Legends of Tomorrow: Season 3, Episode 12 - The Curse Of The Earth Totem

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




Plot

As Sara takes some time off away from the team to go on a date with Agent Sharpe, the rest of The Legends go searching for The Earth Totem to prove they can manage things without her. Naturally, shenanigans ensue, as the crew finds themselves playing pirate while trying to steal the treasure of Blackbeard!


Influences

Disney's Pirates Of The Caribbean movies, particularly The Curse Of The Black Pearl and the book/movie The Princess Bride.


Goofs

Why did Mick let Ray go off to confront Damien Darhk alone? There's no logical reason for this to happen other than setting up the conflict for the next episode.


Performances

I think Keiynan Lonsdale was given more to do and Wally West more character development in this episode than in the entire past season and a half of The Flash. His chemistry with Arthur Darvill is fantastic and I could watch a series about the two of them having drunken adventures forever.


Artistry

Though it is filmed far too-close, what little we can see of the fight scene between Amaya and Admiral Darhk's lieutenant is pretty awesome.

Whoever had the idea to include Careleess Whisper in the soundtrack as a song for Rip and Wally to sing together deserves a medal or a bonus.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

The title for the episode (and general adventurous pirate theme) is taken from the first film in Disney's Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise - The Curse Of The Black Pearl.

As Nate notes in the episode, La Concord was a ship stolen by Blackbeard and renamed The Queen Anne's Revenge. Originally built in Bristol, England in 1710 and named The Concord, it was stolen by the French a year later and renamed La Concorde de Nantes. Blackbeard stole the ship in 1717. Though it was only one of the ships in Blackbeard's fleet and he only held onto it for a year, it is by far his most famous vessel.

Why Blackbeard called his ship The Queen Anne's Revenge is unknown. The two most likely theories are that it was either a reference to Queen Anne's War (aka The War of Spanish Succession), which Blackbeard had fought in while part of The Royal Navy or in honor of Queen Anne of Britain, the last Stuart monarch. This episode suggests a third theory - that Blackbeard named it honor of his lover, a pirate queen named Anne.

The portrayal of Edward "Blackbeard" Teach as a coward who avoided conflict in this episode is oddly consistent with the historical record. While Blackbeard had a reputation as a fearsome pirate, the truth is that Edward Teach was a theatrical sort who counted on his reputation to scare other ships into surrendering without a fight. Far from the vicious murderer depicted in most fictional stories involving Blackbeard, the real Edward Teach was a cunning and shrewd leader who spurred the use of excessive force. Indeed, there is no record of him ever forcing another ship captain to severe under him as part of his fleet or having murdered a captive in his career. Indeed, much of the romantic view of pirates as gentlemen of fortune was inspired by Blackbeard's true behavior.

It should be noted that Anne, the pirate whom Blackbeard tries to make his queen in this episode, does NOT seem to be based on the famous female pirate Anne Bonny. In the first place, Anne Bonny did not become a pirate until 1718. Secondly, there's no evidence that she ever met Blackbeard or that they were romantically involved. The historical record indicates that Anne Bonny sailed with John Rackham (aka Calico Jack).  In the third place, Anne Bonny was a red-haired Irishwoman whereas Blackbeard's Anne is a brown-haired Englishwoman.

Wally West quotes the wisdom of Dom Toretto from the movie The Fast And The Furious - a fitting philosophy for a former street-racer like Wally.

Rip Hunter says that the last time he visited China was during The Opium Wars. These were a series of two wars between England and China that took place from 1839-1860.

In order to lure out Blackbeard, Mick begins telling tales about Amaya being "The Dread Pirate Jiwe." This is likely a nod to the book/movie The Princess Bride, which famously featured a legendary outlaw known as The Dread Pirate Roberts.

Rip Hunter claims to have drunk both "Hemingway and Van Gogh" under the table. This is a reference to writer Ernest Hemingway and painter Vincent Can Gogh - both of whom were notorious for their prodigious drinking.

The Lieutenant serving under Admiral Darhk who is determined to kill Blackbeard is identified as Robert Maynard. In real world history, Lt. Robert Maynard is credited with leading the squad that killed Blackbeard on November 22, 1718.

As Nate keeps reminding everyone, The Bermuda Triangle is also known as The Devil's Triangle.

There is a running gag with Blackbeard making sure to recover his Captain's hat after it is taken from him. This is a nod to a similar gag involving Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean films.

The song which Wally says is one of Jesse Wells' favorites - Careless Whisper by George Michael - is later sung by Rip and Wally at karaoke. Appropriately enough, we see them singing the second verse, which starts with the line "Time can never mend." It's also a song about betrayal and heartbreak, which seems fitting given Rip's recent actions and Wally's recent break-up with Jesse.

Damien Darhk's ship is identified as The HMS Fortitude. While there was an English ship by that name, it was not commissioned until 1780. It was a 74-gun third-rate that became a prison ship in 1795, a powder hulk in 1802 and was broken up in 1820.


Technobabble

Gideon suffers a Level 4 Systems Failure after being parked in the middle of The Bermuda Triangle.

Zari later determines that The Waverider's problems were caused by multiple unexplained malfunctions to the ship's electrical systems.


Dialogue Triumphs

Ray: We need to tell Sara we gotta get to Detroit.
Mick: Nope. She's off to Star City. She's been texting some guy. They're going on a date.
Ray: How do you know? What, are you looking at her phone?!
Mick: I look at everyone's phone. Helps to pass the time.

Nate:All those in favor of setting a course for 1717?!
Amaya: (resigned) Aye.
Zari: (unenthusiastically) Aye.
Ray: (enthusiastic pirate voice) Aye!
Mick: (bleary as he drinks from his beer) Aye.
Nate: Arrrrrrrrr!

(Rip tells Wally that he needs his help to save the world.)
Wally: Well, I'm sorry, my friend, but my days of "fwathooming" are over. Right now, I'm living life one quarter-mile at a time.
Rip: What that a Buddhist koan?
Wally: Dom Toretto. The Fast And The Furious.

Amaya: I want to change my granddaughter Kuasa's past, and... well, improve her future.
Mick: So do it.
Amaya: It's not that simple. What if I inadvertently change my other granddaughter's destiny?
Mick: So don't do it.
Amaya: And then there's Nate. I still have to go back to 1942 and marry someone else so that Kuasa and Mari are even born. We can never end up together. (shaking her head) I feel paralyzed. Every step I take, it just feels like it could have disastrous consequences.
Mick: Take a look around. (motions to the people in the bar with them) Do you think these people give a damn about consequences? Take the night off! A true pirate doesn't live for tomorrow. They only live for the moment.
Amaya: Thanks Mick... but I don't know the first thing about acting like a pirate.
(Amaya gets up and walks off.)
Mick: Well... I do. (takes a swig from his bottle)

Mick: If there's one thing pirates love more than treasure, it's a good story.

