The buddy system pays off again as the Legends Of Tomorrow have an old-timey airing of grievances
David Ramsey directs a "classic Legends romp" in an hour that puts (almost) everyone to good use
TV Reviews Legends of Tomorrow
The folks behind Legends Of Tomorrow have never been shy about unabashedly returning to stuff that works, confident that familiarity is trumped by, well, general awesomeness. Why shouldn’t they be? As long as nothing gets stale, there’s no reason not to revisit successful formulas. And yes, I am of course referring to the show’s habit of putting Sara Lance in a cowboy hat, but not only to that. Some of the show’s best episodes are of the “Stressed Western” sort—efficient, thoughtful, fun, and the best kind of stupid, without much of the audacity (that characterizes its showier hours. It’s a business-as-usual episode, which for Legends, means two things: A tighter focus on the characters, and the buddy system.
I’ve always been fond of “Wet Hot American Bummer,” the show’s peak buddy system episode, both for itself and as an example of the skill of this show’s writers. (And, okay, also because it’s the episode that quotes a D+ A.V. Club review from the first season.) The goofiness of Legends is so sparkly and ostentatious that, if you’re not paying attention, it’s easy to miss how much craftsmanship is at work beneath all that ludicrousness. Episodes like “The Good, The Bad, and The Cuddly” and “The One Where We’re Trapped On TV” understandably get a lot of attention from fans and critics alike, but it’s hours like “Stressed Western” that make those episodes possible in the first place. This is when relationships grow and change, where characters make new discoveries or overcome private battles. It’s not when the fate of the universe is at stake. It’s in the “classic Legends romps” Nate loves so much. For both the time-idiots and their writers, it’s just another day at the office. But here’s the thing: the writers, at least, are very good at their jobs.
Here’s some of what I had to say about the team’s time at Camp Ogawa back in 2018:
Amazing thing, isn’t it? Writers, looking at a scenario, stop to ask themselves what the people about whom they’re writing would think and feel about that scenario (or alternately, writers look at their characters and imagine what scenario might be most dynamic), and look what happens. And there’s one last element to this episode’s success—it succeeds, as the Legends themselves do, because it uses the buddy system.
Absolutely all of that applies here. If it’s perhaps not quite as tight as “Wet Hot American Bummer,” that’s understandable—this is a covid season, after all. But it comes damn close. Credited writer Matthew Maala has a lot to accomplish in this hour. Lots of boxes to check as the gang passes the halfway mark for this season. And while a few of the items on his to-do list require some stretching and bending, it’s still an impressive, accomplished hour, and it begins with one of the year’s best cold opens.
Sara and Ava’s storyline is, like most of the other stories in this episode, about the difficulty of adjusting to a new equilibrium. But refreshingly, it’s an adjustment that starts almost right away. Maala sets us up for Sara keeping her new alien-clone-hybrid status a secret, because keeping enormous secrets for no good reason is the Arrowverse way. But Sara blurts it out when Ava tries to initiate some good old-fashioned reunion sex, and we smash right on into the credits. Sara wants to ease back into the team before dropping her Bishop bombshell, so they both set out to pretend that nothing’s changed, even though they both know it has. That’s the first pot set to boil.
Then there’s the resurgence of Behstra, which sets the Behrad/Zari storyline into motion. In theory, this is all about Behrad’s tendency to gravitate toward “bad girls” and Zari’s new apparently world-class relationship-having skills, but you could sum it up by basically saying that these two are siblings and roommates and coworkers and have a bunch of unaddressed issues they should probably, you know, address, given that Behrad died twice and there were two Zaris and you get the idea. So that’s another pot boiling.
Then there’s John and Gary, who don’t actually need the MacGuffin magic-restoring fountain known only to aliens as the basis for a spat, given that Gary was John’s apprentice and in his D&D campaign and was apparently lying about who he actually is the whole time, but the magic fountain helps, and it seems Gary is a little tired of always pissing people off, since he hasn’t wanted to eat a human in years. That’s boiling, too.
Then Spooner and Astra, our two newbies, get paired together so they can sort out their shit, but the anger-sensing, gold-shitting Tremors worm makes it essential that they and their short-tempers stay out of town. So they head to the woods for a nice little lesson about the different forms of power, thanks to a chance meeting with Bass Reeves, the man thought to be the inspiration for the Lone Ranger and an apparent ancestor of John Diggle. But it’s a lesson they bicker a lot while learning. Another boil.
