After missing Lita’s soccer match last week, Mick decided to reveal his true identity and bring her aboard the Waverider for the weekend. Unfortunately, there’s a catastrophic malfunction when Charlie attempts to resurrect Behrad with the Loom of Fate, and the ship is — you guessed it — broken. Good thing Sara’s finally woken up — except her vision has been drastically altered… and what’s this about Gary bringing a dog on the ship?
1. Remember to Wear PPE
Charlie decides she will use the Loom to resurrect Behrad first. We see the rings gathered aren’t disguised pieces of the Loom, but rather that the Loom is an energy contained within them, which the Fates used to summon and pull the threads of destiny. It’s a surprisingly beautifully filmed sequence, as the camera tracks the woven threads’ movement, and they glow so vividly that the other Legends have to wear protective eyewear. Charlie comments all the time travel has left Behrad’s thread rather frayed, but gets to work extending his existence, causing the Loom to blow up in all their faces — no wonder no one realizes there’s also a saboteur on board too.
2. Sara Sees Dead People
Sara wakes up from her coma, but she’s now blind. However, her encounter with Atropos has given her a new kind of vision: the ability to see the future of anyone she comes into contact with. Charlie deduces that Sara’s status as the Paragon of Destiny — as revealed in “Crisis on Infinite Earths” — shielded her from the impact of her sister’s true form, which I must admit is quite a comic booky way to gain powers: the real face of a god is basically radiation, and we know how popular that is in comics.
I admit, when I heard Sara was getting a superpower this season, I was hoping she’d get her own Canary Cry, but this is more appropriate for a time travel show. Sara doesn’t find losing her own eyesight that big a deal, explaining that she spent a lot of time blindfolded while training with the League of Assassins; more worrying are the visions of Ava, Mick and Constantine’s deaths, the last of which she sees is perpetrated by her.
3. Astra is Hard to Like
When parts of the Waverider beyond the time drive starts shutting down, and the rings go missing, everyone points fingers at Astra: it probably wasn’t the best thing she suggested to Zari that she ask Charlie to resurrect her mother first, even if she had a point that it might be easier than bringing back Behrad.
I think Astra’s aloof manner is only natural given she’s been surrounded by demons nearly her whole life, although she still remains unsympathetic — it was pretty mean of her to start pointing out Constantine is on her side regarding who Charlie should resurrect first, given she can tell Zari likes him. It’ll be interesting to see if Astra starts to blend in or remains distinctly upper class from the rest of the Legends — admittedly, Zari and Astra aren’t that different, given how glamorous they both are, so it’s unsurprising they make peace with each other first.
4. Parenting is “Crap Work”
Mick thought it would be so easy to make his daughter like him if he revealed he was a Legend: instead, Lita realizes he’s probably the least impressive member of the group, given his contributions are… a flamethrower, and stealing, aka the reason he was always away during her childhood. Mick is visibly upset she thinks Nate — who’s brought over to help her prepare for a history test — is cooler than him, so the good historian helps by explaining his “souvenirs” helps them stay afloat, and suggests he show her his treasure room.
Mick reveals his secret chamber, filled with doubloons and more plunder, but the sight of gold exposes a greedy side of Lita that reminds him too much of himself: he shuts down her suggestion that they could get rich by going back in time and investing the money, causing her to turn bitter — she must think, how could he be angry at the realization they have more in common than they thought? It’s an incredibly smart piece of writing, adding a shade of gray to Lita beyond the daughter who’s understandably wary of her criminal father.
Continued below5. Eat Your Heart Out, Agatha Christie
The saboteur is unmasked as Gary’s new therapy dog, Gary Junior, who is actually the demon Marchosias, and the dog the Son of Sam claimed told him to commit those murders (no really, he said that, and you thought the writers were crazy) — similarly, the dog has been making the Legends subconsciously sabotage their own ship, and was about to make Sara kill everyone until her new gift showed what would happen. Gary admits he wasn’t actually prescribed the dog by a therapist; he saw the dog in Hell, and took it back after he felt pity for it, which is weird given I didn’t see a dog last week.
Anyway, the hound attacks Lita after she’s locked herself in Mick’s room in protest, and while her dad manages to get in to rescue her, his flamethrower is useless against the thing born in hellfire (meaning this time, she was right about what he brings to the table). Fortunately, Sara foresees his death, and arrives with Constantine to distract him. Astra reveals the dog’s true name, allowing Constantine to invoke it and send him back to Hell. Astra proved her worth; Mick proved he’s a good dad (my heart soared when Lita finally addressed as much); and Gary redeemed himself by going plumbing to retrieve the rings flushed down the toilet — all in all, the day turned out for the best.
Gary does push it by joking his new rabbit — Gary Junior II — may be a Gremlin though: the very thought causes Ava’s left eye to start twitching.
Bonus thoughts:
– Why do kids on time travel shows always have history tests?
– Maybe the ship should get a therapist (Leo Snart anyone?)
– I’m surprised we didn’t get a Bird Box gag about Sara’s blindfold, although we did have a 50 Shades one of sorts.
– If you told me Sara would high-kick a dog this season…
– Even when writing an apology to his daughter, Mick can’t resist a dig at a certain “red leather freak.”
So all back to normal, or whatever passes for normal here? Unfortunately, once Gideon is back up and running, she tells Sara she can’t detect any “abnormalities” in her eyes. Hopefully we’ll get a clue why on next week’s episode, “Freaks and Greeks.”
