Legends of Tomorrow (2016) s07e09 – Lowest Common Demoninator

“Legends of Tomorrow” doesn’t have bridging episodes; it has rest stops and layovers. Last episode had the cast playing their evil android counterparts; this episode has them back playing their regular parts, just in a trashy reality show. Several characters get subplot work, mostly Shayan Sobhian and Olivia Swann, Tala Ashe and Nick Zano (and Tala Ashe), Jes Macallan and Caity Lotz, and Amy Louise Pemberton and Adam Tsekhman.

Pemberton leaps the Legends into the “Manor Dimension,” an extra-dimensional mansion where they can hide out and usually get free by going through a door. There’s a magic key. It’s been used to good effect throughout the season. Except they don’t have the key. The mansion is sitting just outside Hell, and when Matt Ryan, freaking out about the situation, leaves the window open, some damned souls get in.

These particular damned sold their souls to demon Giles Panton in exchange for making a successful reality TV show. Something went wrong; now they haunt people, and their presence amps up the drama.

Even someone like Ashe, who grew up on a reality show, finds herself unable to control the demonic influences. That reality show’s going to be important because we find out all about how Sobhian hid from it and that hiding changed the course of his life. He’s also just a boy trying to ask a girl (Swann) out on a date, which means he makes the gallant mistake of following her into Hell. She’s going to negotiate her friends’ safe passage with Panton.

Until Sobhian screws it up and makes things worse.

Though not as worse as when Pemberton, miffed the team is upset at her choice of quantum leap location (not to mention her romance with Tsekhman), turns off her emotions to better navigate the alliances and betrayals of the reality show.

Macallan and Lotz have subplots where they’re melting down individually instead of together, with Macallan obsessed with homemaking and Lotz planning an island vacation.

The biggest drama throughout the episode is Ashe and Zano. And Ashe. So, now regular Ashe is the social media influencer from the near future who Zano can’t stand. Only since they’re on a reality show and it’s turning him into a “Jersey Shore,” there’s a lot of tension between them. They go from almost making out to Ashe deciding Zano’s going to mess up his relationship with her alternate universe version (who lives in her magic bracelet). Ashe creates the subplot out of thin air (and the script, credit James Eagan and Emily Cheever), but it works thanks to Ashe. She’s so good overall, but especially here with the comedy.

Also good with the comedy is Lisseth Chavez, who decides she will outplay her teammates to win the reality show. Though it’s unclear if there are any actual (even demonic) rewards.

Eric Dean Seaton’s direction is fine. The episode’s got a Steadicam vibe, but not cheap aughts reality show Steadicam. It’s a little too professional.

The episode requires a lot from Sobhian—getting into his teenage trauma—and while he’s not the best actor, he’s incredibly sympathetic. And Swann’s able to hold up her part of their burgeoning romance arc.

Plus, the Pemberton and Tsekhman stuff is funny, but also not, but also funny about it not being funny.

Good episode, with some great performances from Ashe, Chavez, and Zano; they’re the three most obviously comedically inclined, and it pays off here.

Superman & Lois (2021) s01e09 – Loyal Subjekts

Right up until the second, harder cliffhanger—the first cliffhanger ought to be a hard one, but ends up being soft, which actually might end up being better given the characters involved—but right up until the finale, it’s a really effective episode with solid acting throughout. And a good explanation for why bad guy Adam Rayner is so fixated on Smallville, even though his insidious, ominous headquarters is clearly in some office park. Not quite LexCorp Towers, or whatever.

Heck, they may even explain—or start to explain—why Rayner’s okay with it.

But there’s also solid character drama for everyone in the episode. Tyler Hoechlin is recovering from experimental synthetic Kryptonite gas, making him more susceptible to damage than usual. It turns out he passed the “infection” on to super-son Alex Garfin. Lousy timing since Garfin needs to play piano at Inde Navarrette’s school recital; he stepped up when Navarrette’s dad, Erik Valdez, flaked out on helping her (again). So when Garfin gets too sick, Elizabeth Tulloch decides it’s time to cut dad Dylan Walsh (who made the Kryptonite gas to kill her husband if need be) out of her life, which really upsets both of them. Caught in the middle is Jordan Elsass, who’s recovering from a wounded teenage boy ego hit already, and having family drama really isn’t helping things.

Neither is Rayner deciding it’s time to move on to the next phase in his plan and deal with Tulloch. She’s been frustrated at not getting the dirt on Rayner’s evil plans, so she goes and curses him out in the office park, leading Rayner to suspect Emmanuelle Chriqui has been snooping for her.

Lots and lots of drama, eventually lots of suspense, and some decent Super-action from director Eric Dean Seaton. There’s still the muscle suit shoulders issue (though Hoechlin does a buff shirtless scene, so you wonder why they have the pads unless maybe his chest’s CGI), but the actual action stuff is cool.

Though the suit is too grey. They need to brighten up the super-suit.

