The Critical Corner

In a TV landscape that has been massively filled up with so many shows based on comic book properties with all different kinds of quality, no other show makes me more sad with its current state like "The Flash". The original spin off of the now defunct "Arrow", once the beacon of hope of what a great superhero show on network TV could be, has truly fallen to new lows. Despite a sign of some hope with its sixth season finally reversing a downward trend that hit its nadir with the fourth and fifth season, nothing could have ever prepared us for the pile of awful that awaited us for the majority of Season 7, even as it tried to pick itself up at the end. Obviously, there will be a big desire to point fingers and for heads to roll as to why the recently finished Season 7 turned out the way it did. One can easily point a finger to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which most famously forced the improved sixth season to end prematurely, and make filming new seasons much more...

Before going on their latest break, The Flash Season 5 had some significant forward momentum with their latest episode, “Time Bomb”. The things that happened this episode: season villain Orlin Dwyer AKA Cicada was definitively dispatched to make way for his niece from the future to assume the villain role for the remainder of the season (one that showed how deadly she is in the past two episodes). Also, Barry and Iris’ daughter Nora West Allen's secret of working with villain Eobard Thawne (which has been percolating since the reveal in the show’s 100 th episode) was finally brought to light. Suddenly, things kicked into gear to (hopefully) deliver a strong final third for the season. Therein lies the problem. Ever since the third season back in 2016, for a series that features the fastest man alive, the show has been consistently plagued with a case of sluggish pacing that’s become a little harder to ignore these days. For a show that made it...

The long running series staged a creative comeback in Season 5 As I continue looking back at the current state of the "Arrow-verse", my focus shifts now at looking into the grand daddy of them all. The show that kicked off this whole shared universe that, coming into this season, was on the verge of losing any relevancy.  (A fair warning that there will be some  spoilers for Season 5) Arrow Oliver Queen sporting a more traditional costume Of all the shows in this shared TV universe, no one was in such need of a creative miracle like "Arrow". After a great debut season that lead to the high point that was the Oliver Queen vs Slade Wilson/Deathstroke conflict that defined its second season, Arrow went on a creative funk for its next two seasons.  Season 3 of "Arrow" found the show facing an uphill battle as they had to come up with a conflict that could possibly rival or even surpass the one from Season 2. On paper they had all the ri...