Legends of Tomorrow: Season 7, Episode 2 - The Need For Speed

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

Plot

The quest to get to New York City leads Nate to try impersonating the now-deceased J. Edgar Hoover - a task that is easier said than done. Meanwhile, as Zari undergoes a digital detox and tries to figure out who blew up the Waverider, Astra and Spooner cope with their sudden creation of a flesh-and-blood Gideon.

Influences

Murder on the Orient Express (mystery on a train), Harry Potter (Gary's potion seems to be based on the Polyjuice Potion), The Terminator (appearance of time-traveling Hoover robot once its face is removed) and 1940's gangster movies.


Goofs

A sign in 701 suggested that it was either April or July 1925, based on the day of the Bullet Blondes first robbery. This wildly conflicts with Gideon's declaration that November 7th, 1925 is in two weeks.


Performances

Nick Zano has a good turn here playing Nate playing J. Edgar Hoover and getting a little too into the role.


Artistry

The effects-work/costume for the Hoover robot.

Again, the period costumes are fantastic across the board.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

This is the first episode to feature a new animated title card sequence for Season 7. Matt Ryan appears as his new character at the end of it.

The title of the episode is both a reference to a line from the movie Top Gun and a nod to J. Edgar Hoover's nickname among his closest agents. There are several stories about how Hoover earned the "Speed" nickname, but the one Hoover himself told was that it related to how quick he was as a grocery delivery boy in his youth.


Technobabble/Arcana

Gary knows how to brew a magic potion that allows someone to look like someone else. However, it requires time to ferment properly and a sample of the spit, fingernails or hair of the person you want to look like. 

The potion has some unfortunate side effects and limits. First, it seems to cause the person who drinks it to become more like the person they're impersonating, leading to Nate being casually racist to his teammates. Also, anyone who sees the potion being drunk will be immune to the illusion, so Gary and Behrad can't tell if the illusion is working or not as Nate drinks the potion in front of them before Gary can tell him not to. The potion's duration is also dependent on the metabolism of the person who drinks it, so it can last for as long as a day or as short as an hour.

The refrigerator in the mansion dimension is enchanted to keep creating endless bottles of whiskey.

Gary has two stomachs.

Dialogue Triumphs

Ava: My safe word is core competency. 

Sara: Great men aren't usually good guys.

Zari: Shh. Aves, I love you. I love you both. I love your love. I love that you're loving each other right now, even if that love is happening directly above me while I eat sugar foam. 

Nate: Hoover doesn't run an investigation from behind!

Spooner: So why are you so mad at Gideon? She hasn't done anything to you.
Astra: Because... she's a constant reminder of my giant failure.
Spooner: That's why you don't want to go after the Legends.
Astra: I'm useless to them, Spooner.
Spooner: You made one mistake, Astra. Ease up on yourself. At least you still have magic.
Astra: Hey, you have things to offer too.
Spooner: Like what? Without aliens, what do I bring to the table? Ranch wear? 


Continuity

Behard knows a surprising amount of information about how car engines work.

The radio reports indicate that the Bullet Blondes are on the loose but nothing is said about J. Edgar Hoover going missing.

After the Legends discover a train ticket to New York from Midland, they hit upon the idea of Nate continuing to impersonate J. Edgar Hoover. This leads to Gary brewing an illusion potion that will let Nate look like Hoover.

Gideon is apparently unable to speak.

To distract people away from Nate not looking like J. Edgar Hoover, Behrad and Gary pose as FBI agents and they act like they've captured the Bullet Blondes and are taking them to New York.

The Legends are able to commandeer the honeymoon suite on the train, which is said to be the most secure room on the train. The couple who had rented the room are happy to oblige, specifically thanking Hoover for The Palmer Raids.

Nate explains that The Palmer Raids were a series of arrests the Bureau of Investigation ran in 1919 and 1920 to round up and deport immigrants, anarchists, union organizers, communists, and radical leftists who were said to be trying to engineer a revolution in the United States.

Sara and Ava enter into the back-up mansion with Zari's key, taking the Time Bureau manual and the chocolates from the Honeymoon Suite with them.

Zari 2.0 is decidedly dressed down, wearing a red flannel bathrobe that resembles one of the shirts favored by Zari 1.0. She is also stoned out of her mind on Behrad's spare gummies. 

Sara and Ava start celebrating their honeymoon in the upstairs part of the mansion. 

Nate is treated to lunch by an FBI agent named Francis Baker Junior, who is quite pointed about not inviting Behrad or Gary to join them.

Gideon keeps making apple-headed dolls and crushing them in an effort to communicate with Spooner and Astra.

Gideon unexpectedly passes out.

Ava discovers Zari eating whipped cream straight from the container - another thing Zari 1.0 was known to do when depressed.

Ava suggests that Zari start cleaning the mansion to distract herself from her breakup.

According to Zari, Ava is quite noisy in bed, which Ava denies, until Zari says "Core Competency."

When a woman's purse goes missing in the dining car, Nate takes command of the situation and solves the case (a dog named Goldie took it to get at the pastry inside it) despite the other FBI agents wanting to blame Behrad and Gary.

Another group of FBI agents get on the train at Texarkana and inform Nate that they've learned of a plot to kidnap him.

Astra says that Gideon isn't really a person, but Gloria says that Gideon has a heartbeat which makes her human enough for her.

Gloria points out that if the Legends had gotten a working time machine and hadn't come to get Astra and Spooner by now, that probably means their plan to go to New York didn't work.

Hoover's agents immediately assume the kidnappers must be foreigners because they misspelled "train" and "northbound" on an intercepted telegram. The fact that they might be illiterate or bad spellers eludes them.

Nate, Gary and Behrad interview everyone on the train. Unsurprisingly, most of the workers and lower class people hate Hoover, while the rich passengers love him.

Gary, Nate and Behrad eventually figure out that the only way to realistically kidnap someone on a train would be to redirect it down another route that wasn't being watched by the FBI.

The FBI agents hit upon Igor Lewandowski - a Russian train engineer and labor organizer who suddenly joined the train crew in Midland.

The FBI agents encourage Nate to beat a confession out of Lewandowski in private. Nate tries to go along with it, much to Behrad and Gary's disappointment.

Zari starts out trying to clean the mansion's kitchen, but she discovers that the fridge is enchanted to keep creating bottles of whiskey. (Zari notes that you aren't supposed to keep whiskey refrigerated.)

Ava finds Zari obsessing over the multiple whiskey bottles.

Zari theorizes that the second Waverider that blew up their Waverider had to have come from somewhere, which means that other Waveriders could be coming from anywhere in time again.

Gideon makes six apple-head dolls, puts them in a box and smashes them. Astra and Spooner still have no idea what she's trying to tell them.

Astra says she feels useless since she can't get her magic to work most of the time. Spooner admits to feeling similarly limited since her power only worked on aliens.

Gideon electrocutes herself after Astra wishes she could just shove her back into the wires and sockets. This causes Astra and Spooner to realize that Gideon can understand them, even if she can't communicate back.

Zari read the Time Bureau manual, which is over 200 pages.

Zari and Ava began using the whiskey bottles to count out every enemy the Legends had who might have blown up the Waverider. These include Damien Darhk (who they don't know is dead), Lex Luthor (whom Sara encountered during Crisis on Infinite Earths), Mallus (the villain of season 3), the Crisis paragons, Rip Hunter (who was briefly a villain in Season 2) Rasputin (an Encore in season 5), Kuasa (Vixen's evil cousin from season 3), a unicorn (monster in season 4 premiere) a giant Beebo (Crisis on Infinite Earths), David Bowie (season 6) and the multiverse itself. Mention is also made of time wraiths (from The Flash), time witches (from Supergirl), time pirates (from season 1), clones and doppelgangers. Time itself is also mentioned. 

