Legends of Tomorrow 3x18 Recap: "The Good, The Bad and The Cuddly" (A Fun, Fitting Finale) [Contributor: Marilyn]

"The Good, The Bad and The Cuddly"

Original Airdate: April 9, 2018

Well, I could tell just from the title alone that this was going to be an epic episode. But then, I’ve gotten to where I expect epic episodes from Legends of Tomorrow. This show consistently delivers, so long as you’re okay with your shows getting a little silly and poking fun at themselves (which I absolutely am). It’s what makes Legends of Tomorrow such a charming show. There’s not a lot to take too seriously here and that’s the fun of it. I wouldn’t accept this sort of campiness from Arrow, but on Legends, it absolutely works. And the show knows it too; they take it and run with it.

In the finale, we dive right into the final fight — directly where we left off at the end of the last episode. The team is fighting Mallus, who is an enormous demon now. Wally provides a distraction while the team retreats to the Waverider. Meanwhile, Rip sacrifices himself to help the team out in the final fight. He takes the time drive from Gideon and plans to use it on Mallus. When it becomes unstable, it will consume Mallus. It won’t kill him, but will delay him so the Legends can make their escape. He gives an emotional goodbye to Sara over the comms and then... he’s gone. And Mallus disappears from 1992.

The team is justifiably sad. Amaya tells them that it wasn’t the totems that failed in their fight against Mallus — they did. So they need to take the totems somewhere and hide them. Sara suggests the Old West. In particular, Salvation, North Dakota. Sara goes to see Damien and refuses to kill him. She wants him to live out his days knowing he destroyed his own daughter. That is pretty cold, Sara. But understandable. Ray has an idea that could fix everything and get Nora back. Damien is definitely interested in that.

In Salvation, the Legends roll into town in full Western gear and head right for the saloon for a strong drink. Because obviously drinking will help them come up with a plan. Sara suggests that they need proper totem bearers. Amaya and Zari were born to wield their totems, but the rest of them aren’t. They then spot Jonah Hex and promise him they’re not in town to cause trouble, but to avoid it. Of course, that’s when a possessed Caesar, Blackbeard, and Leif Erikson’s crazy Viking sister roll into town. So much for avoiding trouble.

There’s some funny banter-arguing over how to pronounce Mallus before Zari insists that it doesn’t matter. God, I love this show. Obviously, these guys want the totems and no one is giving them up. So there’s an ultimatum for them to surrender the totems at noon the next day. The team returns to the Waverider to regroup. Over there, Ray is loading Damien onto a shuttle. Nate interrupts them and Ray punches him out before taking off to get to Nora before her death.

Amaya is doing a vision quest — going back to talk to her ancestors about the totems. She thinks they’re the right people to wield the totems, but they need to know how. She feels responsible for Mallus being released, so she has to be the one to do this. Nate insists on going on the vision quest with her. Of course, he overindulges and gets super high instead. But this Nate is a delight so I’m not complaining. The two see the ancient totem bearers holding hands in a circle, focusing, and the powers from the totems joining together into one power — a being of light. Sorta like Voltron.

Zari is trying to find new totem bearers, per Sara’s request, and has a little moment with Jonah. They make a friendly wager about the “smoke signal” that Zari is sending out to ask for help. Meanwhile, Nate calls everyone to the bridge and, with Amaya, they tell everyone what they learned. Lo and behold, Nate invokes Voltron which just confirms that he’s my favorite. Great minds think alike! Amaya tells Sara that they need her to wield the death totem, and she relents. They go outside to “practice” joining their totems together with Amaya coaching them through it. She tells them to envision the perfect warrior and the totems activate. But they’re all thinking of different things, despite being in one another's minds. Amaya warns them to clear their minds and the totems join powers. But what comes out is a misshapen monster that Mick immediately lights on fire and kills. Amaya wants them to try again but Sara wants to find people who are worthy.

That’s when the cavalry shows up! Ava, Helen of Troy, Kuasa (how?!), and Jax arrive to help. All of them are changed, thanks to things the Legends has done. Kuasa followed a lighter path, Helen is totally an Amazon warrior having lived on Themyscira, and Jax has a family. Holy cow. He’s married with a child and I did not see that coming! Aww, he named her Martina. That’s so sweet. I miss Stein.

Meanwhile, Ray and Darhk are back in 1992 in Zambesi and they’re running out of time to come up with a good plan of how to save Nora. They approach her and Darhk uses the nanite gun on her, just like Ray did once upon a time. He holds her in his arms and tells her he did it because he couldn’t watch her become a monster just like him. However, Mallus taunts them — killing Nora’s body won’t stop him. He leaps into Darhk and Damien orders Ray to take Nora back to the Waverider before he morphs into the giant demon. So that’s how Darhk dies. That’s almost noble. Back on the Waverider, Ray revives Nora and explains what Damien did to save her. He holds her as she screams out her grief.

Meanwhile in Salvation, Ava lays some truth on Sara. They aren’t there to wield the totems, just to provide help. The Legends have to be the ones to do the work. Ray arrives with Nora in tow and quickly explains what happened. They fill him on what’s going on there and then... time’s up. The Viking, Pirate, and Roman armies — all possessed — show up. Sara gives the team a great pep talk: “Today is the day we earn the name Legends!” If you ask me, they’ve earned it already. This whole show has. It’s the characters that ground these fantastical elements. Their reactions to the situations and each other are so relatable that you can excuse the ridiculous (as well as enjoy it) because they’re reacting like any average person would. If that doesn’t make them Legends, I don’t know what does.

Sara taunts the armies with the totems and the battle begins. Everyone gets a chance to shine in the fight that follows. The team wins fairly easily, but of course that’s not the end of it. It’s just the beginning. The armies reanimate and the Legends don’t have much time. So part of the team runs off to try combining their totems while the others hold off the armies and buy them time. But the bad news comes when the armies stop fighting and all kneel: Mallus is here. The team is busy imagining a powerful light, goodness, and Sara warns them to focus. There’s a Ghostbusters moment where Nate thinks of Beebo and so everyone else does too. And that’s what they manifest.

The giant Beebo faces off against Mallus and everyone watches on, stunned. And the big stuffed blue thing does a pretty good job of kicking the demon’s butt. “Beebo want CUDDLE!” And with a piledrive to end all piledrives, Mallus is defeated in a giant heart-shaped poof of stuffing and fur. The Legends climb out of the resulting crater, proud of themselves. As they should be. I LOVE THIS SHOW.

All the non-possessed armies are sent back to their own proper times and everyone says their goodbyes to their allies. The Legends give up the totems to Kuasa who takes them back to Zambesi. Bureau agents are taking Nora away but Ray stops them to give her something of Damien’s: his time stone. He’s giving her a second chance and he warns her not to waste it. Jonah Hex gives Zari his hat (and they flirt) which is interesting. Amaya tells Zari and Sara that she has to go home to her other family, and Sara tells her she’ll always be welcome on the Waverider. Nate drops Amaya off on Zambesi and it’s a bittersweet goodbye. He’s about to wipe her memories but she stops him — she doesn’t want to forget this time.

The rest of the team heads to Aruba to celebrate their victory with a well-earned vacation. They’re joined by Gary — dressed up as Constantine — which gives them a moment. That’s when Constantine himself shows up and chides the all for opening up a door when they let Mallus out of his cage. Now, there’s all sorts of nasties out there. But that’s a problem for next season.

Thanks for joining me as I recapped Legends of Tomorrow this season. It’s been an actual joy. I adore this show and hopefully those of you reading these recaps love it too. It’s absurd, but in the best way possible. I’ll miss these goofs until they return to my TV screen next season!

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Legends of Tomorrow 3x17 Recap: "Guest Starring John Noble" (Make America Grodd Again) [Contributor: Marilyn]

"Guest Starring John Noble"

Original Airdate: April 2, 2018

Listen. I neither like Grodd nor the stupid slogan they’re poking fun of, but I like Legends of Tomorrow and I like their irreverent treatment of current events (and past events and future events...) so I’m willing to wave that annoying tagline aside as I dig in to what I hear is a pretty darn funny episode.

We begin almost exactly where we left off last week: Nate gathers the team on the bridge of the Waverider to tell them that one of the shuttles has been taken. They soon learn it was Amaya who took it back to 1992. But before they can go after her, they get a call from Rip Hunter. Grodd is going after Barack Obama at college in 1979. So they split up again — Wally and Nate go to Zambesi to talk some sense into Amaya, with Sara and the others going to save Obama. There’s a particularly amusing moment where Ray tells Obama to “Run, Barry, run!” before shrinking the overgrown gorilla. Sara zaps Obama’s memories so he won’t remember them.

Meanwhile, Mallus is rapidly taking over Nora’s body, much to Damien’s alarm. He fears that when the demon finally escapes his prison, his daughter will die. He’s a villain, yes, but right now his biggest concern is losing his daughter. He tells her he’s going to go check on Grodd, but he goes to the Legends instead.

In Zambesi, Nate and Wally quickly find Amaya and they try to talk her out of interfering. But it’s not working. While Sara and the team are headed back to the Waverider, they run into Damien. He needs their help. The team is rightfully skeptical of trusting him so he gives them the water totem as a gesture of good faith. He explains how he wants to save his daughter and stop Mallus, because otherwise she’ll die. Ray tries to get the team to give Damien a chance. Ava wants to take him into custody, but Sara chooses to trust him. For now. Ava’s not happy about that.

Meanwhile, Nate and Wally encounter the older Amaya where she’s presiding over a ceremony passing down the spirit totem to her daughter, Esi. But she’s chosen not to show up, much to the older Amaya’s consternation. Nate and Wally go ask the young Amaya what’s going on. She tells them she’s planning to convince her daughter to take the totem, which could save the village. Wally wants to adhere to the timeline but Nate is on Amaya’s side, offering to go talk to the older Amaya.