And then there’s Nate, who’s been a little adrift this season. Nate, the show’s extremely handsome and dopey Charlie Brown. Nate, who’s pretty much cool with everyone all the time, unless you’re his bro-ul mate and you’re leaving the ship and he’s in denial and very sad. Nate, who’s gotten so good at keeping it together that he manages to absolutely lose his shit right on cue, and uses it to help ensure the gang can live to romp another day. Reader, I fist-pumped.
What a brilliant little character moment. Nate gets to let it all out, air his grievances, but with a purpose! Rage saves the day! After taking care of everyone else’s feelings, he takes care of his own, and even then it’s still to help others! What a delight. What a perfectly Legends conclusion.
That’s not to say there aren’t some issues here and there. We race right through the Spooner/Astra powers journey, and it doesn’t quite get there. Mick is sidelined once more, without any apparent concern for Kayla. And while it’s wonderful to see David Ramsey, Bass Reeves is little more than an afterthought here, a huge missed opportunity. But thanks to Maala’s sharp script and David Ramsey’s stylish, thoughtful direction—inspired by the Coens and greatly reminiscent of The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs—“Stressed Western” transcends its missteps. It’s a joy to watch, start to finish, cathartic and efficient and clever and stupid all at once. It is, in fact, a classic Legends romp. D+. (Kidding.)
Stray observations
- As always, Chancellor Agard’s post-mortem interviews for EW are not to be missed. This one’s with David Ramsey.
- And I’m talking about the episode with Chancellor, uh, right now. (There’s also a replay, if you want to watch after the fact.)
- Behrad using his portal privileges to dry-age meat > the Doctor using the TARDIS to make finish cooking a turkey.
- I felt Sara’s joy so hard when she got to catch up on all the hot Legends goss.
- So… how are we feeling about Nate’s totem pass?
- Does Nate use his extremely helpful superpower in this episode? He does. HOWEVER. I am offended on Ray Palmer’s behalf that Nate doesn’t steel up, get eaten by the worm on purpose, and then punch his way out of its insides like the Atom exploding Rasputin. Would have been a nice tribute.
- Episode MVP: This is an ensemble episode, and they were all great, but let’s say Nick Zano for his big 11 o’clock number.
- Why the fuck not?: You know, Ava, a really fun captain would let them keep the cowboy narrator.
- Line-reading of the week: Tie: “Must be our alien. Or gentrification. Either way we should stop it.” “Hell, I might know someone from… hell.”
- Gideon, what’s the most meta moment?: “So a classic Legends romp. On it.” [many scenes pass] “Gang! Remember! We’re romping!”
- Episode title ranking: 1. Stressed Western. 2. Meat: The Legends. 3. Ground Control To Sara Lance. 4. Back To The Finale: Pt. ii. 5. Bishop’s Gambit 6. Bay Of Squids. 7. The Satanist’s Apprentice. 8. The Ex-Factor.
- Tonight’s episode in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend song form: Too good not to use.
93 Comments
Mick just stuffing his face with that Wagu beef. I’m real jealous.Well, now it’s out in the open.Captains!Looks like they’re continuing that love story from “Highcastle Abbey”.Legends being meta.Something funny about Irma Rose. She seems a little…off.John and Gary dancing seemed real…nice. Despite the animosity in it.Zari having the plan to get the whistle.Does the alien poop gold or shed gold?Ah, so Irma is just a greedy human. I originally thought that she was the alien.Call your brother out, Zari. He’s never hesitated in calling you shallow.In the epilogue I was expecting the cowboy to start up, and for someone to shoot him.So that was it with Mick? A moment in the beginning and one at the end?Passion fruit dragon ash!
I’m almost positive it poops it.
Something seems more off with Mick than usual. Kayla must have done something to him, I think.
Mick’s in love. Allie and Gareema were a good time, but Kayla thinks, acts, fights, and f**ks like Mick.
John and Gary dancing seemed real…nice. Despite the animosity in it.Yeah it was a great anger dance
Spooner actually says “did that come out of its…” and then Astra says “But”
They should’ve kept the cowboy narrator.
