Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1, Episode 12 - Last Refuge

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



Plot

The Time Masters' best assassin - a woman called The Pilgrim - has been dispatched to kill all of The Legends before they joined the crew of The Waverider.. A race begins as our heroes move to save their past selves, with Rip offering the young counterparts safety in the Time Master orphanage where he grew up - The Refuge.


Influences

Geoff Johns's runs on The Flash (Mick Rory's background in this episode) and JSA (Kendra's storyline here mirrors the conflict of Hawkgirl in the comics had regarding her own romantic life, one storyline focused on several JSA members, led by Rip Hunter, traveling in time to save their past selves and their teammates from a time-traveling assassin),  Superman: The Movie (the opening trial of the time pirate resembles Zod's trial before the High Council of Krypton stylistically) and the movie The Terminator (base concept of an cybernetic assassin being sent from the future to alter a future timeline, Ray quotes the movie when saving a young Rory)


Goofs

We're told that The Omega Protocal requires a certain degree of precision and subtlety. Given that, how does storming a police station in broad daylight and killing several police officers - as the Orphan does in her attempt to kill a teenage Sarah Lance - qualify as precise and subtle?

Granting that Rip probably did have Gideon check to make sure that Martin Stein's mother would be okay first, it still seems incredibly foolish for Rip and Rory to snatch baby Martin as he is literally fresh out of the womb and leave his mother behind without seeing her safely to a hospital after she gave birth in the backseat of a car with only her husband assisting her with the birth.

Jefferson Jackson's birthday is said to be sometime in 1993. However, he was a high-school football star when the Particle Accelerator Explosion occurred in Central City on December 11, 2013. While it isn't impossible for Jax to have been held back a few years, it still seems unlikely.that he was still in high school at the age of twenty. Particularly since he's been depicted as being too young to drink legally in 2016. (21 being the drinking age in the USA).

Again, regarding the precision required of The Omega Protocol - how does kidnapping and threatening to kill six innocent people in order to bring about the deaths of six other people count as precise?

If The Omega Protocol can't be applied to Time Masters, how can the The Pilgrim agree to killing a young Rip Hunter instead of her targets? I had thought it was going to be a trick but it turns out she really did capture all those loved ones and was ready to bargain in good faith.

How can The Orphan shrug off bullets but be incapacitated by a knife slash administered by a ten year old street kid?

Considering that Ray lost his fiancee to violence, you'd expect him to be a little more conflicted than he seems to be here about seeing her alive and well again, regardless of his feelings for Kendra.


Performances

Ciara Renee gets a nice moment of non-verbal acting in her reaction to Ray's proposal. She's smiling but her eyes betray her fear that the universe really IS trying to stop her from being with a man besides Carter Hall/Prince Khufu given how Ray's proposal attempts have been thwarted twice now.

Caity Lotz does a fantastic job playing the younger Sara Lance. For a while I wasn't certain if it was her in a wig or just a very well cast younger actress.

It's always nice to see Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance, however briefly. His scene at the end with Sara is a sweet one.

Franz Drameh hasn't been given a lot of moments to show his dramatic chops The scene where Jax meets his father, for the first time, however, is a great scene that shows he should be given the center stage more often.

Dominic Purcell has often been relegated to being the comic relief or the heavy on this show. And while he does get a number of funny moments in this episode, he also gets two wonderful dramatic scenes trying to scare his past self straight.


Artistry

The team's combined attack on The Pilgrim - while probably the show's cheapest use of CGI to date - is very well shot.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

In the opening sequence, we find out that Mick Rory's parents died in a house fire. In the origin for Heatwave written by Geoff Johns during his run on The Flash, Mick Rory's entire family died in a fire he started as a child.

It is revealed in this episode that Rip Hunter's birth-name was Michael. In the comics, Rip Hunter is the son of the superhero Booster Gold, whose real name was Michael Jon Carter.


Technobabble

The Omega Protocol calls for a certain degree of precision. This means that if the assassin carrying out the hit fails, they cannot go back and try it again a week earlier for fear of damaging the timeline.

Gideon is able to track The Pilgrim by monitoring the temporal wake of her ship.

Under normal circumstances, it is impossible for a time ship to hide its temporal wake. The Time Masters, however, have ways of hiding a time ship's passage under extreme duress.

Temporal Micro Manipulation is the ability to control time in one's immediate vicinity. This includes slowing time's passage, stopping it completely and causing it to run in reverse.

When history is altered by a person's past-self being taken out of the normal flow of time for too long, that person's future self disappears from the minds of everyone who ever knew them.

The Refuge is a secret orphanage located at an unknown point and location in history. The Time Masters use it to raise children with no connections who can be trained as future Time Masters.


Dialogue Triumphs

Ray: (To a young Mick Rory) Come with me if you want to live! (aside) I always wanted to say that!

Sara: So it seems like you decided to ignore the advice from Old West you about not being with Ray.
Kendra: Ignoring her advice about Ray was your advice. Remember?
Sara: Don't listen to my advice. (putting her staff down to pick up a water bottle) So did you tell him what she said?
Kendra: Oh, sure! (mock-cheerful) "Hey, Ray, by the way? The woman I met in 1871 was me and she told me our love was doomed to fail because you're not Carter."
Sara: (deadpan) So is that a no?
Kendra: Look, Ray and I are happy together. We should be able to enjoy that before i have to drop the whole doomed love-affair thing on his head.
Sara: (sarcastically) Yeah, I mean who wants a relationship based on honesty and communication? (gags and pretends to vomit)
Kendra: Believe me - a relationship based on an ancient Egyptian curse doesn't work much better.

