Major spoilers below for The Flash's opening episode for the Elseworlds crossover.
Ever since fans first discovered the Arrow-verse was going all "Elseworlds" for this year's crossover, all eyes have been on what these profoundly weird character change-ups would be like. For certain viewers, though, the biggest jolt came when The Flash's installment took this TV franchise's first trip to Clark Kent's childhood home. Not only was the Smallville location the very same farm used for the bygone superhero series, but Smallville's theme song was also used!
The writers wisely waited until the exact halfway point in "Part 1" to take the body-swapped Barry and Oliver to Earth-38. The goosebumps started just as the pair were heading into the breach, and Remy Zero's "Save Me" started to play. The track continued as the camera flew above the oh-so-familiar rural setting, where the Arrow-verse introduced the iconic Lois Lane for the first time, as portrayed by Bitsie Tulloch. Oh, the emotions!
Using "Save Me" to accompany the trip to the Kent farm was arguably the most perfect way to capitalize on Tyler Hoechlin's Superman joining the crossover episodes for the first time. The track served as Smallville's theme song during its ten-season run. As fans will remember, Remy Zero even performed the song within the show during its Season 1 finale.
According to THR, The Flash showrunner Todd Helbing credited executive producer Marc Guggenheim with naming the song during that part of the script, saying that both that homage and the Smallville farm came into the equation pretty early on. Supergirl producer Robert Rovner had more to say about that moment, as well as getting the chance to utilize such an important slice of comic history.
Clark has been on Argo City, so it felt like a great place for them to reconvene and figure out their problems together. . . . It was amazing to have Clark and Lois together on our show. We've dreamed of having Lois Lane be on Supergirl; we've talked about her since the beginning. When I first saw them together, it felt like we were entering the canon in a new fresh way --- seeing them reunite for the first time in our universe, that was thrilling.
There's no telling whether or not Lois Lane will ever join Clark (or Superman) on Supergirl in the future, but it seems like all parties involved would be interested in it. Let's not forget that Kara does have to return to Earth-38 by the time things are cleared up in the crossover's third entry. Maybe we'll get another nod or two there, and more Lois!
Clark Kent's Earthly home had quite a bit of impact on Barry and Oliver's relationship, accounting for their swapped abilities. (It was hilarious to watch Barry admit to waiting all those years to shoot arrows into Oliver's back.) Their heart-to-heart helped them conquer their respective unease about going back to Earth-1 with the other's persona. Stephen Amell talked about the moment with EW.
The fact that Grant and I have this exchange, and have this really cool moment sitting on the steps of the Smallville ranch, is pretty much surreal as it gets.
We're not yet sure where the crossover is going as far as The Monitor's influence and how the other villains will come into play. We do know, however, that this is far from the first time that the Arrow-verse has paid homage to Smallville during all of these shows' runs. The previous take on Clark Kent's rise to super-dom had a number of crew members that went on to work on The CW's later comic book shows.
But it definitely didn't stop with writers and other behind-the-scenes crew members. Smallville's on-screen alum that have previously appeared in the Arrow-verse include (but are not limited to) Laura Vandervoort, Teri Hatcher, Michael Adamthwaite, Sachin Sahel, Sam Witwer, Linda Ko, Kendall Cross, John DeSantis, Steve Bacic, Laura Mennel and Erica Durance. Here's hoping for more, but only after we get to see what Gotham City is all about.
Stay tuned for what's happening next in the "Elseworlds" adventures when Arrow hits The CW on Monday night at 8:00 p.m. ET, with Supergirl wrapping things up on Tuesday night in the same time slot. All the super-shows will be taking winter breaks after the crossover ends, so be sure to catch up with all the good fall TV and midseason premieres that will definitely keep audiences busy.