– It just feels weird not to have Jonah Hex in a wild west Legends episode.- Cowboy Behrad is awesome and I want more of him.- …How exactly did they make milkshakes in the Old West?- You know what would make sneaking the whistle away easier? A shrinking tech suit. – I wanna know how many takes it took to get all the gun twirling right.- David Ramsey with a fake porn stache is awesome and I want more of it.- “I ask for a chair at the Hall of Justice!” How sad is it that this has been the ONLY nod to the Hall since Crisis ended?- I like that they haven’t completely dumped Gary’s boner for Ava. – Omniscient Singing Cowboy Narrator Man is awesome and I want more of him. – And now we’re back to Mick staying on the ship the whole episode. Granted, the plot of the episode would have had Sara force him to stay, but still.
I like that they haven’t completely dumped Gary’s boner for Ava.I took the scene on the Waverider as Spooner unknowingly picking up Sara’s thoughts instead of Gary’s (they’re standing right next to each other and Sara gets nervous and moves away after Spooner says that), but the squaredance keeps it too.
It was, but everybody responded with “yeah, that tracks”
With Gary, the line between greatly respecting someone and wanting to get with that person seems to be blurry-to-nonexistent.
i thought the same thing about the lack of jonah in the episode. i was pretty surprised they included a mention of the hall of justice considering how meaningless that particular crossover has become at least on legends
I thought of Ray too for stealing the whistle.
>>>…How exactly did they make milkshakes in the Old West?<<
Nate, who’s gotten so good at keeping it together that he manages to absolutely lose his shit right on cue, and uses it to help ensure the gang can live to romp another day. Reader, I fist-pumped.AND WE WONDERED WHY WE DIDN’T SEE NATE PROCESSING HIS FEELINGS DURING SARA’S ABSENCE-“oh, and I turned into a binder” was probably my favorite part of the Legends gossip.-Ava gets over her aversion to the c-word long enough to discuss Sara’s newfound c-word-ness.-Zari complains about B going for the bad girls while dating Constantine.-Are the totem visits a route to more Zari 1.0?-Love both Sara blurting out the alien-human clone-hybrid thing because she can’t keep it secret from Ava *and* the way Ava/Sara agree at the end they were trying way to hard to be normal.-Zari telling B she believes long-distance can work foreshadowed John leaving for his magic quest!-Has anybody tried to count Sara’s deaths lately? She’s dusted Buffy and has to be past Xena by now.
OK here’s what I’ve got…Killed on the Queen’s Gambit (revealed to be alive later)Presumed dead by Oliver after getting sucked off Ivo’s ship.Killed by a brainwashed TheaFatally stabbed by Rip in season 2’s “Turncoat” (revived by Gideon)A version of Sara is erased by the Spear of Destiny at the end of Season 2Killed by a horde of Zombies with the rest of the Legends (Charlie brings them back using the Loom)Killed by alien Amelia Earhart and brought back as a alien-clone hybrid.Going back a few seasons killed who knows how many times during Zari’s time loops in “Here I Go Again”
jesus christ. all hail the Septuply-Risen Bisexual.
Still has a ways to go before she beats Daniel Jackson.
*googles* OH DAMN
Yea, I’m pretty sure Daniel dies at least 3 times in Season 1 alone. It got so bad that, by Seasons 7 and 8, they were lampshading it. One scene had a random researcher investigating alien ruins and saying “Daniel’s gonna die when he sees this!” and random soldier next to him replies “What, again?” Then, in Season 8, Jack refuses to hold a funeral service for Daniel, despite him being in a spaceship that disintegrated in space, without a spacesuit, and thousands of lightyears from the nearest planet. Of course, Daniel pops up alive and well by the end of the episode.
I am personally offended that the line reading of the week or the most meta moment wasn’t that Nate asked for a chair in the hall of justice, but predictably got no response.
It was a contender! Too many gems!
The Hall of Justice is no more. That tease at the end of Crisis went nowhere. Supergirl is leaving, Superman is barely in the new universe, and Black Lightning has retired.
Arrow and Oliver truly were the beating heart no matter what you say about that show.
Superman is in the new, new universe.
I think they’re referring to the fact his show has a tendancy to actively ignore Arrowverse continuity.Especially compared to legends which is pretty good at maintaining the whole universe things (nods to characters in other show, stuff like ensuring the aliens threat starts when Supergirl would be indisposed so the legends have to deal with etc)Superman on the other hand currently seems to be dealing with the fact he’s not the only kryptonian on earth and other people are worried his realisation of having a super powered family member may lead to him turning his back on earth….
