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) 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) s06e04 – Bay of Squids

Let me get it out of the way so it doesn’t come bubbling up later.

After some previous hints, it turns out alien abduction survivor and gun nut Lisseth Chavez is actually “Legends”’s outreach to the right leaning audiences. She loves guns—she and Tala Ashe have a painful “2nd vs. 1st amendment” banter—she hates Commies (the episode takes place during the Cuban Missile Crisis), and after talking shit about Dominic Purcell for an entire episode (last one, I think) behind his back to Jes Macallan, she’s now talking shit about Macallan behind her back to Purcell.

The season’s making a mess of Purcell, who’s out of sorts because Caity Lotz is kidnapped (so kidnapped she doesn’t appear this episode, which successfully splits up the cast so there can be three distinct arcs not requiring crossover for a while), and Macallan, who’s now captaining the team. They resolve it by the end of the episode here but through shenanigans not character development. It’s also troubling because Purcell, off camera, is upset with the handling of his character and leaving or not or yes.

But the episode would still have some major hurdles.

While the team is ostensibly in the middle of the Cuban Missile Crisis to find a rogue alien, they’re really there so Shayan Sobhian can get Fidel Castro (Tim Perez) really stoned on gummis and play him Peace Train, which is simultaneously politically and historically cringe and adorable because Sobhian’s charming. Then there’s also the JFK side of things, where Nick Zano—turns out all Zano needs for a story arc is for Matt Ryan not to appear; they even get the same sidekick in Tala Ashe–gets to bro out with Jack (Aaron Craven) and Bobby (Preston Vanderslice) while general Nic Bishop does a low rent riff on a Dr. Strangelove general. Craven and Vanderslice are doing broad impersonations, which is fine, but the Bishop part is a real part and he doesn’t have it. Especially since Zano, even running a subplot, is fairly passive. His character development arc this episode is crushing on Ashe, whose alternate universe version is his lady love, but now he’s crushing on her dimensional clone. Even though she’s with Ryan. Hopefully it’s better than a love triangle.

It’s an entirely amusing outing for “Legends,” but ends up just being a slightly worrisome (as opposed to troublesome or problematic) bridging episode. What’s next should be great, we promise….

Legends of Tomorrow (2016) s06e03 – The Ex-Factor

If there’s a cohort who hears the Buzzcocks’ Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've) and think it’s a cover of the Fine Young Cannibals song until they remember the FYC song was the cover… I am in that cohort. The episode opens with Matt Ryan and Tala Ashe having a booty call (because they’re not really dating, no emotions, he’s a hellblazer, she’s an influencer, after all) and he plays her the song so he can talk about punk rock to her. It’s a very good scene, even before Shayan Sobhian (Ashe’s brother) has to come in to call them back to the time traveling space ship for a mission. Someone on the writing staff—Grainne Godfree and Tyron B. Carter get the credit—has some music thoughts for Ryan to spout and they’re good thoughts. Plus it’s a cute way of showing him trying to date, not just play grab ass.

The crisis this episode is an alien robot arriving in Sobhian and Ashe’s future and killing Ashe’s ex-boyfriend, the host of the only show keeping network TV alive, an “American Idol”-type thing with some Eurovision thrown in. Or maybe “Idol”’s gotten more elaborate since I last watched it (whatever happened to George Huff).

Anyway.

The Legends are able to get back to the future before the alien (voiced by Andrew Morgado, but whoever does the suit work deserves a credit too) kills the ex-boyfriend (Ryan Bell, who’s always in a helmet too, actually). The only way to defeat the alien is for Ashe to get into the competition, which just happens to coincide with her needing to reestablish her brand after her season-long “Legends” adventuring. She also decides to trot Ryan out as her new beau—a London street magician—while telling her mom (Mitra Lohrasb) it’s just a fling. Without having told Ryan she expressly thinks of him in those terms.

Drama.

And effective drama. Ryan and Ashe are really cute together. Nice scene with Lohrasb too. “Legends” does a particularly nice job finding the humanity in the fantastical this episode.

Meanwhile, Jes Macallan has captaining troubles because Dominic Purcell is in a snit over Caity Lotz still being gone and new team member Lisseth Chavez is counseling Macallan to confront Purcell. It’s an okay subplot, purely functional compared to the A plot.

Off on the unknown planet, Lotz and Adam Tsekhman are trying to survive armed pursuers (nice reveal and call back on them too) while Lotz suffers from some kind of alien infection. It’s a busy, good episode.

Even if Nick Zano’s still just around. Though he does get a nice Die Hard reference in. “Legends” doesn’t often get to do near future riffs for laughs, so handful of good “Taco Bell won the franchise wars”-esque gags are welcome.

Legends of Tomorrow (2016) s06e02 – Meat: The Legends

I wasn’t thrilled when I saw Rachel Talalay’s name on the director credit but it’s good direction (not just for Talalay but in general). The episode is split between the Legends in the fifties trying to find an escaped alien and Caity Lotz and Adam Tsekhman crash-landing on an alien world. Lotz and Tsekham are a very funny odd couple. Their storyline, involving Amelia Earhart (Jennifer Oleksiuk), is somewhat lacking but Lotz and Tsekhman have a lot more chemistry than it seemed last episode when they got paired off.

The main story is about an alien goo in the secret sauce at a hamburger joint. While Jes Macallan (assuming the team leader position quite well) frets about using new cast member Lisseth Chavez to communicate with the goo to find Lotz—it’s barely a plan—the rest of the cast makes themselves comfortable at the burger joint. At least, Nick Zano, Tala Ashe, and Shayan Sobhian. Everyone else—Matt Ryan and Dominic Purcell—just sort of roam around, getting the occasional one-liner.

The burger joint plot line is mostly about Ashe and Sobhian figuring out how to work together without pestering each other, which provides a nice bit of character development with Zano’s roller-skating waiter in the shorty-suits providing the comic relief. Eventually the entire town becomes meat-hungry almost zombies (zombies who can run—and, presumably, recover from their meat lust) and raid the burger joint, requiring everyone to work together as a team. There’s a bit of a deus ex machina moment but it’s fine. I mean, Ashe and Sobhian are going to be the Wonder Twins, after all, some narrative shortcuts are fine. Especially since the plot device is a welcome cameo.

Chavez does rather well in her first outing on a mission (rather than being a mission), bringing the right amount of personality to the fight scenes and so on. I’d been a little worried last episode they’d pair her off with lovesick Zano but if it’s in the cards, it’s not yet. Chavez’s character arc is all about working with the Legends in general and Macallan specifically, with Chavez the only one being frank with Macallan (minus Purcell for a beat and also minus knowing it’s “Legends” so there’s time traveling chicanery in their futures).

The fifties tone is great. Talalay brings a whole bunch of energy to it, even though they’re basically at one time specific location—the burger joint and its parking lot—and otherwise they’re at various residences, which don’t need much time adjusting.

I was on board with the season’s gimmick—outrageous aliens in history—just because it’s “Legends,” but this episode shows they’re going to be imaginative with it; I’m a lot more confident, particularly since the show took the time with Sobhian and Ashe. Now they just need to figure out what to do with Zano. Especially with Chavez playing sidekick to Macallan.

And great guest turn from Kirsten Robek.

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).