(Sara fights The Orphan as her younger self watches. Suddenly, Young Sara seems to recognize her older self.)
Young Sara: My God, she's-
Rory: - quite the badass!

Young Mick: She slapped me!
Young Sara: The little weirdo said that he liked the way I smelled!
Young Mick: I'm usually a lot smoother but I'm kinda freaking out right now.
Sara: (pointing to her younger self) You! Hands to yourself! (whispers) And the next time, hit him with a flat palm. (looking to Young Mick) And you... you're not her type.

(Rip explains that they run the risk or making their future selves be forgotten by the people they love by kidnapping themselves as infants.)
Jax: You mean my own mom won't even know me?
Stein: My wife...
Rory: Yeah, and my... my uh.... I don't have anyone.

Sara: All right. This is just like any other mission. The mark may be a newborn but it might as well be a diamond or a microchip.
Kendra: You know what? You're starting to sound like Snart.
(Sara makes a disgusted noise.)

Rory: You guys asked for a doctor, right?
Mr. Stein: (confused) How would we?
Rip: Ah - he means that we were on our way to the hospital and we saw your automobile.
Rory: Yeah! And this little munchkin needs a checkup.
(Rory takes the baby Martin away from Mr. Stein.)
Rory: Pre-natal care! It's very important.
Rip: (quietly and quickly) He means post-natal. We'll take him straight to the hospital. We'll meet you there.
(Rip and Rory walk off.)
Mr. Stein: What about my wife!?

Stein: It is somewhat disconcerting that my father would give me up so willingly to two complete strangers.
Ray: Well, the 1950s was a much more trusting time. Trust me - I lived then!

Jax: You were supposed to be shipping out.
James Jackson: How do you know that?
(Jax just nods to the kit bag on the ground.)
James Jackson: Ah! Right. My transport's been delayed. I told my CO my wife's giving birth. He gave me a pass. And a Jeep. And I made it. I saw him. (points to a baby through the glass) My boy. Which one's yours?
Jax: Oh, ah-no. I'm - I'm - I'm not a dad. I'm just... I'm here for my family.
James Jackson: Well, I hope you get to experience this for yourself one day. Imagining all the things my boy's gonna be when he grows up.
Jax: How do you know?
James Jackson: He's my son. Jefferson Jackson. Remember that name.
(Jax chuckles.) 
James Jackson: He's destined for great things. (glancing at his watch) I've got to go. Will you give the nurse a message for my wife?
Jax: You're leaving already?
James Jackson: I'm AWOL if I don't. I just want her to know that I saw my son. And that I couldn't be more proud and happy. And, uh tell her that I'll be home as soon as I can. Can you do that for me?
(Jax just nods as his dad picks up his bag and moves down the hall.)
Jax: Wait!
(James Jackson turns around.)
Jax: I got to tell you something.
(Jax tries to speak and winds up chuckling again.)
Jax: Congratulations.
James Jackson: Thanks. Appreciate that.
(Jax just watches his dad walk off this time.) 

Stein: If all goes according to plan we'll only be here for a a few minutes and then presumably never remember.
Ray: When's the last time anything went according to plan?
Kendra: I don't think there was a last time.

(Rory rounds a corner and finds his younger self staring at a lit match.)
Rory: Where'd you find the match?
Young Mick: You can always fine one.
Rory: Beautiful, isn't it? Not as beautiful as a whole house going up in flames though...
Young Mick: It was an accident...
Rory: Sure it was.
Young Mick: You don't know me. You think I wanted to kill my family?!
Rory: I think you fell in love with your dad's lighter fluid. I think you fell in love with flames dancing around. But then you realized you couldn't control them and you ran without waking your family. The only thing you were concerned about was saving your own skin. (getting up in his younger self's face) Now, while I'm gone there better not be any accidents. If there is, I'm gonna come looking for you. And I'm gonna kill you!
Young Mick: You sound just like my dad.
(Rory turns around and walks away, looking somewhat disturbed at that thought.)

Young Rip: Thought you could snuff me out? You don't know me at all, Miss.

Rory: (to his younger self) You can't change the things you did. But you can change what you become. Don't be like me. Be better.


Continuity

When a person's past self is murdered, their present self mirrors the damages they suffer in the past before dying. Their body then disintegrates into a pile of blue powder.

Mick Rory's parents died in a house fire in 1990. It is suggested that he started the fire by accident and watched it burn rather than try and save his family. It's also implied that his father was abusive.

Jax tells the young Rory that they're part of a secret group called ARGUS. ARGUS is, of course, the government espionage group run by Amanda Waller then Lyla Michaels on Arrow.

Sara refers to her and Kendra's encounter with Kendra's 1871 self in 111.

The Omega Protocol cannot be applied to rogue Time Masters, due to the potential side-effects on the time line. They also can't be applied to the continually reincarnated, like Kendra, because there's no real point to it.

Rip has a secret stash of vintage cereal on The Waverider.

Fruit Brute is Ray's favorite cereal.

The Pilgrim's powers include super-strength (throwing around fully-grown police officers with ease), super-endurance (She is able to survive blasts from both The ATOM suit and Mick Rory's flamethrower) and temporal micro-manipulation (slowing and then turning one of Firestorm's blasts back upon them).

Sara Lance made $5000 in one summer babysitting.

Ray proposes to Kendra. She accepts, but feels somewhat strange about it.

Jax's dad was a soldier, who died in Somalia two weeks after his Jax was born.

Jax was told that his dad was shipped out before his wife went into labor. The truth is that his father was granted a pass and a jeep to drive to the hospital to see his son before heading out.

