Plot
Still shaken by the recent death of Professor Martin Stein and with the Earth-X version of Leonard Snart along for the ride, The Legends investigate an anachronism that has sprung up in the first Viking settlement in North America. When they discover a young Martin Stein is a captive of the vikings and 1992's hottest toy is their new god, Sara fears they may have to turn to The Time Bureau for help in fixing the timeline.
Influences
The movie Jingle All The Way (adults fighting over a hot new toy at the holidays), Back To The Future (a young man considers using his knowledge of the future to save the life of his dead mentor, Stein name-drops it after Jax writes a letter for him), The Grœnlendinga saga and the Eiríks Saga Rauða and the film Run, Lola, Run (Sara's plotting out how her attack on Darhk will go resembles the alternate takes of this movie)
Performances
Wentworth Miller slays as the more cheerful Leo Snart.
Franz Drameh delivers an even stronger performance here than he did dealing with Stein's death during Crisis on Earth-X.
Artistry
Kudos to the props department. The Professor Stein puppet is very well made, as is the Beeob toy.
The viking costumes are fantastic.
The segment showing The Legends plotting out their attack on "Odin" is brilliantly executed. Great choreography, clever writing. Top-notch all-around.
Trivia Of Tomorrow
The madness depicted over the Cuddle Me Beebo toy in this episode mirrors similar crazes over Cabbage Patch Dolls, Beanie Babies and the Tickle Me Elmo doll among other toys that erupted at various times.
When 1992 Martin Stein uses a toy bow and arrow set to try and reach the Beebo doll, the action theme from the show Arrow plays. The same sound effects used for an arrow being shot are also used during this sequence.
As Nate notes, The Vikings reached The Americas some 492 years before Christopher Columbus.
Lief Erikson and Freydís Eiríksdóttir were the children of Erik The Red, and would go on to establish a colony in what is today called Newfoundland in Canada as their father colonized Greenland. Lief would abandon the colony, however, and return to Greenland as a Christian and attempt to convert his kinsmen.
The historical record is vague regarding Freydis and what little we know of her comes from two surviving sagas - The Grœnlendinga Saga and the Eiríks Saga Rauða. Both depict her as a strong-willed woman, though the Eiríks Saga Rauða is far more complementary.
The Grœnlendinga Saga depicts Freydis as a greedy, conniving woman, who manipulated men in a bid for more wealth and power. It is worth noting that many Icelandic historians now believe The Grœnlendinga Saga to be Christian propaganda meant to discourage the equality between the sexes we now known to be common to Norse society in that time.
Eiríks Saga Rauða, by contrast, depicts Freydís Eiríksdóttir as worthy of the legends of the shield maidens of her era. Reportedly, a pregnant Freydis single-handedly faced down an army of Natives after a peace negotiated between her people and the Natives of Newfoundland broke. Baring her breasts and beating upon them with the flat of her sword, Freydis cursed at the attackers. Faced with a pregnant woman armed with a strange weapon shouting at them in a strange tongue, the Natives retreated, apparently not sure what was going on but certain they wanted no part of it.
The DCTVU take on Freydís Eiríksdóttir definitely seems to favor The Grœnlendinga Saga version, with this Freydis desiring to conquer The New World and twisting the words of the Beebo toy toward her agenda.
Yuletide was a mid-winter festival celebrated by The Vikings and other Germanic peoples. Many of its traditions - wreaths, trees and present-making elves - were later co-opted by Christians for Christmas.
Technobabble
Ray says that when he reduces The Waverider's coefficient of sinusoidal depleneration, it seems to inversely hyper-celerate.
Suitably strong anachronisms can create disturbances in The Temporal Zone which generate time quakes.
Skrælingjar is the Viking term for the Native Americans.
Dialogue Triumphs
(Leo is sitting at the table in what was Rip's study on The Waverider. Amaya enters.)
Amaya: Gideon said that you wanted to see me?
Leo: Come in. Have a seat.
(Amaya sits.)
Leo: You comfortable?
(Amaya nods.)
Leo: I know The Legends lost a friend. I've been there. I want to help you guys through the grieving period.
