2017 is coming to a close, causing people all across the pop culture world to look back at the media that made their year what it was. The team at ComicBook.com came together to nominate our favorites in the world of television, movies, comics, and anime of 2017.
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With an impressive number of new shows debuting this year — as well as plenty of returning favorites continuing to deliver — there are almost too many episodes of comic book television to count. In a way, one savvy fan could devote almost every night with a new episode of comic book-inspired TV, between the broadcast, cable, and streaming series that aired this year. So when it comes to picking one episode that rose above the pack, there are plenty of options to choose from.
And the winner of Best TV Episode is…
The CW’s “Crisis on Earth-X”!
Technically speaking, “Crisis” is really four episodes of television across the network’s Arrowverse of shows. But unlike crossovers in the past, this one truly felt like an event, meaning the four shows involved get to share the praise, and rightfully so.
Things kicked off in the Supergirl hour, with the Arrowverse’s heroes coming together to see Barry Allen/The Flash (Grant Gustin) and Iris West (Candice Patton) get married. But as fans quickly saw, things didn’t go as planned, with a gaggle of Earth-X villains crashing the party, and sparking a church-set fight scene that had to be seen to be believed.
Arrow‘s hour continued things, with the ensemble trying to figure out what to do next. Along the way, fans found out more about Earth-X, a 53rd alternate Earth where the Nazis won World War II. They also met the faces behind the Earth-X masks – Overgirl (Melissa Benoist), Dark Arrow (Stephen Amell), Reverse Flash (Tom Cavanagh), and Earth-X Tommy Merlyn (Colin Donnell) taking on the heavily-speculated mantle of Prometheus. A small group of heroes faced off against the villains, before they were transported to an Earth-X prison camp, with one hell of a cliffhanger.
The second night of the crossover began with The Flash, which saw the group trying to figure out how to escape Earth-X. Thankfully, they found a few new friends along the way, in Ray Terrill/The Ray (Russell Tovey) and Leonard “Leo” Snart/Citizen Cold (Wentworth Miller). They narrowly escaped Earth-X’s grasp – but Martin Stein (Victor Garber) was shot in the process.
Finally, things met an epic conclusion in Legends of Tomorrow. Stein met his tragic (like, really tragic) end, forever changing the show’s band of misfits. But as the ensemble of heroes realized, they needed to channel Stein’s memory for good – namely, in stopping Overgirl and Dark Arrow from invading Earth-1. What commenced was a pretty epic fight scene (with an insane minute-long one take), in which the heroes ended up saving the day. The four show’s ensembles parted ways, but not before a rather unique wedding ceremony took place.
“Crisis on Earth-X” brought fans new partnerships and pairings, heartbreaking moments, and some truly delightful action sequences. As some have argued, it shows just what the DC Comics world is capable of, and has changed the course for television events to come.
We’ll be announcing more winners throughout the week, so be sure to check back on ComicBook.com to see if your favorites won. And don’t forget to tell us who and what your favorites were on Facebook and @ComicBookNOW on Twitter.
List of Nominees:
“Crisis on Earth-X” – Arrowverse [WINNER] on The CW
“Bury Me Here” – The Walking Dead on AMC
“Chapter 7” – Legion on FX
“Home” – The Punisher on Netflix
“Worst Behavior” – The Defenders on Netflix
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Image courtesy of DC Studios