Sara really wants to kill Damien because she still hasn’t forgiven him for killing Laurel. And she’s annoyed right back at Ava for trusting Rip when he’d lied to her about being a clone. Sara wants Ava to talk to Rip about it and find out the rest of the story. So instead, Sara goes to talk to Obama for advice. He accepts the whole story from her pretty easily, considering. He urges her to go for the more unorthodox approach and she tells him she really misses him (honey, you’re not alone) before wiping his memories. Again.

Sara tells Darhk that she still doesn’t trust him but she’ll work with him under one condition: she gets to kill him when this is over. To restore the proper timeline, of course. And maybe soothe her need for revenge. That too. Damien agrees a little too readily. Shouldn’t that be setting off some warning bells or something? Together, they all plan a way to capture Nora. She’ll only listen to Mallus, so Ray wants to pretend to be Mallus and shrink down and go into her ear. They hear a voice that sounds exactly like aollus and it turns out to be Denethor on Lord of the Rings, which Mick is watching. So they travel to when the movie was being filmed and Ray approaches John Noble at his trailer, giving him new lines from Peter Jackson. He reads them and Ray records him. Very sneaky. And I’m cracking up.

In Zambesi, young Amaya approaches Esi, telling her she’s a distant cousin, and talks to her about taking the totem. She doesn’t want it, despite it being her destiny her whole life. She doesn’t feel she can live up to her mother’s example. So Amaya gives her a pep talk and it works. Meanwhile, Nate goes to take the totem from old Amaya’s room but she wakes up and stops him. She doesn’t recognize him so he shows her pictures of the two of them on his phone. She’s shook. He explains the Legends to her and she wants to know why he’s there. He said he wanted to keep his promise to her — to make sure Esi gets the totem. He tells her to make sure her daughter knows her mother is on her side.

Damien goes to Nora and she’s furious that Mallus is still imprisoned. While she’s distracted, a miniaturized Ray flies into Nora’s ear and plays the altered recording they got from John Noble. She hears “Mallus” tell her to go to the Waverider, take the totems, and follow Damien there. She’s eager to do Mallus’ bidding and so they go. Of course, she realizes she’s been tricked but before she can act against them, she’s trapped by magic. Damien talks to her, trying to reason with her. Mallus taunts him that Nora is gone, and that she willingly gave over to him.

Ava asks Rip why he picked her, and lets him know that she knows about the clone thing. But why did he pick her out of all of them? He said he erased her memory because that was “easier.” Then, she learns that she’s not the first Ava Sharpe. There have been eleven before her. This news rattles her. Sara talks to Damien and they have a bit of a heart-to-heart. He tells her that being without love makes people like them into monsters. That hits a little too close to home, and she walks off.

In Zambesi, young Amaya and Nate watch old Amaya give the totem to Esi. She thinks she erased her memory when she returned, and that’s why she didn’t remember Nate or the Legends. On the Waverider, the team is looking for a loophole that allows the village to be saved. Sara wonders if the only way to kill Mallus is to let him out. And so maybe that means they need to save the village and wield the totems in order to fight him when they do. Damien offers to wield the death totem, since he shares that quality with Sara. Ava hates the plan and goes to leave. Sara tries to stop her, telling her that she loves her but Ava insists there is no her to love and departs.

Wally and Ray go to Zambesi to tell Nate and Amaya what’s happening. They join them back on the Waverider and the team divides up the totems. Nate takes earth and Ray takes water. Damien sees a vision of Nora and she tells him that she’s not dead yet — that she’s still fighting Mallus. She says she made a mistake and apologizes. Damien is swayed by the vision and so he releases Grodd (and embiggens him to normal size) to destroy the village. Sara is angry but Damien insists he needs history to run its course so he can save his daughter.

Esi is trying to fight Grodd and Amaya runs out to help her, but Damien knocks her aside. Nate promises to help and Wally tries to take the totem from Damien, but he uses magic to stop the speedster. The team tries to fight him but they can’t and he pleads with them to let him save his daughter. Meanwhile, Esi is getting her butt kicked by Grodd. The gorilla takes out old Amaya and Nate charges in with the earth totem and flings Grodd away. Looks like he finally had the right motivation.

Damien frees Nora and Ray confronts him, but is unable to call up the totem. While he’s distracted choking Ray, Sara stabs Damien in the back, stopping him. He’s not dead, just injured. Meanwhile, Mallus gets free of his prison and takes over Nora’s body, killing her for good. Well... that sure backfired, didn’t it Damien? The actual Mallus is enormous and pretty freaky and he flies off.

Looks like the team has their work cut out for them. And by the looks of next week’s episode, the battle is going to be epic — in true Legends style.

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Legends of Tomorrow 3x16 Recap: "I, Ava" (Totems and Avas) [Contributor: Marilyn]

"I, Ava"

Original Airdate: March 26, 2018

Sara needs a personal day. Given how the last episode ended, with her breaking things off with Ava, I’m not surprised. She names Amaya as interim captain and takes off. The team is doing what they usually do (including Mick testing out his new totem by using it to cook food) when they get an alert for a new anomaly: Amaya’s granddaughter, Mari, is in the hospital, injured because she never received her spirit totem from Amaya. Ray calls Sara back and that’s about when Gary shows up to tell them that Ava has gone missing.

Sara, Ray, and Gary go to Ava’s office and find that all her personnel files have been erased from the Time Bureau’s system. And at the hospital where Mari is, Kuasa shows up and when Wally and Nate catch up with her, they learn she’s there to protect Mari — not hurt her. So she wasn’t the one who put her there.

At Ava’s parents house, Sara, Ray, and Gary discover that her parents haven't seen Ava in months... and are super fishy about it. When Sara threatens the mother, they reveal that they aren’t Ava’s parents after all. They were hired by someone to pose as her parents.

Back on the Waverider, Mick and Zari are sitting out the adventures because Zari has been tasked with teaching Mick how to use his new totem. Sara, Gary, and Ray meanwhile go to the Bureau and are surprised to find Ava there. She’s acting strangely and when pressed, says she was in Fresno visiting her parents — which they of course know is a lie. Sara wants to know what’s going on.

Kuasa takes Nate and Wally to Mari’s gym and they get her to agree to help them find the spirit totem for Mari — since she’d rather her sister have it than the Darhks — even though the evil duo frightens her. At the Bureau, the team learns that Ava went to Vancouver in 2213, which is a “no fly zone.” So Ava is clearly hiding something there; is she an anachronism herself? To find out, the trio steals the Bureau’s mothership and flies to 2213... where there are Avas everywhere. Sara thinks this place is hell, clearly. As it turns out, Ava is a clone, created by the Ava (Advanced Variant Automation) Corporation.

Meanwhile Nate, Wally, and Kuasa are trying to plan how to get the totem from the Darhks. Kuasa rules out an ambush, wanting to instead lure the Darhks to them. Amaya checks in with Nate, wanting to know what’s going on with Mari. He gives her an update, but leaves out that they’re working with Kuasa. They don’t want anything to happen to Amaya (thus winking Kuasa and Mari out of existence) so Wally is tasked with keeping her safe.

At the Ava Corporation, Ray, Sara, and Gary sneak in and do some investigating. Sara feels that what she had with Ava isn’t real now. One of the newly-made clones wakes up and declares they have no clearance to be there. She fights the group and Sara knocks her out, so they tie her up.

With Nate as bait, the Darhks show up. Kuasa requests the spirit totem in exchange for Nate, and Nora is happy to hand it over. Nate expects he’ll be freed now but Kuasa changes her mind, seeing Nate as a threat to her existence. So she gives Nate over to the Darhks and leaves with the totem.

In 2213, the “real” Ava shows up, having tracked Ray, Sara, and Gary and it becomes clear that she has no idea she’s a clone. Learning that she is causes her to pass out. Meanwhile, Nora threatens Nate. When she leaves, Damien reveals that he’s uncomfortable with the influence that Mollus has over his daughter. The closer he gets to escaping, the worse things are for Nora. Damien is so upset by all of this that he doesn’t even want to torture Nate.

Ava wakes up and she’s forgotten she’s a clone. Ray thinks they should tell her, but Sara isn’t so sure. Before they can decide what to do, they realize the clone Ava they knocked out has escaped. Back on the Waverider, Zari is getting frustrated with Mick and they get into a fight which — to be fair — he had coming. Kuasa, meanwhile, shows up with the totem and Amaya learns that Wally has been hiding what’s really been going on (and that Nate is being held hostage). Kuasa gives her a guilt trip over not saving her village and getting involved with Nate. Amaya tells her granddaughter that she’s beyond redemption.

Ava tells Sara that she regrets them not being together, but the situation can’t be dealt with at the moment because an army of Avas have arrived to take them out. This leads to the real Ava having a bit of an identity crisis, questioning if she’s real or not. Sara tells her she believes in her — she’s real to her. So the real Ava poses as one of the clones and tells the army that she’ll take the “intruders” outside and dispose of them. Before they can get away, however, the clone Ava that the team had tied up interrupts them, calling out this Ava as a “fake.” Together, the four fight all the Avas, including the army, and eventually knock all of them out.

In 2018, Damien is pretending to torture Nate until Nora figures out what is happening and knocks her father out. Amaya and Wally arrive to save Nate but Nora takes away Wally’s speed. Amaya uses the spirit totem she got from Kuasa to break Nora’s magical hold and Kuasa shows up to free Nate. Wally gets his powers back, as does Nate, and they all team up with Kuasa to try to defeat Nora. Kuasa stands up to her, trying to appeal to the human beneath Mollus’ influence. It doesn’t work, however: Nora rips the water totem away from Kuasa and it kills her. Nora gets away, taking her father with her.

Everyone returns to the Waverider and Ray mind-wipes Gary so he won’t recall 2213 (and the clone thing). Nate tries to comfort Amaya about Kuasa and apologize for keeping things from her but she pushes him away, saying she doesn’t want to have anything more to do with him. She blames her attachment to him for the troubles her family has faced. Zari and Mick make up, something made easier by her fast being over so they share a meal together. They both felt Kuasa die and it sobered them, making them realize these totems connect them all. Sara and Ava have a drink together and realize that Rip is the one who recruited her so maybe he is the one who erased Ava’s files at the Bureau and Sara wants to get to the bottom of why he would do that. Amaya takes a shuttle and sets off to go back in time to Zambezi in 1992 to save Kuasa.

