CW Seed: The Ray

The midseason hiatus of Supergirl is nearly over which means Wednesdays will get show reviews back.

With that nearly here, I thought I'd do a quick bullet review of the CWSeed miniseries The Ray which provided some backstory to Earth X and Overgirl.

I think the best thing I can say about this is 'uneven'. It is interesting to see this evil Kara again (once again voiced by Melissa Benoist). I like the additions of the Freedom Fighters as that leans into DC history a bit. I like seeing the origin of the Earth-1 Ray. And the animation is solid.

But the plot here doesn't seamlessly jibe with the Crisis on Earth-X episodes. And that made this feel a little wonky to me.

It is still pretty chilling to see Supergirl in this Nazi uniform. 

As I said, there is a lot of interesting stuff in the series.

For example, it was great to see the extended Freedom Fighters on Earth X including Phantom Girl, Doll Man, and Black Canary. And all sport recognizable versions of their classic uniforms. So that is pretty slick, a sort of deep cut for comic fans.

And Red Tornado is part of this team and one of the powerhouses too.

Of course his power level isn't up to the levels of a Kryptonian.

I did like these fight scenes showcasing how scary it would be if a Kryptonian was evil.

And I like the continuity that it seems on all Earths, Supergirl kills Red Tornado with her heat vision.

This Red Tornado was a sentient android in these episodes, different from the missile we saw in the Crisis on Earth X episodes.

It turns out that Reddy's internal drive, which contained all the information of the rebellion, was grabbed by his allies. It is that drive which is one of the things the evil leaders of this world are looking for. Unfortunately, that doesn't show up as a plot point in the shows.

The Ray from Earth X gets mortally injured and heads to Earth 1. There he meets his Earth doppelganger.

We have met this Ray Terrill in these episodes. He is one of the standard socially progressive character the CW loves. He is gay, although he has to hide it from his conservative and religious parents. He works for a program trying to get people affordable housing. He is very much a social justice warrior.

When the Earth-X Ray dies, his energy floods into the Earth-1 Ray, creating the hero. Part of the fun of this series is seeing this Ray learn to control his powers.

He also is given the Red Tornado drive. It has all the Earth X info in it.

Again, I guess the show episodes were written (I suppose appropriately) as if the viewers hadn't seen this series. So it is weird that this is such a key point of the show.

We also meet the Earth X Vibe who unfortunately doesn't survive.

Another problem I have with this show is that the 'evil Flash' isn't the Eobard Thawne Reverse Flash as in the shows. It is an evil Barry Allen. (I believe his character is called Blitzkrieg here.) So that's another unfortunate plot glitch.

I won't complain too much.

This is a fine side-adventure which gives the back story of Ray. We get to see Freedom Fighters. And we get to see more Overgirl, voiced by Melissa Benoist.

But it doesn't seamlessly mesh with the tremendous crossover. I just wish it had.

Kudos to the CW for giving Jack Harris and Joe Quesada a creator credit.

Thankfully the wait is over. We have new Supergirl episodes next week!

Posted in: Reviews