Hoover interrogated Lewandowski back in 1919 during the hunt for Emma Goldman.

Lewandowski lost everything because of Hoover, but he was planning to stay away from him, not kidnap him. In fact, he was coming to tell the FBI that someone switched the track the train was on when he was arrested.

The FBI agents who warned Nate about the plot were actually gangsters working for Al Capone, who was behind the plot.

The gangsters call Al Capone Snorky. This was one of his many nicknames, with Snorky being a slang term for a sharp-dresser.

Nate gets off the train to confront the gangsters. Unfortunately, it's at this point Gary's illusion wears off and the gangsters realize he's a fake. 

Ava makes mention of the demon dog from 511.

Sara, Ava and Zari show up with all the whiskey Zari made. This distracts the gangsters away from killing Nate.

Nate apologizes to Gary and Behrad for how he acted earlier.

Another J. Edgar Hoover shows up and starts shooting the gangsters.

The second J. Edgar Hoover turns out to be a robot, which self-destructs.

The Legends now believe that robots blew up the Waverider.

Spooner reportedly did not start talking until she was six years old, but Gloria said she still found ways to make herself understood.

Spooner holds Gideon's hand and is able to hear her thoughts.

Gideon says that Dr. Davies time machine experiment will take place on November 7th, 1925. That is two weeks from that day, making the date of this episode October 24, 1925.

Location

Most of the Legends spend the episode on a train between Midland, Texas and Texarkana, Texas.

Spooner, Astra and Gideon remain in Odessa, Texas, where the episode ends on October 24, 1925.

The Bottom Line

An amusing episode, which builds the stakes of the season well.

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 6, Episode 4 - Bay of Squids

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

Plot

The good news is Mick's plan to lead the team to Sara does result in their finding an important alien with information that can help them. The bad news is it also throws them into the middle of the Cuban Missile Crisis and threatens to start World War III!


Influences

Dr. Strangelove (Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb) - comedy about nuclear war and the end of the world.


Performances

Shayan Sobhian is a pretty good guitar player and gives a great rendition of Cat Stevens' "Peace Train."

This is probably Dominic Purcell's strongest episode in a season, as Mick gets some honest conflict and we see the cunning, if not exactly smart, crook he was when the series started.

Artistry

The montage of soldiers preparing for war set to "Peace Train" is a fun bit of ironic composition.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

This is the first episode of the series not to feature Caity Lotz.

During the battle to recover the nuclear football, John Kennedy injures his back and has to be helped to a chair. Kennedy suffered from back problems throughout his life - a fact that was largely kept secret until after his death.


Technobabble/Arcana

The nuclear warhead Mick accidentally stole is a Soviet SS-4 medium range ballistic missile. 

The alien turbo-charges the Waverider engine using plutonium. 


Dialogue Triumphs

(Nate is walking down the hall and freezes up when he sees Zari. They are both still in their night clothes.)
Nate: Sorry.
Zari: Oh, you're not used to my nighttime makeup. I mean, no makeup. Sorry to ruin the illusion.
Nate: No, you, um... you look just like her.
Zari: Oh. You mean the other Zari.
Nate: Yeah.
Zari: I could change my hair if it would help.
Nate: Help what?
Zari: Whatever's happening down there.
(Nate looks confused for a second and then discretely covers his manhood region with his hand.)
Nate: It's not my fault!
Zari: (smirking) Mm.
Nate: I was sleeping!
Zari: Yeah
Nate: It's natural!
Zari: Whatever you say, Steel.

(Mick is rushing everyone out the door after arriving in Cuba.)
Spooner: Okay, hold up, I thought this was a time machine. Why not bring us back an hour earlier? That way, y'all can change out of your PJ's?
Zari: Oh, girl, we don't ask those questions.

Mick: Cover me.
Zari: With what? I'm wearing slippers.

Behard: Look, Captain. Authoritarian leaders, secret bunkers, nuclear missiles, I'm just not feeling the energy of this mission.
Ava: Too bad, because I need your energy, okay? (looks at Mick) Can't afford any hotheads starting a nuclear war.
Mick: Hey, I'm just trying to help you find your girlfriend.
Ava: You know what you can help me do is get the missile back to the people that we stole it from.
Spooner: Wait, the Russians?
Mick: That defeats the purpose of stealing!
Ava: Our job is to protect history. Remember that next time. 

Nate: This reminds me of the 1942 Princeton game.
General Kilgore: Refresh my memory, son, I was too busy fighting a World War.
Nate: Thank you for your service. It was a tie. A defensive stalemate. Neither team put the ball in the air, and neither got close enough to kick a field goal.
General Kilgore: What a terrible game. Both sides lost.
Nate: But... when we're talking about lobbing nukes at one another, that is the only way both sides win.

(Mick and Spooner are walking through the Cuban camp. Suddenly, Spooner cries out and clutches her head.)
Mick: Headache, huh? That time of the month?
Spooner: Very funny.
Mick: No, I'm being serious. My daughter, she has the same...
(Spooner grunts in pain.)
Spooner: Oh, that's very sweet of you then. But it's not my period. It's the alien. 

Behrad: Guys, thought you might like a little update on El Comandante.
Ava: Wait, you're with Fidel Castro?
Behrad: Yeah, we're super tight, but the problem is, he thinks the alien was sent to kill him.
Ava: Why would he think that?
Behrad: Because it tried to kill him. 

Ava: Okay, sounds like you're up, Rory.
Mick: Thought I was in the doghouse?
Ava: That's when we were trying to finesse the situation. Plans change.
Mick: You want us to kill the alien?
Ava: We don't have a choice, okay? Spooner, I need you to help him track it. We need to deescalate the situation and get history back on track.
Mick: Screw history! You kill the alien, you kill any chance of finding Sara.
Ava: And if we don't kill it, then Castro starts a nuclear war, and Sara doesn't have a home to return to, okay? I do not have time to game this out with you, Rory. We will find another way to find Sara.
Mick: Right. Lot of big brains on this ship. I'll just stick with what I know. You should never have cleaned me up. I'm better off doing what I do best: being a goon, killing people.
Ava: Yes.
(There is a long pause as Ava just stares at Mick.)
Ava: That's exactly what I need.
Mick: Right. Least I know what I'm here for.
(Mick grabs his flamethrower on the way out of the room, clearly pissed off. Spooner follows after him.)

Spooner: You know, it wasn't right for Ava to try to pin this all on you.
Mick: I don't give a rat's ass.
Spooner: You were just trying to find Sara.
Mick: No, I was pretending to be somebody I'm not.
Spooner: So you're just gonna go back to being a dumb drunk? That it?
Mick: Yes. 

Mick: You said your job is to protect history.
Ava: I also said your job wasn't to think for yourself, but had you listened to any of my orders, we'd have absolutely no hope in finding Sara, so I... I guess you got this.
Mick: Stop saying nice things. 

Zari: I hate that I'm a reminder of everything you lost.
Nate: You're not. I mean, I guess at first. But now? Now you just remind me of you. 


Continuity

An alien pod lands in the mountains of Sierra Maestra on October 16, 1962 and is discovered by Cuban soldiers.

Rory sounds the alarm to wake the rest of the Legends.

