Season One, Episode Nine — “Left Behind”
© 2016 The CW Network. All rights reserved.
By Jarrod Jones. After a quick, two-week hiatus, it’s time once again to dance around the DC TV Universe. And if I had to give a dance with Legends of Tomorrow a name, I’d have to say it’s a tango. A frustrating tango. The way it insists on leading us back and forth and around and around — clomping heavily around sci-fi tropes it scarcely understands while trampling all over emotional concepts cemented into place by The Flash — leaves me visibly exhausted at the end of each successive episode. As it twirls us around our living rooms (I swear this metaphor is wrapping up), it demands that we just go with it. What’s frustrating about that is, if there’s one place Legends is leading us towards, oftentimes it’s nowhere fast.
(Okay. Metaphor over.)
This week, “Left Behind” dwells on the plight of Kendra, Ray and Sara, stranded in 1958 by The Waverider and its crew due to the machinations of walking tin can/temporal pursuer, Chronos. We finally learn something about Chronos in this episode, quite a bit actually, and — holy cow Mick Rory is Chronos. (Sorry!) The reveal of Chronos’ true identity is indeed shocking, especially if you were like me and actually thought Legends was going to go through with Leonard Snart’s hard-assed bestie murder. But what’s equally surprising is Legends‘ insistence on consequences this week: even when it back-tracks with its Heat Wave fakeout, it doubles down on the emotional distress of the Legendeers, and the high cost that comes with tampering with the timeline. (At least, y’know, until it’s time to wrap things up.) A fine episode that digs deeper than ever, but still feels like a trifle.
WHAT WORKED: Matt Nable returns as Ra’s al Ghul this week, which is 100% awesome — can I ask, who actually likes John Barrowman as The Demon’s Head? Certainly not me. Barrowman’s recent clowning on Arrow hasn’t eradicated my fond memories of Nable’s stirring turn as Oliver Queen’s greatest adversary, and while Legends doesn’t give him much to do — beyond wearing robes and pacing the room like a master — Nable radiates charisma as one of CW DC TV’s baddest bads. This is one example where a show about time travel can work wonders, especially when it can play with nearly four years’ worth of television.
I’m not especially fond that Legends just retconned the purported death of Mick Rory (should have asked to see a body, I guess), but the reveal that Chronos has been future Mick all along was indeed surprising. The internal logic of this show (wonky as it is) allowed Mick’s crazy-ass storyarc a foothold that will carry it to the end of this season, which makes me incredibly happy — I do love Dominic Purcell so.
WHAT DIDN’T: Since when can’t Jax and Marty merge in an enclosed space? That’s some flimsy logic, even by Legends standards. What makes the moment even more trite — even though, yes, I know the show was aiming for suspense — is that the guys become Firestorm inside The Waverider only moments later. And guess what? Everything was fine. (Except for that one door, but that was Jax’s fault. Dude likes to make an entrance.)
Speaking of flimsy, what is up with Sara? I know she’s a resurrected assassin who kills more often than she loves, but I thought we had made some progress with Sara in the arena of trust. Months go by with nary a word from The Waverider, so Sara automatically defaults back to the League of Assassins? Call it homesickness, I suppose; or maybe chronic depression is at play, but Sara was acting pretty damn bummerific this week. Of course, it all amounts to a killer fight sequence with Kendra later on in the episode (which is a fine thing, because I was beginning to forget what Hawkgirl’s wings looked like), but Sara’s return to the League, only to bounce back into The Waverider by episode’s end, makes Sara appear more fickle than she is. After three-plus years with her character, we know her better than that.
BEST LINE(s):
“Sorry we’re late.” – Rip.
“Gideon, search the timeline for any references of a Sara Lance, or a glum vigilante, circa 1960.” – Rip.
“I used to think the most beautiful thing on Earth was fire. Now I know it’s vengeance.” – Mick. Guys, I think the Time Masters broke Heat Wave.
BEST MOMENT: Showdown at Nanda Parbat. What begins as a sequence where everyone’s all “smack some sense into Sara, Kendra,” quickly evolves into a bonafide superhero skirmish of the highest order. I’m talking about double-page splash, people: Chronos fires into an open room of ninjas, Hawkgirl, Firestorm, White Canary and The Atom, all emotionally taxed and ready to kick some ass. This is the kind of fight Legends has been promising us for weeks now — and “Left Behind” finally delivered.
EPISODE’S MVP: Ray & Kendra. Ray’s a scientist and superhero who hasn’t felt a warm embrace since the days of Felicity Smoak, and he’s only come along on this time jaunt to rekindle the fires of his self-worth. Naturally a burgeoning relationship with Kendra is a big deal for him. Meanwhile, Kendra’s still getting over the fact that she’s a reincarnated demigoddess on a damn timeship on a crash course with destiny. They shared two years of peace and found love. The fallout that comes with reality shoving its way back into their lives was handled with grace (something that Legends is not commonly known for). When Kendra moves her stuff into Ray’s room, I tingled with all of the feels. *tsk* Those kids.
© 2016 The CW Network. All rights reserved.
BE BRAVE AND BEHOLD:
– So Ray, Kendra and Sara got to visit scenic Hub City, home of Vic Sage, aka The Question.
– Furniture? An apartment? Where the hell did everyone get all this money? Jobs? THEY DON’T HAVE ANY IDENTIFICATION.
– SO happy Brandon Routh got to wear them Clark Kent spectacles. Especially after the week I’ve had.
– Time travel on The Waverider continues to wreak havoc on our Legendeers with all kinds of different side-effects. This week: linguistic disorientation.
– What the hell is a “lucky water vase.” Is Ray a pothead now?
– Aw. Little Talia.
– Another Vanishing Point shout-out. I wonder if we’ll ever get to see it.
– I’m pretty sure Sara just told Ra’s when to rescue her future self outside of Lian Yu. (You… you’ve watched Arrow, right?)
– I wonder what Ra’s is gonna do with all this superhero knowledge — ah, he has an enlightened outlook on reality. “You’re from the future,” he says with a straight face. Matt Nable rules.
7.5 out of 10
Next: “Progeny”, soon.
Before: “Night of the Hawk”, here.
