Ring of Honor: Women of Honor Special (December 11, 2016) -- Results & Afterthoughts

On the week of December 11, 2016, Ring of Honor TV devoted an entire episode of their weekly programming block to the Women of Honor division.

Deonna Purazzo vs. Candice LeRae

Great to see Deonna in her natural element here instead of being a jobber to Asuka on NXT, losing in seconds. A strong back and forth bout between these two women. Gotta admit that Candice fits better here than being tossed around on the indies like a ragdoll by grown ass men.

I was surprised that they let LeRae do Joey Ryan's "Ball-Plex" on Deonna. Even commentary was surprised as they didn't want to refer to it by name.

My only suggestion here would be to ask the girls to slow it down a bit (especially towards the end) and allow the crowd to digest everything going on for their execution don't look rushed or sloppy. That Fujiwara Armbar from Deonna that she used for the win could give Becky Lynch's Disarm Her/Dishonor a run for her money though. Who knows, we could see Deonna WWE bound sooner more than later if those rumors for a women's tournament in the same vein of the CWC and the UK tournaments in 2017.

Veda Scott & Kennedy Brink def. Sumie Sakai & Faye Jackson (w/ Solo Darling)

Faye has enough rearview back there in her truck that would make Naomi jealous. I'm still shocked that Sumie Sakai is still wrestling after all of these years. I remember seeing her on the first few SHIMMER volumes back in the early 2000s. Sadly, this might be the last WOH event we see Veda Scott on after she asked for her release from the company over the past week, so that means this match was taped a quite a while back as Veda Scott hasn't been featured on ROH programming for a few months now. At least Faye has a MUCH more flattering outfit for her figure than Nia Jax. WWE, please take notes.

Overall, there wasn't much to write home about here. Pretty much your average run-of-the-mill women's wrestling match that you could find in any promotion nowadays. This felt more like an exhibition for showing off the many different personalities in this division than anything else. Sakai was the acting veteran here to lead these girls throughout this match, but there were still a ton of sloppy spots and botches in this match, especially to say that this match lasted FAR longer than I would have liked it to.

Mandy Leon def. Jessicka Havok

For the WWE fans who read this blog, Mandy Leon is the person who NXT's Aliyah tries to steal her mannerisms from. Havok looks like she put on more weight since her brief TNA run a while back. If this division is being built off Mandy being the underdog as she's growing in skill and gaining experience then it's working for the most part with these roadblocks constantly thrown her way. As much as I do like her character, I'm more sold on Taeler Hendrix or Kelly Klein being the first champion whenever ROH gets off their asses and give these girls something to fight for. Much like everything else on this show to this point, you can add another "meh" average finish to this match as Mandy score the win after Deonna Purazzo distracted Havok long enough to roll her up.

Both girls got chokeslams for their just desserts and sold the shit out of 'em too. Havok could definitely help this division out as their resident powerhouse/monster if she decides to stick around full-time.

I honestly felt bad that the ROH crowd didn't react to next to nothing here in this match as it's such an oddity to see the women featured in ROH outside of eye candy.

Main Event: Kellly Klein def. ODB

This was definitely the best match on this entire show as ROH saved the best for last. Kelly Klein is undefeated and unstoppable since arriving in ROH. I'm guessing that they are giving her a Ronda Rousey gimmick (something that it looks like NXT is going to do with Daria) as she runs through every competitor that ROH throws at her from around the world. What's even more awesome is that ODB made a rare ROH appearance on this episode, despite her semi-retirement from pro wrestling to work as a bartender.

FYI ODB also appears on Impact Wrestling's Total Non-stop Deletion special as well, facing against Sienna, aka Allisyn Kay.

Bonus: No Disqualification Match - Taeler Hendrix def. Mandy Leon

This match wasn't on the WOH special at all, but was a YouTube exclusive match shared on WOH Wednesday as part of Ring of Honor's channel. I honestly don't know why they didn't air this match on this episode as it was pretty damn good. They probably would have to chop it into pieces in the editing room for it would fit well within that hour of weekly ROH programming but if they are going forward with Mandy and Taeler being their leading ladies in this division going forward for 2017, I suggest featuring them more like this. It's a damn shame that this feud isn't getting TV time at all. I understand that ROH only has a hour to work with per week, but it wouldn't kill them to give the women more time of day. Taeler and Mandy busted their asses in this match and they should be applauded for their efforts here to elevate the division.

It's strange to me that they don't give them more time as those vignettes on their channel leading up to this match (Hail Hendrix Parts 1-4) were freakin' awesome. It wouldn't kill them to focus on more rising stars and scale back on showcasing the stars from New Japan a bit. WWE (along with TNA slightly...) have hit ROH hard in terms of taking their bigger stars and it's time to reset the wheel a bit as I seriously doubt that WWE is going to stop raiding names from ROH in 2017, especially when they have more WWE Network content to crank out. That's why Sinclair Network(s) need to invest more into this company and give wrestlers a reason to stay instead of taking a higher paycheck but less airtime (in most cases) and a shot at their dignity.

Closing Thoughts

Ring of Honor has to give the Women of Honor more television time instead of segregating them to their YouTube Channel or showing them off on these TV specials once every six months. It wouldn't hurt to give them at least 1-2 matches on their many, many iPPVs or even their TV tapings every few weeks. It's hard to make people outside of the devoted few like myself care about this division after only seeing them perform once in a blue moon. They have to be given room to develop their characters and get more comfortable performing on TV. That's why I can't be too critical of their in-ring performances quite yet. The WOH doesn't have full-time veteran leadership to guide them in the right direction and I hope that changes in 2017.

REVIEW -- Marvel's Luke Cage (Netflix) - Season 1

Marvel's Luke Cage, or simply Luke Cage, is an American web television series created for Netflix by Cheo Hodari Coker, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise and is the third in a series of shows that will lead up to a Defenders crossover miniseries. The series is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios, with Coker serving as showrunner.

Mike Colter stars as Carl Lucas / Luke Cage, a former convict with superhuman strength and unbreakable skin who now fights crime. Mahershala Ali, Simone Missick, Theo Rossi, Erik LaRay Harvey, Rosario Dawson, and Alfre Woodard also star. Development of the series began in late 2013. In December 2014, Colter was cast as Cage, to appear first in Marvel's Jessica Jones, with Coker hired as the showrunner in March 2015. Filming began in New York City in September 2015 and concluded in March 2016.

The series premiered on September 28, 2016 in Harlem, with the full series of 13 episode releasing on Netflix on September 30.

Cast:

Main

Mike Colter as Carl Lucas / Luke Cage
Simone Missick as Mercedes "Misty" Knight
Theo Rossi as Hernan "Shades" Alvarez
Erik LaRay Harvey as Willis Stryker / Diamondback
Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple
Alfre Woodard as Mariah Dillard

Recurring

Frank Whaley as Rafael Scarfe
Ron Cephas Jones as Bobby Fish
Jacob Vargas as Domingo Colon
Darius Kaleb as Lonnie Wilson
Jade Wu as Connie Lin
Deborah Ayorinde as Candace Miller
Justin Swain as Bailey
Jaiden Kaine as Zip
Sean Ringgold as Sugar
Dawn-Lyen Gardner as Megan McLaren
Jeremiah Richard Craft as Dave Griffith
Michael Kostroff as Noah Burstein
Tijuana Ricks as Thembi Wallace
John Clarence Stewart as Alex
Karen Pittman as Priscilla Ridley

Guest

Frankie Faison as Henry "Pop" Hunter
Brian "Sene" Marc as Wilfredo "Chico" Diaz
Clem Cheung as Jin Lin
Warner Miller as Tone
Parisa Fitz-Henley as Reva Connors
Rob Morgan as Turk Barrett
Chance Kelly as Albert Rackham
Craig Mums Grant as Reggie "Squabbles"
Thomas Q. Jones as Comanche
Manny Pérez as Perez
Sônia Braga as Soledad Temple
Sonja Sohn as Betty Audrey
Rachael Taylor as Trish Walker
LaTanya Richardson Jackson as Mama Mabel
Danny Johnson as Benjamin Donovan
Curtiss Cook as Pistol Pete
Clark Jackson as Damon Boone
Natalie Paul as Dana Stryker
Joniece Abbott-Pratt as Esther "Etta" Lucas
Stephen Rider as Blake Tower
PJ Marshall as Mario Green

Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance through an on-set photograph, the same seen in previous Marvel/Netflix series, while Raphael Saadiq, d-Nice, Faith Evans,Charles Bradley, Jidenna, Dapper Dan, The Delfonics, Cliff "Method Man" Smith, Sway Calloway, Heather B., Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, and Fab Five Freddy appear as themselves.

