TV Korner: DC’s Legends of Tomorrow 1.16 – “Legendary”

A serviceable Legends of Tomorrow finale solves one of Arrow Season Four’s biggest problems.

Legends of Tomorrow’s last episode, “Destiny” was a real doozy.  The recap, Kendra and Carter are captured, the Time Masters are destroyed, and Leonard Snart sacrifices himself to save the team.  How can the actual finale, “Legendary” measure up? Short answer, it can’t.  Not to discount what Legendary did right, but “Destiny” was just way too big to top.  Having said that, “Legendary” still satisfies multiple expectations, including an end to Vandal Savage.

As fun as it was to watch Vandal Savage be beaten senseless in three different ways, which was seriously rewarding if you’ve been following the show since the first episode, I was more relieved that Laurel’s death finally got it’s emotional impact in the form of Caity Lotz.  After Rip drops the team back in May 2016 instead of January, it’s up to everyone to pick up the pieces and catch up; not the least of which is Laurel’s murder since Sara has been gone.  I was always curious how they were going to handle this, and I was stunned that Caity Lotz’ Sara along with some help from Paul Blackthorne’s Lance not only brings the two shows up to the same speed but actually manages to make up for the lack of emotional impact of the event in Arrow.  The reaction seems totally genuine and is given plenty of screentime to keep from diminishing the impact of the event on Sara’s character.  This is an aspect that even continues once the team is back on the Waverider as Sara goes through all of the stages of grief right on the throat of Rip Hunter, who knew about the death all along.  There’s some time travel mumbo jumbo that Rip explains to keep them from being able to bring back Laurel, and that took me out of it but Caity Lotz really drove that motivation home.

Speaking of time travel mumbo jumbo, my biggest beef with the episode was how it seemed to make up rules on the spot for certain temporal anomalies, including the sudden movement of a WWII era helmet that is just way too specific.  There’s also a final decision (that might possibly be the worst pun in the history of puns) from Savage that despite being a little thrown together, does collate information gleaned from previous episodes, and once again acts as a catalyst for a royal beatdown and, as a bonus, a silly Back to the Future Two reference.  Thanagar is referenced multiple times, and is even revealed to be the cause of Kendra and Carter’s powers as well as Savage’s (strictly for the fans, of course.) What really made the episode worthwhile for me though, apart from Sara’s picking up Arrow’s slack, was how well the team seemed to come together.  Rip’s character gets a few particularly shining moments but Mick ends up stealing the show with a tearful yet reserved farewell to Snart.  I’ve never been the biggest fan of Dominic Purcell’s work, but he’s really surprised me in Legends of Tomorrow with his seemingly effortless portrayal of Mick Rory.

Final Word: Again, Savage gets his ass kicked three different ways simultaneously, and if that isn’t enough to draw fans in than maybe a dramatic and appropriately devastating farewell to both Laurel and Snart from Sara and Mick respectively will probably hit the audience right where it should.  The episode still seems to have been cobbled together, but satisfaction is still the main attraction.  Everyone ends up right where they’re supposed to, and the journey there is joy to behold.  And if you need to know who that was at the end, just look it up.  Trust me, it’s a big deal.  

“Legendary” gets a 8.5/10.  Far from perfect and one too many liberties taken, but for fans of the characters, this is right where it needed to be.