This week in the Arrowverse, plots were advanced, and characters were developed. It wasn’t a huge week for these shows, but it was an interesting one. On Supergirl, a White Martian comes searching for M’gann and ends up getting loose in the DEO. While Barry trains Wally on The Flash, a meta-human capable of causing people to decompose at an advanced rate targets Joe, and ends up putting Iris in danger. On Legends of Tomorrow, the Legends are trying to save George Washington and the Revolutionary War in 1776. And, Team Arrow travels to Russia and meets up with Oliver’s old friend Anatoly on Arrow.

Important Things to Know This Week:

Everything seems to be in a tender place with the Supergirl team. J’onn recently made peace with M’gann, and now she is being hunted down. Winn and James finally told Kara about being Guardian, and she refused to support them, and Kara shut down Mon-El when he tried to share his feelings.

Team Flash, barreling toward the potential reality of Iris’ death, are desperately trying to change anything they can about that timeline. That means that Barry is willing to train Wally to get to the speed necessary to save Iris.

The Legends have started to figure out the plan and reasoning behind the Legion of Doom’s actions. They are going to try to rescue Rip Hunter and do anything they can to stop the Legion of Doom before they get the Spear of Destiny.

Last week we saw Oliver begin learning under the tutelage of Talia al Ghul, and then take Dinah Drake under his wing as the new “Black Canary” and the newest member of Team Arrow. Meanwhile, Felicity was reminded of the world of hacktivism when she started searching for a way to save Diggle.

The Biggest Moments This Week (Spoilers!):

Supergirl: (S2 E11: The Martian Chronicles)

Kara seems to feel bad about Mon-El, she is still throwing Shade at Winn, and she is upset with Alex for canceling on her “Earth Birthday” plans. It definitely seems like Kara is having trouble accepting that people don’t always agree with each other. She has grown up a lot over the last season and a half, but this is definitely a lesson she needs to learn if she is going to have any success as a hero.

Because they are commonly in their human forms, it is easy to forget that M’gann and J’onn were a part of a massive civil war 300 years ago. I say that because I was surprised when Armek showed up, and revealed that he was M’gann’s mate. The way they all get trapped in the DEO is awesome, but is it really surprising that Armek is disguised as Winn. We saw Winn run away when everything went crazy, he was the most logical option.

I love the way the episode unfolds as the DEO team has to split up to find Armek and Winn. We get some amazing scenes between Kara & Alex and J’onn & M’gann. Then there is the drama when it is revealed that there is a second White Martian acting as Alex. The action from that point on is some of the best we have seen on Supergirl, and it helps to solidify the way the team is able to operate when they work together. The team is not doing that at the moment, so I really hope this brings them all to the same page for the rest of the season. Seeing M’gann leave is tough, but it makes sense. It needed to happen that way.

The Flash: (S3 E12: Untouchable)

The race. Everything about it. The narrow win. The fact that Wally only loses due to being unable to phase. The betting. The off-hand comment about betting being banned on HR’s world due to an “unfortunate incident with ‘President Capone'”. The whole thing is absolutely amazing. I fully anticipate seeing a rematch in the future with Wally coming out on top.

The way Yorkin’s attacks seem to set up the future where Iris dies is creepy. I like that The Flash is transitioning to more of a darker tone, similar to Arrow, and this is a perfect example of that happening. Of course, this leads to Barry being more concerned with Wally’s training. The training leads to some hilarious scenes of Wally slamming into a solid, wooden wall. We also get some awesome scenes of Julian and Caitlin working together. Of course, it links back to Flashpoint and Alchemy, which adds yet another layer to this week’s story.

Joe learns about Iris’ future in this episode, and he, rightfully, is furious about being lied to. When Iris is attacked by Yorkin, it brings them all together, but this isn’t going away. Hopefully it is a catalyst to improve Wally’s training and alter the future where Iris dies. Wally is able to phase when he absolutely needs to by the end of the episode, which shows that the training has a better chance of working than it would have seemed earlier in the episode.

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: (S2 E11:  Turncoat)

I don’t remember Rip deciding to work with the Legion of Doom last week, but apparently that’s what we’re dealing with this week. The trap dealing with George Washington’s murder was definitely to be expected, but the way they lost use of all electronics made things incredibly interesting. The team has always relied far too much on Electronics, so having the opportunity to overcome that is a huge moment for the team.

The interactions between the team members, and the way they take on new roles and responsibilities really helps to advance the growth of the various team members. This show has often lacked in character development, which makes sense concerning that there are so many characters in the show. With that being said, though, this episode does a lot to develop essentially every character in one way or another. This is a great option for masking an episode that is, otherwise, filler. I can only hope that next week we will get more plot advancement.

They way everything comes together at the end of the episode is great, and just the right amount of cheesy. It also sets up the rest of the season, and I’m way excited for that.

Arrow: (S5 E12: Bratva)

Quentin coming back from rehab is absolutely amazing. I didn’t even realize how much I had missed his character before seeing that he was back. As he gets back, he, of course, is determined to jump right back in to everything. Oliver decides to leave Rene back in Star City to help Lance prepare for his interview with Susan Williams as he and the team head to Russia, which seems like an odd choice. It does bring together two incredibly interesting characters though, so I’m happy about it. The way they are able to set aside their differences and actually get Lance properly prepared is awesome. The reveal by Rene about his first experience with Quentin takes everything a few steps forward, though.

Meanwhile, in Russia, Oliver and the team work together, and use their unique talents to locate and stop an illegal weapons sale. Watching Felicity use her hacking to help the team reminds me of the early seasons, but Rory is right about there being a potential problem there as well. The final fight also shows Dinah master harnessing her Canary Cry, Rory using “The Rags” to contain the nuclear explosion, and the rest of the team working together to save the day.

Overall:

This week didn’t have any cross-series plots or stories. Each episode, though, took a huge step toward advancing the development of primary and secondary characters. I have a feeling there will be more crossovers and mini-events as the seasons carry on, and the character development we saw this week could significantly amplify those events.

Ryan’s Speculation of the Week:

There were two significant moments in Arrow that stood out to me. One was Anatoly telling Oliver that oaths are not temporary, and the other is Susan Williams potentially figuring out about Oliver’s connection to Bratva, and piecing together that he might be the Green Arrow. These moments will definitely be defining for the rest of the season. Maybe not Prometheus-level problems. But those type of things are not just going to disappear.

Supergirl airs on Mondays, The Flash & Legends of Tomorrow air on Tuesdays, and Arrow airs on Wednesdays on the CW. Leave a comment and let me know what you thought about this week’s slate of episodes.