This week on Legends of Tomorrow, a Michael Bay reject named Lord Knoxacrillion wound up — through a sequence of events too absurd to recall here — competing in Da Throne, a music competition show judged by Zari’s ex, DJ S’More Money. The stakes? Knox would call in an armada if he won.
1. Welcome to 2045
Since the episode was set in Zari and Behrad’s native time period of 2045, the writers had a lot of fun imagining what the post-HeyWorld, non-dystopian version of it looks like, from obnoxiously large holographic displays floating over Hollywood, to environmentally friendly, edible cups, and smoking being illegal. The crowd being made entirely of Zoom users was a smart way to weave the conditions of filming during a pandemic with the worldbuilding, and Cat-Chat being the social media app of choice was a great Supergirl tie-in. Lastly, yes, “the fact network TV still exists” was a great way to make fun of themselves — well played.
2. “Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)”
This was very a Zari & Constantine episode, with their anxiety over their fling becoming something much more serious descending into drama after he overhears her telling her mother she won’t settle for a “street magician” like him. The two reconciling at the end to triumph with the duet rendition of the Buzzcocks song was a lovely pay off to its use at the start, and a very smart nod to John’s backstory as being in a punk band. It was easily the best song in the episode as well, as cool as Knox’s one was, and certainly better than Zari’s first one, which left me in suspense as to whether it would flop or not, thanks to its random, “Turn Up the Beef”-style lyrics.
3. The Last O.G.
Mick displays all the signs of depression after Sara’s kidnapping, refusing to wash or get dressed, and behaving even moodier than usual. It seemed he was upset that with Sara and Ray gone, he’s now the last of Rip Hunter’s recruits (to which I say, hey, Nate may not have been in the first season but he must count right?), but Ava also learns that his daughter being at college is affecting him more than they realized. Ava gave a good speech about how she needs him more than his daughter does now, which was a neat way to play on his paternal instincts.
Mick sobers up, and as it turns out, he was the only one paying attention to the show when Knox described his kidnapper, Kayla. Alas, he also steps on and squashes Knox’s diminutive, Men in Black-esque true form when he emerges from his armor: sure, now they have a lead and a spare suit lying around, but get some sleep Mick!
4. Release the Gary
Having been poisoned by Amelia Earhart’s impostor, Sara has to encourage Gary to use his true form’s giant maw against his employer’s pursuers. I think we’re in for a potentially fascinating conflict this season: Sara basically said she’d make Gary eat his way across the universe to reunite with Ava if she had to, but how much is too much, or worse, what if he develops a taste for flesh again? (“No! Why did you taste so good?!”) He looked pretty full after devouring all those soldiers too. (How does his kind swallow people whole anyway? They must be part-black hole.)
5. Hey, it’s the Big Bad
Wouldn’t you know it, the alien who hired Gary and Kayla uses Ava clones for his troops, and a delirious Sara follows one after seeing her face, leading her to the office of the man himself, Bishop (Raffi Barsoumian). Since we only see him at the end, there’s only a couple of observations I can make, namely that he gives off a (season four) Vandal Savage vibe, and that he has a very weird top knot: seriously, it looks like a black hand fan got stuck to his head. Does it work like a fan? He is an alien after all.
Bonus Thoughts:
– The visual puns this week — Constantine setting DJ S’More on fire, “disappearing” during his interview, and Behrad “blowing off steam” — were too good, and I’m surprised the latter one hadn’t happened yet.
Continued below– Spooner takes a backseat this time since Mick’s not in the mood to mentor her, but it’s so funny to see her and Ava just watching Da Throne on TV after all their conflict last week.
– I bet someone smarter than me (and LGBTQ+) could write a whole essay on Knoxacrillion bearing children, and performing a song about a male lover.
Alright folks, stay safe until next week, when we meet the Kennedys in: “Bay of Squids.” (Huh, guess porcine aliens were too obvious.)
