In announcing the upcoming crossover between CBS’ Supergirl and The CW’s The Flash, as little information as possible was disseminated.
All told, CBS revealed that A) Grant Gustin will bring The Flash to B) Supergirl‘s National City to C) “join forces” with Melissa Benoist’s Kara, on D) March 28.
Period.
Gustin, Zod bless him, added a bit more fuel to the fire by revealing via Instagram the internetwork crossover event’s title: “Worlds Finest,” its conspicuous use of odd punctuation perhaps offering the meet-up’s biggest clue.
Backing up a bit, though, here are the burning questions yet to be answered at this nascent stage in the proceedings:
WHERE WILL THE CROSSOVER TAKE PLACE?
Supergirl‘s “National City” is an answer to the first question, but merely a partial one. Because as fans of The Flash, especially, know, there’s a multitude of universes (a “multiverse,” one might say) to choose from.
The Flash (and Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow, by association) take place on Earth-One, where to date there has been zero direct mention of Supergirl or her higher-profile cousin Superman. Yes, Legends‘ Rip Hunter alludes in his Feb. 4 monologue to “men of steel” (and “dark knights,” as Batman is sometimes dubbed), but neither Supes nor the Girl of Steel have been specifically name-checked. Plus, early episodes of The Flash made clear that superpowered beings were a new thing to Earth, and certainly not the stuff of regular Daily Planet headlines.
All of which is a long way of saying: Supergirl must not live in Barry’s world/universe. To that, some will retort, “Well, then she must be on Earth-Two.” To that, I counter: National City has not displayed even a whiff of the retro/art deco Earth-Two aesthetic we have glimpsed on The Flash. That leads me, at least, to rule out Earth-Two as Kara’s second home. Maybe another alternate Earth is Barry’s springtime stop? (As TVLine reader Roger noted, Earth-Three is home to Ultragirl instead of Supergirl.) Whatever the case, the episode title’s nod to worlds supports the general theory — as well as allows for another possibility, that each hero is plucked from their current universe and deposited on a common “away” field to battle some Super Bad.
HOW WILL THE CROSSOVER TAKE PLACE?
Working off the theory that Barry is bound for an alternate Earth, that is where the “breaches” on The Flash come into play. Simply said, breaches are portals between, for now, Earth-One and Earth-Two. Allowing them to also open a door to yet another universe is an easy enough leap — hampered only by the fact that The Flash‘s current arc has Barry, Dr. Harrison Wells et al determined to shut down all the breaches ASAP.
WILL THE REST OF THE FLASH CAST GET LEFT BEHIND?
Thus far, only Gustin has been announced as crossing over to Supergirl. But that could simply be a case of leading with your lead, as well as not letting slip too much about the storyline that is being kept under wraps. But if it is only Barry who finds himself in National City on March 28, that invites our next, bigger question….
WILL THIS CROSSOVER BE SELF-CONTAINED ON SUPERGIRL?
Or will the preceding Tuesday’s episode of The Flash tee it up? Again, the press release offers no indication that the crossover will extend to the CW series — and yet that seems awfully improbable. Somehow, the sequence of events that transport Barry to this other Earth need to be shown on-screen. But would Supergirl use up its whole Act I to do that? Would the CBS drama open this “event” episode with a prologue so heavily laden with exposition for those viewers who aren’t Flash-familiar? It seems unlikely, but if that is how they play it, I return to the previous question — of casting — and opine that other Flash cast would have to be on hand, in Central City, where Barry’s trip to National City starts. (It’s not like you’d open with The Flash, by his lonesome, speeding down a street and, what, “tripping” into a breach?)
Another sticky wicket, with regards to a Supergirl-only setting for the crossover: Will Barry return to Central City with knowledge of the Kryptonian hero’s existence? Thus making The Flash, and Arrow by association, Supergirl-savvy? It’d seem a huge secret to keep, and you just know Cisco will want pictures!
WHO/WHAT WILL BE THE VILLAIN OF THE PIECE?
