But fear not, the wait is over! Our crew is back in action, ready to mess up…I mean, fix time once again. And finally, some of our biggest questions are answered with the help of none other than…George Lucas?
That’s right the winter premiere of LEGENDS OF TOMORROW takes us back to a time that’s not so much far away but maybe a little far out. The 1960s.
At the end of the winter finale, Sara made the decision to save Stein’s life by turning over the much sought after amulet to the Legion of Doom (Reverse Flash, Damien Darhk, and Malcom Merlyn),thus giving them a head start on their path to find the Spear of Destiny and rewrite history in their favor. With no real aberrations to go off of, Gideon’s search is expanded to include odd deaths and other temporal anomalies. This is how we end up on a trip to Hollywood 1967, where our once fearless (and a lot more British) leader, Rip, is directing a movie with a young man named George Lucas as his assistant.
The Legends arrive at the set just in time to save George and Rip (who has no idea who he really is) from Merlyn and Darhk’s attack, but not quite quick enough to actually save the day (the usual). Rip ends up arrested, and young Lucas is left terrified out of his mind.
Sara decides to lead a mission to break Rip out of prison and bring their captain home. Of course, who is more qualified for a prison break than Dominic Purcell (except maybe his former partner, you know the one he is still seeing and talking to even though he died last season). Sara, Stein, and Rory gain access to Rip by posing as members of the medical team. But he refuses to admit he knows them, saying that the Waverider and its crew are nothing more than figments of his imagination, a story he has created for a movie.
Before they can convince him of his past, Darhk and Merlyn show up again (isn’t that always the way), and the team is forced to flee with the reluctant Rip in tow.
Once they are aboard the Waverider, they begin to evaluate what is going on with Rip. As the team tries to figure out why Rip would shut down Gideon and make physical contact with the time drive, something more horrible than anything that has ever happened on Legends occurs.
GEORGE LUCAS QUITS FILM SCHOOL.
After being accosted by the Legion of Doom, George decides to give up film making and pursue a much safer existence. This would obviously spell horror to any fangirl/boy across the galaxy, but it gets worse. Without Star Wars, Ray would never have been inspired to become a scientist/inventor. And without Indiana Jones, Nate would never have wanted to be a historian. And you know, life wouldn’t be all that great for the rest of us without those films either.
Without Ray and Nate the team isn’t capable of figuring out what’s going on with Rip, (not to mention he has a piece of the Spear of Destiny mixed in with all his film props), so Sara sends Amaya, Ray, and Nate off to find George Lucas and convince him to re-enroll in school. And you know, find the Spear of Destiny, if there’s time.
Line of the night definitely goes to Amaya when she told George Lucas he was their only hope.
While Stein is performing literal brain surgery on Mick in an attempt to get Snart out of his head, Ray, Amaya, Nate, and George get dropped into a dumpster by the Legion of Doom. It gets better when Merlyn decides to speed up their deaths. As the team is watching the dumpster close in on them, they try to wedge it open to slow the process. If you ever wondered where George Lucas’s inspiration came from, you won’t now. Thanks LEGENDS OF TOMORROW. The team convinces George to believe in himself and to promise he will make films no matter what, which causes time to right itself and the boys to regain their powers.
Just when it looks like our Legends might actually win one, Thawne shows up. But suddenly out of nowhere Rip comes out acting like the old captain (acting being the key word). And when his plan backfires because his gun doesn’t, Reverse Flash steals Rip away and the Legion of Doom escapes once more.
What’s great about this episode is that we get to see different team members relying on each other. In one case, that comes in the form of Jax giving Sara a pep talk when she feels like she has failed the team by not being able to save Rip. Jax reminds her that she is one of the strongest, most determined people in the world, and she will never stop until she accomplishes her goal.
The other connection is Rory confiding in and trusting Stein. The whole Snart time ghost situation has really damaged his mind, and having him reach out to Stein and actually trust him enough to tell him how he feels not just what he’s experiencing is a really great moment of character growth for Rory. I really hope that by the end of season 2 he will fully embrace his teammates and realize that even without Snart he’s never been alone.
But alone is exactly what Rip is. As he pieces together that he is in trouble he asks Thawne if he is going to torture him. Thawne gives him a small laugh and the slight moment of hope that he isn’t going to suffer at his hands. But that breath of peace is short lived as he turns to reveal Merlyn and Darhk coming in, letting him know that while he isn’t planning on hurting him, they definitely will.
All and all it was a fun way to kick off the second half of the season. Bringing in George Lucas was a great way to show the indirect connections that events of the past can have on the future, to show that a movie really can shape a person. Just as Rip’s movie script will literally shape the future of this season, leading us to the Spear of Destiny and our Captain’s lost memories.
Now that the crew knows Rip is alive, future episodes will no doubt focus more on the team trying to save him. But the Spear of Destiny is still in pieces, so there are still so many possibilities on where the future…or past…could lead them. In the battle to save the future will speed and magic trump science and skill? Can our Legends really take on a group of bad guys our heroes have yet to defeat? I guess, like with most things, only time will tell.
Written by Shannon Brewer, LoT Beat Writer -- Click to read Shannon's posts
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