(A drunken Rip spies Wally's flask.)
Rip: Gimmie some of that.
(Rip approaches Wally and then trips. Wally grips his own flask protectively.)
Wally: No, this - this is not for you.
Rip: (dismissively) Please! I drank Hemingway and Van Gogh under the table.
Wally: Cisco gave this to me before I left Central City. It's the only way a speedster could get drunk is of of this... rocket fuel.
Rip: Rocket fuel?
Wally: Yeah!
(The two laugh at this. Suddenly, Rip lunges for the flask and grabs it while Wally's guard is down. He takes a swig from the flask and winces at the taste of it.)
Rip: God! Cisco is a rutting genius.
Wally: (sadly) Yeah, he is. So's Barry. And Caitlin. And Wells. Wait, maybe that's why I never fit on Team Flash? (Wally bursts out laughing at this.)
Rip: And here I was thinking you were roaming the Chinese countryside because your girlfriend needed more space.
(Wally goes quiet at that, clearly upset. Rip adopts a more sympathetic tone.)
Rip: Nah, I can do one better than that, mate. Both my favorite protegees conspired to have me put in prison.
Wally: Huh. What happened?
Rip: Well, I lied to Sara. In addition to accidentally aiding in the resurrection of the man who killed her sister. And Ava is angry at me for sending good agents to their deaths.
Wally: Woah. Sounds like you're a bit of a douche. (defensively) No offense!
Rip: Nah.  None taken, man. I intend to make it up to both of them. But first, I need the teensiest ... teensiest of favors...

Sara: (into her phone)  Please tell me that The Waverider did not just crash into Star City!
Zari: Star City? Is that where we are?
Sara: (over the phone)  Oh, you've got to be kidding me!
Ray: Well, the good news is the cannonballs didn't hit The Time Core.
(There is an explosion in the background. Zari sighs.)
Ray: And Nate made a beautiful landing.
Zari: Yeah.
Nate: Thanks, big guy. (forced cheer) So! Sara! How's the date going?
Sara: (sighs) It's over.

Ava Sharpe: We need to find Rip! He has a Time Courier, which means he could be anywhere, any time, causing a whole mess of problems.
(Cut to Tokyo 1992. A still drunk Rip and Wally are singing George Michael's "Careless Whisper" in a karaoke bar.)

(Blackbeard enters the tavern as Amaya and Mick are winning over his crew.)
Blackbeard: Mutiny? Is that what this is, then? You'd rather follow The Dread Pirate Jiwe than your own captain?
(Amaya draws her sword and levels it at Blackbeard.)
Blackbeard: Then I'm bloody joining you!

Amaya: The totems draw on the life force of their bearer. So if Anne was as wicked as you suggest, the totem would have only amplified her worst impulses.
Blackbeard: It turned her into a monster!
Mick: How did you live to tell the tale?
Blackbeard: Well, I did the only decent thing any man would do - I put a musket ball in her head and buried her along with the treasure.


Continuity

The Earth Totem of Zambesi features a giant emerald.

Blackbeard gave the Totem to Anne - his pirate queen.

According to Amaya, her research says there were only five totems of Zambesi with each of the five tribes being given one totem.

Ray runs down the list of totems. Amaya has the Spirit. Zari has the Air. Kuasa has Water. This leaves them searching for Earth and Fire.

Ray notes that the Fire Totem is smashed in the current age, per the events of Vixen: Season 2 and was last seen intact in a Detroit Museum in 2018. Ray also explains that the pieces of the Fire Totem are currently in the possession of Dr. Adam Macalester - an expert on the Zambesi totems and Mari McCabe's current boyfriend.

Sara leaves the team to go on a date with Ava Shape in Star City 2018.

Sara's drink of choice is a vodka martini, extra dirty, stirred. She believes shaken martinis are for lightweights who want their drinks watered down.

Sara refers to the events of 309 and how Ava helped her fight a group of Vikings and saved her from Mallus.

Zari has curled her hair. She doesn't like it, but Amaya thinks it looks nice.

Damien Darhk steals the Fire Totem before the Legends can get to it in 2018.

Nate is able to track the Earth Totem to the manifest of The Saint Lisette - the sister ship of La Concorde in 1717.

Rip Hunter was able to track Wally West through his MP3 player. He notes that Wally has replayed the George Michael song "Careless Whisper" a lot.

Wally says that Careless Whisper was one of Jesse Wells' favorite songs.

The last time Rip Hunter traveled to East Asia was during The Opium Wars. These took place from 1839-1860.

The most embarrassing event in Sara Lance's life was when the first time she had a weapon in her hand - playing Peter Pan in the school play at Starling City Elementary. She froze up and forgot her lines. She broke into a tap-dance before running off stage crying.

Sara can tap-dance.

Blackbeard says that he buried The Earth Totem on Grace Island.

Rip Hunter claims to have drunk Ernest Hemingway and Vincent Van Gogh under the table.

Wally West has a flask full of the same "rocket fuel" that Cisco Ramon distilled for Barry Allen when he wanted a drink since normal alcohol burns through a speedster's system so fast that it does not affect them.

Wally West is confirmed to be old enough to drink legally in the United States - at least 21.

Gary Green has a rivalry with another Time Agent named McNeil, who was just named Agent of the Month at the Star City branch of The Time Bureau.

Wally Wet steals Gary Green's cel phone and Time Courier. He also pulls down Gary's pants.

This is, Gary notes, the second time this has happened to him. The first time may have involved Sara Lance's lifting his ID, which she referred to in 301.

Wally also recovers Rip's trademark brown long-coat from a storage closet in The Time Bureau offices.

Ava Sharpe played paintball at her 15th birthday party. She wound up using someone else as a human shield.

Admiral Darhk's ship is the HMS Fortitude. It creates another anachronism when it gets into a fight with The Queen Anne's Revenge off the coast of Grace Island in 1717.

The Earth Totem gives his bearer the power to control plant life. It can also continue to animate the bearer's body, even after their normal biological processes should have stopped.

Amaya recovers The Earth Totem.

Ray shoots Nora Darhk with his anti-magic nanite pistol.

Sara notes, with amusement, that her bottle of Captain Godfree Spiced Rum becomes Captain Jiwe Spiced Rum and the picture changes from that of a traditional pirate Captain to a portrait of Amaya as The Dread Pirate Jiwe.

Sara suggests that she and Ava fight Genghis Khan for their second date.

A terrible hangover for a speedster lasts three minutes.

Ray comes up with a cure for the anti-magic pistol. He goes back and promises to give it to Nora in exchange for Amaya's totem. Damien Darhk agrees to the bargain.

Nora remembers Ray from her childhood. This does not stop her from using her magic to drain his life to the point where he passes out.

The episode ends with Ray a captive of The Darkhs.


Location

The Bahamas - 1717
Star City - 2018
Detroit - 2018
Yunan Province, China - 2018
Nassau, Bahamas - 1717
Tokyo - 1992


Untelevised Adventures

Damien Darhk steals the fire totem from Dr. Adam Macalester before Ray and Mick can steal it first.

Gary Green refers to having been pantsed and having his Time Agent gear stolen once before.


The Crisis Factor

Ray's decision to go deal with The Darhks without back-up is idiotic, even for Ray, and a prime example of how the geniuses of The DCTVU are frequently the most stupid people on the show.


The Bottom Line

A fun little episode apart from the last two minutes, at which point Ray is thrown the Idiot Ball in order to drive the plot forward a bit. Still, the bits with the pirates and Rip and Wally bonding make up for a lot.

