DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow plays catch-up in Chernobyl, because one place is as good as the other
Legends Of Tomorrow lets certain characters get their bearings (and also lets Gideon and Gary knock boots).
TV Reviews Legends of Tomorrow
Since the 100th episode of DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow revealed that this season’s primary big bad/stylish annoyance for the Legends would be Bishop, the big bad/stylish annoyance of Legends’ sixth season, it’s been hard to shake that feeling of “been there, cloned that.”
“Deus Ex Latrina,” so-titled for reasons that become abundantly clear in the episode’s final moments, seems to be perfectly aware that Bishop’s nefarious return might not be the most exciting plot development for this series. So, couched in the center of this week’s installment, the narrative flips on Bishop and Bishop, imbued with a new purpose now that his Gideon AI has gone rogue, flips the script on his would-be artificial oppressor.
Take a moment and savor some of the irony that comes from Bishop’s revelations this week: the man responsible for the AVA Corporation, the man who bent artificial lifeforms to his will for untold amounts of time, finally met his match in the form of a sentient program. Naturally, his new position as a Time Master wasn’t originally on his temporal to-do list, so Bishop did to this mean version of Gideon what he did to the Legends at the end of last season: he disrupted everyone’s best-laid plans. Then, out of desperation and a newfound appreciation for the Legends, he bid farewell to his green-drink-chuggin’ future with a last-minute escape from the rogue Waverider via a strange parachute-toilet apparatus. Legends!
Following Bishop and mean-Gideon this week was, by design, a game of catch-up for DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow. The mystery surrounding the captain who piloted the rogue Waverider that destroyed Sara’s original-recipe Waverider at the end of season six was finally nipped in the bud (as if there was any doubt after the 100th episode), as were the origins of killer robots J. Edgar Hoover-1000 and Thomas Edison-1000. (Yeah, I’ve committed to “-1000” over the show’s “-bot,” what can I say.)
We kind of already had a good idea who was behind the Legends’ getting stranded in 1925, but “Deus Ex Latrina” decides to go out of its way and make things abundantly clear. (Let’s now take a moment and observe the cruel fate of Bishop’s trustworthy Assistant AVA, who was gifted the title of Time Mistress only to later be blown out an airlock by mean-Gideon, prompted to destroy AVA either by purpose or jealousy or a perverse mixture of both.)
Bishop isn’t the only character who enjoyed a bit of catch-up. As the Legends finally escaped the socially-backwards year of 1925 last week with a new (albeit reluctant) recruit, we come to better understand the agonies and ecstasies of Dr. Gwyn Davies, the bearded creator of time travel who comes packing the face of John Constantine and a killer Russian vocabulary. We learn quite a bit about Gwyn this week, about how his time as a Welsh soldier in France back in 1916 gave him such a pessimistic outlook on fate and purpose, and thus are given a better idea of how he might end up functioning as a bonafide Legend should destiny favor the bespectacled scientist.
“There’s no fighting God’s will, my boy,” Davies tells Behrad, whose primary function this week is to help cheer Dr. Gwyn up (and, perhaps, score some essential parts to repair Davies’ broken time machine). Also tasked with getting to the bottom of Davies’ peculiarities is Zari Tomaz (Zari Tarazi is still chilling out inside her family totem), who spends some much-needed time away from her beau Nate to help Davies get a grip on his current predicament by confronting his past.
Gwyn’s reaction to Sara’s relationship with Ava last week was a solid indicator that the person he believes he’s meant to rescue in the timeline is also a person that he loves, who turns out to be a former fellow soldier of Davies’ named Alun Thomas. (Alun’s tags are kept on a chain around Gwyn’s neck, which he grips in moments of great doubt and fear, further underscoring the love that once existed between these two men.) Alun fell in the Great War during a mission with Gwyn: tasked with delivering a crucial message to their general they found the enemy instead.
Alun’s death, not to mention the death of their entire regiment, is the galvanizing force behind Gwyn’s fundamental belief in time travel. Without Alun’s smile, or his poetry, the Legends not only wouldn’t have a prayer of getting back to the present, they might never have existed in the first place—not as this motley crew and certainly not as this weirdo family unit.
It’s a staggering character reveal from a series regular who now operates under a new identity because of the story that’s being told. It’s another fascinating way to be surprised (and wowed!) by Legends Of Tomorrow, which has slowly constructed a mighty character-focused narrative amid all its yuks and spun wheels.
