Legends of Tomorrow (2016) s07e13 – Knocked Down, Knocked Up

I’ve been worried about “Legends of Tomorrow”’s renewal for a while now—though it’s not like The CW has renewed any of their shows, they’re just not renewing early this year—but if Knocked Down, Knocked Up ends up being the series finale… it’s a dreadful series finale.

As a season finale, it’s generally okay. It’s way too full, primarily because of how much time is spent introducing Donald Faison, who presumably will be back as regular (or at least a recurring guest star) in the potential next season. Faison’s the “fixer” at the fixed point where Matt Ryan has to go to save his potential boyfriend, Tom Forbes. Fixed points in time can’t be changed without apocalyptic consequences.

The episode ignores Forbes having no idea Ryan’s a time traveler or ready to throw caution to the wind and have a loving, gay relationship in 1915 or whenever. Presumably, that character development would happen next season.

Ditto the episode ignores Adam Tsekhman and Amy Louise Pemberton being reunited after Pemberton’s AI partner (also Pemberton, just voice) tried to kill him last episode.

The episode doesn’t even have enough time for the Forbes rescue mission, which has been Ryan’s entire purpose on the show. At least playing this character. There’s a rushed moment with Ryan realizing he’s been misremembering the battle (having suffered years of untreated PTSD); again, maybe they’ll get to it next season.

However, the episode nicely bookends the relationship between Pemberton, Olivia Swann, and Lisseth Chavez. They started the season together with Swann trying to magic a solution to their spaceship problems; they end the season with Swann trying to similarly magic a solution. Only evil AI Pemberton’s gotten wise and created herself an android body; there are a cute couple Terminator references. Well, at least one, but then also just the general vibe.

Caity Lotz gets a big arc for the episode—discovering even more repercussions to being half-alien now—and it gets the most immediate resolution. Since it’s such a dire mission—the last time they tried changing a fixed point, it was a disaster—Lotz decides to keep her news a secret from the team (and wife Jes Macallan in particular).

There’s also a farewell for a regular cast member, which comes off very convenient and somewhat underdone. It’s also potentially got huge ramifications for another cast member if the show gets renewed, anyway. Otherwise, everyone’s just left with the undercooked finish.

Other than Pemberton, Swann, and Chavez, Lotz probably gets the best episode. Tala Ashe and Shayan Sobhian get the worst. They’re accessories. Nick Zano, Tsekhman, and Ryan probably get second-best. Jes Macallan seems disinterested with the entire outing until halfway through. Maybe it’s director Kevin Mock’s fault for not keeping the energy up, or perhaps it’s just emphasizing introducing Faison at the expense of the regular cast.

Faison’s charming enough. It doesn’t matter if they don’t get renewed, though.

As many fingers crossed as humanly, alienly, and robotically possible, the show goes on, especially given the episode’s punting on all the character development.

Legends of Tomorrow (2016) s07e01 – The Bullet Blondes

So this season of “Legends” is kind of the Back to the Future III season? I mean, they’re not stuck in the Old West, but they’re stuck in the 1920s, and they’re becoming bank robbers, so the action set pieces are all somewhat familiar—not sure if targeting “Legends of Tomorrow” fans who also love Thieves Like Us is a broad enough demographic, but it works for me. And there’s also room for some excellent character development.

Plus, the two cliffhangers are absolutely fantastic and promise at least one spectacular timey-wimey knot to untangle. While the other one has all sorts of character potential. It’s a very good season setup from a somewhat low-key, artificially subdued beginning. The team is still in Texas, having shed both Matt Ryan and Dominic Purcell from the cast, and find themselves time travelers without a time machine. Worse, the locals noticed their giant battle against the space aliens and are asking questions.

