EPISODE 15: "Legendary"
SYNOPSIS: After the numerous sacrifices the team has made since the beginning of this ride, Rip decides that it’s time they each decide their own destiny and returns them to Central City a few months after they first left. Returned to their normal lives, each team member must individually decide if they are willing to sacrifice everything in order to save the world. Meanwhile, Sara visits with her father (guest star Paul Blackthorne) who delivers some heartbreaking news about her sister. Dermott Downs directed the episode with story by Greg Berlanti & Chris Fedak and teleplay by Phil Klemmer & Marc Guggenheim.
REVIEW:
Sing it with me now, folks!
“Time is on my side, yes it is!
Time is on my side, yes it is!
Now you always say, that you want to be free.
But you'll come running back (said you would baby)
You'll come running back (I said so many times before)
You'll come running back to me!”
Yes indeed. It stands to reason that time certainly was on the side of our legends this week, as they manipulated the space time continuum itself in a last ditch effort to end the life of the nefarious Vandal Savage. Final episodes are tough, right? As viewers, we each have our own ideas as to how the season should end, as well as a mental check list of what needs to be addressed before our final 43 minutes are up. In my opinion, I think that DC's LEGENDS OF TOMORROW did a admiral job of tying up loose ends while delivering an action packed final episode to this first season.
Maybe it's because I'm feeling saucy that I'm going to launch right into my favorite aspect of tonight's episode. Would you care to venture a guess as to what it was? Well, if you said the time-hopping final encounter with Savage then you'd be correct! Finally, $#@&*%! finally, we got to see our group work together to accomplish the seemingly impossible task of killing Vandal Savage. First of all, how cool was the angry time tyrant with those blades? I mean really. I've heard of the phrase “Never bring a knife to a gun fight.”, but I'm of the mind that Vandal would fair just fine in a situation such as that. Also, let's talk for just a moment about the way in which he was taken out. Each one of the deaths struck me as a satisfying way to end this immortal asshole's life. First, there was Mick turning him into a human smore, then that melodious * SNAP * courtesy of the White Canary, and finally, a bludgeoning followed up by electrocution? Take note, cast of ARROW, that's how you end a villain! Let's just hope they remembered to clean up the ashes this time, though. Maybe even take the time to launch them into the sun as well, yeah?
Honestly, about the only thing that irked me – or struck me as odd – this episode, was the way in which the friends and family members of the team reacted when everyone opted to continue following Rip into the unknown. For starters, Detective Lance just lost Laurel, yet he's keen on his only other daughter continuing her heroic lifestyle? Really, just like that? Or how about Stein's wife, Clarissa, who was all but kicking him out the door when he brought up the idea of him leaving, once again. Now, I understand that we only have so much time in which to hash this stuff out. That said, I just thought it bizarre that these familial characters – regardless of their significance to this particular program – would relinquish their hold on our legends so easily. Again, I get it, but it still made me furrow my brow and go, “Well, okay then.”
Alright, you all know it's coming, so we should probably get to it now. Oh but wait, I've brought confetti, noise makers, and booze for this particular moment of the show. That's right, Kendra and Carter are moving on! Heh, I really hope you clicked on that link, just now. It's a good time, I assure you. Anyway, yes, the lovers Hawk look to be flying South for an undetermined period of time. Obviously, I have no love lost for this situation. This is not me making a personal attack on either Ciara Renée or Falk Hentschel, not at all. My frustration for their characters lands entirely on the show's writing staff. Nothing, and I mean nothing dragged this season down more than the tiresome, loathsome love triangle of Ray, Kendra, and Carter. However, rather than moan about it, let's just be thankful that neither character will be joining the team as the show moves forward. I don't think it will be the last we see of them, but with any luck both Kendra and Carter can find someplace else to be super boring for a while.
For me, other highlights from tonight's episode involved a few of the more dramatic scenes. Particularly, I thought the moments that involved Sara reacting to her sister's death and Mick's heart-to-heart with a then-alive Snart were great. I think it was somewhere around the Chronos reveal when I thought that Mick's character had stagnated in growth. Thankfully, I was wrong, as the past two episodes have lent to him making his way back up the charts as one of my favorite characters on this show. I'll miss him quipping along with Snart in future episodes, but I don't think we've seen the last of Captain Cold just yet. Mark my words, temporal displacement. It's a thing, and it's going to come up later. You'll see. You'll all see. Mwuahahaha!