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 2, Episode 14 - Moonshot

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




Plot

The Legends travel to NASA's HQ in Houston in 1970, where Commander Steel - guardian of the last piece of The Spear of Destiny - served as part of Mission Control on the Apollo Space Program. Unfortunately, The Reverse Flash has beaten them to the punch and replaced one of the astronauts on the Apollo 13 mission.


Influences

The films Apollo 13 (setting and general aesthetic, particularly during the landing sequences), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (the "proper credentials" gag at the press conference.), Beetlejuice (the Day-O sequence), The Martian (Ray being left stranded on The Moon, his video diary sequences, Ray directly refers to the movie when he says now he knows how Matt Damon felt) and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (the sequence with Nate and Henry facing each other as Henry sacrifices himself.)



Goofs

How is The Reverse Flash able to stay in one time period long enough to take part in a moon landing mission without The Black Flash catching up to him? (Presumably he can stay off the radar by not using his powers and the zero-gravity environment makes that easier.)


Performances

Honestly, the whole cast deserves a shout-out here.  There's not a single bum performance in the episode.

Matt Letscher gets to show off the playful side of Eobard Thawne here. You get the sense he's sincere about missing working with other scientists and enjoying working with Ray but then you're reminded that as charming as he is, he's still a killer who will cross anyone so long as he can get away with it.

The chemistry between Letscher and Brandon Routh is good with Routh finding a good balance between his usual comic relief role and playing the serious science hero in the face of a scientist villain.

Arthur Darvill gets a nice subtle performance here, broadcasting Rip's confusion at not being in charge without so much as one angry shouting match.


Artistry

The anti-gravity sequences are quite effective and the fight choreography between The Atom and The Reverse Flash is well-handled.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

The episode opens with Mick Rory reading the opening narration. Unlike in 211 this time the speech does not end with him asking "Who writes this crap, anyway?"

Elvis Presley did perform at the Houston Astrodome a little over one month before The Apollo 13 Mission. (February 27-March 1 1970 vs. April 11, 1970).

What little we hear about Eobard Thawne's background here matches up with his backstory in the comics. There, Eobard Thawne was a scientist in the 25th century who was fascinated with The Flash and The Speed Force. His studies enabled him to tap into The Speed Force, which he used to travel back in time so he could meet his hero. His first jump took him into a museum devoted to The Flash, where he discovered that he was destined to become The Flash's greatest enemy. The revelation drove him mad and led him to try to destroy The Flash in an effort to avert his destiny, ironically becoming the villain the museum said he was.

The show's closing credits show Professor Stein singing Day-O.


Technobabble

Ray plans to use the dwarf star power source for his ATOM Suit to power the fuel cells of the LEM. Thawne concedes this might work assuming Ray takes the gas spectrometer into account. Unless adjusted for the relative volatility the LEM might explode in mid-launch sequence.

The Waverider uses gravitational inertia to float back to Earth.

38 degrees is the angle at which a spacecraft needs to reenter the Earth's atmosphere

The depressurization caused by blowing the cargo bay doors of The Waverider will correct the angel of descent. Unfortunately, this has to be done manually and whoever opens the doors will be sucked out into space.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Rip emerges from his study with a folder, just seconds after the rest of the team located Henry Heywood working at NASA in 1970.)
Rip: I think I may have found a way to track down Commander Heywood.
Stein: Don't worry, Mr. Hunter. We've already found him!
Rip: ... you did?
Jax: We're heading to Houston in 1970.
Rory: (raising his beer) Yeah! Elvis at the Astrodome!
Nate: And then we're going to rescue my grandfather.
Rory: Then Elvis.
(Rip moves past them to stand on the platform with the Captain's controls for The Waverrider.)
Rip: (flustered) We still need to figure out a way of contacting Commander Heywood without arousing suspicion. To that end that I suggest that we-
Sara: It's simple.
(Sara steps up on to the platform next to Rip.)
Sara: We infiltrate NASA.
(Sara slaps Rip on the back as he simmers silently, looking annoyed as only he can.)

(Rip approaches Henry Heywood at a NASA press conference.)
Rip: Henry. (extending a hand to shake) Great to see you.
(Henry suddenly lets loose with a haymaker that knocks Rip down to the ground. The reporters immediately begin taking pictures as Henry picks Rip up off the ground.)
Henry: (whispered in Rip's ear) You son of a bitch!
(Henry looks around as he pushes Rip toward two security guards and nods to the crowd.)
Henry: Sorry folks. He doesn't have the right credentials.
(All of the reporters wordlessly hold up their press badges as Rip is escorted out.)
Henry: We take press access very seriously around here.
(Henry looks over the crowd and then sees Ray Palmer, sticking out like a sore thumb and trying not to be seen. He glares at Ray.)
Ray: (weakly and quietly) Surprise. We're back.

Flight Coordinator: What's your area of expertise?
Jax: (British accent) I'm a booster systems engineer. They call me "The Rocket Man".

Ray: He doesn't have super-speed in zero gravity!
Thawne: Newsflash, Raymond - I don't need super-speed to kick your ass!
(Thawne pulls a knife from his sleeve and kicks against the wall to charge Ray.)

The whole of the Day-O sequence.

Rip: What about Mr. Thawne?
Ray: He's a little tied up at the moment.
(Ray walks past Thawne, who is indeed literally tied up.)
Thawne: (groaning) Puns. The lowest form of humor.

Ray: I'm Dr. Raymond Palmer. Time traveler, superhero and most recently - astronaut. It's April 13, 1970 at 2200 hours and I am stranded on the moon. Fuel on the LEM is close to zero. Food and water provisions were designed to last days - not months. So - yeah. I'm gonna have to science the crap out of this.
Thawne: What are you doing?!
(Ray turns the camera to where Thawne is tied up.)
Ray: I'm - uh - filming us for posterity. In case we don't... make it back?
Thawne: I am not dying on the moon!
Ray: Sign- Signing off.
(Ray switches the camera off.)

Henry: After five years I found myself blaming you for the choice I made. Turns out that abandoning my wife and son - even to save the world - was a mistake.
Rip: It's the great irony of time travel. That despite it we still find ourselves living with regret. One of mine was that I couldn't find a better way to protect The Spear. One that would have spared you such a personal sacrifice.
Henry: When you showed up, I thought maybe I could go back. Change history. But what's done is done. All I can do now is look forward.
(Henry offers Rip his hand. Rip shakes it.)

Thawne: I know it's easier for you to think of me as a monster but um - I've met some of history's monsters, Raymond, and believe me - I'm not one of them.
Ray: You killed Barry's mother. Twice! Rex Tyler?! Brainwashed Rip into killing Dr. Mid-Nite?!
Thawne: Time travel has a way of revealing the truth to you. And you and I have more in common than you think.
Ray: Pass me the pliers.
Thawne: We're both scientists. We're both obsessed with achieving the impossible. You dedicated your life to learning how to shrink yourself down to the size of an atom and - I spent mine learning the secrets of The Speed Force.
Ray: I became The Atom to help people!
Thawne: (pauses) You could use the dwarf star in your exo-suit to power an entire city but instead you chose to become The Atom because you weren't satisfied with your small, pathetic life. There is no shame in wanting to be greater! To reach higher! To... (smirking ) walk on the moon,
Ray: Is that why you want The Spear? Reach higher? Become greater? Run faster?
Thawne: No. I'm after something much more... elemental. I want to live. (pauses) Surely you can sympathize?