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Legends of Tomorrow 3x15 Recap: "Necromancing the Stone" (The Death Totem) [Contributor: Marilyn]

"Necromancing the Stone"

Original Airdate: March 19, 2018

In this episode, Sara wakes up from a nightmare featuring a creepy little girl who looks like Nora from the asylum. Ava tries to comfort Sara, but she doesn’t want to talk about the nightmare. Apparently, however, Sara called out John’s name while asleep and Ava is feeling a bit jealous. Sara explains Constantine and his role in her life, and Ava’s ego is soothed when Sara calls her her girlfriend. Gideon son calls Sara to the bridge, and Ava jets off to rejoin the Bureau.

Mollus is doubling down on anachronisms so the Legends need to split into teams to deal with it. Amaya and Zari team up, while Nate and Wally form another team. Mick opts to stay behind and help Ray with the fire totem. That leaves Sara on her own to sort out some mess with Einstein. Before Sara can get anywhere though, she notices something strange: the death totem is making an awful racket in her mind. She goes to it and sees a vision of her former self as the Canary — the first Canary in Arrow — telling her that the totem has chosen her and she needs to pick it up. I mean, it makes sense. Sara has died... how many times now? If anyone on the team should wield the death totem, it’s probably her.

Amaya and Zari return after their mission and find Mick asleep, Ray beat to a pulp in his lab, and someone on board, sabotaging the ship and its crew. Zari sticks with Ray in the med bay while Mick and Amaya go off in search of what’s wrong. They find it in the galley: Sara is wearing the death totem but she’s clearly not well. Has Mollus come to play again? She looks like a zombie ninja warrior goddess. Amaya and Mick are no match for her, and Amaya tries to appeal to the Sara that’s still inside. Sara can hear Amaya while Mollus taunts her — that this is exactly what she feared would happen. Wally saves Mick and Amaya from getting totaled by Death!Sara. Zari realizes they need Constantine’s help, since it sounds like Mollus is definitely in the driver's seat of Sara's body. Ava calls and is alarmed, to say the least so the team fills her in on what’s happened with Sara.

Sara has activated the “Nostromo Sequence,” which has the team trapped on the Waverider with locked doors and no power. Wally tries to help subdue Sara so they can get the Waverider working again. She taunts Wally with a vision of Jesse, which distracts him long enough for her to take him out with a freeze ray. In the present-day, Gary and Ava are hunting down Constantine in New York City and find him chasing a chicken as a part of a ritual to get his neighbor’s son married. Don’t ask. John knows that Sara has been taken over by Mollus. Ava tells him that the death totem is involved, and that changes things. Apparently there’s some connection between the death totem, Mollus, and Zambezi. Maybe Sara has something to do with it.

John is tickled to learn Ava has slept with Sara too, and she insists on joining him to the realm of Mollus to save Sara. Mollus isn’t too happy about that, of course. Meanwhile on the Waverider, the team is looking for Sara and Wally, and Nate finds the latter. Wally’s okay but he needs the med bay. Zari is about to take a wrench to Gideon’s inner workings so they can escape on a shuttle when she’s interrupted by a vision of her brother as a young boy. She regretfully turns her back on him but Gideon knocks her back and then Death!Sara attacks. Zari repels her at first with wind, but Sara isn’t that easy to knock down. Zari pleads with Sara to fight Mollus and gets through to her for a moment.

Constantine is searching for another way to get to Sara and there’s a delightful reference to Beebo, whom everyone but Ava seems to love. John says Ava is wound a bit tight, which is putting it lightly. Ava is, however, and she’s stressing about her relationship with Sara in the midst of all of this. John tells her that Sara is worth the trouble. Gary, meanwhile, has an idea borrowed from a Dungeons and Dragons campaign from the previous year, which is strangely fitting for their current situation. Yay, Gary! Apparently, they need another totem to fight Sara. Someone needs to wield the earth totem, so Nate volunteers.

The Legends can do this as long as they don’t split up! Of course, they split up because that’s what Sara wants them to do. Meanwhile in Sara’s mind, Nora Darhk is telling Sara she can’t fight Mollus. Nora blames her path on Oliver killing Damien, but Sara tells her that her path was a choice. Then, Nora shows Sara the things she has done on her own path, including killing a father for the League. Once a killer, always a killer? Nora tries to get Sara to embrace her past and join the Darhks, telling her that this is her destiny.

Nate finds the earth totem and picks it up but has a hard time connecting with it. Death!Sara finds him. So now the fire totem is their last chance to stop Death!Sara. Zari and Amaya are weakened, so clearly Mick should be the one to wield it. It seems fitting, right? Constantine, Gary, and Ava arrive at the Waverider and interrupt Sara from beating up Nate. Constantine tries to expel Mollus from inside Sara, but Death!Sara tries to trip him up the same way she has the rest of the team. But he gets Sara to take his hand and tries to free her.

Mick, wielding the totem, distracts Death!Sara and she lets John go, running off to confront the other totem bearer. They face off, power against power, and Mick overwhelms her. Nora continues to try to get Sara to join with her and Damien, and Ava begs Sara to fight back. Sara can hear Ava and feel her and it gives her the impetus to fight back against Nora. She doesn’t want a life without pain and regret — she doesn’t want to be a demon’s lackey; Sara wants to do better than she has in the past. She fights back and returns, with Death!Sara no more.

John and Sara commiserate over their lives, and he admits that is why he likes to work alone. But he also tells Sara that Ava is a good one. Sara apologizes to Ray and the rest of the team, believing that Mollus uses each of their deepest fears against them... which freaks the team out a bit. Sara tells Ava they need to talk, with Sara believing that she really is death — it will always be a part of her. Ava argues; she doesn’t care about Sara's past. But Sara says that she should. She breaks up with Ava, leaving them both miserable.

I get why Sara feels she needs to push Ava away. I really do. We saw the same thing with Oliver and Felicity on Arrow's third, fourth, and fifth seasons. Sara isn’t comfortable with the darkest part of herself and she’s scared to death that it will hurt those she loves. She has a hard enough time letting her team in and being vulnerable with them. But someone even closer than that? Someone to share her heart with? It’s a tall order for our Captain Lance.

On the totem front, Mick bonding with the fire totem makes so much sense; I don't know why I didn’t think of that sooner. And the same goes for Sara and the death totem, though I imagine she’ll be understandably hesitant to wield it again anytime soon. But who should wield the earth totem? Nate didn’t seem to have the touch. Will it be Ray? Wally? Someone else altogether? I have some questions.

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Legends of Tomorrow 3x13 Recap: "No Country for Old Dads" (Blast to the Past) [Contributor: Marilyn]

"No Country for Old Dads"

Original Airdate: March 5, 2018

So to kick off "No Country for Old Dads," Sara and Ava are enjoying a domestic morning together when Zari interrupts them in the galley, and they realize that Ray isn’t around. They ask Gideon — who doesn’t know either — but tells them they are being hailed by Gary at the Time Bureau. He found a phone with a message on it... from Ray.

Ray then informs them about his abduction by the Darhks. The team also learns that Nora can’t control Amaya’s totem until she connects with it spiritually. And Darhk can’t use his fire totem that he stole until he “fixes” it.

Sara is looking for Ray when Rip and Wally step aboard the ship and explain their presence. Rip wants to atone for the bad he’s done, and Wally runs just a bit afoul of Mick. You know, normal team stuff. Meanwhile, Darhk wants Ray to fix his fire totem. Obviously, Ray refuses — until Darhk threatens to kill Ray's mother. So he relents and says he needs a lab. The Darhks take him to the Upswipz HQ (where Ray worked, if you recall) and Damien torments the CEO while Nora tells Ray to get to work. Damien is using the app to try to find a date, frustrated that the only person he’s matched with is Carrie Cutter. Haaaaaa.

Ray tells Darhk the bad news that he can’t “restart” the fire totem unless they either travel back to the Big Bang or invent cold fusion. Which is impossible, of course. Well that is until Damien reveals that it’s actually happened before; he just murdered the scientist who made the breakthrough back in 1962. Damien’s ready to go back to East Berlin and stop his younger self but Nora tells him he can’t do that because if he runs into young!Damien, bad things will happen. Instead, she wants to go back with Ray, which Damien thinks is a terrible idea — she could get hurt! But he gives her a gun and his begrudging blessing.

Unfortunately, Vogel (the scientist) won’t work with Ray and Nora until he’s sure that his family is safe. Of course, they’re all working against a clock with young!Darhk on his way to murder Vogel. It’s not as easy as it sounds. (Aside: there’s an interesting kind of chemistry between Ray and Nora, but that's probably only because of the fact that the actors are married. Nora is about to use their time travel doodad to bring them back to the future when young!Damien shoots it, destroying it. They make a quick escape in a truck but Damien is on their tail.

Nora wants to torture Vogel, but Ray convinces her not to — along with Vogel, who tells her he’s already endured the most pain by losing his family. He won’t give up the secret to cold fusion until he’s reunited with them. Nora’s supremely frustrated, mostly because her dad sees her as a little kid, not as an equal. Ray says it's not all lost; they just need to get Vogel across the border into West Germany and reunite him with his family. Nora thinks it’s impossible since she can’t use her magic. Ray says they just need to forge papers. So they set about doing it themselves using a lab that is currently not occupied. Aww look, they’re bonding.

In the present, Darhk is upset that Nora and Ray didn’t come right back like they’d promised. He pours his heart out to the deceased CEO of Upswipz and then decides to go after Nora, traveling back to 1962. Meanwhile, Ray, Nora, and Vogel are trying to get across the border with their forged papers. It’s a bit dicey but Nora brings the scary and they’re admitted. But young!Darhk has them in his sights. Before he can shoot, however, a body appears. It’s our version of Damien Darhk. Oh dear. He gets in the car with Nora and Ray while young!Darhk is still shooting at them. The car speeds away from the checkpoint, regrettably back into East Berlin.