Episodes:

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"Moment of Truth"	Paul McGuigan	Cheo Hodari Coker	September 30, 2016
Luke Cage is keeping a low profile as a sweeper at a barbershop owned by ex-gangster Henry "Pop" Hunter and as a dishwasher at the "Harlem's Paradise", a nightclub owned by crime boss Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes. Two men, Shameek and Chico, bust up one of Stokes' arms deals with help from Dante, a bartender at the Harlem Paradise. After shooting and leaving Dante for dead, they make off with the money. NYPD detectives Misty Knight and Rafael Scarfe are tasked with the investigation. With help from "Shades" Alvarez, who works for Stokes' supplier Willis "Diamondback" Stryker, Stokes tracks and kills Shameek and retrieves his share of the money. Scarfe and Knight decide to question Cage, who had replaced Dante during his absence at the club. Meanwhile, Cage beats up and fends off street thugs, who attack his landlady's restaurant demanding contribution for the "New Harlem Renaissance" initiative spearheaded by Stokes' cousin Mariah Dillard, a councilwoman. The episode features musical performances by Raphael Saadiq ("Good Man")[41] and d-Nice.
2	"Code of the Streets"	Paul McGuigan	Cheo Hodari Coker	September 30, 2016
After Stokes' enquiry, Cage locates Chico and brings him to the barbershop for protection at Pop's behest, while Pop lies to Knight and Scarfe about Chico's whereabouts. Pop sends Cage to parley with Stokes on Chico's behalf, but one of Stokes' men, Tone, is tipped off to Chico's location by Turk Barrett and performs a drive-by shooting, killing Pop and critically wounding Chico while Cage shields a young boy. Knight becomes suspicious when Cage remains unharmed despite getting shot. Angered by Pop's death, Stokes kills Tone for his actions and gives Dillard the money. When Cage finds out about this, he decides to retaliate. The episode features a musical performance by Faith Evans ("Mesmerized").[59]
3	"Who's Gonna Take the Weight?"	Guillermo Navarro	Matt Owens	September 30, 2016
Stokes pays for Pop's funeral and warns Cage to let go of the matter. Cage finds out from a regular customer, Bobby Fish, that the barbershop is facing closure due to unpaid bills, and begins targeting Stokes' business to manipulate Stokes into transferring his assets to Dillard's secure office, "Crispus Attucks". Stokes has a falling out with his associate Domingo Colon, whom he blames for the attacks. Cage attacks Crispus Attucks, steals a share of the money, which he gives to Fish, and leaves the rest for the police to find. After agreeing to testify against Stokes and revealing Cage's involvement in the attacks, Chico is killed by Scarfe, who is on Stokes' payroll. Stokes tracks down Cage to his landlady Connie Lin's restaurant and fires a missile, causing an explosion. The episode features a musical performance by Charles Bradley ("Ain't It a Sin").[60]
4	"Step in the Arena"	Vincenzo Natali	Charles Murray	September 30, 2016
While trapped in the rubble, Cage reminisces about his past as Carl Lucas and his incarceration at Seagate Prison, a private detention facility run by C.O. Albert Rackham. He befriends fellow inmate Squabbles, develops an attraction to psychologist Dr. Reva Connors, and is forced to engage in illegal ring fights by Rackham, and crossed paths with inmates Alvarez and Comanche. Lucas and Connors plan to expose Rackham's activities, but Rackham learns of this by torturing Squabbles and has Lucas brutally beaten. Connors then convinces Dr. Noah Burstein, a scientist conducting experiments on the inmates, to perform the procedure on Lucas. Rackham sabotages the experiment, and the resulting accident gives Lucas his powers. He then escapes and adopts the identity of "Luke Cage". Cage manages to pull himself and Connie out of the rubble and reveals his abilities to the media.
5	"Just to Get a Rep"	Marc Jobst	Jason Horwitch	September 30, 2016
Stokes begins extorting the citizens of Harlem to cover his debts and Cage confronts him to demand he stop. Shades recognizes Cage from Seagate and offers to lend Stokes a prototype weapon stolen from Hammer Industries that could kill Cage on Diamondback's behalf. Realizing this would cost him control of Harlem, Stokes decides to sell the weapons from the botched exchange to Colon and use the money to buy Diamondback's weapon. Scarfe is assigned to retrieve the weapons, but steals them for himself. Meanwhile, Knight begins investigating Scarfe at the behest of her superiors and Claire Temple arrives in Harlem to visit her mother, Soledad Temple, to whom she confides about her experiences with enhanced people. During Pop's memorial, Cage delivers an eulogy and humilliates Stokes in the process, leading Knight to warn him that war against Stokes could destroy Harlem. The episode features a musical performance by Jidenna ("Long Live the Chief").[59][50]
6	"Suckas Need Bodyguards"	Sam Miller	Nathan Louis Jackson	September 30, 2016
Scarfe attempts to blackmail Stokes, but is critically wounded instead and escapes to Pop's for help, where he gives Cage a ledger with incriminating evidence on Stokes. Cage contacts Claire, who treats Scarfe's injuries, while another of Stokes' men, Lieutenant Perez, is ordered to find and kill Scarfe. Knight finds out Perez is also on Stokes' payroll and tricks him into implicating himself, records his admission before arresting him. Cage, Claire and Scarfe are ambushed by mercenaries hired by Stokes on their way to 1 Police Plaza to turn over the evidence, and although Cage fends them off, Scarfe dies from his injuries. Meanwhile, Dillard has an interview with the media. The reporter exposes Dillard's possible involvement in Stokes' actions. Stokes is arrested with the evidence from Scarfe. Knight's supervisor expresses concerns about another disclosure of police corruption after Wilson Fisk's case.
7	"Manifest"	Andy Goddard	Akela Cooper	September 30, 2016
Scarfe's ledger is found inadmissible and Stokes is exonerated. He threatens to expose Cage's real identity if challenged again. Cage decides to leave Harlem; but Claire convinces him to stay and fight. Stokes reminisces about being raised by Dillard at the behest of their grandmother, mobster Mama Mabel. As a child, Stokes' musical talents were encouraged by his uncle Pete, whom Mabel later forced Stokes to kill after learning Pete had made side dealings with her rivals, and molested Dillard. Meanwhile, Knight is investigated by the internal affairs bureau while Dillard is put under pressure by her party to resign from the council. Cage attacks Colon and takes the weapons, giving them to Knight. Dillard visits Stokes to convince him to let go of his obsession with Cage, which leads into an argument that ends with her killing him when he says she flirted with Pete. Alvarez praises her and reveals his plan to frame Cage for the murder. Knight finds out "Luke Cage" is an alias just as he meets Claire to reveal his true identity and is shot by Stryker with the Judas, the Chitauri bullet, leaving him badly wounded. The episode features a musical performance by d-Nice.
8	"Blowin' Up the Spot"	Magnus Martens	Aïda Mashaka Croal	September 30, 2016
Claire gets Cage in an ambulance to a hospital; but they are attacked by Stryker en route. They take refuge in a women's clinic, where Claire examines Cage's tissue to find a way to take out the Judas shrapnel. Candace, a waitress and hostess at Stokes' club, tells the police that it was Cage who killed him, making Knight suspicious of Dillard. Knight calls Cage and informs him of the accusation, while another officer triangulates his location. She arrives at the clinic, attempting to arrest him; but they are attacked by Stryker again. Cage recognizes him from his childhood, with Stryker blaming him for leaving him to "rot". Cage follows Stryker to an empty theater and overpowers him, but he manages to escape. Dillard secretly pays Candace for testifying against Cage. In custody, Claire insists that Cage is innocent, making Knight so angry that she assaults her before the inspector intervenes and has Claire released. Stryker confronts Cage in an alley, reveals himself as his brother and shoots him with the Judas again, throwing him in a garbage truck.
9	"DWYCK"	Tom Shankland	Christian Taylor	September 30, 2016
A police psychologist is tasked to examine Knight. Cage is detected by two policemen, whom he beats up before escaping. Stryker blames Alvarez for Stokes' death. Dillard meets Colon and convinces him to arrange a meeting with all the local crime bosses. Cage reunites with Claire, who convinces him to let her take him to Burstein for treatment. The inspector releases Knight and tasks her to find Cage, who arrives at Burstein's with Claire. They give him the drive containing the data he needs. Stryker interrupts Dillard's meeting with the crime bosses, killing all of them except Colon. She tells Stryker that the video of Cage attacking the policemen has made him an enemy of the city; and Stryker can now sell the Judas bullets to NYPD. Burstein dips Cage inside acid, hoping that it will soften his skin, giving the former the chance to remove the shrapnels. However, the pain of the procedure gives Cage a cardiac arrest. The episode features a musical performance by The Delfonics ("Stop and Look (And You Have Found Love)").[61]
10	"Take it Personal"	Stephen Surjik	Jason Horwitch	September 30, 2016
Claire and Burstein manage to revive Cage and take out the shrapnels. Cage finds out that he was chosen as an experiment subject long before he was injured in Seagate. He and Claire look at Connors' files and find videos of her, proving that she was the person who chose Cage, upsetting him. Stryker kills a policeman, framing Cage. The police get angry and get more aggressive to find Cage, with one detective beating a teenage boy. Dillard shows support for the boy and arranges a ceremony in Harlem's Paradise. Cage threatens Burstein not to replicate the experiment and leaves with Claire and the drive. However, Burstein is revealed to have a copy of the data. In the ceremony, Dillard insists on Cage's fault and the need to arm the police against him. Her fellow party member however secretly tells her about their knowledge of the truth. Cage and Claire arrive at Harlem's Paradise while Knight arrives too, attempting to arrest Stryker, who shoots her before Cage interrupts and tries to escape with her; but they are surrounded by the mercenaries.
11	"Now You're Mine"	George Tillman Jr.	Christian Taylor	September 30, 2016
Cage escapes to the kitchen with Knight while Stryker takes Claire, Candace, the servant who testified against Cage, and the remaining civilians hostages. The police surround the club; but inspector Ridley does not authorize any assault. Cage and Knight escape to the basement using a secret entrance in the kitchen just before Stryker's men storm in. Claire tends to Candace's wound, with the latter revealing the truth to the former and telling about where Cage and Knight might be. Claire escapes and joins the pair, tending to Knight's wound. Stryker uses the loudspeakers to demand Cage to meet him by threatening to kill the hostages. Cage leaves to meet him. Alvarez finds the secret entrance and confronts Knight and Claire, who manage to overpower and lock him. Stryker kills Dillard's fellow party member Boone. Cage arrives and frees the hostages, excluding Candace, whom Stryker uses to cover his own escape just as the SWAT team storms in and forces Cage to surrender using the Judas bullets provided by Dillard. Cage, Alvarez and some other mercenaries are put in custody.
12	"Soliloquy of Chaos"	Phil Abraham	Akela Cooper & Charles Murray	September 30, 2016
Cage manages to escape from police custody, while Knight works hard to locate Stryker and clear Luke's name. Stryker has Alvarez released, then orders Zip and his thugs to kill him, but Alvarez prevails and kills them. The tide of public opinion begins to turn back to Cage, although the NYPD is still determined to bring him down. Candace meets Knight and says that she will testify against Dillard if Knight protects her. Knight takes her to Soledad's. Alvarez approaches Dillard and suggests they get Cage on side by giving him evidence of Lucas's innocence, and that they all work together to defeat Stryker. Cage finds Barrett, who is working for Stryker, and forces him to reveal Stryker's location before locking him in a dumpster. Colon and his men attack Stryker and his mercenaries. Stryker manages to defeat them and escape. Cage arrives and saves a wounded Colon. As the parties converge on Pop's to parley, Stryker attacks, wearing a powered suit which allows him to match Cage's strength and invulnerability. Cage tasks Knight to go after Dillard and Alvarez while the former engages Stryker. The episode features a musical performance by Method Man ("Bulletproof Love").[28]
13	"You Know My Steez"	Clark Johnson	Aida Mashaka Croal & Cheo Hodari Coker	September 30, 2016
In flashbacks, Stryker helps Lucas become a boxer, eventually leading to the latter winning an important match. In the present, Cage and Stryker continue their fight inside and outside the barber shop. In the confusion, Knight drops her phone and Dillard loses the files which prove Lucas's innocence. Cage tries to reason with Stryker, but eventually knocks him out when the suit's power system fails. Alvarez uses Knight's phone to lure Candace out of hiding and kills her, without whose testimony Dillard walks free. Ridley blames Knight for keeping Candace at a private place instead of protective custody. Federal marshals arrive to arrest Cage for his escape from Seagate. Claire kisses him before he leaves, promising to call a skilled lawyer she knows. Fish finds the Lucas files in the barbershop. Dillard re-opens Harlem's Paradise with Alvarez by her side; and Knight goes undercover in the club again. As Stryker recovers in hospital, Burstein enters his room. The episode features a musical performance Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings ("100 Days, 100 Nights").