I was about to nominate this as well; it’s a low bar to clear, for sure, but I appreciate this show at least attempting to address those gaps in logic. Considering Nate’s state of mind, it also tracks that he didn’t go back to them for help looking for Sara.
Wait, they did. They tried Alex and the DEO had been blown up.
no stray observation about dominic’s real life girlfriend annalynne mccord being on the show?
Oh that’s who that was!She’s pretty.
She’s excellent in Excision!
I kept trying to place her that whole episode. I kept thinking Eliza Coupe but it was not quite right.
Nah, just not that interesting to me. Get back to me when she’s a Nora Darhk-level mainstay.
Still don’t know why they didn’t just do a “David Ramsey as Diggle” guest episode, but I guess considering they’re not making him Green Lantern any time soon it doesn’t matter as much. The direction in this episode was solid, including some of the trick shots Ramsey has alluded to in interviews. I thought the Bass Reeves moustache looked ridiculous until I looked up a picture of the actual guy.What’s with Nic Bishop returning as another villain? Is there supposed to be a story thread with Kilgore from the “Bay of Squids” episode?Constantine going off to find a magic artifact reminds me too much of last year’s plot thread with the loom, down to having a pre-existing cast member conveniently (and reluctantly) give up vital information to kick off the quest.
I imagine it’s because all the Ramsey episodes happened in the same production window and the Legends are not one to be in the present day, present ____ City where Digg is. I quite liked this, especially Sara thinking he’s Digg.
When I saw the Not A Graboid leap out of the ground and eat that guy, my first thought was “This show will never stop finding new ways to make me love it even more” followed by hoping someone would actually call it a Graboid. Or at least call it out without running afoul of a copyright/trademark with “Yeah that sounds like a Gra… no wait, wrong genus”Ah well, it’s clear the where writers and the VFX team took their inspiration from and I love them all the more for it.
We knew David Ramsey was going to appear in all the Arrowverse shows this year but leave it to the Legends staff to use Ramsey in the most left field way possible.I also love that Sara completely recognizes Bass Reeves as a Diggle.
Slightly disappointed that one of the single lady Legends didn’t try to hook up with Dig/ Bass Reeves. Though Astra maybe is considering starting something with Behrad, and possibly we don’t know which way Spooner’s interests lean
Queen of hell and A Stoner is a pretty good match.
I am really surprised they can keep things fresh and enjoyable even when returning to semi-familiar ground. It helps that they really focused on the character conflicts, and didn’t stay on anything too long for it to get old.
Good episode but I really wish they stopped Nate obsessing over Zari. Like I understand you loved her but maybe move on because she is basically a ghost now and your talking to a ghost. I do like that we get to see the ancestors and future versions of arrowverse characters like we see future Oliver, Marie antionette is related to Nora Darhk and we see Diggle’s ancestor. I do wish that Constantine went with Astra, Gary, and Crowley for protection since I assume they can do magic.
Agreed but in Nates defence she is within tangible touching distance as the episode showed.
They whiffed the joke a bit, but the line between Spooner and Astra went something like:“Did gold just come out of that alien’s…”“… but if that’s the deposit, then that guy wasn’t just protecting the gold…”
Nate steels up to eaten by the Graboid analogue for nothing!Why won’t Ava let them keep the singing cowboy narrator?AnnaLynne McCord & Dominic Purcell are a sometimes couple that don’t share any scenes.
Omniscient Singing Cowboy Narrator Man is love. Omniscient Singing Cowboy Narrator Man is life. Also give Nate his seat in the Hall of Justice dang it.
Still betting that Bishop’s consciousness is in Sara.
Me too. He seems like the milkshake type.
I’m also hoping for the “real” Sara to show up.
Like, they’ve traveled to the afterlife before on this show; theoretically, Sara’s soul is chilling there somewhere.
Me too! Preferably before the wedding, so that Ava can marry her one true love.
For those who need more happy feel-good Cowboy Narrator in their lives, here he is with his actual band, The Town Pants, performing for a woman in quarantine on her 75th birthday.
Ahhh, this is a thing of beauty, thanks for sharing!
