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Five Thoughts on Legends of Tomorrow‘s “The Great British Fake Off”

By | April 29th, 2020
Posted in Television | % Comments

This week on Legends of Tomorrow, the gang’s attempt to summon the last piece of the Loom of Fate through time and space failed when Sara collapsed, causing Zari and Constantine to wind up at his home in the past. When time-traveling encores are detected closing in to kill Constantine, and seize the ring, Ava, Gary and Mick go to Hell to confront Astra herself.

1. Ancient Egypt Means Comics References Galore

The episode opens in Ancient Egypt, when Charlie explains how she gave the last disguised piece of the Loom to the Enchantress (Samantha Liana Cole), whom you may (unfortunately) remember was played by Cara Delevingne in the Suicide Squad movie. It’s cool, it’s a clear example of them taking a character who won’t appear in the films anymore, but I couldn’t help but dwell more on how resourceful the production was reusing the expensive establishing shot of Egypt from the first season, back when the Hawks were on the show (remember them?)

The biggest reference this week though, had to be when Zari poses as Cleopatra, to blend in among the murderous encores who have shown up at the hotel that will become Constantine’s house — her look strongly resembles her comics counterpart Isis, especially when she starts using her brother’s totem to start blasting them. Not bad for a costume she apparently improvised from stuff in her room (it’s never explained actually — a shame we’ll never learn how she did her hair).

2. More Awesome Hair

Charlie doesn’t do much in this chapter: she and Nate are assigned to fix the prognosticator when it goes haywire after the encores start time traveling to Constantine’s location, but since they have no technical knowledge, they decide to just drink beer and goof off. (Ava — still new to being acting captain.) But she has a new haircut:

I hope it’s not a one-off, or we get fresh new styles like it because it’s so cool, she really looks like an ancient goddess embracing the future. Cruel thing is, no one comments on it!

3. Murderer’s Row

This episode is something of a twist on the murder mystery party, because every guest here is a killer: the encores that show up are Jack the Ripper, Bonnie and Clyde, King Henry VIII, Brutus, and the pirate Black Caesar. Jack the Ripper (real name Dr. White) shows up early, and can’t resist his sleazy tendencies around Zari, allowing John to knock him out, tie him up, and steal his coat so he can pose as him; Henry VIII similarly gets dispatched early by Clyde Barrow when he realizes they’re all competing for the same prize.

Bonnie and Clyde eventually turn on the rest of the encores as well; it’s pretty appropriate that Brutus gets poked in the back, although thankfully he sticks around long enough to give us some insight into his relationship with “Cleopatra” (I’d never actually pondered if they met in real life). Bonnie and Clyde are a pretty fun, ruthless couple, and I kinda feel bittersweet about them being used here instead of their own dedicated episode (the others are fine — we already had a Jack the Ripper episode of sorts).

4. New Romance, Who Dis?

I don’t recall what Zari and Constantine’s relationship was like before this, so I guess it’s a good thing Ray’s gone and we get to focus on his differences with the rest of the crew now. They’re very much at odds in this episode, given his working class nature and her glamorous lifestyle, but his protective instincts kick in when she talks about how she wishes she was something more than an influencer, and how right now getting Behrad back is more important than anything else. When she saves him from the encores at the end, he realizes how physically attractive she is too, and they come very close to locking lips, before he notices the ring has finally transpired at their location.

It’ll be very interesting to see how Nate copes when he finds out about this — I suppose like he acknowledges, he just seems doomed to keep falling in love with women who he can’t be with because they’re from another time (timeline, in the old Zari’s case). As much fun as they were cosplaying Indiana Jones and so on, I always found Nate and Zari’s pairing slightly forced, and seeing him and Charlie together felt so much more natural — watch this space I guess.

Continued below

5. Astra Cuts Ties and Runs

Ava, Gary and Mick confront Astra, but it becomes quickly apparent she’s stayed true to her word to not send any more encores while John finds the Loom, and that her mentor has taken all her soul tokens. After learning that she’s Lachesis, Astra graciously accepts her offer to become the new Clotho once the Loom is restored, but she’s clearly not keen on the idea of controlling the whole cosmos, and joins the Legends when their time runs out and they’re teleported back to the land of the living. I have so many questions: will she give John his soul token straight away? Will she decide there’s no need to rebuild the Loom, and make peace with her mother’s death? And how will she adjust to life in 2020? Just saying — she was dragged into Hell as a child.

Bonus thoughts:

This wasn’t as laugh-out-loud funny as most episodes, but we still got some great moments:
– Constantine flatly admitting the ritual isn’t safe — “any more questions?”
– Gary referring to the time he and John did drugs as “mushroom picking.”
– Zari calling the New York Times “an app that tells you the news.”
– Mick saying his daughter “told me to go to Hell” before promptly doing just that.
– Gary describing demon blood as tangy.
– Astra yelling, “Who the hell is Vandal Savage?”
– Mick making it very clear to Gary that he is not going to miss Lita’s soccer match.
– Charlie asking about Amaya, “Did she ever channel an animal while y’know…”

See you all next week for when Sara recovers in “Ship Broken.”


//TAGS | Legends of Tomorrow

Christopher Chiu-Tabet

Chris is the news manager of Multiversity Comics. A writer from London on the autistic spectrum, he enjoys tweeting and blogging on Medium about his favourite films, TV shows, books, music, and games, plus history and religion. He is Lebanese/Chinese, although he can't speak Cantonese or Arabic.

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