Legends of Tomorrow season 7 is back, but with a twist: the midseason premiere revolves around the gang’s android clones, created by Evil Gideon, who — get this — believe they’re the original Legends (if the original Waverider crew were a ruthless bunch of killers intent on preserving history, no matter the cost.) What fun!
1. How Many Opening Credits?
The Robo-Legends (as they ironically insist on calling the real deal) get their own, cheesy, ’80s-style opening credits in the vein of The A-Team and other old, dated action shows. Admittedly we’ve been down this route before (in “Legends of To-Meow-Meow“), but it’s still fun after however many new opening credits we’ve had this season alone, and hopefully they’ll keep coming as we continue hopping from era to era.
2. Sometimes, All You Need are Sound Effects
All of the Robo-Legends are distinguished from the originals in ways that range from subtle (Behrad, Spooner) to elaborate (Gary not having his human disguise, Zari looking like a stereotypical hacker with piercings and tattoos.) The evil Nate seems sleazier, and really looks like he’s been subjecting himself to steroid abuse with his cartoonishly huge biceps, because Evil Gideon’s apparently really into big dumb lunks. What I liked about him here was how he was he still bulletproof without actually steeling up like our regular Nate, and while I know this is because he doesn’t actually have his powers, it would be cool if it paved the way for our Nate to learn how to steel himself invisibly, allowing the show’s crew to not have to spend time on rendering the visual effects.
3. On the Whole, it’s Surprisingly Optimistic
It’s clear that, whether she’s a robot or not, Sara Lance will always come to the realization that history doesn’t need to maintained perfectly, and that there’s more to being a hero than being a trained assassin. Obviously, it might’ve been a bit dull if the Westworld-esque plot of robots discovering they’re not real wasn’t coupled with Sara beginning to doubt her mission, but I really rooted for her despite her not being the real deal, and grew very curious as to whether she was going to escape Gideon’s clutches and join up with the originals this week. Still, it was rather funny that she chose to convince her fellow “psycho killer robots” to stop being psycho killer robots by holding Dr. Sharpe hostage.
4. A Fate Worse Than Death
Alas, I guess having two Saras together in the rest of the season would’ve been too much of a strain on the budget, so unfortunately Robo-Sara gets reprogrammed into a more ruthless version by Gideon and the rest of the evil Legends. She winds up murdering Dr. Irina Petrov, the kindly ex-Soviet scientist who survived Chernobyl thanks to the Legends’ intervention last time, on a park bench. It did bother me how easily Gideon tricked Zari, and persuaded the rest of the Legends into reprogramming Sara, but still, seeing her brutally kill Petrov in broad daylight was probably the most chilling moment in the series to date; it would’ve been much more pleasant it if Gideon had just decided to deactivate her.
5. A Very Random PSA
The episode concludes on a surreal note with Robo-Nate greeting two bickering kids at a baseball field, in what’s a parody of a VHS era PSA, that goes south when the boys start making fun of his arms. (One also mistakes him for John Cena; you didn’t really think they would ignore the premiere of Peacemaker, did you?) It was very amusing but random: I’m guessing it’s a sign the fake Legends are trying to ingratiate themselves among the public? It would’ve benefited from some clarity there I suppose.
Bonus Thoughts:
– We got not one, but two very meta moments this week: first the Robo-Legends become a TV crew to film General Kalashnik rescinding the evacuation order for Chernobyl, and then they become a TV audience when Sara’s deployed to assassinate Petrov.
– In case you forgot, Robo-Sara’s quip about “a date with destiny” is a reference to her being the Paragon of Destiny in “Crisis on Infinite Earths.”
– A way to destroy radioactive waste within weeks? That’s just far-fetched, right? Right?
See you all next week for the return of the real Legends in “Lowest Common Demoninator.”
