In this week’s season finales, we have a lot of major storylines wrapping up, and a few cliffhangers to hold us over until next season. Supergirl challenges Rhea in an effort to save National City and the world. After losing everything, Barry takes on Savitar, with everything he has, in one final fight. On Lian Yu, Oliver battles Adrian Chase with the help of some unlikely allies.

Important Things to Know This Week:

Last week, Rhea stopped the team’s plan just before her ship was destroyed. She then brought out Superman, under her control, to fight Kara. We should also keep in mind the Luthor subplot, and how that could potentially carry over into next season.

Iris is dead. I don’t feel like I should write anything other than that. As I said last week, there could be twists coming, but as of right now, Iris is dead. We should keep in mind that Caitlin is still Killer Frost, as that could be a side-story this week, but Iris’ death and the battle against Savitar certainly are more important.

Last week, Chase kidnapped everyone Oliver cares about. When his son was taken, he helped Chase escape. He then set off to Lian Yu to fight Chase, with the help of Nyssa Al-Ghul, Malcolm Merlyn, Deathstroke, and Digger Harkness. We need to keep in mind that not everyone Chase took was shown on Lian Yu at the end of the last episode. I’m excited to see what happens.

The Biggest Moments This Week (Spoilers!):

Supergirl: (S2 E22: Nevertheless, She Persisted)

The opening of the episode picks up right where the last one left off, with Superman fighting Supergirl. We learn that Rhea has used silver kryptonite to make Superman view Kara as his mortal enemy, Zodd. The fight, and cause much destruction, before Kara is able to get the upper hand and knock him out. When they wake up in the Fortress of Solitude, Superman is back to being himself, luckily.

Lillian continues working to turn Lena to her side. I definitely think next season will focus on the fight against Cadmus, and I really hope that Lena is on Supergirl’s side, not her mother’s. I guess we’ll see what happens there. For now, the Luthor’s are planning on creating a device that would make Earth uninhabitable for all Daxamites. Mon-El accepts that possibility, but Kara is determined to stop them in another way if at all possible. Lena’s decision to only give Supergirl the power to activate the device bodes well for the future, but anything could happen.

Kara challenges Rhea to a one-on-one battle, based on an ancient Daxam tradition, and it could decide the fate of the world. After training with Superman, she heads out and meets Rhea for the fight. Rhea goes back on her word, though, and unleashes an assault on National City. Luckily, Mon-El, Superman, and J’onn are going to do everything in their power to save the city and stop the Daxamites. M’Gann even shows up with some White Martians to help in the fight. Meanwhile, Rhea gets the upper hand in her fight when she reveals that she is infused with kryptonite. Ultimately Kara has to activate the device the Luthors created to stop the Daxamites. Even though it means Mon-El has to leave Earth.

The Flash: (S3 E23: Finish Line)

The episode opens with the twist revelation that HR and Iris had switched bodies in order to trick Savitar. The main problem with this is that, as soon as Barry learns about it, Savitar learns it as well. Savitar and Killer Frost are holding Cisco hostage, trying to force him to build something for them. There could be some issues with the paradox that has been created, though. Wally could lose his powers for instance. It also sucks that HR is gone now. It will be interesting to see if they replace him with some other version of Harrison Wells, or if Tom Cavanagh will leave the cast now.

Savitar’s plan is to force Cisco to re-purpose the Speedforce Bazooka to splice him into every moment throughout time, which would cause him to become a God. This apparently, has been his plan the whole time, and if Cisco doesn’t help him, he is going to kill Caitlin. Barry, meanwhile, decides to try to save Savitar, to help him survive, in order to make everything right in the world. Savitar tricks Barry and sets off an explosion of the Philosopher’s Stone in STAR Labs. Gypsy shows up to save Cisco. Then, the team comes to the rescue, just as Cisco’s technology brings Jay Garrick into the fight.

