That quick throwaway Earth-38 reference makes a sort of sense, I think. If you realize that DC Comics really does define (and number) a bunch of parallel Earths like that, it seems that Earth-38's superhero presence was largely defined by a classic version of Superman and Batman and their family lines -- makes sense for a TV universe that includes Supergirl and Superman (and mention of that gadget-rich demon-haunted vigilante) and not much of any other superhero names.
.
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Earth_38
http://www.dccomics.com/characters/earth-38
etc.
If nothing else, and even though I was never much of a comic-book fan, I do appreciate when today's modern superhero TV shows make these continuity connections (even little ones) with actual comic book histories. Nice job, that. ??
Review by Aniela KrajewskaVIP 8BlockedParentSpoilers2016-11-30T06:05:54Z— updated 2017-08-18T22:45:10Z
Welcome to part 2 of my messy overemotional written-while-half-asleep-at-5-AM crossover review, where coherent train of thought isn't a thing and punctuation rules don't matter. Buckle up, nerds, because this was freaking wild and we've got a lot to talk about.
First of all, the Dominators and the special effects in general were insane. Especially considering that this is a CW show and not a big-budget movie. Everything looked great and the action scenes were amazing.
Every year the crossover rolls around and I get to play a fun little game called "Does person X know person Y's secret identity? Have these two characters ever actually interacted before? Who was there when that other thing happened?". You can imagine how absolutely frustrating that is for someone like me, with my attention span of a hyperactive golden retriever puppy. Those are four massive TV shows we're talking about, and they're not the only ones I watch! How am I supposed to remember if Barry and Sara have ever talked before?
The writers managed to do the impossible: practically every single character had their moment in the spotlight, which is impressive with a cast this big and only 42-minute runtime. So kudos for that. What I don't understand is why we had to listen to Wally whining for like 8 of those minutes. That was just annoying. "Why won't they let me help fight aliens?" I don't know, dumbass, maybe it's because you got your powers like 2 seconds ago and you have no training whatsoever?
I liked Oliver's speech to Barry about change and people making choices. I wholeheartedly agree. I wish the other characters would stop getting mad at Barry for Flashpoint. Yeah, he fucked up, and let's hope he finally learns from his mistakes, but it's not like the people around him haven't made some shitty decisions. Give the guy a break. I mean, how can Cisco be sure that his brother wouldn't have died in the original timeline?
Oh, and if I heard correctly, Supergirl's Earth is Earth-38? I don't know why it's important to me, but I'm happy to know that.