DC Recap Round-Up 2, Week 6: Superhero Sleepaway Camp!

18 Nov

Welcome back! We’re back to a full lineup this week, which means we should just get right to this week’s episodes. So how about we just do that? Now, I mean? Unless you want to wait, we can do that? Maybe discuss the Elseworlds crossover teasers? No? Okay, then let’s go…

“Parasite Lost”

That traitorous DEA agent, Jensen, is infected with one of those alien parasites from Agent Liberty, which makes him a serious threat for Kara and company to fight. Meantime, Kara has been trying to make a positive light for aliens, so she does that by publishing a glowing article on an alien in town, which goes bad when the alien is left dying because of a stolen amulet that alien had. Both this alien attack and Jensen are connected, thanks to an angry anti-alien woman who hid from her daughter the alien was the daughter’s daddy, and who have the amulet to those Children of Liberty folks, hence to Jensen so he can hold onto to powers he absorbs. They find Jensen at a vigil for that dying alien, and aren’t left many options to stop him, or at least any that would end badly. But Alex talks Jensen down from this madness and stops him, before he reveals he has a benefactor.

Alex is having her own issues with the oversight of an Army colonel, Haley, which seem to be not an issue when she’s really helpful in bringing in Jensen, but Haley’s issues with J’onn (you know, the whole “pretending to be human and someone else when he was an alien and running the DEO” thing) seem to hint at a bigger conflict between the two women in the future. As for James, he’s not too happy to hear Ben (you know, our bad guy with the Metal Mask) propping up The Guardian as some anti-alien hero to his hateful base, and less interested in hearing his opinions out. Unfortunately, James seems to be reaching out to Ben about discussing that, with maybe the intent of finding out more about what his organization is about. When Lena Luthor doesn’t think that’s a good idea, you know it’s not a good idea.

Drunk Brainy. He doesn’t know much about alcohol.

–Awww, is Brainy interested in Nia? Well, it makes sense if you know anything about Brainiac-5 from the comics. I’ll just leave any potential spoilers there.

–Turns out the Danvers sisters were correct in their original assessments of people in this episode. Amadei turned out to be a decent alien, and Haley turned out to be a problem for Alex.

–Jensen is left a vegetable after all that Parasite stuff, but…are we sure about that since we don’t see him after that meltdown he has?

–J’onn is becoming the head of that alien outreach group and now he’s got a nice fedora to boot! Sweet.

–“Long live the Legion!”

–“We get it. You’re hired.”

“All Doll’d Up”

Let’s get the minor plotline out of the way first, being that we get a lead on Caitlin’s not dead daddy with the help of Cisco (welcome back!). There is a downside to Cisco’s help in thanks to the injury from Cicada, he is having pains every time he tries to use his Vibe powers. But he is one of the smartest guys in the Arrowverse, so he uses his brain to help instead by hooking up that old satellite grid The Thinker put together last season and using it to scan for Caitlin’s dad. Also, daddy Snow seemed to know about Killer Frost or had something to do with that alter ego.

On our main plot, we got a crazy metahuman called Ragdoll that can contort and twist his body in many ways, so eww. Barry and Iris are still dealing with Nora’s pouting about mom inhibiting her power for most of her life, until Cecile lets Nora know, “Hey, your mom is awesome, and you’re talking about an Iris that is thirty years in the future, so stop whining!”. Ragdoll happens to like hurting people at their most vulnerable points, which is why Iris goes looking into Ragdoll (turns out he was the son of a real icy rich woman), Ragdoll kidnaps Barry! While Ralph manages to fight off Ragdoll, Iris saves Barry in a way so impressive and crazy that when Nora arrives to see it, finally mother and daughter connect in a positive way! Let’s just hope that lasts.

Ragdoll: he fits in ALL luggage and carry on compartments on an airplane.

–Ralph using his stretchy powers to swing from buildings like a…a bug that can swing from buildings? Hmmm, what are those called again?

–Sherloque is now being called “Shirley” by Ralph. At least “Shirley” is closer to figuring out where Cicada was originated thanks to that grid of satellite wreckage he created.

–The callback to Caitlin’s dad working with Dr. Martin Stein. Aw man, do we all miss Stein. And daddy Snow’s code is “Khione”, which is the Greek goddess of…snow.

–Another Gotham reference in an Arrowverse show this week (Arrow being the other). Just a reminder: we’ll be there for the big Elseworlds crossover.