The Verdict:

The general reception of this Marvel Netflix series that most people are split into two parties about it - either you really loved it or you absolutely hated it. I'll be honest after binge-watching it after the premiere, I was more into the later but now that I have had time to weigh in on my thoughts I'm a little more in the middle now. That being said, without a shadow of a doubt, I feel like this is easily the worst out of the Marvel Netflix series to date.

For those wondering how I would rank the series, it's as follows from best to worse: Daredevil (Season 1), Jessica Jones (Season 1), Daredevil (Season 2), and Luke Cage (Season 1). The measuring stick for qualifying as the worst of the bunch were by a very narrow margin between DD S2 and Luke Cage were small, but the Punisher content eclipses the great things that were done well in Luke Cage as both series have stumbling points in their narratives - the Hand/Elektra subplot in Daredevil S2 and the rise of Black Mariah and Diamondback in the last half of Luke Cage.

Just because I knew that I wasn't going to rush to write this review immediately following my initial viewing of this series, I took down a lot of notes on stuff I noticed throughout the series. I'm going to start off this review with that.

Misc. Notes and Tidbits (I jotted these down while watching)

1. Episode 1 - This introduced the show along a string of stereotypes and cliches in African-American culture. All of these elements rubbed me the wrong way, despite the amazing soundtrack to this show, heavily influenced with Harlem's own musical talents. Marks the first occasion where I recognize the MCU used the N word in this continuity. Once it was said it's thrown around as much as an episode of The Boondocks.
• Cottonmouth is established as the impromptu main antagonist of this series. A very poor one if I may add, especially in the wake of Daredevil's Wilson Fisk and Jessica Jones' Kilgrave. Also establishes the "wannabe Empire/Power" archetype to this show that I honestly really don't care for.
• Vendors selling bootleg DVDs of "The Incident" - the attack on NYC during the climax of the original Avengers film
• Right off the bat, establishes Misty Knight as a prominent woman in Luke Cage the same way as in Jessica Jones - a random, meaningless sexual encounter.
  
  
2. Episode 2 - Pops is killed. I tire of these cliches and archetypes already, between the gang members and pawns to the minor characters. To say that this show was said to be "different" than what is presented as a representation of black culture on TV this is just more of the same, encouraging the same negativity and stereotypes that Hollywood is known for depicting of this culture and race.
• The club owner who is secretly the crime lord, the crooked politician girlfriend whose getting her campaigned backed by said criminal, rival gangs beefing over stolen money which was an inside job, the elderly black figure established as a mentor in barbershop that acts as the focal point of positivity in the community.
• Misty Knight revealed to be a detective instead of an auditor.
  