The fight with Savitar is awesome. Killer Frost helps Team Flash, Barry spare’s Savitar’s life, and ultimately, Iris kills Savitar. After the battle, there is a funeral for HR, and the team tries to go back to normal. Caitlin decides not to take the antidote Cisco gives her, though, and the team is going to have a lot to adjust to after battling Savitar.

Arrow: (S5 E23: Lian Yu)

The episode opens up with Oliver trying to coordinate his new team. Although they are all incredibly strong, they don’t trust each other. Beyond that, they are all very different people, with different motivations. Digger’s betrayal was unexpected, but not that surprising. Slade’s betrayal is less expected, but it makes sense once we learn it is all Oliver’s plan. Malcolm, meanwhile, seemingly dies, causing some serious problems for Thea’s mindset.

The different groups of hostages make for a very interesting storyline. Felicity, Samantha, Thea, and Curtis get rescued first and head off to find Chase’ plane with Malcolm. Instead, they find evidence of hundreds of C4 charges littered through the island. When Oliver gets to Diggle, Lance, Dinah, and Rene, it is a great way to set up some epic fight scenes. That group plus, Slade and Nyssa, are going to be a formidable group for anybody, and that is clear in the scenes following their escape.

Chase may not be as physically imposing as some of Oliver’s foes over the years, and he definitely isn’t as powerful, but he has an advantage of being one of the smartest people in the history of the show. The whole season is a frustrating display of him constantly outsmarting Oliver. The season finale isn’t different. Everything Chase does is in the interest of outsmarting Oliver. The other battle between these two is more of an internal struggle. Oliver has constantly struggled with being a killer. Chase is insistent on getting Oliver to kill him, in order to prove that is what Oliver is. Not killing Chase is more than just about not giving him the satisfaction. Oliver needs to know, for himself, that he doesn’t need to kill anymore.

Overall: (This week, we cover cliffhangers)

After Mon-El leaves Earth, Kara is broken. She sees everyone around her, and how happy they are, and realizes that she just lost that. Ultimately, Cat Grant is able to talk her into going back to living her life. As the episode ends, we see Mon-El’s ship veering into a wormhole of some sort, as it mirrors Kara’s flight to go stop a fire. Meanwhile, we see that there was another pod sent to Earth, by someone on Krypton, as it was being destroyed, and it seems like this will be a very dangerous person.

Just as Barry and Iris are settling back into their lives, intense damage comes down on Central City from the Speedforce. Barry decides to run into it in order to stop the damage from happening. It’s highly unlikely that The Flash returns without Barry, but Caitlin could be gone. It sounds like Harry will be sticking around to help the team, and Barry asked Cisco to take on a bigger role with the team. If Barry finds a way out of this, things are going to be very different when he gets back.

After narrowly saving William, Chase kills himself. Oliver has to watch Lian Yu get destroyed with explosives knowing that everyone else he loves and cares about is on that Island. The episode ends there. For all we know, the whole team is dead. We now have two of these shows set to return with total uncertainty. It will be great to see how they approach season 6 in the fall.

Ryan’s Speculation of the week:

The flashbacks in Arrow serve as the perfect finale for the flashbacks. I’ve discussed before how a major concern with the show was Oliver’s wide range of abilities when he was supposed to be stuck on an island for five years. The flashbacks have served as a way to show that, and in this episode, we get to see Oliver put all of his training to the test, as he fights against Konstantin and his men. The mirrored battles of Oliver fighting Chase and Konstantin is important, as it shows how Oliver has grown in the five years. Back then, he needed to kill Konstantin, in order to solidify what he had become, and prepare for his next step. His present needs are much different.

The main question here will be whether there are flashbacks moving forward. I think they have been essential to the show for the last five years. At this point, though, they have run their course. There isn’t anything left to show. I think we’ve seen the end of the flashbacks, and I welcome that change.

Thank you so much for reading my recaps this season. I will be posting an update on the state of superhero TV shows sometime this weekend. I will be including my plans for the recaps next season. If you have any opinions on the way things could be improved, please leave a comment and let me know.