“What Big Bad will demand the combined forces of the Girl of Steel and the Fastest Man Alive?” is the wrong question to be asking, seeing as The Flash’s presence would seem to be unplanned (versus solicited). Rather, he’ll likely turn out to be a much-needed helping hand. Smallville‘s Laura Vandervoort begins her recurring run as Indigo in late February — might the baddie sometimes known as Brainiac 8 amass enough havoc to challenge two heroes working in tandem? Or, would the writers go so far as to hint at Supergirl and Flash’s comic-book deaths in the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” series, by casting Anti-Monitor or another perpetrator of that canvas-shaking tragedy? UPDATE: Or, as TVLine reader Mike notes, if “Worlds Finest” is meant to evoke the DC Comics Superman/Batman team-up, maybe The Flash chases one of his adversaries to National City?
And lastly…
WILL THERE BE SINGING?
Benoist and Gustin are of course both Glee grads. Supergirl‘s Winn, Jeremy Jordan, has Broadway cred. So, what better way to decompress after a hard day of allying against a supervillain than some karaoke, as Barry Allen has done at least once before on The Flash? (And should Kara ever pay a visit to Barry’s world, Broadway vet Jesse L. Martin can get in on the action as well.)
What questions — or educated answers — do you have about the crossover?
It can’t be Earth-2. That’s Power Girl; Kara Zor-L. Earth-3 Kara is Ultragirl and she’s evil. ALL Earth-3 versions are evil and it’s WAY too early to be throwing Earth-3 into the equation when they’ve just started fleshing out the Berlantiverse version of Earth-2.
Earth-Eight, maybe…? Earth-387? (Have we seen Kara during a full moon…?)
Doesn’t it depend on who is counting? As Harry said last week, “Your Earth 2 is my Earth 1”
Yes ur absolutely right about that.
Wait…you of course know that the TV shows do not, in any way, shape, or form, follow the strict rules of the comics right? Earth – 2 on the Flash is ACTUALLY like Earth 78 from the comics POV or whatever.
Though just a lazy speculator, I spent about a half hour reading up on DC Comics’ many Earths. It is crazy!
Earth 2 Kara is only known as Power Girl on Earth 1. She is Supergirl on Earth 2. She only started going by Power Girl when she came to Earth 1 since Earth 1 already had a Supergirl.
Depends on which version of the continuity you follow… the tv show is free to disregard power girl altogether
I had exactly the same questions and I can’t wait to find out. To be honest I am usually way less entertained by Supergirl than I am with Flash and Arrow but the news of the crossover made me more enthusiastic about it. In addition I would also wonder : is there a chance, a tiny little chance to someday have a 3 nights event crossover between Supergirl/Flash/Arrow? That would be the dream and undoubtedly a big success.
Or better yet, a four-part, week-long DCTV crossover event: Supergirl on Monday, Flash on Tuesday, Arrow on Wednesday, and finally concluding with Legends on Thursday.
That’s only a good thing if you watch all the shows, I only watch two of them, not a fan of SuperGirl and personally hate the thought of having to watch two shows I don’t like to follow the story on the two shows I do like in a crossover event.
Most likely supergirl would see the flash as a villain. So I can see misunderstandings and a nice fight to show off Barry’s powers.
Has supergirl shown her super speed yet?
In tiny bursts, like during a fight she will flash by or up to her opponent, typically when the opponent is also using super speed.
This whole thing is too complicated. Barry should just be another version of himself that already exists in her world so they don’t have to muck up all the intersecting stories on The Flash with Superman, etc.
I’ve seen that theory, but why would we care about watching a Barry we don’t “know”?
So they don’t have to tie it in to what’s happening on The Flash. This crossover is going to have zero impact with anything happening on his show anyway- this is just a stunt to try and boost Supergirl’s ratings.
Supergirl is rating fine
Absolutely. Supergirls ratings are at least twice those of Flash. Barry and his crew are just as likely to get a boost from Supergirls fans, too! I like all the shows. I wish all the whiners would just go away! There are hundreds of channels on most people’s cable systems use the remote and shut up!
No they’re not. Supergirl’s last rating was a 1.5, Flash’s was a 1.4.
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It is a less interesting proposition but it does have the added benefit of making things less complicated in terms of story for both shows. Plus, it allows for Grant to do guest appearances in the future without having to do some sort of multiverse travel every time. I can’t imagine it being a regular thing if they are on alternate earths because Barry can’t just universe jump on a whim. It works for this season due to the current Flash storyline.