Nate is stunned by the sight of Zari without make-up as it reminds him of Zari 1.0.

Spooner works-out to hip-hop music.

Behrad has Gideon making edible marijuana candy for him to help him sleep.

Using the sketch he drew in 603, Mick was able (with Gideon's help) to find a photo of the alien in question among some redacted KGB files.

According to Gideon, Vladmir Putin was ousted from power in Russia in 2044.

Mick moves the Waverider to go after the alien, leaving John and Astra behind in the present at John's house.

Mick commandeers a Cuban military vehicle he thinks is holding the alien. In truth, it contains a nuclear warhead.

Nate forgot to set the cloak on the Waverider before leaving, resulting in the ship showing up on photos taken by an American spy plane. This leads them to believe that the Russians have some form of advanced bomber.

Nate wrote his doctoral thesis on John F. Kennedy and his use of diplomacy during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Nate and Zari go to Washington DC to find some way to infiltrate the White House and ensure JFK doesn't start a nuclear war.

Spooner is able to find out where the alien is listening in on the Cuban army's radio signals.

Ava takes Behrad with her, posing as a Russian scientist named Yevgania Shostenko who is an expert on aliens, while he dresses as a Cuban soldier.

The Cubans believe that the United States has invaded them with mutant soldiers, leading them to commandeer the truck with the nuclear missile before Mick and Spooner can return it to the Russians.

Zari is presumed to be a secretary and has no issue getting into the Oval Office. Nate pretends to be a former Harvard man, whom JFK pretends to recognize from the class of 1940.

Nate is introduced to the rest of JFK's inner circle - Bobby Kennedy, Rober McNamara and Douglas Dillion - all former Harvard men.

General Kilgore is an Army general who is advising JFK to take the country to DEFCON 3, based on the pictures of the Waverider. Nate dismisses the pictures as obvious fakes.

When General Kilgore questions Nate's credentials, he attempts to win over JFK with a football metaphor involving the 1942 Harvard vs. Princeton match.

Ava discovers the Cubans intend to vivisect the alien, which is sedated.

Behrad cannot stand the sight of blood and leaves the operating field to throw up.

Ava is able to delay the surgery by cutting the hose for the anesthetic and knocking out the other medical technicians.

Behrad is mistaken for Che Guevara and, when asked about it, claims to be his cousin Jay Guevara. He is then taken to meet with Fidel Castro.

The Russian Ambassador calls the White House demanding an explanation for the stolen nuclear missile and why the United States is attacking them with a man made of Steel.. JFK has none to offer and says it sounds like the ambassador is drunk and rambling.

General Kilgore shows JFK spy photos of Nate, in his Steel form, fighting Cuban soldiers.

Nate once again tries to dismiss the photos as obvious fakes, but is informed that DARPA had been working on a serum that could turn a soldiers' flesh into metal and had successful secret tests.

General Kilgore believes one of the test subjects of the steel soldier project went rogue and urges JFK to launch a pre-emptive strike on Cuba.

JFK gives the order to go to DEFCON 3.

Castro tells Behrad that he is sick of being a pawn of the Russians but that he now has a nuclear missile that will let him destroy Washington DC on his own.

Behrad shares his edibles with Castro when he asks about the candy.

Spooner's powers seem to be getting stronger. Beyond sensing the presence and emotional state of aliens, she can now almost understand what they are saying.

The alien wakes up as Ava is escaping with it and it almost attacks her. Thankfully, the alien is driven off by Mick and his flamethrower.

Behrad sings Cat Stevens' "Peace Train" to Castro, inspiring the stoned leader to call Washington DC and tell JFK they should live in peace.

The alien almost gets Castro at this point, making him paranoid and spurring him to order they launch the nuclear missile now.

In Washington, the Army has learned that the Cubans now have their own nuclear missile and are preparing to launch it at Washington DC.

JFK gives the order to go to DEFCON 2, but Zari (who is tying up the order) instead gives all of Strategic Air Command a three-day weekend, effective immediately. 

Behrad is forced to flee Castro's bunker after Che Guevara calls and confirms he doesn't have a cousin named Jay.

Ava sends Mick and Spooner to kill the alien before the timeline is disrupted any further.

Spooner senses that the alien is looking for something. She and Mick find it next to the nuclear missile as it is about to launch. 

Mick angrily tells the alien that the rocket is not a spaceship and can't get them off the planet.

Mick tells the alien it can help it get back to its spaceship if it helps him find Sara.

General Kilgore gives JFK the nuclear football and tells him they can use it to get all their nuclear sumbarine captains to fire an all-out strike on the Russians. When JFK wants to call Khrushchev, General Kilgore takes the nuclear football and gets ready to order the strike himself.

Nate reveals his powers and says he didn't go rogue but was working to protect the world from people like General Kilgore.

General Kilgore takes Zari hostage.

JFK leads Nate and his cabinet in a football charge against the army men with General Kilgore.

JFK injures his back during the play.

General Kilgore leaves the White House, firing his gun at the missile, which crushes him as it lands on the White House lawn.  It does, not, however, explode.

It is revealed later that the nuclear missile didn't explode because Mick and the alien removed the plutonium from it.

Mick commanders the Waverider, leaving the rest of the team behind, while he goes into space with the alien to find Sara.

Zari's phones were all on the Waverider when Mick took it.

The rest of the Legends decide they can operate out of John Constantine's house for the time being.

The alien puts on a ring which gives her a human form and allows her to be understood in English.


Location

Sierra Maestra Mountains, Cuba - October 16, 1962
Washington DC, USA - October 16, 1962


The Crisis Factor

Even by the standards of this sow, JFK and the Harvard men in his cabinet playing football with the nuclear football is a bit much.


The Bottom Line

A fun episode that gives Mick and Spooner some much needed character refinement, though it does go a bit too far in its comedic take on nuclear war. Even Stanley Kubrick thought twice about ending it with a pie-fight.

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 4, Episode 10 - The Getaway

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




Plot

When Hank commandeers the Waverider in 1973 in a bid to capture the Legends, the team is forced to go on the run in an RV, with President Richard Nixon as a hostage and a strange magical creature that makes them unable to lie. Meanwhile, Zari and Nate continue their investigation into Hank's true plans for the Time Bureau, recruiting Gary to help them.


Influences

The movie Liar Liar (comedy about a man magically compelled to stop lying), the Let's Kill Hitler episode of Doctor Who (running gag of the heroes abusing one of history's most notorious bad guys and stuffing him into cramped quarters) and 70's highway chase movies, particularly Smokey and the Bandit.


Goofs

While Mick's line about saving the Sundance film festival and Robert Redford's career is funny, it's highly unlikely that All The President's Men never being made would have hurt him. By the time that movie was made in 1976, Redford had already earned one Best Actor nomination for The Sting and become a bankable star thanks to Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, The Great Gatsby and The Great Waldo Pepper.


Performances

While Hank is undoubtedly a bad guy at this point (even if he is doing everything for the son he never connected with) the scene of him and Nate finally bonding over a Coke is a touching one and well-played by Nick Zano and Tom Wilson.


Artistry

The episode's use of mood music is fantastic.


Trivia of Tomorrow

The car which John, Mona and Sara drive back to the police barricade at the end of the episode is a black Pontiac Trans Am. This was the same model car driven by Burt Reynolds in Smokey and the Bandit.


Technobabble/Arcana

There are many buttons on the futuristic toilet of the Waverider. Mick and Sara both say you should not push the red one, but do not explain why.

