the secret A.R.G.U.S. is keeping and shows John a painting that was heavily encrypted. It’s called “Dante, He Hath Seen Hell.” So, there is a new mystery to be solved!

Team Felicity.  Fueled by being denied access to Oliver for visitation, Felicity enlists Faux Laurel’s lawyer skills to help get some visitation time.  But, even Black Siren gets stonewalled.  Having heard about Level Two from Stanley while she was at the prison, Felicity does some hacking and learns that Level Two doesn’t actually officially exist.  It’s off the books y’all.  Faux Laurel and Felicity go to Dinah to see if there are any old complaints against Dr. Parker because he’s conducting psych program on inmates but Slabside doesn’t have a psych program for inmates.

Down in the records room, Felicity loses her cool and confesses she’s worried that she may not get to see Oliver ever again.  She’s not okay with that. They finally find the Parker files and Felicity sees that Parker’s experimental treatment led to eventual permanent amnesia and brain damage.  She realizes that they are going to “erase” Oliver.

Using the flash drive Talia got into Felicity’s hands (though it seems the delivery was made anonymously, the ladies discuss whether they can use the Level Two fiasco to try and appeal Oliver’s conviction. A plan is hatched!

The Team Felicity wrap up.  Using the tracker Felicity placed in the Silncer’s belt, we see she is in Russia. She’s meeting up with Diaz who looks like he’s just about to kill Anatoly for some good old fashioned revenge.

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow
“Wet Hot American Bummer” (Episode 404)
November 12, 2018

The Time Team plus Ava head to 1995 to find their next magical creature, a swamp thing, at Camp Ogawa, a Summer Camp in Maine.  The Time Team meet Paula, the camp director, and her right  hand man, Chad (Mason Trueblood ). Chad is a mid-90s caricature of what you expect from the attractive camp counselor trope.  When Sara tells Chad her skills lie in the martial arts, he does some Jack Chan moves and she lets him know something about her.

“I prefer knives and swords.”

Ava’s camp counselor style is very militaristic while Sara is reliving her Summer camp glory days, wistful for the simpler time.  Despite John’s trap to keep monsters out of the camp, a boy and girl, who snuck out to bow chicka bow bow, go missing (trap doesn’t keep kids from sneaking out).

The Time Team return to their cabins to try and get info from the campers on where the missing kids might have gone.  Ray and Sara try the good counselor approach but John moves to hypnosis and Ava, to police tactics to get faster answers.  One of the campers approaches Ava and tellls her the mystery is a Lake Beast that comes when you call its name 3 times.  The Time Team head to the dock that night and Ava calls the Lake Beast three times while the rest of the team wait in the bushes.  Through a well planned trap, the camp girls successfully duck Ava in the lake – it was a prank! – and Ava declares them all to be monsters.

The next morning, two more campers are missing.  John and Ray head into the woods while Ava and Sara discuss how they can crack the camper girl clique.  Sara tells her about the potion Constantine gave her that will turn her into a kid for a bit. Ava gets offended that even if she wanted to be a kid again, she wouldn’t have any idea what to do – all of her childhood memories being fake and all. She storms away from Sara.

In the woods, John yells at Ray for being a bit of a namby pamby and also for letting Nora go but their fight is interrupted by finding a shedded skin of the monster.Using Constantine’s big book o’ monsters, they learn they are dealing with a  shtriga – a vampiric witch feeds off the kids life force over a matter of days.

That night, the girls change into kids to try and act as bait for the monster.  Back in the girls’ cabin, young Ava is as awkward a child as you would imagine.  John proposes they use Cayenne Pepper to try and stop the shtriga from eating them and the other girls. But, he doesn’t really have time to talk to kid Kid Sara because he and Ray are hatching their own plan.  Using John’s magic, they find the shrtiga’s cabin which is full of caged campers. Unfortunately, the life forces are missing so they need to need to do an incantation to return them.

Young Ava, having successfully nicked food for the girls and thereby earning their respect, gets the campers to open up on where the missing campers were all headed.  Ava and Sara follow the path of the missing campers and find Paula, the camp director, waiting for them. She’s the monster! Literally! Sara, even though she’s a kid, is still a badass and knocks the director out.  Unfortunately, that’s about the time Chad shows up (which coincides with Zari letting them know the shtriga is a handsome bloke). Chad begins taking Ava’s life force but Sara stops him with a well placed kicked.  Meanwhile, in the cabin, Ray and John begin their incantation and the life forces are stripped from Chad … who turns into a hideous monster. Fight fight fight and the girls seem to defeat the monster when Ava stakes him.  In the cabin, the life forces return to all the kids except one who Constantine has to use major mojo to bring back. It knocks John out.

