“There are infinite ways to break a man... and I have an infinite amount of time.”
Every good story needs a conclusion. That’s exactly what Episode 5 of LEGENDS OF TOMORROW was. We finished a segment in the long tale that is the evil of Vandal Savage.
I think the beginning of the episode started off strong thanks largely in part to Stein and Savage himself. A grittier Martin Stein makes for a better Martin Stein if you ask me. We’re seeing a man having to go to some dark places to save his future. Another strong point was the Stalin mention by Vandal Savage. It continues to add to the mythos that really makes this character interesting. Stein mentioning the collapse of the Soviet Union also put a good non- fiction element into the story.
Since this was a conclusion to a story within the series, the plot was a little simple. Break out of the Gulag, save the team members and stop the creation of a Soviet Firestorm. But even though the plot was pretty simple, we still had some good character development.
The plan of killing Stein by Rip made put an interesting spin into the story. It now presents the idea that any member of the team could be expendable and anyone could be a pawn. When it comes to changing the future and saving the world, could any member of the team be worth the risk?
This was another good episode of chemistry between Ray Palmer and a member of the Rouges. Although I still could have done with a less bumbling Ray Palmer. I like how the criminal code of Mick Rory was questioned when Ray took the fall for him; it shows a lot of growth in Heatwave and what the team dynamic is doing to him. Another favorite from this episode was how memorized Rory was when he would stare at fire. That moment alone told us as much about his character as we would get in a whole episode of The Flash. How great did Heatwave’s scar tissue during the torture scene look too?
Like I said, the concept of rescuing Stein and possibly killing him was a good twist but everything came along a bit easy. I thought Sara resorted to killing Stein pretty quickly after lecturing Snart about following the plan and being a team. Stein also escaped pretty quickly...and Savage was just blown up like that? I understand the importance of storytelling and the limited window to do it, but the task was accomplished with a lot of ease.
Next week should make for a pretty interesting episode. New time period, new environment and new challenges. We should see a new dynamic to a challenge brought on by 2046 Oliver Queen and hopefully, one of my favorite DC villains, Slade Wilson.
Written by Mark Storey, LoT Beat Writer -- Click here to read Mark's posts.
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LEGENDS OF TOMORROW Season 1 Episode 4: An Even Colder Cold WarLEGENDS OF TOMORROW Season 1 Episode 3: A Savage Ceremony and a Team Divided