Rip Hunter's birth name is Michael. He was raised in a Time-Master run orphanage called The Refuge.

The Time Masters pull orphans from around time and raise them in The Refuge to fill their ranks.

Rip was a cut-purse from the age of five onward. His ten year old self is a hardened enough youth to think nothing of stabbing a woman that tries to kill him.

Clarissa Stein no longer remembers her husband.

Quentin Lance recognizes his older daughter and says that he is proud of her.

Jax tells his father about the attack that takes his life in the hope that it might save him once he is returned to his proper place in time and space.


Location

Vanishing Point
Central City - 1990
The Temporal Zone
Starling City - 2007
Starling City - December 9, 2014
Central City - 1972
Ivy Town - 1950
Central City - 1993
The Refuge
Abandoned Time Masters Outpost


The Fridge Factor

Every conversation Kendra and Sara have in this episode is about Kendra's relationship with Ray.

Honestly, Kendra's entire character arc in the past few episodes is based around who she is dating rather than anything about her as a person.


The Bottom Line

A problematic episode, to say the least. There's some good character defining moments for characters like Jax and Heatwave who haven't gotten a lot of moments to shine so far. But the Kendra/Ray romance feels horribly rushed, the rules regarding what The Pilgrim can and can't do are inconsistent and a lot of the characters written horribly out of character for the sake of a few jokes. (Shouldn't Rory be past being dumb muscle now after all his time as Chronos?) The cast make MOST of these scenes work but a lot of them don't. You know it's going to be a bad time when Rory has more witty lines than Snart.

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1, Episode 11 - The Magnificent Eight

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



Plot

The Legends travel back to the time of the Old West and hide out from the Time Master's assassins in the town of Salvation. It is here they make the acquaintance of the legendary Jonah Hex - a gun-fighter who it turns out has considerable experience with time-travelers and other things counted unusual in the late 1800s. He's also got a history with Rip Hunter that neither one is willing to discuss.

When the team butt heads with a local gang leader, Ray Palmer will find himself living out his dreams of being an Old West hero. Meanwhile, Professor Stein will use his expertise to save a sickly young boy as Kendra and Sara go after a mysterious older woman, whose presence causes Kendra to start having new visions of the past.


Influences

The comic series Weird Western Tales, the film The Magnificent Seven (the title and the general plot of multiple fighters coming together to save an oppressed town), the film High Noon (a climactic quick-draw duel at high noon with a lawman defending a town that is too scared to back him up in a fight with an outlaw gang),Jonah Hex: A Faceful Of Violence (the town of Salvation), the 2002 Hawkman series (mention of Hannibal Hawkes and the idea of his being a reincarnation of Carter Hall) and the 1985 Hex series (Jonah Hex travels forward in time, to a post-apocalyptic 21st century).


Goofs

Rip Hunter says that Len Snart is suffering from linguistic dysplasia when he is unable to speak clearly. Linguistic dyslalia would be a more appropriate term, since dyslalia refers to a speech impedement whereas dysplasia refers to abnormal organ development. (He's a Time Master, not a doctor!)

Stein tells Snart about how he learned how to play cards by watching his father, who he claims was a degenerate gambler and criminal. This contradicts what little we've heard about Stein's father on The Flash, where Stein painted a picture of an affluent background and strict religious upbringing. He said his father refused to pay his way through MIT unless he became a Rabbi first. (Maybe this is a side-effect of the changes to the timeline due to The Legends' interference?)

Kendra's sudden desire to find Carter elsewhere in time has come out of nowhere.

It is said that Calvert was a town in Oklahoma in 1868. In 1868, the land that would become known as Oklahoma was still referred to as The Indian Territory. (Perhaps a difference between the DCTVU and our own universe is that Oklahoma achieved statehood sooner?)

Stein pulls a complete 180 on not disturbing the timeline. This might make sense if he were a medical doctor and had a Hippocratic Oath to uphold but he is a physicist - not a medical doctor!

When did The Legends learn how to ride horses well enough to do so going into a gun fight?

For that matter, how is Jax - who has no experience with firearms that we know of - able to shoot the gun out of a man's hand?

The team takes a pretty big gamble assuming The Stillwater Gang will leave Jax alive as a bargaining chip, just because they have their leader in custody.

Dr. Stein finds out that "Bertie" -  the boy whose life he saved - is H.G. Wells - the famous science-fiction author, most famous for his work The Time Machine. Ignoring that the actor here looks a bit old to play H.G. Wells (who would have been five-years-old at the time), one wonders how the very British H.G. Wells wound up in the Dakota Territory in 1871!


Performances

Johnathon Schaech is given surprisingly little to do as Jonah Hex. Still, he gives the role the appropriate level of gravitas and one is left hoping that he and Rip Hunter will meet up again in future episodes. Heck, maybe we'll see him as a regular in Season Two?

Again, Caity Lotz is the glue that holds the show together, getting great character moments with both Dominic Purcell and Ciara Renee this week that further develop their personal conflicts.

Ciara Renee has a good turn this week too. As problematic as her romance-driven storyline is (there's a reason Carter is nicknamed Stalk-man in the fandom), Renee carries off the conflict well in this episode as you can see the wall coming up between her and Ray despite her love for him.


Artistry

The music for the episode is wonderful, perfectly replicating the feeling of an old Spaghetti Western.

The direction and cinematography of the scene where The Legends arrive in Salvation is similarly wonderful in evoking the proper mood.

The fight scene in the saloon is well-blocked and amusingly directed. I particularly liked the shot of the unconscious Mick Rory and the inclusion of The Wilhelm Scream.