  
3. Episode 3 - First major fight scene but ultimately underwhelming as it's just Cage throwing guys around like ragdolls and shrugging off everything thrown his way. Hence why this is a hard character to get behind. He lacks any real "obstacles" and his power set allows him to endure anything thrown his way to the point that it's laughable. His only "big" antagonist was the Purple Man but Jessica Jones already beat this show to that punch so we had to settle for a D, no F tier villain in this case.
• "Do you see a nigga in front of you?" Kinda not surprised that they went this route to give a powerful message on what it means to a man of color and not be disrespected by using that derogatory term to describe himself.
• Detective Scarfe shows his true colors as being in Cottonmouth's back pocket.
  
  
  
4. Episode 4 - Serves as a trip down memory lane as Cage recalls how he got his powers. Serves more as an insider joke for older Marvel fans as Cage is sporting his older comics appearance in these flashbacks while in prison.
• "You choose Jet (Lee) over Bruce!!?? No, you can't oversee my trainin'..." - I would've fired that guy as my kung-fu trainer too after that shit.
• First time his catchpharse of "Sweet Christmas" is used. Believe it was used once in Jessica Jones as well. Honestly can't remember.
  
  
5. Episode 5 - Claire Temple makes her first appearance in this series. As per her, this show takes place AFTER Daredevil Season 2 as she mentions the ordeal with Nobu's soldiers in the hospital.
1. "Oh you readin' now? (Laughs)" - ignorance to intelligence from black community, something the Boondocks cartoon was notorious for exploiting for comedic purposes
2. benign neglect referenced here
3. "I plead the eight" "You mean the fifth."
4. Hammer tech used on prototype armor piercing rounds
5. "Shading" and "spilling the tea" at Pop's funeral that Misty describes as a pissing contest
   
   
6. Episode 6 - Opens with "Trish Talk" from Jessica Jones' Patsy "Trish" Walker.
1. Claire meets up with Luke Cage again after the events of Jessica Jones. REALLY doesn't make sense how this takes place AFTER JJ when Cage had his own bar at that point. The two work together to try to get Scarfe proper medical treatment for he can testify against Cottonmouth and shut his operation down for good. Ultimately, Scarfe dies during the chase but they still manage to get Cottonmouth arrested.
2. Coffee joke pointed out - GTA reference of course
3. Misty can't be THIS stupid to not see the writing on the wall about Scarfe. I'm literally throwing my hands up at this point.
4. Big whoop she could see through the other Cottonmouth pawn but not her own partner? Get the fuck outta here.
5. I'm not even mad that they killed off Scarfe here because as important as that character is to the comics continuity the Netflix Marvelverse killed off Ben Ulrich in Daredevil without giving a damn either to his significance so I'm like whatever at this point
   
   
7. Episode 7 - Claire: "There's NOTHING that can hurt you, so what the HELL are you afraid of?"
1. Am I the only one who got Mariah (Cottonmouth's cousin) confused with the woman who asked Luke Cage for "coffee" in Pop's barbershop (Patty?)  on the first few episodes? I keep going huh? almost every other time she'd be seen with Cottonmouth.
2. So if Cage is still seeing/talking to Jessica Jones then why the fuck he's banging Misty Knight on the side? Oh wait, we're playing up the whore status quo here. Tony Stark's doing it. His dad Howard did it. Jessica Jones did it and it was labeled her as a "victim" and I guess that's the same excuse they'll write up for Cage.
3. "I got white folks in the front room. I don't wanna scare 'em off." -- Similar childhood of being damaged by deraged parents much like Kingpin - recycling past goods
4. "You're Harlem's Captain America... Negro please." -- Exactly how I feel about this show at this point.
5. Allowing Cottonmouth to dig up the dirt on his past life -- That was stupid on Cage's behalf. He should've been trying to clear his own name on the previous charge since the second he recognized Shades from Seagate. Dude, you KNOW Jessica Jones! You could use her fucking legal connections to clear this shit ASAP. Ugh... the fucking piss poor writing on this show is KILLING me.
6. "There's no Facebook. Hell, NO PORN!" I'm sure the ladies watching this are mad at that news... Then again, the first episode had enough softcore porn of Colter to satisfy them for the time being.
7. Cottonmouth kills his own father figure (Uncle Pete) in a flashback in the same manner as Kingpin in Daredevil. Seriously, this show is written like the writers' never bothered to watch the other Netflix shows.
8. In a fit of rage, Mariah kills Cottonmouth over their past. (Rolls eyes) I thought this was a little surprising but conveniently gets Luke Cage off the hook... until he's framed for the murder.
9. Ends with Cage being shot with prototype HammerTech bullet that Shades and Cottonmouth mentioned a few episodes back. Shit, why not load up on a ton of these to kill this dude from the get go?
   
   
8. Episode 8 - We see the new villain who I'm guessing who is Diamondback who looks like an UGLIER Wesley Snipes.
1. Oh NOW Misty Knight is being smart? She can deduce how Cottonmouth was killed just by analyzing the crime scene but she couldn't tell her own partner was working the other side? This is like saying that Batman is smart but can't tell Dick Grayson and Robin are the same person and they live in the same house and work together.
2. Claire owning Misty Knight had to be my favorite moment of this entire series to this point. That was a mic drop moment there. She only has herself to blame for being punk'd out by Diamondback.
3. Diamondback vs Luke Cage was almost laughable to a point. These poor fighting scenes aren't doing anything for me. To say Cage had police and hand-to-hand combat training you don't see any evidence of that in his fighting style. He's like a caveman with a club just flailing around.
   
   
9. Episode 9 - "Black Lives Matter" moment where Cage is confronted by police. Entire altercation is recorded on dashcam where Cage protects officer from irrational gunfire but still takes him down.
1. Misty works through her PTSD from the trauma of being confronted with Diamondback. Seems odd for her to go through this conveniently to keep her out of the way to finish the investigation on Cornell/Cottonmouth case
   
   
10. Episode 10 - Harlem's police force goes out of control questioning civilians for information on Luke Cage with Patty's son getting the worst of the attack that Mariah uses to turn the situation uglier in a mock imitation of the real life "Black Lives Matter" situation as a Malcolm X/MLK speech moment to elevate her campaign.
1. In VERY bad taste making parallels to that moment. It comes off as "friendly" as the Friends of Humanity from X-Men: The Animated Series.
2. Cage finds out the truth about Reva Connor's part in the experiment that gave him his powers, adding another cliche to the tons of "been there, done that" moments in this show in terms of writing.
   
   
11. Episode 11 - Shades: "Whatchu talkin' bout, Willis?"
1. Girl who framed Cage for Mariah conveniently meets Claire who at this point is the unsung TRUE hero of this show. Misty Knight talks a big game but she ain't shit - oh the irony there... Luke Cage is near indestructible, but words hurt him more than fuckin' rocket launcher blast.
   
   
12. Episode 12 - Nothing really spectacular here outside of wrapping up a lot of threads towards the finale
    
    
13. Episode 13 - Cage defeats Diamondback who is wearing some ghetto as hell looking Ironman armor made by Hammer Industries so you know it was bullshit. The banter alone was worth this fight but weak finish. I facepalmed at the people in the street gathered around filming the fight and cheering him on. C'mon can we do anything positive about black people in this show instead of conforming to more stereotypes?
1. Misty Knight once again comes off as a complete moron. They don't pick up the evidence on Diamondback nor does she try to get her lost phone which allows Shades to kill her only concrete evidence to clear Cage's name.
2. Time out... how does Cage get the drawls from Misty, Claire, AND Jessica Jones and no one is calling him out on this shit?
3. "I was in the mood for something hot and dark before ya'll's messed that up..." -- I had to pause and laugh my ass off here
4. Ends with teases of what's to come with the scientist taking Diamondback into his care who experimented on Cage to give him his powers, Misty Knight teasing her future as a vignette going full circle where we found her at the start of this series, Claire Temple considering picking up martial arts training from a flyer billed by Colleen Wing which will obviously lead into Iron Fist, and the documents proving Cage's innocence found among the wreckage of Pop's barbershop.

