Legends of Tomorrow (2016) s07e06 – Deus Ex Latrina

“Legends” hasn’t been renewed yet, and it’s kind of been a bubble show forever, which is why it’s always so nice when they get an early renewal. But this season now seems to be arranging things for a send-off. At least, potentially. Events are perturbing towards closure—or at least not unresolved cliffhangers—and it kind of feels like a victory lap season.

Though it might just feel that way because they do so well here.

The gang has lost their time ship, and last episode teamed up with a 1920s scientist, played by Matt Ryan (in a different role than usual), to get back to the future. Unfortunately, Ryan didn’t account for so many people in the time machine (seriously, there are now nine regular Legends), and they time-crashed off course. Where? Unclear. Maybe dinosaurs.

So while they’re trying to get settled for the night, splitting off into groups for character developing adventures, last season’s big bad, Raffi Barsoumian, has teamed up with an evil AI version of Amy Louise Pemberton (who’s now become a human member of the gang), to destroy Legends. AI Pemberton wants to save the timeline from those meddling Legends; Barsoumian’s just mad they kidnapped him and wiped his mind.

The audience found out about the AI Pemberton and Barsoumian teaming up a few episodes ago, but now we see what they’ve been doing. And it’s actually stuff we’ve already seen, like the time ship getting destroyed in the season premiere or the robot J. Edgar Hoover (Giacomo Baessato) showing up and hunting them down. It’s multiple episodes of the show proper, but it’s all in a row for AI Pemberton and Barsoumian because they’re on a time ship. One of Jes Macallan clones is on board with them, and AI Pemberton doesn’t like her, which leads to some great 2001 riffs.

Meanwhile, in the past—whether prehistoric or not is a plot point—everyone’s stressed out, including regular Macallan and Caity Lotz, who thought they were on their way to a honeymoon in Tahiti. So while Olivia Swann takes Macallan to work out her aggression gathering firewood, Lisseth Chavez takes Lotz to work out hers hunting for dinner. The Swann and Macallan stuff ends up being better than the Chavez and Lotz stuff, but there’s also more of the former. And it’s a scene where Swann really comes through.

Tala Ashe and Shayan Sobhian babysit Ryan, who’s freaking out, leading to some wonderful bonding between Ashe and Ryan. Now, these two actors played love interests in their other “Legends” parts, so there’s something of a base chemistry, but these characters are entirely different, and it leads to some more excellent work. I forgot how great Ashe is in this version of the character. She’s been doing the other one full-time for what seems like two seasons, and this episode’s a great return.

Then there’s a comic subplot for human Pemberton and Adam Tsekhman, who are delightful together, and Nick Zano building the camp while talking himself through relationship decisions.

Plus, the big reveal of where they actually are in history and how it will affect them.

It’s an excellent episode. Kind of a bridging one, kind of a catch-up one with AI Pemberton and Barsoumian’s scheming, and then also kind of a breather. The enormous cast gets a chance to chill and reset, and the episode takes the time to let them.

So even if they do wrap it up and don’t play chicken with a renewal… damn, I hope they get renewed.

Legends of Tomorrow (2016) s06e13 – Silence of the Sonograms

I wish Matt Ryan weren’t so good as a softie. He’s almost against type these days as John Constantine, this suffering devoted boyfriend who tries not to gaslight or yell when disagreeing with girlfriend Tala Ashe. The dialogue on their romantic problems—she finds out he’s been lying to her again, hiding his addiction to evil magic juice—is a little trite because it’s a superhero show, and they’re magic people. Still, Ashe and Ryan are so good when they’re sincere. Their chemistry is vibrant. Apparently, so vibrant Ashe got a haircut between last episode’s cliffhanger and this episode’s resolution.

But she sticks it out. Though every time she leaves Ryan alone, it plays wrong, like she’s setting him up for something, but she’s not. The episode will get by on the actors more than the script—credited to Phil Klemmer and Morgan Faust–so it’s not just bad for Ashe.

