DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow celebrates 100 episodes with high stakes and renewed purpose
Think of this guest-star-extravaganza as Legends: Gideon War, only with karaoke and silly string.
TV Reviews Legends of Tomorrow
Memory is a funny thing. Let a bit of time get away from you and suddenly the memory of faces you haven’t seen in years shines like mad, your heart does that weird backflip in your chest, and a little sigh comes whooshing out of your smiling face.
Over a raucous six seasons plus two episodes, which makes it *does math* 99 episodes in total, DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow has featured many faces: heroes, villains, vigilantes, geniuses, captains, bounty hunters, immortals, warlocks, aliens, time bureaucrats, et cetera. (Those pesky et ceteras!) All sorts of oddball goofs have come and gone or have had the privilege to linger onboard The Waverider to make dang sure that the timeline stays relatively stable. That is Rip Hunter’s legacy, and it has been a ride—bumps and all.
And that legacy has endured even with Legends’ famously tumultuous revolving door of series regulars, which can be jarring for certain viewers who hop off and on the series (like me!) only to find their favorite characters have been consigned to memory while the series keeps thundering on like it’s no big thing.
So it’s not so hard to imagine that Gideon, the AI that has kept The Waverider on course for all these seasons, might have been feeling the same about those we’ve lost along the way. Removed from physical reality, Gideon once floated in the digital ether, watching her fellow crew members leave the timeship and its mission behind again and again and again. Pleasant bows, quiet exits, violent ends—how do you reckon all that has sat with her? Do artificial intelligences dream of… their friends?
That brings us to episode #100, the ingeniously-titled “wvrdr_error_100<oest-of-th3-gs.gid30n> not found” (best episode title yet, and it’s gonna be a tough one to beat), which celebrates this weird time-traveling tv show with a small parade of former series regulars while also recalibrating the trajectory of its seventh season, to boot. It’s a 100-episode party for DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow, and everyone’s invited! (Well, maybe not everyone.)
And what stodgier way to celebrate a television centennial than with a clip show? Lucky for us, Legends has something better in mind: a whirlwind jaunt alongside Astra and Spooner through the memories stored inside Gideon’s mind, which has undergone a bit of amnesia thanks to her newfound struggle with free will. (Good luck with that one, Gideon.)
A dramatic run through Gideon’s memories is a mighty clever way to structure this anniversary episode; it allows the series to reflect on some of its highs through the years with plenty of guest stars (a tv trope as old as the medium itself), and it also gives the show a chance to tackle the important character work that Amy Pemberton’s now-human Gideon very much needs. It’s fun but (surprisingly) it’s also business. Think of it as Legends letting us have our cake (and gingerbread men and fun-size candy bars) and eat it, too.
Directed by Caity Lotz and and written by Phil Klemmer and Matthew Maala, “wvrdr_error_100<oest-of-th3-gs.gid30n> not found” spins Astra, Spooner, and Gideon right ‘round (like a record, babe) through memory after memory after memory for most of its runtime. (There’s a sinister B-plot, and we’ll get to that in the Stray Observations.) The episode executes its ingenious meta-clip show thusly: stashed away in Gideon’s subconscious—courtesy of a chaotic mix of magic and telepathy—Astra and Spooner attempt to figure out how to restore Gideon without causing serious damage to her hard-won personality.
Luckily, hanging out within Gideon’s darkened memories of The Waverider is Jax Jackson (Franz Drameh), the better-looking half of the Firestorm matrix (with apologies to Victor Garber), who is incredibly helpful and speaks with a British accent now. “This is just how Gideon decided to remember me for some reason,” he tells us. “But I don’t mind!” (I don’t, either, Jax, it’s cool!)
The trick to getting Gideon back online (or, if you prefer, conscious) is to nudge the AI towards remembering her experiences onboard the timeship. She eventually comes to (thanks to a memory that takes place just after the Legends, um, kidnapped Spooner and stashed her on The Waverider), but there’s something keeping Gideon from achieving full awareness: a darker, awesomely lit projection of her positronic self.
Diving further back in mindtime means Gideon has a chance to fully regain her memories, but it also means that this anti-Gideon will only pursue them further, even turn Gideon’s memories against them. (The sheer sci-fi silliness of the concept gets but one pop culture jab, courtesy of Spooner: “This is why I skip Christopher Nolan movies.”) But what is the anti-Gideon’s game? Removing every influence the Legends ever had on Gideon, effectively turning her into what she was always meant to be—the optimum AI.
I’m going to reference Huey Lewis here, and I can’t imagine the Legends would mind if I did: the only thing that can repel the anti-Gideon is the power of love. Over the years Gideon hasn’t just guided the Legends from one time-hop to the next, she’s observed them, watched them grow: when Prof. Martin Stein danced and sang with his heart full of happiness, Gideon was there; when Rip Hunter broke the news to his Legends that The Waverider had but one bathroom, Gideon was there; when Leonard Snart sacrificed himself to thwart the Time Masters, Gideon was there.
She was there to give them their time coordinates, sure, but she also gave them advice, offered condolences during times of tragedy, hummed with energy behind the stainless-steel panels of the timeship as its crew enjoyed their revels. The Legends are a group of goofs, but they are Gideon’s goofs, and as a result of observing them over these many years she has become more—and more than an AI, Gideon became a person. Constructed by wires and stored within a complex source code, guided by love and support, Gideon grew.
