This review contains spoilers.
“Marooned” is written by Anderson Mackenzie and Phil Klemmer and directed by Gregory Smith. In this episode, the team comes against time pirates.
Previously
In the future, Vandal Savage murdered Rip Hunter’s wife and child. Because of this, Rip formed the Legends in 2016 and set out to destroy Savage in the past. The team was stranded in Star City 2046 which had been taken over by Slade Wilson’s son, Grant. Heatwave loved the city in this state and wanted to stay but Captain Cold knocked him out and dragged him back on the ship. Ray also started to develop romantic feelings for Hawkgirl but she turned him down.
Recap
The trail for Savage has gone cold which naturally causes distress for Rip Hunter. However, the Waverider receives a distress signal from another time master’s ship. Reasoning that this ship may have more information regarding Savage, Rip decides to go and rescue it. Rip plans to take Stein and Jax to the ship but Heatwave also volunteers in order to get away from Captain Cold.
Once on the ship, they discover that it has been taken over by time pirates. The captain, Eve Baxter, has been taken hostage and the distress signal was a trap. When Rip refuses to give up the Waverider, he is locked in a cell with Eve, Jax and Heatwave. Stein had stayed behind on the transport ship. The pirates also fire on the Waverider damaging the hull. Captain Cold and Sara try to seal it from the inside but are trapped inside the room where the damage is. They slowly begin to freeze to death while the Atom tries to repair the damage from the outside.
In flashbacks, we discover more about Rip. His wife was also a time master but love and attachment are forbidden because that idea went so well for the Jedi Order. Rip’s wife volunteers to leave so that Rip can continue to be a time master.
The Atom fixes the hull saving Sara and Snart but Ray runs out of oxygen. Hawkgirl is able to revive him while declaring her own romantic feelings for him. However, Heatwave makes a deal with the pirates. He will give them the Waverider as long as they return him to 2016. The pirates agree and Heatwave invades the Waverider with the pirates backing him up. Hawkgirl and the Atom are able to defeat the pirates while Captain Cold and Sara take Heatwave down. Stein rescues the others and they are able to take back Eve’s ship. As repayment, she gives Rip the information he needs. However, Heatwave still poses a problem. Rip claims that the cells cannot hold someone for long and it is too dangerous to send him back to 2016 because he would attack their families. The episode ends with Captain Cold killing Heatwave.
Positives
This is the first episode that I have genuinely loved because it actually deals with the characters. It isn’t just about action and one-liners. This is the first time that I have really gotten a sense of who everyone is and I’m starting to like them. Stein has a great bit where he discusses how he wanted to be an astronaut as a kid but his vision problems caused him to be rejected. He is genuinely excited by the chance to be Space Ranger Stein and is incredibly endearing in a way he hasn’t been since he left The Flash. Sara and Snart also have several sweet scenes together while freezing to death that develop them more and gives backstory on how Captain Cold and Heatwave met. It’s actually a nice story and adds dimension to both villains. They’re becoming actual people instead of cartoons.
The flashbacks are also great. It’s great to see Rip and his wife together because it actually makes the situation more sympathetic. It’s hard to feel sympathy for a character, or a person in real life, that we don’t know. We can empathize but it doesn’t really affect us. Actually getting to know these two makes the situation sad because, as an audience, we can get attached now.
And with the more focused character development, the action is more fun. Since I care about the situation and people, I am invested in the action. The fight scene with the pirates on the Waverider is incredibly well choreographed and wonderfully shot by Smith.
Heatwave’s death actually has some weight to it. It’s genuinely sad to see Snart have to make this decision and the scene is wonderfully played by both Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell.
Negatives
The romance between Hawkgirl and Ray is a little awkward. They have a couple of sweet scenes together but it’s weird when Hawkgirl starts to profess her love for Ray. She did the same thing with Hawkman. She claimed she wasn’t into him and then was suddenly in love with him when he died. Are dying men her fetish? I also think the romance is just unnecessary. There are more important things happening.
The time pirates are fairly generic. They never seem liked much of a threat outside of there just being a lot of them and none of their personalities really stood out.
Heatwave should not be able to take Sara in a fight without his gun. Sara was a member of the League of Assassins and was personally trained by the daughter of Ra’s Al Ghul. Heatwave is a thief with a cool gun. As soon as he lost the gun, the fight should have been over. There is no way he should be able to hold his own and ultimately win in a fight against her.
Verdict
My complaints are ultimately minor; this is an excellent episode and I am really happy to say that. I have been fairly disappointed with this series so far and with this episode, they’ve finally pulled me in. I’m starting to understand and fall in love with these characters which is what I wanted from the start. The episode works on almost every level from the small character moments to the action. It was a blast to watch. I recommend checking this episode out; it’s worth it.