(Stein explains that the damage to The Waverider will make it reentering the atmosphere dangerous.)
Rory: What are you saying?
Stein: I'm saying that our crew has an infinitesimal chance of ever returning home. And by infinitesimal I mean -
Rory: A snowball's chance in hell?
Stein: That would look rosy in comparison.

(Sara walks into Rip's study. He's sitting there with a drink in his hand.)
Sara: Drinking alone?
Rip: Only as a metaphor.
(Sara walks past him to pour herself a drink.)
Sara: You're in here feeling sorry for yourself?
Rip: Oh, no. I've got more than one way of feeling sorry for myself, surely?
Sara: Thanks for backing my play earlier.
Rip: I wasn't... entirely supportive on this mission.
Sara; Indeed. But still... must be hard. Coming back to your ship and finding someone else in charge.
Rip: No. That was the easy part. The harder adjustment was seeing that you are a much better Captain than I ever was.
Sara: So that's why you're in here feeling sorry for yourself?
Rip: I'm in here trying to figure out what my place is if I'm not this team's Captain.
Sara: So you're saying you don't fit in? You're an outcast? A misfit?
Rip: Let's assume.
Sara: Sounds to me like you're a Legend.
(Rip snorts before looking at Sara. The two clink glasses.)


Continuity

Commander Steel was last seen in 202.

Rip dropped Commander Steel off in New York City in 1965.

Commander Steel gave Rip Hunter his dog tags, to deliver to his wife and one-month-old son, in 1947.

Commander Steel was an nicknamed The Chameleon in the JSA. He spoke seven languages like a local and mastered the arts of camouflage and concealment.

Commander Steel was a fighter pilot before joining the JSA.

The team find a picture of Commander Steel, working Mission Control at NASA on April 13, 1970 as part of the team trying to save the Apollo 13 mission.

Mick Rory is a fan of Elvis Presley and  knows enough about Elvis' most famous performances to know that he played at the Houston Astrodome in 1970. (February 27, 28 and March 1, to be exact.)

Commander Steel joined NASA so he could put his piece of The Spear of Destiny in the most remote place possible. It is hidden with the flagpole of the American flag that Neil Armstrong planted on The Moon during the Apollo 11 Mission in 1969.

Stein, Jax and Rory pose as Flight Controllers with the British Space Program.

Commander Steel knew that Rip Hunter had a wife and son but not that they had died. This indicates that Rip undertook his mission to hide The Spear of Destiny sometime before he went rogue and recruited The Legends.

The Reverse Flash can't use his powers in Zero-Gravity.

Stein knows all the lyrics to the Harry Belafonte song Day-O.

Nate tells Amaya what Ray told him about meeting her granddaughter in the early 21st century and how she has a destiny waiting for her in 1942.

We learn that this version of Eobard Thawne existed at some point after he worked with Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow while pretending to be Harrison Wells in the first season of The Flash. He speaks of missing the camaraderie of working with fellow scientists to Ray.

Command Steel rigged an essay contest so that he could get his son, Hank Heywood, to Houston to see NASA so that he could see his son at least once.

Astro-navigation is taught in grade schools in the 22nd century.

Commander Steel sacrifices himself to save The Waverider.

Thawne is able to phase through the cells of The Waverider brig once they are back in Earth's gravitational pull. Shortly after that, his warning alarm tells him that The Black Flash is approaching, leaving him with no time to search The Waverider for the two pieces of The Spear that The Legends have.

Nate delivers a message to his father as a teenager.

Rip officially offers up any claim on the position of Captain to Sara.

Amaya asks Gideon to show her the future of Zambesi starting with her return home. She sees pictures of her granddaughter, Mari, in her Vixen costume.


Location

Manhattan, New York - 1965.
NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas - April 13, 1970.
The Lunar Surface- April 13, 1970


The Bottom Line

One of the best episodes of the series to date.

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 2, Episode 11 - Turncoat

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



Plot

The Legends must travel back in time to 1776 to prevent the assassination of General George Washington from starting a massive Time Aberration. Nate and Amaya will be forced to take a more direct hand in things as Jax is forced into the role of acting Captain, Ray is trapped in his miniaturized form and the team must contend with The Legion of Doom's latest recruit ... a brainwashed Rip Hunter!


Influences

Star Trek (Stein references McCoy's "Dammit Jim, I'm a Doctor." grousing, the plot of being trapped on a space-ship without power.),the movies Home Alone and Die Hard (Jax's booby-traps invoke the spirit of both films, with one lone hero trying to evade the villains in an enclosed space at Christmas), countless Silver Age comics and science-fiction stories regarding time travelers stopping the foundation of The United States of America and The Atom comics of Gardner Fox and Gil Kane (the sequences of a shrunk Ray running around, dodging giant feet and rats).


Goofs

The New Jersey of 1776 looks surprisingly free of snow for December.This is particularly noteworthy as Washington's famous crossing of The Delaware was hampered by icy waters.

Surely having Nate and Amaya posing as a mixed-race married couple among the upper class of 18th century New England is the worst possible way to remain inconspicuous?

That's not quite as bad a bit of planning, however, as Sara not having a cover-story planned for who she is supposed to be while she's in the middle of an infiltration mission or her not being on guard when Rip Hunter shows up out of the blue in a British soldier uniform.

Why does Rip leave Sara behind? Granted, dragging a wounded woman is going to slow him down a bit, he has plenty of soldiers to handle the job and it is less risky than leaving her behind to warn the rest of The Legends as to his presence.

For that matter, why not just shoot Rory if he has no intention of trying to recruit him to his team?

The Hessians attacking Amaya and Nate is horribly random.

Amaya's off-camera rescue of Nate when he is knocked into the river is the epitome of cheapness.

Amaya's discovery of an unattended camp with a tent and a roaring fire? Welcome to Plot Convenience Playhouse.

Granting that Professor Stein is the squeamish sort, you'd think removing a bullet from Sara wouldn't phase him much considering he was performing amateur brain surgery on Mick Rory two weeks ago.

So the possibility of shooting to wound and capturing Evil Rip doesn't occur to either Jax or Sara?


Performances

Arthur Darvill is clearly enjoying himself as an evil Rip Hunter and it's a neat twist on the character that gives him a chance to flex his acting muscles once again.

Franz Drameh gets to show a different side of Jax in this episode as Jax discovers his inner John McClane.


Artistry

The special effects when Ray is stuck in his shrunken size and forced to run on the ground dodging the "giants" around him are well-executed.

The visual direction, lighting and cinematography of the shut-down Waverider are fantastic. The visual of a torch-wielding Rip Hunter wandering the halls of his ship is particularly striking.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

The episode opens with an entirely new narration - this time given by Mick Rory.


Technobabble

Gideon says The Longinus Medallion contains 1.2 zettabytes of data. 1 zettabyte is the equivalent of one billion terabytes.

Gideon can reroute power to her sub-neural processing unit by shutting off The Waverider's life support.

Rip makes use of an EMP generator disguised as a lantern. This shorts out the advanced electronics of The Waverider, The ATOM Suit and Heatwave's gun.

Jax says they can use Firestorm's nuclear energy to repair the time drive and reboot Gideon.

Jax and Stein are unable to merge due to the EMP frying their quantum splicer.