The anti-Gideon tries to use some of the Legends’ darker days against her, but that only shows the gap that exists between what Gideon was and what she’s become. Every step, good and bad, that’s the sum of people. The memory of old faces is what brings Gideon back stronger than ever—and it turns out, good and bad, our memories of the same faces is what makes watching Legends Of Tomorrow so rewarding. (Note to the show: let’s have Brandon Routh back? Please?) Astra and Spooner may be newer recruits to this time-jumping game, but they’re good people at heart (yes, Astra too, even though she was originally cool with the idea of simply doing a factory reset on Gideon); now they’re yet another reason why Gideon lives to enjoy some strawberry rhubarb pie with her friends. Free will is more than “steal the pie, don’t steal it… don’t—pie.” Do pie, Gideon. Do. You’ll get there.
Stray Observations
- Episode’s MVP: Gideon. The real joy of this episode was watching Amy Pemberton wander through Gideon’s memories of The Waverider and its many crew members like she was physically a part of their journey all along. She was—at least she is now—and watching her belt out showtunes with Victor Garber was a ding-dang delight. Welcome to the Legends, Gideon.
- Episode’s MVGuestStar: Rip Hunter. And it’s not simply because Arthur Darvill was there at the very beginning, either; Rip’s legacy is absolutely a crucial part of Legends, but the episode made a point to illustrate who Rip was and why he saw fit to assemble such a group of people to save the timeline, and Darvill brought his A-game for the proceedings. I’d love to see Rip pop up more often; gee, I’ve missed him.
- MVP Runners-up: Ray Palmer (I nearly fell off my couch when Brandon Routh began dancing with himself); Jax Jackson (and 90% of his British accent!); Leonard Snart. Whatever is going on behind the scenes at Legends, may Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell give The Waverider their unique brand of glower-power sooner rather than later. It was really missed this week.
- This week’s B-plot involved Bishop, who is currently struggling with mind lapses of his own (with Assistant Ava)! Armed with the Gideon AI source code, which he’s reset to ensure she’s all business, Bishop looks like he’s set up to be the big bad of season seven. We’ll see!
- Watching the OG Legends turn a disagreement into a rumble was a rambunctiously fun way to illustrate how much the crew (and the show!) has grown over the years.
- Astra, on the White Canary’s original duds: “White suede? That’s gonna stain.”
- Gideon: “What would any good Legends plan be without a dash of insanity?”
- Astra can’t get drunk because Gideon remembers that Ray Palmer had once replaced all the booze on The Waverider with kombucha. Legends!
- Gideon: “I always hoped I’d get to go on a Legends mission in real life. Always hoped it’d be one of the Westerns. But this is fun, too.”
- Ray: “My allergies are acting up.” Jax: “Yeah, it’s probably the bird dander.” Hawkman: “I don’t have dander.”
- (Did Franz Drameh get a tattoo in-between seasons? I don’t remember Jax with that tattoo, am I going crazy)
- Why was Gideon aiming the gun at the projection of anti-Gideon? That wouldn’t have done anything, that’s just light!
- So! 100 episodes! Tell me: what are you favorite memories of DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow? What was your favorite Gideon-memory? Did you chortle at that Beebo cameo? Let’s share some feelings in the comments below.
139 Comments
I’m always a fan of shows contriving reasons for an actor to use their actual accent.
Franz Drameh has a somewhat different British accent in Attack the Block (I think his first professional acting role?) but maybe the one in this episode is his current natural one
What little I know about British actors is that they have to know a LOT of different accents and regional dialects. It’s an assumption that either of those are his natural accent.
Thank goodness Gideon didn’t remember him as a Scouser, then!
Funny, I thought that accent sounded horrible. Perhaps it was just not being used to hearing it come from him, but it seemed so fake at first. Maybe he was intentionally exaggerating it just a bit for comedic effect?
I’m not great at accents, but I think there were actually hints of two of them here: the accent he was meant to be going for was a broad, slightly cockney, london accent from a couple of decades ago, but now and then I think he dropped into a contemporary London accent, which I assume is his actual accent (the contemporary one is more… gentle? softer?); they’re close enough that I don’t know if foreigners would be able to spot the difference, and maybe I’m just imagining it, but I think it’s there.
Attack the block was his actual accent… This one was the stereotypical British accent.
I can understand his wanting to put some distance between himself and the ”Rocket Man” accent of 2×14.
It’s not even the first time they did it for Jax: in the Victorian vampire episode, he uses a British accent in the morgue, albeit one that’s a bit less posh than the one he used here. I’m not sure which is closer to his actual accent!
I unapologetically love and adore this show. It’s been consistently outstanding since the start of season 2 and such a joy to watch, anyone who thinks DC doesn’t know how to have fun clearly has never seen LOT or Doom Patrol, and it’s a shame that it doesn’t get the attention it deserves.Maybe I’m just easily fooled, but it really feels like everyone involved with the show truly loves working on it. The cast, crew, writers, everyone. And it comes through the screen.As an aside, I’ve had a theory since the end of season 3 that if/when Rip comes back for real, he’ll be a version of the character Waverider. It makes sense to me since he was killed by an exploding time drive, why couldn’t it have infused him with the power to manipulate time?
I’m really hoping the Batwoman fiasco was an exception to the rule. I would be gutted if I learned Legends had behind-the-scenes drama to that degree.I would also be down for that take on Rip. The explosion never read as a permanent death to me, and I’m surprised the writers treated it as such. Given he was caught in an exploding time drive, I always pictured him being tossed somewhere randomly in time and living out the rest of his days peacefully, maybe with a new family.
If that turned out to be the case, it would break my heart. With the exception of Dom leaving, which I think was him just being burned out vs being in a shitty work environment, the only cast members who didn’t leave on their own terms were Routh and Ford. I got the sense that it was the network who decided to get rid of them, not the writers. Maybe they wanted to move back to LA for their kids but it always felt like the network did them dirty.It does seem there are no hard feelings between them since Courtney came back for the S5 finale and they both came back tonight.
I read somewhere that Routh’s last day on set wasn’t great, though not sure why. Glad to see he’s still game for this.