Ditto the final fight in the streets of Salvation. And another Wilhelm Scream to boot!


Trivia Of Tomorrow

Jonah Woodson Hex first appeared in All-Star Western #10 - just two issues before the comic was renamed Weird Western Tales. Despite not being introduced to comics until 1972, Jonah Hex is probably the most famous of DC Comics Western heroes. He was the star of the New 52 All-Star Western series and has headlined several Vertigo mini-series as well as several DC Comics solo-series. There was also a movie based on his adventures, but it is not well-regarded by most fans.

Abused as a child by his drunken father, Jonah Hex was sold into slavery to an Apache tribe by his father when he was 13. He was freed and made a full member of the tribe after saving the chieftain's life but was ultimately lost to them after his adopted brother attempted to kill him and left him for dead during their manhood rite. Jonah would find them years later and related his brother's treachery, resulting in a trial by combat in which is brother sabotaged his weapons. Force to defend himself outside the parameters of the duel, Jonah was outcast and given "the Mark of the Demon" - the scar on the right side of his face that would make him infamous.

Jonah Hex is characterized as an anti-hero, in that he is willing to use lethal force. However, he's generally considered a good man in spite of this, living by a unique yet seemingly contradictory code of honor while playing at being a hardened mercenary with few cares beyond getting paid. For instance, Hex fought for the Confederacy in the American Civil War despite being a strict abolitionist due to his own experiences as a slave, because his land was in The American South and he wanted to defend it. This code frequently got Hex into trouble.

Around the time of Crisis On Infinite Earths, Jonah Hex was given a mini-series - Hex - in which he was transported forward in time to a post-apocalyptic Seattle. The series did fair business in the United States, but was wildly popular in Europe. It's still considered in-continuity, though the series never did explain just how Jonah Hex made his way back to his own time.

Jonah's exploits as a time-traveler have been referred to Hex's few media apperaances.  Hex was the hero of the Batman: The Animated Series episode Showdown, in which Hex thwarted an attempt by Ra's Al Ghul to halt the United States' westward expansion.While no reference was made to Hex's past, he seemed remarkably undisturbed by the steampunk weaponry Ra's and his men employed.

Hex was also one of several Western heroes who teamed up with Batman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman in the Justice League Unlimited episode The Once And Future Thing: Part One: Weird Western Tales. Hex deduced the three were time-travelers before they revealed himself, saying only that he'd had an interesting life and time-travel wasn't the strangest thing he'd seen when asked how he figured it out.

Ray Palmer uses the alias John Wayne while in Salvation. John Wayne is perhaps the most famous American cowboy actor of all time.

Rip Hunter says that the town of Calvert was destroyed by a gang lead by Quentin Turnbull. In the original DC Comics, Quentin Turnbull was a frequent enemy of Jonah Hex and perhaps the closest thing Hex had to an arch-enemy. Turnbull was a plantation owner who blamed Hex for the death of his son during The American Civil War. He hired multiple assassins to try and kill Hex and had him tried on false charges on one occasion.

The DCTVU version of Quentin Turnbull seems to be just an ordinary outlaw gang leader, though Jonah Hex seems to hold him in unique contempt.

Kendra finds out from her past self that Carter's reincarnation in the 1830s was a man named Hannibal Hawkes. In the original comics, Hannibal Hawkes was a Western hero called The Nighthawk, who was a traveling repairman in his secret identity. He first appeared in Western Comics #5 (Sep/Oct 1948)

In the 2002 Hawkman series, Nighthawk was retconned into a reincarnation of Hawkman, with the Western heroine Cinnamon (First appeared in Weird Western Tales #48 - October 1978) being similarly retconned into a reincarnation of Hawkwoman. In the retelling of their life's story in Hawkman #7 (Nov 2002), they die in order to free a wrongly accused man from jail before a lynch mob can hang him.

 Kendra's past self is not named in this episode, but it seems likely that she's based on Cinnamon as well. It is also not confirmed that the DCTVU version of Hannibal Hawkes was a vigilante called The Nighthawk.


Technobabble

Rip Hunter refers to Snart's temporary inability to speak clearly as linguistic dysplasia.

Time is not as fluid as most people think. Time wants things to happen and will work to make sure that things happen. It takes time for things to harden once a change to the timeline has been made. The timeline is occasionally unclear and constantly in flux. This is what makes it difficult to track an immortal like Vandal Savage with any certainty.

Another interesting aspect of time travel is the existence of Fragmentations - temporal blind spots that The Time Masters, for some reason, can't see into remotely. The town of Salvation is one such Fragmentation.

Most guns of The Old West period had hammer blocks, limiting the number of shots they contained to five.

Professor Stein uses Gideon to synthesize Steptomycin - a common antibiotic used in treating tuberculosis today but futuristic by the standards of the 1870s.

The Omega Protocol is the last-ditch effort used by The Time Masters to deal with those they consider a threat to the space-time continuum In this case, an assassin is dispatched to kill the threat while they are still too young to be a threat..


Dialogue Triumphs

(After Rip denies the crew any chance of "shore leave" while in The Old West.)
Sara: Oh, come on! What's the harm in us just taking a look around?
Stein: With this group? Clearly you haven't been paying attention!

(As he is distributing the weaponry)
Rip: Now this should go without saying, but considering this group, I am going to say it - only use these weapons in the case of extreme emergencies!

(Kendra, Mick and Sara are at the bar)
Kendra: (taking a sip of her shot) Gah! It tastes like gasoline.
Mick: Pretty much. (To the bartender) Hit me again.