Dialogue Triumphs

Rory: (voice-over) Seriously? You idiots haven't figured this out by now? It all started when we blew up the time pigs - The Time Masters. Now history is all screwed up. And it's up to us to unscrew-it-up. But half the time we screw things up even worse. So don't call us heroes. We're something else. We're Legends. (pauses) Who writes this crap, anyway?!

Rory: Washington's a punk.
Stein: He led America to independence and became it's first President.
Ray: Without Washington, America wouldn't have democracy. Or Hamilton.
Rory: If Washington's so cool, why is he on the $1 bill and Franklin's on the $100 bill? Now he's cool!

Stein: Our mission remains clear - we must save Washington!
Sara: And Rory!
Stein: That was implied.

Nate: Saving a President, a nation and Christmas.
Amaya: And Rory!
Nate: That was implied.

Gen. Washington: There are rules to war.
Rory: Yeah. Kill or be killed.
Gen. Washington: British High Command will treat us honorably just as I treat prisoners with honor.
Rory: Now I know why Franklin's on the $100 bill.  I'll bet you 100 yous you're wrong!
Gen. Washington: Excuse me?
Rory: Eh, forget it!  I hate Christmas!

Jax: I'll handle Rip. You operate on Sara.
Stein: Damn it, Jefferson, I'm a physicist, not a doctor!
Jax: And I'm a mechanic, not a Captain! So I guess we're both trying out new things today.

(Gen. Cornwallis has just declared his intention to hang both Washington and Rory at dawn.)
Gen. Washington: You mustn't punish him! This man is only guilty of following orders!
Rory: (cheerfully) I'm guilty of a lot more than that!

(Rip is trying to persuade Jax to join him.)
Rip: Now if you were to help me, your father no longer has to ship off to battle. He'd no longer have to die in that ambush. Your mother would no longer be a widow. And you-
Jax: The only way you're getting that spear is by prying it from my cold dead hands!
Rip: (nonchalantly) Oh, well, that works too.

Gen. Washington: We must prove to the world that you don't need a title to be a gentleman. The British may be dishonorable but I am not. By my death I shall prove to The Crown what it means to be an American.
Rory: You don't know the first thing about being an American! We're misfits, outcasts and we're proud of it. If they attack in formation, we pop them off from the trees. If they challenge you to a duel, you raid their camp at night. And if they're going to hang you, you fight dirty, but you never, ever give up. That's The American Way. What's it going to be, George?

Sara: Now, I know that it may seem like we don't have anything to celebrate. Rip's been brainwashed and took our piece of The Spear of Destiny. There's a monument in Washington D.C. to Rory. But we saved America. And we're going to save Rip. And get back the rest of The Spear. Because as powerful as The Legion may be, they don't have this. (gestures around to the team) Family. And we all know nobody fights like family!


Dialogue Disasters

Gen. Washington: Now tell me, from which of our 13 fair colonies do you hail?
Sara: ... the first one?

Nate: Hitler ruins everything!

Ray: I get that Rip is now somehow evil but does he really have to try to kill Washington on Christmas?


Continuity

Rip Hunter triggers an aberration by assassinating George Washington before his famous crossing of The Delaware and by providing the British forces with 21st century rifles.

Ray develops a chore wheel for various duties for the crew of The Waverider.

Amaya says that she used to go camping every weekend right after she moved to Washington DC.

Nate is a self-described city-guy who hates camping.

Shockingly, Mick Rory is well versed enough in history to think Benjamin Franklin was a cool guy. He also considers George Washington a punk.

Sara refers to the events of 208 and the trap The Legion of Doom set for them in Chicago.

Sara is now referring to Merlyn, Darhk and Thawne as "The Legion".

Sara puts Jax in charge while she is incapacitated.

Nate was scared of the flying monkeys in the 1939 Wizard of Oz movie and ran from the room when they appeared watching the movie as a kid.

Amaya saw the first part of The Wizard of Oz in the theater with a man named Bobby Padusky, who was a perfect gentleman. She didn't see the end of the movie, however, as Hitler invaded Poland and the JSA was shipped out on a mission in response.

Nate and Amaya kiss and make love for the first time. She later tells him that it was fun but she still doesn't believe teammates should fraternize. Nate says he agrees, but is clearly harboring romantic feelings for her.

Ray was Captain of the Varsity diving team at his high school.

Rip escapes with his piece of The Spear of Destiny.

Rory apparently gave General Washington the inspiration for his famous Christmas sneak attack.

The timeline is restored, though there is now a statue that bares a striking resemblance to Mick Rory in the garb of a Minute Man in Washington DC.

Ray gives Rory the captured rat as a pet.

Nate gives Amaya a pair of shoes decorated to look like The Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz.


Location

New Jersey - December 25, 1776.
Bucks County, Pennsylvania - December 24, 1776


Untelevised Adventures

We don't get to see how Amaya saved Nate from drowning.


The Fridge Factor

Honestly, it's like they purposely wrote this entire episode to make Sara look incompetent as a leader and a fighter right before they fridge her to give Jax and Stein a bit of angst.

Amaya doesn't come off much better, the duty-driven heroine suddenly forgetting all about her mission in the face of some cuddling for warmth to stave off hypothermia with Nate.


The Bottom Line

A half-hearted episode with a half-assed script that leaves most of the cast acting out-of-character. The only reason the episode works as well as it does because the most poorly written characters are given the least to do and the ensemble cast of actors give the material far better performances than it deserves. Shame the direction and production values don't quite match up.

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 2, Episode 9 - Raiders Of The Lost Art

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




Plot

When Merlyn, Darhk and Thawne move to abduct a time-drifted Rip Hunter - who currently believes himself to be a film student in 1967- it creates an Aberration big enough to attract the attention of The Legends... and disrupt Ray and Nathan's lives. As the rest of the team move to rescue Rip and recover The Spear of Destiny that somehow wound up in his hands, Mick Rory asks Professor Stein for a private favor.


Influences

The films of George Lucas, particularly Raiders Of The Lost Ark (the title, name-dropped by Nate, Sara says the story of Longinus sounds like it came from an Indiana Jones movie.) and Star Wars (Ray says he'll channel his inner Han Solo to pilot The Waverider, the team's escape on The Waverider while Darkh and Merlyn shoot at them with laser pistols, the team being dropped into a garbage disposal death-trap)


Goofs

Given Sara was resurrected by something called The Lazarus Pit, you'd expect her to be the least skeptical person when it comes to a story involving mystic artifacts with magical healing properties!

Ray and Nate's memory loss based on the effects of the aberration caused by George Lucas quitting film-making occur far faster than any previous changes to the time-line in any other episode. Stein erasing his marriage from history, for instance, did not cause him to instantly lose all his memories of his marriage!

The only thing faster than Ray and Nate's being changed by George Lucas quitting film-making is how quickly they're returned to normal after George Lucas voices his desire to direct out-loud.


Performances

Arthur Darvill turns in a great performance here as Phil Gasner, seemingly like an entirely different actor - never mind another character!

It's understated, but there's quite a few good bonding scenes here between Sara and Jax - more than in any previous episode - and Caity Lotz and Franz Drameh play them beautifully.