But that’s not all that happens this week, dear god, no: Nate weighs the pros and cons of shacking up with Zari inside her totem and decides he loves her too much not to make the move (how this will affect the rest of the crew remains to be seen); Sara and Ava take some time apart to get their bearings (and round up some squirrel carcasses for dinner); and Gary and Gideon, both new at this whole “being human” thing, decide to have a roll around the gooseberry bushes just to try it on for size. Turns out they like it, which is the most obvious and surprising turn of events that this week’s episode could possibly cook up, and it’s treated like a subplot. Is Gary and Gideon Legends’ latest It-Couple? Why do I feel so squirmy?
Stray Observations
- Episode’s MVP: Dr. Gwyn Davies. Matt Ryan continues to impress in this post-Constantine era (loathe as I am to see such days) by tossing pathos and a killer Russian elocution into the fray this week. Matt is the most.
- Best Line: *Ava, concerning Gary and Gideon* “I think they got in a fight with a gooseberry bush and lost.”
- Gary: “Maybe we’ll see dinosaurs!” Astra, to Gary: “You better hope we don’t see dinosaurs, Gary.”
- Nate, to Astra and Spooner: “Hey, you two! Come here, shut up.”
- Gary, to Nate: “Sorry, the more handsome the face, the harder it is for me to get a read.”
- Um, where was Bishop thinking he was taking Assistant AVA when he suggested it was time to hit the hay?
- I appreciated how Zari, who understands that Davies is from “the old times”, figures out that she has to explain to him the concept of opening up. That was a nice touch and a subtle character flourish.
- Gary has a superfluous third nipple. Legends!
- Spotted: Spooner, who helps Astra with her campfire dinner on a stick this week. Let the shippers commence with their shipping!
- Gideon’s sensors indicate Zari rode out that ‘86 manual transmission. Clutches are tough to figure.
- Speaking of Gideon: her mean-version’s logic, where changing the timeline so close to a cataclysmic event such as Chernobyl doesn’t have any serious ramifications because of the chaos involved, feels like it was plucked from Marvel’s time-travel show, Loki.
- An aside: how is Sara going to receive Bishop next week, provided he survives the Legends’ latest timewarp? Those two have… baggage.
- So what did you think of “Deus Ex Latrina”, group? Do you think mean-Gideon is going to be cloning herself a mean-Gideon body in the very-near future? Is the continuing Bishop kerfuffle getting to be too much… or not enough? Are we on our way towards an in-show totem visit or is Nate getting downgraded? Let’s chomp some gooseberries in the comments below.
71 Comments
Gary and Gideon casually have intercourse off screen and it’s treated as a throwaway. It’s going to be hard to find another WTFN to top this one.I actually like Bishop a bit more as this unwitting dupe trying to get revenge on the Legends for past grievances only to become trapped by his own AI. Is the evil Gideon in Bishop’s Waverider supposed to be related to the evil Gideon from the 100th episode? Are we supposed to make that connection somewhere?I don’t know how common this sort of thing was in real life, but Gwyn Davies’ back story seems ripped from the plot of 1917.This was a good episode, and it feels like it was meant to be a breather, but I wish the Legends had stumbled upon the fact that they were in Chernobyl a bit sooner just to add some urgency to the proceedings.
A lot of the big WWI poets were gay/bi- Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, and Rupert Brooke among them.
True. In terms of Davies’ backstory I was actually referencing the 1917-esque plot of him being asked to trek across the battlefront to deliver a message to another regiment.
oh, my mistake, haven’t seen it
I thought Alun Thomas might be a reference to Edward Thomas, a British poet who died in WWI (though he wasn’t Welsh by birth, and I don’t think there’s any evidence he was gay). More likely, based on the name, it’s a reference to Dylan Thomas, probably the most famous Welsh poet and thought by at least some to be bisexual (though he was born too late to serve in WWI).
Gary originally had 2 nipples. The unicorn ate one. When Gary allied with Neron, the demon gave him his original nipple and an extra. I only remember because someone pointed out that in the Middle Ages, witches were believed to be acolytes of the devil and they had 3 nipples and Gary teaming up with Neron made him made him fit the criteria.
I’m also glad the writers realized the slight plot hole that the glasses only changed how Gary looked and instead have moved on to they change his body entirely AND dealt with the missing nipple storyline.
