Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 6, Episode 1 - Ground Control to Sara Lance

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.


Plot


The party is over and the Legends have realized that they are missing a Captain! As they start trying to find some clue as to where she is, Sara tries to escape her alien captors, only to be stunned as to who one of them is.


Influences

Aliens
(The airlock scene in particular, the design of the alien monster Sara fights) and the writings of H.P. Lovecraft (alien creatures having magical powers)


Goofs

While being an alien would explain Gary's generally strange behavior over the past three years, it doesn't explain some of the weirdness where his disguise should have been exposed, such as having his nipple bitten off in Season 4.

The whole plotline falls apart if you consider that, logically, if the Legends were totally unaware that Sara Lance was kidnapped until the day after it happened, they could travel back in time to when she was kidnapped and rescue her without risking a paradox. (Then again, given the Legends' track record and how Ava goes out of her way to come up with a plan that prevents them from doing anything that would cause a paradox, it seems likely she dismissed that option, figuring that something would happen to cause them to run into their past selves.)

Along the same lines, why can't Ava try calling the DEO for help BEFORE they were destroyed in 2020?


Performances

Adam Tsekhman does a fantastic job of typing the audience off as to his identity as the sheepish alien. He also does a fantastic job mimicking Tala Ashe's Zari 2.0 when she dons his human disguise to show the proof that Gary is an alien to Ava and Nate.


Artistry

The costumes and special effects for the various aliens are amazing, looking realistic and Lovecraftian while still being just silly enough to match the tone of the show.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

The title of the episode is a parody of a lyric from the David Bowie song "Space Oddity."

This episode was the first to feature another new animated introduction, with Astra and Spooner added into the collage of the team members.

Sara talks disparagingly about being an avenger and says a real hero tries to save lives rather than avenging people who already died. This is a rather pointed reference to the name of the Avengers - the popular Marvel Comics superhero team.

Astra and Zari suggest that maybe they can find Aleister Crowley: a magician who reportedly escaped from Hell who claimed to have leaned powerful magic from aliens. In the real world, Aleister Crowley was a self-proclaimed magician and prophet. Many think he was insane or a con-artist, but he is still a legendary figure famed for his flamboyant nature and his libertine lifestyle, as he was openly bisexual at a time when it was a crime in his native England and frowned upon most places.

John Constantine claims he summoned Aleister Crowley from Hell and trapped him on Earth. This seems to be a nod to Critical Mass - a storyline from the Hellblazer comic. Through circumstances that are never fully explained, Constantine was revealed to be responsible for trapping Aleister Crowley in a magical circle on the shore of Loch Ness in Scotland. The key difference here was that, in the comics, Aleister Crowley was still alive and over 100 years old, having been faking his death for over 50 years and desperate to avoid Hell and his many magic-wielding enemies.

Most of the lore which John Constantine quotes about Crowley is true to life, particularly his original spellbook being known as The Book of The Law and Crowley's claims that it was dictated to him by an alien intelligence. It should be noted, however, that this was in the classical definition of aliens, in the same vein as the Cthulhu Mythos, before the word became synonymous with science fiction settings.


Technobabble/Arcana

Resurrecting someone with magic forges a psychic connection between the resurrected person and the magician.

Aleister Crowley was a wizard who claimed to have learned powerful spells from aliens.

Upon examining Aleister Crowley's spellbook, The Book of The Law, John Constantine determines that Aleister Crowley was not a fraud, despite dismissing him as a cook after summoning him from Hell.

Spooner Cruz has a variety of advanced weapons, including an energy rifle capable of penetrating he shields (and floor) of the Waverider.

The alien tech in Spooner Cruz's head acts like an antenna. She can use it to send out signals, but does not do so for fear of attracting attention. It allows her to sense the emotional state of the aliens she connects to, as she senses Gary's worry and desire to return to Earth.

The ritual that John puts together for finding Sara involves creating a magical link using Spooner Cruz's signal to Gary. Using that link, John creates a Sigil that will allow him to Astral Project to Gary and, hopefully, find Sara. The catalyst for the ritual is a potion of sorts, made from Gary's chrysalis. (Spooner says it tasted tangy.)

Gideon falls to find any alien tech or anything abnormal about Spooner's brain.

Spooner is able to hear aliens in the Temporal Zone.