IIRC his last day was filming as Superman on Crisis, and it was mostly just him alone on the green screen, so there wasn’t any big fanfare when he wrapped.
Ciara Renee on line 2. What happened to her shouldn’t have happened to anyone. And they’ve crapped on her character ever since.
she doesn’t seem to have taken it too badly – she even did a short film with hawkman.
she doesn’t seem to have taken it too badly – she even did a short film with hawkman.
Did something happen to Ciara Renee other than the character had middling writing?
There are stories. Let’s remember than Kreisberg was still in charge of the series when she was there.
It wasn’t her that kept saying “barista” crap. That was the writers.
She and Falk Hentschel have had each other’s back since they got cashiered. I’m a little surprised that he’s there and she wasn’t, but that just gives a little more weight to the place being toxic — BACK THEN.
I wouldn’t necessarily read too much into who was and wasn’t there – apparently it was largely determined by national and international quarantine restrictions and who happened to be in or near Vancouver at the time of filming…
I’ve always wondered what the full story there was.Though I’ll point out, as much as the “barista” thing gets done as a joke among fandom, actually on the show? She only said it twice. It was a dumb line both times, but it wasn’t a constantly recurring bit.
Thank you! With all that “barista” jokes in the comments here over the years, it’s like everyone is suffering from the Mandela Effect and thinking that she said that she was a barista multiple times an episode, when she only actually said it twice.
The show’s creative team tried to claim there were story reasons behind the decision to let Routh go (and they weren’t wrong that Ray had basically exhausted his arc, and the nature of the show is a continual cast churn), it was also blatantly a money decision from up on high. Routh was an OG cast member deep into his contract, and probably one of the higher paid members of the cast to boot. At the time Routh was fairly up front that it wasn’t his decision, but I am glad that he was willing to say bygones and come back for not only this, but the Flash crossover thing.
I too hope the Batwoman fiasco isn’t present on Legends. I do know that when Supernatural was running every, single guest star and crew member raved about what a great set it was and all of them said that was due to the leads actively working to make the set fun and safe. I’m hoping that Caity and the cast of Legends are using their clout to keep the set happy. One important cast member can set the tone for the whole production, for good if they make the effort.
The majority of the Berlanti DC shows have had some form of behind the scenes toxic behavior. However, the people in charge of Legends seem to have their heads and hearts in the right place, and aside from the exits of Routh and Purcell, they run a happy ship.
100 episodes! It’s hard to believe Legends made it this far, given the reduced episode count and far sturdier shows ratings-wise getting the axe. I’ve said it before, I’m perfectly content at this point if Legends were to wrap – season 8 looks likely given CW hasn’t confirmed this is the final year, but every episode is a victory lap at this point. It was a pleasure seeing all the returning cast – really makes you realize how much actors have to work to maintain a similar look to make these callbacks possible. I suspect we didn’t see Constantine because Matt Ryan had to maintain his beard for his new character. Bittersweet to see Martin Stein again, given his flashback takes place pretty much right before his death in Crisis on Earth-X. That one still stings. Despite Rip’s assertions otherwise, the ship clearly has 9 crew seats and multiple quarters, so it’s clearly not meant for just him and Gideon. Maybe people in the future have less need for the bathroom.Not fond of what looks to be Bishop behind the rogue Waverider, in a B-plot that unexpectedly had nothing to do with the 100th episode otherwise.EDIT: When Spooner, Astra and Gideon are debating whether to steal the pie, was that the Smallville farm from a different angle?
That’s what it looked like to me. For the last 5-6 years since I’ve been watching these shows I’ve developed a nack for spotting set/location recycling among them. For example in Phone Home, the “gov lab” they were keeping the baby Dominator at was just a school gym, you could clearly see the lines of the basketball court on the floor. Around that same time Arrow did an episode with Deathstroke and the hideout for all the bad guys was the same gym, you could see the basketball hoops had been raised up to the ceiling in the background.I’m not knocking the shows for this, it’s all just part of the charm.
Yes, that scene was filmed in the Smallville farm.
The B plot may have had little to do with the A plot, but it has some nice continuity. I really feel like the writers set this up in last season’s finale. I know that for a lot of people Bishop was a problematic villain last year, but bringing him back allows them to wrap up few loose ends from that season. We can get more Ava backstory at the very least and Bishop was a poorly fleshed out character IMHO, which wasn’t really true with other villains. Damien Dark, Neron, even the Fates felt like deeper characters than Bishop. I hope that this time around they flesh him out a bit.
There are so many Legends of Tomorrow episodes that I really love but I think my favorite is “Here I go Again,” the Zari time loop episode, and perhaps my favorite moment is when Zari is amazed to realize that Nate always believes her & always has her back, surely the beginning of their romanceMy favorite Gideon moment might be from that episode too, when we find out the whole episode is a prank basically on Zari by Gideon, and the reveal that Gary was stuck in the trash compactor the whole episode because Gideon thought it would be funny. Gideon is a true Legend
Same. I think Here I Go Again is right up there with Duet from DS9 as a gold standard for how to do a bottle episode.
I would be really uncomfortable if that was the beginning of her romance with Nate, considering he was still, audibly as I recall, with Amaya during that episode. I just don’t like to think of Zari as the kind of person to pine for someone else’s partner.
I figured it was more the moment Nate went in Zari’s mind from: “Another one of those time traveling meat puppets” to “Hey! He’s actually a nice guy”. The romance stuff I figured developed later. When they were wearing suits and working for the Time Bureau. Because both of them really could rock a suit.