Wrapping things up, I'd like to take a moment to reflect on the entirety of this first season. Looking back, I think the show started strong, but then lost some serious momentum as characters struggled to find their footing and the beginnings of go-nowhere sub-plots were introduced. For what it's worth, my favorite episodes were without a doubt the Joe Dante directed “Night of the Hawk” as well as several of the episodes ramping up to tonight's finale – save for that garbage Western-themed one with Jonah Hex. Ugh! It still burns me that we wasted so much screen time just for the sake of an H.G. Wells name drop.
I'll admit this though, I'm a tad surprised that so many characters appear to be staying on as regular members of Rip's team. Not that cast members don't hang around for a while, but with the promise of a rotating roster of heroes for seasons to come, I thought maybe we'd make a bit more room. It goes without saying that the balancing act will be even harder to pull off if they add too many characters going forward. Eh, I suppose we'll just have to wait and see.
So there you go! Until the next season of DC's LEGENDS OF TOMORROW, be well, and always remember that time waits for no one. Live every day to its fullest and remember … “The only thing in this life that you regret are the risks you didn't take.” – Grandpa Gustafson (Burgess Meredith)
RECAP:
Alright folks, we've got a lot to cover here so let's get started!
Tonight's finale began with the Wave Rider touching down in Star City, 2016. As Rip, Sara, Mick, Ray, Stein, and Jax exit the ship, Captain Hunter confesses that he believes their journey has come to an end. As the group looks on in confusion, Rip explains that since Savage stole their jump ship, he is now lost in time. With Savage off and about and the lives of the compatriots (Kendra and Carter) presumably at an end, Rip has decided that it's time to give up the fight.
Oh course, Ray steps forward to make a speech about how they're heroes and giving up is not what heroes do, when suddenly, Mick discovers that the Captain Hunter standing next to him is nothing but a hologram. That's right, Rip is still aboard the ship, and is already in the process of turning tale and leaving everyone behind. With no way of communicating their adverse opinions, the team is left with nothing to do but return to their lives in the year 2016.
As we make the rounds to each character, and discover what each of them have been up to since Rip dropped them off. First, we find Sara talking to her father in the Arrow Cave. After a firm embrace, the White Canary learns that a lot's changed in the 5 months that she's been gone. Confused, Sara listens as Detective Lance informs her of his dealings with Damien Darhk … and the death of Dinah Laurel Lance. Heartbroken, Sara collapses into her father's arms, sobbing and hating herself for not being there to prevent her only sister's death.
Next, we find Mick Rory running with a young partner-in-crime as they attempt to pull off a heist. As the pair make their way to the getaway car, the rookie criminal says something that Mick doesn't like. Rory then lights the kid's inexperienced ass up and makes his way to the car, where – to his surprise – Ray is waiting behind the wheel. In that moment, Ray tries to apologize to Mick for Snart's death, saying that it should have been him who made the sacrifice play, not Snart. Rory dismisses Palmer's sentiments, and that's when Ray starts talking to Mick about the two of them becoming partners.
After that, we look in on Stein as he engages in a not-so-rousing game of trivia with his wife, Clarissa. With an exasperated sigh, Martin explains to his wife that he has some unfinished business to attend to, and takes off in search of Jax. Shortly thereafter: Stein, Jax, Sara, Ray, and Mick converge on the same location, after members from each pairing used a makeshift locator device to transmit a signal to the Wave Rider. It's at that point when Gideon informs a wallowing Captain Hunter that the ship has received a distress signal from Star City, 2016. There's a bit of apologizing and speechafying before the group declares that the mission isn't over yet.
A scene transition later, and we find Kendra running through a wooded area located in Saint-Lô, France, 1944. Suddenly, an American soldier is holding her at gunpoint, asking about who she is and where she came from. Too preoccupied to answer his questions, Kendra demands that the soldier give her a pen and paper. She scribbles some information down and then stashes the message inside the perplexed soldier's helmet. Just then, Savage comes out of nowhere and hucks a knife into the G.I.'s chest. A sweet kill later, and it's time for Kendra and Savage throw down. The fight doesn't last long though, and before long the time tyrant chokes our Hawkgirl into unconsciousness.
Back aboard the Wave Rider, Sara wastes no time in threatening to end Rip's life if he doesn't give her control of the ship and help her go back in time to save her sister. Rip tries explaining to his emotionally wounded teammate that he can't help, and that's when Sara really gets mean. After a bout of heated words, the time traveling captain uses a Men In Black-like neurolizer device to knock Sara out. With Ms. Lance back in her resting quarters, Rip and the rest of the crew begin brainstorming about a way to discover Savage's location. Just then, Jax knocks over a helmet that's been on display in Rip's brooding den. Oh snap! There's a note attached to the underside of the helmet, and it's from Kendra! That's some straight up Bill & Ted shit, right there! Anyway, now that the team knows where Kendra is, it's time to plot a course for Saint-Lô, France, 1944.