Characters & Casting

Until Black Panther comes to theaters, I think this will be Marvel's most culturally diverse cast to date in ANY Marvel film or television property to date. Several minorities are represented here in terms of acting talent and Marvel made sure to get some major players to play the key roles in this series. Despite the fact that Marvel recycled Alfe Woodard's casting from Captain America: Civil War to play a completely different character in this series as Mariah Dillard, her acting ability continued to shine nonetheless. She struggled to come into her own in the series' first half before moving into the limelight as one of Cage's main antagonists by end of the second half. I really wanted to like Simone Missick as Misty Knight but as the show went on, I couldn't stand her more and more in this role. Maybe it was the writing or how she does that nervous twitch with her facial reactions in multiple occasions in this series, but that's one casting decision that Marvel got wrong here. I would have been fine with her if she was just no name cop or something but to say that she landed the role of Misty Knight doesn't sit well with me, especially given how important that character is to this corner of the MCU. Mike Colter was able to stretch his legs and shine with the role of Luke Cage here more than the short cameo that he was given in Jessica Jones. It took him a few episodes to get warmed up to the role but once he got going, I could totally buy into him as this character. Thank the stars that they didn't go with the stereotypical "ghetto" iteration of Cage as I was ready to facepalm at that if they went that route. Theo Rossi as "Shades" was an interesting choice but I was anxious to see him come into his own throughout this season instead of being a mere henchman/goon for Cottonmouth, Diamondback, and then finally Black Mariah. I felt that they chopped Mahershala Ali's legs right from underneath him right when he was starting to show some depth with his character. Such a shame that he was only in the first half of this series, when he could have benefited being the focal villain in this premiere season then moved to Mariah and Diamondback later.

Narrative

I think I pointed it out thoroughly in my notes above in several occasions that the show's narrative works for the most part but drastically dips in overall quality towards the show's latter half. It makes me sad to see that Marvel has to stretch all of these shows out to 13 episodes on Netflix when it would be a nice short, concise story if they just tell the tale they wanted to tell in a mere 8 episodes, much like Stranger Things did. Luke Cage seemed to suffer from being dragged out for the extra 6 episodes as I thought the season could have wrapped up in a mere seven episodes in my personal opinion. The whole switch in hierarchy of power with the criminal underworld after Black Mariah and Diamondback took charge could have been saved for a second season, where they would have had more time to iron out the details instead of squeezing all of this in the remaining half of this season.

Let's not forget that there's a LOT of moments in this series where I have to question if the creators have seen the other Marvel Netflix shows to date as a lot of things don't add up chronologically, such as Cage's relationship with Jessica Jones and his role in what happened in her series along with a few other moments that detailed above in my notes.

In terms of the narrative as a whole, the show has far too many "convenient" events occurring to take place just for the sake of moving the plot or make the shit hit the fan to add drama. As a result, it doesn't feel natural, but instead, it feels like a laundry list of set pieces and stopping points just to be checked off to set up the Defenders down the road. The biggest culprit of this are those 2-3 episodes where Cage is injured and out of action after being shot with the Chitauri bullet.

Representation

One of the biggest critics about this show is that it's "racist" because there are very little white Caucasian characters to identify with. I'm almost at the point where I firmly believe that film theory should be a required course in high school because it's getting ridiculous with popular media having a much more powerful presence in our everyday lives, now more than ever. This show isn't racist - actually far from it.

Can non-white people call every show on television "racist" because there's not enough characters for every minority to identify with? No, because the thought of that being plausible is absurd despite a lot of work from both DC and Marvel Comics to cater to as many races as possible after introducing multiple new iterations of established heroes to replace or even stand alongside their established counterparts. I suggest anyone who deems this show as "racist" for the lack of white representation pick up a textbook on film theory and educate themselves on the relationship between the spectator and on-screen spectacle by means of identification of visual and aesthetic characteristics and characterizations. To make a long story short, the creator of said media doesn't owe the spectator shit in terms of representation and how they identify with what is going on.

Watch It or Don't Bother?

"Sometimes backwards to move forward... always." - Luke Cage

Luke Cage utters those words at the end of the final episode of this season and I couldn't think of anything better to describe this show in its entirety. Luke Cage makes a lot of steps backward in terms of storytelling - many of which that I thought Marvel Studios would have learned after the feedback on Daredevil Season 2 and Jessica Jones came out, such as pacing and dragging out a season just because they could. I would like to see more Marvel Netflix shows adopt a season format like Stranger Things did, where it was only eight episodes and didn't overstay it's welcome just because the episode order was for 13 episodes instead of half as much which was needed to tell this type of story.

Don't get me wrong. I loved the soundtrack, especially how musical performances integrated into every episode as part of the Harlem Paradise club, and I enjoyed the narrative up until about the halfway point where Mariah killed Cottonmouth and replaced him in a position of power, only to be pulled at the strings by Diamondback. Integrating music into the show was a brilliant touch and really highlighted the "black" feel of the show opposed to anything else these Marvel-based Netflix shows have done to date. That being said, the show comes off like it's trying too hard to be a black show. I don't know if people will get where I'm coming from when I say that as a black male writing this blog but when you've seen a lot of this type of stuff on television and in films produced by Hollywood, you notice a lot of patterns and tropes that made me roll my eyes instead of sitting back and enjoying it. That's why I don't rave for shows like Empire or Power as they've clearly influenced this show in terms of style, but as black shows they tend to highlight more negatives than positives about black culture.

I suggest watching it as it's definitely one of Marvel's most ambitious television series to date, but
ultimately leaves a lot to be desired. With the recently announced season two on the way, maybe they will get things right. 

OPINION --- The Significance of Sexy Star's Lucha Underground Championship Win

On Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016, Sexy Star made history in the Lucha Underground Temple, becoming the sole survivor in Aztec Warfare III to become the new Lucha Underground Champion, making her the first female wrestler to hold the title.

I know that I'm two weeks late to comment on this matter, but goddamn I have wanted to talk about this since hearing the spoilers unintentionally on Jim Cornette's podcast a few months back. I'm honestly proud of myself for not spilling the beans on this matter as I wanted to see first-hand if it was executed as moronic as Cornette described it from the source that he got the information from during the tapings earlier this year. As much as I thoroughly enjoy Cornette's podcasting and his occasional rants on professional wrestling, in this case I have to say that he was absolutely wrong on how this matter was handled. That being said... he's notorious for his negative opinion on the Lucha Underground product as a whole, so there's that too.

Back on the premiere episode of Lucha Underground, Sexy Star was defined as hero and icon for women. Most AAA fans already recognize her as such, but with this being her first mainstream appearance, it was important that Lucha Underground took great care to hammer this point home in her backstory. Throughout Season One, Lucha Underground established her as a rising star that female viewers could identify with and idolize. She wasn't the flashiest luchador on the roster, but time and time again she proved that she belonged with the best that Lucha Underground had to offer. She stood up to the likes of Pentagon Jr. and Chavo Guerrero before having to face her former friend Super Fly and deal with Marty the Moth by the end of Season One. She faced shortcomings along the way, coming up short on capturing the Gift of the Gods Championship at Ultima Lucha - a mistake that was remedied at the end of Season Two at Ultima Lucha Dos.

Sexy Star winning the Gift of the Gods Championship at Ultima Lucha Dos

When Sexy Star won the Gift of the Gods Championship at the end of Season at Ultima Lucha Dos, I was a bit skeptical as that match was a pretty lackluster affair, especially after how Mariposa and Sexy Star drove themselves to hell and back in their No Mas Match (see below). Like I said in my write-up of that event, that match was one of the weaker matches on that stacked card and Sexy Star's performance in that match left a lot to be desired. At the same time, she's not the flashiest competitor but her merit as a symbol is what makes her continue to out shine on this show over the other women in Lucha Underground.