“Oh, Gary & Gideon, where’ve you two been for approximately 11 1//2 minutes, and why do I smell Astroglide?”
The Gideon Bishop has is a backup of our Gideon he stole when he was hanging out with the Legends last season that he reset back to the factory defaults so now she’s laser focused on keeping the timeline not screwed up (even for the better).The evil “Gideon” in the 100th episode was some sort of internal process in OG Gideon’s programming that kicked in because her turning human strayed too far from her original specs. I think.
Yeah, the evil Gideon from the 100th episode is her original core programming trying to reassert itself. Bishop’s Gideon is a copy of Gideon reset to that original programming, without any of the added humanity.
Ah OK so they’re both branches off the same idea of factory defaults with no humanity, but they’re not linked narratively otherwise.
Yeah, I think the rogue Gideon process was supposed to seed the idea that factory default Gideon would be bad news for the Legends, but it was a little fuzzy in the episode,
Gary has a superfluous third nipple. Legends!Honestly thought his nipple secret was that he was still missing the demonic one.-Who turns on Bishop first, Assistant!Ava or Gideon-3000?-Hahaha “what if her ancestors hate me?”-Glad Flannel!Zari gets to know Behrad, but lol that they’re such extremely different people.-Love the physical comedy of Sara and Spooner stalking prey through the wilderness. I would like more of this character pairing, since they’ve been separated basically the whole time Spooner’s been on the show.-Damn is Gideon forward! I don’t dislike this Gary-Gideon thing yet, surprisingly.-Awwww, B reminds Gwyn of poor Alun. Good that he opens up to Flannel!Zari, though.-Nate and Flannel!Zari are going to continue switching between the totem and the Waverider, right? We’re not losing them?-The team’s simultaneous “oh, crap!” as Bishop and the toilet fall towards them cracked me up.
Does this mean he had 4 nipples originally? I mean, if you have a choice with your human-suit accessories, the more the merrier.
Down from four is what I assumed, as well.
Gary had 2 nipples originally. He lost one to the unicorn. When he joined Neron, he was given his original nipple back AND Neron gave him third nipple.
Gary had 2 nipples originally. The unicorn ate one. When Gary allied with Neron he was given his original nipple and Neron threw in a third one. In the Middle Ages, witches reputedly had 3 nipples or other extra body parts. The third nipple and serving Neron marked Gary as a servant of Hell.
Today, in your dose of Nipple Lore: The Witch Nipple!
Close. Gary started with two nipples, the unicorn bit off one, then Neron returned it (along with some evil nipple magic), then Mona bit it off again, then Gary used his Fairy Godmother wishes to get it back once more (minus the evil) and decided to wish for a third nipple, in case he ever needed a spare.
Bless this stupid, stupid, stupid show.
Thanks for clearing up Nipplegate.
Missing The Demonic Nipple?metal album title of the day!
When Gary was still evil, he had the Fairy Godmother give him a third nipple because he missed his missing evil one… or wait, I think he got the evil nipple back which Mona as Wolfie ate then when he came to his senses and had Nora as his Fairy Godmother, he asked for the third nipple and then released her after being Johnny C’s apprentice… I am thinking too much about this but I am sure they mentioned it somehow before.
ngl I love that there are actual continuity reasons for Gary to have 3 nipples.
No one is going mention how Mean-Gideon went all Hal on Assistant Ava’s Bowman? “Don’t open the pod bay door, Gideon!”
I also suspect this is something we’re going to circle back to because they’re in the time stream, not space, and she’s gonna pop out somewhere, pissed.
oooooooooooooooooooh I like this.
Has anyone on the show survived getting sucked out into the timestream? I know one of the Fates did, but they’re godlike beings. I want to say someone else got sucked out in early season 2 (Nate?) but can’t recall.
Sarah booted Kayla from the ship without a pod, and she wound up in Cuba for our Kennedy football episode. Whether or not her alien physiology helped her survive it, well, who knows, but it’s possible.Tangentially, hmm, Factory Reset Gideon could’ve made an Avabot to keep Bishop in line.
Whether or not her alien physiology helped her survive it, well, who knows, but it’s possibleI think some eagle-eyed viewers pointed out that Kayla snatched a pod while she was floating through space and climbed into it. In fact, she threw out the first alien that Sara fought which is why it hit the Waverider’s windshield.