Jonah Hex: All right. Why don't you folks tell me where you're really from?
Ray: I'm not sure that's any of your business, sir.
Jonah Hex: Well, let me rephrase that. Tell me WHEN y'all from.
(The Legends just glance at each other.)
Jonah Hex: You seven stick out like a dog in a manger.
Jax: Like you said, we're not from around here.
Jonah Hex: You think you're the first time-travelers I've ever come across?
Stein: Uh - yes?
Jonah Hex: Where is he? I've got some words that need saying.
Sara: With who?
Jonah Hex: Rip Hunter.

(As Ray is made the new Sheriff of Salvation.)
Jonah Hex: Congratulations. By the way. you might find a warrant or two out for me around these parts.
Ray: You know, we have stuff back on the ship that can fix your...
Jonah Hex: Fix what?
(Jonah Hex just fixes Ray with a LONG glare.)
Ray: Yep. Nothing. Nevermind.

(As her past self talks about trying to find love after the death of Hannibal Hawkes.)
Kendra; What happened?
Past Kendra: He was a good man, but he wasn't a soul mate. It was like Fate was trying to break us apart. Eventually Fate broke both our hearts. So I made a promise to myself that I wasn't going to do that to a person again.
Kendra: I'm... I'm sorry to hear that.
Past Kendra: No, I'm who's sorry...to have to be the one to let you go that you're never going to be able to love anyone else ever. How much do you know about our previous lives? I eeckon not a lot because you didn't recognize me. So let me tell you that we did love other men. Loved them real and pure. But it never ended well. Not ever. Tragedy or heartbreak - that's how it always ends if the man's not Carter.

Rip: A Time Master is trained to do his work without interference. Which means not helping people or being a hero. But as you've seen Dr. Palmer, this era offers many opportunities for heroism. I found it... enticing
Jonah Hex: And you still managed to leave. (pauses) Something's been bugging me all these years. If you'd have known what Turnbull was going to do to Calvert, would you have left?
Rip: That's the thing, Jonah. I did know.
( Jonah Hex knocks Rip down with one punch.)
Rip: I deserved that.
Jonah Hex: You deserve a lot worse! You knew and you still left!
Rip: Of course I knew! Because I was a Time Master. And therein lay the problem. Like Raymond. Like Martin. I felt the pull of heroism, of this era's penchant for opportunities to make a difference. That's one of the things that called to me and that's why I had to leave. Because had I stayed... I could no longer remain a Time Master. (pauses) But I'm no longer a Time Master. Which is why I will face Stillwater.
Ray: Wait... I said I would do it!
Rip: And get yourself shot and killed and it's appreciated but I'd rather you stayed alive.

(Kendra and Sara arrive back on The Waverider, entering the cargo bay.)
Sara: You want to talk about it?
Kendra: Not really.
(Sara seals the door and steps over to Kendra.)
Sara: You don't have to listen to her, you know?
Kendra: Is this you not talking about it?
Sara: No. This is me ignoring you saying you don't want to talk about it. (sighs) Look, I get it. Things may have gone very wrong for Old West You and whoever she loved that wasn't Carter.
Kendra: ... but?
Sara: But Old West You didn't know Ray Plamer. She didn't love Ray Palmer. You do. And you have to live your life. She already lived hers.

Rory: You think Hunter can pull this off?
Jonah Hex: Reasonably. If not, I got dibs on that newfangled revolver of his.

Rip: (passing his newfangled revolver to Jonah Hex) I think you'll find this slightly more effective than your current sidearm. (pauses) Yes, I will be wanting that back, by the way. (passing the case with the ATOM suit to Ray) And you'll be needing this.
Ray: What about revealing our future tech to the locals?
Stein: (looking around at the panicking townsfolk) They don't seem to mind. (To Jax) Shall we?
(The two join hands and change into Firestorm. Jonah Hex crosses himself in response.)

(Rip sees Jonah Hex readying his horse for the road.)
Rip: You're not staying?
Jonah Hex: And you'?
Rip: Me? Nah. You know I can't. But this town still needs a Sheriff...
Jonah Hex: Well, I'm not the law and order type. Nor the staying in one place type, either.
Rip: Well, we have that much in common at least.
Jonah Hex: (nodding after a long pause) At least.
Rip: Be well, Jonah.
Jonah Hex: Nice thing about my world, for you? It ain't going anywhere.
Rip: Perhaps we will see each other again, my friend.
Jonah Hex: Yeah. I reckon that'd be okay.


Continuity

Rip says it's been a while since he felt the effects of a Time Jump, this jump having taken them back in time 271 years in one go.

This jump leaves Jax unable to feel his face, Ray unable to feel an embarrassing part of his body and Snart with a case of linguistic dysplasia (i.e. the words he uses are said out of order).

Rory is unaffected by the time jump. In fact, he sleeps through it.

The Waverider has an arsenal of historical weaponry.

It also apparently has a store of historical money or the means to counterfeit it.

Ray Palmer is something of an Old West history buff, knowing that six-shooters were quite rare and that most guns of the period only held five bullets.

Rip Hunter is also something of an Old West fan.

Time doesn't pass normally in the Vanishing Point.  A side effect of this, according to Mick Rory, is that the glasses and bottles kept refilling.

Sara Lance can hold her liquor better than Mick Rory can.

Martin Stein is a skilled card player.

Len Snart is a crack-shot with an Old West pistol and rifle.

Rip Hunter and Jonah Hex pet at some point in the past. During that adventure, Hex did not get a chance to see The Waverider.

Rip Hunter's coat was stolen from Jonah Hex.