Catrina is the seductive puppet master, commanding the forces of darkness and death at her beckoning. As of this writing, she hasn't had an in-ring match out of the three seasons of Lucha Underground, even though she is set to face Ivelisse at Ultima Lucha Tres. Ivelisse is the "baddest bitch in the building" - no pun intended, focused on proving that she's bad as - if not more - than her male counterparts, but a string of injuries over the last few seasons has derailed her from being at Sexy Star's level of being an icon for women's wrestlers in this promotion. Don't get me wrong. Ivelisse is definitely a prominent star in terms of women's wrestling in terms of this modern era, but she hasn't hit that point in Lucha Underground - yet. Despite being the most important character in Season One, Black Lotus (former WWE Diva Search contestant Angela Fong) has been reduced to being another one of Dario Cueto's many pawns and haven't had much in-ring time outside of a match against El Drago Azteca at Ultima Lucha Dos that was cut short by Pentagon Jr. Taya Valkyrie, or simply Taya as she's known in the Temple, is merely another cog in the machine known as the Worldwide Underground faction, consisting of Johnny Mundo (former WWE Superstar John Morrison/John Hennigan), PJ Black (former WWE Superstar Justin Gabriel), and long-time indie sensation Jack Evans. Then there's Kobra Moon, who seems to be more fixated on stalking Daga and Drago more than anything else right now.

I don't want to sell any of the women in Lucha Underground short, but Sexy Star stands above the rest as an icon in this product.

Sexy Star sets herself apart from the rest of the women on Lucha Underground is that she is willing to go above and beyond, even going as far as being a martyr to show what women are capable of with compassion and determination to fulfill their dreams. Whereas WWE are currently banking on a boss (Sasha Banks) or some flair (Charlotte) to carry their women's division, it is sad to see that they have lost sight of what simple factor could make the masses care about women's wrestling - a powerful narrative. Lucha Underground didn't set out to revolutionize women's wrestling - instead, they wanted to honor and respect women's wrestling by showing them as equals to their male peers.

The No Mas Match wasn't great because of the blood and the extremes that these women went to destroy each other in this match. No, it was because of the extremes that Sexy Star was able to endure, physically and emotionally leading up to this match. For months on end in the storyline break between Season One and Two, Sexy Star was kidnapped and tortured by Marty "The Moth" Martinez and his psychotic sister, Mariposa (the "future legend" herself Melissa Anderson/Cheerleader Melissa). The bulk of Season Two followed Sexy Star somehow escaping the Moth tribe's confines and getting back to the Temple where she coped with the PSTD of that experience. All of Sexy Star's encounters with Marty and Mariposa led to this moment where even Dario Cueto himself urged her to fight back and don't allow herself to be a victim ever again to these psychotic siblings. The narrative of this match was a thing of beauty. It symbolized all of the horrors that Marty and Mariposa inflicted on her physically and mentally until Sexy Star summoned the strength and determination to fight back with a powerful cry of "FUCK YOU MARIPOSA!!!" to show that she wasn't going to take shit from anyone - not from Mariposa, Marty the Moth or anyone else for that matter.

When it came down to the finale of Aztec Warfare III, Sexy Star wasn't the one who toppled the unstoppable monster that is known as Matanza Cueto. Contrary to popular belief, Matanza only fell after falling victim to a barrage of finishers and signature moves from multiple luchadors in that match before being rolled up with Rey Mysterio's old school springboard hurracanrana that could defeat even the mightiest of foes in WCW. In that respect, I could buy into Rey being the one to put the monster down even though Matanza destroyed him afterwards. People may have an issue with Sexy Star enduring the punishment and abuse from Mil Muertes but at the same time, remember that this is a guy who is tamed by the female embodiment of death that is over 500 years old (in kayfabe anyway...). That being said, it's not that much of a stretch to believe that he would fall against a woman. Matanza himself had a moment of weakness in this match so it's not hard to believe that Mil Muertes could fall as well. It seemed like he was off his game a bit after beating the holy hell out of King Cuerno (what the fuck happened to that guy anyway?) at Ultima Lucha Dos. Sure, Mil won Grave Consequences against Prince Puma a few weeks ago and fought Matanza to a stalemate a few episodes prior, but Mil hasn't hit his stride since losing the Lucha Underground Championship last season.

Besides, wrestling fans saw Brock Lesnar job to a 50+ year old man in less than two minutes at Survivor Series the week before Thanksgiving so anything is possible at this point. I honestly don't see what's there to complain about.

Sexy Star proved herself time and time again that she belongs here among the best in Lucha Underground. She captured the top prize of the promotion, bringing a happy ending to what has been a horrifying chapter to her life. Despite the fact that she would lose the title on the following episode to Johnny Mundo and the antics of the Worldwide Underground's Taya, no one can take this accolade from Sexy Star. She is the first and only woman to hold the Gift of the Gods and Lucha Underground Championships.

What makes this moment unique and special that it wasn't done as part of a "women's revoluntion" for publicity like WWE has been doing for the past year with their women that was forced down our throats. This moment was a natural progression for the evolution of her character throughout the three seasons of this show's storyline. I applaud that Lucha Underground gave Sexy Star this chance to shine with this opportunity while at the same time, making her a cornerstone of role model women in this sport to look up to for fans and non-fans alike.

Sexy Star's story is one of perseverance and determination as she continues to be the cornerstone of Lucha Underground's ensemble of lethal femme fatales.  

CW Arrowverse Crossover (Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, DC's Legends of Tomorrow) -- Invasion!! (Parts 1-3)

"Invasion!" is the third annual Arrowverse crossover event, crossing over episodes of the Arrowverse television series The Flash, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow on The CW, and is inspired by the 1989 comic miniseries Invasion!. Events at the end of the Supergirl episode "Medusa" on November 28, 2016 marked the beginning of the crossover, which officially began on November 29 with The Flash, continued on Arrow on November 30, and concluded on Legends of Tomorrow on December 1. Each of the latter three episodes are also titled "Invasion!". "Invasion!" sees Barry Allen recruit Kara Danvers to his Earth to help his team, Oliver Queen and his team, and the Legends defeat the alien race known as the Dominators.

Development for a crossover between the three series, along with Supergirl, began in May 2016 after it was revealed that Supergirl would move to The CW from CBS for its second season. By the following September, the scripts for each episode had been written, with filming occurring shortly after, in October 2016. The premise and episode titles were also revealed that month. "Invasion!" sees all of the main cast members for each series appear in at least their own series, with Melissa Benoist appearing as Supergirl across the entire crossover. Multiple actors and characters from previous Arrow seasons also return to reprise their roles, as it was also Arrow's 100th episode.

Premise: (FULL Spoilers)

Supergirl Season 2, Episode 8: "Medusa" (Fall Finale)

The Danvers along with James, Winn and Mon-El celebrate Thanksgiving. Hank Henshaw unleashes a virus in the alien bar that kills the aliens except Mon-El, who is quarantined. Eliza determines the virus is Kryptonian. At the Fortress of Solitude, Kara learns that Henshaw was after "Medusa", a virus developed by Kara's father to kill all non-Kryptonian aliens in case of an invasion. Cyborg Superman attacks L-Corp looking for the isotope required for dispersal, but Kara stops him. Alex comes out to Eliza, who is fully supportive. Kara tells Lena that Lillian is Cadmus' leader and wants help finding her, but Lena refuses. Lena gives Lillian a case containing the isotope. Kara and J'onn confront the Luthors and Henshaw before Medusa is launched via rocket. J'onn fights Cyborg Superman, becoming a White Martian, while Kara chases the rocket down, but fails. Medusa is dispersed; however it is inert, as Lena switched the isotope with a fake to gain Lillian's trust. Lillian is arrested, but Cyborg Superman escapes. Mon-El is cured and Eliza uses Medusa to restore J'onn's Green Martian form. Maggie and Alex kiss after Maggie admits she has feelings for Alex. An unknown alien race is searching for Mon-El. Barry Allen and Cisco Ramon arrive from another Earth to enlist Kara's help.

The episode ends with a scene setting up the crossover event "Invasion!" that begins on The Flash season 3 episode 8, continues on Arrow season 5 episode 8 and concludes on Legends of Tomorrow season 2 episode 7.