Back at the office where they forged the papers, the Darhks get into an argument when Damien wants to bring Vogel back to 2018 to torture cold fusion out of him. Nora explains how that won’t work and then accuses Darhk of never really caring about her. After all, what sort of father forces his daughter to merge with a demon? She’s got a point. Damien tells her that Ray’s kindness has infected her and made her soft. Nora walks out and runs right into young!Darhk.

Meanwhile, our Darhk complains to Ray that he can’t connect with Nora. Ray urges Darhk to tell his daughter how he feels — how he’s proud of her. Young!Damien calls to barter for Nora’s freedom in exchange for them handing over Vogel. This leads Old!Damien to mutter angrily, “I’m going to kick my ass.” God, I love this show. He ties up Ray and runs off to save his daughter, taking Vogel and his doll with him.

Of course, that’s all easier said than done and while the elder Damien has magic, the younger is in better physical shape and he gets the upper hand. Young!Damien throws Nora off the roof and our Damien struggles to hold her up with his magic and try to fend off the younger version of himself. She tells him to let her go and, rather reluctantly, he does, shouting that he loves her. In that moment, Nora’s finally able to activate the spirit totem she’s been wearing and uses it to fly back onto the roof. She saves her father from his younger self.

While back at the office, Ray spots his Atom suit and voice activates it. But when he gets to the roof, he finds that Voegl has been shot and is dying. Before he dies, Vogel reveals to Ray that the secret to cold fusion is in the doll. Ray tries to take the doll but Nora uses the totem to stop him. He can’t shoot Nora, so instead he blows up a nearby building, hoping the resulting time quake will alert the Legends to where (and when) to find him.

On the Waverider, Amaya encourages Zari to ingest an herb which will guide her on a vision quest to help them locate Amaya’s totem. The spirit world looks pretty tainted and Amaya says something is wrong. They encounter Amaya’s ancestor and she explains that her totem is in the possession of someone evil and that they are corrupting it. The ancestor warns that they need to get Kuasa and her totem back as well. She also tells them that if time breaks, then Mollus will be freed and bad things will happen.

Ava tells Sara that the Bureau still can’t find Ray, and Sara is throwing knives at a picture of Darhk. Frustration abounds. So of course she chills out by kissing Ava, and Rip sees them. Meanwhile, Ray’s gambit worked, but it worked a little too well — the aberration has done significant damage to time. The Legends then travel back to 1962 to repair the damage before time can break... and to save Ray too. Wally snatches the fire totem from Damien before the Darhks use their time travel technology and disappear.

The team reunites happily back on board the Waverider. Ray fixes the fire totem and works on the cold fusion, while Amaya fills everyone in on what she and Zari learned. Things are great, until Director Bennett of the Time Bureau is trampled by Gorilla Grodd during a briefing with Ava. Ava’s shaken... and also now apparently the director. One of her first acts? She reinstates Rip as a Time Agent. Elsewhere, Ray and Nate talk about Nora, and Nate tells Ray he thinks he has is attracted to her. Obviously, Ray does have feelings and thinks there’s hope for her. Nate warns him to protect his heart. Wally decides to stay with the Legends — after a little coercing from Sara and Rip — and Ava leaves to join the Time Bureau. Rip asks Ava about Sara and she admits that she has feelings for the White Canary. Rip asks Gideon to delete a file that contains the “truth” about Ava. Uh-oh.

The Darhks lick their metaphorical wounds — especially after losing the fire totem. But their relationship seems to be fixed somewhat, when Damien apologizes for taking her for granted and not letting her know how great she is. He gets choked up, but Nora gets a little reminder from Mollus about who is in charge. Double uh-oh!

All told, this episode was a delight, as Legends of Tomorrow episodes often are. The highlight was easily Damien Darhk and his quick-witted quips. He’s showing more and more heart lately too, which is actually kind of nice. Wow, a redemption I might actually care about! Hey, Arrow — take notes! Anyway, Wally is now a Legend and Ava has a secret and things are cooking right along. Next week? Elvis!

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Legends of Tomorrow 3x12 Recap: "The Curse of the Earth Totem" (AAAARGH! Pirates!) [Contributor: Marilyn]

"The Curse of the Earth Totem"

Original Airdate: February 26, 2018

We open this week of Legends of Tomorrow in the Bahamas: 1717. It looks a bit like Canada, if you ask me, just with some palm plants placed strategically here and there. Pirates disembark from their boat, striding onto land. One of them is Blackbeard and the other is his girlfriend, Annie. They seem quite enamored with one another and he gives her a giant emerald which she puts around her neck. But there’s something that takes hold of her, and she’s soon bound by vines conjured by the necklace.

Meanwhile on the Waverider in the present-day, the Legends are tracking down the totems. They have two, Darhk has one, and that means there are two still out there — Fire and Earth. The Fire totem is in Detroit with Mari’s boyfriend. They should go try to get it from him but Amaya is nervous about running into her other granddaughter and screwing up her history.

While the others track down the totems, Sara is taking a little time off to go on a date — something she’s uneasy about. She and Ava meet at a restaurant in current-day Star City. Both of them are very nervous and clearly out of their element.

The Legends on the Waverider soon learn that Darhk got to the Fire totem before they did. The good news is that Nate learned where to find the Earth totem. It’s in 1717, in the possession of a man known as Blackbeard the pirate. Or at least it was. Chances are the pirate knows where to find it though. The Legends discuss calling Sara about this but they don’t want to interrupt her date. Nate suggests they leave without her.

So the team poses as pirates and go head into the past Nassau. They discover a pub and ask around about Blackbeard, wanting to join his crew. Amaya tells Mick what’s on her mind — how she wants to help Kuasa but she’s nervous about changing time. He tells her she should act like a pirate and live for the moment. So Mick spreads rumors about how fearsome the Dread Pirate Jiwe is, in order to give Amaya an excuse to let go. Blackbeard shows up right then and introductions are made. With Mick’s help, Amaya reveals to Blackbeard that she’s looking for the emerald necklace. British soldiers led by Darhk show up just then, looking for Blackbeard. He takes Amaya’s totem. Blackbeard offers to draw Darhk a map to the necklace, much to Mick and Amaya’s dismay.

On the date, Sara and Ava talk a bit about themselves. Sara learns Ava has read her file, and knows about her sister. Gideon calls Sara’s voicemail to tell her what the team has done. She tries to play it off to Ava as fine, but their decision’s clearly weighing on her. Still, she doesn’t want to leave the date — not when they’re finally warming up to one another.

On the Waverider, Gideon is freaking out because she’s parked in the Bermuda Triangle, which is messing with her — big time. Zari tells Ray and Nate they need to time jump or the Waverider might disappear. Or something like that. The threat was never super clear.

Rip, meanwhile, is talking to Wally — trying to convince him to help save the universe. He seems to give in easily, offering the speedster a drink. Rip and Wally end up getting drunk (he drinks rocket fuel... the only thing that does the trick). Wally admits that he misses his old friends. Rip spills his heart about his own troubles too; he wants to make it up to everyone he’s let down. So Wally helps him, stealing a time courier off Gary the Time Bureau agent. Wally also steals Rip his brown coat back.

Blackbeard swears the necklace is cursed. He, Amaya, and Mick are about to be executed but the pirates rise up and chaos and sword play ensues. Meanwhile, Darhk is firing canon balls at the Waverider. Yes, really. Nate pilots the Waverider out of there before they’re all destroyed.

In Star City, Ava is alerted by Gary that Rip tore off his time courier (and his coat) and they’re super nervous about what he might do with it. While that is going on, Sara witnesses the Waverider crash landing and leaves the restaurant. Guess the date is over! So what has Rip done with his own personal time travel device, you ask? Obviously bond with Wally. The pair ends up in Tokyo in 1992, singing "Careless Whisper" together at a karaoke club. I could not make this up if I tried.

Sara returns to the Waverider, and Nate and Ray fill her in on what’s going on. Sara is upset and frustrated, instructing Zari to fix the Waverider so they can go help Mick and Amaya. Speaking of the pair, they are frustrated with Blackbeard who’s suffering from some sort of self-consciousness. Mick declares him a coward so the two of them are on their own. They need a ship so they can get to Grace Island and stop Darhk from getting the Earth totem. So Mick and Amaya go back to the pub to hunt for a crew. Amaya does a good job at playing a ruthless pirate and the others are ready to join her... until Blackbeard shows up. He’s upset at the mutiny, but Amaya threatens him with a sword and then he sweetly offers to join up with her. 

On the Waverider, the team learns that Damien Darhk is threatening their friends, so they’re anxious to get going. But then Ava shows up and she’s not happy with Sara for ditching their date. Ava and Sara have it out about their issues. Sara tells Ava that she’ll never be normal; Ava doesn’t want Sara to be normal. They kiss. About time!

Blackbeard recounts the tale of what happened with the necklace and his "Annie." He ended up shooting her and buried her with the necklace, believing she would rise again when dug up. Which is exactly what she does when Nora and Darhk dig her up. She lays waste to everyone, basically, powered by the totem.

Blackbeard uses a portal to get on board the Waverider, wanting to claim it as his own. Ava and Sara have to break up their nice moment to fight the pirates, which they do quite easily. Blackbeard simpers when the two women get the upper hand and offers to let them join his crew.

Amaya, meanwhile, is trying to pep talk Annie about the totem. But before she can make much headway, Darhk breaks her neck, freeing Nora from the vines around her. Amaya fights the Darhks but they overpower her... at least until Nate and Ray show up and the tables are turned. Nora threatens to drain Amaya’s life force but Ray shoots Nora with his nanite gun and she’s hurt badly. Darhk is distracted by his daughter’s collapse so they escape. Ray is wracked with guilt over what he did.

