Spoilers for DC's Legends of Tomorrow and Arrow.
Thus far on DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Carter is dead, Mick Rory is supposedly dead, Vandal Savage is still an evil terrorizing man, and the team has been attacked by "Boba Fett," visited a Russian prison, and dealt with hawk monsters in the 1950s. When we last left our so-called heroes, Jax, Snart, Stein, and Rip were battling Chronos on the Wave Rider while Kendra, Sara, and Ray were marooned in 1958.
How will they find each other and continue their mission? Find out here.
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This episode picked up right where the last left off. The Wave Rider is under Chronos' control because for some reason Gideon can't counteract Chronos' orders. (Okay, but what's the point of a super, ultra-cool computer identity if she can't stop someone from sabotaging the ship's computers?) Meanwhile, Ray, Kendra, and Sara wait for the Wave Rider to return. They wait a long time. Like two whole years.
(This was the best Snart line.--source)
For me, this episode was "so-so." There were things I liked, and things I didn't. Things I was surprised by, and some things that weren't surprising at all. Things that felt exciting, and things that didn't live up to their potential.
What I liked:
-Snart. I think Snart deserves the award for this episode. His sass and dialogue still made me laugh, despite the rest of the episode feeling drab. Plus, everything he does in this episode is INSANE. The way he broke out of the handcuffs was so intense. (Seriously, fantastic acting on Wentworth Miller's part. I'm astounded by that scene.) In addition, the revelation that Chronos is Mick Rory... Wow, Snart handled it well. By that, I mean it was very moving to watch him react to Rory's vengeance.
(Did I mention how much I love him yet?--source)
-Rory as Chronos. While I saw this coming when the episode began, I still enjoyed that Rory was now hunting down his former team. It gives an interesting twist to the events so far. (Especially since that means Rory was actually hunting himself down at one point. Very intriguing.)
-Ra's al Ghul. Once Sara left, I knew she had to be headed to the 1958 version of Nanda Parbat. Which meant Ra's Al Ghul was still alive. (I love that Legends is a show that can bring in other characters from Arrow and The Flash, even adversaries and people who died. It keeps the DC world active and alive.) My favorite thing about the League part of the episode, other than the brief cameo of Talia al Ghul, was that Ra's was so unimpressed by anything the Legends did. Jax and Stein combine into FIRESTORM? No emotion. Rip Hunter is from the future? No reaction. Boba Fett pops through the door and takes out a bunch of his men? I'm Ra's al Ghul, punk. (Or something.) It was delightful.
-Ray and Kendra. If you want to give your OTP an adorable AU, imagine them stuck in 1958 together, okay? Trust me. The way Kendra and Ray (and briefly Sara) set up house in 1958, slowly but surely, as they came to terms with their new life was beyond adorable. Ray became a college professor, discussing science with Bill Gates' father. Kendra became a librarian. They were so cute together. I was only slightly annoyed with Kendra that she kept brushing Ray off. (I totally agree with the big cupcake that two years is a long time to just throw away in a blink.) But she made up for it at the end, when she told Ray he was the first man she'd ever been able to choose to love. (Hi. If you need me, I'll be in the corner crying.)
Kendra: "Just because I wasn't satisfied with the circumstances doesn't mean I didn't fall in love with you."
Ray: "It's just, I don't want to lose you."
Kendra: "And I don't want to lose you. For the first time in probably centuries, I actually got to decide who I want to fall in love with, instead of having it decided for me. So it doesn't matter where or when we are. You're the person I want to be with."
(Okay, but this gifset is just so pretty. Look at those colors.--source)
-Trial by combat. While, again, I wasn't surprised Rip called for a trial by combat (We've seen it twice on Arrow now), I did enjoy the fight between Sara and Kendra. I am all for when these two get into "bird" fights. Sara was awfully cold this episode, so I loved Rip's reasoning that the two ladies balance each other out. It's a wonderful thing to see in a TV show: two female leads who actually get along and support each other. (Seriously, give me all the best friendships.)
Rip: "Sara taught Kendra to control her warrior side. I believe that Kendra can remind Sara of her humanity."
What I didn't like:
-Sara. She's had the best character development thus far in the show, and I feel like she threw it all away very quickly. I know she was upset she was left behind, but I felt that she could have turned to doing something else instead of just running off to Nanda Parbat. She was very cold and pessimistic this episode, which was very different than how she acted about stuff in the last episode. Plus, when in the world does time-machine=never late? There could be any number of reasons someone with a time-machine didn't return to the exact time they left!
Kendra: "We came here to rescue you."
Sara: "I don't need to be rescued. I've found peace here."
Rip: "Peace with the League of Assassins? That must be the first time that sentence has ever been uttered."
-Free-falling through time. While this part was cool to see, the reasoning behind it was... odd. I know Chronos sabotaged it, but it made no sense why the ship would go to 1960 as the "closest" point to where it left off. Two years is not anywhere close, and there wasn't a logical, time-travel related reason for it. (Also, the Wave Rider falling through time looked an awful lot like the TARDIS flying through the Time Vortex. Does this mean somebody on the TARDIS doesn't know how to drive?)
-Predictability. This episode was very predictable. I knew Chronos was Mick (and that Snart didn't kill him). I knew Sara wouldn't want to be "rescued" from Nanda "I can't believe I'm back here" Parbat. I knew they would call a trial by combat, and it would be interrupted by Kronos' arrival. I knew Ra's would easily release Sara from her training. I knew the Wave Rider couldn't return to rescue Kendra, Ray, and Sara because of some excuse like "otherwise time will unfold on itself." (Come on, time-travel stories have been using that for decades.) It was just a predictable episode.
Ray: "Which gives us mesoscopic polymer and biomolecular simulations. Yes, Mr. Gates?"
Mr. Gates: "If that's true and you can soften matter, then doesn't that mean you could theoretically miniaturize an atom?"
Ray: "In theory, yes. But trust me, you don't want to try it at home. And definitely not for at least another 40 years."
Concluding thoughts:
The episode wasn't wholly bad. I felt it moved fast and had a lot jammed into it. I predicted a lot of it, but most of it was still interesting to see played out. (The League of Assassins felt kind of disappointing.) The end of the episode promises more exciting things to come! Like the future! They're going to the future again!
One thing I did like that reiterates how important this show is in the realm of superhero stories is what the team did with Mick Rory/Chronos. Together, they were able to pin him down. They had a chance to kill him once and for all; to do what Snart didn't, to stop him from attacking them again. But they didn't. They showed him mercy, even forgiveness. While Snart is still skeptical that Rory can be redeemed, Rip is certain they can use him. This moment is why Legends is important--it shows that it's possible to forgive people and help people to continually become better than their pasts and their actions. This show continues to visit the idea that anybody can learn to become heroic. That anybody can learn to become a legend.
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What did you think of "Left Behind"? React with me in the comments below!
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