Artistry

There are some subtle visual tributes to the direction of George Lucas throughout the episode. One of the better ones is Darhk and Merlyn standing on the elevator, mirroring Han and Luke in Star Wars.



Trivia Of Tomorrow

The title is a nod to the film Raiders of the Lost Ark. The plot is also similar, involving the hunt for a holy artifact (The Spear of Destiny vs. The Ark of the Covenant).

The opening narration is done by Profesor Stein.

Nate refers to Merlyn, Darhk and Thawne collectively as The Legion of Doom. He says the name came from an old Hanna-Barbera cartoon. This is a nod to Challenge of The Super-Friends, where the villainous team led by Lex Luthor was The Legion of Doom.

Longinus is the name of the Centurion said to have been responsible for piercing the side of Jesus Christ with his spear during The Crucifixion. Not mentioned in the Biblical Gospels, the first record of his story and name are found in several books of The Apocrypha.

Also referred to as The Holy Lance, Holy Spear, Lance Of Longinus and Spear of Longinus, The Spear of Destiny is the spear that was used to pierce the side of Jesus Christ during the crucifixion. Many holy sites claim to have the Spear of Destiny in the real world and a number of legends - comparable to those regarding The Holy Grail - have sprung up around the spear and it's mystic powers. One of the more popular legends is that Adolf Hitler was obsessed with the spear and started World War II in an effort to reclaim it.

In the DC Comics Universe, this was literally true and Hitler's possession of the spear prevented the Allies-aligned superheroes from being able to take action against him, due to the spear's power giving Hitler the ability to control the mind of anyone who stood against him.

Ray and Nate, despite their love of George Lucas movies, both object to watching Howard The Duck. Not only is this a jab at George Lucas' most infamous bomb but it's also a nod to the fact that the movie was based on a Marvel Comic series. (Nate and Ray are loyal company men, after all.)


Technobabble

Nate carbon-dated the amulet Sara took from Darhk in 1987. Gideon put its date of origin at around 30 AD.

The amulet contained high concentrations of copper, manganese and zinc - all the ingredients of bronze.

Roman Centurions used bronze for most of their metalwork circa 30 AD.

The Longinus Medallion acts as a compass to The Spear of Destiny.

There is a difference between altering time and altering reality, according to Nate. Changes to reality are permanent whereas changes to the time can be altered and reset. This makes The Spear of Destiny far more dangerous than even a rogue speedster time-traveling.

Cal DeVito was suppose to event a new carburetor for shovel-head motorcycles, before he was killed by Darkh and Merlyn.

DeVito and his friend were killed by sezuki strikes to the xiphoid processes - a close-quarters killing technique used by The League of Assassins.

Jax says it wouldn't have been possible for Rip to use The Waverider's emergency protocols to randomly teleport himself after using them to send the rest of the team away.

Rip Hunter's neural architecture was completely restructured, his limbic system reprogrammed with a new identity.  This is a different phenomena than time drift, requiring technology that doesn't exist.

Ray suggests that Rip's brain could have been altered by impulses coming from the ship's time drive. This "temporal electrocution" as Stein calls it, would be near suicidal as a method of time-travel.

Stein detects a receiver that is sensitive to gravitation-wave transmissions implanted inside of Rory's head. In short, there's an antenna in his head.

Stein theorizes that when Snart was killed by a blast of temporal energy, he might have bonded with the blast and the version of him that Rory is seeing is effectively a "time ghost".

A McGuffin is the generic term for the thing in a movie that everyone is trying to get.

Cognitive dissonance is the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change.


Dialogue Triumphs

Merlyn: When we're done here, we need to go to the 1600 block of Vine Street.
Darhk: Why, pray tell?
Merlyn: It's where Frank Sinatra's star is on the Walk of Fame. I have always wanted to see it.
Darhk: I'm not sure if that's part of our little trinket's itinerary.
Merlyn: I said "when we're done". As far as magical artifacts go, this one is frustratingly unspecific.
Darhk: Actually, like most magical artifacts, its ways are nuanced.
Merlyn: That's just a fancy word for vague.

Sara: They must be getting closer to The Holy Lance.
Nate: I'm leaning toward Spear of Destiny.
Sara: I prefer Holy Lance.
Nate: Can't imagine why.

(Gideon has just explained what effect the loss of George Lucas' movies had on Ray and Nate.)
Sara: Wait - so you're telling me that because some film geek drops out of school, my inventor and my historian are now essential useless?
Nate: Yes.
Ray: Hey!

(Sara and Jax turn the corner into the med bay. They find Stein, scalpel in hand, standing over an unconscious Rory.)
Sara: What do you think you're doing?
Stein: Brain surgery. What does it look like?
(Sara and Jax just turn around and walk out of the med bay.)

(The Reverse Flash arrives and knocks down all The Legends, pulling Merlyn and Darkh from the middle of the rapidly turning fight.)
Merlyn: About time you showed.
Darhk: Where were you?
Thawne: Always busy, gentlemen, and yet never late. So... who do we kill first?

Jax: Look. Sara... you can't beat yourself up about this.
Sara: It was my responsibility as Captain to make sure that everyone gets back on this ship. Everyone. And I failed...
Jax: You call getting a piece of the Spear of Destiny and the medallion a failure? The Legion have nothing!
Sara: They have Rip! We lost him, Jax. Again!
Jax: But they won't have him for long. If I know one thing about you, it's that you don't give up. When you really want something, you are unstoppable, and God help anybody that tries to get in your way. We are going to find him. And we are going to bring him home.
Sara: Is that a promise?
Jax: That's a prophecy.



Dialogue Disasters

Sara: Hey, hold on - this all sounds like an Indiana Jones movie.

George Lucas: What I really want... is to direct!


Continuity

"Shogun Ballistic" is the shutdown code for Gideon's primary systems.

Stein learns about Rory's hallucinations of Snart, which began in 208.

Nate listens to rap music to help himself concentrate.

Together, the two amulets Thawne sought form one artifact called The Longinus Medallion.

Jax regularly attended Sunday School and knows the story of Longinus from memory - how his sight was restored by the blood of Christ and his medallion and spear were empowered.

Nate became a historian because of the movie Raiders Of The Lost Ark.

The film Rip is working on in 1967 is called Legends, stars a hero called Rip Hunter and has a villain clearly modeled on Vandal Savage.

Ray refers to Time Drift - the psychological condition where a time-traveler spends too long in an alien time-period, losing all sense of self and memory of who they were - first encountered in 109. He suggests that might explain for Rip's apparent amnesia.

Rip's alias in 1967 is Phillip Gasmer.  George Lucas is the prop master on his film school thesis project.

In the altered timeline, the attack on Phil Gasmer's set causes George Lucas to quit film school. This indirectly causes Ray and Nate to lose all their professional training, as Lucas' films inspired them to their respective careers. Instead, Nate becomes a yoga instructor and Ray becomes a heart surgeon.

Rory remembers having an implant put in his brain by The Time Masters during his time as Chronos.

Phil's movie script tells the story of The Legends. Jax is a character named Max and Sara is a woman named Sandra. It also talks about The Spear of Destiny.

It turns out that what Rip had was a fragment of The Spear of Destiny.

Thawne abducts Rip Hunter before The Legends can get away with him.

Sara recovers the piece of The Spear of Destiny and The Longinus Medallion.