When he comes back to, Ray lets him know Randall was saved and some of little Rays find them in the cabin with first aid supplies in tow.  Ray taught them well.

Elsewhere in the woods, Sara and Ava share a kiss as John’s potion wears off.

On the Waverider, Zari is duper by Charlie (still wearing the Amaya skin) and gets trapped in the force field. Charlie is now free to roam! But, she doesn’t get very far before Mick tracks her down.  However, she gets his attention with the promise of alcohol.  The two bond over shared shitty experiences and trust issues.

The Wrap Up.  Everyone is cool with Charlie being out of lock up and her make over and she proposes a partnership to keep giving them info on the magical creatures they’re facing.  In the sick bay, John is still down for the count because of the magic he used to save the camper.  Ray proposes they find Nora to help him.  We cut to Nora who is working as a “lusty” witch at a Ren Faire.  Oh, poor Nora.

The Flash
“All Doll’d Up” (Episode 505)
November 13, 2018

Nora is still staying with her grandparents but pops up during an early Flash chase for a basic criminal. And, of course, she almost kills some bystanders after turn off Iris’s “overwatch” guidance in her ears.

Back at S.T.A.R. labs, Iris rips into her daughter about basics in the field, which includes never turning off the person in your ear.  Nora comes back at her hard about how she can’t stand to listen to Iris and her “condescending” comments she’s had to listen to her whole life.  After Iris leaves, Barry tells Nora that he wishes she’d stop judging Iris based on her life experience and treat the Iris actually in front of her now.  Present Day Iris.  Nora is annoying.

Elsewhere at S.T.A.R. labs, Sherloque is handing out updates on the search for Cicada while Ralph mentions they’ve hit a dead end in the search for Caitlin’s dad. They could use a satellite to help with both searches.  Cisco is back this week and he uses his limited vibe powers to vibe Daddy Snow’s location.  He catches glimpses of the man working in an office that has an equation covered chalkboard and papers everywhere. he’s wearing an ID tag. Returning from the vibe, Cisco describes the badge and Sherloque recognizes it as belonging to Hudson University (where Professor Stein worked). Let’s go!  Should note that Cisco is the last to leave and winces a bit at his hands.

Main Story.  That night, a richy, rich couple celebrate their pending wedding by ogling over a very expensive necklace that the lady will receive tomorrow.  Well, maybe not. After the couple leaves the room, the creepiest villain we’ve ever seen unfolds itself from a wedding present box and steals the bauble. As its preparing to jump out the window, the lady walks back in and yells for the thief to stop. It spins its head around Exorcist-style and wishes her a Mazel Tov before jumping out the window.  Creepy.As.Fuck.

As Barry finishes sweeping the crime scene  (he finds a red hair from the villain’s head), he runs into Iris who is interviewing the richy, rich couple for info on the theft.  She clearly doesn’t want to see him just now but he brow beats her into lunch.

At Grandpa Joe’s House, Nora is living it up. She’s also talking major smack on Iris and Cecile tells her to slow her roll – all Wests are given respect in the West house.  She sets Nora about on some chores … I think just to shut her up.

Hudson University.  With a key borrowed from Clarissa Stein, Team Flash enters Stein’s mostly empty office.  Cisco vibes the chalkboard which leads to another Daddy Snow Puzzle. Caitlin breaks it down to reveal the word, Khione … which Sherloque understands is the Goddess of of the North winds, ice and snow. Daddy Snow understood the two parts that exist within Caitlin.  Cisco vibes a sketch of Khione that Sherloque creates (it’s the same sketch Cisco saw Daddy Snow making in his first vibe) and sees Daddy Snow working out at Viera Chemicals, an abandoned lab in the Barrens. Let’s go! Cisco winces again at his hands except this time, there is blood in his palms.

