Superman & Lois (CW)

Alright.  The Arrowverse.  From its start in 2012 till about 2021, I was mostly onboard/enthusiastic about it.  Particularly with its crown jewels, Arrow and The Flash.  At the height of their power, those shows, while not amazing television, were still highly entertaining for what they were.  And when they were good, they showed they had these formulas pretty down-pat.  But they definitely had a shelf life.  For both Arrow and Flash, it was six seasons.  After both those shows hit Season 7, something just changed.  The luster was gone, the magic was lost.  With Arrow, the stories just became dull and lifeless.  Season 7 of Arrow felt like it had no true intrigue, excitement or involving emotional drive.  And that extended to Season 8, unfortunately, which has got to be one of the most disappointing final seasons I've ever seen.  

With The Flash, I think the pandemic really did have a negative effect on it.  To me, Season 6 was the last really good season of The Flash as well.  New showrunner Eric Wallace showed such promise, as Season 6 had legitimate stakes, driving force and story momentum throughout all of it...and then the last three seasons happened.  The writing just got really lame.  There were still glimpses of good stuff, but it REALLY started to feel like they were writing for a younger demographic, and to its detriment.  Whereas the first six seasons still managed to balance the CW-ness with legitimately exciting superhero pulp.  The final season was...O.K. at best, but still with its groaners here and there.  Although, I will say the final four-episode arc and finale ended things decently enough.  Still, it took a dip in its last years, and sometimes was a struggle to get through.  And I stopped watching it weekly mid-Season 7.

Supergirl was good for four seasons.  Then the showrunners tried to weave in these "important/modern themes" into the storytelling and oof.  Granted, Season 4 did that (the whole commentary/metaphor for aliens in America), but that season's arc was still fun and exciting and introduced Jon Cryer's surprisingly good Lex Luthor.  Seasons 5 and 6, though?  Not so much.  The writers seemed to forget they were writing for a CW superhero show at the end of the day.

I don't know where you get the idea that I loved Legends, Neverending, but that couldn't be further from the truth.  Along with Batwoman, it's the only Arrowverse show I straight up dropped.  Seasons 2 and 3 were peak Legends and the right balance of goofy, fun and dramatic...but Season 4 turned it into a fucking farce.  The silliness became too overpowering, the comedy straight-up lame, and the introduction of Constantine into the cast made the show feel like a reject Ghostbusters show, with the Legends becoming more focused on defeating demons and monsters than time travel, it felt like.  I dropped the show with Season 5 and never looked back.  And I hear it ended on a cliffhanger.  Ouch.

Superman & Lois, though?  Quite easily the best CW superhero drama.  It feels more mature, in quite a few ways, and is just as much a pretty compelling family drama as it is a superhero show.  It works because of the conflict at the center of it of Superman truing to be both a great hero and a good father/husband.  And the writing/acting honestly feels pretty strong...apart from a few of the more "CW-ish" aspects.  But I'd say it still blows the rest of these shows out of the water.  Still need to watch Season 3, though.

So, yeah, RIP Arrowverse.  Not always consistent, but when it was good, it was worth it for me.