Stein is able to remove the transmitter from Rory's brain but discovers it wasn't working.


Location

New York - Six Months Ago (relative time)
Los Angeles - 1967


The Crisis Factor

The episode seems to break the series' rules regarding the effects of changes to the time line for the sake of comedic effect.


The Bottom Line

A weak script based around a weak idea that is saved only by the strength of the ensemble's performances. Merlyn and Darhk are reduced to the role of laser gun-totting thugs and the rules of how quickly aberrations affect people are tossed out the window for the sake of some cheap jokes. It's telling that the best bits are the dialogues between two characters independent of the central plot.

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1, Episode 13 - Leviathan

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



Plot

Out of time and options, Rip Hunter plots a bold strike at the one place they know for certain Vandal Savage may be found - three days before the attack that killed Hunter's family and put Savage on the path to total world domination. Unfortunately, Savage is at the height of his power, but The Legends do have two advantages they might gain - an artifact from the night Kendra and Carter first died and the assistance of Vandal Savage's daughter!


Influences

Doctor Who (the theme of predestination versus free will), The Justice League animated series (Kendra arming herself with an Nth metal mace), Gail Simone's Secret Six (the character of Cassandra Savage seems loosely based on Simone's Scandal Savage character), Jurassic Park (Stein and Ray watching the liquid shake in a container as Leviathan approaches), various Godzilla movies and other movies inspired by them, particularly Pacific Rim (the Atom/Leviathan fight) and various WWII films set during The London Blitz (general tone, the setting of London under siege by fascist forces, Savage's forces wearing storm-trooper outfits and offering a Nazi-style salute).


Goofs

In the 1941 flashbacks, Carter makes reference to needing to train Kendra to fight with his weapons in case he isn't there to protect her. This neatly ignores that she was originally a warrior priestess and (until her most recent incarnation) was supposed to maintain the knowledge and memories of her past-lives, including her fighting skills.

Just what was Snart's plan for convincing Cassandra to turn on her father before they wound up with a ship full of unarmed refugees?


Performances

Arthur Darvill and Brandon Routh get a nice scene at the start which sets the tone for the theme of the episode and both their respective battles - Rip's belief that you can't fight Fate and Ray's belief that life is defined by choices. The heck of it is they're both right based on their respective lives but are both proven wrong by the events of the episode, with Rip finding a way to stop Savage and Ray's romance with Kendra seemingly imperiled by Savage's latest gambit involving the brainwashed Carter Hall.

Wentworth Miller has an interesting role this week as Snart. He's put in the unusual role as a persuader instead of a heavy, trying to convince Cassandra Savage of her father's treachery. Story-wise it's an interesting parallel to have Snart being the one trying to persuade someone that they can change for the better given his own slow journey towards heroism. And Miller plays it with his usual perfect level of dry snark.


Artistry

The script for this episode has even wittier dialogue than usual and a lot of good lines for the whole cast.

The fight choreography is outstanding throughout, with Cassandra's battle with Sara and Kendra's fight with Savage being the high-lights.

There's a nice use of sepia tint on the Carter/Kendra flashbacks.

The entire sequence of Ray fighting Leviathan is also worth mentioning for how well it replicates the giant monster fights of the B-movies of yore, right down to the slow-motion action to indicate huge figures and the used of forced perspective photography to make Ray look bigger.

The final shot of the episode - Savage's reflection on the glass as he stares at Rip - is a chilling one.

Trivia Of Tomorrow

The title of the episode comes from the Old Testament of The Bible. Leviathan is the Hebrew word for twisted, presumably referring to a large sea serpent. It has come to mean any large monster, particularly an aquatic one.

The title of the episode refers to Savage's ultimate weapon - a 200 foot tall humanoid robot.

There are several Leviathans in DC Comics folklore, but none of them are a giant robot.

Leviathan was one of the code names used by Legion of Superheroes member Gim Allon, who had the power to change his size. He also used the code-names Colossal Boy and Micro Lad.

Leviathan was also the name of the League of Assassins splinter group founded by Talia Al Ghul when she turned upon her father, Ra's Al Ghul, in Grant Morrison's Batman comics.

The Levithan robot bares a slight resemblance to some versions of the Metal Men enemy Chemo.

In the comics, Chemo was the creation of scientist Ramsey Norton. Originally the plastic vessel into which Norton emptied his failed experiments, the vessel achieved a limited form of sentience, killed its creator and went on a rampage until it was stopped by The Metal Men. Since that time, Chemo was revived by various characters (including Lex Luthor and Brainiac) for use as a weapon against their enemies. Chemo possessed limited intelligence, super-strength, size-changing abilities and the power to emit toxic waste.

In the comics, Vandal Savage had a daughter named Scandal Savage. The product of an affair between Savage and an unnamed Brazilian woman, Scandal was raised by her mother for most of her youth before she was tracked down by her father and trained in the arts of combat and groomed to provide him with a male heir. Unfortunately for Savage's plan, Scandal was a lesbian and had no interest in being a brood mare for his legend. She rebelled and eventually fell in with the mercenary group known as The Secret Six.

Apart from rebelling against her father in the end and being an accomplished fighter, there seems little relation between Scandal Savage and Cassandra Savage - the daughter of Vandal Savage featured in this episode. Nothing is said in the episode about her sexual orientation and she does not appear to be of Brazilian ancestry.

While renown for his shrinking powers, it was not unheard of for Ray Palmer to use his technology to increase his size in the comics as he does in this episode. Immediately after the Zero Hour storyline, Ray Palmer gained the ability to change his size without utilizing his technology and proved able to grow as well as shrink using his new powers.

It's worth mentioning that the growing-and-shrinking shtick is more frequently associated with Ray Palmer's Marvel Comics counterpart, Dr. Hank Pym (a.k.a. the original Ant Man/Giant Man)

To create a weapon that can hurt Savage, Kendra covers Carter's mace with melted Nth metal. In the comics, a mace of Nth Metal was Hawkman's signature weapon. It was also the preferred weapon of Hawkgirl in the Justice League animated series.


Technobabble

The rebels have retinal scanner technology. They have no record of Rip existing but do have records for Jax, Stein and Ray from 150 years in their past.

Ray suggests analyzing soils samples to determine the nature of Savage's ultimate weapon. Stein does this and confirms that the weapon is not an explosion - the same conclusion Ray comes to after having Gideon hack a defunct spy satellite and looking at the destroyed rebel camp and realizing the impact craters look like very large footprints.

Ray's plan is based upon the theoretical possibility that siphoning power from the auxiliary time drive of The Waverider should provide Ray with enough power to reverse the polarity of the dwarf-star matrix of the ATOM suit, allowing him to grow to superhuman size instead of shrinking.

The energy blasts emitted by the ATOM suit are compressed light beams - not lasers.


Dialogue Triumphs

Rip: In order to capture him (Savage), I require the services of -
Rory:  - a killer, klepto and pyro?
Rip: Bingo!

Rip: What exactly do you think you were doing back there?
Snart: Distracting Savage's pals. Which worked, by the way.
Rip: Yes, well... I could have been killed!
Rory: Never said it worked perfectly.

Sara: How am I supposed to teach someone to fight with a piece of jewelry?
Rip: Good question.
Sara: It wasn't rhetorical!