I mean, this show has a singing narrator delivering songs to camera, and that doesn’t get more of a shout-out in the view? That was the funniest part to me.
Also:
“Digg?”
“Yes ma’am, I definitely do dig!”HA!
LOL came to post these were my two favorite moments as well and you had already done so. So +1 from me.
Uh, it’s in there? Not sure what to tell you. It’s the meta moment and the Coens reference.
I genuinely fell for the end gag and thought he was just seeing out the episode then Ava spoke to him.
During Nate’s blowup, he at one point calls himself the O est G? OSG? I’m not sure. Anyone have any idea what that meant?
He’s not an OG legend, but when Mick and Sara were both off the ship he was the longest-tenured Legend (by kind of a lot). The O-est G. Most original gangster.
Technically, Behrad’s been around nearly as long as Nate, we just haven’t seen the alternate version of Season 3 where he joined the team.
Yea. Its not that big of a gap between any of them really. Sara, Mick, & Gideon = S1Nate = S2Behrad = S3Constantine (and kinda Ava?) = S4Ava proper, Zari 2.0, and kinda Astra = S5Astra proper & Spooner = S6
Once again, this didn’t really work for me. Maybe it’s because I really dislike Spooner, and am not overly fond of Astra, but having them included just drags it down for me. Nate was a delight though, as usual. Many of these episodes just feel like they could be a lot better than they are.
To my surprise I feel like Behrad is not fitting it as well as Spooner or Astra, who are more obvious misfits and so more on-brand for the team. Also Behrad is kind of overshadowed by his sister, his bro, and his would be love interest.
David Ramsey had some interesting directional choices, really enjoyed most of them.Astra always has great pants, and I loved the look she had on her face when she was told there was no gambling. Also despite the short and underdeveloped interaction between them I liked her paired with Spooner.Zari throwing things at Behrad.
I did love the direction though one thing bothered me was that at one point while the Omniscient Singing Cowboy Narrator Man was singing on Waverider, the camera went upwards so it looked like Zari and Behrad in the library were upstairs while Waverider is all one level. Zari and Behrad bickering and throwing things at each other was all I ever wanted.
Given Behrad’s the one who lived Zari 1.0’s memories as we have seen them, does that mean Jonah Hex gave his hat to Behrad and he was wearing that??The way Caity Lotz said “I’ve seen many weird things but this is WEIRD” was incredible.Nate’s breakdown was long time coming, dude’s dead died when Nate thought he was being evil and then he died and then he revived and Zari died and his bro-ulmate left and he has been trying to be chill about it all, he needed to let it all go. Does he now get conjugal visits with Zari 1.0 in the totem now???
Also not!Dig’s beautiful fake ‘stache <3
In the timeline where Zari 1.0 joined the Legends, she was from a dark future where metahumans were rounded up and imprisoned or killed, and had lost her family. Behrad is from the same timeline as Zari 2.0 where none of that ever happened. So the circumstances of him joining the Legends must have been very different from Zari 1.0’s.
Maybe not that different. The inciting incident was likely still Mallus trying to collect the totems.
I want a flashback to the Bollywood musical number, seeing how it played out with Behrad in place of Zari.
The mustache is historically accurate (of course, probably nothing else in the episode is–surely “Fist” is not a real place)
I love that someone has already edited Bass Reeves’s page on Wikipedia with a lengthy entry.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_Reeves#Television
I’ve learned never to underestimate the ludicrousness of 19th Century moustaches.
If anything, they toned it down for TV, the ends were not quite as full as this picture.
Late to the thread and most of the good stuff’s already been covered, so I’ll just tip my hat in appreciation of Behrad’s drawl.+1 to keeping the Omniscient Cowboy Narrator
“Does Nate use his extremely helpful superpower in this episode? He does. HOWEVER. I am offended on Ray Palmer’s behalf that Nate doesn’t steel up, get eaten by the worm on purpose, and then punch his way out of its insides like the Atom exploding Rasputin. Would have been a nice tribute.”Same!But really I’m just in the comments to say thank you for another Crazy Ex-Girlfriend tie in at the end of your recap! Much appreciated beyond being a perfect choice!
I 100% thought he was going inside all steeled up. That wouldve been a good plan!
It looked like that was Nate’s plan. He steeled up and was just standing there. It looked like he wanted the worm to eat him.