Luckily, Jes Macallan comes up with a solution for the latter, but it only works as long as someone on the team doesn’t screw it up. So, of course, someone screws it up, putting Lisseth Chavez’s mom in danger. The mom, played by Alexandra Castillo, isn’t in the episode to start (they sent her away somewhere undefined so she’d miss the alien battle). When she gets back, she becomes den mother to Olivia Swann, who’s feeling lacking as the team’s magician. So Swann’s trying to impress, and it’s not a good idea to mess with magic.

Most of the character work is for Swann and Chavez, who aren’t the best actors on the show, but their friendship is the most genuine. Because everyone on “Legends” is now basically paired off—Macallan and Caity Lotz are now married and stranded in time, no honeymoon in sight; Shayan Sobhian is trying to be a good brother to Tala Ashe as she works through her breakup with Ryan. Then Nick Zano and Adam Tsekhman become the utility men, filling in whenever a scene needs a third. Zano’s got quite a bit to do—and gets one of the two big cliffhangers—but he doesn’t have any subplots brewing, just A-plot stuff.

Ditto Tsekhman, who mostly just punctuates punchlines.

Good direction from Kevin Mock and a decent script (James Eagan and Ray Utarnachitt get the credit).

The episode drags a little in the first fifteen minutes, but it sets up the season well. Plus, Castillo’s really good when doing the den mother stuff, and she elevates her costars, making the extraordinary reasonable.

Legends of Tomorrow (2016) s06e06 – Bishop’s Gambit

The episode opens with a great tracking shot of Matt Ryan walking around his British manor and seeing how the “needing a place to crash” Legends team is wrecking havoc. Who knew the (further) secret to making John Constantine click was to make him lovable? Unfortunately, it’s kind of the only impressive work director Kevin Mock does in the entire episode. It’s mostly fine direction, with some creativity as far as Jes Macallan playing a bunch of clones and then the alien world’s atmosphere being delightfully low budget and tech, but Mock can’t do two shots and the episode’s full of two shots. When Caity Lotz and season villain Raffi Barsoumian face off then do a banter thing with show tunes, the close-ups and one shots are great. The two shots—the necessary two shots—are not.

The story’s split between Lotz trying to escape from Barsoumian’s liar, not knowing Dominic Purcell has arrived to save her (he’s brought along alien-in-disguise Aliyah O'Brien for help but she’s not much help), and then the team trying to figure out what Jennifer Oleksiuk’s got to do with Lotz. Oleksiuk’s half-Amelia Earhart (literally), half-alien, and Lisseth Chavez seems to be able to communicate with the latter half, providing Chavez a subplot for most of the episode.

She’s still at best okay. Having her play a seemingly alt-right loner makes it hard to like her—though Shayan Sobhian tries to bond with her this episode and Sobhian’s so likable some of it rubs off for a good while—but it’s not the most compelling turn of events. Especially since there are some very convenient plot developments (enough it feels more like a bridging episode than anything else, which is appropriate enough six in) and the episode always seems primed for something more.

And then it turns out the more is a big cliffhanger. But not exactly a cliffhanger. It’s a reveal at the end of the episode as cliffhanger, not hard, not soft. Somewhere in between. I had expected the separate story arcs—Macallan and company staying with Ryan, Lotz and Barsoumian, Purcell and O’Brien—to get their own episodes (save on the special guest star money) but “Legends” seems to be throwing them together, which isn’t helping any of them.

It’s fine. It’s just a busy bridging episode. Some good acting from Ryan and Tala Ashe, some not good acting from O’Brien (seriously, the Arrowverse shows always manage to screw up at least one recurring guest star cast), some decent acting from Lotz, Sobhian, and Macallan (with asterisks on Macallan).

Olivia Swann’s around a very little bit after getting her own episode, learning magic, covering for Ryan. She’s got more to do than Nick Zano, who still needs to find a subplot this season.

