One of my favorite things about this episode was everyone pointing out that Darhk is destined to fail in the future, starting with Thawne at the very beginning. Telling a man like Darhk that his dastardly deeds are going to lead to his own destruction is undoubtedly a surefire way to get him to create new, way more evil plans, which is obviously exactly what Thawne is hoping for.
But Thawne and Darhk aren’t the only ones building new partnerships. As we join the crew of the Waverider, we get to see the best lessons in how to be an anti-hero ever as Mick tries to teach Ray what it takes to be cool. Ray, who is far from where he needs to be if he’s going to be anything like Snart (can anyone really ever have such a handle on the perfect villain voice like Wentworth did), tries to bring his own flavor and skill to the role, much to Mick’s disappointment.
Nate is also working on a team up. After years of studying the JSA, having a real life member of the group on the ship is like a dream come true. Only Vixen doesn’t see it that way. She isn’t looking to fraternize or reminisce about the team she left behind (and feels totally guilty about). Still all about the mission, she continues to brush him, and his requests to learn about his grandfather, off.
Lucky for her duty calls.
1987.
Shoulder pads. Amazing music (unless, of course, you share Mick’s views). Big, crimpy hair. And oh yeah, the Cold War.
Seems like the kind of place that would be perfect for a villain to swoop in and mess things up. Enter Damien Darhk, advisor to the Reagan administration?
As Nate and Amaya head to an old JSA training facility to find out what’s going on, the rest of the team heads to the White House to stop the time aberration from getting out of hand. When Mick and Ray discover that the person they are hunting down is Darhk, all thoughts turn to Sara. How will she react? Will the mission be compromised? Will she?
It doesn’t take long for us to get an answer on that one as she instantly turns her comms off and goes directly for Darhk, seeking her revenge once again. But this is the White House, at the height of the Cold War, and security is tight. Which, of course, means even one of the world’s greatest assassins isn’t about to go unnoticed (does she really try though?). When Mick, Ray, and Sara are outnumbered and cornered, it’s Firestorm that has to come in and save the day (we really gotta get this future tech/revenge thing under control). Stein tries to be the voice of reason, telling Sara she has to put her own feelings aside now that she is the leader of the Waverider and answers to a higher calling, but Sara refuses to make any such guarantees accusing Stein of not caring about anyone enough to understand her pain.
But even when she’s out for blood, somehow Sara’s rational leadership skills still manage to seep through, and when it’s time to send someone on a stakeout to see what Darhk is up to she assigns herself to stay behind.
Mick and Ray take on the stake out, quickly ending the awkwardness of the buddy comedy forming between them as Mick decides he would rather Ray just be himself as he can’t handle anyone trying to replace Snart like that (is there anything as adorable as Mick trying to not have feelings).
Darhk meets with a KGB member to broker a deal, which is bad enough, and it’s safe to say this could have been catastrophic, but to make matters worse a young Stein follows him there hoping to advance his career by propositioning Darhk for a meeting with the President. And because Stein at any age is still Stein, he has to call Darhk out for meeting with the enemy, unable to stop talking even when his life is obviously in danger. A stab to the gut leaves both young and old Stein bleeding out and dying.
As our older Stein recovers, he lets Sara know that he cares about her more than history and that he isn’t trying to keep her from killing Darhk for his sake, but for her own. A follow up conversation with Amaya (who is also on her own revenge mission. In case we forgot, she still hasn’t come close to figuring out Thawne killed Rex), presents Sara with another option as Amaya says she wants to arrest the killer, reminding Sara they are heroes not vigilantes.
We finally make it to our showdown with Darhk, which of course doesn’t lead to any resolution of our major battle because it’s way too early in the season for that. But, it does lead to something almost as important, since when given the opportunity to end him, Sara (like Dorothy might I add) calls Darhk out for the failure that he is. Sara tells him she isn’t going to kill him because she wants him to live long enough to see all the work he does for his big, bad plan be destroyed right before a city riots against him and kills him. She wants him to suffer because of his own shortcomings, not die because of hers.
We also get to see a great turning point for so many other characters as Mick helps Ray find his value (he can science his way out of anything), Stein gets to help his younger self realize his wife is his greatest treasure, and Amaya (through the help of a much older Obsidian) finally decides to open up to Nate (is there a potential romantic pairing coming for these two? Obsidian seems to hint at it). But our Legends aren’t the only ones who find their path. Fully aware of his future, Darhk doesn’t want to accept failure. And like I said, a man like Damien Darhk being ridiculed for his potential shortcomings is a dangerous thing. Especially with a partner like Thawne.
Our Legends are set to go back to the past next week (yay, Jonah Hex), but where did our Rogues go? Thawne is always on a path to rewrite history, and now Darhk is dead set on changing his own future, but where (or in their case when) will they strike? Is this part of the warning from future Barry? Is this where our 4 part crossover leads? Does Ollie really have to fight Darhk AGAIN!?
One thing’s for certain, the future (or possibly the past) is definitely going to darker (Darhker?) before it gets better.
Written by Shannon Brewer, LoT Beat Writer -- Click to read Shannon's posts
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