Well, we have out first – and potentially final – full episode featuring the JSA and, while I’m sure I could figure out more of a preamble to lead us into this, why should i?
1. You win my heart with a Back to the Future reference
When Stein tells the German guitarist that the song is “in A, watch me for the changes, and try to keep up,” he is, aside from the key, quoting directly from Back to the Future, where another time traveler sang a song not yet written to the delight of a local crowd. I would have swooned like a madman if Oscar Hammerstein’s German cousin was calling him from inside the bar telling him about the new sound he’d been looking for. But hey, you can’t win them all.
The show’s willingness to not take itself too seriously is a wonderful thing, especially as heavy shit is happening all around them, is a nice touch that I wouldn’t have initially expected from this show. I expected it to be cheesy, yes, but little touches like this are different.
2. The Heywoods
The heart of this episode is the relationship between Nate and Hank Heywood, grandson and grandfather, respectively, and how neither one really lives up to the expectations of the other. Hank, in particular, is colder and less genuine than his grandson always imagined. Nate and Sara have a conversation about how meeting your heroes is always sort of a bummer and, while that is true, this felt more personal than that.
The clever bit with their relationship is, again, a classic time travel trope called ‘the grandfather paradox,’ which asks the question ‘if I traveled back in time to kill my grandfather, would I cease to exist, and therefore, could never have traveled back in time to kill my grandfather?’ This is, more or less, expressed outright early in the episode, and is given some extra heft when it is revealed that Nate isn’t the healthiest guy to begin with. He talks about how, his entire life, he has been protected by others, for fear that his hemophilia would get the best of him. And yet, it could be that his undoing came not from his genetics, but his genetic line being cut off.
3. The JSA are…dicks
A nice touch in the episode was just how arrogant and unlikable the JSA appeared. Sure, by the end everyone were pals, but they had a real ego for the first half of the episode. And that’s a good thing! I think too often Golden Age characters are written as choirboys without an edge where, in reality, they would be tougher and give far fewer fucks than any hero from today. And while only Rex Tyler, Hank Heywood, and Vixen had any real character development, the team didn’t appear anything less than powerful or coordinated. Their confidence oozed out of them, and they seemed really unhappy with the inconvenience of the 21st century showing up on their doorsteps.
When we see them again, some of that will be gone, and we (hopefully) will get to know the members a little better.
Also, killing Hourman at the end of the episode posed a lot of interesting questions, such as ‘how could Rex have traveled to the future if he’s dead, or did the Legends change history and, therefore, won’t remember him?’ Rex seemed like the least natural dick of the bunch, too, more obsessed with just doing the right thing than lording his superiority over the Legends.
4. Captain America, played for jokes
Yes, they called it super serum and, yes, it was essentially a poor man’s Captain America, but it was done with the show’s cheek deeply planted in its cheek. Even though many of these characters were contemporaries with Cap, in terms of publication timeline, Cap’s film presence (and perfect casting) has made him the clear example of a patriotic hero from the past in today’s comics media. It would have been very easy for the show to make a team of Caps but, instead, they took all of the aspects of his character and blew them all to 10. So, instead of a short dude becoming tall, we get a regular Nazi turn into a GIANT Nazi. It was an effective way to not just do a cheap Cap impression, but still recognize the tropes.
Continued below5. Legends chemistry
While the team is missing something without Captain Cold and Rip Hunter around, the chemistry is starting to rebuild itself, and a lot of that has to do with Sara’s emerging leader role. She’s clearly the most experienced in a few areas, but especially in being a part of a crime fighting team. And by showing her as the ruthless assassin, who is also a team player, who has leadership qualities, and wants to fuck everyone with a pulse, you’re building up a complex and fun character that can take the show in, hopefully, some new directions.
So, what did you guys think of the JSA’s debut? Let me know in the comments!