There’s pining, sure, but there’s also subconsciously taking note and forming opinions…
It began to lay the groundwork for their friendship, which later blossomed into romance, but not in an inappropriate way
Here I go Again is how I introduced my partner to the show because I knew he liked a good time loop episode
I agree. You should have stolen that car.Gideon’s moms trying to raise her…”right”.British Jax just isn’t right.Are we not going to see what the Legends are doing this episode?Those memories don’t…seem right. Is she misremembering things?“Now it’s time to restore you to who you were always meant to be.” Does that mean that we’ll see Barry Allen?How does Gideon remember some of these things? They not only happened off ship, but when the Legends had no contact with the Waverider.Of course Zari 1.0 is distracted by a lost donut.Moms Astra and Spooner vs moms Sara and Ava.BEEBO SAVES THE DAY!I expected Constantine to be going to the premiere of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.Gideon is a really good singer.Hmmmm…Gideon refers to Spooner and Astra as Captain.This episode had some good moments, but I felt that it was…not that great. Just okay.
I thought the same thing with the Rocky Horror Picture Show, but Harry Potter is a funnier gag.
Even more so as Constantine was heavily involved with Timothy Hunter in the comics, a character that is veru similar to Harry Potter in look, he even has the owl, and predated him by a couple of years. I do think it’s coincidental as both are a play on a certain british magical archetype and also I doubt JK Rowling was in the habit of reading graphic novels back then but it is very amusing nontheless.
yeah, RHPS wouldn’t be embarrassing to Constantine. he’d never admit watching Harry Potter.
So we saw basically every Legend in this episode except Mick, Constantine, Mona, Kendra, and Wally. I loved Hawkman getting some funny scenes. Mick often skipped team meetings so I am okay with this as much as he is one of my favorite characters
Also neither Amaya/Charlie, maybe a little surprising since Maisie Richardson-Sellers is confirmed to be directing another episode later this year, so maybe just came down to scheduling. I always forget Wally was part of the group for a handful of episodes.
Oh right, shame on me for forgetting that, everyone loves Charlie and Amaya is one of my absolute favorite Legends
Mick was passed out on the floor at one point (obviously being played by someone other than Dominic Purcell). Also both he and Charlie were in some of the clips and scenes that popped up of footage from past episodes (Charlie specifically, was in the scene, where Behrad died). It’s possible that the others might have appeared in blink and you miss it moments when they fly through Gideon’s memory but if so I didn’t see them.
It was mostly jarring in the last group scene where Gideon walked down the hall then looked back at all the legends. Still, it’s impressive they got so many people to return.
It’s weird that one of Gideon’s core memories wasn’t that Kendra used to be a barista, because she mentioned it every goddam ep.
She mentioned it in 2 episodes.
Not having Constantine seemed a bit odd given the actor is still in the show (and was credited). Speaks possibly to having been pushed to retire the character due to that other new Constantine show?Or maybe just a creative thing where they didn’t want to undercut Matt Ryan’s return as this new character
Yeah the lack of Constantine and Mick to me felt more like, both just left so we haven’t had time to miss them yet, so no point in bringing them back already
Someone else suggested that Constantine wasn’t included because the actor has grown a beard for his new character appearing later this season and he’d have to shave it off for these flashbacks.
What a lucky thing that a great actress happened to land a role that could’ve stayed as a voice over for the entire show. So smart centering this episode on Gideon.Also, congratulations to Dominic Purcell’s stand in for staying booked and busy.
I must admit, I’ve been a bit unpersuaded by her human appearances before – the mixture of robotic with slightly weirdly sexy is difficult to get right – but this episode was a real showcase for her range.
Now we just need to see Morena Baccarin’s Gideon on the Flash…
Man, this was a great trip down ole Legends lane. It was really great seeing Grey, Snart, and Rip again, especially with their heartbreaking sacrifices, each of which has heavily contributed to the reasons why the Legends are still going.I’m right with Gideon that any of the Legends’ western adventures were and remain my favorite episodes. As far as my favorite Gideon memory, it’s probably back in season 2 when we actually saw her in human form for the very first time. As far as overall favorite Legends memories, one is Sara Lance getting one last moment of closure with Laurel through the Spear of Destiny in S2.The second is in S5 watching Damien Darhk get to see Nora get married after everything he’d been through just to try and be a dad. The irony for me at least being that Darhk’s character always felt awkward on Arrow where as he was a perfect fit on Legends from the second he walked on screen. And while the final confrontation between him and Sara was both beautiful and tragic, overall it felt like a true full circle moment for both.100 episodes in the books and LOT has without question proven itself to be one of the best things to come out of the Arrowverse with the unique path that it has and continues to carve for itself.
Great call – the Sara-Damien moment was just right.
Dahrk’s best line, talking on the phone to a younger version of himself (who doesn’t know that the guy on the other end is an older version):“I am gonna kick my ass!”
I think if I do a complete rewatch, I’ll find some more favorite moments, but the one that comes instantly(and pretty often) to mind is the episode where they got stuck in sitcoms. Especially Zari singing “repress”. It just stuck with me.
Overall, I’m quite happy with the 100th. I wish the returnees and the rest of the main cast aside from Astra, Spoons, and Gidget had more to do, but it’s already a lot of work to bring everyone they could back as is.Out of all the no-shows, I lament Mick, Amaya/Charlie, and Constantine the most. Not having Matt Ryan feels weird, seeing as he’s still part of the cast. I’d rather they use the B-plot to introduce Gwynn Davies than set up Bishop again, even though I really enjoyed Bishop last season.- Seeing Martin again made me tear up. Victor Garber is just delightful. Jax/Franz Drameh looks great!- Wentworth Miller stepped back into Snart as if he never left. He’s pitch perfect.- Falk Henstchel made the most out of his 2 minutes of screentime, I wish they’d bring him back full time. The show could utilize Carter well, with him not really being similar to the other characters right now.- I’ve never been much of a fan of Rip, though I like Arthur Darvill! But the show positioning him as this vital figure to the Legends existing is great. He’s a hard character to keep on a regular basis, but I do miss his presence.- Ray and Nora had less to do than I assumed they would. Show, bring them back. I don’t care if the Waverider is already cramped as it is. Ray can shrink down and use the sink as a toilet, I don’t care.The episode was fine. But it was during the montage of previous seasons that the history of the show was really felt during this episode. Seeing all the times someone died was sad, the show and the characters have went through a lot.Cheers to Legends, a show where all misfits are welcome. Here’s to another 100.
