Friday, January 29, 2016

My Review of DC's Legends of Tomorrow 1.01- Pilot, Part 1

We are introduced to the group and they go on their first mission.  We also meet Rip Hunter and his ship with an AI named Gideon.

We open in London in the year 2166 during the Second Blitz.  The city is in flames and we focus in on a woman who is shot.  Then we see her son who is confronted by Vandal Savage who asks whether he will be brave like his mom or a coward like his dad.  The boy spits in Savage’s face, who says that he’ll be like his mom before shooting.  Then we go to the meeting room of the Time Masters where a man is pleading for the chance to assemble a group to stop Savage.  The Time Masters tell him no, saying that their charge is to protect time, not humanity.

Then we see the man, Rip Hunter, enter a ship and say that he is going after a select group to help him.  The first is Atom, who is back working with the Green Arrow.  The second is Sara Lance, who is in Tibet.  Then there is Hawkman and Hawkgirl who are arguing with each other over her still not-so-great skills at flying.  Next, he goes after Firestorm who is still learning to cooperate.  Finally, he grabs Captain Cold and Heatwave.  He takes them all to a roof where he tells them that he needs them to help him destroy Vandal Savage before he takes over the world in 2166.  He tells them that if they are interested, they need to show up at a certain location in 36 hours.

Palmer consults Oliver who encourages him to go and make a difference.  Sara talks with Laurel, who not only encourages her to go with Hunter, but also gives her a suit created by Cisco and tells her to be a hero in the light.  Stein and Jax argue with each other with Jax insisting on staying.  Stein moots the argument by drugging Jax and bringing him along.  Carter and Kendra argue with each other and settle it with a sparring match.  Snart and Rory decide that they will go along because it will give them an unparalleled opportunity for theft.

The entire team gathers at the appointed spot and Hunter arrives and decloaks his ship, bringing everyone in.  Stein and Palmer geek out at all of the science and everyone else just marvels at what they see.  Well, everyone except for Jax who is still unconscious.  The ship leaves just before a man in an armored suit shows up and kills two guys who saw the ship.

Hunter takes the team back to 1975, with Jax waking up as they are time traveling.  He tells them that they need to talk with Dr. Aldus Boardman, the only expert on Vandal Savage in existence.  He takes Ray, Stein, Kendra, and Carter with him.  He offers to take Jax, but he refuses.  Hunter insists that he, Sara, Rory, and Snart stay on the ship.  The group heads to the university to meet Dr. Boardman, who is astonished to see Kendra and Carter, both of whom he obviously knows.  He tells them that he is actually their son from one of their previous lives and that he has been after Savage ever since Savage killed them.

Sara, Snart, and Rory decide to head out for some fun and insist that Jax stay back with the ship and Gideon.  At the bar, a guy hits on Sara who breaks his arm and then proceeds to take apart a group of his friends.  She asks Snart and Rory to join in the fun and a bar brawl proceeds to occur, which culminates with Rory saying that he “loves the 70s!”  Back on the ship, Jax tries to get Gideon to return him to his own time, but Gideon refuses.  Just then, the ship is hit by fire from the armored man, who has managed to catch up with the gang.

At the university, Stein realizes that there is trouble with Jax and the gang heads back to the ship.  As they leave, Kendra and Carter insist that they bring Dr. Boardman along with them.  When they get back to the ship, Hawkman and Hawkgirl attack the armored man with their maces and fists while Hunter uses his gun to provide cover for Ray and Stein to get back to the ship to get Ray’s ATOM suit and for Firestorm to join the party.  Firestorm and Atom emerge from the ship and proceed to fire on the armored man just as Sara, Snart, and Rory arrive and join the attack.  The entire gang gets on the ship and the ship takes off.

Hunter takes the ship into a temporal holding area to repair the ship.  As he starts to fix the ship, Sara grabs him and demands an explanation.  Hunter reveals that he is no longer a Time Master and that he stole the ship to stop Savage and avenge his family, the mother and son killed at the beginning of the episode.  He also reveals that the entire group was chosen because their loss would have minimal impact on the timeline.  The entire gang is upset at this revelation and split up to think about whether or not they’ll stay.  Stein apologizes to Jax, who tells him that he wants to stay because he wants to be a part of something bigger than himself.  Sara, Ray, Snart, and Rory talk and Sara persuades them to stay by telling them that they can design their own destiny.  Kendra and Carter stay because their son died after being injured by the armored man, a bounty hunter named Cronus.  With that, the entire group tells Hunter that they’ll be with him.

The episode closes with Savage getting his hands on a nuclear warhead in 1975…..

I have to say that I was fairly impressed with the episode.  They did a nice job explaining how Savage was still around after being killed by Oliver and Barry earlier.  Since it would require Kendra and/or Carter to actually kill him to make it stick, that means that keeping the two of them alive is vital.  It also allows for other characters to “kill” him temporarily if needed.  I also liked that the writers gave us background on each of the members of the team so that new viewers would be able to learn about them, even if they hadn’t seen The Flash and/or Arrow.

I think the thing I enjoy the most is the interactions between the characters.  Sara, Snart, and Rory are natural disasters just waiting to happen.  Watching them in the bar scene was just flat out fun.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen Sara that relaxed and Dominic Purcell was obviously having a grand time playing an unpredictable and slightly crazy Rory.  I also swear that Snart has a crush on Sara, which will be fun to watch.  Another great combination was Ray and Stein.  Watching the two of them completely geek out over the ship was hilarious and the little tidbit that Stein taught Ray was unexpected and fun.

I did also enjoy watching Jax and Stein together.  They are so different that they still need to learn how to work together.  Stein is right that Jax does need to listen to him more, but Stein also needs to figure out when to talk to Jax when they are Firestorm.  My least favorite pair were Kendra and Carter.  They are obviously going to be the dramatic couple of the show.  They really need to get their act together.

I’m not sure what to think of Rip Hunter.  The fact that he completely lied to the group for personal reasons is not good, even if it was understandable.  He really wants to take out Savage and is obviously willing to take steps the other Time Masters aren’t willing to take.  That being said, he still really cares about the integrity of the timeline and is well versed in the potential pitfalls of time travel.  Bringing Rory and Snart along was probably not the smartest move where that area is concerned, but they are definitely good in the muscle department.  Snart is also very smart, which could prove to be very helpful.

Is this Gideon the same Gideon that Barry invented in the future Thawne came back from on The Flash?  Also, I am a little confused because I thought Thawne came back from further than 2166, yet he never mentioned anything about Savage.  Of course, it’s possible that we are on a different timeline, so that could explain it, but I hope they actually say something about it.


Looking forward to part 2 next week.  See y’all then!

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