Nate (and maybe Ray too? I don’t remember) were flung out in S2, but their powers/suit protected them. I think Assistant Ava is pretty done for.
Yeah, Nate got thrown into the Temporal Zone in Season 2, and landed in feudal Japan … and made a huge crater on impact. Good thing he’d just gotten his Steel powers, or that could’ve been messy.
Lots of aliens, albeit in cryopods?
I’m pretty sure a lot of her dialog was word-for-word from 2001, which was pretty amazing.
It’s looking like I might not be too far off with my “They’re going to have Bishop join the Legends” prediction from last season, especially if Nate(and Nick Zano) is really leaving.I didn’t write this in my impressions last week, but Nate casually, off-handedly saying “My Ray?” when Zari said Davies looked like Ray was great. Why can’t they just keep Ray and Nate onboard?!
His Ray was on The Flash this week, missing his buddy… apparently they have drinking sessions but Nate hasn’t responded in a while.
That’s good to know since I only keep up with Legends and watch just the Arrowverse episodes they cross over with. But yeah, Ray and Nora’s absence still hurts for me.
I hate-watch The Flash at this point but Ray Ray is supposed to be on all 5-episodes of their Apocalypse special thing.
Well Ray said goodbye to Barry & left at the end of the first episode of the Armageddon “crossover,” so I think he will be back but maybe not in all five episodes. It sounded like Alex was going to be the featured guest star in the next episode
I had this thought as well afterwards and as much I (marginally) enjoy Bishop more this year, I don’t know if I’d want him around long-term. Especially not if we have to lose Nate to bring him in.
Gary originally had 2 nipples. The unicorn ate one. When
Gary allied with Neron, the demon gave him his original nipple and an
extra. I only remember because someone pointed out that in the Middle
Ages, witches were believed to be acolytes of the devil and they had 3
nipples and Gary teaming up with Neron made him made him fit the
criteria.
I’m also glad the writers realized the
slight plot hole that the glasses only changed how Gary looked and
instead have moved on to they change his body entirely AND dealt with
the missing nipple storyline.
Dammit, I was hoping they wouldn’t go that route with Gideon and Gary. She’s too sweet and pure for him.Also, they just got done saying that Gary likes women who boss him around, and Gideon is like the least bossy person on the show right now, so why would he be attracted to her (aside from her being gorgeous, I mean)?
I wonder if that means Gary will switch to evil Gideon when they meet up. I don’t think they’d like to go to the Gary goes evil well again, but you never know with this show.
I don’t know if he’s attracted so much as they’re both non-human and naive and curious to try something new. Or maybe this is Gary’s arc of him realizing he has another type.
“Ok, now that we’ve escaped the giant birdcage, everyone hike their weird pants up to their armpits!“
Shameless shipping post:- My shipping goggles fixated on the ‘Behrad reminds me of the guy I was in love with’ line and now all I want is Gwyn/Behrad.- I like how Sara and Ava needed to process things separately but it doesn’t mean their relationship is bad or in danger. It’s natural and expected to have social support systems outside your partner! Good on you, show.
– I was all set to hate Gary/Gideon, but I found it kinda charming. I hope it doesn’t turn into a grand love story, though. I like them as fuckbuddies exploring their humanity together and having fun.
I wouldn’t put it past this show to open up a scene, coming back from commercial break, where we start on Ava and Sara in bed – clearly post love-making – and pan right to reveal (sharing the bed) Gary, Gideon, Zari, Nate …
Other than Sara and Ava possibly no one else on the show should be allowed to be a couple. Nate & Zari shacking up in the totem seems to bode poorly for two of my favorite characters being around any more. And Gary & Gideon is so so wrong. Astra & Spooner I might make an exception for but I still feel that they are more adorable BFs like Nate & Ray New Constantine is starting to grow on me. I like that original Zari and Behrad are connecting with him, both of whom loved the previous version too
With you on the pairings, especially Gary and Gideon.
And Gary & Gideon is so so wrongMy headcanon is that Gideon was thinking of british voiced Jax the whole time and no one can prove me wrong.
That would make sense
All poor Nate wanted was someone to love. So of course he’ll do whatever he can to keep it when he finds it.