Exactly.
because grant gustin is a national treasure? Gilmore Girls/Veronica Mars did that back in the day and i still watched both
I don’t remember any cross over events from GG to VM ?
It’s not a crossover unless Kara comes to Central City as well
A crossover is any two shows crossing over. It doesn’t need to be a two night event.
There is a rumor floating around that Zoom is a guest villain in the ep. While that sounds logical in terms of Flash’s presence, I can’t imagine they would do a Flash centric story on Supergirl. Supergirl viewers would be pretty lost. This is actually a pretty unique situation because I can’t imagine that these crossovers will be a regular thing if they are on alternate earths(which they should be) for both in story and shooting logistic reasons.
I’m so ridiculously excited I can hardly handle it. I love both shows like crazy and so I can’t wait to watch them join forces. Personally, I’m not one to get hung up on the details as to the “How?” but I do completely agree with Matt: I do *not* care to see some random Barry that I have not been watching for a year and a half. For that, they should just ditch the idea completely because that would be, for me, the ultimate disappointment.
I actually want Kara to be a part of Earth One. Let the writers sort out the existence of Superman. As Tip Hunter has indicated, there is a Man of Steel.
It would take some pretty convoluted retconning to fit Supergirl back into Earth 1. Rip is from way into the future so Superman may eventually exist but doesn’t seem to be in the current Flarrowverse. I would have actually been partial to a time jump into the future if both shows didn’t feel so present day.
Well, if Rip acknowledges that Superman exists somewhere along the timeline, perhaps Supergirl DOES take place on Earth-1, just in the future. Barry can also time travel. I don’t think they’ve ever explicitly named dates identifying that Supergirl, like The Flash, takes place in the present.
I think Supergirl would have to take place at least 11 years into the future for that to work. I think given the very present day nature of both shows, that would be a bit tough to swallow.
11 years isn’t that much of a difference. That said, do I think my proposition is the case? No. I very much believe Kara is on Earth-3 or another one. But it is still possible.
The fact that they both feel present day doesn’t inherently mean anything. Since Harry has never mentioned anything about timeframes changing, my assumption would be Earth-1 and Earth-2 run concurrently in terms of time, yet Earth-2 in design and style feels very much stuck in the past.
Except Cat Grant on a weekly basis makes very contemporary references to celebs. Plus, remember, Superman has been doing his thang for a while already. (Than again, I’m just a lazy speculator!)
Superman has been doing his thing for a while, but if you were to ignore the fact that Superman has so many powers, then what he can do becomes rather bland (at least, as bland as superpowers can possibly be). He’s strong, he can fly, etc., and also Clark doesn’t get all of those things at once; he grows into them. Maybe The Flash’s continuity exists in the very early days of Superman and reports of his “metahuman-ness” have just been getting buried thus far. Before Firestorm was “the man who saved Central City,” he was relegated to being “the subject of eyewitness reports of a man on fire.”
OK. If we run with that, though, The Flash then takes place in our past, seeing as Cat Grant makes very contemporary celebrity references.
I don’t have a response to that other than to say maybe those same people are still celebrities in whatever time period Supergirl would then take place? I don’t remember any specific lines with those references. That or to say maybe they do exist in the same time period on the same Earth, but run along deviating timelines, which was a concept introduced but not really fleshed out back in The Flash season one. I think it’s Wells that says the timeline has fixed points but it can split up into alternate realities from there. There’s a really interesting Superman story in the comics called Red Son that posits the idea of what the world would be like if, instead of crash landing on the Kent farm, Clark landed in Soviet Russia and was raised by Communists. Perhaps Krypton exploding is a fixed point along Earth-1’s timeline, but where Clark lands, or what he ultimately does with his powers, operate differently depending on timeline deviations.
The Flash definitely can’t take place in the past given how the future newspaper from season 1 was said to be 10 years from that point. That combined with Cat’s contemporary references basically means that both Flash and Supergirl are set in the present.
Bingo.
Rip never said superman existed.. he said “men of steel”… that doesnt have to mean superman.. it could mean john henry irons or someone else.
The most important question is will there be an Ally McBeal reunion between Jesse L Martin and Callista Flockhart.
Someone has taken a closer look at the page that Grant shared and it seems that Livewire is going to make a return in this episode.
