Blood Ties

Well, as someone who’s given the show a healthy amount of criticism over the last two episodes, it’s nice to finally be able to say Legends of Tomorrow is finally showing the potential we all hoped it would have. The two pilot episodes suffered from a majorly overstuffed cast, which is kind of mitigated by one being killed off, and another being unconscious for most of the episode. However, the other problem that’s faced the show is not all of the characters are well-developed since 4 members of the original cast weren’t introduced till very recently, which hampers the ability of a show to cut to the chase when it has to exposit and define these new characters. However, that’s not really as much of an issue here.

The story begins immediately after the catastrophic failure of last week’s mission with Kendra out of the game, and the Waverider damaged. While it does serve the purpose of letting the team deal with the aftermath, unlike last week the story is a lot less stilted, and more interested in defining the motivations of the leads this week. Rip Hunter finally gets to act as more than the exposition for a given episode, and it helps that Arthur Darvill finally gets to cut loose. Rip’s lack of personality has obscured a very fun bit of casting genius (if you watch Doctor Who that is), and while Rip took to the sidelines for episode 2, he’s at full force here reeling from his failure to save Carter’s life. What we get a look at is someone who is very determined to change the course of history in order to save his family, as well as all the other families that Savage has destroyed. The problem is that as Sarah points out early on, he’s running without a plan, just like everyone else on the show. His attempts to kill Savage worse than fails, it makes Savage aware of the event that caused Rip to become hellbent on killing him, and Carter’s blood imbues his followers with immortality which as far as heroic failures go on this show is a huge one.

The episode’s B-plot featuring Captain Cold’s failed attempt to prevent the robbery that leads to his father becoming an abusive monster however, is potentially even more interesting than Rip’s own problems. While the show set this plot up somewhat with Cold’s facade falling for just a second with his recollection of how his father used him to commit robberies, his past becomes even more poignant when he encounters his past self. While the story has leaned a little too hard on having people mix with their own timelines, just like last week’s episode had Professor Stein realize how extremely little he’s changed over 40 years, Captain Cold’s own encounter with the innocence that he lost, and his failed attempt to preserve that innocence for himself and his sister is even more melancholy in that respect. While Martin Stein (with the exception of kidnapping a teenager) has led a life to be proud of, Cold pretty clearly wears his regrets just beneath the surface, and the cruel twist that his fate would have been the same even with time travel is more salt on the wounds that have accumulated upon him.

This episode does have some minor flaws though. Speaking as someone who doesn’t follow Arrow, I can’t confess to knowing of any history between Martin Stein and the Atom, but it feels like a fairly artificial conflict to ramp up the stakes for Kendra. That and well, the past episodes featuring Hawkman and Hawkgirl have done precious little to create a real bond between the two, much less any actor chemistry to that effect, so suddenly having Kendra miss Carter feels un-earned. That and well, for a villain that on paper is as awesome as Vandal Savage, Casper Crump’s hamminess sucks any menace or intimidation right out of him, he simply doesn’t work as a villain. Now those complaints aside, Legends of Tomorrow has improved upon the biggest problems that have plagued it. While the crowd fights could still use a bit of work, it’s not hurting for a juicy plot, or the interplay between the cast. Here’s to an episode in the 80’s… and bring your parachute pants.

4 out of 5 Creepy Blood Rituals

P.S:

• Look, I don’t want to complain. But for me, Vandal Savage is always going to be an immortal caveman who got his powers from a radioactive meteor, that’s also Cain who committed the first murder ever with a rock. Is it wrong that I expected a little more than what we got here?
• White Canary seems to get better with every episode. While I don’t quite know about the whole bloodlust thing from Arrow, the internal conflict isn’t lost on me, and she seems to be the most genuinely nice out of all the other crew members of the Waverider.
• Sarah not knowing how to dance, but Rip can lead. Wouldn’t ballroom dancing be a necessary tool of infiltration in the League?
• Rip just expecting Jax to be able to fix the Waverider when he’s an auto mechanic is priceless. That Rip Hunter, always expecting everyone to step up.