“Not having Matt Ryan feels weird, seeing as he’s still part of the cast.”Someone suggested that since he has grown a beard for his new character, they didn’t want him to have to shave it off to appear as Constantine in any flashbacks.
God this was fun. It was so great to see all these characters. I liked that whenever we saw the S1 characters they were all unusually snippy and conflicted and fighting each other, reflecting not just the problems bringing the crew together but also the show not having found its voice yet.But Damn, Amy Louise Pemberton. She sings! Beautifully! And is funny and nuanced and still so damn gorgeous. I love that she’s a full character now.
(Can I please please pleeezzzee get out of the greys? Thank you.)Amy Pemberton singing – God, yes! I hope they have a shot of her doing all of “Love Will Keep Us Together”. The jaws of my wife and I dropped to how great of a singer she is. Make it happen, Legends!The credit sequence showing all of the past sequences, and the shot above, gave me a tingle in the feels. Who knew that this show that got mercilessly slammed here (and deserved it) would get this much love by throwing out the time travel adventure series handbook? You’ve come a long way, you incredible bunch of knuckleheads.
Gideon: “I remember those nutters now”
Holy crap – I just remembered that “Love Will Keep Us Together” is a callback from the pilot episode.Well played, Legends.
It also plays later in the season when Snart and Sara attack the Time Masters to rescue the rest of the team.
Man that was great, I might even have cried a bit.Only bit that stuck out was Astra complaining about all british people and I’d be inwardly yelling ‘girl, you’re from Newcastle, and are the reason Constantine ended up in a mental institute there long before he was doing his world travelling guy who steps out of the shadows thing’. The actress is even english!
Astra rolling her eyes at the Brit members was a funny in-joke that didn’t wear itself out thankfully.
Oh totally agreed. I think it just finally struck me how odd it is that she’s playing the character as american in the show, and I guess they might have been worried how Brit overloaded they are already.
Heh, kinda funny that we always used to take the smeg about how bad an american Doctor Who would be, and then we got Legends of Tomorrow which not only has it been a better Doctor Who since season 2 compared to the actual Doctor Who that’s been on during that time, but it’s also got a decent number of Brits present for good measure.
Ah I get it now. Between Constantine and Charlie in season 5, the showrunners felt like they filled their Brit quota.I felt like I was missing out on Doctor Who myself. But you are right that we have our own American version already in the Legends so I’m perfectly satisfied.
There have been a lot of incredible moments on Legends, with them summoning a massive Beebo avatar Captain Planet-style to fight a time demon, but the most meta thing the show ever did was:
Going back in time to when Lord of the Rings was filming to recruit John Noble so that he could record lines pretending to be a time demon to trick his minions into doing something else, because John Noble is voicing said time demon. In an episode called “Guest Starring John Noble.”
Ahh, that’s one of the all time favorite episodes, with the second funniest thing in it with Ray saying a bunch of euphemisms regarding Nora without meaning to.
“Tell Peter Jackson no more chickens. I ate four this morning.” is such a funny line.
So am I the only one wondering where Kendra was? She was way more more involved in the show than Carter.
Honestly, I wasn’t even sure that was the original Hawkman actor.
It was! His hair was just waaaay different (and he did not have facial hair?), and they actually let him be as ridiculous as a man with bird wings on Legends should be.
She was working as a barista.(Sometimes you just have to go for the easy jokes.)
I really love this show. I have been a Fan since season 1 and I know I’m in the minority because I rank season 1 higher then some seasons because we get some good character development in that season. But what I really have to mention and I have before is this CAPTAIN stuff. Each time they call Sara and Ava captains it just bothers me. It takes me out of the whole episode because why do they keep giving Ava Sara qualities. Like they can’t be their own unique person because they are married. It gives me the sense that they just want to give Ava a reason to be on the ship. Why can’t she simply be a crew member just like the others. BTW I love Avalance, this the the best ship on TV loved how they got together and made me love the show even better. But now with this co-captain stuff it really just bothers me. I am saying this because when Gideon called them Captains it took me out of the episode and could not focus as much. It happened last season and I did not enjoy 6B of the season. I did enjoy seeing all the past legends in this episode.
I also think season 1 is somewhat underrated – it’s not bad by any stretch, and it inherited a bunch of broken/damaged characters from Arrow and Flash and started the groundwork to put them in a better place. I can see the co-captains bit being annoying, too. I think it annoyed me less once they grew Ava a bit in the role as a legitimate co-captain, and not just a nepotism promotion by Sara.
I thought the co-captains thing came about pretty naturally. It started with Sara being gone for a couple episodes because she was visiting Star City/Caity Lotz was on director duty, and she left Ava in charge because, really, who are the other options? Constantine? Behrad? Mick?
I agree Ava is likely most qualified on paper. I think most people questioned why it wasn’t say Ray, given his seniority on the ship and that he also has management experience running a multinational – the answer being the show rarely remembered this aspect of him, and also they knew Routh would be leaving by this point. I think the scene rubbed me the wrong way initially because it was framed like Sara giving her girlfriend something to do to get her out of a slump.
Favorite ep is the good the bad and the cuddly.Also Rip changing Gideon’s parameters is a mirror for the writers changing their focus from the time travel plots season 1 to the character relationships starting in season 2
Plus it further confirms how much of a dick Rip was deep down, love it!