Amaya: (surprised) Oh. That's... that's very sweet of you.
Leo: I want to give you the chance to get anything off your chest. Anything at all. What would you like to say...
(Leo holds up a puppet that looks like Martin.)
Leo: ... to Professor Martin Stein?
(Amaya is stunned. She was clearly not expecting this.)
Amaya: I- I think that everyone copes in their own ways.
Leo: (looking at the Stein puppet) It's clear The Legends are ill-equipped to cope with this at all.
Amaya: This way? This is wrong.
(Rory pounds the stuffing out of The Stein puppet.)
Leo: My goodness. You're really working out some rage issues with, uh... Professor Stein.
Rory: No, I just really hate puppets!
(Rory returns to punching the puppet.)
Guard: The four-eyed man has escaped!
Freydís Eiríksdóttir: No matter. We still have our god.
(Freydis steps forward as the Beebo toy is brought forward on a litter. She strokes its stomach.)
Beebo: (chuckling) Beebo hungry!
Freydís Eiríksdóttir: And our god hungers for battle!
(The Vikings, save Lief Erikson, all began to chant Beebo's name as the toy chuckles.)
Ray: We could dress up as Norse gods, and order them to head back to Greenland or face our wrath!
(Nate and Sara just stare at him.)
Sara: That's a terrible idea.
Nate: Worst idea you've ever had.
Sara: Agent Sharpe. It's been a while. Thankfully.
Ava: (formally) Captain Lance.
Sara: Let me guess. You saw that there's a Level 12 anachronism and you're calling to lecture me on everything that we're doing wrong.
Ava: No. (pauses) Okay, yes.
Sara: (smugly) Hmm.
Ava: But I also heard about Martin Stein and I'm calling to express my condolences.
Sara: (taken aback) Well.. thank you. But my team and I... we have it under control.
Ava: I hope so. Because The Legends fixing a Level 12 under normal circumstances would be a Beebo Day Miracle.
Sara: ... did you just say Beebo Day?
Ava: December 25th. Beboo Day. When families exchange gifts, sing silly songs and discover that they can no longer live under the same roof?
(Ava chuckles and then her face goes serious.)
Ava: Beebo Day is part of the anachronism, isn't it?
Sara: Yeah.
Ava: Yeah. Never felt right...
Sara: This anachronism is cementing fast. And to be honest, my team is still pretty raw from losing Stein. We could use... an outside perspective.
Ava: Are you asking for my help?
Sara: No. (pauses) Okay, yes.
(A portal opens behind Sara as Ava steps out.)
Ava: All right. What's the plan?
(Freydis has ordered that Rory be burned alive as punishment for trying to steal. As a giant pyre is being stoked...)
Freydís Eiríksdóttir: More wood! So bright Odin can see it from Valhalla!
Rory: Is it weird that I find her hot?
Leo: Weird, but then again, not surprising.
(Damien and Nora Darhk appear in a crash of lightning, dressed in Norse god costumes)
Damien Darhk: My name is Odin, ruler of Asgard!
Sara: Damien Darhk...
Leo: You know this guy?
Sara: And his daughter.
Ray: See! I told you the Norse Gods costumes would work!
Jax: Listen... this is going to sound crazy, okay? But you need to open this letter on November 28, 2017.
(Jax hands Stein a letter. The envelope reads "Do Not Open Until November 28, 2017.")
Stein: I've seen Back To The Future, Jefferson - that mockery of time-travel that Clarissa adores. I don't suppose this letter has something to do with my future?
Jax: This letter could save your life!
Stein: Then I categorically refuse to take it!
(The vikings charge toward Odin's cabin. Suddenly, Beebo is flying before them.)
Beebo: Halt! (chuckles) It is I! Beebo! Risen from the grave!
Lief Erikson: Like Christ himself!
(Cut to inside the Beebo doll, where Ray Palmer is in his ATOM suit, making the doll fly and providing the voice.)
Ray: Yes! (spits out some of the doll's stuffing) Yes! Jesus is the one true God! Which-
(Cut to Beebo, hovering before the vikings.)