The Flash Season 3, Episode 8: Invasion!! (Part 1)

Barry investigates a meteor crash outside Central City that turns out to be a spaceship from which aliens emerge. Lyla tells the team that the "Dominators" landed previously in the 1950s, but then mysteriously departed. Needing help, Barry assembles the original Team Arrow, Thea, the Legends, and Kara, Supergirl of Earth-38. The team begins training at a S.T.A.R. Labs facility, sparring against Supergirl to prepare against the aliens. Cisco finds and reveals a message to Rip Hunter from Barry's future self, which exposes Barry's manipulation of the timeline and how it affected other team members. Oliver, Kara, Felicity, Martin and Jefferson become the only ones who still trust Barry. The Dominators abduct the President.

Kara leads most of the others in a rescue effort, but the Dominators kill the President and trap them with a mind control device. The controlled heroes return and attack S.T.A.R. Labs. While Oliver and Wally hold them off, Barry lures Kara to the device and manipulates her into destroying it, freeing everyone. The team decides to trust Barry again. Suddenly, Sara, Ray, Diggle, Thea, and Oliver are teleported away before Barry can intervene.This episode begins a crossover that continues on Arrow season 5 episode 8 and concludes on Legends of Tomorrow season 2 episode 7.

Arrow Season 5, Episode 8: "Invasion!!" (Part 2 -- 100th episode special)

Oliver finds himself back at Queen Manor; both his parents are alive, he is about to be married to Laurel Lance, and Diggle is the Hood. However, it is revealed that he, Diggle, Thea, Sara and Ray are all being held unconscious inside pods aboard a Dominator spaceship. Meanwhile, Felicity, Curtis and Cisco Ramon try to hack into the Dominators' mainframe using a piece of their technology. The team recovers a necessary device with the help of the Flash and Supergirl, and they manage to locate the others. Oliver begins seeing flashes of his former life, as do Sara and Ray. All five captives soon realize that they are inside a shared hallucination. 

Their escape attempt is blocked by Malcolm Merlyn, Deathstroke, Damien Darhk and their mercenaries, all of whom are defeated by the captives. The captives then leave the dream and awaken inside the ship. Escaping in a shuttle, they are rescued by the Waverider. Ray deduces that the Dominators were gathering information from their minds, using the hallucination as a distraction, to help them complete a special "weapon". The team learns that the Dominator mothership is headed towards Earth.This episode continues a crossover that begins on The Flash season 3 episode 8 and concludes on Legends of Tomorrow season 2 episode 7.

DC's Legends of Tomorrow Season 2, Episode 7: "Invasion!!" (Part 3)

As cool as this image looked I couldn't help but notice that there's a LOT of people missing. What happened to the rest of Arrow's sidekicks without any powers if Diggle and Heatwave get to join in this fight? We know Canary was on the Waverider with Cisco but damn... 

Continuing from "Invasion! part two", Nate, Mick, Amaya, Felicity and Cisco travel back to the first Dominator invasion in Oregon, 1951. The Legends members successfully capture a Dominator for information, but are themselves captured by Federal agents led by an Agent Smith. While in custody, they learn from the Dominator that the aliens arrived to assess the threat humanity posed now that metahumans have appeared. Felicity and Cisco rescue the Legends and help set the Dominator free. Meanwhile in Central City, 2016, the team learns from an older Agent Smith that the Dominators know about Barry's manipulation of the timeline, and that they demand his surrender in exchange for peace. After Nate's party returns, the team discovers that the Dominators' weapon is a bomb that will kill all metahumans on Earth, with millions of collateral human casualties. The teams dissuade Barry from surrendering, with Cisco reconciling with him. They manage to destroy the bomb and force the Dominators to retreat using pain-inflicting nanotechnology. Cisco gives Kara a device to travel between universes. Martin convinces Jefferson not to tell the others that his daughter, Lily, (whom he met in part one), is an aberration.This episode concludes a crossover that began on The Flash season 3 episode 8 and continued on Arrow season 5 episode 8.

The Verdict:

It's only fair to analyze this crossover event by the four separate shows that it consists of.

Starting off with Supergirl, I have to say that it was in poor taste by the CW to market this episode as part of the crossover when it really didn't have nothing to do with it outside of the 30 second tease at the end that saw Cisco and Barry Allen arrive to her universe. The majority of this episode was tying up loose ends with the Luthor family/CADMUS, J'onn/White Martian, and Mon-El subplots, along with Alex continuing to cope with her newfound sexual identity.

I don't have a problem with Alex coming out as lesbian to her family and this show going that route to emphasize the importance of coming to terms with your sexual identity, but I fear that some viewers will feel that subject is being forced down their throats, especially with just about every Arrowverse show except for The Flash seems to have a LGBT character as a recurring cast member. That being said, it was a relief to see that Alex's mother was more accepting of Alex's choice than Kara was. That moment from a few episodes back where Kara, of all people, would give her sister hell about that was so goddamn awkward.

That being said, I was pretty sure the Luthor family subplot will have something to do with the conclusion of the ordeal with the Dominators. Otherwise, they shouldn't have gone out of their way to introduce this now. In terms of timing that "new weapon" by CADMUS is FAR too convenient timing - especially for what the heroes are going to be up against. That Medusa virus would have made a much more easier method to dispose of the Dominators instead of blowing the special effects budget in a mediocre action sequence in the conclusion of this crossover arc, but whatever...

One more thing... has anyone else busted out laughing like I did at Cyborg Superman looking like Cyborg from the DC Super Powers cartoon?

Onward to The Flash... I thought it was stupid to reopen Pandora's Box on what Barry did on Flashpoint when Felicity Smoak was one of the first people he told about it but she didn't tell the Team Arrow about it. Stein and Jax should've told the Legends crew before they decided to jump to this era which was even more stupid in my honest opinion. As well as I thought that The Flash handled the Killer Frost episode prior to this, it's bizarre to me to see how they are fumbling around with how to tackle this crossover here by bringing up what happened earlier this season that was already resolved to continuing to give Wally hell about using his powers. Have Iris and Joe West even considered that maybe if Wally got trained properly by Barry (and possibly Jesse and Earth-2 Wells too...) that they wouldn't have anything to worry about? Then again, all of this skepticism about Wally having powers is leaning me more and more into the mindset that they are going to try to pull the swerve that Wally ends up being Savitar in this timeline. I could be wrong but I was right about who was Zoom last season too.

Back onto the Flashpoint debate though.. How the hell can White Canary/Sara Lance be mad about Barry tampering with the timeline when she wanted to do the same thing not once but TWICE in Legends when she had a chance to kill Dahrk? Not to mention that her entire crew has been fucking up the timeline on MULTIPLE occasions. If it wasn't for the Waverider and Rip Hunter's instructions they possibly would have had things spiral even more out of control than what Barry has done too. CW, just get the fuck out of here with this shitty writing.

I found it a bit hard to believe that EVERYONE save for Barry and Ollie were brainwashed by the Dominators. That was just FAR too convenient for the sake of the plot here. Speaking of which, I hope they haven't blown their special effects budget on this crossover. Otherwise, the rest of this season for all 4 shows will be nothing but still images like the original ending to the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime. Seriously, what is up with people being mind controlled in ALL of these Arrowverse superhero team-up crossovers? Is that an ongoing joke or something? If so, it's redundant that they are still using it for the 3rd year in a row.

On a visual level, this stuff STILL looks slightly better than an average episode of Power Rangers.

I've been waiting for another Cisco/Felicity Smoak team-up for TOO long now. Why can't we have her on Team Flash full-time? God I love her. Heatwave and "Skirt"'s banter was hilarious, but made me miss Snart even more as I knew he would've had a ton of great one-liners in this.

Where the hell is Citizen Steele and Vixen? How did Palmer get a new Atom suit so fast? I know that Palmer took some of the dwarf star mineral for he could construct a new suit at the end of last week's episode of Legends, but to say that he already finished it in time for this event is a bit jarring. I would complain about how fast everyone got together to start this team-up too but why did they drag on the training sequence so long?