John knows a spell that can super-heat metal. He uses this to heat the door handle in the hospital to delay the Time Agents chasing the Legends.

John traces Nixon's inability to lie to an agent of Ma'at - the Ancient Egyptian goddess of truth. Taking the form of an insect, it feeds on lies and will hide inside the body of a dishonest person in order to feast, leaving that person unable to speak anything that is not the complete truth.

John uses a Latin chant and a jar to draw the agent of Ma'at out of people. The Latin chant - vi veri universum vivus vici - translates as "By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe." This is a line from the journal of famous occultist Aleister Crowley,

Zari gives Nate an ear-piece tuned to a frequency Hank can't read.on his radio.

John knows a spell that can create an illusionary duplicate of a moving vehicle, sending a mirror image of the RV up the road for Hank and Nate to chase.

Zari reaches out to the team as DJ Z, sending them messages across an FM radio band.

John confirms that the scratch of a Kaupe can transform the victim into a were-beast similar to a Kaupe.

John knows a binding spell that is not quite strong enough to restrain a were-Kaupe.


Dialogue Triumphs

(The team is running through all the things that changed because of Richard Nixon being forced from office before Watergate.)
Ray: Without the release of All The President's Men, Robert Redford's career floundered.
Mick: (enraged) What?! No Redford?! No Sundance?! No indie film?! No artful nudity?! We've got to fix this!

(Zari entrusts Gary with going through Hank's phone.)
Gary: I've always wanted to untangle a conspiracy. (dramatically) I'll need a bulletin board, index cards - I already have yarn. I've been getting into crochet!
Zari: (with uncharacteristic enthusiasm)Yeah, me too!
Gary: We should start a club!
Zari: We'll talk.

(Ray, John, Mona, Sara and Mick are escaping the hospital with a doped-up Richard Nixon.)
Ray: How are we going to make distance with five of us and a kidnapped Nixon?
Mick: (pointing) There! There's our getaway!
(Cut to an RV, whose side proclaims that it is named "The Getaway".)
John: That's a bit on the nose, no?
Sara: We left subtlety back in Mexico.

(Hank sets up an old-fashioned police dragnet to catch the Legends)
Hank: If the Legends so much as forget to signal, we'll hear about it. They'll slip up eventually!
Nate: Eh, that's probably accurate.

(Nixon starts to stir.)
John: Hey guys? Looks like Nixon here is finally winning the War on Drugs.
(Nixon looks up to see John, Sara and Mona.)
Nixon: Good God, I've been kidnapped by hippies!

Nixon: (looking at the agent of Ma'at John retrieved from his mouth) I've been bugged!

John (struggling to stuff Nixon into a closet)  Let's put Dick in a box.

Ray: I think this is a very needed chance for us to talk about how we feel.
John: Well, I'm glad you're happy.
(The agent of Ma'at forces its way through the tape covering the hole in the jar and makes a beeline for John's mouth.)
John: No! Wait! I mean -
(John is cut off as the bug forces its way down his throat.)
John: I don't care if you're happy and I certainly don't trust you lot in helping me face Neron, no matter how many "go team" pep-talks you give.
Ray: Well, you can't keep me down!
(John vomits up the agent of Ma'at, who charges down Ray's throat.)
Ray: (intensely, looking right at John) Actually, ever since I've met you, I sometimes lie awake at night, starring into the dark, thinking that I am it. And it is me. Also, I don't think Han shot first.

(Sara orders the rest of the team to Florida while she chases after Mona.)
Sara: Mona is out there alone and we don't leave our people behind, no matter how much the bug the crap out of us. I'd say 'no pun intended' but that would be a lie.

Sara: Look - I just don't know how to... convince everybody that everything's okay when I'm not okay.
John: Well, you know, if we were in each other's shoes right now, then you'd be giving me some rubbish speech about how you don't have to shoulder the burden myself when I have friends around to help me carry it. Not that I'd believe you for a second. But that doesn't mean it's not true.
Sara: Thanks. Even if you are just lying to make me feel better.
John: Oh, I definitely am. Hope it worked though.

(Nixon is ranting to Hank about everything The Legends did to him.)
Nixon: They've besmirched my good name and I've done nothing to deserve it!
Ray: Uh-oh.
(The agent of Ma'at gets free and charges down Nixon's mouth.)
Nixon: Well, actually..., there is nothing good about my name. If you were born with the name Dick Millhouse, you'd grow up to be a bastard too.

(As Nixon swears he can turn over a new leaf and become a better man.)
Mick: Nah. History needs you crooked, Dick.

Sara: You know, maybe that's who family is? The people you don't mind being annoyed by.


Continuity

As the episode opens, it is revealed that the timeline was altered in 1973 so that Richard Nixon somehow became unable to lie, resulting in global chaos as various trade agreement and peace talks faltered.

Since this resulted in the Watergate Scandal never happening, this also indirectly resulted in Robert Redford never becoming the Hollywood star he was destined to become after All The President's Men, resulting in the Sundance Film Festival never starting up, the independent film movement in America never taking off and none of the art films with tasteful nudity that Mick Rory loves.

Sara insists she is fine to run a mission despite her break-up with Ava, lying and saying they just had an argument.

Ray was more concerned about the team being on the outs with the Time Bureau.

Charlie was more worried about the fact that they still have Mona on-board the Waverider.

Ava has taken a leave of absence from the Time Bureau.

Hank is the acting director of the Time Bureau in Ava's absence.

Zari has officially become a Time Agent.

Zari and Nate are still pretending to be dating in front of Hank.

Hank's first mission as director is capturing the rest of the Legends.

Nate says the only person they can still trust in the Time Bureau is Gary.

Zari asks Gary to go through the cloned data from Hank's phone and gives him a secure tablet to do the job and contact her.

Gary and Zari have both gotten into crochet. They discuss starting a club.

Mona does not tell Sara that she is transforming into a were-creature.

Charlie's shape-shifting powers are still wonky, but she can manage a credible shift into Richard Nixon for a few seconds.

Zari and Nate arrive on the Waverider and warn John, Mona and Mick of the approaching Time Agents.

Hank calls the Waverider's computer Siri and Alexa before finally remembering her name is Gideon.

Zari shuts down all the systems on the Waverider, blaming it on the Legends bricking the system.

The RV that The Legends steal is named The Getaway.

Mona is claustrophobic.

It is only at this point that Sara and Ray remember Charlie is still at the hospital trying to impersonating Nixon.

Sara puts Mona in charge of watching the agent of Ma'at once John traps it in a jar.

Sara appears to be grossed out by large insects.

Gary asks Nora Darhk to help him with his conspiracy map. He says it will get her out of the cell for a night and her life may be in danger.

Mona drops the jar holding the Agent of Ma'at, which rolls forward and gets stuck under the break of the RV. This causes Ray to panic and speed up, which gets the attention of a sheriff.

Ray has never been pulled over while driving in his life.

The agent of Ma'at is able to escape through the air-hole Mona punched in its jar-lid, It jumps into Ray's mouth after he lies about having steering-wheel trouble, driving his family to see the largest chest of drawers in North Carolina and Sara being his wife, Claire, to the sheriff who pulls them over.

Hank and Nate commandeer the sheriff's car to chase after the Legends.

Nora is a fairly effective computer hacker and figures out a way to get into Hank's e-mail.

Gary hits upon the idea of resetting Hank's password rather than trying to guess it.  He notes he has trouble remembering his passwords after accidentally erasing his own memory so many times. To do this, they need to know the name of Hank's dog as a child.

