On Legends of Tomorrow season 4’s finale, Neron planned to use humanity’s fear to literally unleash Hell, so the Waverider crew came up with an unexpected scheme to cut off his power supply – build HeyWorld, and make the populace fall in love with magical creatures. Meanwhile, Nora arrived in Hell to retrieve Ray and Constantine. Let’s crack on shall we?
1. Talk about a Hostile Takeover
Neron and Tabitha unleash their scheme to gain control of Hell by forcing the captive Charlie to go berserk at a Congressional hearing, driving up the number of users using their app and giving them their souls in the process. It was rather jarring that immediately after Nora frees Constantine from his torture, we see him talking to Astra about how Neron has overthrown the Triumvirate – it would’ve been great if we’d actually seen our big bad do that, instead of ramming us into the next part of his master plan.
2. Superhero Show or Fantasy Comedy?
The whole episode, but particularly the part where Sara, Nate, and Gary pose as Supergirl, Green Arrow, and the Flash to persuade the public into visiting HeyWorld, was just rich with meta-commentary about how superheroes have taken over all forms of genre media. Sara explains to Ava, “People need franchise superheroes to feel safe and that’s how we’re gonna get them in the door,” and that’s so true of how Hollywood uses them to produce film/TV as diverse as the post-apocalyptic western Logan, the Spielberg throwback Shazam!, or this fantasy comedy show (that used to be a pretty straight superhero ensemble).
It’d be remiss of me to not bring up the big comeback here while talking about the show’s original tone: we’re reunited with season 1 big bad Vandal Savage, who was designated Ray’s torturer in Hell but wound up becoming best friends to the point we meet them playing jenga. I knew this show wouldn’t inflict that kind of trauma on Ray, but I was so taken aback by Happy Vandal Savage that I honestly could not hear his dialogue over my own laughter. Please, please, bring back Casper Crump in the next season!
The kids complaining about the monsters at the Legends’ circus act also parodied some of the reactions to the show’s transformation pretty unsubtly: far better was the Monitor’s contractually obligated cameo to set up “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” where he goes from being unimpressed to eating popcorn. (This show is truly legendary.)
3. Puff the Dancing Dragon
Nate and Zari go to retrieve the dragon egg that she left with her 9-year old self, only to find that it’s hatched and Lil Zari has gone viral after teaching the scaly baby to dance. (She also names it Mithra, which is a much cooler name than Wickstable – seriously, why is she with Nate again?) The Bureau snatch the little critter, and Tabitha uses her sorcery to make him a fully-grown firebreathing monstrosity, but Lil Zari is able to tame him again by ordering him to dance – knocking Tabitha away from her staff, and allowing the dragon to devour her before returning to his actual age. Look, this show is bonkers, but even I wasn’t expecting that. I guess… revenge is a dish best served warm.
4. Nate, You Dick!
Early on, Nate and Zari learn from Gideon that HeyWorld will bring about a new era of acceptance and tolerance, preventing the anti-metahuman act that created the timeline she grew up in, meaning that if she steps outside the Waverider, her entire history will be rewritten. Nate however, tricks Neron into killing him, thereby breaking the terms of his agreement with Ray, forcing him out of his body and allowing Constantine to kill him. Zari, horrified, leaves the Waverider to be with him, and using Tabitha’s staff, is able to use love to resurrect him with a James Taylor-inspired sing-a-long. (Very surreal no? Someone should tell Ray about the Star Sapphires by the way.)
So sadly, Zari pays the price for being there: hugging the revived Nate, she is immediately replaced by her formerly deceased brother Behrad, now wielder of the Air Totem. (I guess her parents decided she didn’t need it, seeing she got a pet dragon.) Welcome to the show Shayan Sobhian! I do wish it was under less distracting circumstances though: I just know I’ll start season 5 thinking “you’re not Zari,” while anxious over whether the new version of her will still have her dry wit. I wish Nate had told her about the plan, even if she would’ve objected to it initially. I guess this is his punishment: he doesn’t get to be in the afterlife with “our” Zari.
Continued below5. Constantine’s Sticking Around
I’m as surprised as you are that a revival of his own series isn’t in the works. Anyway, it’s a good thing Constantine’s not slinking back into the shadows yet, despite the end of the magical threat, with Astra deciding to use the soul tokens she pilfered to resurrect some of history’s greatest monsters – the Legends will need someone to send them back to Hell after all. Let’s hope Happy Savage is one of them…
Bonus thoughts:
– NeRay: now why didn’t I think of that?
– It is wild seeing Charlie as an American Senator calling Neron “this bloke.”
– Really loved seeing John DeSantis (the bald man in A Series of Unfortunate Events) as Frederick the ogre, he’s a fantastic actor.
– Baby Wickstable/Mithra does look weird, I know he’s meant to be cute but he still looks like a dragon with a child’s face.
– Did everyone really forget the Stein puppet is possessed by a bona fide serial killer? (Lock him up!)
– Ava kissing Rory. That is all.
– I love how Ava and Sara are completing each others’ sentences now.
– Mick’s accent has really been slipping this season.
Well folks, it’s been fun, but I’m afraid we’ll have to wait until 2020 to find who Zari has become. Hopefully we’ll see the gang again in December’s installments of “Crisis on Infinite Earths”: until then, may our Lord and Savior Beebo keep you safe. And in the meantime, keep an eye out for my weekly look at Big Hero 6 season 2.