Legends of Tomorrow (2016) s06e01 – Ground Control to Sara Lance

Last season ended with aliens abducting Caity Lotz after they’d resolved the season plot line; this season premiere has Jes Macallan and Dominic Purcell trying to piece together what happened the next morning. It requires them tracking down the various members of the team, who are also somewhat missing. It provides a nice introduction subplot, reminding of the various developments, like Tala Ashe and Matt Ryan having a romance while Nick Zano mourns the loss of his version of Ashe (from two seasons ago). They’re in 1977 England, so Zano’s pouring his heart out to David Bowie (Thomas Nicholson in an adequate one scene) and it turns out Nicholson knows where Lotz has gone.

Into space.

So while the team on Earth is trying to figure out how to track her down, Lotz is breaking free of her cell on the space ship and teaming up with Spartacus (Shawn Roberts) to figure out what’s going on. The solution’s going to involve a very big reveal with some potentially ret-conning details.

There’s some solid humorous action for Lotz—she and Roberts have differing opinions on when and why to confront the aliens—while back on Earth, everyone’s pulling together various ideas in order to track her down. There’s a very matter of fact magic and sci-fi crossover, with Ryan having to do a kind of seance with alien abductee (then returnee) Lisseth Chavez, who seems like she might be joining the regular cast.

The episode’s got a fairly strong pace, with Ryan, Ashe, and Olivia Swann getting the bigger character subplots—outside Macallan, who’s simultaneously worried about girlfriend Lotz being interstellar and having to manage the team to get her back. Zano, Purcell, and Shayan Sobhian are all support. Though Purcell and Sobhian break off to look for Chavez, who’ll end up running their arc.

The end cliffhanger sets up the season, giving everyone some new problems whether they know it or not; there’s also a very big, very cute Die Hard homage in the script (James Eagan and Mark Bruner get the writing credit this episode).

It’s “Legends.” The show’s got a solid foundation to launch from at this point, especially when there’s nothing particularly concerning. Well, giant character reveals, but at least it provides a good team-up. There’s nothing concerning in the episode, nothing worrisome. It seems like they’ve still got a good handle on the show.

(Well, okay, hopefully Zano gets something to do because he seems real bored already).

Legends of Tomorrow (2016) s05e15 – Swan Thong

I sometimes forget “Legends of Tomorrow” is at its best when it’s completely unconcerned with continuity. It’s a fun, heart-y, and then time travel time travel show. I went into this season finale worried how they were going to wrap things up in one episode after Greek Fates Sarah Strange, Joanna Vanderham, and Maisie Richardson-Sellers have remade the entire universe… but the show wasn’t worried about it and I shouldn’t have been either.

They open with a quick resolution to the immediate problem and then skip ahead to deal with the fallout. The fallout involves a big fight scene with a bunch of demonic “encores” (human mass murderers or evil folks consigned to Hell but released to wreck havoc again, only demonically), including Courtney Ford, playing Marie Antoinette. Ford was a sort of regular who left a few episodes ago who just happened to look like Marie Antoinette. It’s a pure comedy performance from Ford and absolutely fantastic stuff. Fun.

The heart comes from everywhere else. There’s Tala Ashe, who’s playing time twins (one from one timeline, one from another), and the original character’s been gone a season and everyone forgot about her. So Ashe has got to resolve things with beau Nick Zano, who gets to be sincere for the first time all season and it’s nice, and bond with brother Shayan Sobhian, who doesn’t even know this version of her. Not to mention Ashe’s other character is just trying to get Matt Ryan alone for some smooching.

Then there’s Dominic Purcell and daughter Mina Sundwall—I really, really, really hope Sundwall gets to come back next season, especially since she gets to pull off the emotional deus ex machina with Richardson-Sellers.

Oh, and then there’s Olivia Swann coming to terms with not being a hellspawn if she doesn’t want to be. She gets an arc. Richardson-Sellers gets an arc. Ashe gets an arc.

Plus Ramona Young and Adam Tsekhman are around—not a lot—but enough.

“Legends” ends the season in fairly good shape. It’s been a transformative season, though it’s usually a transformative season with this show… but they’re on firm ground. Certainly firmer ground than they went out with last year.

