Legends of Tomorrow (2016) s07e03 – wvrdr_error_100 oest-of-th3-gs.gid30n not found

It’s the one-hundredth episode spectacular, which makes sense given the litany of guest stars, but it’s also the episode where Amy Louise Pemberton becomes a proper Legend. Since the pilot, she’s been on the show, but just her voice; she’s the AI running the time-traveling spaceship. She’s appeared a few times over the years in physical form, and this episode handles transforming her from a “voice credit” to a regular one.

The episode starts with Pemberton, Olivia Swann, and Lisseth Chavez traveling 1925 Texas trying to get to New York before the rest of the team to save them. It’s unclear what will happen when they get there, but it’d be nice if they got a move on. Even though the season’s only three episodes in, they spent the end of last season in 1920s Texas, so it feels like forever. Luckily the reunion spectacular is a worthwhile stopover.

Pemberton—who might be human but still has a supercomputer’s brain and all her memories of the timeline—has a mental crash, and Swann and Chavez need to magic themselves into her brain to figure out what’s wrong. When they get there, they find themselves back on the spaceship, only it’s Pemberton’s subconscious and Franz Drameh’s running it. Drameh left in season three, so it’s been a while. He’s probably the most welcome return because he gets the most to do.

There’s also Victor Garber, Wentworth Miller, Brandon Routh, Courtney Ford, and then Arthur Darvill. Darvill, of course, was the original “lead” and hasn’t been back for years; they hinted at him last episode, but I wasn’t counting episodes, so I didn’t think they’d bring him back the very next one.

Pemberton’s journey to human-hood involves a bunch of memories of the show at various points in its run. Oh, wait, they also bring back Hawkman Falk Hentschel, who hasn’t been back since the first season and hasn’t been mentioned since because they were probably going to use Hawkman in a movie and were scared to confuse viewers back then with multiple versions of the same characters. But he’s back for a funny enough cameo.

It’s a good trip down memory lane; a clip show, but obviously better because the scenes are geared towards being memorable without having to do any work. Dominic Purcell is conspicuously absent, of course, and the eventual drama is… well, it’s not a rip-off of “WandaVision,” but they’ve definitely seen “WandaVision.”

We also get some more information on the season’s big bad—the last episode revealed they’d be robots; in this episode, we get hints at who might be building them.

Caity Lotz directs and does a fine job. She leans into the fun and silly.

It’s far from the best “Legends”—it’s like a very soft sci-fi take from hard sci-fi aficionados–but it’s a bunch of fun. Though most of the charm is going to require having seen the last seventy hours of the show.

Legends of Tomorrow (2016) s06e05 – The Satanist’s Apprentice

This episode goes far in reminding how much better Olivia Swann is at being likable than villainous. It’s her episode—and sort of Matt Ryan’s—recapping what she’s been doing all season since she hasn’t been with the main cast. She’s been suffering in Ryan’s giant mansion, which is falling apart and doesn’t have internet and the neighbors are racist. Ryan promises to fix things with magic but he’s always too busy getting busy with girlfriend Tala Ashe (who are mostly just adorable together when onscreen).

Swann’s so frustrated she helps Aleister Crowley (voiced by Matt Lucas) escape into Ryan’s body and they plan on using magic to get Swann on her feet. All that story is set before the previous episode’s cliffhanger, which has the main cast needing to crash at Ryan and Swann’s.

Meanwhile, Caity Lotz finds out more about her mysterious captor (Raffi Barsoumian) while turning to convince some of the Jes Macallan clones—Barsoumian’s the creator of the clone line—to revolt and help her escape. To limited success. With a big “Wynonna Earp” reference in the narrative; so big it’s a surprise they’re not on the same network.

Loitz also directs the episode and does an outstanding job. Swann’s arc gets a little too easy in the narrative—and Lotz’s own arc is mostly padding—but when it’s time to get really weird, Loitz and the show handle it beautifully. Turns out getting help from Crowley (I’m not sure if Lucas voices over Ryan, but it seems likelier the more I think about it) isn’t going to go well for Swann, Ryan, or the rest of the team.

No one really gets much to do besides Swann, Lotz, Ryan, Macallan, and Lucas; Ashe gets a little, Shayan Sobhian gets a little (but mostly just in voice acting). Macallan’s okay with the clone stuff but they’ve done all they can do with it after an episode. There’s also a setup for another season story line, which just happens to coincide with the two already in progress. We also get to see Barsoumian’s master plan but it’s only theoretical at this point.

Barsoumian’s fine. The story’s going to make or break his big bad.

It’s a decent episode then an awesome episode once they get around to the cliffhanger resolution, with only a few missteps and thin scenes by the finish. I noticed Lotz’s name on the directing credit so I was a little more observant than usual maybe; she does a really good job. Like, Swann gets a great showcase episode here, starting with the opening Flashdance riff.

Legends of Tomorrow (2016) s05e06 – Mortal Khanbat

Not sure why Dominic Purcell isn’t in the episode save a scene—he’s still off nursing catching feelings for an ex-girlfriend with lots of beer–but Caity Lotz uses her time off camera to direct this episode. She’s pretty damn good. The episode’s split between a series of John Woo homages in 1997 Hong Kong and John Constantine (Matt Ryan) doing a horror show, but one with frequent comic relief. Unlike last episode, which also had Purcell and Lotz too busy with their offscreen obligations to play, this one doesn’t focus on Jes Macallan taking over the captain role. Macallan’s still in charge and she gets some good moments, but it’s really Shayan Sobhian’s episode. Also Maisie Richardson-Sellers’s, but more Sobhian because he’s the new guy. And he’s still a guest star, not regular cast.

See, Richardson-Sellers and Sobhian hooked up after last season finale and hadn’t had the chance to talk before the Crisis crossover, which screws up the way Richardson-Sellers fixed something in the past. We get her origin story at the end of the episode. It’s solid enough stuff. The part’s okay but Richardson-Sellers basically just fronts her way through it. Sobhian holds up their scenes, which are frequently played for laughs, even though Richardson-Sellers’s always delivering the punchline. Again, good directing from Lotz. She gets how “Legends” works best.

Some of that working best is the straight comedy in the resolutions to both story lines. Yes, Ryan having his last supper with Brandon Routh and Adam Tsekhman has some sincere moments Ryan’s able to both sell and make funny, but it gets even funnier once it’s all resolved. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong pot about Genghis Khan (Terry Chen) coming back and trying to take over the world… it’s got a nice fun finish too. With some great action in addition to the obvious Woo nods. And it goes heavy into humor for its finale too.

Good material for Courtney Ford and Tala Ashe, though not a lot; keeping them on simmer levels of material.

It’s a very successful episode. And also because it seems to have gotten the pieces in place for the rest of the season.