S.T.A.R. Labs.  As the West-Allens eat dinner, Barry comments to Iris that he’s happy to see her out reporting again. She says that it’s been great to reconnect to reporting (but you can tell, her heart isn’t in it). The search Barry is running on the red hair finishes and while it’s identified as human, no DNA is found on it. Curious.

Somewhere else, our creepy villain pops out of a vent in the office of an architect … who is currently pitching a new building design in Gotham. That’s the second Gotham reference this week in the Arrowverse.

Back at S.T.A.R. Labs., as Barry is describing where he found the red hair (next to some stretched lines inside the gift box), a bomb threat comes in at Seaver Architects. Barry zooms over and finds the architect tied up and the Creepy AF Villain retreating creepily through the vent.  It wanted to be seen and says “Flash” as it disappears. The building begins to shake and Barry zooms himself and the architect out of the building as it crashes down.  The architect remarks that his life’s work was just destroyed. Meanwhile, the Creepy AF Villain unfolds itself from the building’s rubble and brushes itself clean.

Back at S.T.A.R. Labs., Barry is relating the Seaver Architect building story to Iris and gets an idea that the stretched lines he found in the gift box might actually be fingerprints belonging to the Creepy AF Villain. And they are! Peter Merkel, son of billionaire Theresa Merkel, who was arrested two years previously for Breaking and Entering. Barry suggests they crash a party being thrown by the billionaire mom to see if they can catch a lead. Plus, he looks good in a tux.

Merkel Gala.  The West-Allens take the direct approach and go right up to Theresa Merkel to ask her about Peter. Theresa says that she gave Peter the world. And yet, he’s still a scum bum.  Not really getting what they want, they head to leave. Barry wants one dance before they go but Iris is overwhelmed and runs away. Her logic goes thusly, Theresa Merkel gave her son everything but still was emotionally unavailable and her son turned bad.  Just like Iris shits all over Nora in the future and lies to her and keeps her from being who she is meant to be.  Barry tries to tell her that she won’t be that woman but Iris is determined to be a sad sack here. I am not sure her logic holds up but its still how she feels.  As the two talk, high above them on top of the house is Peter in his creep villain outfit. Motherfucker is super creepy.

In the S.T.A.R. labs living room, Iris tells Barry her real fear is being a shitty mom like her own (who she failed to ever make a connection with). Barry tells her straight up that she is not her mom and she doesn’t have to be shitty Iris from the future. Just that easy. Iris disagrees.

West House. Cecile is telling Nora stories from Barry’s past. At the end, Nora realizes all the lovely stories she heard tonight were about Iris, not Barry. She tries to make Nora see that Nora is projecting her feelings from 30 years from now on to Today’s Iris and that’s not fair. These stories helped Cecile fall in love with the West family and there are plenty more if Nora wants to give her mom a chance.

That night, Iris calls Barry with a lead on Peter’s MO, he’s attacking his victim’s most emotional connection (the necklace, the building). Barry asks who she thinks the next victim will be which is when Peter knocks Barry out. Into the phone, Peter (in his creepy mask) tells Iris to ” come and get him.”

Iris arrives at S.T.A.R. Labs to rally the team.  She can’t locate Nora and no one else has powers that are working so they need a good plan to rescue Barry (who is on top of an apartment building).  Ralph comes in, he’s ready to go save The Flash. Oops, I think we all forgot about Ralph and his powers. He grabs Iris and with her hanging on his back swings them through the city to the rooftop.  He’s not quite Spider-Man but he’s trying.

Meanwhile, Barry regains consciousness on the rooftop as Peter unfolds himself. Barry manages to not vomit as Peter crab walks himself over to where Barry is strapped to a chair on the edge of the building (seriously, fucking creepy this guy). Barry guesses correctly that Peter got his power from the satellite on the night of the Enlightenment but peter doesn’t really want to hear from Barry, he wants to only hear Iris’s pain.  Just then, Iris and Ralph arrive on the rooftop, her meta gun aimed at Peter. Peter warns her that Barry will die if she shoots and Barry nods her off. She puts the gun down. Ralph tells “Raggedy Dandy” to let Barry go and so he pushes Barry over the side.

In one of the top badass moments of the series, Iris swan dives off the roof and speeds herself to Barry and unlocks the meta cuffs that are restricting his powers. His powers ignite and they land safely on the ground. Really, it was a super cool move.