Blackbeard is impressed with the Waverider, before Amaya sends him back to his own proper place and time. Now the Legends have the Earth totem, but Amaya lost hers and Nate apologizes to her for urging her to go on the mission in the first place. She says it’s okay — they’ll get it back and losing it has helped her feel free of responsibility for a change. She and Nate get a little pirate-y with each other and end up going at it like rabbits. Of course.

Sara and Ava have some rum floats in the galley (and the rum is now “Captain Jiwe Spiced Rum,” which Sara approves of). They decide neither of them wants to be normal or have normal dates. They’d rather be themselves, together. So Sara invites the other woman back to her bunk.

Elsewhere... in China, Wally and Rip wake up with hangovers and decide to return to the Waverider. Because they’re lonely, and the Legends are a family. They’ll fit right in, as outcasts.

Ray feels bad about Nora — his pistol is going to eventually kill her. He doesn’t want to kill, especially since he met Nora when she was a child. He wonders if she could have become a better person, like Mick did, if she had different experiences.

In 1717 Bahamas, Darhk is upset over his daughter and Ray shows up to offer a cure... in return for Amaya’s totem. Darhk readily gives it up so Ray cures Nora. She remembers him from when she was a child and it seems to be a fond memory... but then she grabs Ray and tries to drain him. Darhk stops her but they decide to keep Ray, since he may be of value to them both.

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Legends of Tomorrow 3x11 Recap: "Here I Go Again" (Legends Does Groundhog Day!) [Contributor: Marilyn]

"Here I Go Again"

Original Airdate: February 19, 2018

Here is where I admit that I kinda love the “time loop” trope. Ever since I first saw Groundhog Day in the movie theater way back when, I’ve loved the full array of human emotions that a time loop story can deliver. Think about it: there’s always the disbelief, followed by trying to “fix it,” and then reckless over-indulgence, followed by ennui and hopelessness, which then (hopefully) leads to ultimate growth and resolution. I was thrilled to pieces when I heard Legends of Tomorrow was doing a time loop episode, and I was not let down. Not even close.

For all practical intents and purposes, “Here I Go Again” is a bottle episode — a term used for an episode of television that is produced by reusing sets, and it often takes place in a single location. I love bottle episodes. It gives shows a chance to delve into deeper storytelling and characterization with less focus on fancy plot points. In this episode of Legends of Tomorrow, the character we get to know and relate to is Zari. As she’s a relatively new addition to the Waverider, she’s the team member we know the least about. She’s also the least bonded to the rest of the team, with one foot out the door already. That’s something Sara calls her on in the very beginning of the episode — Zari’s caught fiddling with Gideon’s computer instead of performing the upgrades she’d said she’d do while the team was off dealing with a Waterloo crisis (yes, there were disco outfits involved).

The time loop begins after Zari is sent by Sara to fix Gideon. In her frustration, Zari gets sprayed with “time goo” in the circuits. The ship explodes shortly thereafter and Zari’s reverted to the moment she was fighting with Sara. And that keeps happening over and over and over...

Through all of this, Zari learns to ask for help (most notably from Nate) and also gains insight about her shipmates (like Mick’s penchant for writing erotic sci-fi romance in the seclusion of his room). She’s looking for what causes the ship to blow each hour on the hour, but ultimately learns what makes this team her newfound family. While she’d been so desperate to find a way to save her real family back in 2042, she’d been keeping the team at arm's length.

Because of the friction between them, Zari was certain that Sara wouldn’t give the whole time loop thing any credibility but to her surprise, Sara takes Zari seriously. Why? Because Zari is a part of the team and Sara knows to trust and listen to her team. They all work together to find the bomb (discovering Gary from the Time Bureau stuck in the trash compactor along the way. He was sent to alert the Waverider to the bomb but didn’t account for “drift” when beaming aboard so trash compactor it was!), ultimately finding it in the 8-track of Waterloo that they’d brought back on board after the mission. There’s not enough time to defuse the bomb and Zari makes a snap decision to sacrifice herself to save the rest of the team. Before the timer ticks down to zero, she addresses each member of the team, telling them what she’s learned about them and how she’s realized their importance in her life. It’s very emotional.

But when the timer reaches zero, there is no explosion. Instead, Zari finds herself alone on the bridge. Well, not entirely alone. A woman walks in and we realize it’s Gideon — in the flesh. She explains to Zari that when she got sprayed with the “time goo,” her consciousness ran through the simulation she’d uploaded to Gideon in an effort to find out how to save her family in 2042. So while Zari's body has been healing in the med bay, her brain has been running through a quasi-time loop.

You see, Gideon realized via the simulation that the only way to save Zari’s family is for her to do it with the team. But without the time loop, Zari was going to leave the Waverider. So the time loop was a way to help Zari bond with the team, keeping her on board and in a position to fight Mollus and save her family. It’s complicated, sure, but it makes a strange sort of sense for this show.

When Zari wakes up, she explains to the team what happened and what she’s learned. She confronts each team member — from Ray’s secret about Constantine asking him to kill Sara if she’s ever possessed by Mollus again, to Nate and Amaya secretly hooking up on missions and then wiping each other’s memories of it after the fact, to Sara’s desire to ask Ava out on a date. It’s a peaceful sort of ending that feels earned and fulfilling and certainly gives me the warm fuzzies. I love everyone on this team and their place in the story and this episode really helped underline that for me.

But wait... that wasn’t all! We finish with an extra scene of a remote monastery in China where Wally West (from The Flash) is meditating alone. But not for long. He’s joined by Rip Hunter, who has escaped from the Time Bureau prison. He tells Wally that he needs his help to save the universe. You know — usual stuff. I’m excited to see Wally join the show and hopefully the team. He’s my favorite speedster and I have a feeling he will fit right in with my favorite misfits on board the Waverider.

This was one of those episodes that just reinforced why I love Legends of Tomorrow so much: the comedy, the character development, the emotion and drama and plot — it all works together so well. Sure, things get complicated now and then, but most of the time the complicated stuff is just window dressing. At its heart, this is a show about teamwork and found family. And that’s a show that I like to watch.

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Legends of Tomorrow 3x10 Recap: "Daddy Darhkest" (Demons) [Contributor: Marilyn]

"Daddy Darhkest"

Original Airdate: February 12, 2018

This midseason opener begins differently than we are used to. We see Star City in 2017 and spooky things are afoot. So is John Constantine. He visits a psychiatric hospital where there is a little girl named Emily who needs his help. It turns out she’s possessed by a demon and he seeks to extract it from. The demon threatens to ensnare Sara Lance as well. Before he can do anything else, Constantine’s busted by the hospital staff. He hypnotizes them and makes his escape, off to find Sara.

On the Waverider, Sara introduces Constantine to the rest of the team — which is amusing as Constantine flirts with, well, everyone, much to Rory’s consternation. Constantine explains to Sara why he’s there, but she insists that she doesn’t need saving from any demons. Nate points out that they are currently fighting a demon named Mollus. Sara wants to join forces with Constantine because they need information so they join him on the trip to save the little girl.

Agent Ava Sharpe contacts Sara and fills her in on what’s been going on with the Time Bureau and Rip (who is still imprisoned). They flirt a little before signing off, which Leo notices and teases Sara about. She tries to argue but Leo isn’t having it. That aside, the team — minus Ray and Zari — move in on the hospital. Kuassa intercepts them so Amaya fights her to give the team a chance to get the little girl to room 237 so they can work. Once there, they learn from Zari that the little girl is not named Emily after all. She’s actually Nora Darhk. She was placed in child protective services and the demon preyed upon her, finding her a vulnerable soul.

Nate goes to help Amaya while Leo and Rory hunt down some drugs to help revive Nora. Nate freezes Kuassa before she can hurt Amaya and while she’s upset at what he’s done to her relative, he suggests they get her on the Waverider before she melts. Constantine, Leo, and Sara wake Nora and ask her what the voices in her head were telling her. All she has is “6,” which is the number of the beast, so Constantine summons Mollus using his name and a diagram drawn on the floor. The demon again uses the girl and taunts Sara. Constantine is unable to get anywhere with him, telling him his tricks won’t work. The girl does an incantation and draws on the floor and the symbol teleports the team away.

The team finds they are still in the hospital, but in 1969. They’re stuck, since they can’t tell the rest of the team where/when they are. They decide to use the paintings to try to communicate with the Waverider, hoping they’d notice a note written on the back. Rory takes over on the Waverider, telling everyone what to do but mostly just because he wants peace and quiet. In the hospital, Ray and Zari find Sara, John, and Leo missing but they discover the symbol that Nora drew. Gideon interprets the symbol and Nate realizes they’ve been sucked into the timeline. Nate wants to try to calculate where the group went, but Zari wants to ask Nora. She talks to her, trying to get through, to find out where their friends were sent. But the girl doesn’t know. And she’s afraid she won’t be able to stop the demon the next time and they’ll lock her up and give her more drugs. Ray is reluctant to remove her from the hospital, but Zari is insistent that a place like that isn’t good for someone with mental problems.

In 1969, Mollus taunts Sara, alarming John and Leo. Constantine warns Sara against letting Mollus get to her. Leo writes a message on the back of the painting but he’s intercepted by the hospital staff who shoot him full of drugs. The doctor believes he’s crazy, given the note he was trying to leave. Constantine warns Sara against giving into the fear that Mollus is trying to use against her. He’s able to ward off the demon and they have a little chat. He opens up to her about his own inner demons and how believes he’ll be going to hell himself when the time comes. He’s seeking redemption. He asks if she’s forgiven herself and she says she hasn’t — she doesn’t deserve it. They have this in common. He gives her a card, something that will help her keep the demons at bay. And then they make out. And, well... you know what happens next.

On the Waverider, Amaya releases Kuassa and they have a chat, grandmother to granddaughter. Kuassa wonders why she won’t use time travel to save her own people in Zambezi. Amaya argues that she can’t interfere in her own timeline, but her granddaughter tells her what happened in 1992 anyway: Men stormed the village, killed Amaya, and set the village on fire. Mari left with her mother, leaving Kuassa behind (and believed dead).