Last but not least, how the hell does Diggle (a dude who just has GUNS and no superpowers at ALL) get to help in this fight when they left Martian Manhunter and Guardian out of this fight? They completely lowballed the cast of Supergirl in this crossover outside of Kara. I can understand why in terms of conflicting filming schedules but damn...

Next we move onto the Arrow tie-in episode... What a fucking cheap way to get all of the old Arrow cast members that were either in past seasons or now starring in spin-offs in a single episode. I hate CW for making me watch an entire episode of Arrow against my will just to see the next part of this crossover team-up event.

This episode is as much of a throwaway as the Supergirl tie-in. Who the fuck is the geek that I'm guessing is supposed to be Mr. Terrific and that Hispanic Casey Jones (Wild Dog?) looking dude? Sue me. I don't watch this fucking show on a regular basis. I'm sure I wasn't the only one going, who the fuck are these losers when Cisco was taken to Team Arrow's base of operations (the Arrow cave?).

Best Sara Lance looked in while in this though. Hot damn I wish she was into guys... I know Ollie wishes she was too to say that he used to bang her and her sister. Speaking of Sara Lance, she had the best moment in this entire episode when they let her kill Deathstroke of all people like it was nothing. Dream or not, that was pretty bad ass I'll admit that. Out of all of the non-powered people in the Arrowverse, she comes off as the coolest (except when Snart was still around) in all aspects. Heatwave is the number two spot, despite managing to outshine everyone else in this crossover in terms of banter and overall depth to an otherwise generic character archetype in this season of Legends.

To say that they had Ollie had that bad ass speech to Barry on the previous episode in this crossover about shit happens in life and this crap happens kinda scales things back a bit to lessen the impact of that moment. Even more so when they are all forced to live this alternate "perfect" life when Barry already let them know how fucked up the timeline is thanks to Flashpoint. I get that this was Arrow's 100th episode special and they wanted to devote something to everyone who've been a part of it along the way, but they could have done their own thing with this episode as a stand-alone episode for this series and did the crossover tie-in(s) AFTER this week. I can say the same for Supergirl as well as it felt like they were just slapping on the big crossover label just to garner attention for these midseason finales.

Out of the VERY few times that I've seen Arrow, I'm fucking GLAD to hear that Laurel's dead. Kill off Thea too and I honestly might watch that show full time. Those actresses and characters do absolutely nothing for me and made even revisiting this show for the few scenes that they were in this crossover a chore to watch.

Their escape from the Dominators ship was fucking comical. So they just left their gear and Palmer's Atom suit (the main thing in Legends that keeps fucking up the timeline everytime the guy leaves parts of it in the past) on the ship without even caring? I repeat myself from the previous episode... Where was Steele during all of this? Was he just hanging out waiting for this moment to rescue the team because he wasn't invited for the rest of this team-up?

That being said, this was a great episode if you're a long-time Arrow fan in sake of nostalgia. For everyone else, it's the weakest of these crossover tie-ins as the Dominators plot was almost nonexistent in this episode outside of the action with Flash and Supergirl that lasted all but a few seconds before going back to the "dream world" with Ollie's group.

We wrap up this crossover event with Legends of Tomorrow. Much like The Flash tie-in episode, this was a back to form without the Domintors' invasion plot being secondary to what was your typical episode of this CW superhero show. This season of Legends has hit a comfortable pattern now where every episode is pretty much a one-off in terms of their time travel era of the week with the subplot of trying to figure out what Reverse Flash and Damien Darhk are doing tampering with the past.

We get a resolution to the subplot with Martin Stein concerning his daughter that spawned out of a result of his own interaction with his younger self and NOT by Flashpoint, along with some more bonding between Stein and Caitlin Snow. That was something I really missed about having Stein on Team Flash as Stein seemed like a father figure to Snow and after what has transpired with her following the "Killer Frost" episode of The Flash last week, she really needed this time to show her kind side again. I'm anxious to see what they are going to do with Stein's daughter. She has to be harmless, much like Jesse in Earth-2 Wells' timeline.

Citizen Steel, Vixen, and Heatwave took charge on this episode for the most part, with Felicity Smoak and an irritable Cisco Ramon tagging along for the time travel field trip to capture and interrogate one of the Dominators from the past. To say that the Legends are supposed to be careful about who sees them and what they do in the past, they sure do love getting captured. It makes them look REALLY stupid at times, especially during this episode where they are captured by officials from the US government for experimentation. Of course, the gang escapes, thanks to an unexpected rescue by Cisco and Felicity (yeah you read that right...) and they manage to free the Dominator as well.

Doing so ends up screwing up the timeline even further and forces Cisco to realize that his personal gripe with Barry is pointless as he just did the same thing. I don't see why they reopened this wound in the first place when it was resolved earlier this season in The Flash and didn't need to be brought up again here. Much like the entire episode devoted to the trip down memory lane on Arrow, this was more unnecessary drama that dragged this crossover down in a bad way.

By the way, I had to laugh at Cisco making a reference to Stranger Things and I immediately went, "It's WAAYYY too soon to be making references to that show right now, buddy."

Finally, things came together for the final battle of this crossover which pitted the heroes against the main group of Dominators while Supergirl and Flash race around the world slapping on the devices that Stein and his daughter worked on together earlier to "short out" the Dominators' brains. This forced the Dominators to make a hasty retreat, but here's the thing that I had a problem with. Couldn't Kara (who had like a minimal role here in this crossover since Day 1) have gone back to her world, get that bioweapon that the Luthor family tried to use on the aliens there and reconfigure it to work on the Dominators only? That just seemed like a missed opportunity to say that they were billing the entire week as part of this crossover and nothing of use came out of the Supergirl midseason finale that could have been applied here.

Once again though, the final battle pushes the Arrowverse's special effects budget to the limit, but still manages to look underwhelming for the most part. It still cool to see all of these characters working together and interacting with each other on such a large scale as this and at the end of the day, I suppose that's all what matters -- despite how lame the Dominators looked.

This episode ends with all of the heroes having a party together in the Star Labs warehouse that looks conveniently like the Hall of Justice from the old Superfriends cartoons. Cisco gave Kara an inter-dimensional breach device, so they are able to do these crossovers much more easily from here on out as she's able to communicate with them for help (as the Dominators are said to exist in her Earth too) and vice versa. I'm pretty sure Palmer's remark about Kara looking like his "cousin" was lost on most people as Brandon Routh (Palmer/The Atom) played Superman in Superman Returns. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a Supergirl (more likely Power Girl instead...) in the Arrowverse on Earth-1 though.

Watch It or Don't Bother?

If you're a fan of the Arrowverse then give this a shot, but you're a newcomer or just only watch Supergirl, then you're going to be REALLY disappointed.

This crossover is much like the two Flash/Arrow crossovers before it. There's nothing much here to draw in non-Arrowverse fans into these four episodes, especially the Supergirl tie-in as a newcomer, and the entire week long event as a whole seemed like a waste by the time it was said and done. The Dominators came off as an easily forgettable adversary while most of the crossover appeal to this event was mainly due to how these reunions and meetings between the mash-ups of all of these different characters from different branches of the Arrowverse were going to interact with each other. The main cast of Supergirl really got shafted in this event, with only Melissa Benoist serving as the sole representative from her show while the other three Arrowverse shows were highly selective in who they allowed to participate in these episodes while completely omitting or disregarding others to continue plot points that could have been resolved prior or after this event took place. 

To say that this was the first "major" crossover connecting all four of these CW superhero shows together, I have to say that in terms of a narrative, they failed to deliver in that regard as the main plot was undermined for the vast majority of this affair in favor for plot points that should have been resolved in each of these individual series (much like Supergirl did before her "official" debut in The Flash) beforehand. That being said, the Dominators weren't really a great enemy to pull from the comics anyway as they weren't given much to work with on that storyline, but damn. To say that this was their first big crossover and this was the best they could do by doing 3 individual average episodes of these shows with some guest-stars thrown in with a loose plot tying it all together, just shows that the CW writers' for these shows are grasping at straws in terms what to do on these shows. Seeing all of these character interact and trade banter was the greatest appeal here, but all of that is for nothing when the story and action (for the most part) doesn't deliver as well.