After seeing how sad Ray was that Nate’s been missing their dates, I can’t imagine him taking the totem news well. Let’s just hope that he has a way to get out for guy’s night.Never thought I would say this last season, but I am happy for Bishop to join the legends. He has a kind of manic energy they are lacking, kind of like Wally and Charlie had. I think he could work well in the group.
That was a fun episode, right? Legends hijinks and a pairing that came so far out of left field that the stadium was in another country.I love Astra and Spooner’s friendship; it’s so delightful. If Nate goes into the totem with Flannel!Zari, is this essentially saying goodbye to Nick Zano? He grew on me pretty quickly and I’ll miss his being the straight man to the comedy around him.Time Master Bishop is totally gonna be a Legend. Calling it now.
More worryingly, Sara and Ava suddenly having a fight out of nowhere because of the stress of being in charge, and enjoying spending some time not having to worry about the crew, and commenting that the rest of the crew had all grown up now (i.e. didn’t need them anymore), plus the idea floated earlier this season of Astra and Spooner as co-captains……kind of seems like hinting that Sara and Ava might be going to leave too?
Didn’t think about that, honestly. If any show could survive the loss of one of its main stars, it’s this one. I’d miss Caity Lotz, but Legends feels like it’s been tailor-made to be a revolving door. At this point, I think her character development has hit its peak. There really isn’t a lot left for her to do.
While in theory the Legends could continue functioning as a team if Sara and Ava retired, I wonder if the show could really continue without Caity Lotz. I doubt it
Was confused seeing this comment, as I thought I’d said the same thing myself word-for-word after an earlier episode…
Strangely didn’t mind Bishop in this one, being the unwitting fool done something to make him less annoying. Time mistress Ava was funny in her own way and i hope the Legends come across her at some point. I found it morbidly hilarious how ‘evil’ Gideon slowly took over eventually trapping and getting rid of Ava.Having Zari 1 around for a longer period of time is making me appreciate just how alike but different Tala Ashe plays the part. Don’t know which iteration i prefer at this point.Gideon finding delight and Joy in everything brings me delight and Joy. Dont like the pairing with Gary but it was understandable.
> Speaking of Gideon: her mean-version’s logic, where changing the timeline so close to a cataclysmic event such as Chernobyl doesn’t have any serious ramifications because of the chaos involved, feels like it was plucked from Marvel’s time-travel show, Loki.Yeah, that’s exactly what I thought when I saw that. Good to see I’m not the only one who noticed it. – When Sarah and Spooner came back with squirrels they hunted, and someone said “squirrels?” it seemed like they were about to make some point about they couldn’t be in prehistoric times if there were squirrels around, but it just went nowhere.- So Bishop’s about to join the Legends. Because apparently that’s what they do now: have previous villains join up (Nora, Astra) or previous Legends become villains (Charlie, kinda-sorta.)- If Dark Gideon is limited by what she can do without a captain, but she’s already coming up with creative ways around her limitations, who wants to bet her next act is to print herself a robo-Gideon and anoint her the new captain?
I’m expecting the season to end with the Legends fighting a team of evil robot Legends.
I enjoyed this very much. Matt Ryan is just an excellent actor, and he plays the issues of a closeted, traumatized WWI veteran really well. The story overall works for me, too. This Bishop is also better than villain Bishop, but I still wouldn’t want him to stick around. Just put him back in the timeline and move on.
Mick once warned Mona not to push the red button in the bathroom. Now we know whyCould the Ava jettisoned into the timestream become our Ava? Rip told her than though she was the 12th Ava clone on the team, she was different than all the others, but died before he could explain why. That mystery has always bugged me
I loved that this gave Tala Ashe and Matt Ryan another way to interact with each other. They are probably the strongest actors in the cast right now.
So, what’s the shippers’ name for Gary and Gideon?Giddy?
Absolutely not
Gardeon then?
Gareon without the d sounds like a better mix to me.
Agreed. Gareon it is then.
Btw, how does “Asthrad” sound to y’all?
I know this is a controversial opinion, but I think Gary is extremely hot. Google image Adam Tsekhman, and keep a fan nearby.
I groaned when Bishop returned this season and thought he was going to be the main villain again this season. But I really enjoyed what they did with him in this episode – not just explaining this season’s main plot, but last season’s as well. It actually makes me like last season (and Bishop’s plan there) a little more. Him realizing that the Legends were not bad guys and that he wanted to be a good guy was something I did not expect and was pleasantly surprised about.