Dialogue Triumphs

(John opens the hotel room curtains and looks out on London)
John: London 1977. The tangled knot of grime, the stodgy monarchy. This collision of punk rock and aristocracy slamming into each other like two doomed worlds, this-
Zari: This is a lot at 7 a.m., John.
(John turns around and looks at Zari, who is checking her phone. She puts it down and smiles at him.)
Zari: I'm glad you're in a good mood though.
John: Well, why shouldn't I be? You see, my soul finally belongs to me. Astra is redeemed, and...
(John playfully jumps onto the bed next to Zari)
John:
I get to wake up next to you, you lovely creature. How are you feeling?
Zari: I think a no-strings-attached hookup every now and then... is good for the soul.
(John chuckles at that.)
Zari: Even if it's with a guy whose only coat smells like booze and cigarettes.
(The two laugh and cuddle as the door opens. Ava and Mick enter. Ava is still terribly hungover.)
Ava:  Ugh. Oh, hel-lo.
(Ava's voice trails off as she sees Zari and John in bed together. Mick turns his attentions to an ice bucket and a bottle of champagne on a nearby table.)
John: Oh. Sorry, guys. You, uh, missed the party.
Ava:  Wait, are you two...?
Zari: Yeah.
Ava: Uh-oh. 
(Without a word, Mick hands Ava the ice bucket as he downs what's left of the bottle of champagne. Ava vomits as Zari looks offended. Even John looks somewhat insulted.)
Ava: Okay, sorry. I'm not judging, I just... it's none of my business. I'm fine.
(Ava suddenly gags again.)
Ava: It's an involuntary reaction!
Mick: We should burn the room. 
Zari: Hey, at least we know how to use protection, Pops.

(Nate is sitting on stage with David Bowie, who is idly plucking a tune on his guitar.)
Nate: See, my girlfriend's from another time.
David Bowie: Oh, like the future?
Nate: No. Well... technically, yes, but she's from the future with a different timeline entirely.
(David Bowie nods sympathetically, as if this all made perfect sense.)
Nate: Now she lives in a Totem. And I'm forced to be at peace with it.
David Bowie: What's her name?
Nate: (longingly) Zari. Her name is Zari. And I'm afraid I'm never gonna see her again.
(The rest of the Legends enter, with Zari 2.0 leading the pack.)
Nate: (non-clamantly) Hi, Zari. 

(John has given up on finding Sara and is getting drunk.)
John:
Look... aliens took her, all right? To space. This is really not my area of expertise. Now if it was a ghost, or a demon, or even a handle of whiskey, I could help you out with that, but I'm sorry. All right? I'm an astrologer. And you need an astronomer.
(John leaves the room. Astra is annoyed. Zari is staring at John's bum.)
Astra:
What an ass.
Zari: Yeah, he does have that going for him.

Nate: You, me, the Legends. We're the only people who are capable of handling time-traveling aliens.
Ava: Nate, if I trusted the team, I wouldn't have made an entire binder to get rid of them.

Sara: (To Spartacus) Being an avenger is stupid. The goal is to prevent death. I am a Preventer. You wanna join the Preventers, Sparty?
Spartacus: ... yes?
Sara: Good choice. Now stop opening pods. We're gonna go find who's flying the ship, and we're gonna prevent them from breathing. 

(Gary is begging Sara's forgiveness for abducting her and upsetting Ava.)
Gary: Do me in. I deserve it. I've destroyed the very thing I most stan! 
Sara: Knock it off. You're gonna help me get home. Now tell me everything that you know about this ship.
Gary: Well... when you first met, you butt heads. But any fool could tell you two were meant for each other.
(There is a long pause as Sara regards Gary.)
Sara: This SPACE ship, Gary.


Continuity

Mick returns to the Waverider, having returned Lita home, and finds it trashed and full of hungover punks. He erases their memories without comment.

Mick finds Ava passed out over the toilet in the Waverider's one bathroom.

Ava realizes Sara is missing (along with the rest of the team) when she asks why nobody tucked her into bed the night before.

Ava has a room number for the Skyemont Hotel written on her hand. This turns out to be where Zari and John Constantine spent the night.

Zari has a card for a gambling den at 244 Bow Street. The team find Astra there, about to get killed after proving to be too good at rolling the other high rollers.

Astra is a master gambler after her time in Hell.

The team find Behrad talking to one of the guards outside Buckingham Palace.

Behrad says Nate went back to the club with David Bowie, who they met at an after-after-party.

David Bowie remembers talking to Sara the night before during Charlie's concert.

Sara told David Bowie she was planning to propose to Ava and showed him the ring she'd bought.

David Bowie also captured video footage of Sara's abduction.

Ava erases David Bowie's memory and steals his Super-8 camera.

Sara wakes up inside an enclosed pod on an alien ship. She is able to escape from the pod by touching the inner controls.

Ava formulates a plan to rescue Sara and hands out binders.

John immediately throws away his binder and says he's going to see what he can do to track Sara on his own using the connection they've had since he resurrected her in A405.

Ava accounted for John doing his own thing as part of the plan. Indeed, she accounted for all of the team planning to ignore her and do their own thing.

Zari follows after John to keep an eye on him.