The Stillwater Gang have been harassing Salvation for three months when The Legends arrive in town.

Rip refers to the events of 102 and Ray leaving a bit of his suit in 1975.

Calvert, Oklahoma was a town in 1868, where Rip Hunter lived for a time before he got married. It was destroyed the day after he left by Quentin Turnbull's gang.

While living in Calvert, Rip suffered from Time Drift, as Ray, Kendra and Sara did in 109. He was barely able to pull himself out of the time period and even then only managed it for fear of losing the woman who would become his wife.

Rip named his son, Jonas, in honor of Jonah Hex.

Professor Stein uses 20th century medicine to treat a boy named Bertie Neal's tuberculous. He finds out later the boy's name was Herbert George Wells - i.e. H.G. Wells - the noted author famous for such science-fiction novels as War Of The Worlds and The Time Machine.

Kendra also gets flashes of her past whenever she comes into contact with a past incarnation of herself.

Carter Hall's past self in 1830 went by the name Hannibal Hawkes. He was killed by Savage at a relatively young age and left his wife a widow.

Kendra's past self says that she tried loving other men besides "Carter" in other lives but it always ended badly - either in heartbreak or tragedy - as if Fate was twisting things to cause the other men she tried to love to get hurt.

Ray attempts to read Jeb Stillwater his Miranda Rights. As Snart points out, Miranda rights won't be codified for "another 100 years." (95 to be exactly, but trust Snart to know that and not Ray!)

Rip Hunter does not have access to any technology that can erase the minds of an entire town. At least, he denies having access to such technology, saying that skepticism and disbelief are far more effective for covering up evidence of time travel in the past.

The Pilgrim is the most deadly assassin employed by The Time Masters. Her talents are reserved only for Omega Protocol targets.

The episode ends with The Pilgrim getting ready to gun down a young Mick Rory, as he watches a house burn.


Location

Salvation, Dakota Territory - 1871
Central City - 1990.


Untelevised Adventures

Kendra is told by her past self about how the 1830's version of Prince Khufu died fighting Vandal Savage.

We are told about Rip Hunter's time in the town of Calvert, which was destroyed by outlaws the day after he left. We are not told the details but this left Jonah Hex with a grudge against Hunter.


The Fridge Factor

Kendra and Sara are sidelined for most of the episode to deal with a totally new subplot regarding Kendra's emotional conflict over her feelings for Ray and her history with Carter. While the scene is well acted by Caity Lotz and Ciara Renee, it is still bothersome.


The Bottom Line

The script is full of logic gaps and anachronisms. Turn your brain off, however, and it's as amusing as any cheesy old Western you might stumble across on the Late, Late Show.

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1, Episode 9 - Left Behind

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



Plot

Sara, Kendra and Ray are left stranded in 1958 after Chronos attacks and commandeers The Waverider. When they realize their teammates aren't coming back for them, Ray and Kendra pursue a relationship while Sara wanders off to find another place to belong.

Two years later - from Ray and Kendra's perspective - Rip Hunter, Martin Stein and Jax Jefferson return, having regained control of The Waverider but having lost Snart in the process. They theorize Sara has returned to her old life as a member of The League of Assassins, some 50 years before she originally joined.


Influences

The Geoff Johns run of JSA (Chronos' motivation here - to see his enemies suffer and die - is similar to that of the time-traveling villain Per Degaton, who took pleasure in watching the current deaths of his enemies when he could not work to bring them about by his own hand),  The Terminator (Snart refers to Chronos as this, ironically foreshadowing who he is; the plot of the movie details a circular time-loop, where the effort to prevent a disaster winds up creating it), the comics of Dennis O'Neil (the presence of Ra's Al Ghul), the comic series The Kingdom (a time traveling villain plans to go backward through time, killing one person repeatedly as part of a revenge scheme), Moby Dick (Chronos' desire for revenge mirrors that of Captain Ahab) and the film Somewhere In Time (a romance facilitated by time-travel, starring an actor who played Superman)


Goofs

How did Sara earn the same code-name with the League of Assassins in 1958 that she originally earned in 2008, given the circumstances regarding how she was dubbed The Canary (i.e. her musical laugh)?

If Heatwave is Chronos, why did he attempt to attack The Legends at points BEFORE he would have been abandoned by Snart? (Presumably, The Time Masters have some way of subverting the paradox.)


Performances

The romance between Kendra and Ray seemed fairly forced until this point. Somehow, despite the script fast-forwarding through the relationship, Ciara Renee and Brandon Routh do a good job selling the romance after two years pass. They also do a great job portraying the conflict between the two afterward when Kendra is anxious to get back to her former life and Ray fearing that she was just settling for him when she thought they were trapped forever.

Caity Lotz has a hard role this time, selling Sara's complete disillusion with the mission and her falling so readily into her old role as an assassin. Time Drift aside, it does make an odd sense given that Sara became the heart of the team because she needed something to focus her energies on so badly and a chance at honest heroism was just what she needed. With that gone, her falling back into something - anything - comfortable makes sense. And Lotz nails that confusion, as well as playing a truly scary Sara who has given herself over to the League of Assassins heart and soul.


Artistry

The fight scenes for this episode are great, particuarly the duel between Sara and Kendra and the battle between Chronos and the rest of the legends.

There's some very effective direction and editing during the Sara/Kendra duel and Snart's escape, alternating between the two scenes.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

After fleeing Harmony Falls, Kenra, Ray and Sara relocate to Hub City. In the DC Comics universe, Hub City is a fictional metropolis that was home to the vigilante The Question. It was said to be located in southern Illinois and has been alternatively said to have been based on East St. Louis and Chicago. Hub City is notorious as one of the most corrupt cities in the DC's USA - even worse than Gotham City!

