Legends of Tomorrow has just one episode left in its inaugural season, and this episode packed a punch in a number of ways. Be warned that major spoilers are discussed.
1. Jefferson Returns to 2016…and the Vanishing Point
This is going to sound like a silly thing to say, but I really enjoy when this show remembers it is a time travel show, and therefore can do things that just wouldn’t work in any other conceivable context. Tonight, when Jax walks out of the room in 2016, and then his future self, 5 months older, walks in through the other door, it is a nice instance of the show remembering what it is, and what it can be.
Of course, this also presents all sorts of paradoxes (paradi?) and unanswerable questions into the show, such as ‘did Stein roofie Jax because Jax told him he would?,’ but overall, this little episode worked like a charm. Now, how Jax would know to go to the Vanishing Point at the time when he did…well, chalk that up to suspension of disbelief.
2. Predestination is a bitch
The idea that the team’s actions have all been controlled by the Time Masters is a bit of a shocking one, but the show handled it really well – whether or not this was always part of the plan or a retcon, the speech given to Rip that detailed all the ways that they’ve done exactly what needed to be done (prevent Savage from being arrested, stop the Cold War, etc) was well played. Rip’s utter disgust and pain felt from this was palpable, and the show did a nice job of making this the big deal it needed to be.
Of course, this asks yet another set of questions that can’t be answered: in this universe, are all actions predetermined? If so, does this radically change the game for Arrow and The Flash now that the characters are untethered from the script?
I’m obviously giving too much credit to how interconnected the universe is, but questions like this are part of the fun of a shared TV universe. I’m going to be really surprised if Berlanti and co. don’t find a way to make Supergirl more integrated into this universe next season – how they do that from an alternate Earth, I have no idea.
3. Time Bastards! That’s my line!
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4. More romance?
The star of this episode was, no doubt, Snart. He has been one of the more compelling characters this season, and his growth, along with that of Rory, has been a really nice development of the show. That said, there did not need to be any romantic feelings between he and Sara. For one, to anyone watching the show, it was clear that he was into Ray Palmer – the way he called him Raymond was just so adorable!
The romance adds almost nothing to his sacrifice; he dies heroically, and allows the team to escape and fight another day. That doesn’t need a kiss to make it all hurt more. If anything, his attempts at romance seemed out of character and regrettable. Neither he nor Sara needs any help from the show to make them likable, so why do it?
Oh yeah – the show is on the CW. I forgot.
5. Doesn’t a time ship make all of this sort of redundant?
I know that human emotions are based on the here and now, and that even though we know something will change in the future doesn’t affect how we feel in the moment (for instance – when you get dumped, intellectually you know that you’ll date again, but it still hurts like hell). But doesn’t the fact that they have a time ship, free of the controlling hand of the Time Masters, mean that they can now go to 2166 again and save Rip’s family by arriving a few minutes before Savage? Can’t they go back before Snart sacrifices himself and place a red shirt’s hand (duct taped obviously) in the reactor?
We know that Wentworth Miller isn’t done on the CW shows – he just signed a new contract – so he’ll be back in one way or another, but they can’t go to that well too many times, or the whole show starts to feel unnecessary. If they can keep fixing their own mistakes, where are the consequences?
But for now, it is nice to know that Snart might not be done being everyone’s favorite pinky-ring wearing, Atom-crushin’, salt and pepper haired Rogue.
What did you think of the episode? What do you hope for the finale? Let me know in the comments!