Hank was born in Hackensack, New Jersey.

Reference is made to how Hank grew up not knowing his father, who died a hero's death in 214.

Hank used to have a Labrador retriever named Silver, after the Lone Ranger's horse.

Hank made Nate watch the old Lone Ranger show when he was a kid.

Nora and Gary discoverer a property deed from 1912 in Hank's name and a shipment of dwarf star alloy from 1837.

Using time travel for personal gain is against the credo of the Time Bureau. Gary keeps a copy of it in his wallet.

Gary and Nora are almost discovered by Neron, who is still in Desmond's body.

Nora has some kind of reaction to Neron's presence. She tells Gary to get what they found to Zari but not to dig any further.

Neron calls Nate across time, through a pay phone, and tells him his password was compromised. This leads to him figuring out why Nate was asking about his dog.

Mick doesn't really think Ray is an idiot.

John doesn't trust the Legends to help him and hates Ray's pep-talks.

Ray honestly is brought down by John's attitude and has begun brooding in the darkness at night.

Ray doesn't think Han shot first, loves Gluten and used a strategy guide to beat the Water Temple in Legend of Zelda.

Ray likes John's "look" but thinks he is trying too hard with the fake loosened tie.

John actually does intentionally leave his tie loose and thinks superhero code names are stupid.

Mick does care what John thinks about him and wants to grow his hair out to look like Fabio.

Ray doesn't think Mick would look good with long hair.

Ray trusts Sara but thinks the current mission is a disaster and they are totally screwed.

Sara confesses that Ava dumped her and that she blames Mona for all her current problems.

Hank figures out that Zari is using the FM radio band to signal the Legends, warning them about his ambush in Richmond, Virginia.

Mona transforms again in the diner after several Time Bureau agents stop in and talk about getting back at the Legends for the incident in Mexico City and they trash-talk the Kaupe.

Hank is able to capture Ray and Mick and the RV.

Mona is able to speak in her beast form, albeit with great difficulty.

Nate admits that he's been lying to Hank but truthfully says that he loves his dad and never felt closer to him but he'd going crazy because of this secret project he's working on.

Hank is able to say that he's only doing all this for Nate without it setting off the truth bug.

Hank agrees to let the Legends go and to stop lying to Nate.

Sara talks Mona out of her rage and promises to be there if she needs someone to vent to.

Nate says that Zari is not his girlfriend but he's open to it.

Mona is welcomed into the Legends.

Ray erases Nixon's memory of his time with the Legends.

Zari says that Hank was embezzling Time Bureau funds for a black-ops site in Baltimore. She says that what the scientists there are doing to experiment on magical creatures are similar to the work done by ARGUS in her time to create metahuman super-soldiers under the government's control.

Hank tries to break his bargain with Neron. Neron responds by drawing the soul out of Hank.

Nora Darhk senses this from her cell and is somehow able to break free. She arrives at the director's office just in time for Nate to find her standing over Hank's dead body and jump to the wrong conclusions.

The episode ends with Nora unleashing a shockwave that knocks the Time Agents back as she makes her escape..


Location

Disney's Contemporary Hotel - Orlando, Florida - November 17, 1973
Time Bureau HQ - Washington DC - 2018
Walter Reed Medical Center - Washington DC -  November 16, 1973
The freeway between Washington DC and Walt Disney World.


The Bottom Line

A hilarious episode that manages its ensemble brilliantly, apart from them forgetting about Charlie. All kidding aside, the emotional beats all ring true and the plot is advanced smoothly.

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 2, Episode 3 - Shogun

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


Plot

After a training accident in the cargo bay of The Waverider, Ray and a newly empowered Nate crash in Feudal Japan, where Ray's armor is stolen by a local warlord.. Sara finds her leadership skills put to the test when she must convince a stowaway Vixen that Mick Rory - for all his faults - is not a killer. Or, at the very least, not Hourman's killer. And Professor Stein and Jax make a startling discovery in a secret compartment on-board The Waverider while repairing the ship in the rest of the teams' absence.


Influences

The JSA comics of Geoff Johns (character of Citizen Steel) the X-Men comics of Chris Claremont (Nate's powers and appearance mirror those of the mutant hero Colossus), Star Trek: The Original Series (the sequence of Sara trying to pilot The Waverider while Jax tries to fix the engines on the fly), the TV series Lost (mentioned by Jax when discussing why you never open secret hatches), Ninja III: The Domination (Mick refers to this film when examining the buildings of Edo Period Japan), the films of Chuck Norris (also referred to by Mick, and the main influence on his fight with a group of "real" ninjas), Star Wars (Nate refers to the teachings of Master Yoda) and the films of Akira Kurosawa (general tone, fight choreography and cinematography; The Legends protecting a village mirrors the plot of The Seven Samurai)


Goofs

It's highly unlikely Vixen would be familiar with the term "ninja" since the term - in its modern usage - didn't come about until 1945. (Perhaps this is a slight difference in the timelines of our world and the DCTVU?)

Mick says the buildings of Edo Period Japan look just like they did in Ninja III: The Domination. In addition to being a poor source of historical ninja lore (the plot concerns a sexy aerobics instructor who is possessed by the spirit of a ninja warrior), the movie is set entirely in 1980s Los Angeles with no historical sequences. (Mick could be misremembering which ninja movie he's thinking of.)

Granting that ninjas in some form did exist (in that there were secretive mercenary assassins in Feudal Japan) they did not wear all black outfits in broad daylight.

Also, it makes no sense for the ninjas to be attacking Mick, given that ninjas tended to fight against corrupt nobles.. like the Shogun Mick and his friends were fighting.

Ray and Masako somehow survive an energy blast that totally disintegrates the Shogun and The ATOM suit.

Mick complains that he has no proof ninjas are real. What about the black robes he took off of one of their bodies?


Performances

Nick Zano continues to do a fine job of developing Nate into a sympathetic hero. This time, he manages a fine balancing act between Nate's desire to do good and his frustration over suddenly having power but being unable to wield it.

Maisie Richardson-Sellers has a similar trick to accomplish in establishing her version of Vixen as a completely different character from her granddaughter. This is accomplished through her being a much more traditional heroine (Mari was somewhat more reluctant in Vixen: Season One) and some wonderful scenes that play her off of both Sara and Mick.



Artistry

Great combat sequences throughout, particularly Sara's fight with multiple samurai and Ray's fight with The Shogun.

A witty script with wonderful dialogue that does a great job of developing Nate and Amaya and building their relationships with Ray, Sara and Mick.

There are a lot of dramatic arty shots in the Kurosawa style but perhaps the best of these involves the rain of cherry blossoms as Nate goes for a walk with Masako.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

The episode opens with yet another new introduction - this time delivered by Nate Heywood.

In the comics, Nate Heywood gained powers after his wounds were exposed to the metallic blood of the neo-Nazi villain Reichsmar. Some unknown quantity in the villain's blood fused with Nate's body, causing him to become a being of living steel and to regrow his amputated leg. This made Nate super-strong and extra durable but also left him with his sense of touch drastically reduced. He had to be given a special suit that limited his movements and reduce his strength to a more manageable level as he couldn't even take a step on certain substances without the ground crumbling at his feet.

The DCTVU version of Nate Heywood differs from his comic-book-counterpart in that - despite developing a body made of living metal - Nate still looked completely human in the comics though he was unable to turn off his powers.. The TV version, on the other hand, has silver metallic skin, reminiscent of Colossus from X-Men and can turn his powers on and off.