Beebo: Doesn't mean science or evolution isn't real!
(The vikings look confused.)
(Sara is pulled from Mallus' realm by Ava)
Sara: You came back!
Ava: It's like you said. You needed me.
Sara: Well, your timing is impeccable
Ava: It's a Christmas miracle.
Sara: (closing her eyes) Yes!
Stein: I was tempted, to be sure. I thought a lot about that date. November 28, 2017. I'll be 67 then. I'll have had adventures. Watched my daughter grow up. And I'll have made a friend, who was willing to risk far, far too much for me.
Jax: No! I - I'm trying to save you!
Stein: You need to let me go. We both know you shouldn't be here. I may have a life ahead of me, but to you... I'm a ghost.
Jax: No, I-
Stein: I'm not going to cheat death, Jefferson. None of us live forever. And yet, I clearly live a wonderful life with many chapters. And if I had one wish, it wouldn't be for me to prolong my life but... it would be for you to live yours and to have all the happiness you deserve.
(Jax sighs, finally offering his hand to Stein.)
Jax: Goodbye, Grey.
Stein: Goodbye, Jefferson.
(Stein takes Jax's hand and returns the shake.)
(Sara reenters The Waverider loading dock. She's about to leave when she hears the sound of a zippo lighter being lit. A familiar, trench-coat clad figure is sitting on a crate in the corner.)
John Constantine: It's been a long time, love.
Sara: John?
John Constantine: Now let's see... the last time we met, I saved your soul. Now there's something you can do for me.
Sara: Look, I'd love to help but your timing is terrible.
John Constantine: But this won't take long. You see, there's a demon out there. It's possessing a little girl. And that demon? He knows your name.
Continuity
Lily Stein was five years old in 1992.
Mick Rory does not like puppets.
Gideon ranks the anachronism in Newfoundland as a 12, saying that the 1-10 scale used by The Time Bureau does not do this anachronism justice.
In the revised timeline, The Vikings never abandoned their colony in Newfoundland and went on to conquer the North American continent, which they dubbed New Valhalla.
Martin Stein's favorite warm drink is Earl Grey tea with a bit of brandy.
Nate once again refers to how odd it is that The Legends keep discovering their past selves or their ancestors close to anachronisms, referring specifically to Sir Henry Stein (305), a young Ray Palmer (304) and Dick Rory (307).
The Time Bureau has rules against fraternizing with the locals while on a mission. Pretending to be members of another viking clan and giving them booze is right out.
Ava Sharpe is as good at holding her liquor as Sara.
In the newly revised timeline following the destruction of Beebo, Odin Day is now the major mid-winter festival.
The Earth-X version of Mick Rory went by Mickey. He was Leo Snart's best friend on that world, the two growing up together in The Resistance.
Rip Hunter was sentenced to prison and The Time Bureau has been in disarray ever since.
According to Ava Sharpe, Gorilla Grodd now has access to time travel technology and scores of Time Agents died trying to bring down Damien Darhk and his daughter, Nora.
Mick and Leo are able to take out Nora Darhk by crossing the streams of their respective guns.
Sara attempts to follow Damien Darhk by grabbing him as he teleports. She winds up in some other dimension, talking to Mallus. She is pulled back through a portal by Ava Sharpe.
Sara says that she experienced a loss of sensation and lack of feeling while in the other dimension. No warmth. No love. Just a void and the only thing filling the void was Mallus.
Jax delivers a Beebo to Lily in 1992.
Stein burned the letter that Jax gave him.
Jefferson leaves The Waverider, seeking some new adventure to help him come to peace with Stein's death.
John Constantine, last see in A405, shows up to ask Sara for help fighting a demon in the final scene.
Location
Central City - Decemember 24, 1992 AD. The fifth night of Hanukkah.
Newfoundland/Vinland- 1000 AD
The Bottom Line
A powerful episode, which somehow builds on the momentum of Crisis on Earth-X and is funny without making our heroes out to be total idiots. It's an Odin's Day miracle! Just when you think it can't get any better, John Bloody Constantine shows up. Easily a contender for one of the best episodes of the series to date.
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