Batwoman 1x9 : Crisis on Infinite Earths : Part two review

Be warned there will be *SPOILERS* involved in this review. With that being said let's get into it. 

Crisis on Infinite Earths continues with a tribute to Oliver Queen by Sara, Kara and Kate to begin the episode. Lyla soon shows up and tells them that they all need to go to the waverider. But not just any waverider, while The Monitor does have a wave of them (pun intended) at his disposal he wants them all to go to Earth-74's version since that is where Lyla says the Legends have all retired. Harbinger goes on ahead and aboard the waverider she meets the ships AI in Leonard which was pretty cool to see. Mick enters the main room of the ship and admits to living there. Everything looks like it's about to come to a head when the rest of the hero's and The Monitor appear. On board the waverider is Harbinger, Kate, Sara, Lois, Clark, baby Jonathan, Barry and The Monitor himself. He speaks of the Book of Destiny and even though Barry and Oliver destroyed it during Elsworlds he went into the time stream and retrieved it before placing it in the waverider's library. The Monitor also mentions how much of a loss Oliver's demise is and that all hero's should lose hope. Across space and time there is 7 different paragons essential to helping and beating this threat. The Monitor only knows of 4 such paragons 2 which are on the waverider. Kara Zor El is the paragon of Hope while Sara Lance is the paragon of Destiny. The other two?? well one is a Kryptonian and the other is the bat of the future. On Earth-99 Bruce Wayne is a battle worn hero after dedicating his life to fighting crime. Kate enlists Kara to go to Earth-99 with her to see the bat of the future in person. Clark and Lois along with help from Iris go to see this Kryptonian on Earth-75. 

After Oliver's death in the first part of Crisis Mia is unwilling to truly accept that her father is gone. Infact all core members of the arrowverse including Barry and Kara can't seem to come to terms with Oliver's sacrifice. Barry meets up with Iris early in the episode and talks about the Lazarus Pit. An ancient life source that can restore life and bring back people from the dead. Later we see Mia thinking along the same lines. Sara tries to tell her that the Lazarus Pit isn't some toy that will bring back her father with little to no consequences but it's no use. Mia's mind is made up and with the help of Barry, Sara and Constantine she wants her father back and will do anything to do so. So it's off to Earth-18 where there is a Lazarus Pit. One of very little left as Thea destroyed them all on Earth-1 while Constantine even struggled to find this one on Earth-18. Upon arrival they find the Lazarus Pit and while Barry and Constantine go and get Oliver's body a familiar face shows up to disrupt everything. Jonah Hex appears and says this here mine is his but he doesn't really get anywhere with it as Sara ends up giving him a scar on his face saying that he'll eventually get it anyways. Barry and Constantine return and place Oliver's body in the Lazarus Pit lowering him down slowly. He soon awakens in a rage and even goes to attack Constantine but he's soon subdued by Sara who uses a dart on him to knock him out. Constantine is up next as he uses his magic to bring back Oliver's soul into his body and rid him of the darkness. He is unsuccessful though as he says the anti matter wave of energy is interfering with his magic mojo. Until he can do anything Oliver will remain in an enraged state. Using the Lazarus Pit was an easy cop out and just made Oliver's sacrifice in the first part seem less like a big deal and more like a cheap plot twist. Either way we all knew he would return in some capacity. Earlier in the episode we saw Lex Luthor take the Book of Destiny from the waverider's library. His purpose / plan?? to kill all Supermen across space and time. Upon arrival in Metropolis on Earth-75 we see that Lex is successful in killing a Superman before vanishing as Lois weeps over Superman's lifeless body. On the ground Clark, Lois Iris go and visit Clark Kent from the Smallville TV show. Before they can even say anything important Lex shows up and makes them disappear. He turns to Clark and tells him who he is. Clark is unconvinced and says that he isn't Lex which was hilarious. Lex says he is his greatest enemy and picks up a piece of Kryptonite before placing it in front of Clark but there's no effect. It turns out Clark gave up his powers to live a normal life with Lois and his 2 daughters. Lex takes this to heart by saying that Clark was a ''A god capable of flight and other world feats. Lex says that everyone is doomed anyways and leaves just as Lois from Smallville shows up calling for Clark to come and see what their daughters made. The two walk back to the house holding hands as the scene ends. This was a really nice and enjoyable throwback to the Smallvile TV show. Seeing Tom Welling reprise his role as Clark Kent was amazing and him interacting with Supergirl's version of Lex was also really cool. Sidenote, Clark mentions how Lex is the president on his Earth which was interesting and overall this scene felt like a love letter to fans of Smallville which was much appreciated. 

The episode comes to a close on Earth-99 as Kate and Kara arrive outside of what we can only presume if Wayne Manor. They knock on the door and Luke Fox answers shirt open six pack on show. Kate is a bit stunned by this but not before her and Kara are told to leave. Kara has plans of her own and literally kicks off the door as the two walk in. Luke is seen again at the end of the hall pointing a gun but is interrupted by a very familiar voice. It's Kevin Conroy doing his Batman voice portraying a worn torn, exo-suit wearing Bruce Wayne. Not believing what he's even seeing the two talk and we learn that this version of Bruce Wayne / Batman is far from a hero. He has taken countless lives including Superman which was the cause of him wearing an exo suit to help him survive. He's even killed villains including The Joker as Kate sees all the 'trophies' he's kept like Joker's calling card and more. Kevin Conroy is amazing here as finally hearing his voice put to a live action version of Batman / Bruce is still so surreal even after seeing him in action. Kara finds the entrance to the batcave thanks to her x-ray vision and along with Kate and Bruce go down into the depths where we see Bruce's old suit. It turns out this Earth's version of Kate Kane tried to take up the mantle of Batwoman and carry on from Bruce but she was killed leaving Bruce with practically nobody. Even Alfred isn't around it's just Luke. In summary he turns on Kara and Kate and attempts to end them but ends up ending himself as he is pushed into an energy socket which fries his exo-suit killing him in the process. All of this for that anti-climactic death?? it was amazing seeing Kevin Conroy portray Bruce Wayne / Batman especially an evil version of the character but this death scene felt cheap and rushed. I know there's a lot to get through in this crossover but still this one sucks. Back on Metropolis Clark, Lois and Iris meet another version of Superman. It's Brandon Routh reprising his role from Superman Returns. At the Daily Planet we see plaques dedicated to a whole bunch of people. Lois Lane, Perry White, even Jimmy Olsen are all on the wall which is in memory of. Turns out this Superman was put through enough torture that even a mortal man wouldn't be able to handle without turning to the bad side. He hasn't however and still remains true to himself. All those people lost and still he doesn't waver. Lex soon shows again and turns Routh's Superman against our Superman and the two battle in a giant city wide bout. Lois is the one who convinces Routh's Superman to come to his senses which he does. Ultimately they all head back to the waverider together where The Monitor tell Kate that she is the paragon of Courage and that she too is the bat of the future leaving her speechless. The episode ends with our first true look at the Anti-Monitor in action as he seemingly has recruited Harbinger for his own gain now. Wow..there was a ton going on in this episode. So much that it's even hard to wrap your head around while watching and once you're finished. Part one was definitely better overall but the cameos in this part were so much fun and full of fan service that it's just impossible to truly not like it. Part 3 begins tonight now and it's the final part until January 14th so I fully expect a giant cliffhanger ending. An enjoyable part two but full of silly and not needed moments. 

★★★