After far too many car commercials, we find Savage aboard the jump ship, taking blood samples from both Kendra and Carter. It's at this point in the show where things go full-on comic book, as Savage starts monoluging about his plans for the the future. Allow me to boil this complicated scene down for you. In a nutshell, Savage is going to use the Hawk's blood as part of a Thanagarian ritual that will permit him to erase time itself and travel back to 1700 B.C.. But how? Essentially, Vandal needs to pour the blood onto the three meteorite pieces that the Thanagarian's sent to Earth. You know, the ones we've seen periodically throughout the season? Once activated, the stones will explode (one for each time line), causing a rupture through time that no one but Savage can withstand. Yeah, like I said, some real comic book shiz going on here.
A bit later, we find Vandal Savage and his goons (in the year 1944) holding up a Nazi motorcade and looking to confiscate some cargo. Wait, doesn't Savage already have guns? He does, but what he needs is the meteorite the Nazis are transporting. Just then, the legends reveal themselves and open fire. During the battle, Team Firestorm grabs hold of a Nazi weapon, which then evaporates into nothing more than a liquid pool on the ground. What the? Well well well, it looks as if, in the face of danger, Jax finally unlocked one of Firestorm's coolest powers – the ability to transmute matter. Some more dust is kicked up before the legends rescue Carter but are forced to leave Kendra behind.
Now, we're in for a bit of time-jumping madness as we find Savage gallivanting through his own time line in an effort to arm his other selves with the samples of Hawk's Thanagarian blood. I'm paraphrasing here, but Vandal's all, “Pour this goop on the meteorite and it will cause an explosion that will devour the world.” Meanwhile, Stein is getting pretty fed up with losing and states to his colleagues that it's time to kill Savage – once and for all. With everyone agreed, the team determines that they must murder their time molesting nemesis at the three different points in history when Vandal plans to perform the meteorite blood ritual. The group then divide themselves up into pairs and begin their assault.
Okay, now this is the point in the episode where things start happening really fast. If I tried to recap this scene-for-scene you'd probably just stop reading because it's hella confusing. Allow me to summarize what happened. Each group gets the better of Savage, eventually, and he dies in all three time lines before he can see the ritual through to its end. How exactly? Well: Ray and Mick beat the ever-loving tar out of him and then lit the time bandit on fire, Sara goes one-on-one with Vandal until she unceremoniously snaps his neck, and finally, Kendra, Carter and Rip plunge a dagger into Savage's heart and then throw him into a live and massive transformer. I'll be straight up with you, it was pretty awesome. With our lunatic villain now dead in all three time lines, there's nothing left to do except stop the meteorite bombs from going off.
The first two are taken care of quite easily as Ray utilizes his tech to melt one of the rocks down while Jax uses his new-found power to transmute his respective meteorite into water. There's just one craggy, glowing bomb left, and it's giving the group a bit of trouble. Just then, the legends discover that Rip has disappeared back onto the ship, and that he plans to get rid of the bomb by throwing it into the sun. Whoa, seriously? That's quite the sacrifice play there, Rip. Indeed it is. But then, as Captain Hunter is careening toward the burning star, he suddenly hears the voice of his late wife. And sure enough, there standing among that ship's deteriorating equipment is Rip's loved ones. They embrace, chat, and share a few tears before Hunter discovers that it's all a hallucination. He's not dead yet. In fact, Gideon isn't ready to die, and is insists that her captain find another way to dispose of the bomb. How do you do that? Well, you go back in time, grab the rock, then angle the ship in such a way that you launch the boulder out of the cargo hold and toward the fiery sun.
As the episode draws to a close we discover that Rip plans to continue his patrol of the space time continuum, and wouldn't mind having some company along for the ride. After a bit of thought and tying up of loose ends, everyone except for Kendra and Carter decide to tag along. With that settled, the group begin making their way back to the time machine, when suddenly, a second Wave Rider crash lands in front of them. Confused, the legends stare in suspicion as a hooded figure emerges from the wreckage. Upon his approach, the newcomer introduces himself as Rex Tyler – a member of The Justice Society of America! OH WORD?!
Roll credits!