Ray Palmer's takes on a job as a college physics professor in 1958.  In the original DC Comics, Ray Palmer was a college physics professor rather than the CEO of a technologies firm.

Ray Palmer wears fake glasses as part of his disguise in 1958. This may be a nod to Brandon Routh's performance as Clark Kent/Superman in the film Superman Returns.

Matt Nable reprises his role as Ra's Al Ghul from Season Three of Arrow.

Ra's Al Ghul points to Sara as a fine example to his young daughter, Talia. Talia Al Ghul, is, of course, a daughter of Ra's Al Ghul from the original comics who became a love interest of Bruce Wayne a.k.a. The Batman and the mother of his son, Damien Wayne.

It is worth noting that, in the original comics, Nyssa was the older sister of Talia. In the DCTVU, Talia would be the older sister and Nyssa the younger.

Nanda Parbat is the base of The League of Assassins in the DCTVU. In the original comics, Nanda Parbat was a mythical city (much like Shangri-La) that was home to a mystic order of do-gooding monks.

Chronos tells Snart of his intent to go back in time and kill Lisa Snart, over and over, and making Len watch as his sister dies horribly over and over. This is similar to what the villain Gog did in the comic series The Kingdom, where Gog went back in time, killed Superman, went back one day, killed Superman again, etc.

During the fight between the Legends and Chronos in Nanda Parbat, Ray gleefully picks up a sword and is ready to use it before Sara tosses him the container with the Atom suit. This may be a clever nod to the comic Sword Of The Atom, which focused upon the adventures of Ray Palmer as he became trapped in his shrunken size while on a trip to the Amazon rain forest and became the champion of a fantasy kingdom of miniature people living deep in the forest. The comics were adapted into a series of shorts for Cartoon Network's DC Nation.


Technobabble

Chronos is able to use superior (yet undefined) technology to breach the hull of The Waverider and override Gideon's control of the ship.

Jax is uncertain if The Jump Ship is capable of traveling through The Temporal Zone. Presumably Rip is certain it's safe, she he was trying to get there after The Waverider time-jumped.

Undoing the damage Chronos does to the navigation system of The Waverider requires rebooting Gideon. While this occurs, The Waverider is left freefalling through time.

Ray creates a time beacon - a transponder which matches the Waverider's quantum signature, basically creating a radio-wave firewall that only their team will be able to see.

Ray's lecture after the two-year time-change between scenes involves mesosopic polymer and bio-molecular simulations. This involves the softening of matter and means that, theoretically, one could miniaturize an atom.

Rip reminds Ray that they cannot travel back to events they participated in without time folding in on itself.

Time does not function in the Time Master's base Vanishing Point the way it does in the regular universe. Mick Rory was able to spend several lifetimes training before becoming Chronos.

Time Drift is a psychological condition that occurs when a time-traveler spends too long in an alien time-line. The victim lose ties with their former self and former identity. It is responsible for Sara being easily brainwashed by the League of Assasins conditioning as well as Kendra forgetting about her past lives and losing the ability to make her wings emerge.


Dialogue Triumphs

Rip: He's time-jumping the ship!
Snart: The ladies will be left in 1958!
Jax: What about Ray?
Snart: Like I said.

Jax: I don't know if the jump-ship will even fly through The Temporal Zone...
(Stein and Jax hear gunfire and shouting in the distance)
Stein: It doesn't matter. We're not leaving our team.
Jax: What happened to "we could destroy the whole ship"?
Stein: A preferable alternative to losing our friends. Don't you agree?
(The shouting continues)
Jax: Yeah.
(The two grip hands and change into Firestorm.)

Ray: Look. as a former Eagle Scout with over 100 merit badges - no big deal - the first rule of getting lost is stay in the same place. That way you can be found.
Sara: And as a former member of the League of Assassins, the first rule when you've been attacked is to keep moving.
Kendra: I sort of think League wisdom trumps the Eagle Scouts here.

Ray: You know, I never thought that I could build a life with anybody but Anna. But, um, that's exactly what we've done. In the most unlikely time and place imaginable. (chuckles)And I know it may sound strange but I'm glad we're stranded here.
Kendra: Me too.

Snart: So, uh.. what's so special about me? I mean, aside from my sparkling personality? Back on The Waverider, you could have taken your boy, Rip. But you took me instead. Why?!
(Chronos says nothing)
Snart: Hey. If you're going to kill me, you could at least tell me what's going on.
Chronos: You should have figured it out by now.
(Chronos takes off his helmet to reveal that he is Mick Rory.)
Chronos: After all, I am supposed to be the dumb one.

Snart: How? I think I deserve to know what the hell is going on here!
Chronos: You deserve nothing.
Snart: Says the man who sold us out to the pirates! When I dropped you off in that forest, I meant to kill you! That was the plan!
Chronos: You should have stuck with the plan and done me a favor.

Chronos: I used to think the most beautiful thing on the Earth was fire. Now I know - it's vengeance.

(Stein and Jax join hands to change into Firestorm. Ra's Al Ghul merely looks at Firestorm, barely raising an eyebrow in response.)
Firestorm: It's a long story, pal.