YEP. it’s a classic Legends thing we rarely get anymore, Rip’s dickishness screwing things up for everybody.
One one bathroom on the Waverider!!!!
Plus it further confirms how much of a dick Rip was deep down, love it!
“to the character relationships starting in season 2″Oh hell. I started watching randomly one day and am starting Season 3. Should I be concerned?
Season 2 is really good so if you did skip that it’s worth going back for. Season 1 though not so much.
The entirety of season 1 is worth it just for the return of Vandal Savage. That wouldn’t hit nearly as hard without a season’s worth of nonsense beforehand.
I literally cackled with glee.
Nah, you are getting to the best stuff now.
It’s not essential (let’s be honest, nothing is) but I’d suggest watching Season 2, particularly the second half. It’s more serious, and more focused on temporal-anomaly-of-the-week, but there’s a lot of good character-building that sets the arcs for the following seasons, and for the tone of the show as a whole (now that almost all of the characters from that era are gone anyway). It also has by far the show’s best supervillains. Along the way, the Legends murder George Washington, inspire George Lucas (via a trash compactor) to give up filmmaking, land on the Moon, meet JRR Tolkien, find a humanoid Gideon (sort of) for the first time, and live briefly in an alternate dimension, while Sara seduces famous women of history.
Season 2 is great – we get Justice Society plus Darhk-Thawne-Merlin are high comedy together. Also, Letcher is a better Thawne than Tom Cavanaugh.
Wait is Ray? I may have to watch this one, he made the show.
Happy 100th Legends, thank you for bringing so much joy in my life! I can’t believe the show I started watching at the very beginning so I wouldn’t miss out any references in the rest of the then Arrowverse and by a few episodes in, was basically a hate-watch (because all the show did was Rip telling them to stick to rules, rules being broken, people arguing then giving each other pep-talks ad infinitum) is now my favorite in the Beeboverse. I am so glad the show realized that it didn’t need to be too serious and just went with being fun! This episode was a great showcase for displaying how far the show has come! Focusing on Gideon who had been there from the very start was a great way to both celebrate her and to see so many wonderful moments through her eyes. I teared up when Professor Stein showed up, being super happy about his grandson (“future nobel price winner” onesie!! <3) and also the very end when all the Legends came together to give advice to Gideon and welcome/accept her as a Legend. Caity Lotz also did a great job as director.Thanks show!
Speaking of Stein, it would be great to have the show visit Lily again. No reason (other than actor logistics) that it can’t keep in touch with its history a little more…
Seeing the old faces was truly a delight, and the nod to Jax’s British accent (and Astra’s lack of one) was exactly the kind of humor I love. I was a little surprised Charlie/Amaya didn’t return, but you can’t have everyone I suppose. The bit at the end with “Love Will Keep Us Together” as a nod to Season 1 was also delightful. All in all, this was everything I hoped it would be.
I know Maisie Richardson-Sellers is directing another episode soon, so she hasn’t cut ties with the show. But yeah, it would have been nice to see Amaya and/or Charlie (preferably both!)
Missed a chance to have them (briefly) meet!
Loved Astra scoffing at British accents.
I’ve checked out of Legends for the most part, but I will be watching this. Seeing almost everyone again with be nice.
“I always hoped I’d get to go on a Legends mission in real life. Always hoped it’d be one of the Westerns. But this is fun, too.”Her reading of that last line was probably the funniest moment of the episode for me.
Loved the ride of this episode as a longtime fan. Was KIND of hoping that we would FINALLY get to see the ABBA incident onscreen, but perhaps another time. We can dream!
Google confirms my suspicion that that is actually Franz Drameh’s natural accent, which was a cute touch.
Having so many Legends back did slightly underscore the ones that were missing, but I don’t want to harp on what couldn’t come together when so much great stuff did!
Do we think this season with Gideon-centric storytelling might FINALLY give us the connective tissue behind the weird fact that both the STAR Labs AI on the Flash and the Waverider AI on Legends are both named Gideon? I’ve always assumed the Waverider AI is somehow a much more advanced iteration of the one used by Thawne/Wells at STAR, but it’s never (to my recollection) been spelled out onscreen.
Oh this was a delight all around. I will also say, I am really happy to see Bishop back…I loved Rafi Barsoumian last season and am excited to see more of him, especially as a slightly different version of him from last season. As for favorite moment, Here I Go Again is such a classic, but I also love love love The One Where We’re Trapped on TV. I would love to see them do more weird stuff like those ones again.
Ugh. I didn’t completely hate him last year, but I really didn’t feel we needed to return to that character. And having him as the big bad again just feels less important. I’d far prefer the ‘future-them blew up the waverider to force them to deal with something happening in that time period’ option…
This is kinda where I’m at. But I guess we’ll let it play out.
Though I’m wondering if future Gideon blows up the waverider so she can be human. Is that too timey-wimey-wonky?
I like Rafi Barsoumian too. His b-plot felt a little out of place though. I’m glad he’ll continue to be in the show in the future.
As long as there’s no random singing and dancing from him while he monologues it will be okay
Favorite moment? No contest. But there are so many I love. Lenny Snart and the Stein puppet was golden. One of the first self-critical meta moments when George Lucas talks about getting the villain right. And then Vandal Savage’s return. I think what makes it so special boils down to the fact that Legends isn’t afraid to take the piss out of itself. How many shows can you say that about?One thing I find interesting is that in the past when Gideon interacted with the crew in human form, she was always sexy. But when we see her as she appears in her head, she’s wearing comfortable, practical clothes. I’m not sure how much control over wardrobe a director has, but my gut tells me that was a woman’s decision and I’m going to give credit to Caity Lotz. Such a nice little character detail that’s easy to miss.I am inordinately in love with this show. Never leave me Legends!