Personally I’m not crazy about the idea of Supergirl being relegated to existing on some alternate version of Earth called Earth 4 or Earth 5 or whatever, while Flash and Arrow get to exist on what is presumably our “main” Earth 1.
I’d rather they keep it a bit more vague, and simply explain that Kara and Barry exist on parallel Earths and leave it at that. Or instead of existing in different dimensions, they simply exist in different timelines or something.
It’s just a number. Who cares if it’s an alternate version of earth? it’s not like being Earth 4 is inferior to being in Earth 1. Besides, for Supergirl, her earth would be earth 1. I think the Flash has earned the right to be called earth 1 in colloquial terms since it is the show that has introduced the concept of multiverse.
The only two things I want are for Barry to be “our” Barry, and for Kara to absolutely NOT be in Earth-1, aka the Flarrowverse. I’m really looking forward to it! Maybe we’ll finally see Kara use her superspeed.
You are making this way too complicated. They are obviously adapting the pre-existing Superman/Batman team up story “Worlds Finest”. See http://dcau.wikia.com/wiki/World's_Finest
More research and less total speculation would have made a better article.
Interesting. So maybe The Flash chases, say, Zoom into an alt-Earth’s National City. Possible. Thanks for the ProTip!
World’s Finest Comics is the name of the first ongoing Superman/Batman teamup comic series published from the 1940’s onwards. Superman was in Action Comics and Superman (the name of the book), Batman was in Detective Comics and Batman (the name of the book), and both were in World’s Finest Comics (the name of the book). Originally they each had separate stories in World’s Finest, so when you bought an issue you got an adventure for each, but later they started teaming up. The episode title is clearly just a nod to this, not an adaptation of any particular story. Just like the story referenced above was named for this as well.
Certainly possible. However since they are already redoing the Superman story, “For the Man Who Has Everything ” as a Supergirl TV episode I hope the TV writers don’t keep recasting old Superman comics as Supergirl stories.
“Plus, early episodes of The Flash made clear that superpowered beings were a new thing to Earth, and certainly not the stuff of regular Daily Planet headlines.”
Actually, superpowered people and abnormal occurances were something that Barry was investigating ever since his mom was killed by the Reverse-Flash. The mirakuru from Arrow was created about 50 years ago. Constantine has been running around for awhile. And he had the Dr. Fate helmet in his possession. It’s likely that Superman in this universe has been being a superhero, enough to be acknowledged, but not to the point where everyone really knows that he’s an alien, at least until recently. I’m saying that I don’t want this to be happening in another universe and for them to keep expanding the universe they’re in, so I’m making up excuses for it could possibly, technically. They could even say that Barry time travelling at the end of last season somehow created a ripple effect that brought about Superman revealing himself. I’m just spit balling here.
God bless you all! God bless your families and everyone else in your life! God bless everyone!
I like this. It coincides with what happened in Flashpoint. His changing time had a ripple effect on every earth.
I really hope this opens the doors to Supergirl showing up on The Flash sometime down the line.
Apparently they can’t afford to do Supergirl’s powers on The Flash budget thats straight from Berlanti himself
Maybe not all of them, but flying is just wire work and strength is easy to do. And her greatest power is keeping her hair unmussed, which would probably be the most expensive of the three *g*
I’m ALL for a Supergirl/The Flash crossover but this one just seems rushed to me. Part of the fun of these crossovers is the fact that casts from both series get to interact with each other. If they do decide to only have Barry involved wouldn’t that be more of a “guest star” appearance and less of an actual crossover?
Team crossovers don’t always work out. Of the 2 Flarrow crossovers, the 1st was great, the 2nd had most of Team Arrow standing in the background, there just to be there. It was BAD. Plus Flash is the titular character, he makes it a crossover all by his lonesome. Now if it was Cisco appearing on SG, then you’d call it a guest star appearance.
It was a crossover when Tony DiNozzo leaves Washington to head to NCIS:LA with no/little other NCIS crew. It was a crossover when NCIS’ Hetty outfitted Team Scorpion. It was a crossover when Kensi flew to Hawaii for 1 minute of screentime (although there was a bigger crossover later that involved both shows).
It’s a crossover anytime somebody from Show A goes to Show B, regardless of how many somebodies are involved or whether anybody from Show B visits Show A.