The acting’s strong across the board, with only Hoechlin and Tulloch slow-burning to get there. As usual, it’s not entirely their fault. Tulloch gets a bunch of exposition dumps before some id broadcasting. Then Hoechlin’s, you know, stuck acting opposite Angus Macfadyen’s voice, and Macfayden’s performance can always drag a scene down. But they both get to good places. Elsass, Navarrette, Garfin, Walsh, Chriqui, and Valdez all do consistently good work, in that order. It’s almost like when Valdez isn’t implying his MAGA hat without wearing it, he does a good job.

Also, guest star Leeah Wong. She’s really effective as one of Rayner’s test subjects.

Rayner… well, he’s wanting. Very wanting. Maybe he’ll turn it around as the season enters the grand finale. Probably not, but maybe.

Legends of Tomorrow (2016) s06e09 – This Is Gus

It’s such a good episode. And not just because of the last five minutes, which are fantastic and remind how the magic “Legends” really started when Tala Ashe arrived. She’s spectacular.

And it’s not just because there’s an adorable alien who looks like the goofy Gremlin in Mogwai form (there’s a little Gremlins montage in the music). Or because there’s a fantastic plot arc for Mick (Dominic Purcell) and his daughter, Mina Sundwall, which is hilarious, heartwarming, and not anywhere near done. Or because Shayan Sobhian gets a showcase where he’s going through Back to the Future changes but, like, George McFly-style, not Marty. Or even when he gets to talk about the representational importance of Muslim potheads in popular culture.

It does all of those things and gives Olivia Swann a whole subplot with Sobhian and gives Lisseth Chavez a Han Solo blaster.

But the string through all of them is a sincerity to character. An ambition for character. “Legends” taking a leap—it just goes there with the representation subplot (then makes it a big part of the main plot as Sobhian changes due to changes in his favorite sitcom)—isn’t really a surprise. The show likes its big, earnest character swings, which it almost always achieves thanks to the actors and writers, but this episode hits a home run then does two victory laps in a matter of minutes.

It’s outstanding.

The best acting from the episode, no contest, is Ashe, but it doesn’t really count because she doesn’t get great material until the epilogue. Sobhian’s really good in the A-plot. It’s either him or Purcell, though Purcell also doesn’t have as much to do (and he’s got Sundwall and Jes Macallan doing a bunch of heavy lifting on the B plot). Nick Zano has a bunch of material—with the promise of taking a much more prominent role in the rest of the season thanks to twists and turns—and he’s real good. Swann’s got some terrific scenes. Plus, a bitching golf cart on a studio backlot chase scene. Not sure whose idea it was to have that chase scene, but director Eric Dean Seaton does an excellent job with it.

Tyron B. Carter gets the script credit. Lots of good scenes. The stuff with the baby alien on a sitcom is all good, all funny; it just doesn’t compare to the character development running under it.

The episode ends with two big surprises; one of the surprises is well-forecasted, so it can be an in-joke between the viewer and one of the characters, but the other one is a definite surprise and promises more than they’ll ever be able to deliver.

I was confused when they wrapped up the big bad so early in the season, but the second-half setup is awesome at this point.

Supergirl (2015) s05e03 – Blurred Lines

Carl Lumbly shows up in this episode and you almost remember when you liked the stuff with J’onn (David Harewood). Barely. Lumbly’s voice brings back that warm feeling, so long missing on the show. And he’s got to be there because this episode’s all about Harewood finding out why he doesn’t remember his brother (Phil LaMarr doesn’t get a credit this episode, as his character—named Malefic, in the best proper noun usage since Geonosis, hops from person to person via mental telepathy or it’s just his transforming powers… doesn’t matter). Again, it’s unbelievable the Martian evil brother thing is a multi-arc—possibly full season—villain thread because the Martian CGI is so terrible. At one point, they just do the flashbacks with human children, explaining it’s because Nicole Maines (who’s helping Harewood with his memories while not breaking annoying Jesse Rath’s heart) is seeing things through a human perspective, which makes little sense since Maines is… an alien.

But whatever. Her being an alien was always a little weird anyway. Why not just forget it whenever it helps the budget.

Meanwhile Sean Astin shows up as the evil brother’s latest persona, except Astin’s an old friend of Azie Tesfai’s, which soon puts her in danger and ends with her and James (Mehcad Brooks—who’s got nothing to do on this show anymore, especially not since he quit his job) in exile. It’s like the whole episode is treading water until they can shoe out the Olsen siblings.

Rath’s really annoying. It’s not cute. He’s really annoying.

The show also figures out a way to bring back Andrea (Miss Teschmacher) Brooks, making her Katie McGrath’s sounding board again, which isn’t great because Brooks is more wooden than the CGI super-Alexa McGrath talked at the previous episodes.

Meanwhile Melissa Benoist is overworked at the newspaper, but every task she has to complete seems to be something she could do at super-speed but doesn’t. Why doesn’t she ever use her superpowers to get her work done? Has it ever been addressed? The idea Benoist could be overwhelmed with a backlog of civilian work is silly.

The show’s also doing questionably effective—ergo not—end song montage sequences now. If you can’t do a song montage, don’t. Don’t pretend you can sell it with some song you found out you could use for cheap (or exposure). It’s all very unsteady.