So, after stopping the Soviet Union from creating their own version of Firestorm, our Legends are ambushed when traversing the timestream and are set to ground in a version of Star City’s future that is much darker than imagined. How does it fair? Well let’s take a look. Hey, it beats watching the GOP Debate, right?
Warning: Some mild spoilers.
1. The Hawk
Confession: I’m not the biggest Connor Hawke guy. It’s nothing against the character; I have never really been the biggest fan of the Green Arrow side of the DC Universe. Heck, the only attachments I have to those characters are with Roy Harper and his daughter Lian, and those deal more with the Titans than Green Arrow. But that can be a good thing, it allows me to look at this Connor with fresh eyes.
And really… there’s not much to the character. Look, I get it, there’s only so much you can do with 43 minutes. But apart from the fact that his real name is John Diggle Jr. (which he calls himself “Connor Hawke” because he feels like he doesn’t deserve his true name. So why “Connor Hawke”? Did he read a “Green Arrow” comic?) and being angry when he finds out that Oliver Queen wasn’t dead but instead got some really poor-convincing ageing makeup, there really didn’t feel much to this character that is tapped into.
Speaking of characters with not much going for them:
2. Stop Trying to Make Deathstroke a Thing 2016
I will never understand why people like Deathstroke. I truly don’t. In comics, he is one of the most boring examples of “uber badass” (which really comes off as just “crap writing”) and every attempt to make him deep either backfires or turns him into a mishmash of characterization. Frankly speaking, the most interesting things about him are two of his three children, Joey and Rose.
It’s a massive shame because Deathstroke 2046 is the other child: Grant Wilson. And boy-oh-boy, this character is flaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat! The acting is not good at all and there’s no nuance in the writing to go with it. Combine that with the very lackluster fight choreography (also, this episode is very darkly lit, making it even harder to tell what is going on in fight scenes!) and you get a character that just sucks the life out of every scene he’s in.
3. Mick Rory
How is Heatwave becoming the most interesting character on this show? Really, there was a great emphasis on showing that, despite him and Cold being part of the same crew and are the most in-synch members of the team, they very much have their own goals and ambitions. This episode also brought back to the forefront that, yeah while every other line out of Mick’s mouth is darkly humorous, he is very much a pyromaniac and that is not a good thing. The teaser for next week’s episode only emphasized that.
4. ENOUGH OF THE LOVE TRIANGLES
“The Love Triangle” is a trope that really is not done well often. Very rarely have I seen a Love Triangle actually be compelling in any way. And the one that the writers did between Kendra, Jefferson and Ray here is 1. Incredibly cringeworthy and 2. Felt like the only reason it was here because the story needed something for these characters to do while repairing the Waverider. And while it was nice to see Kendra put an end to this, I would be greatful if it is never brought up again.
5. Time Travel Detachment
On the other side of the spectrum, I have been liking the relationship developing between Rip Hunter and Sara Lance (not in a romantic way, mind you). Sara is perhaps the one most willing to call Rip out on his bullshit and the cold detachment when it comes to this potential future Star City. But to Sara, it’s still Star City and she even shoves Rip’s hypocrisy in his face on how much he’s willing to change history to save his family, but not for others. It’s an interesting dynamic that I hope evolves more over the show.
All-in-all, very mixed episode. Hope next week is better.
