The alternate Earth Nazis have made their stand. It’s up to our world’s heroes to stop them from ruling our Earth as well.
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow – “Crisis on Earth-X, Part 4”, Season 3, Episode 8
Airdate: November 28, 2017
Writers: Phil Klemmer, Keto Shimizu, Andrew Kreisberg and Marc Guggenheim
Production Company: Berlanti Productions / Warner Bros. Television
What You Should Know:
This episode is the final part of a 4-part cross-over called “Crisis on Earth-X”, which takes place between the CW Network television series Supergirl, Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. Because of this, there are scores of characters involved and several individual show storylines referenced.
Caught in a firefight on Earth-X between our world’s heroes and that Earth’s Nazi armies, Martin Stein (who is one half of the Firestorm persona) is critically shot as his partner Jefferson Jackson watches helplessly. Meanwhile, on Earth-1, a weakened Kara (aka Supergirl) is being prepped for heart removal surgery by the sinister Eobard Thawne (aka Reverse-Flash).
What You’ll Find Out (Spoilers):
As Jefferson screams in protest, Martin drags his body toward the inter-dimensional portal activation switch in an attempt to have his team return safely home. Martin is hit several more times by bullets along the way, but with his last ounce of strength, he manages to pull the switch. The portal opens, eradicating the Nazis in its path and allowing enough of a distraction for the heroes to fight off the remaining Nazis. In order to temporarily stop the wounds from further advancing Martin’s death, Jefferson joins with Martin to become Firestorm. Outside of the facility, The Flash and The Ray are finally able to stop the Red Tornado android from destroying the facility compound.
On Earth-1 Reverse-Flash is about to start surgery on Supergirl, but is stopped by Ray Palmer (aka The Atom). Using a combination of his shrinking and growing powers, he is able to gain an advantage on the Nazis and end the surgery from happening. Nate Heywood (aka Steel), Amaya Jiwe (aka Vixen) and Zari Tomaz (aka Isis) then arrive and help to free the heroes locked in Star Lab meta-human cells. The Nazi’s automaton ally Metallo appears, but the combined attacks of the assembled heroes are enough to overload Metallo’s systems, causing him to explode.
Nazi Arrow manages to get the drop on on his Earth-1 counterpart’s girlfriend, Felicity Smoak. He threatens to kill her if the others don’t surrender. Earth-1 Arrow then grabs his Nazi counterpart’s wife and threatens to kill her if he does anything to harm his friends. Seeing that they are at a stalemate, Reverse-Flash quickly grabs evil Arrow and evil Supergirl, and leaves. This leaves everyone free to try to save Martin, but they soon discover there is nothing they can do. To make matters worse, when Martin and Jefferson unmerge from being Firestorm, Jefferson begins to take on symptoms of Martin’s wounds. It’s only then that Martin realizes that in order to save Jefferson, he must drink the serum that will block the connection the two of them have that creates Firestorm. Jefferson adamantly refuses, but Martin is finally able to convince him to let him drink the serum as there is no other alternative. Martin then dies in front of Jefferson. Starting with White Canary, each hero is shown to be in mourning over the loss of Martin. Jefferson eventually goes to Martin’s wife and daughter to let them know that he has passed.
As Alex Danvers is reunited with her adoptive sister Supergirl, Mick Rory (aka Heat Wave) meets the Earth-X counterpart of Leo Snart (aka Citizen Cold). Much like the friendship, Heat Wave had with the Earth-1 Citizen Cold, the two of them hit it off immediately. When Heat Wave learns that his Earth-X counterpart died saving police officers from a burning building, he is slightly insulted. Isis premiers her superhero costume as the Nazi Arrow tells the heroes that he will return to his own Earth as long as they let him have Supergirl. When they say no, he orders a spaceship and his Nazi troops to attack the Earth-1 citizens. A huge battle occurs between the two groups. When Supergirl faces off against her Nazi counterpart, she repeats a famous line from the 1980 film Superman II: “General, you care to step outside?” (Which Superman tells General Zod, in that famous scene.) During the battle, the Nazi Kara begins to double over in pain and internal light begins to emit from her. Seeing that she is about to explode, Supergirl grabs her double and flies her into the stratosphere. It’s there that she explodes, leaving an unconscious Supergirl to fall to Earth. Just before she hits the ground, she is caught by Steel.
Seeing that his wife is now dead, Nazi Arrow drops his guard, allowing Earth-1 Arrow to shoot him in the chest, killing him. Elsewhere, The Flash is able to defeat Reverse-Flash, but when it comes to the moment for The Flash to kill him as well, he relents and sets him free instead. When it is time for The Ray and Citizen Cold to return to Earth-X, Citizen Cold tells Ray that he plans to stay on Earth-1 for a while, but will return soon. Now with the Nazis no longer a threat, the Heroes gather to attend Martin Stein’s funeral in which Jefferson speaks. With everyone now ready to return to their own worlds, White Canary and Alex give each other an awkward goodbye, due to their previous one night stand. As Alex and Supergirl return to their own reality, Barry Allen (aka The Flash) and Iris West state to each other that when next they wed, it will be a small civil ceremony. The Flash then tells her that he knows of a person who can perform the ceremony. He runs to retrieve John Diggle. Being an ordained marriage officiator, he agrees to marry Barry and Iris. Just before they finish with a kiss, Felicity proposes to Arrow. He accepts, and John extends the wedding ceremony to include Felicity and Oliver. At episode’s end, the two couples are both married.
What Does This Mean for the Future?
The Nazi Earth-X is now left in disarray, bringing a light of hope to that world. Both series stars, The Flash and Arrow, have married lead heroes. Supergirl has a better sense of priorities. And best of all, the heroes know that, should the occasion call for it, there is a whole army of heroes ready to fight evil.
Rating: 9/10
Final Thought: The storyline as a whole was just a lot of fun. There are so many comic book interactions to remember, both good an bad. The final fight between the heroes and the Nazis was just so much fun, as was the final marriage scene in this episode. Likewise, the death of Martin Stein was very sad and memorable as well. It’s hard to believe that the Producers were able to have so many characters interact without feeling overwhelmed, but they did. Bravo to a job well done.