Each week, we break down the biggest moments from Supergirl, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, and Arrow — both here and on SiriusXM’s EW Live every Friday during Superhero Insider.
This week, Dreamer (Nicole Maines) introduced herself to National City on Supergirl, Arrow buried Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), and heroes broke bad on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and The Flash. Here are the highlights.
Supergirl
Nicole Maines’ Dreamer had her very own Supergirl moment in this week’s episode, which was directed by star David Harewood. Following Agent Liberty and the Children of Liberty’s recent attacks on aliens, a hopeless Kara realized National City needed a hero who could inspire humans and aliens alike, so she hijacked the airwaves for a live interview with Dreamer, who stepped up to defend the city in Supergirl’s absence. During the emotional chat, Dreamer revealed she was a half-human and half-alien and transgendered, and delivered a passionate Supergirl-like speech urging people to not fear their differences. It was an emotional moment for both Dreamer and the actress who plays her, too.
“Being able to just say that I’m a trans woman on television is revolutionary hands down,” said Maines when she dropped by Superhero Insider on Friday. “Then being able to do that in a super suit, being able to do that as a superhero coming out to the city to inspire hope, and being able to share that was so powerful for me to be able to that, just because it really made me think about how far we’ve come.”
She continued, “The original speech was much longer, but some of it ended up getting cut. Even without what was original in there, I think the final result was so powerful…It’s kind of like having that really special moment that’s not necessarily breaking the fourth wall, but it’s doing that on both fronts, if you know what I mean.”
Listen to the rest of Superhero Insider’s interview with Maines below.
Related: Read our recap, and catch a glimpse of James’ new powers.
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow
Legends’ latest episode “Egg MacGuffin” gave us several great pairings. First, there’s obviously Nate (Nick Zano) and Zari (Tala Ashe), whose romance is the season’s most delightful surprise. Then, Charlie (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) helped Mick (Dominic Purcell) embrace the fact that he is beloved writer Rebecca Silver, which was a surprisingly fun C-plot. Finally, we have Ray-as-Neron (Brandon Routh) seducing the constantly abused Gary (Adam Tsekhman) to the dark side, which was the episode’s most shocking development. While I couldn’t have predicted that Gary’s deal with a demon (or the creepily awesome visual of his lost nipple crawling across the floor), it definitely makes sense since the Legends have treated Gary pretty horribly all season long.
Arrow
The future-set “Star City 2040” teased Old Man Roy’s (Colton Haynes) anger issues and Monday’s episode revealed the source of them: Lazarus Pit bloodlust. At some point during his trip around the world with Thea (Willa Holland) and Nyssa (Katrina Law), Arrow‘s parkour king died and was resurrected by the Lazarus Pit. Thea and Nyssa tried curing his bloodlust with the Lotus elixir, but that didn’t take. Roy decided to keep all of this from Oliver when he returned to Star City to help foil the Ninth Circle’s latest terrorist plot, because he clearly didn’t learn anything about the dangers of keeping secrets from his time as Oliver’s sidekick. During the mission, Roy lost control and ended up beating two innocent guards to death, which forced the rest of Team Arrow to lie to the police, which definitely can’t lead to anything good. It seems as though Roy sticks around for the rest of the season, so we’ll hopefully find out what convinces him to exile himself to Lian Yu.
Related: Read the recap, and check out a first look at Colin Donnell’s return as Tommy Merlyn in next week’s episode.
The Flash
Yes, “Gone Rogue” featured a satisfying resolution to Barry (Grant Gustin) and Nora’s (Jessica Parker Kennedy) rift and the big reveal that Cicada II is planning on using old versions of Cisco’s (Carlos Valdes) metahuman cure to kill every metahuman; however, the one thing I can’t stop thinking about is the hour’s great season 1 callback. After Nora and her rogues cover band kidnapped Cisco for his technological expertise, he quips that he’s already been through this before (see: season 1’s “Rogue Time”). You know, it’s classic Cisco meta-humor. Unamused, Nora responds by going full Reverse Flash and threatening to phase her hand through his heart, which is yet another season 1 callback, one that sent chills down my spine because Thawne murdering Cisco is one of the show’s most affecting and unforgettable images. The fact that Nora would even threaten to do that to Cisco really conveys the dark place she’s in. Overall, I love how this scene mobilized The Flash‘s history for laughter and fright.
Related: Read our recap.
Listen to Superhero Insider
Click below to listen to this week’s Superhero Insider, which airs every Friday at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET on SiriusXM’s Ch. 105, hosted by Kyle Anderson and Chancellor Agard. Warning: Skip to 16: 56 if you want to avoid Avengers: Endgame spoilers!
Supergirl airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET; DC’s Legends of Tomorrow airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET, followed by Arrow at 9 p.m. ET; and The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET, all on the CW.