DC Recap Round-Up 2, Week 18: Legends of Tomorrow-Gate!

23 Apr

Welcome back! We got a full deck on store this time, with new episodes of Supergirl, The Flash, and not one, but two episodes of Legends of Tomorrow to chat about. It’s going to be a less erratic column for the next few weeks as the seasons of all of them start winding down, so let’s jump right in…

“Crime and Punishment”

You would think after being framed for an attack on the White House that Supergirl would stay low for the time being, but after a dicey nighttime rescue that didn’t have to be dicey thanks to some trigger happy civilians, Kara is finding that might be a good idea. Either way, Lena asks Kara to join her in investigating Lex’s cell at Stryker’s prison, and while searching through all Lex’s things, Otis (Metallo-esque Kryptonite heart and all) starts a full blown riot. Kara has to resort to putting back on her civilian clothes in order to escape Otis and the military, and rescues Lena from a secret lair that she finds in Lex’s cell, before Otis goes up in an explosion (don’t worry, he gets better). This experience let’s Kara know she might be able to do more good right now as Kara Danvers than Supergirl, leading her to another clue to Lex’s whereabouts.

As for the rest of our Super supporting players, James is recovering from his PTSD, and is having to also contend with whatever aftereffects are coming from that serum he was given. Alex manages to get an ally in Colonel Haley in preventing Supergirl from being caught in a trap by Ben Lockwood, who now has the Children of Liberty deputized by the President. To protect the Alien Registry from being used in nefarious ways, Brainy deletes it from the DEO and uploads a copy into his own head. This may not be the best idea, as Nia does see a future vision of Brainy being tortured regarding said missing Registry.

Power couple.

–Apparently the public has had amnesia since Supergirl got framed, because people are shooting at her and trying to hit her with pipes and they seem to have forgotten she’s INVULNERABLE.

— So Otis is brought back to life after being blown up remotely by Lex, which has got to be a pain in the butt for him.

–Looks like we may have a different type of Danvers/Olsen pairing brewing up on this show, with Alex having that chat with James’ sister.

–So Lex is still taunting Lena even when he’s not there, leaving her that photo of the poor test subject for the serum for her to find. What a jerk.

–“I don’t trust the press. They always parachute into crisises like this without any larger context for the systemic issues at play.” Deep thoughts from Otis Mercer.

–“You’re not the only one who’s friends with a Luthor.”

“Godspeed”

In order to learn more about Nora’s connection to Eobard Thawne, our heroes start to read her diary for information. What they discover is: in 2049, Nora is a CSI with her buddy Lia, and they are on the trail of robberies committed by a speedster. They don’t know the connection yet, but the investigation leads them to an encounter with this mystery speedster, labeled Godspeed, which sends Nora to the hospital. Somehow she recovers quickly and learns she has speedster abilities too, and worse, her mom, Iris, implanted a chip to neutralize her powers since she was a child! As if the misery train hadn’t stopped there, another encounter with Godspeed ends tragically with Lia murdered in front of Nora. Nora realizes she needs training to use her powers to fight Godspeed, so she goes to the only other speedster left: an imprisoned Eobard Thawne.

His advice leads to finding Godspeed, a med student who is dozing himself with unfinished chemicals he has stolen to make Velocity-7, the speed enhancing drug. It’s thanks to Eobard’s assistance that she’s able to take down Godspeed, and she learns about the Cicada mess her dad was involved in, besides also learning her father was The Flash. Nora is released to explain all of this, but Barry is just gutted to find Nora still kept in touch with Thawne after learning what he did to their family, and rather rashly, takes Nora back to the future and tells her never to travel back in time. Then he visits Thawne in his cell, minutes away from being executed, and let’s him know he’s got what’s coming to him. I wish that was true, though.

Stare at his “God”-piece and despair!

–We get another actor from the show behind the camera for this one, with Ms. Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker) helming this one.

–As much I was hoping Godspeed would be a bad guy for next season, apparently he’s not the case, which is a shame. He’s one of the more interesting bad guys to come out of the Flash books in some time. Also didn’t know this until after the fact, but B.D. Wong provides Godspeed’s voice.

–Man, people really don’t like that Sherloque told them about Nora, huh? I mean, they didn’t figure it out, so boo hoo.

–So Eobard gets occasionally tortured by the prison warden, which is no skin off of me. He’s getting off light.

–We get a farewell video from Barry from the future, Nora’s past, that seems pretty dire as it’s being filmed.