Zari and Ray take Nora to Jitters and they see a news story about Oliver facing indictment for murder. Before they can do anything, Mollus arrives again in Nora’s body. Meanwhile, back in 1969, Leo is about to get a lobotomy but is rescued by Sara and John. Sara tells John to summon Mollus into her so they can fight him, but he’s opposed to that plan.

Possessed Nora wreaks havoc on Jitters. Ray and Zari could obviously use a little help, but Rory is watching a football game and Nate is upset to learn that Amaya is with her granddaughter. She learns that the totem bearer she was meant to protect isn’t Zari, but her. She’s family. Nate rushes in, ready to protect Amaya and Kuassa takes him out. A fight ensues and Amaya protects Nate.

Sara finally talks Constantine into summoning Mollus. Sara is yet against transferred to the other plane and her drawing on the floor shows up in the hospital. She sees Nora while she’s there, crying. She stops drawing the diagram on the floor to chase the sound. She finds the girl and talks to her; she doesn’t want to hurt Ray and Zari. When Zari grabs her arm, it burns and she tells her that she’s “one of the six.” Totem bearers? Is that a clue to how to defeat Mollus? Do they need more of them?

Sara talks Nora into fighting Mollus and — in the present day — the girl is released. In 1969, however, things are heating up as Sara finishes the diagram. Leo and John grab Sara and they are transported back to the year they’d left: 2017. On the Waverider, Amaya pleads with Kuassa to release Nate and she does — albeit a bit reluctantly. She promises to help her, and change her fate.

At Jitters, Darhk shows up and Nora is confused. Darhk tells her that Mollus isn’t bad — he’s going to help her, make her powerful, and will allow her to bring him back to life one day. What he says sounds good to the girl and she embraces her father. He takes her back to the hospital. The doctor heads something called “The Order.” They’ll groom her. So this was basically always meant to happen. Sucks for poor Nora though.

On the Waverider, John is still worried about Sara but she assures him she’s fine. He agrees with Zari that “one of the six” means being a totem bearer, and it might be the key to defeating Mollus. John promises to look into who the other bearers might be before he leaves. He also tells Ray to keep working on his anti-magic gun; they might need it, because Sara will likely succumb to that demon eventually. Leo, meanwhile, decides to return to Earth-X to marry his boyfriend. Sara decides to call Ava and invite her over to “chat,” but Ava tells her that Rip has escaped from prison.

All in all, this was a strong opener for the back half of the season of Legends of Tomorrow. We have movement on the season-long arc, a reasonable plan for how to defeat the baddie, and some good threats looming on the horizon as well. Constantine was a fun addition to the team and I hope we see him again. He brought a fun energy to the group. I’m also enjoying the team-up between Zari and Ray. Plus, next week’s “time loop” episode looks like it’s going to be hilarious!

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Legends of Tomorrow 3x09 Recap: "Beebo the God of War" (Home for the Holidays) [Contributor: Marilyn]

"Beebo the God of War"

Original Airdate: December 5, 2017

The midseason finale of Legends of Tomorrow begins with a younger Martin Stein in line at a toy store, wanting to purchase a Beebo doll (which is apparently the hottest toy that holiday season). He wants to get it for Lily for Hanukkah. He gets his hands on the last Beebo in the store and is chased by a hoard of angry parents when... he’s zapped out of the toy store and into the past, where he’s now being chased by angry Vikings. Yikes!

Leo Snart is on board the Waverider which is lovely and I want him to stay forever. We see this different, “cuddlier” Snart talking with the Legends via a Martin Stein puppet — a way of dealing with their feelings about losing their friend. Jax isn’t in the mood for puppets or anything, really. He blames himself for Martin’s death. They then get interrupted by a new anachronism which is the young Martin Stein running afoul of the Vikings in the “new world” (a.k.a., America). The anachronism is so bad that in this version of time, the Vikings stay in America and it’s called New Vahalla.

The Legends travel back to see what causes Leif Eriksen to decide to stay in the new world, rather than going back to Greenland. They discover the anachronism is Martin and believe the Vikings used his genius to conquer the new world. They save Martin and want to get out of there but he tells them about Beebo. He tries to tell them the toy is what changes history, but they’re not listening. It’s true, though — the Vikings are worshiping the talking Beebo doll. Because of course they are. I love this show.

Back on the Waverider, Martin explains to the Legends what happened. Beebo is what kept the Vikings from killing him when they chased him in the forest. Apparently, Leif’s sister is the ringleader in this new “cult,” using the doll to assert her own power and influence. The young Martin, meanwhile, wants to know where his older self is and they lie to him, telling him he’s home with his family for the holidays. Nate and Jax are concerned that they keep running into themselves in the past. Jax wonders if this means they should try to change and improve things. Ray and Amaya caution him against thinking that way but he doesn't want to hear it.

Mick is outraged to discover that Leo has turned the Waverider into a “dry” ship — no booze on board. He wants his friend to try sobriety for a change. Mick is unsure of that. Meanwhile, the rest of the Legends are coming up with a plan on how to deal with the Vikings when they get a transmission from Agent Sharp. She and Sara banter a bit (I am detecting chemistry there) before Sharp expresses her condolences for Martin. Sara learns that Christmas is now called Beebo Day. Sara tells Sharp that Beebo Day is part of the anachronism. Then she asks for Sharp’s help.

The Legends dress up as Vikings and go meet up with the other Vikings. All they had to do was show up with booze and they were welcomed like old friends. Mick and Leo have a disagreement over booze — which Leif’s sister overhears — so she finds Mick as he’s about to bring Beebo back to the Waverider and takes him prisoner.

The Vikings set Mick up to be judged by Beebo. The little blue doll says he’s hungry so, clearly, Mick must be burnt on the pyre. Before they can light Mick on fire, Leo puts out the flames with his cold gun. Sharp, thinking quick, declares it a sign that Beebo doesn’t want their clansman to be burned. The doll speaks, saying he loves them, and a fight breaks out between the Legends and the Vikings, lead by Leif’s crazy sister. Over on the Waverider, Zari is trying to distract Jax by playing video games with him. He still wants to warn Martin, however, and Zari understands. She thinks he should do what he wants. When young Martin asks to be taken back to his proper time, Jax realizes he has a chance to save his friend.

The battle with the Vikings is fierce. In the uproar, Nate grabs Beebo. He tosses it to Ray, who gets tackled and the doll goes flying. Then Mick melts it with his fire gun. The Vikings see Beebo for what he is, at last: a false god. Sharp says the Legends saved Odin Day. Apparently, the anachronism wasn’t fixed after all. At that moment, Odin arrives and it’s... Damien Darhk. Of course! The Legends retreat to the Waverider because they can’t really fight Darhk right now. But in the temporal zone, the time quakes are getting worse as the anachronism grows.

Jax is taking young Martin back to Central City via a shuttle. Jax tries to pull a Back to the Future and give Martin a letter to open in the future — to warn him. But Martin won’t do it. He knows the team was lying about him being okay in the future. He doesn’t want to mess with time. Jax pleads with him and he takes the letter when he sees how much it means to his future partner. Mick and Leo tussle some more about the lack of booze on the ship and Leo tries to tell his doppelganger friend that he came on board to deal with his own issues about losing his friend. They argue and the two of these guys are legit amazing. I want to keep them like this. Can we?

Sharp tells Sara that Rip is in trouble with the Bureau, but Darhk is a bigger threat. She tells her that Grodd survived Vietnam and is traveling through time, messing things up left and right. Sara wants Sharp to stay on the Waverider and help them, but she can’t. She warns her to pick her battles before she leaves. Sara gathers the Legends for a meeting and tells them that they have no back-up when it comes to confronting Darhk, and she doesn’t want to lose anyone else. Sara wants them to take the Waverider and go — to leave her alone with the Vikings. She has a plan but the team doesn’t like it. They run through several scenarios and realize they need to do this together or not at all.

So they go in, just as they planned, but this time they have a secret weapon. It’s Beebo! Well, it looks like Beebo at least, but a mini Ray Palmer is inside controlling him and making him fly and speak. When the Vikings are distracted by that, Leo and Mick take on Nora Darhk and knock her out. The Vikings and the Legends go into battle and Darhk, upset about his daughter, takes her and is about to heal her when Sara claps a hand on his shoulder. She’s instantly transported to a strange plane of existence where an evil voice (Mollus, the evil that was mentioned back in the premiere) speaks to her about how her world is going to end. Sharp pulls her out and she sees the Vikings are defeated, Darhk is gone, and the anachronism is fixed.

On the Waverider, Sara tells Sharp what happened in that strange plane — how it was completely devoid of happiness and love and anything good. Sharp leaves to tell the Bureau and Rip what happened and Gideon confirms that everything is fixed... for now. Jax, however, is upset to learn that Stein still dies in 2017. Zari tells him that Martin must not have read the letter. So Jax goes back to 1992 to see him (and to bring Lily a Beebo). Martin tells Jax that he burnt the letter. He tells him that he’ll be 67 years old in 2017 — having lived a full life and seen his daughter grow. Martin wants Jax to let him go. He says he has no regrets for his life, and thinks he has a full one with plenty of adventure. Martin then tells Jax to live his life, and have all the happiness he deserves. Jax is upset, but understands, and he shakes Martin’s hand before returning to the Waverider.

Jax goes to see Sara, tells her he wasn’t able to change Martin’s fate. He also tells her that he has to leave the Waverider and the Legends. She’s incredulous. She doesn’t want him to leave because he’s a part of the team. He says that right now, he has to do this. He needs a different kind of adventure but it sounds like he might be back at some point. They hug and Sara promises not to tell the others he’s gone until after he’s left. Regretfully, she watches him go.

