Legends of Tomorrow Season 2 Episode 1 Review
Here’s the thing about being a “Marvel Guy” watching a DC TV show. I recognise a lot of the tropes and characters that get touched upon in these series but they’re all new versions to me. “Crossing the aisle” to the DC side was one of the best decisions I made as an adult and exploring first the TV shows and then the comics has made me feel like a kid again. In fact, Legends of Tomorrow reminds me a lot of an Avengers comic that I read about 16 years ago called Avengers Forever, wherein a team of Avengers taken from different points in the team’s history travelled to different periods in the Marvel comic book world to thwart an evil plot to at first quash and then later outright destroy humanity. It was a magical mystery tour of the Marvel world and helped solidify me a “Marvel Guy”. Legends of Tomorrow has done the exact same thing for me with DC.
Now the first season wasn’t without its flaws. It lumbered a little, as I felt the writers were stretching themselves a bit to fill the full season order but now they’ve got themselves a second season they are fully embracing heir comic book roots, including mixing it up with Golden age heroes of yesteryear, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
In the wake of the destruction of the Time Masters, Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) and the crew of the Waverider are the only people left to make sure those that would distort time for their own means don’t succeed. Rather than diving straight into that, season 2 introduces us to the new character of Dr Nate Heywood (played by Nick Zano), a character whose name I’m almost unwilling to Google to check the spelling of just in case he turns out to be some established DC character waiting to live out his origin story. Busting into the Mayor Oliver Queen’s office, making for an interesting if not exactly action packed cameo from Stephen Amell, he begs his help in uncovering the secret behind some startling discoveries he’s made in the field of “deductive historical reconstruction”. He has found evidence that the Nazi’s managed to build an atomic bomb in 1942, 3 years before the first historically recognised one was built and that they blew it up in the Atlantic, just off the coast of New York. Coupled with evidence of the “Legends”, heroes seemingly displaced in time, Heywood seeks Queen’s help to find what happened off the coast of New York in 1942. I laughed at how quickly Heywood got Oliver on side by revealing to him just how easy it was to deduce he was the Green Arrow, but hey, that’s comic books.
Finding the downed Waverider under water [What, it was just down there for 74 years and no-one noticed?] and its sole crew member, Mick Rory (Dominic Purcell) led to another odd choice for the finale, though not exactly an unwelcome one. Mick goes on to explain how he came to be the sole occupant through a flashback, adding an air of mystery to the episode, a mystery which is deepened by the episode’s end.
After a jaunt in 17th century France, the Legends respond to a huge Time Quake emanating from a nuclear blast which destroyed New York in, you guessed it, 1942. I recently just got back from New York and I’m pretty sure it was never hit by no A-bomb. Sensing time travel shenanigans and seeing that the ripple effect caused the Second World War to last 2 more years leading to millions of more deaths [Would it have killed you to have the Allies lose?] the Legends embarks for ’42 to save Einstein from being kidnapped by Nazi’s and being forced to make their weapon.
Sara (Caity Lotz), still reeling from the sister’s death wants to hunt down and kill Damien Darhk in a time period before he killed her sister, taking off in her own quest for vengeance but wouldn’t you know it, he’s the one supplying the Nazi’s with the uranium to build their bomb! Don't you just love it when 2 plots become one? Also, it’s actually great to see Darhk (Neal McDonough) back, which is the advantage of having an immortal character in a time travel show; he can come back whenever they want.
After securing Einstein, the Legends find that the new history remains the same as it wasn’t old Albert that built the Nazi’s bomb, but Einstein’s ex-wife Mileva Marić. Using the show to highlight how women’s place in STEM fields has been systemically downplayed over the years was a beautiful touch. Saving the day by convincing Einstein to publically acknowledge her as being his equal, so she would be afforded the same level of fame, notoriety and protection that he got was just as sweet. But there was still the matter of the bomb itself.
Using the Waverider to stop the bomb, loaded onto a missile fired from the German submarine, Rip used a special protocol he created to emergency beam the Legends away before impact. Mick, who was injured earlier, is placed in to stasis as A) he wouldn’t survive the emergency time jump and B) plot purposes; this is all his flash back after all.
Back in 2016, Mick finishes his story, leaving Oliver to ghost the hell out there because, well frankly, this isn’t his show. But the new guy, Dr Heywood takes Mick’s side as they set off to find the Legends, something I was really looking forward to taking a few episodes but instead was done in about 3 minutes, which was a real shame. Once the crew are all back together, they realise Rip is really, truly gone, having also left a message for them. Where is Rip and will they ever meet him again? This is the deepened mystery I mentioned and one I hope they don’t crap out on us with.