Nate runs through several potential codenames after Mick suggests just plain Steel.  This was the codename used by Nate Heywood's cousin, Henry Heywood III, who followed in their grandfather's footsteps and joined the JLA. He also mentions Citizen Steel, which is the codename used by Nate Heywood in the comics.

There's some metatextual irony that Ray is the one teaching Nate how to become "a man of steel", given that Brandon Routh famously played The Man of Steel a.k.a. Superman in the movie Superman Returns.

The Edo Period of Japanese history corresponds to 1603-1868 AD.

Reference is made to how foreigners are not trusted and unusual in Japan at this time. This is consistent with Sakoku - the foreign relations policy of Japan at the time. Under Sakoku, severe restrictions were imposed regarding travel within Japan - both on foreign nationals entering the country and Japanese traders traveling outside of Japan without special permission. The first of the edicts making up Sakoku were laid out from 1633-1639 - just before the time of this episode (1641). While enforcement varied of the years, Sakoku was the law of the land until 1866.

Tokugawa Iemitsu was the third Tokugawa shogun, ruling from 1623-1651. As the episode notes, he is considered one of the most brutal warlords in Japanese history, though nothing is said about him routinely slaughtering his brides. It is a matter of record, however, that  he instituted the policy of Sakoku and ordered a ban on Christianity in Japan, ordering missionaries to be crucified.

The reality of ninjas is a subject of debate among historians to this day. While it is generally agreed that there may have been some assassins who operated in secret during the Edo Period, it is also agreed that they did not run around in black clothing all the time or use special weapons, stealth training or martial arts techniques. You can read a bit about the controversy in this Time Magazine article.

Imemitsu's lead henchman boasts that he was "trained in the art of war by Shimura himself." This is probably a nod to actor Takashi Shimura, who played the lead samurai in The Seven Samurai.

Amaya reveals that she was born in a remote African village in Zambesi before being recruited for the JSA  Zambesi is the fictional African nation that was the home of Vixen in the original DC Comics Universe.


Technobabble

Ray altered the Nazi super serum to quintuple his own strength and transform his skin into an alloy 100 times stronger than steel. These effects are passed on to Nate, who also has his hemophilia cured by the serum.

Ray says that Nate's powers manifested as a result of a heightened adrenal response.

Jax reroutes power from the secondary manifolds to try and stabilize The Waverider.

Ray takes an ingestible translator to understand/speak Japanese.

The ATOM suit is made of and powered by dwarf star alloy. It is strong enough to resist bullets, arrows and explosives. Underneath the left thruster is the alpha-stabilizer. If destroyed, the photons that stream from the suit's weapons systems will overheat. Theoretically, this will cause somatic overload and destroy the suit beyond repair.

The armature relay of The ATOM Suit enhances the limbs' reaction time.


Dialogue Triumphs

Nate (voice-over): Time travel is real. And all of history is vulnerable to the attack of rogue time travelers. But one group travels throughout time to stop the spread of these so-called Time Abberations and erase their damage to history. A group of outcasts and misfits, these individuals aren't heroes. They're something else. They're Legends!

(Mick is in the galley of the Wave Rider, overturning a container full of silverware) 
Mick: Where are all the knives?!
(Vicen comes up behind him and puts a knife to his throat.)
Mick: Oooh. There's one.

Vixen: Sorry for knocking you out.
Sara:  Sorry for locking you up. Call it even?
(The two shake hands.)

(Sara is trying to convince Vixen that The Legends can find Rex Tyler's killer.)
Sara: Don't worry. We're professionals. We know what we're doing.
(The sounds of weapons discharging is heard in the distance. The two run to the cargo bay to see Ray and Nate trading blows as Jax looks on laughing.)
Jax: Yeah!  Come on!
Nate: If Grandpa Heywood could see me now!
Vixen: Professional?
Sara: - Ish.

(Nate just fell to Earth and emerges from a crater looking around at the buildings in the distance.)
Nate: Edo Period. Mid-17th century Japan. That's cool.
(Nate falls backwards and passes out.)

Mick: You snuck up behind me and sliced my throat like a ninja.
Vixen: There's no such thing as a ninja, you idiot!
Mick: Tell that to Chuck Norris.
Vixen: Who's that?
Mick: And I'm the idiot?!
Vixen: And by the way, I'm not your "girlie"!
Sara: Alright. If you two don't quit your squabbling, I'm going to maroon you in a time period of my choosing. Together.

(Mick, Vixen and Sara approach the Shogun's castle.)
Vixen: It doesn't exactly look inviting, does it?
Mick: It's just like Ninja III: The Domination.
Sara: Never took you for a cinephile.
Mick: All I know is ninjas like to hide in trees. (glances up into the tree tops)
Vixen: I don't see anything.
Mick: Exactly! You don't find them. They find you.
Vixen: Just because you saw ninjas in a movie doesn't make them real.
Sara: I have to side with Mick on this one. They're real.
Vixen: You think there's a secret brotherhood of men trained in the art of assassination?
Sara: I hate to break it to you, Amaya, but I'm basically a ninja.
(Mick laughs.)
Vixen: (sigh) I miss the JSA.

Lead Henchman: I have been trained in the art of war by Shimura himself
Sara: League of Assassins. Class of '09.

(Nate explains his hemophilia to Masako.)
Masako: So every day, you were afraid to live?
Nate: Pretty much.
Masako: In the Samurai tradition, a warrior is always prepared for death. A woman celebrates when her husband dies with honor.

Nate: Wow. That's hardcore.
Masako: A Samurai who fights without armor... THAT is hardcore.

Sara: How does the Shogun even know how to operate your ATOM suit?
Ray: I designed it so an idiot could use it.
Mick: An idiot does.

Future Barry: Sorry to contact you like this, Captain Hunter, but I can't risk putting any more lives in danger.  And neither can this.Which is why you'll keep what I'm about to tell you a secret. Even from the rest of your team...

Nate: You don't think I don't want to save the girl, spare the village and be a hero for once in my damn life?! I spent half of my childhood in a hospital, where it didn't even occur to me to dream about having super powers. But guess what? I got them! I lost them!And now I really, really need them. And I can't get them back!
Ray: This isn't all about you! I spent billions of dollars to develop The ATOM Suit! I nearly died learning to shrink! And now I have to teach you to destroy the very thing - the only thing - that makes me a hero!
Nate: Wait... somatic overload means destroy the suit?
Ray: Yeah, Nate. We can't beat the shogun while he's wearing the suit. So we have to blow the suit up. Your powers ware within you. After today, I'll have nothing left.

Ichiro: You remind me of my son.
Ray: Why? Was he a terrible teacher too?
Ichiro: He was a great samurai. I built hm the strongest and most formidable armor in all of Japan. Forged him a sword fit for an emperor.
Ray: What happened to it?
Ichiro: My son was popular with the men who served under him. And the Shogun resented him for it. So he ordered Oda to commit seppuku.
Ray: We'll make sure the Shogun pays for what he's done to your family.
Ichiro: Maybe. Maybe not. But I ask you - would I rather hold my son again or his armor?
Ray: Your son, obviously.
Ichiro An armor is nothing but iron, leather and silk. It can be replaced. But a man who wears the armor is...
Ray: I get it. You're saying I don't need a suit of armor to defeat the Shogun.
Ichiro: Don't be ridiculous! He'll kill you in seconds!  Follow me.

Nate: I'm going to die.
Masako: Yes, probably.

Nate: That was actually your cue to cheer me up.

Masako: If you accept death, there is nothing to fear. 

