Evaluating a decision#
Week 5 · Crisis on Infinite Earths
What does a long-running story owe the people who remember it?
A promise with a date on it#
The pilot of The Flash, 2014: a newspaper from the future.
“Flash missing, vanishes in crisis”, dated 2024.
Before Crisis#
- Arrow, The Flash, Legends, Batwoman: one Earth
- Supergirl: another
- Black Lightning: another
Every crossover needed a way through.
The decision#
December 2019 to January 2020. Five series, one event.
The Earths merge into one: Earth-Prime.
The option it passed over#
Pay off the promise. Keep the Earths apart.
Price both#
| Option | Keeps | Costs |
|---|---|---|
| Merge | cheap crossovers | Supergirl’s own Earth |
| Keep apart | each show’s own history | a device for every crossover |
For whom?#
- the studio, planning next season’s crossovers
- the viewer who watches every show
- the viewer who only watches Supergirl
A decision can be right for one and wrong for the others.
A decision is only as good as the option it beat#
The method#
- Name the decision, with its title and year
- Rebuild the option it passed over
- Price both
- Say for whom
- Take a side the room can dispute
Tomorrow’s seminar#
Choose a side on Crisis, and say who it was better for.
Your Briefing does the same for a decision of your own.