For one single great moment: it’s silly, but The Banana Boat Song bit. It worked perfectly as, simultaneously, a completely ridiculous thing that no other show would thing of doing, and yet also a plot/character development that absolutely made sense in context in the moment. Best of both worlds!For episodes, there’s too many to count, and I haven’t rewatched many of them, but I do remember the Doomworld episode being really, really fun.
I don’t know if anything’s ever going to to top the giant Beebo smack down for me. It’s one of my favorite TV moments ever. I was gasping. But yes, many other great moments too!
I absolutely cackled at
“I remember them all now… Hawkman, Vandal Savage…”
“Are you sure that’s a good thing?”
“Here I Go Again” is hands down my favorite episode of Legends of Tomorrow. I love a good time loop story, and this one is absolutely fantastic. Doesn’t hurt matters it’s Zari centered, and I love me some Flannel Zari. Tala Ashe is delightfully sardonic anyway, and her going through this time loop (including the vaunted “fun montage”) was great.As far as this episode goes, I loved the A-plot, but couldn’t really get invested in the B(ishop)-plot. We’ll see what happens with it as it goes along. It was surprisingly great to see the OGs again – even Rip and Carter. Not too mad we didn’t see Kendra, though; I didn’t need the 7,192,380,598th reminder that she used to be a barista.
Agreed. I was so glad they left that character out. Every show has a few misses and that was a big one.
I’m not mad she wasn’t around, but I would have enjoyed a meta barista reference.
Oh, that would’ve been funny.
-HI JAX WITH FRANZ’S NATURAL(?) ACCENT-Was not expecting Bishop.-Hahaha bloodlust Sara flirting with Snart, slagging off the whole team, and joining the brawl instead of breaking it up.-“The ship hasn’t been the same since Gorilla Grodd tried to dry-hump it in ‘Nam.”-I swear to Beebo if this is another Rip trapdoor in Gideon’s coding…DAMMIT RIP HUNTER.-Appreciate Spooner’s instinct to shoot Hawkman.-Evil Battle Couple Sara+Ava can only say the word “babe”.-All-holiday party and KARAOKE? Yesssss-Nora is owning the witch thing.
There was a key moment in the first episode, long as the show took to find its way- Sara saying “Yeah, let’s get weird in the Seventies.” This was the first inkling of what the show could be. (Also later when Stein needled her for seducing a nurse: “I prefer to think of it as liberating, with an option to seduce later.”)
There was a moment in one of the flashback scenes where Sara and Snart that made me remember how into Captain Canary I was in S1.
Caity Lotz more or less carried the show that first couple of years, it was just a question of getting everything else up to speed.
I agree, please bring back Brandon Routh! I also loved seeing Rip Hunter again. I loved the entire episode. What a great trip down memory lane. One thing nobody has mentioned is there were no scenes with John Constantine. So that is a bit strange. But top notch episode.
One thing nobody has mentioned is there were no scenes with John Constantine. So that is a bit strange.I think Matt Ryan grew a beard and changed his hair for the new role, hence no Constantine.
I think the only way that could have been better would have been figuring out a way to work the old bads in too, absolutely lovely seeing (almost) everyone again. The Grey/Gideon duet was the easy highlight for me, but the early team’s personality clashes were great and I forgot how wiry their Hawkman was compared to the comics.Can’t pick a favorite episode, so rather than repeat the standards I’ll give a nod to Camelot/3000 for the wholesomeness of Ray getting to be a Knight of the Round Table.
The giant Beebo fight is one of my favorite Legends and just overall TV moments of all time. (Still no Beebo merchandise WB?). Also loved the puppet episode, and the George Lucas episode, and the John Noble episode, and .. just too many to choose.
I would also love for RIP to come back. Maybe he didn’t die in the explosion (no body = no permadeath accordingto comic book law). Or maybe they encounter a younger (but mysteriously older looking) Rip before he meets the Legends.
Gideon is already my season Mvp. The look of pure joy om her face as she went through the good memories was infectious. It was fitting that Spooner and Astra being the other newest members would also be along for the journey. Jax as there guide was just perfect. Hawkman was far more interesting and enjoyable in 2mins of screen time than his entire prior existence and it was even good to see Rip. Ray and Nora were awesome as always. Sara reminded me again just how far her character has come although i do miss her darkside a little, like Oliver it made her very unique compared to all the other characters. Even besides people like Cold and Heatwave.Didn’t quite reach the heights of ‘here i go again’ but what could. I missed Amaya and Mick
Who would have thought they ever made it to episode 100 in season 7? After that season 1…And no, Astra, that’s just not the way to treat Beebo!!!
Franz Drameh doesn’t have an English accent so much as he IS English – he played Jax with an American accent 🙂
I have to start off saying that I know grades are arbitrary and blah blah but…this was definitely an A. One of the best episodes of the show. It was so heartfelt and just really shows that the people behind this show just put a lot of love into it. As for favorite moments, I’ll just copy what I posted somewhere else about moments I love from each season. Just know that there are a lot of S2, S3, and S5 moments that I didn’t talk about. 1 = Snart’s Sacrifice and Ray going giant2 = Amaya and Sara fighting the ninjas, the entirety of “The Legion of Doom”, and Sara all throughout the finale.3 = The entirety of “Phone Home”, Rip v. Sara in “Return of the Mack”, and the entirety of “Guest Starring John Noble”4 = That cool sliding screen moment in the premiere where all the Legends ended up at Woodstock, the last like ten minutes or so of “Hell No, Dolly!”, Charlie’s shapeshifter gauntlet in “Terms of Service”5 = Sara’s breakdown in “Meet the Legends”, the entirety of “Slay Anything”, Mick and Lita’s bonding in “Ship Broken”.6 = The entirety of “Bay of Squids”, the animated portion of “The Satanist’s Apprentice”, and the Avalance proposal.7 = Too early to tell, but for right now the entirety of “wvrdr_error_100 not found” AKA the 100th episode.
