Catching Up: The Flash Episode 408, "Crisis on Earth X, Part 3"

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Submitted by RJ Carter on Wed, 11/29/2017 - 06:44

Team Flash

It began with SUPERGIRL and carried over immediately into a special airing of ARROW, before leaving us less than 24 hours to catch our breath. It's CRISIS ON EARTH X, and when we pick things up with this episode of THE FLASH, things couldn't look any bleaker.

The majority of the good guys -- Flash, Green Arrow, Alex Danvers, White Canary, and Firestorm partners Jefferson Jackson and Martin Stein -- have been placed into power-nullification shock collars and penned up in a concentration camp on Earth X by Nazis. They won't be there long, however, because the commandant is eager to take them directly to the firing squad, along with one of the other inmates who is forced to wear a pink triangle badge because he "loved the wrong person." The commandant is none other than an Earth X doppelganger of Quentin Lance, which creates a tense moment for White Canary, seeing her father in this new form.

However, just when the squadron is getting ready to fire, the heroes are rescued--by Captain Cold! Leonard (Leo) Snart is still alive on this world, and is the "wrong person" that was loved by this stranger with our heroes. Released from his collar, we learn he is also a metahuman, The Ray -- and he's from Earth 1! (I really should have watched that CW Seed animation to get this character's backstory.)

Speaking of Earth-1, by the way, things aren't going all that well there, either. Iris and Felicity are hiding in the air ducts, and make an attempt to free the heroes that Nazi Oliver has locked up in the Pipeline. (Maybe they should put that Pipeline technology to use on the front door of S.T.A.R. Labs?) Felicity cuts the power to the facility just in time to save Supergirl, who has been dosed with red sun radiation, from having the Reverse Flash steal her heart. No, not romantically. He wants the still-beating muscle for a transplant into the dying Overgirl, Kara's Nazi doppelganger and Nazi Oliver's wife! Realizing they need help, Felicity also puts out an SOS for the Legends team, which according to Jackson are somewhere in the Stone Age.

The heroes on Earth X are taken to a bunker where they meet the general in charge of the Freedom Fighters -- Winn Schott. He is preparing to take advantage of Nazi Oliver's presence on Earth 1 (did I mention Oliver is The Fuhrer of Earth X in 2017?) by blowing up the facility that creates the interdimensional breaches. Like Nazi Oliver wouldn't just force Cisco to open up a rift for him--but I guess there's no way Winn could know that. Winn finally relents to give the heroes a little time to try to get through the rift themselves before sending in his weapon, but their time gets shortened as fighting breaks out and the heroes' infilitration is discovered, right after the Nazis have opened the rift and sent through their own Doomsday device to Earth 1: a weaponized verion of the Waverider! In the ensuing firefight, the power to the device gets knocked out.

Now our heroes have to open the rift and get through before Winn's weapon -- a robot designated Red Tornado -- makes it through. Ray and Flash attempt to ward off Red Tornado while the others get the rift open. But to open the rift, Firestorm must split up, with Jackson getting the power back online and Stein pulling the levers.

But Flash and Ray fail to stop Red Tornado.

Supergirl gives herself willingly to the knife to save Felicity.

And Martin Stein gets shot.

Stay tuned!

Team Arrow