Before he goes, he stops by Martin’s lab to say goodbye and the team surprises him. They’re not going to let him go without a goodbye and they insist on celebrating the holidays with him before he leaves. Leo even lets Mick drink alcohol again. They have a big meal together and Jax tells the rest of the Legends that they help him not feel so broken anymore, and that they’re a family. He’ll always have them. They toast and that is that. Sara drops Jax off in 2017 and it’s a tearful goodbye. I hope he comes back soon. On the Waverider, Sara is surprised by Constantine. He has a request for her — he needs her help with a demon that’s possessing a little girl. And the demon knows her name. Would that be Mollus?

I’m sad the show won’t be back until February. I gotta say, I love me some Legends of Tomorrow. It’s a beautiful balance of humor and heart with great characters and even greater chemistry. Jax said this rag-tag team felt like his family and I know just what he means. Again, if you haven’t watched this show lately, give it a try while it’s on this long break. You might be surprised by what you see!

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DCTV Crossover Roundtable: "Crisis on Earth-X, Parts 1-4" (How Many People Are in This Again?) [Contributors: Deb and Marilyn]

“Crisis on Earth-X, Parts 1-4”

Original Airdates: November 27 and 28, 2017

Since this crossover was such a massive event — practically a four-hour movie, when you think about it — we've broken the review down by show, rather than trying to shove all of this “crisis” into one linear recap. Based on the shows, we're quickly describing how characters might be affected in the future and their biggest contributions to the plot.

SUPERGIRL

Alex and Kara are in a mutual love life funk, so they make a sudden decision to skip over to another Earth, forget about life for a while, and attend Barry and Iris’s wedding. They chit-chat with their pals, dine on fancy rehearsal dinner food, listen to some lovely speeches, and at the end of the evening, Alex gets drunk and has a one-night stand with Sara from Legends of Tomorrow. Oops!

Alex sort of freaks out about it, but I think Sara is probably the best one-night stand option for her. She’s cool, all about the no-strings-attached, and lives on a different Earth. Perfect rebound, Alex.

During Barry and Iris’s wedding, Kara is the one singing Iris down the aisle, which is a pretty charming reference to the musical episode from last season. Unfortunately, once Kara’s song is finished, Nazis attack the ceremony. Yes. Nazis. That’s a thing that is happening. Since the church is full of superheroes, everyone does an admirable job fighting them off, but two definite leaders — a masked archer and a flying blonde woman — get away.

These two are, of course, doppelgängers of Oliver and Kara, who are a married couple and leaders in Earth-X’s Nazi government. (We’ll call them Oliver-X and Overgirl, for future reference.)

The whole reason why they attacked Earth-X is because they knew, through Earth-1’s Eobard Thawne (who joined Earth-X’s team because he’s evil and I guess he likes being in evil clubs), that it was the Westallen wedding and Supergirl was going to be there. They needed Supergirl because the Earth-X version — Overgirl — has radiation poisoning and needs a heart transplant. Supergirl hearts? Rather difficult to come by, I imagine. But by the end of the crossover, Overgirl explodes. Womp womp!

Kara and Alex learn to put their problems into a little perspective and that everything has a chance of turning out okay, as long as they have each other. It’s a pretty nice lesson for the both of them, but I think they managed to get out of “Crisis on Earth-X” without a whole lot of long-term change... compared to the other shows’ characters.

ARROW

The major players from Arrow in “Crisis on Earth-X” were Oliver and Felicity and their arc had a lot to do with the state of their relationship. From the scene at the nail shop with Iris and the other girls, to the tux fitting with Oliver and Barry, through the rehearsal dinner and even under the threat of evil doppelgängers from another Earth, the question was: What’s next for Oliver and Felicity’s relationship? Both Iris and Barry both nudge the two toward one another, with Barry outright telling Oliver to “put a ring on her.”

The problem is that Felicity has some residual issues leftover from their last engagement. She tells Oliver it’s because she was shot five minutes after he proposed. But later, she admits to Iris that her problem is really that she’s afraid to rock the boat with Oliver. Things are good for them right now — really good. The last time they were going to get married, that was the beginning of the end for them. She doesn’t want to lose him again.

Oliver agrees, rather reluctantly, to respect Felicity’s wishes not to get married. But then the two are separated: Oliver on Earth-X with a load of other heroes, having to deal with all the Nazi nonsense there. Felicity is in S.T.A.R. Labs with Iris when Earth-X’s “Oliver” comes with his soldiers and Thawne, attempting to kill Kara to save Overgirl’s life. Iris and Felicity fight the good fight (and call in the Legends) as long as they can, and Oliver does the same over on Earth-X. One of the most poignant moments of the crossover came when Oliver posed as Oliver-X to gain access to a gate that could return them to Earth-1, and encountered Earth-X’s Felicity. She was a prisoner of the concentration camp, pulled out for giving starving children food. Oliver could no more kill her than he could his own Felicity.

Oliver and Felicity reunite back on Earth-1, just happy to be together now — married or not. But when Felicity watches Barry and Iris pour their hearts out to one another with some seriously swoon-worthy vows during their impromptu wedding, she changes her mind and asks Dig to marry her and Oliver as well. He’s only too happy to oblige and we end with both couples getting hitched on the spot.

THE FLASH

The biggest long-term development for Team Flash is what set the whole crossover off in the first place: the marriage of Barry Allen and Iris West. Their nuptials are what brings everyone together, as all the hero teams do last-second RSVPs and then show up to a rehearsal dinner that definitely should not have been adequately prepared for the final number of guests. Seriously, all Barry and Iris’s super-friends are rude with those super-late RSVPs.

Unfortunately, the Westallen wedding is interrupted by the main plot and The Flash’s favorite couple spends most of the crossover separated. Iris pairs up with Felicity as the overlooked good guys left in Earth-1’s S.T.A.R Labs, making them the only ones capable of thwarting Oliver-X and Overgirl’s evil plans to steal Supergirl’s heart. Barry is transported to Earth-X along with Oliver, Alex, Sara, Professor Stein, and Jax, and they have to fight their way to the portal that can get them home. Once home, everyone has a role to play in the final battle against Oliver-X, Overgirl, and Eobard Thawne. Barry’s critical role is to return to his idiot ways, apparently, because he lets Eobard Thawne go rather than kill him. You couldn’t have speed-scrambled his legs a bit, Barry? Thrown him in jail? Literally anything else?

When all’s said and done, all the heroes go their separate ways and Barry and Iris get a last-minute wedding officiated by none other than John Diggle, who wasn’t invited to the original wedding for some reason that probably has to do with the season and a half of Arrow I haven’t watched. Barry and Iris are adorable and their vows are beautiful and it would have been nice if they got to get married in front of their friends and family, rather than just Oliver and Felicity, but comic book plots, man.

LEGENDS OF TOMORROW

Sara, Mick, Stein, and Jax all head to Barry and Iris’ wedding while the remaining Legends continue cavorting around in time and space. Sara has a one-night stand with Alex before the wedding and Mick, well, Mick is just there for the food. And the beer. The real emotional crux came from Jax and Stein, who are still working on how to separate Firestorm. They finally have an answer — thanks to some help from S.T.A.R. Labs — and Stein plans to take the formula that will finally separate them after the wedding. Jax is feeling less certain about the impending event: What will become of him when he’s no longer part of Firestorm? Can he even continue being a Legend?

There’s an emotional moment where Jax finally admits his concerns to Stein and the older man tries to reassure Jax and let him know that he is important. In fact, Stein thinks of him as a son. It’s truly touching, amidst all the horror of the Nazis.

The rest of the Legends show up when Felicity and Iris call them in. Ray appears at the perfect moment, saving Kara’s life from Eobard’s scalpel. The moment the rest of the Legends arrive is one of the most joyful of the crossover, in my opinion. It’s wonderful to see all my faves show up to help save the day.

The joy is undercut by grief when Stein is shot by Nazis on Earth-X. He uses the last of his strength to open the gate back to Earth-1 and Jax is able to merge with him, keeping him alive. But eventually, Jax starts to suffer from the effects of the shooting as well. The reality is that they will both die unless Firestorm separates.

Stein wants to take the formula and save Jax’s life which leads one of the saddest scenes I’ve ever seen in the Arrowverse. Stein tells Jax how he loves him as a son and will gladly sacrifice his life so that Jax can have a life filled with love, just like he has. After their tearful goodbye, Stein dies. The Legends are distraught, but determined to fight and repel the Nazis from Earth-1 in his honor. Stein would have been proud. After the battle, the team and the rest of the heroes pay their respects at an emotional funeral for Stein and it’s a reminder that things on board the Waverider are changed now, forever.

OUR THOUGHTS

DEB

THE GOOD: The reason why the DCTV episode reviews for this event have been condensed into one large review is also the best thing about this crossover, and that is the near-seamless integration of all the shows. Previous crossovers have attempted delineation between shows, either by having each episode mostly self-contained (see: the Invasion! plot, in which episodes had a clear beginning, middle, and end, even though they bled into each other) or going back to basics and simply having some characters hang out with some other characters for an hour or two. But as the Arrowverse has gotten bigger and the writers have gotten more adept at writing for the multiverse, they’ve managed to figure out a way to blend every show together in a genuine event that reflects the comic book specials on which these crossovers are based.

The characters always, always work well together and they’re a joy to watch interacting on screen, so that’s always a highlight. Barry offering up some smart relationship advice to Oliver (“People like us are always going to be getting into trouble. Having someone we love by our side just makes getting out of that trouble that much easier.”) or Felicity and Iris bravely stepping up to protect Supergirl, of all people, from threats — I think these little moments, rather than big fight scenes, make the crossovers worthwhile. Since the writers have been good about progressing these characters’ friendships, I assume it’s only going to get better as time goes on.

In addition to great character moments and perfect cross-show integration, there was also some snazzy graphics (the introductions of each show/team at the beginning of “Crisis on Earth-X” was probably one of my favorite things the Arrowverse has done) and, of course, cool action scenes.