Nora arrives on the scene just as they land and she’s hella-impressed with her mom throwing herself off a building to save Barry. Ralph crashes to the ground a few seconds later. He’s all oompa loomp’d up and we see he swallowed Peter Merkel.  Gross.

Team Caitlin.  Viera Chemicals.  The lab Cisco saw is all blown to hell. Ralph thinks Caitlin’s mom might have had a hand in helping her father blow up the lab since there is a crate from her company.  Sherloque thinks its waste of time. As the two bicker, Cisco grabs the crate to vibe it but ends up having a seizure and a bloody nose. Whoops.

Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin lets Cisco know that remnants from the dark matter on Cicada’s dagger are still in his system and every time he breaches or vibes, the dark matter causes his nervous system to freak out and cause him pain. Which, Caitlin realizes, Cisco must have been experiencing all day. Cisco says he needed to help her but Caitlin doesn’t want him to hurt himself. Without his powers, he’s nothing he thinks.  Without his powers, he has no value to the team, he says. And Cicada will win.  She empathizes having lost her Killer Frost powers to DeVoe and she tells him they are still here.  And still brilliant and that will carry the day.

The Wrap Up.  Te whole team is assembled and Cisco compliments Iris badassery before naming the villain, Rag Doll. That’s pretty good, Cisco. Nora asks her mom if she was scared seeing as she’s not a speedster or anything. Iris says that’s true but Barry is and they are partners in this life so, she knew she’d have his back. Ralph insists on a moment of also being there and helping save the day.

Iris follows Nora out and finds her writing about the day in her journal. Iris notices the scrapbook that Cecile gave Nora and Nora says it’s so cool to learn these things.  Iris’s past is an off topic item for Future Iris. Iris tells Nora nothing is off limits and she wants her daughter to live her life. She wants them to just be who they are today. Barry smiles as he overhears the women in his life (finally) getting along.

Sherloque and Ralph approach Caitlin with a joint idea they had.  If her mom wasn’t lying but Tannhauser was still involved with her dad’s disappearance then perhaps he’s being held a Tannhauser black ops site. Caitlin says there were a lot of secret locations back in the day when they did classified work for the CDC but that her mom hadn’t taken a government job like that in years. “They’d all be shut down.” Which is the best place to hide, says Cisco.  Only problem, how to do the search without a satellite.

Cisco has an idea.  Using his big brain, he makes a workaround and gains access to the four satellites DeVoe launched during the Enlightenment. Meet HAL, Robbie, Data and Colossus, the team’s new eyes and ears. This means they can track where Cicada got hit so they can track how he got his powers to figure out a weakness. Also, they can track Caitlin’s father. Caitlin pumps the brakes on that — she’s not quite ready to find him yet. “When you’re ready,” Cisco tells her.

And Scene.

Black Lightning
“The Book of Blood:
Chapter One: Requiem” (Episode 205)
November 13, 2018

Tonight opens with Gambi, tricked out in his Gambi Tailoring SUV, going about his day. Not a care in the world and Frank Sinatra playing on the radio. It all goes South, however, when some thug roll up next to him and open fire with a machine gun. His tricked out SUV happens to have special plating and an OnStar like device that keeps advising him of the vehicle’s structural integrity – it’s all very Star Trek.  Gambi pulls his handgun but in the end, turns his car into an empty lot, flipping it and causing it to explode.  The thugs, satisfied, roll on.  No way is Gambi really dead. Also, the way the whole scene is lit, it almost seems like this is a flashback … but not sure yet.

Anissa is with Reverend Holt and it’s clear from their conversation that, since the bomb scare, the work force at the clinic has diminished and Anissa is applying for a job.  When can you start?!?

Pierce House. Jennifer is adjusting to home school life and she’s not happy about it. Not even a little. She refers to herself as, “Black Rapunzel.” She gets a text from Khalil to hang and we get a flashback of the conversation that ended the last episode.  J and Khalil bond over being prisoners to their keepers and how people think they’re kind of monsterish.  Its the most sympathetic we’ve seen Khalil in a while. They part without any drama.

Back in the present, we find Anissa on the job at the clinic.  She is checking out a young mother to be and her twitchy baby daddy.  When the girl confesses she’s terrified about being a mom, Anissa assures it that its the great parents that worry most about sucking.