–“Grodents”. I’m sure that story was made up. Maybe.

–“Shrap.”

“The Book Of Blood: Chapter One”

We start off this new arc on a light note with OH MY GOD GAMBY’S CAR GETS SHOT UP AND BLOWN UP! The Pierce family gets the grim news that Gamby may be dead, and take it in their own way. Anissa temporarily hooks up with old girlfriend Grace (we’ll discuss that development further down this recap), Jennifer talks to Khalil, and Jefferson is in a state of denial about his mentor’s demise. Meanwhile, Lynn is trying to save those pod kids, and thinks she has a solution, but it’s one that will lose half the kids in the process.

As it looks like Jefferson might be accepting Gamby is dead (I’m gonna say he’s not), Lynn’s attempt to save all the pod kids seems to possible, until her creepy lab partner pretty much lied about the results and half the pod kids die. Anissa in the meantime goes to work at the free clinic in Freeland, and runs into her own mystery when the father of a pregnant girl arrives, leaking out some fluid that seems to be alive before he dies. She goes to investigate in South Freeland where the pregnant girl lives, and finds something weird is going on there involving the police. Like, something supernatural kind of weird.

Drunk Jefferson Pierce. Not as fun as Drunk Brainy, but only because he’s not zapping people.

–Tobias spends this episode needling Khalil again about him not backing up Cyonide when she got killed, and does make a anonymous contribution to update and move the free clinic. Maybe it has something to do with that briefcase of secret ooze he has…

–Two Bits from season one pops up as a bar owner who Jefferson runs into twice here, one while he’s drunk over Gamby, and the other as Black Lightning when he’s asking about Gamby’s “demise”.

–Yeah, who couldn’t guess cold blooded lab assistant would just lie and betray Lynn like that? Being slapped in the face was getting off light after allowing a dozen or so kids to die.

–So, what’s the over and under on when we discover what really happened to Gamby?

–We learn also that Grace is a metahuman, but is hiding that Anissa, who is also a metahuman! I’m sure both will learn the truth about each other soon enough.

–Love the glare from Anissa as she realizes her dad told Henderson about who they are a while ago. Maybe keep her in the loop on this stuff, Jefferson.

–“Either you’re dining, or you’re dinner.”

“Wet Hot American Bummer”

Our team goes back to the 1990’s, where a mystical creature has been discovered at a summer camp. So our team (with Ava tagging along in place of Nate) has to go undercover as camp counselors to find the mystery monster. There, they learn about teamwork, and in Ava’s case, learn how to be a kid again (hello, Constantine’s potion to temporarily make Sara and Ava kids!). Oh, and the team discovers the monster is a shtriga, or a vampire!

The key to finding out who the shtriga in the camp is comes from our imprisoned new character, Charlie the now non-shapeshifter, who knows a lot of the mythical creatures that escaped (meaning she will come in handy in the future). The shtriga is defeated, and John uses his power to save one of the captured kids who is getting drained of their lifeforce by the evil creature. But with John left in critical condition by saving that kid, it calls upon magical help to save him, so Ray suggests maybe finding Nora Darhk (I mean, he did her a solid by helping her escape Time Bureau custody). Well, she’s working at a Renaissance Faire, so I’m sure she’ll be open to a new job.

John Constantine: the coolest camp counselor EVER.

–For those of you wondering about the absence of Nate this episode, check out the actor’s Instagram page and you can see it was for a very good reason.

–Swamp Thaaaang! And a Swamp Thing reference! Oh, if Constantine was to cameo in that new Swamp Thing show for DC Universe, that would be awesome.

–It’s funny to see Ray’s diligent counseling of his kids actually pay off when they arrive to help cart away the injured kids from that shtriga lair.

–Charlie inadvertently gets the “good cop-bad cop” routine to be enlisted into the Legends team, with Zari as the good cop and Mick as the bad cop (naturally). Turns out the offer of alcohol is an effective motivator for an angry shapeshifter.

–“You don’t pay me enough to be a prison guard.” “We don’t pay you anything!”

–“Pinkie swear.”

–“Okay, but only for the kids!”

–“But who plays baseball in the dark?”

NEXT TIME: Supergirl prepares for Thanksgiving, The Flash meets Caitlin’s dad, Black Lightning runs into a new kind of metahuman danger, and the Legends of Tomorrow fight a Kaiju!