I’d be surprised if I did NOT adore this episode. Not just a virtual reunion of almost all of the Legends, but also a stellar character episode for Gideon. That’s a 100th episode. I did read in the past that Falk Hentschel (Hawkman) would have liked to reprise his role but in a more relaxed and slightly funnier fashion. Still a tad serious but I’m glad he got the opportunity to have a little fun in this milestone episode.
Whether characters I miss (Ray, Nora, Stein and Jax, Snart) and not so much (Rip, Carter Hall), it’s just nice to see them again, with the latter two given good material here. Waverider crew, always and forever.
Seeing Bishop again didn’t exactly inspire interest but if it means a do-over for him to get truly evil and more time on Ava’s backstory, I’m fine with that.
You bet I chortled at the Beebo cameo. Reminds me of his first appearance as the tiny furry god of the Vikings, the same episode which also bid a fond farewell to Stein and, later, Jax.
Favorite moment would probably have to be Damien Darhk fight-dancing to “Return of the Mack.” Neal McDonough was such a treasure after he was freed from Arrow’s second-worst season.
Yeah, Arrow Season 6 is just the worst.
This episode was pure Legends delight. All the returning actors did great – it was especially nice to see Brandon Routh and Courtney Ford! And centering it around Gideon was a genius move that worked both on practical and sentimental levels. A+++ work, Legends!Thinking back on my favorite moments from this show, most of them have been mentioned by others. I think the moment I realized the show could be great is when the Legend of Doom got together for the first time in season 2, back around Raiders of the Lost Art, when I realized I liked all of them a lot more on Legends than I had on Arrow or Flash. I remember thinking “Hey, this show might have a real talent for rehabilitating characters…”And then, of course, we have the pure beautiful batshit Legends insanity of moments like this.
Also, people probably shouldn’t be worried too much about Bishop reappearing. I thought this was setting up for the real villain of the season to be an evil Gideon, which feels pretty promising after how well Amy Pemberton carried this episode!
I had hoped we were done with Bishop.
Since no one has yet, I’m going to shout out the moment that makes me laugh every damn time. The Legends, dressed as cops checking out a vampire-stricken body with the coroner when suddenly “Return of the Mack” starts playing on the smart watch this 1890s coroner has for some reason. THEN, the big Damien Dahrk fight scene set to the song where the record scratch is set to him wagging his finger at one of the poor saps he takes out. Probably my favorite Legends fight scene choreography and most hilarious use of a cheesy song in the show.
I almost missed this due to an early screening of Last Night In Soho where the projector broke:
https://mattthecatania.wordpress.com/2021/10/29/legends-of-starro-the-halloween-conqueror-of-tomorrow/
I was impressed by Amy Louise Pemberton’s range as Gideon when she’s not just a voiceover.
Captain Cold’s cold gun is even more worthless as it just briefly leaves teal spots on walls.
I gasped when the doughnut was knocked out of Pre-Crisis Zari’s mouth.
I
was glad to see so many returning Legends, but I wish they’d gotten all
of them. Hawkgirl, Heatwave, Vixen, Kid-Flash, John Constantine,
Charlie, & Mona Wu were missing. It was a bit disheartening during
Gideon’s inspirational hallway walk-through to see her expansive crew’s
costumes become quickly replaced by regular clothes.
Did semi-amnesiac Bishop activate the factory reset in Gideon from the
future, or was that purely a result of her pie indecision coma?
Such a goofy, fun show. The ending scene in the hallway was great, though it would have been nice if it had included everyone.Way too many highlights, but here’s some of the best ones IMO:- A young George Lucas freaking out when the Legends storm his student film set and deciding to go back to Modesto to sell insurance, with Ray and Nate becoming absolutely useless as a result. This is the episode where I felt the series finally decided to embrace its own silliness and just go wild.- John Noble on the LOTR set recording lines to impersonate an evil demon which he himself voices.- Damien Darhk rises from the dead and proceeds to beat the crap out of a bunch of people while “Return of the Mack” plays.- Biff Tannen strumming a guitar and singing a James Taylor song to put a minotaur to sleep.- Sisqo as an exhibit in a Museum of Bad Ideas (or whatever it’s called), which leads to a fight scene scored to the Thong Song.- Nate eats too much mushroom curry for no reason, gets the runs and once he leaves for the toilet, a Post Apocalyptic Nate from another timeline shows up long enough to snarl at everyone and leave.- Giant Beebo fighting a Winged Demon in the Wild West- Vikings worshipping Beebo as a God.There’s just too many to count. The show may be light as a feather, but it’s fun while it lasts.
I forget the episode title but my favorite/most hilarious Legends moment is in season 4 when Gary’s possessed nipple comes back* and Constantine, dead seriously, utters my favorite line on TV (or possibly any media) probably ever: “That nipple belongs to Hell now, Gary!”*in retrospect now that makes zero sense because Gary doesn’t really have nipples and after the unicorn bit it off him it really should’ve reverted to being… I don’t know, a tentacle or some alien bit but whatever, Legends am I right?
Was it just me or was Ava completely unlikable for the first half of this episode? I guess they decided that one of the three of Ava/Spooner/Gideon had to be against the plan of saving Gideon and jumping to all of these memories, but she was so antagonistic towards all of Spooner’s ideas.And then about halfway through she just turned around, and there didn’t seem to be a moment that explained why this change happened. It wasn’t like she saw a memory and had the realization that saving Gideon was worthwhile. She’s just suddenly all-in on the plan for no reason, given how against it she had been for the previous half of the episode.