Alternate Earths have been mentioned on The Flash…..and a Crisis has been mentioned as well.
If the various shows chose to do so, they could do a “Crisis” and merge the universes.
DC continuity isn’t exactly coherent.
Heck, they could do a “Flashpoint” type story, and then everything is just as clear as current DC comics.
Flashpoint ruined DC comics and the current continuity is a mess.
I don’t care what earth either are from i just can’t wait to see the Kara/Barry interactions Meliisa and Grant were so perfectly cast for their roles and the tone of Flash/Supergirl really works
He’s also a Broadway vet! He was in Once.
Sorry, this was meant for the comment a couple down. Hate that I can’t delete it :-/
Matt, I have been waiting for months for someone to mention singing on Supergirl. I even posted on Facebook a few weeks ago how I keep expecting the cast to burst into song. You didn’t even mention Laura Benati, then you’ve got Calista Flockhart and Chyler Leigh who both sung on episodes of their previous shows, and now Blake Jenner is there too (Jenna Dewan Tatum could provide some choreography)!
In my FB post I even said how cool it would be if Grant Gustin popped in to duet with his former co-stars — and now its happening!!!! So excited!!
If there is ever singing involved it needs to include Cisco as well. There are videos on Youtube of some of his various past musical performances and he is a damn fine singer.
He’s also a Broadway vet! He was in Once.
Man… all these Earths are making my brain hurt…
I like the idea of Berry going back in time and changing things so that Superman comes into play sooner, but the only problem with that is again, nothing has been said about it, and that happened at least a month ago now. There has been no mention of Superman doing anything, past, present or future. You start establishing another Earth, after Earth-2 has already been established, and you start spiraling a little out of control with timelines, realitiws, and the like. You start introducing more, and it’s more likely that you’re just going to confuse people.
So, that begs the question: how do you hide the world’s biggest Boy Scout?
*realities. Sorry, my phone does not like to spell things correctly, apparently.
Funny how Batman vs Superman movie comes out Friday March 25 in threatres, and Monday the 28th they’re doing this episode…
1.Are we sure that this will be the same Barry that we know? Or could it just be the Barry Allen of Kara’s universe?
2. “To that, I counter: National City has not displayed even a whiff of the retro/art deco Earth-Two aesthetic we have glimpsed on The Flash.”
…
No. But come to think of it, Gotham has.
Has anyone yet thought of Earth Prime (which is supposed to be our Earth but hey, lets ride with it for a heartbeat)? That would be very interesting…
Yeah, I think Supergirl/Superman will be from Earth-Prime. I don’t want to explain why cuz it could be very spoilery, but yes it’d very interesting, and it’d make sense.
The Legends of Tomorrow team goes back in time, changes the past and suddenly there is now a Supergirl in Earth 1.
Then they fix the timeline and the Supergirl series is cancelled.
No it keeps on going and going for many seasons.
The fact that they can’t realistically spend most of Supergirl’s first arc, setting up The Flash’s multiverse mythology for the 5 million or so people who aren’t regularly watching The Flash, seems to validate the fact that they live on the same Earth. Maybe Supergirl & Flash are scheduled to race for charity?
Just because the Supes (and presumably the Bats) aren’t on Earth-1… doesn’t mean that there isn’t a Flash on whatever earth Supergirl is on. I’ve seen nothing to confirm that it’ll be “our” Flash. It could well simply be Flash of that world.
Supergirl takes place on the same Earth/ Universe as the current DC movie franchise, so in other words the main centerforged Universe. So without even getting much in the comic plots or possible spoiler terrority, it’d make sense for it to be Earth-Prime.
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And this episode is taking place right near the finales, so as to how Barry gets to Supergirls’ Earth, I bet it’ll be a result from Barry’s battle with Zoom near the finale… And I’m even wondering if they going to have any aftermath from the batman vs superman movie lightly translated into the TV series.
Supergirl is NOT in the same earth as the movie franchise… the krypton on the show is very different from the one shown in the man of steel movie
How is Krypton so different in the TV show compared to the man of steel movie ? Only difference I really see is budget, the TV can’t afford to show a lot of the Krypton technology on a grand scale like the movie…. And why havnt they even shown Superman, other than a blur or texting, becuz current timeline, he’s the one from the movie… And I’m not sure about this last comment, but wasn’t general Zod referenced at some point, or like the battle Kara’s cousin had with him a couple years ago.