Jes Macallan gets the other main plot—it’s kind of two B plots and a C plot coming together; the pacing’s excellent, the drama’s just a little too simple. But Macallan’s got the other big plot where she’s interrogating recently cloned season bad guy, Raffi Barsoumian. Barsoumian’s future scientist created Macallan’s clone line, so she’s got a lot of baggage, which comes through in the interrogation; she’s ostensibly running the show, but he might have an edge of manipulating her. It’s good acting from Macallan and Barsoumian without being particularly good writing for either of them. The entire episode is setting up the season finale arc, so it’s kind of like chess pieces being arranged. Or dominos. I’m only thinking chess pieces because Nick Zano and Caity Lotz play chess while doing exposition dumps.

There’s some fun stuff with Dominic Purcell being pregnant—for a while before it gets very dramatic; otherwise, it’s a heavy episode. Adam Tsekhman’s got a few scenes, and they’re funny, but he’s barely around because otherwise, he’d foil the Barsoumian arc early. Ashe enlists Olivia Swann and Lisseth Chavez for help with Ryan, and it’s a fun but too short team-up.

The episode’s trying to keep the costs down on a bridging episode by focusing on character development to get things set for the sci-fi superhero action, but… the script’s just not really there. Enough. The idea’s there, the actors are there, the dialogue isn’t. Nico Sachse’s direction helps.

But good acting without much fodder from Macallan, Ashe, Barsoumian, and Ryan. Half of Ryan. If Ryan were better at his green kryptonite evil version, who knows. Otherwise, maybe one more C plot, and it’d have probably been fine. It’s still okay. It’s just actors deserve better writing on a character development episode.

Legends of Tomorrow (2016) s05e12 – Freaks and Greeks

And, now, in the “they all can’t be winners” category, we have Freaks and Greeks, which sends the Legends to Hudson University to steal a chalice from a frat. It’s not a frat in 1979. It’s a frat in 2020, run by special guest star Drew Ray Tanner; he’s Greek party god Dionysus, who’s finally found a place where the party never stops.

Maisie Richardson-Sellers recognizes him from the old days, which is cool, he’s immortal or whatever. But he recognizes Richardson-Sellers, so apparently gods can see through her shapeshifting.

Whatever.

It’s a girl power episode where Richardson-Sellers has to convince Olivia Swann to be a team player. They do it by forming their own sorority, which requires they recruit three regular college student members (Briana Skye, Jennifer Tong, and Jade Falcon). The introduction to the three is maybe the best thing in the episode, as far as editing and narrative brevity, but ignores how we’ve already met them at the sorority mixer where Richardson-Sellers and Swann get kicked out for… cat-fighting.

Now, the Legends’s sorority is going to be different than the regular ones because it’s inclusive, socially minded, empowering, and not rape culture-y.

But Tanner’s already established it’s 2020 frat rules and they don’t allow any rape culture or bullying on campus.

Speaking of campus, there’s a subplot about Mina Sundwall getting a campus tour with dad Dominic Purcell and being put off by all the students being rich, privileged assholes.

There’s also the subplot about Nate (Nick Zano) reverting to his frat boy persona from college, so they seem to have retconned out him growing up immunocompromised until he got super powers, which I already knew but just wanted to point out because why not kick writers Matthew Maala and Ubah Mohamed a little. I had to sit through their stupid episode.

Maala’s written good episodes this season, Mohamed hasn’t. Let’s blame Mohamed.

Richardson-Sellers and Swann are both okay plus this episode, with the script getting in the way a little obviously. And Sundwall and Purcell would be great if they actually spent any time together.

Was someone in the writers’ room really gung ho for this episode? Are there just ready-to-go CW college sets? Because even though it’s effects-lite, there’s a lot of speaking cast to pay. I mean, bully for the cast’s professionalism but still….