Legends of Tomorrow (2016) s05e09 – Zari, Not Zari

It’s an unexpectedly strong episode. Not everything goes off without a hitch—teaming up Jes Macallan and Dominic Purcell as they go through time trying to make it seem like Purcell was a present dad ought to be a great comedy subplot but instead just seems rushed.

And, despite some really good acting from Maisie Richardson-Sellers, the main plot involving she, Caity Lotz, and Matt Ryan looking for a missing relic (again) so they can fix the universe (again) while running from Richardson-Sellers evil god of a mean older sister, Joanna Vanderham. Vanderham’s not a great villain. Not so far. She’s not a bad villain, but she’s not a great one.

The relic is hidden in the British Columbia woods and, while there, the good guys stumble across a “Supernatural” episode filming. No star cameos—in fact, it appears to be a prop cameo—but it’s fairly cute, albeit draggy. There’s some obvious twists and turns you’d think at least Lotz would see coming, given they’re familiar “Legends” tropes.

Where the episode excels—before the third act, where even the Vanderham stuff excels—but where it excels throughout is Tala Ashe. She’s now sleepwalking herself into bed with alternate reality boyfriend Nick Zano (alternate reality to the show, but not to the viewer), so brother Shayan Sobhian suggests she go into their family superpowers totem and talk to the ancestors.

Only when she goes in, Ashe finds the alternate universe self waiting to talk to her, which turns out to be a far better scene than it ought to be, given the goofiness level. It’s because Ashe can pull it off because Ashe is so good. When the show’s stars are at their best, they’re not just selling the silly mix of supernatural and superhero, they’re making it believable. Ashe does it times two this episode (versus Richardson-Sellers’s times one). Plus Ashe then has an absolutely phenomenal resolution to her eventually tragic subplot.

The emotional weight of the episode helps it get over the laggy sections… plus the five minutes it feels like we’ve literally seen the same turn of events before (from a couple seasons ago).

Legends of Tomorrow (2016) s05e02 – Meet the Legends

Good “Legends” is both bad and obvious, and obvious. When the show hits the right notes, it keeps ringing the bell through the end of the episode. Once an episode of “Legends” clicks, it stays in that higher gear.

This first post-Crisis episode means there can be all sorts of new changes in addition to Shayan Sobhian being the new guy on the team only no one knows it because before they messed up time last season, Sobhian was Tala Ashe (who’d really gotten good on the show, even with the absurdity of her romance with hero bro Nick Zano) before. They keep the same powers. Sobhian’s likable—you can be middling on “Legends” but you can’t be unlikable. You’ve got to enjoy watching “Legends,” they work for it.

Anyway, it means there are changes to be watching for. But there’re also the first real episode of the season changes to be watching for. And then the show’s in a fake documentary form; Jes Macallan has to prove the Legends’ worth to the U.S. government so they want a documentary. The Legends are famous after saving the world least season, which is a bit of a blur. It didn’t end well. Starting with the documentary bit seems like a cop-out. Except they stop the format—the team fights a resurrected Rasputin (Michael Eklund) this episode; it’s fun. Eklund’s… a likable villain. Rasputin tries to become an influencer. It’s works just well enough. Throw in some good fight scenes for Caity Lotz, the right amount of Brandon Routh’s adorkable, occasionally Matt Ryan appearances (with Adam Tsekhman as his sidekick), and it works out well. Ramona Young becoming Dominic Purcell’s sidekick, however, is an unexpected delight. They give Young more than she tended to get last year and better material and she kills it; Macallan’s gotten funnier with being so serious, which is really nice because Zano’s only fun around Routh really, but Young’s the biggest success.

So bummer when she bows out for some of the season. A few of the other cast members go off on side missions so they can keep the casting budget down. But “Legends”’s budget constraints sometimes work out for it and having characters recur instead of loiter in the background… I’m going to be really bummed if Young’s not back soon. Like. No. They’re making Young’s not simple part—a superhero fangirl becoming a werewolf—work and they need to stick with it.