Whale Lair.  Khalil hauls in a town councilman, Kwame Parker (Eric C. Lynch). Parker is all, “you don’t scare me Whale” as Tobias goes on about the laws of the jungle, about eating or being eaten, etc. Tobias makes it clear that he isn’t trying to scare the good councilman but rather, informer Parker that he now works for Tobias. How’s that, you say/ Well, Tobias has a treasure trove of documents that show Kwame Parker took money from Martin Proctor to fund his election campaign and Kwame Parker definitely doesn’t want that kind of connection getting out to the public.

Pierce House. Henderson comes by to tell Jefferson that Gambi was attacked earlier that evening (so, not a flashback). Jefferson starts to leave to see his friend but Bill makes it clear there is nothing to see, Gambi is dead yo. The two men sit and Anissa joins them. Henderson wants to know if Gambi was “one of them” because going after a tailor with “military grade firepower” doesn’t make sense. Preach Henderson, Preach.  Anissa is confused by the “one of us” and Jefferson realizes he forgot to tell his daughter that Bill knows their secret identities.  No time for that now, Anissa (who makes a great WTF?!? face).  Jefferson wants to see the body but Bill spells it for him that they are having trouble collecting DNA, let alone a body. Shit was burnt. But, the eyewitnesses confirmed that no one got out before the SUV exploded.  Everyone is sad.

After Henderson leaves, Anissa asks her dad why he didn’t mention Gambi and his connection to their life and the ASA, and so forth.  Jefferson replies that Henderson knows enough about their life and bringing Gambi into the conversation would open a can of worms they are not ready for. No, they protect Gambi like he always protected them. Anissa goes to get her keys so they can head to the Lair to grab their suits and starting cracking skulls. Jefferson is all, “nope, we sit tight.” Anissa is incredulous but Jefferson stands by his belief that a man like Gambi has contingencies upon contingencies and until he sees a dead body, he’s going to assume Gambi is alive and well and operating on a plan. This may be the stage of grief known as denial.

We get a quick  cut to the Pod People Lab where Dr. Jace finds Lynn’s whiteboard of math. Lynn tells Jace that she finished the vaccine formula but she doesn’t want to start trials yet – the simulations show the vaccine still killing half of all those it’s given too.  Jace thinks she’s crazy.

After Anissa tells Jennifer about Gambi’s death, she heads to Grace’s apartment. Grace is still not back on board the Anissa train but Anissa tells her that in the aftermath of her Uncle’s death, she got to thinking about who she’d want to spend her final night with and Grace was the answer. And they get it on! And, it’s super hot.

Lynn finally makes it home and climbs into bed with Jefferson. His back is turned to her and he’s definitely not sleeping. Everyone is having a sad.

The next morning, Grace tells Anissa that she won’t be her “handbag,” the person she picks up and puts down when she wants.  For Anissa to come have sex with when she’s feeling sad.  Grace gets out of bed and in the kitchen, has an episode where her body breaks out in tattoo spots – almost like Dalmatian spots.  She pops some pills and the episode ends. What’s happening with Grace?!?

Lynn and Jennifer head to Gambi’s apartment. Lynn explains to her daughter that Jefferson will realize that Gambi is gone and want to honor him so she is getting the ball rolling. She goes through Gambi’s things and finds a pocket watch with a picture of younger Gambi and Jefferson inside.

At a press conference, Councilman Parker announces an anonymous donor has come forward to fund the relocation of Reverend Holt’s clinic from the dangerous area it’s in now. A go get ’em reporter says he has a source that says the donor is Tobias Whale but Parker refuses to acknowledge anything and ends the conference.

Pierce House. Jefferson is just chillin’ at home (no school today I guess?) when Lynn and J return.  When Lynn shows Jefferson the pocket watch, he blows up at her that she has no right to be stealing stuff from Gambi’s house … on account of him not really being dead and all. He grabs the watch and tells her that he’ll return it …

After a quick stop at the bar. We catch up with Jefferson after he’s at least 4 shots in the bag. Two Bits comes up to check on him and pay his respects about Gambi.  Two Bits, seeing his drunken state, offers Jefferson a ride home but nope, he’s good. Jefferson is waiting for Henderson. Across the bar, a guy grabs a waitress’s ass and Jefferson stumbles over to intervene.  The guy shoves Jefferson and so in retaliation, Jefferson beats the shit out of the guy.  Until Henderson and Two Bits can pull him off. Henderson begins to scold his friend as they sit in a booth but Jefferson isn’t listening. He’s just muttering about how hard his life is and how the city just takes and takes from him.  Bill is a good listener as his drunk friend rambles.

