The Clock Tower: 'Supergirl' Celebrates Its 100th Episode

(Welcome to The Clock Tower, where we'll break down the goings on of the The CW network's Arrowverse. We'll touch on things like themes, cultural impact, lead-ins to major events, ships, and more every week! Warning: this Clock Tower is filled with spoilers. Proceed at your own risk.)It was a big week for our heroes, both on-screen and off. Supergirl saw its 100th episode, giving us the exact travel through time that we've come to expect from a centennial. It also did something mostly unique in the Arrowverse by letting its story have a deep narrative impact rather than simply being a one-off.  The Flash absolutely brought it with its effects, giving us another stunning Gorilla Grodd episode, and Caity Lotz shone as the director for Legends of Tomorrow's John Woo inspired jam. Let's hop in! 

The last two episodes of Batwoman have had a huge amount of emotional ramifications. Kate Kane looked her twin in the eye and told her she was choosing her doppelgänger's life over hers, that doppelgänger got shot, and now Alice is more pissed than ever. Thing is, Kate wasn't wrong to choose Beth, and Alice isn't wrong to be angry at her situation as a whole. That combination makes for some super compelling storytelling! The one exception to "Alice is right to be mad" is the blame she places on Kate for not saving her all those years ago. Thankfully, this week's episode takes a little time at the end to acknowledge that via one of Ruby Rose's most exceptional monologues as Kate Kane yet. Her list of stupid things she's done is met by the simplest of notions: Alice doesn't want her to give up on her. It's that need for her sister that led Gotham's most prominent mad woman to save Mary Hamilton. Yes, that'd be the very same stepsister she tried to murder several episodes ago.That also just so happens to be the same stepsister who is a lot smarter than she lets on. So smart that she's sussed out that her sister is Batwoman. Whoopsie! 

Mister Mxyzptlk- henceforth known as "Myx" because I will not be typing that out repeatedly- made a triumphant return to our dimension in Supergirl's 100th episode. The premise was simple: he's there to make amends, so he gives Supergirl the opportunity to go back to different points in her friendship with Lena to try and make things right. The results? Sometimes hilarious, mostly devastating. By the end, Kara decides that the best bet is to simply create a world where she and Lena were never friends. Rookie mistake, Danvers. This version of things results in a dystopian future. One that Myx can't simply snap them out of due to Lena's control of the fifth dimension. The Super Friends work together to sort things out, but things still close with a painful realization: there's simply no quick fix to Lena and Kara's broken friendship. There's no history where a shift doesn't kill Supergirl or her friends. A clever move from a writer's room that's heard nothing but harping about Kara's lying for two years! Once the Super Friends manage to resolve the worst possible timeline, Supergirl pays her former best friend a visit. It's not to grovel this time. Instead it's to tell Lena that her begging is done. She's done all she can to make it right, she can't keep guilting herself, and she'll do everything in her power to stop the Luthors. Put simply: if Lena wants to play supervillain, Supergirl will start treating her like one. 

A lot went down on this week's Legends of Tomorrow! Charlie's a Fate! Like, of the Greek variety. Crisis bringing the multiverse crashing down on itself brought all the pieces of her loom onto one plane, and her sisters are still pretty pissed at her for smashing it. And honestly? That's only, like, a third of the Legends' problems this week. For those who might not remember Genghis Khan from history class, he's known for revolutionizing warfare on horseback (among other things). So, it stands to reason that the encore version of him would weaponize an army of scooters... right? Hopefully so, because that's exactly what happened. Y'know, along with a whole lot of John Woo vibes and a killer restaurant scene. My only complaint in this episode was that all three of the lady-cops died. While most of the Legends deal with Khaaaaaannnn, John Constantine, Ray Palmer, and Gary all deal with Johnny's little lung problem. The warlock ends up fixing it himself ala a new deal with Astra, but what leads up to that is something really sweet. The three boys have a nice meal. They laugh, they cry, Ray admits he wants to propose to Nora despite all of his previous fiances turning up dead. It's all very cute!

Gorilla Grodd has had a rough go of things. Harrison Wells has that effect on people and gorillas both, it seems. After an unfortunate brain-zapping incident, Barry Allen finds himself at Grodd's mercy. But, despite Barry's initial lack of trust, Grodd just wants freed from the mind prison that Team Flash left him in. A bunch of stuff goes down between that opening moment and the final showdown, but really we're just here to talk about the fact that Gorilla Grodd and The Flash joined consciousness to create a Speedster Grodd and it was, in a word, awesome. 

The Arrowverse is off next week, but don't worry. We'll be back with all sorts of fun. Kate and Alice have a lot going on, and there's going to be some serious ramifications to Mary finding out just who her stepsister is. Meanwhile, Iris West Allen is still stuck in a mirror world, The Legends have a ton of problems right now, and Supergirl's taken the kid gloves off with Lena. So many topics, so little time. See you next week!