Nate: I'm more afraid of what's going to happen to you if I die. I know I have these powers inside me. I just can't figure out how to use them.

Masako: Does a child learn to laugh? Does he sit and practice laughing? No. He just laughs.
Nate: "Do or do not. There is no try."
Masako: Exactly! Where did you learn that?
Nate: From... a great sensei from where I'm from. Yoda.
Masako: This Master Yoda is very wise.

Continuity

Nate is competent enough a historian to identify the exact period and location of where he is based on the architecture.

As noted in 202, Nate speaks Japanese, which is why he doesn't need an ingestible translator.

Ray, based on his need for an ingestible translator, does not speak Japanese.

There are 36 compartments on the Waverider, including one hidden compartment Rip Hunter never told Jax about.

The secret compartment is an armory full of highly advanced futuristic weapons and a computer with a message from Barry Allen in the year 2056. We do not hear what the message is, but both Jax and Stein agree they have to keep it secret from the rest of the team as Rip Hunter did.

Nate destroys The ATOM Suit.

Nate apparently adopts Steel as his code-name.

It is revealed at the end of the episode that Masako is of the clan Yamashiro. This is a hint that she is the ancestor of Tatsu Yamashior and that the katana Nate gives to her will eventually become the ancestral weapon of the heroine Katana, who was seen throughout Season 3 of Arrow.

Edo Period Japan is Ray's favorite time period, apart from The Wild West.

Vixen gives Mick a ninja throwing star she took from the battlefield - proof of a real ninja.


Location

Kansai Region of Japan on the Island of Honshu, Near Kyoto - 1641


Untelevised Adventures

We don't see just how Vixen was able to infiltrate The Waverider.


The Bottom Line

A solid episode that does a great job of developing Nate and Amaya while adding another mystery to the show. Between that and a funny script with some great fights and truly artful design across the board, this is easily one of the five best episodes in the series run to date.

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 2, Episode 1 - Out Of Time

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





Plot

Historian Dr. Nate Heywood seeks out Oliver Queen when he discovers evidence of the timeline being altered and The Legends being endangered. Heywood's trail leads to a stasis-locked Mick Rory, who tells them about Rex Tyler's warning not to travel to 1942 and The Legends' ignoring that warning to prevent the Nazis dropping the first nuclear bomb on New York City! But Sara Lance has her own agenda in the middle of all this - killing Damien Darhk in the past before he can kill her sister.


Influences

The Three Musketeers (the France 1637 sequence is set in the same time period, Stein, Rip and Rory are teamed together while dressed in Musketeer garb), Das Boot (the submarine fight sequences) Men In Black (Rip's weapon that knocks a person unconscious with a light blast looks like the memory erasing tool) A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court (Jax and Stein wind up posing as wizards in the British royal court) and Geoff Johns' JSA (The character of Nate Heywood, the appearance of the JSA at the end of the episode).


Goofs

Einstein says that his wife divorced him 30 years earlier. He may be rounding up or mis-remembering, but Einstein's first wife did not divorce him until 1919. They were separated for at least five years before that, so Einstein may have considered himself divorced after his wife left him, regardless of when the marriage legally ended.

Oliver Queen says he doesn't have time to time-travel. Logically, with a time-machine, he should have all the time in the world! (I know they can't have Stephen Amell on this show all season, but they could have come up with a better excuse!)

Given Mick Rory's time as Chronos, his ability to pilot a time-ship shouldn't be so surprising.

While we don't know how long Jax and Stein were in 821 England, one marvels at his smart phone holding a charge for however long he was there given that he and Stein had time to become court wizards.

It's unclear just how Einstein acknowledging his ex-wife as a secret collaborator on his work will protect her or him from being abducted by Nazis.


Performances

Nick Zano doesn't get much time to establish Nate Heywood as anything beyond the typical excitable academic figure. Still, he does well enough with what he has.

Dominic Purcell damn near steals every scene he's in.


Artistry

The whole of the Louis XIII scene is brilliantly executed - excellent direction, wonderful fight-choreography and tremendous editing of the various scenes that are going on simultaneously.

The fight scene between Sara and Darhk.

Excellent set design on the new Time Library and Waverider bridge.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

In the comics, Nathaniel "Nate" Heywood was the real name of the superhero Citizen Steel. A former football star who lost his leg following an injury, Nathaniel Heywood was the grandson of Henry Heywood (the Golden Age hero Commander Steel) and the cousin of Henry Heywood III (the hero Steel).

Commander Steel was a US Marine who served during WWII. After suffering severe injuries, portions of his body were replaced with metal and motors and enhanced by a bio-formula that gave him advanced healing powers. His son was killed in Vietnam and the Commander saw the same process inflicted upon his grandson, in his warped desire for a legacy. His grandson, Steel, served with distinction in The Justice League before his death.

Nathaniel Heywood developed super powers after a Nazi-themed super-group called The Fourth Reich targeted a Heywood family reunion with the intent of killing all of Commander Steel's bloodline. Apart from a few children and "Uncle Nate" they were successful. Nate came into contact with the metallic blood of Reichsmark - a villain whose touch killed instantly and transformed people's bodies into metal statues. Somehow, the metal bonded with Nate's body, regrowing his lost leg and granting him super-human strength and durability on par with his grandfather. Having not served in the military, he refused to take his grandfather's name and was dubbed Citizen Steel by Power Girl after she tried to recruit him for the JSA.

As introduced, the DCTVU version of Nate Haywood does not have any superpowers. Also, unlike his comic-book-counterpart, he is a doctor of history - a specialist in deductive historical reconstructions.

There is some historical evidence that Louis XIII was gay and preferred his male courtiers to his wife, Anne of Austria. He was recorded as having taken no mistresses, earning him the honorific Louis The Chaste. What is known is that the two of them finally had a child together after 23 years of marriage and four still-births, as depicted in this episode.

There is not any historical evidence that Anne of Austria was a lesbian or bisexual.

When Sara breaks off from the rest of the Legends in 1942 New York, she asks a cabbie to take her to Conway and 5th. This is a nod to legendary comics writer Gerry Conway who - among other accomplishments - was responsible for co-creating Firestorm, Vixen, Steel and Vibe. He also wrote a 1970s revival of the All Star Comics series, featuring The Justice Society of America and was the author of the first official crossover comic between Marvel Comics and DC Comics - Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man.

Albert Einstein's portrayal as "a pig" in this episode is true to the historical record. Einstein's was a notorious womanizer. He is said to have cheated on his first wife with her sister and cheated on his second wife with his secretary, in addition to having at least six other affairs. He was even said to wear a silk robe at social gatherings, so he could "accidentally" expose himself and see which women were more interested than offended.

As Einstein notes when questioned about his wife, his first wife divorced him (in 1919 following a long separation) and his second wife died (in 1936).

Einstein did not publish his theory of Unified Field Theory until 1950.

Einstein's first wife - Mileva Maric - was a Serbian physicist. It has been suggested that she may have collaborated with him on some of his earliest published works in 1905 but opinion is divided upon the subject.

There is no evidence of Einstein and Maric collaborating on anything as late as 1942. Indeed, their oldest son said that his mother gave up all interest in the study of science after marriage.


Technobabble

The Waverider's medical bay is capable of putting a person into stasis, freezing them in time.

Aberrations are the technical term used to describe problems in the time-stream caused by rogue time-travelers.

A time quake is a disturbance in the temporal zone caused by an unusually large aberration. They are rare enough that even Rip Hunter hasn't experienced one.