Astra follows after them, after reminding Ava she's not really on the team.

Behrad goes to do "research" while smoking weed.

Mick refuses to do anything since he thinks Sara is the only person who can get the team to work.

Ava's plan steps are, in order:

1. Distribute binders.
2. Have John Constantine use magic.
3. Let any romances run their course.
4. What is Astra's deal?
5. Even bad leads might prove fruitful.
6. Let Rory drink until he cooperates.

Ava's actual plan is for her and Nate to contact the DEO and ask them fo rhelp, figuring they are the experts when it comes to dealing with hostile aliens and Earthling abductions.

Nate makes reference to Sara having a one-night-stand with Alex Danvers in S308.

Sara meets Spartacus, who was held in another one of the alien pods.

John's magic can't locate Sara.

Zari suggests that Astra can look for information among her contacts in Hell.

Gideon refers to Rama Khan destroying the DEO in S518. The organization was apparently officially disbanded after, sometime in the year 2020.

Gideon also says that the ship which took Sara is a temporal anomaly which didn't exist in the original timeline.

Behrad finds a tabloid story from 20 years ago about Esperanza Cruz - a young girl who claimed to have been abducted by aliens, who implanted something in her head that allowed her to communicate with them.

Ava agrees to let Behrad approach Esperanza Cruz, who is now an adult in 2020, and asks him to take Mick with him as backup.

Spartacus plans to release all the other prisoners and lead a revolt against their captors. The first pod he touches unleashes a large insectoid monster.

Sara fights the alien and forces it back into the pod. Spartacus does nothing to help.

Spartacus is eaten by one of the aliens after he attempts to charge it directly.

John has an erotic dream about David Bowie.

Zari and Astra suggest looking up Aleister Crowley, who reportedly learned magic from aliens and escaped from Hell.

John says that Crowley was a kook and that he didn't escape from Hell. John summoned him from Hell and then trapped him on Earth.

John did take possession of Crowley's spellbook, The Book of The Law, but it's missing from where he left it.

Sara finds out that one of the aliens who kidnapped her is Gary Green.

John, Zari and Astra find a man-sized cocoon in Gary's room, along with The Book of The Law.

Behrad and Mick are knocked out by Esperanza Cruz, who has a tranquilizer dart gun.

Esperanza Cruz seems to be a Texan, as her bunker has a Texas flag.

Gary tells Sara that he was originally sent to Earth to find the quintessential human and he chose Sara Lance.

Spartacus was abducted to be lunch for Gary's boss, Kayla.

Gary claims not to eat humans anymore.

It was Gary who programmed Sara's pod to open from the inside.

Gary has no idea where Kayla is flying the ship.

Esperanza Cruz goes by the nickname Spooner and dislikes being called crazy.

Spooner thinks Mick and Behrad are aliens based on the advanced tech they are carrying.

Spooner is tech savvy enough to remove and disassemble Behrad's communicator so she can use it to listen in on the Legends.

Ava pleads with Spooner to help them find Sara using the tech in her head, promising to help her remove it once Sara is safe. Spooner doesn't accept the deal, but is knocked out by Behrad and Mick before she gets a chance to shoot anyone else.

Sara's plan is to commandeer the ship and open a wormhole to Earth's temporal zone.

Gary's poor piloting skills, first mentioned in 316, are showcased.

John puts together a ritual using Spooner to create an astral gateway to Gary. Unfortunately, it takes all of his power to maintain the link, leaving Ava to use the sigil instead of him.

Ava makes contact with Sara long enough to accept her proposal, just after Sara is knocked into a pod by Kayla.

Zari knocks John out before he dies trying to keep the connection going.

Ava's appearance inspires Sara to fight back, escaping the pod.

Sara knocks Kayla out of the ship through an open wormhold, along with several of the alien pods.

Zari waits with John until he wakes up and makes him a juice cleanse.

Astra thinks John has truly fallen for Zari and vice-versa.

Astra says she's leaving the Waverider, as she needs to figure out who she is now that she's mortal.

Gideon analyzes Spooner's head, but can find no alien technology or abnormal activity in her brain.

The Temporal Zone is full of aliens, which are emerging all across time.

Spooner agrees to stay with the Legends for now.

Gary reveals that Kayla, in addition to being his boss, was also his fiancée.

The wormhole closes before the ship can reach it and Sara and Gary, now out of fuel, start to crash towards an alien planet.


Location

London, England - 1977
Deep Space onboard an Alien Ship
Northumberland County, UK - 2020
Spooner Cruz's Compound - 2020
The Temporal Zone


The Bottom Line

A solid introduction to the new season. Yes, a lot of it is nonsensical, but since when has that ever mattered as far as the Legends are concerned? Funny and touching in equal measure, this could be the series' strongest opening ever.

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