Is the episode title a play on “Smith & Wesson” or “Spaghetti Western”? I’m very curious now since it’s ranked #1 on the title list.I needed more Astra and Spooner bonding scenes. They had more in common than I realized.As far as alien-hybrid side effects go, a craving for cherries is not terrible.
It’s a play on the name of a hotel chain, Best Western.
Thanks! That title was gonna bother me forever if I never knew.
Really, I hope “Behstra” won’t happen. Enough with the romance already… Sara & Ava… Zari 2.0 & John… (Zari 1.0 & Nate…)
It’s a time ship, not Love Boat.
Alas, it’s on the CW, where romance comes part and parcel with their series.
He’s struggling for a storyline. Might do him good overall.
Because theyre always on a time ship, I get it. It’s like a college dorm or workplace; quarantine yourself around the same (single) people for an endless amount of time, the chances of attraction and boning go up. People got needs; as Stephen Stills once crooned, “love that one you’re with”
I do not like the idea of having two Captains on the ship. On a ship (time ship/spaceship/..) there should be one person as captain in-charge. I feel that the writers want to give Ava a purpose on the ship. She can still be second in command. Sara Lance is the captain, giving the orders and when she is not around then Ava.
Missed scene of the week.. Astra biting at Gary in the background just after she and Spooner are relegated to the ship.
I never knew how badly I needed an omniscient cowboy narrator, but had they kept him around, it would almost have made up for the lack of Space Cabbie in the alien season.Almost.
Does Nate use his extremely helpful superpower in this episode? He does. HOWEVER. I am offended on Ray Palmer’s behalf that Nate doesn’t steel up, get eaten by the worm on purpose, and then punch his way out of its insides like the Atom exploding Rasputin. Would have been a nice tribute.Honestly, I think that was probably his plan, it’s just that Astra and Spooner showed up and beat him to the punch.I’m not delusional enough to think that people are sitting around waiting eagerly for my input, but I didn’t do a Sara Is The Best this week because unless the show confirms that the clone somehow has the real Sara’s consciousness and soul inside her (we know for a fact souls exist in the Beeboverse), then I’m still on the #NotMySara train. And I’m calling the clone Sarah now, to differentiate them.
One of the best surprise out of Legends(among many, many others) is that it made me love Nick Zano, who I wrongfully assumed was just another generic dudebro actor Hollywood churns out like butter once every few months when I first noticed him in 2 Broke Girls and some movie roles.Nate is the heart of this ensemble and I hope he stays for a while.
He’s got this “Channing Tatum in the Jump St movies” thing where he can turn his big broad-shouldered look into an endearing puppy-dog persona.
Nate being denied a seat with the justice league is just too funny
I don’t know man. I know the sheriff and the townspeople were supposed to be the bad guys, but the only people who caused any bad stuff to happen were the Legends. The first guy died because Astra was trying to steal his gold and pissed him off, the sheriff died because Sara challenged him to a gunfight. I mean, I guess first guy was racist (after being pushed real far) and Bass Reeves being made the bad guy is supposed to imply the rest of them were racist too, but mostly it seemed like the alien was keeping the peace and shitting out gold until the Legends arrived to turn it back into the deadly frontier town.Go Legends?
I’ve been slowly catching up, but I really didn’t enjoy this one much. I don’t know if it’s Covid filming or what, but this episode felt really disjointed, like 2/3 of the characters aren’t particularly interested in the plot at all. To me, Behrad’s “Shaggy from Scooby-Doo except they can actually call him a stoner” schtick is wearing a little thin. Similarly, Astra has basically one character trait this season, and that’s clearly kinda wishing she were still in Hell where she had power and influence. For a while it’s felt like the writers are basically done with Mick and waiting for Purcell’s contract to run out (which is weird, given that they weren’t shy about shuffling Ray and Nora off the show right when they got the itch). Or maybe I’m just getting burned out on the “time fugitive of the week” plots, of which we’re on our fourth iteration (Anachronisms, magical creatures, damned souls on a day trip, and now aliens). I am offended on Ray Palmer’s behalf that Nate doesn’t steel up, get eaten by the worm on purpose, and then punch his way out of its insides like the Atom exploding Rasputin. Would have been a nice tribute.To be fair, I think that was Nate’s plan (before Spooner’s plot device powers kicked in), which would also conveniently let him blow off some steam in the process.