Matt, do you know the answer here?
Crossover airs March 28 on CBS channel!
Haha thanks, I got ya, wait an see right ;) … I can’t wait for the crossover! I really hope it’s done well.
They defo should have a duet together
What about we just meet The Flash from the SuperGirl universe (Earth-S for the lack of an accurate name)??
Who just happens to be potrayed by Grant Gustin also.
If the ABC-DC universe has Man of Steel, why not the Fastest Man Alive too??
That would be so lame if they made supergirl on earth 2
Heroes is one of the best tv show. With the way how heroes reborn ends, i hope there will be a season 2
I really don’t have a problem with either show but 6 burning questions?? The only one I have is if there will be any nod toward Glee. Of course Melissa treated like crap on Glee so probably not
If they’re able to have John Constantine be in the same universe (Earth 1) as the Arrow/The Flash/Legends of Tomorrow why not Superman and Supergirl? No one has mentioned the demons, witches, warlocks, angels, werewolves, ghosts, zombies and other supernatural creatures Constantine has battled and save people from because of the Rising Darkness on Earth 1. Superpowers existed in the Flarrowverse long before Barry and Oliver became superheroes. Mirakuru and magic existed for decades/centuries. Even Vixen exists in the Flarrowverse and she has magical powers. On top of that are the Fort Rozz alien escapees roaming the Earth. Constantine has been travelling the world for years fighting supernatural phenomena so probably visited National City, Metropolis or Central City some point doing his travels. Also it was mentioned on Arrow that WayneTech, Gotham City, Ted Kord the Blue Beetle and Kord Industries exist so Supergirl and Superman must be from Earth 1 because Gotham City cannot exist on Earth 1 without National City and Metropolis existing there as well. You dont have Gotham without Metropolis. Coast City, Bludhaven, Opal City and Ferris Air was mentioned as well on Earth 1. Coast City has Hal Jordan & Carol Ferris and Opal City is where Cat Grant’s son Adam lives and Opal City has been mentioned on both Arrow and Supergirl. Doctor Fate, The Spectre and Zatanna were suppose to be on Constantine if the show wasnt cancelled but those characters still exist somewhere in the Flarrowverse though. Arrow mentioned that a test pilot has vanished from Coast City. Hal Jordan is a test pilot. It seems all of the heroes/villains of DC Comics probably exist in Flarrowverse’s Earth 1. Aquaman/Arthur Curry/Atlantis exist on Earth 2 so its safe to say he exists on Earth 1 as well.
Princess Diana/Wonder Woman probably hasn’t left Themyscira yet so isn’t Wonder Woman yet unless her human persona Diana Prince is an agent for the D.E.O. with Alex Danvers and Hank Henshaw! Bruce Wayne could be Batman in the Flarrowverse. Gotham City is on the East Coast (New York to be exact). Star City, Central City, Coast City and National City are all in California so they can easily all visit each other. Metropolis is in the Midwest so that’s nowhere near California. So basically Kara, Barry and Oliver only live 2 to 4 hours apart since they live in the state. Clark Kent/Superman lives halfway across America in the Midwest. Superman and Batman live too far.
I watched some trailers for the upcoming Bat vs Superman recently, an apparently Wonder Woman is like as old as Vandal Savage, like 4000 years or something.
With Supergirl being on CBS and The Flash and Arrow being on The CW, I am okay with them not being on the same Earth. It makes sense (to me at least).
If they want to have other Flash actors doing a cameo they could play their Earth S (for Supergirl obviously) counterparts and Barry could run into one by accident or save him or something. If I got to pick I’d chose Cisco because he’s the most fun. Plus if Earth S Cisco happens to be a scientist too he can help them build Barry’s way back to Earth 1.
Kara and Barry NEED to go out and do karaoke. I mean if they don’t it would be a waste. Even for 30 seconds until the bad guy strikes.
Actually Rip Hunter mentioned Superman and Batman last night when he said, “I’ve seen Men of Steel die and Dark Knights fall”.
His allusions are noted in the story above, yes.
“World’s Finest” was the name of a comic book back in the 70’s – 90’s where two heroes would crossover for that issue in the DC multiverse. That’s where the title comes from!