Whale Lair.  As Khalil enters, Tobias confirms with him that he successfully paid off the reporter that dropped Whale’s name at the press conference. We pull back and see Tobias is sitting in front of quite a feast.  Today is the 20th anniversary of him pulling Syonide out of the orphanage and them forming a family. The celebration was planned months ago. Because he has to blame someone, Tobias (again) blames Khalil for her death and threatens him that if Khalil disappoints him one more time, he’ll kill Khalil. These are some hostile work conditions, Tobias.

The Clinic.  Deacon, the twitchy baby daddy from earlier, comes rushing into the clinic covered in blood. As he dies in Anissa’s arms, he says, “she knows. You have to save the baby. Find Anaya.”

Pod People Lab.  Jace tells Lynn she may have found a way to save the Pod People.  By thinking of the Pod People as a single organism, she re-jiggered the vaccine and the simulation looks hopeful. It’s all very “SCIENCE!” Hope creeps across Lynn’s face.

Two Bits Bar. The lights flicker out as Two Bits is in his bar alone. He turns around and Black Lightning is there. He asks what TB has heard about the tailor hit from the other night. Two Bits is sure that it wasn’t local boys and sounds like it was government sponsored. No idea why they’d put a hit on a tailor though Two Bits reminds Black Lightning that Gambi “practically raised Jefferson Pierce.” Black Lightning takes his leave and the lights return to normal. More of Two Bits on this show, please and thank you.

The Clinic.  Henderson is questioning Anissa about what happened and how she knows dead baby daddy. She mentions Anaya and the baby and Deacon’s final words. Henderson is pretty sure this was no accident. Their conversation is interrupted by some liquid silver that comes oozing out of dead Deacon’s face. Anissa scoops up a bit in a specimen jar she had handy. The liquid silver is moving inside the jar. Henderson sums it up when he says, “that’s some freaky ass shit.”

Black Lightning Lair. Do we want to call this the Sanctum? That’s kind of a cool name and would help differentiate this Lair from Whale’s Lair. Let’s go with it. Down in the Sanctum, Anissa is using Gambi’s computer equipment to track Deacon’s movements before arriving at the clinic. She sees he got off a train coming from South Freeland.

Pierce House. Khalil, who has been texting J all day to meet, pops up at her bedroom window.  He tells her that he came to check on her given the Gambi situation. She appreciates the gesture but tells him he’s got to go.  They share a moment that says, “we’re totally going to do it, super power style. And soon.”

Gambi Tailors.  Jefferson enters Gambi’s shop and sits down and cries as he remembers his friend and father figure. He looks at the pocket watch (which is inscribed from Jefferson to Gambi). Anissa, still down in the Sanctum watches her father cry on the security cameras and then joins him.  She gives him a shoulder to cry on and then sends him home, she’ll lock up.

Pod People Lab. Lynn and Jace load the cure serum into the pod people and all goes well for about 5 seconds and then, pod people start to die. You can tell because their pods turn bright red. Lynn  has a freak out running from pod to pod as they blink red. She doesn’t understand how this can be happening … the simulations said it would work?!?!  Jace confesses that she she told Lynn what she needed to hear. And now, 14 of the pod people will survive, Lynn’s inaction would have killed them all. “You’re a hero,” Jace finishes. Lynn hauls off a mean right hook to Jace’s face. She has Jace dragged away to a hole as Jace congratulates on saving 14 lives, “bitch.”

Wrap Up. Anissa is driving to South Freeland when a policeman pulls her over. She asks Sheriff Clark why he pulled her over and his response is, “Suspicion.” He advises Anissa that wherever she is headed, “they’re closed.” Getting annoyed, Anissa says that she has a patient named Anaya that she needs to check on which is when she notices somethings speeding by in the woods behind the sheriff. Then, she notices something crawling inside the sheriff’s face. With a, “Oh hell no,” Anissa wheels her car around and takes off in the direction from which she came. Which, I think is all the sheriff was looking for. He stands there, his face all gross crawling as she leaves.

And scene.