–Some nice callbacks to the first episode, with Nora being awakened to the same Lady Gaga song that Barry was awakened to. And of course, Thawne giving Nora almost the same advice he’s given Barry, word for word.

–“She just wanted to spend time with her dad.”

“The Getaway”

We got quite a bit here to contend with, namely our team having to contend with a Richard Nixon in 1972 who somehow can’t lie now, and being forced to kidnap him and take him on the road to Florida while finding out why he’s so open about everything (SPOILERS: it’s a magical bug that crawls into people). This impromptu road trip with Nixon in an RV sends Hank looking for them, and it couldn’t have come at a worst time, now that Nate and Zari are investigating him for all that shady stuff involving the magic creatures being imprisoned, and are part of the Time Bureau team hunting down the Legends. Plus, the Legends still have Mona with them, who isn’t all that in control of her werewolf power, and takes some accidental reveals from the team under the influence of that truth bug not all that well. The Legends manage to get all this under control, and Nate gets Hank to start opening up about what’s going on.

Which leads us to talk about where Nate and Zari’s investigation leads, thanks to employing Gary and Nora Darhk to help out. Nora can sense something is wrong when a casual walk by of the Neron possessed Desmond truly scares her. When Hank confronts Neron/Desmond about ending their partnership, Neron kills Hank, and Nora only gets out of her cell in time to find Hank dead! Add to that, Nate stumbles onto the scene, and she flees as it’s clear she looks like his father’s killer. Well, this is gonna be quite a dicey dilemma.

Who hasn’t been on a road trip with a drugged Richard Nixon and a truth telling bug that crawls into you? Can’t just be me.

–I just like the solution for dealing with Nixon’s eventual change of heart is to mindwipe him, because him lying protects the time stream! Who knew?

–Zari as radio DJ to warn the Legends. Nice little nod to 70’s road movies there, like Vanishing Point.

–Ava is on a break from the Time Bureau, maybe with her fake parents in Fresno or something.

–Also, the team loses Charlie at a pit stop early, and…they just forget her for the rest of their trip. Ouch.

–The bug goes up Sara’s nose as she covers her mouth, which…ewww.

–“Yes! Save Redford and independent film!”

–“I’ve been bugged!”

–“Alright, let’s put Dick in a box.”

–“WE FORGOT CHARLIE!”

“Seance and Sensibility”

While Constantine and Mick hang around for Hank’s funeral with a slightly reticent Nate, the rest of the Legends head to England in 1902 to deal with a disruption in the time stream: Jane Austen doesn’t become a famous writer! This is all brought upon by a Hindu love god throwing a wrench into the era, and unfortunately, throwing a wrench into our heroes’ lives as well. I mean, Zari is almost convinced to marry the love god and be his 1,001st wife! There’s a Bollywood-esque musical number where it becomes clear that it’s better to lock up the love god and just shake off those urges.

Speaking of urges, Ray stashes Nora on the Waverider, convinced she’s innocent, and yes, they probably slept together. Back on Earth, Nate learns his dad had an insane idea to make an amusement park of these mythical creatures as a way to make up for being not there as a dad all the time. And Constantine discovers through Hank’s ghost that Neron is the one who killed him, and learns from Neron that Desmond is under his control now! Oh, and Mick is just fine, thank you very much.

Yes, this is a screencap from this episode. You haven’t gone nuts, and as far as I know, I haven’t either.

–Lets just give everyone a hand for that musical number, huh? I mean, did anyone really expect that to break out in this episode?

–Mona still has an impulse control problem with that whole werewolf side of her, which at least Jane Austen points out she should take care of.

–Hank’s plan was an amusement park? Well, that’s wasn’t quite as evil as you would think it is, which makes me wonder what Neron has in store for all those captured creatures.

–Zari’s dream with the love god…and Nate. Well, it seems less weird than the rest of our heroes’ night with the love god imprisoned.

–Charlie dreams of having sex with David Bowie. Who doesn’t?

–Ray’s awkward cheek kissing of Nate? Well that’s something.

–“Boshing the old bishop, huh?”

–“Oh dammit, now I know this is a dream.”

–“We’re so not passing the Bechdel test right now.”

NEXT TIME: Dreamer gets to be the city’s hero on Supergirl, Caitlin has to help her mom survive her dad on The Flash, and Sara has to save Eva from a deadly limbo in Legends of Tomorrow!