“You better not drop my future criminal partner; otherwise you’re in trouble... comprende?”
Good news, I enjoyed this episode very much. It had a lot of good things and just a few bad. But hey, its Episode 12 of LEGENDS OF TOMORROW Season 1, we already know things are going to be back and forth. But now we have an episode that really uses the element of time travel, progresses characters and gives us an overall story that didn’t only make sense, it was entertaining.
From jump street, the Pilgrim really worked for me. Even though I thought she was a little bland, she was still made out to be an extremely credible threat. Props to this show for creating a good original character as well, fellow nerds who may recognize her from other cannon feel free to correct me below. Her blandness to her character really worked. Because even though I think this show has really dropped a ball with how much they expose viewers to Vandal Savage, they can’t let any of the other B- or C-villains outmatch him.
Looking at it from a big perspective I thought the story and the tone of the story was very good. I’ll say even top 4 for this season. This show is about time travel, and they used it repeatedly in this episode. The jumping around from timeline to timeline to save members of the team from the Pilgrim really worked. It was a bit muddled, but in the best of ways. Going back in time also provided great backstory for the characters that would have felt forced otherwise.
Speaking of forced, Ray and Kendra got engaged... maybe if I write about it less, it will be on the show less.
A moment that really stood out for me in Episode 12 was the relationship with Jax and Dr. Stein, two characters that have grown a lot in this series. Even though it wasn’t gut-busting action, it was nice to see Dr. Stein realize how Jefferson views him as a father figure. It was a very enjoyable CW moment. It also gave Jax a chance to really expose himself as a character and not just a comedic teenage voice.
It was interesting to see Rory interacting with his younger self. With as much as he’s gotten himself into in the past and where he’s been as Chronos, you’d think he’d be the last person who’d want to rewrite his past. Could he be headed for that same sort of anti-hero role as Snart?
I think there was a lot of good stuff with Rip in this episode as well. Like I touched on earlier, the story arc was a good way to reveal things that would have felt forced otherwise. We finally learned that Rip doesn’t feel too great about his past so now a lot of his actions in present make more sense, thanks to this episode. The moments with his adoptive mother were also a good little peak into his character. It helped us understand why he has done a lot of things he has.
Some freestyle thoughts from tonight’s episode:
- Whoever writes Rory’s dialogue, I want them to write all the dialogue for every DC show ever. Maybe even a Heatwave spinoff series.
- Keep it coming with Ray’s little pop culture one liners, his geekiness can be overwhelming but its super enjoyable during those moments.
- Incredible special effects during the freeze frame standoff with the Pilgrim. Even better effects then on THE FLASH.
- Was openly surprised that Rick offered his younger self to the Pilgrim, even though he had a much bigger plan
- Keep the problems BIG, it seems like whenever there are bigger problems at stake, like the fact that they could be erased from the time line, the episodes turn out better.
- Big, morally questionable problems = big payoffs. Big payoffs = good episodes.
Written by Mark Storey, LoT Beat Writer -- Click here to read Mark's posts
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