DJariya

Without a doubt there's going to be some kind of massive cliffhanger at the end of The Flash's episode.

I get the frustration of the gap between parts 3 and 4 and 5. But, here's the thing, networks don't like to burn off new and original programming close to Christmas and the new year. The ad money during this period is very low.

Mid to late December and early January are typically very low rated weeks and hardly anyone watching live TV then. Yes, even though you all stream it, DVR it, network TV is still in the business of making money off live viewers.

Koby

That doesn't mean anything though. They could've easily reworked the schedule to have all of it happen a week earlier so that it ended this week, instead of doing half now and waiting a month. It comes down to them thinking this would lead to a month of hype and office talk, but instead had the opposite effect of just making people wait a month.

DJariya

The CW released episode summaries of the 1st 3 parts. It tells who will appear and when.

Here's when some will appear. If you don't want to be spoiled on when you can expect to see someone, don't read this:

DJariya

Yeah I know it doesn't mean shit for you because you're just a viewer and don't care about that kind of thing.

All the networks take the Holidays/New Years off. 3-4 weeks. That's how it's been for decades. Every show typically goes on their Holiday break with a big "Midseason Finale" and this is no exception. This is no different than each of these shows taking 3-4 weeks for their midseason break. I know you think it's a dick move and they should have burned it all off this week because they have been heavily touting this for months. And you think it will destroy momentum for those who want to binge all 5 parts in 1 sitting. But, the CW does have other shows on their network that need to also air their midseason finales that week as well.

They want to come back in January with 2 big episodes and also at a time when they can get better ad revenue because more people are watching live TV in January.

Koby

You completely missed the point. No one disputed anything about taking time off for the Holiday. The dispute was about how they fumbled the handling of it because they thought they would build up hype, but it's clearly had the opposite effect for many, and there was zero need to have split it the way they did. They could've done it all after the Holiday break or before, but they purposely choose to kill momentum on their own accord. Seems like you read the first sentence and disregarded the entire rest of the post.

Regarding your last sentence: then do all 5 in January. ad revenue for 5 episodes obviously would be more than for 2 episodes. So yeah, like I said, terrible scheduling any way you try to shake it.

DJariya

Then please clarify why you think this is so stupid in your opinion. Not trying to belittle how you feel. Just trying to get why doing this is any different than say The Flash or Arrow taking a 3-4 week break with a massive cliffhanger.

Koby

If you'd read more than the first sentence of each post, you'd see that I have clarified each time, but judging by your reaction to each post it seems to stop reading after the first sentence.

But again, because there wasn't any reason for it to have been broken up the way it is. Either air it a few weeks earlier or air it after the break. Obviously they thought it would build hype, but it's had the opposite effect. The whole point of a cliffhanger is to build up hype. The difference between a normal Arrow episode ending on a cliff-hanger and some massive advertised 5-part event stopping after 3, is pretty big. The point is to build up hype for people to watch the next Arrow episode when it returns. This is accomplished because people watch the episode not knowing a massive cliffhanger is guaranteed. Meanwhile with a 5-part event only being partially aired, everyone already knows a cliffhanger is guaranteed, so hype dies down when they learn they must wait a month before even watching it, so instead of watching and getting hyped up and talking about it, everyone instead just doesn't watch it for a month. So then the whole point of the break becomes meaningless as it fails to do it's job.

DJariya

No you added more to your comment after I responded. That's why it looked like I was ignoring half your thought.

~~ PAL ~~

Fact of the matter is, the previous CW annual crossover events did not involve splitting up the episodes over the span of a whole month. I am not in the industry or know any more of the inner workings than anyone else. But when I first heard the announcement, my immediate reaction was that they are trying the same BS as the movie producers splitting up the final movie in the franchise to Part 1 and Part 2 to milk it for all it's worth. Except in the case of TV shows, not sure if they are getting the same kind of monetary payoff.

DJariya

Marc Guggeinheim, the showrunner and head writer of this crossover tweeted on the 26th, that part 3 was written to purposely end on a cliffhanger

Twitter

They are likely treating this as the CW's version of Infinity War/End game. But at least you don't have to wait a full calendar year for the resolution.

Tom Banjo

Also, although it’s not an official part, the next episode of Black Lightning looks like it will tie in heavily.

Michael Corvin

Why not just one big Crisis thread starting next week? Those of us watching now can discuss and when the rest of you catch up you can chime in.

DJariya

That's exactly what I will do then.

Michael Corvin

Side benefit, it's a single thread for the Netflix watchers to read/bump next summer.

IDrinkMolson

I think all of them except Flash (and some other non-hero shows) are going to HBO Max.

DJariya

Only Batwoman as of right now is contracted to HBO Max post CW among the DC shows. But it won’t move there until 1 month before the season 2 premiere.

The entire season will be on the CW app until then.

Sonny Corinthos

Thanks!

DWilson

There'll be an hour-long Crisis After-show next following Supergirl and Flash. It's listed in my DVR as "Crisis Aftermath".

fujishig

I was going to ask about why BL wasn't included in this as a series. The guide says it's like part 4 of a storyline, though, is it just like a short snippet or something?

dex14

The titles for Black Lightning always have "The Book of... Chapter... " in it. The next episode just happens to be "Chapter 4". It will probably just have some scene at the end that shows a red sky for Crisis and Lila coming to get Jefferson. Maybe they'll tag that Wells scene they've been showing on all the shows after the end logo too.

Tom Banjo

The preview suggests it’s more than just a bit at the end, more like a decent chunk of the episode is Crisis-related.

Think about how actual comics work with these events. Even with the main story there’s all these side story tie-ins, and I think the episode will mostly be like that, until maybe the final moments when BL is recruited. But regardless it looks like much of the episode is going to be more about Crisis than about the ASA, Marcovia, etc.

Red Hood

I won't be surprised if Crisis is later released as a blu-ray set on it's own with tons of extras on everyone that shows up.

Eric F

Well I’m having back surgery on Jan 3rd so I probably won’t have a chance to watch all of them until I’m out of rehab (whenever that will be) so you’ll have to live without my witty and insightful input.

PhantomStranger

Good luck on the procedure. You could always visit Bruce Wayne's doctor, I hear he can completely heal crushed spines.

The Antipodean

I’d love it if they released all the CW
crossover events in a box set or something... I don’t really want to own all 43 seasons of all the shows but the crossovers gave all been great fun.