Before setting off on the next step of their journey, the Legends seem to run afoul of the Justice Society of America, the golden age version of the Justice League that I and other comic book fans have been yearning to see the Legends throw down with since the finale of season one. Doubling down on that, we also saw who Damien Darhk’s mysterious benefactor was; the rogue time traveller messing with history was none other than the Reverse Flash. God I love that Legends is a DC anthology show. Bring on episode 2!
Now the first season wasn’t without its flaws. It lumbered a little, as I felt the writers were stretching themselves a bit to fill the full season order but now they’ve got themselves a second season they are fully embracing heir comic book roots, including mixing it up with Golden age heroes of yesteryear, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
In the wake of the destruction of the Time Masters, Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) and the crew of the Waverider are the only people left to make sure those that would distort time for their own means don’t succeed. Rather than diving straight into that, season 2 introduces us to the new character of Dr Nate Heywood (played by Nick Zano), a character whose name I’m almost unwilling to Google to check the spelling of just in case he turns out to be some established DC character waiting to live out his origin story. Busting into the Mayor Oliver Queen’s office, making for an interesting if not exactly action packed cameo from Stephen Amell, he begs his help in uncovering the secret behind some startling discoveries he’s made in the field of “deductive historical reconstruction”. He has found evidence that the Nazi’s managed to build an atomic bomb in 1942, 3 years before the first historically recognised one was built and that they blew it up in the Atlantic, just off the coast of New York. Coupled with evidence of the “Legends”, heroes seemingly displaced in time, Heywood seeks Queen’s help to find what happened off the coast of New York in 1942. I laughed at how quickly Heywood got Oliver on side by revealing to him just how easy it was to deduce he was the Green Arrow, but hey, that’s comic books.
Finding the downed Waverider under water [What, it was just down there for 74 years and no-one noticed?] and its sole crew member, Mick Rory (Dominic Purcell) led to another odd choice for the finale, though not exactly an unwelcome one. Mick goes on to explain how he came to be the sole occupant through a flashback, adding an air of mystery to the episode, a mystery which is deepened by the episode’s end.
After a jaunt in 17th century France, the Legends respond to a huge Time Quake emanating from a nuclear blast which destroyed New York in, you guessed it, 1942. I recently just got back from New York and I’m pretty sure it was never hit by no A-bomb. Sensing time travel shenanigans and seeing that the ripple effect caused the Second World War to last 2 more years leading to millions of more deaths [Would it have killed you to have the Allies lose?] the Legends embarks for ’42 to save Einstein from being kidnapped by Nazi’s and being forced to make their weapon.
Sara (Caity Lotz), still reeling from the sister’s death wants to hunt down and kill Damien Darhk in a time period before he killed her sister, taking off in her own quest for vengeance but wouldn’t you know it, he’s the one supplying the Nazi’s with the uranium to build their bomb! Don't you just love it when 2 plots become one? Also, it’s actually great to see Darhk (Neal McDonough) back, which is the advantage of having an immortal character in a time travel show; he can come back whenever they want.
After securing Einstein, the Legends find that the new history remains the same as it wasn’t old Albert that built the Nazi’s bomb, but Einstein’s ex-wife Mileva Marić. Using the show to highlight how women’s place in STEM fields has been systemically downplayed over the years was a beautiful touch. Saving the day by convincing Einstein to publically acknowledge her as being his equal, so she would be afforded the same level of fame, notoriety and protection that he got was just as sweet. But there was still the matter of the bomb itself.
Using the Waverider to stop the bomb, loaded onto a missile fired from the German submarine, Rip used a special protocol he created to emergency beam the Legends away before impact. Mick, who was injured earlier, is placed in to stasis as A) he wouldn’t survive the emergency time jump and B) plot purposes; this is all his flash back after all.
Back in 2016, Mick finishes his story, leaving Oliver to ghost the hell out there because, well frankly, this isn’t his show. But the new guy, Dr Heywood takes Mick’s side as they set off to find the Legends, something I was really looking forward to taking a few episodes but instead was done in about 3 minutes, which was a real shame. Once the crew are all back together, they realise Rip is really, truly gone, having also left a message for them. Where is Rip and will they ever meet him again? This is the deepened mystery I mentioned and one I hope they don’t crap out on us with.
Before setting off on the next step of their journey, the Legends seem to run afoul of the Justice Society of America, the golden age version of the Justice League that I and other comic book fans have been yearning to see the Legends throw down with since the finale of season one. Doubling down on that, we also saw who Damien Darhk’s mysterious benefactor was; the rogue time traveller messing with history was none other than the Reverse Flash. God I love that Legends is a DC anthology show. Bring on episode 2!
A Look Inside