Sara: When I came to your doorstep, for the second time in my life, I thought that I could find a home here. That this was where I really belonged...
Ra's: But your soul is divided. By your ability to kill and your desire to show mercy.
(Sara nods)
Ra's: There is no place for one so conflicted in The League. (pauses) Ta-er al-Sahfer? I release you. You can reclaim your previous name and your past life.
Sara: Thank you.
(Sara turns around to leave, and then stops, and turns around.)
Sara: In October 2008, please see that your daughter is off the coast of an island in the North China Sea. Lian Yu.
Ra's: Why would I send Talia on such a journey?
Sara: Not Talia. Your daughter yet to be born. I'm pretty sure you'll call her Nyssa.

Chronos: You think this is all over?! I will kill every single one of you! I will watch you all burn! (To Snart) You! You should have killed me while you had the cha-
(Rip hits a button which mutes the microphone on the cell. He then turns to Snart.)
Rip: You owe us an explanation.
Stein: Yes. It's quite remarkable Mr. Rory is working for The Time Masters considering you killed him.
Snart: If you think back, I never actually said I killed him.
Jax: No, you just let us think you did.
Snart: I didn't have to try too hard, did I? Well, maybe I should have. And at least he wouldn't have wound up a chew toy for The Time Masters.
Rip: But if you did, we wouldn't have this opportunity.
Ray: An opportunity? To do what?
Rip: To reform Mr. Rory.
Kendra: He killed Aldus!
Rip: Under the influence of The Time Masters.
Stein: Chronos killed Aldus. Mr. Rory was fighting on our side that day.
Sara: I know what it's like to be trained by an organization for one purpose - to kill - and the kind of loyalty that can inspire. I need to know that we can reach Rory. For my own sake.
Stein: The Time Masters took one of our own and turned him against us. I say we undo their handy-work.
Ray: Rory saved my life, back in the gulag. He's more than just a criminal and an arsonist.
Jax:  (nodding) He's a member of our team.
Snart: He's a lost cause!
Rip: Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that. You will see that miracles abound on this old timeship.
(Cut to The Medical Bay. Snart's arm with the severed hand is tied down to a bench.)
Rip: Gideon. Start the regeneration process.
Snart: What do you mean "regeneration"?
Rip: I took genetic samples from each of you at the start of our voyage for this exact eventuality.
Snart: Why am I only hearing about this now?!
Rip: Because none of you had lost a limb yet.
(Snart shrugs, seeming to concede the point.)

Continuity

Ray earned over 100 merit badges as an Eagle Scout.

Sara dated a log of juvenile delinquents as a teenager. One of them taught her how to hot-wire a car.

One of Ray Palmer's students in 1960 is the father of technology magnate Bill Gates.

During their two years in Hub City, Ray Palmer works as a college physics professor whereas Kendra works as a librarian.

Ray was planning to propose to Kendra just before The Waverider arrived to rescue them.

Two more side-effects of time-jumping are revealed: linguistic disorientation (i.e. mixed up speech) and deafness.

Ray and Kendra have a lucky water vase. Exactly what is so lucky about it is not explained.

Sara rejoins The League of Assassins with the same name she earned in 2008 - Ta-er al-Sahfer. Literally "yellow bird" in Arabic.

Ra's Al Ghul is seen for the first time since A323.

Sara is able to overcome her blood lust through meditation and herbs provided by Ra's Al Ghul.

Snart refers to the events of 107, Heatwave's betrayal and Snart knocking him out but leaving him alive.

Heatwave was nearly insane and forced to strangle rats to eat by the time he was found by The Time Masters and taken to The Vanishing Point. He was trained by them for several lifetimes and reborn as Chronos.

The Shadow Record is an list of every member of The League of Assassins dating back to 3200 BC. It is written on papyrus in invisible ink.

Rip Hunter wrote his graduate thesis on the history and lore of The League of Assassins.

Ray Palmer knows about the existence of The Lazarus Pit, describing it as a life-extending Jacuzzi.

Ray refers to the events of A322 and how he was a prisoner of the League of Assassins.

Rip Hunter can speak fluent Arabic.

Rip Hunter plans to win their freedom by demanding a trial by combat. The trial allows both the challenged and challenger to name a champion. In this case, Ra's chooses Sara and Rip chooses Kendra.

Ra's is able to figure out that Rip and Sara were from the future on his own, based upon Sara's advanced skills when she first came to Nanda Parbat and Rip's knowledge of League Law.

Ra's releases Sara from her vows to The League, due to her heart being divided. This would make Sara the first person to be allowed to leave The League in the revised timeline - the original first one being Malcolm Merlyn.

Chronos/Rory is a captive in The Waverider's brig as the episode ends.

Kendra refers to Chronos killing Aldus in 101.

Ray refers to Rory saving his life in the Russian prison in 105.

Rip is able to regrow Snart's lost hand.

At the episode's end, Kendra and Ray are now sharing quarters and are officially a couple. Ray still has the engagement ring he bought in 1960, but has not proposed.

As the episode closes, Rip is plotting a course to the Kasnian Congolerate in the year 2147.


Location

Harmony Falls, Oregon - 1958
Temporal Zone
Hub City - 1958
Hub City - 1960
Nanda Parbat - 1960


Untelevised Adventures

Two years pass in which Sara rejoins The League of Assassins and Kendra and Ray live together.

Mick Rory spends an unspecified amount of time being trained by The Time Masters before becoming Chronos.


The Crisis Factor

The whole team entering into Nanda Parbat when Rip doesn't return is incredibly foolish.

Rip forgetting about Time Drift until after he's been captured by Sara seems even more foolish.


The Bottom Line

A solid episode that develops a lot of the character's personal subplots and drops a hell of a twist in the middle of the episode, for once. There's not as much witty dialogue as usual but the action is solid and this show continues to impress and amaze on every front.