Rip: I watched my family die countless time at the hands of Savage and his forces before I realized that...
Ray: ... Time wants to happen.
Rip: It's a funny feeling knowing the universe itself doesn't want you to save your family.

Rip: Do we have a plan for stealing this bracelet?
Rory: We're on it!
Sara: Please don't tell me the plan is to walk into Savage's citadel and steal it off her wrist?
Snart: All right. I won't tell you that.

(Kendra walks in on Carter practicing with his mace. She is dressed to the nines.)
Carter: Wow. What's, ah... the occasion?
Kendra: I'll give you one guess.
Carter: ...our anniversary?
(Kendra puts her hands on her hips and gives him The Look used by all wives to signal to their husbands that they have screwed up in the worst way possible.)
Carter: Look, I'm sorry, but in my defense there's quite a few of them to remember.
Kendra: We were only married in... eight lifetimes.
Carter: That's a lot! But I do remember your Victorian England incarnation being particularly tough to be pinned down.

Rip: (upon entering the cell-block where Snart and Rory have stashed Cassandra) And there I was thinking we could go a whole week without kidnapping anyone.

Cassandra: No one dared to stand up to Degaton except my father. He may not be a kind man but he is the only one capable of putting this world back together. So you can torture me if you like. My suffering is a small price to pay.
Snart: Who said anything about torture?

Rory: You sure you can do this? Bash Savage's skull with Carter's mace?
Kendra: You got a better plan?
Rory: It's not the weapon I'm worried about. Thousands of years of reincarnation and I'm guessing you've killed a grand total of nobody. Yet here you are entering into the Olympics of Murder.
Kendra:What's your point?
Rory: Are you sure you can look Savage in the eye and kill him?
Kendra: I'm sure.
Rory: Well you'd better be. Otherwise you're going to end up like the last guy to swing that thing.

(Rip finds Stein ushering refugees into the halls of The Waverider)
Rip: What the hell do you think you're doing?!
Stein: Saving a township by the looks of it.
Rip: Since when did my vessel become a life raft?!
Stein: Since I decided we can't leave these people here to be slaughtered! You recruited us to save the world. That includes everyone here!

Snart: I know what you're thinking "My dad may not be perfect, but deep down he's not a bad guy."
(Snart opens the door to Cassandra's cell)
Cassandra: What are you doing?
Snart: Showing you that when it comes to crap fathers, there is no "deep down".

(Snart shows Cassandra the unarmed civilians her father nearly killed trying to save her.)
Snart: Look. It took me a long time to accept my old man was a monster. I'm betting you're smarter than I am.
Cassandra: At last - something we agree on!

Ray: How are repairs coming? (pauses) Are repairs coming?
Rip: Not in thirty minutes, which is about as much time as we have. (chuckling darkly) We brought all those people on board and all we've bought them is a few extra minutes to live in fear.
Ray: Well, I guess the question is what do we do with those minutes?
Rip: (exasperated) The ship is... crippled! Everyone aboard is as dead as my...
Ray: ...family? Look, I know you think the universe wants them dead. But I don't. I don't believe in Fate. I believe in choices. And we can choose - we can choose to fight! Even if that fight may be futile! We can save your family, Rip! It's not impossible! All we have to do-
Rip: - is kill Vandal Savage. The chances of which appear to be fading.
(Kendra and Snart enter the room.)
Kendra: Not anymore. I figured out how to do it.
Snart: And my new Bestie and I can get us in.
Ray: And I think I've got a way to stop the giant robot that's coming to kill us.
(Rip rubs his face as if steeling himself and turns to face them.)
Rip: Now, you may not believe in Fate, Raymond, but I certainly do. But perhaps it was Fate that compelled me to bring you seven together, so we can change this future, once and for all!

Jax: You know, if this doesn't work - 
Ray: - I'll turn every cell in my body inside out?
Jax: ... I was going to say "die", but yeah.

Ray: (upon enlarging himself to 200 feet tall) It worked! I'm not dead!

(Cassandra says she has to help undo the damage her father caused.)
Rebel Leader: Why the change of heart?
Cassandra: (looking to Snart) Ask him.

(Rip shines a light in Martin Stein's eyes as he wakes up.)
Rip: Welcome back. Well, the team managed to capture Savage, battle his army and a giant robot and you managed to sleep through all of it.
Stein: The refugees?
Rip: They're safe. Every one of them is alive and well.
Stein: But for how long? Apparently Time Wants To Happen.
Rip: Well, I think you'll find that Time - for once - is on our side.

Rip: Well, you seem quite happy for a man behind bars.
Savage: And why shouldn't I be happy? It seems that once again you have failed to kill me.
Rip: A momentary set-back, I assure you.
Savage: Assure yourself. Providence has allowed me to place Chay-Ara in an impossible situation. A choice between her own soul-mate... Carter... and yours.
Rip: You know, a friend recently suggested to me that there is no such thing as Fate. Destiny is nothing more than the sum of our own choices.
Savage: I see. So you still think that there is hope then? For your family? Time will tell, Captain. Time will tell.


Continuity

As the episode opens, it is three days before Rip Hunter's wife and son died.

Cassandra Savage wears the bracelet that Chay-Ara wore when she died.

Rip's family lives in the Whitechapel district of London's East End.

Rip admits to Ray that he made repeated attempts to rescue his wife and son after failing to kill Savage in Ancient Egypt. It was the second place he went. They died every time he jumped back a day to try again. This is what caused Rip to conclude that Time Wants To Happen.

London is the last free city in the world at this point in 2166. Tokyo fell the week before.

Carter had a habit of giving Kendra weapons as an anniversary present. In all their incarnations, they only married eight times.

Rip jokes about thinking they could go a week without kidnapping someone. The team did kidnap someone in the last three episodes before this one - Per Degaton in 110, Jeb Stillwater in 111 and their past selves in 112.

Reference is made to the events following 110 and how Per Degaton laid waste to the world until Vandal Savage killed him - first when Cassandra recalls the history she was taught then later when Snart shows her the footage of her father ordering the release of The Armageddon Virus.

Kendra melts the bracelet (with Rory's help) and uses it to coat Carter's mace.

At some point, Carter was reborn in the future and Savage found him before he recovered his memories of who he was. Savage was somehow able to brainwash Carter into forgetting those memories and he claims only he can restore them.

The episode ends with Cassandra Savage joining the resistance and Vandal Savage captured and held on The Waverider.


Location

London - 2166
Iowa City - 1941


Untelevised Adventures

Rip makes reference to repeated attempts to rescue his family, only for them to die at the hands of Savage's forces every single time.


The Fridge Factor

Once again, the only conversation between the show's two female leads regards a romantic relationship - this time Carter and Kendra rather than Ray and Kendra.

Kendra continues to be solely defined by her relationships to Carter and Ray. No mention is made of her wanting revenge on Savage for killing her or her children over the years - it's all about saving Carter.


The Bottom Line

A vast improvement on last week's episode.  Kendra continues to be the most problematic aspect of the show by her very nature. Apart from that, everything is damn near flawless for what it is. The whole ensemble gel together and everybody gets at least one moment to shine. The twist ending, for once, was an honest surprise and I'm anxious to see how things go bad next week. Because we know - even ignoring that there's three episodes left this season - that there's no way they're taking Savage without a fight.