On this week’s Legends of Tomorrow, Ray of all people was sent to infiltrate a punk group in London, 1977, and befriended Charlie, a shapeshifting fugitive who’s about to become responsible for the downfall of the monarchy. Meanwhile, at the Time Bureau, Nate and Gary decided to explore how to have fun at the office.
1. God Save the Queen
The cold open with Charlie as Her Majesty performing at a gig was a lot of fun, it brought back memories of a British sketch show involving CCTV footage of lookalikes doing silly things (apologies for not being able to look-up the title). But I have to say, the premise of the episode is hooey: look, the Queen being sent away for misbehaving and the monarchy collapsing is not going lead to anarchy in the UK, because look at the state of the country right now! Things were miserable well before Brexit, that’s why Brexit happened! (Or is happening, whatever.) I suppose it’s just as well if Sara and Nate recognize it’s probably a timeline change they don’t need to fix, and that it’s just the detection of magic that year needing their attention.
2. Ra(y)ge Against the Machine
Of course fate lands Ray the job of infiltrating Charlie’s band – The Smell – as it would have been boring if the others had done it, look at Mick and Constantine for instance, they start a fight at the bar, they fit perfectly into that world. Ray is just so perfectly gormless, and his sensitivity and openness ensures Charlie winds up on the Waverider instead of being banished to Hell. You gotta wonder though, would Charlie have been spared that fate if she wasn’t so pretty? Between her and Nora, it’s no wonder Mick quips, “She’s not gonna sleep with you Haircut,” which is a terribly cynical view, but still – you wonder if Ray would’ve pleaded on the Fairy Godmother’s behalf last week.
3. Constantine Gets Kicked
Still not comfortable with being a team player, Constantine wanders back to Liverpool, where he meets his mum serving drinks at her pub: as John explains to Zari, who shadowed him, she died giving birth to him, and that this is the first time they’ve met. After a few more drinks, Constantine sees his dad at the bar, and attempts to kick him in the balls, only for (what Zari calls) the ball kick paradox to (pardon) kick in, teleporting him to the floor when he tries. It’s a hilarious sight, just like the panel-to-panel transition of a comic, but you gotta wonder, why this automatic repulsion does not happen whenever someone else threatens their own existence? (Granted, kicking yourself as a cell has got to hurt.)
4. A Deep Cut
Charlie is Maisie Richardson-Sellers’s new character, but why does she look like Amaya? Well, The Smell discovers a newspaper celebrating the Legends’ offscreen disco performance from “Here I Go Again,” which leads to Ray talking about how he misses her, and how she was like their moral compass. She takes on Amaya’s visage, along with everyone else, to protest about being sent back to Hell, and as the Legends relent, Constantine ensures she won’t cause any more trouble by locking her in that form. All in all, it’s amazing how much continuity was being drawn on here.
I also have to say, it’s bittersweet to have Richardson-Sellers back, but that we won’t be seeing Anjli Mohindra as Charlie’s preferred form anymore, she was really charismatic. Still, this is Legends of Tomorrow, who knows, she might come back, someday, somehow.
5. Nate and Gary Work and Play
Given this episode marked Richardson-Sellers’s return, you came in expecting Nate to return to the Waverider earlier on to come face-to-face with this new woman bearing his old flame’s visage, but nope. Turns out, he’s avoiding the Waverider as it reminds too much of her, and as Sara says when she decides not to tell him at the end, “It’ll wait.”
Instead, Nate and Gary spend the episode trying to find out what to do for fun at the Bureau, from participating in Taco Monday (“That’s the highlight? Eating tacos one day before the rest of America?”), to taking a walk in a forest with a Smilodon (smartly reused assets there), and fighting off a Little Shop of Horrors-style plant monster accidentally brought into the office. We also got to meet Ramona Young as delivery girl Mona, and not the promised monster expert Alaska Yu. Perhaps she’s undercover, trying to figure out what the Time Bureau is – after all, no one could possibly be that interested in Gary. (Could they?)
Continued belowBonus thoughts:
– Good thing Ray listens to era-appropriate music, wouldn’t want to steal credit for creating music like Marty McFly.
– Gary says “dare to defy,” which is the CW’s tagline (oh, you cheeky writers).
– I get whispers have to be louder in films and TV, but it’s still weird Constantine’s parents can’t hear his conversation with Zari across the bar.
– A corgi with a mohawk is such a perfect tattoo for Ray, ‘cos he is just a sweet pup trying to be cool.
Next week: Constantine as a camp counselor? What a time to be alive.