THE BAD: Uh... Earth-X is run by Nazis. Which is an extremely problematic alternate universe for this show to explore, even considering comic books’ long history of World War II-era storylines. Opening an episode of a stupid comic book show with a swastika flag? Uncomfortable, to say the least, and that level of discomfort doesn’t exactly diminish as the crossover sends a chunk of our heroes to Earth-X itself, to be held captive in a concentration camp.

The imagery the show (and the comic it’s based on, we’re not letting them off the hook) exploits for shock value is nauseating and unnecessary. There was nothing stopping them from making this big crossover about some evil Earth-N, where the world/America is ruled by a totalitarian regime, without pulling Nazis into the mix and unearthing painful associations — especially since the “Nazi” factor of the crossover event is not utilized in any meaningful way. Like I said: it’s done for shock. I would say that it was also done as an easy way to differentiate good from evil, but they kind of fail at that by making the Nazi alternatives to Oliver and Kara married. Comic books usually treat stories like these as black and white, but genuine love adds a moral gray area that we really do not need when we’re dealing with a Nazi storyline.

So the biggest — maybe the only — fault of this crossover is its framing device. Otherwise, this would have been the best crossover in the history of the Arrowverse, hands down.

MARILYN

THE BAD: I agree with Deb — the worst thing about the crossover is the Nazis. I understand that it’s a comic book story. As satisfying as it is to see our heroes beating the crap out of Nazis, the way the subject is introduced and then shown to us throughout the crossover is crass, at best. They could have done nearly the same exact story but with a fictional evil regime. The same themes would be in place without real-world associations.

Nazis aside, I didn’t care for the Overgirl/Oliver-X romance, and not just because I’m a faithful Olicity shipper. It felt very disturbing and pointed — like they were trying to show a more “sensitive” side to actual Nazis. I think there were ways to get the lessons that the characters needed to learn across without that nonsense.

THE GOOD: The relationships! I loved seeing the most important relationships from each of the four shows highlighted and explored. There was real character development taking place and because of that, it felt like there were genuine stakes to the events in the crossover. This wasn’t just a one-off event, as the crossovers often are, but something that would have repercussions and effects felt throughout the rest of the seasons of each show.

I also liked how connected “Crisis on Earth-X” was. It truly felt like one bit movie, spread across two nights. It didn’t even really matter that I’m not very familiar with Supergirl or The Flash; I was able to understand and appreciate what was happening with those characters regardless. It all felt very cohesive and the cast truly did feel like one big family. I generally don’t care for the crossovers; but this time, I found myself really enjoying it as I watched. Shoot, if all crossovers could be like this one, I could maybe find myself looking forward to the next one!

What did you all think of “Crisis on Earth-X”? Sound off in the comments below!

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Legends of Tomorrow 3x07 Recap: "Welcome to the Jungle" (Giant Gorillas) [Contributor: Marilyn]

"Welcome to the Jungle"

Original Airdate: November 21, 2017

We begin this week's episode in 1967 Vietnam, right in the thick of war. Soldiers are patrolling through the jungle when they encounter something that tosses them around like rag dolls. Something large. Over on the Waverider, Sara is still in her coma and the team is waiting for her to wake up on her own. Stein tells Jax when he stops in to check on Sara that he knows how to separate them, once and for all.

Amaya is working out some aggression on a punching bag and Nate is having difficulty getting her to talk about what’s bugging her. Turns out, it is her granddaughter. She promises that she won’t hesitate to stop Kuwasa, even if she is her granddaughter. Zari admits to the team that she didn’t take Helen back to Troy. She tells them there’s no anachronism without Helen in her place in time so it’s all okay. They pick out another anachronism — one in Vietnam. There’s mixed feelings among the team about going there. Zari, Amaya, and Ray talk to the only remaining survivor of the last patrol that encountered the anachronism. The man is shaken up, and says what they encountered was pure evil and it had a message: stay out of the jungle. A local girl talks to Zari, Amaya, and Ray, telling them the jungle is dangerous. She offers to show them what’s doing the attacking.

Meanwhile, Nate and Mick go into the jungle to find some clues and they see where the patrol was attacked. It doesn’t look good. Mick is especially bothered about being there and reveals that he’s upset about the chance of running into his father. Nate tells him the chances of that extremely low. Of course, the pair gets surrounded by another patrol, this time including an elder Rory. Nate tells Mick’s dad (Dick, of course) that they’re there to investigate the disappearance of Alpha Team and the soldiers stand down. Mick is upset and Nate has to take him aside and tell him to buck up about his dad. This is when Mick reveals that he let his father burn to death — something Nate hadn’t known about before.

Amaya, Zari and Ray follow the girl into the jungle and she tells him she’s going to introduce to them “The New God.” Conveniently, their tech and gadgets stop working as they’re inside the “dead zone.” That’s a cheerful thought. The girl offers to introduce them to this god, and they find it’s a giant gorilla. It is, in fact, Grodd, the telepathic gorilla from The Flash. These guys aren’t familiar with him though. The girl warns them they’re only there to document what they see, not interfere. Amaya wants to take down Grodd while Zari and Ray take down the communications jammer and notify the Waverider.

Stein has apparently gathered scientists throughout history to help him figure out how to separate Firestorm. Jax admits to a comatose Sara that he’s scared; who is he if he’s not part of Firestorm?

Mick and Nate discover they can no longer contact Ray. Nate wants Mick to confront his father issues and work them out. But before anything more can happen, they find a soldier who walks dazedly out of the jungle. He claims to be enlightened and says that this country is no longer theirs; it belongs to their new god. He and his friend open fire on Mick, Nate, and the other soldiers and they take them out. After, they talk to Dick Rory about the soldiers he’s lost and it’s clear that he’s upset by it. He mentions wanting to marry his sweetheart and start a family. Mick starts to see his father in a different light. Later, Nate finds Mick holding a lighter to his own arm. He’s alarmed and finds out that Mick is having a hard time dealing with the reality of who his father is. And how he thinks he’s the sick one — that he should have burned in that house and not his father.

Ray has heard of Grodd, and reveals that he’s just another meta and belongs somewhere else. Zari picks up the signal from Nate and he tells her and Ray what’s going on with Mick. They need to get out of there as soon as possible. They also inform Nate about Grodd, and the Waverider picks up the transmission. Gideon reveals that Grodd will use Vietnam to start World War III. He’s suddenly a huge problem. Meanwhile, Amaya ventures into Grodd’s lair to take him down and he assaults her telepathically. He’s got a lot of anger about humans — what they’ve done to each other and him. He tells her that he wants to help humans find peace.

Zari finds some top secret documents before the girl pulls a gun on her. They learn Grodd and his “army” plan to kill the president. Zari tries to talk the girl down by relating to her — if she really wants peace, it’s going to start with her. Zari also tries to warn the team about the president’s convoy being targeted but Grodd gets into the girl’s head, and has her knock out Zari. On the Waverider, Jax and Stein argue about going in as Firestorm to help out. Jax says he’ll have to learn to do this without Stein sooner or later.

Dick Rory plans to take his soldiers into Grodd’s camp but Nate thinks that’s a terrible idea since these guys will shoot first and ask questions later, and their friends are there. Dick knocks out Nate, leaving Mick (who is reluctant to do anything to his father) alone. Amaya tries to reason with Grodd. She tells him she understands the world is cruel. She tells him they aren’t there to hurt him; they just want to bring him home. He realizes they’re time travelers and he doesn’t want anything to do with that. Amaya suggests taking him to a time before humans — a time in which he could live in peace. He wants to know why he should trust her and she shows him her powers. He allows her to touch him, which seems to calm him.

But then the soldiers attack the camp and Grodd is furious, believing that they’ve betrayed him. Grodd wants to take the Waverider and use it to alter history and get rid of humans altogether. The team needs to warn Stein. Mick saves his father from Grodd as he charges through on his way to the Waverider. Amaya, Zari, and Ray are among the “traitors” rounded up by Dick Rory and the soldiers. Mick has gone full “Colonel Kurtz” — a reference to Apocalypse Now. He’s frozen, unable to do much more than listen to his father’s orders. Mick’s finally able to shake his trance when he sees that his father is pretty much around the bend. He threatens to kill him, but instead gives him a warning. He knows the act he wants to commit will mess him up in the future. Then, he knocks him out.

Jax tries to intercept the president’s convoy by posing as an MP. But the soldiers guarding him set off landmines and he nearly sets one off too. Jax freezes the landmine and saves the president. He leads him and the rest of the convoy through the minefield while Stein pilots the Waverider. Before Jax can get clear, Grodd jumps onto the exterior. Sara shows up right then, awoken from her coma. Except not really. She’s being controlled by Grodd and fights Stein until Isaac Newton knocks her out. Stein shifts the Waverider, knocking Grodd into a napalm inferno.

Dick Rory thanks Mick for pulling him back from the edge. His issues with his father, for now, seem to be taken care of. Back on the Waverider and headed through the time vortex, Amaya goes to Ray to tell him he was right about Kawasa. She realizes now that her granddaughter was made into a monster, not born that way. It gives her peace and hope. Stein tells Jax that he’s going to be just fine without him. Jax shows him what LBJ gave him for saving his life: a pecan pie recipe from Lady Bird Johnson. Sara arrives, angry that no one was going to save her any pie. The team, reunited, is ready to chow on some Thanksgiving.

We see Grodd land in the present day... with Damien Darhk. He wants to work with him, of course. And offers him the magic of time travel without having to use the Waverider. That isn’t good. Mostly because it means we’ll see Grodd again.

This was the weakest episode of the season, so far. Legends of Tomorrow is best when it’s silly and fun and not taking itself very seriously. The problem with Gorilla Grodd is that he’s too serious. The characters take him too seriously. That was the problem when he was introduced on The Flash, back when I watched that show, and it was a problem in this episode. The Vietnam War is an interesting time and place to visit but, again, it’s almost a little too serious. It wasn’t an awful episode, but it wasn’t one of the best. I’m looking forward to seeing my favorite team return to the form I know and love in the crossover next week.

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