Director: Kevin Tancharoen
Writers: Phil Klemmer and Grainne Godfree
Starring: Victor Garber, Brandon Routh, Caity Lotz, Franz Drameh, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Nick Zano and Dominic Purcell
Summary
When we last saw our Legends Nate was recovering from some serious injuries. Ray altered a super Nazi drug and gave it to Nate to stop his hemophilia. Guess what? It works. He can turn himself into steel. Yep. Pretty awesome. Ray and Jax try to help him control his powers, but they screw up and he gets sucked into the time stream. Ray goes after him. Meanwhile, Amaya secretly came aboard as she thinks Mick killed Hourman. We know it was Thawne, but she doesn’t. Sara makes peace so that Vixen, The White Canary and Heatwave can descend on 17th century Japan to save Ray and Nate. Jax and Martin do not become Firestorm, but they do find a secret message from the future. I am not going to ruin that with a spoiler.
Positives
This is the best show of the young second season. Why? Well, the special effects are not really special. Nate turns into Citizen Steel and that looks pretty decent. Vixen uses her magic and that looks just as good here as it did in Arrow. The Waverider still looks as good as normal and we do not see Gideon we only hear Amy Pemberton’s voice so everything works out fine there without a giant glowing head. Because the episode takes place in 17th century Japan, the gadgets, besides Ray’s suit and Mick’s gun are realistic.
Mick is central to this episode. Honestly, last week, he was missed. The writers are smart to keep making Richardson-Sellers integral to each story. Sure, they are trying to get the viewers used to her and we are supposed to get to know her, but she is really good. Sara takes up the mantle as leader in this one and Caity Lotz owns it. This is the best I have seen her and her action scenes steal the show.
There are a lot of jokes in this episode and while there are some touching moments and some hard choices that are going to change the future of the team, the jokes land the best. Mick says to Amaya when discussing the existence of ninjas, “Ask Chuck Norris.” Ha! Mick loves Chuck. Of course he does. Sara says, “Basically, I am a ninja.”
That also lands well.
Negatives
Where is Rip? Right, we will get to that eventually, but we need to stop off in Japan. Yes, it is a time travel show, but we have learned that the Legends stay linear. So, we really need to get to Rip. It is kind of a big deal. It is his ship. It is his team.
Seriously, has anyone checked with Jonah Hex?
Verdict
The Legends of Tomorrow have got it going on. After two baby steps forward, this is a giant leap for time traveling kind. Don’t forget, eventually all of the CW shows are going to cross over. If you are missing out on this one, you will be lost. I think the Waverider has one more seat. Strap in.
Easter Eggs
OK, maybe I will ruin the voice from the future. Barry Allen! What? We do not get to hear it, but we can assume that we will get to see Grant Gustin in oldface at some point in time.
THE SOULTAKER! Yep. We not only meet Katana’s family, but we see the origin of the Soultaker. Does that mean we might see Rila Fukushima later on? I sure hope so. Time travel is fun.
Master Yoda. Yep. Nate quotes Yoda. It is funny. Maisie Richardson-Sellers was in The Force Awakens. That was a nice nod to her and to the whole geek community.