People in the temporal zone when a time quake occurs are immune to its effects so long as they remain outside of normal space-time.

It takes time for the consequences of a aberration - even one as large as changing a World War- to ripple throughout history and change things.

The sensors in The Atom suit can be used to track radioactive signatures.

The subliminal variance of the quantum manifold is two microns.

If one wants to divert power from the axial array, it cannot be done. You would have to go through the clavian adjunct.

The Timescatter is a last-ditch option Rip Hunter designed. When activated, it teleports everyone on The Waverider to a different random point in time. He uses this to send everyone (with the exception of Mick Rory) away during his attempt to intercept the atomic bomb that threatens New York City.

A ship that is designed to travel in space and an atmosphere is ill-equipped to handle the pressures of an underwater environment.

Ray attempts to bypass the tertiary subsystem array.

Once again, Rip uses a device capable of rendering a person unconscious with a flash of bright light.


Dialogue Triumphs

Stein (voice-over):  The Time Masters were an organization charged with protecting history from rogue time-travelers, but they were destroyed. Under the leadership of Rip Hunter, we have taken up their mantle. Sara Lance - former member of the League of Assassins. Dr Raymond Palmer - The Atom. The arsonist, Mick Rory. And Firestorm - the merged super-form of Jefferson Jackson and myself, Martin Stein. We are the only ones left to protect history. We are the Legends of Tomorrow.

Nate: I'm a historian. I specialize in deductive historical reconstruction. In layman's terms, I'm a time detective. Which I really don't have to be to look at a calendar to see one week after you came to this city, Robin Hood showed up.
Ollie: You said that Sara and Ray are...?
Nate: ... traveling throughout time with the other Legends. Legends is what they call themselves. (fumbling with notes) Now, for the past six months I've been noticing subtle changes to history. Almost imperceptible, Actually, if it wasn't for a friend of mine who is a quantum physicist, I wouldn't have been able to detect the subliminal alterations. The point being, I think your friends are responsible.
(Ollie just stares at Nate skeptically.)
Nate: You're look at me like you want evidence. Evidence! Okay. (starts holding up documents) An illuminated manuscript from 1216 depicting a knight. Looks a lot like your friend  Dr. Palmer. Same nose and chin. Erratic text, describing a woman in white with a bo staff!  Hieroglyphics from Mesopotamia depicting an albeit crude ship that flies through the air and disappears...
Ollie: Let's skip to the part where they're in trouble...
Nate: UFO sighting! New York City! 1942! Multiple witnesses report a flying machine diving into the Atlantic, which matches not only the Mesopotamian hieroglyphics-
Ollie: (impatiently) The part where they're in trouble!
Nate: (frantically) Contemporaneous with the sighting were multiple reports of an underwater detonation of an atomic bomb!  Now, the government has denied this-
Ollie: Did you say 1942?  That's three years before...
Nate:  - before the atomic bomb was supposedly invented, yes. I told you history was changing!
Ollie: Dr. Heywood, if The Legend's ship met an A-bomb they aren't in trouble. They're dead.

(Ollie and Nate enter the med bay of The Waverider. They find Mick Rory, lying on a bed, bathed in blue light.)
Ollie: The ship's keeping him in stasis.
Nate: How do you know that?
(Ollie gestures to a panel on the wall next to the bed which reads STASIS ACTIVATED.)

(Sara walks behind Queen Anne, placing a necklace around her neck as she looks at herself in the mirror.)
Sara: It's beautiful, Your Grace.
Queen Anne: As is yours. Who gave it to you?
Sara: (sadly) My sister.
Queen Anne: You speak of her as if she is gone. I hate to see a lady so beautiful, so sad.
(Queen Anne stands and moves behind Sara, rubbing her shoulder.)
Sara: Your husband-
Queen Anne: Enjoys the company of his male courtiers. Why should I be denied a similar.. pleasure?

(Upon seeing Firestorm and The Atom flying over Louie XIII's chateau.)
Rip: Oh bloody hell...
(The Atom lands in front of Rip, smiling.)
The Atom: That was the last assassin.
Rip: What did we say about using powers and future-tech, Dr. Palmer?
The Atom: (sheepishly) Well, yeah but... they started it.
(Enter Rory, guiding a panicked Louis XIII)
Rory: Don't look at me. I left my gun on the ship like a good little Boy Scout.

Sara: Nobody wants to address the fact that Cardinal Richelieu's men were armed with laser guns?
Stein: Clearly provided to them by a time-pirate or some-such.
Jax: Grey's right. We need to find out who, so-
Rip: - you can get another chance at destroying the very history that we are supposed to be protecting?
The Atom: Ah, I knew I forgot something! The part where Rip tells us everything we did wrong.
Rip: As in seducing the Queen of France just before she's suppose to conceive the country's greatest hope for the future?
Sara: She seduced me.
Rip: Or wrong as in violating our policy of not using super-powers in front of people?
Jax: They had laser guns.
Rory: At least I didn't screw up this time.
(Rip walks over to Rory, grabs at his sleeve and retrieves a golden cross on a chain in one smooth motion.)
Rory: Stealing's not screwing up.

(Stein and Rory see Einsten from across the room at a cocktail party. He is walking up to a group of young women, )
Stein: That-th-that's him!
Einstein: Good evening, ladies.
Stein: The greatest mind the world has ever known!
(Einstein's hand suddenly runs down one lady's hip and grabs her backside. She slaps his hand away.)
Einstein: (chuckling) I am merely demonstrating Newton's Third Law - for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Rory: (laughs) I like him! He's a pig!

(Stein and Rory approach Einstein.)
Stein: Oh, Herr Professor, I am so sorry to interrupt!
Einstein: Who are you?
Stein: My colleague and I were just having a rather spirited debate about your theory of relativity. Perhaps you could help us settle it?
(Einstein looks on helplessly as the two women he was talking to walk off.)
Einstein: I was -this- close to getting them both to come back to my room!
Stein: (shocked) Well, what about your wife?
Einstein: The one who died or the one who divorced me thirty years ago?

(Einstein awakens in The Waverider's brig.)
Stein: Guten Morgen.
Einstein: What is this? Some sort of prison? What am I doing in here?
Rory: Good question.
Stein: I'm sorry. I never had the opportunity to introduce myself. I'm Professor Martin Stein. Just like Einstein. Minus the Ein. There's just so much I'd like to discuss with you...Such as your paper on Unified Field Theory.
Einstein: I have not yet published my paper on Unified Field Theory! Who are you? Why have you abducted me?!
Rory: The guys at the party wanted you to build an atomic bomb for "ze Furher"
Einstein: No. Not even a man as mad as Adolph Hitler would want to create such a terrible weapon.
Stein: You yourself once said that two things are infinite - the universe and human stupidity.
Einstein: And you are living proof of the latter!
Rory: (smirking to Stein) He just called you stupid.

(Rory just saved Ray from a dinosaur)
Ray: Mick!  Buddy!  How did you find me?
Rory: I didn't. Pretty did.
(Rory nods to Nate, who is throwing up behind him.)
Ray: Is he okay?
Rory: Side effects of time-travel.
Nate: Speaking of, you're never going to believe where the rest of your team ended up.
(Nate vomits again as Ray looks on in disbelief.)


Dialogue Disasters

Ollie: I don't have time to time-travel.


Continuity

According to Mick Rory, The Legends spent six months repairing the time stream before the incident that put him into stasis.

Mick Rory says that after appearing to The Legends in 116 and introducing himself, Rex Tyler said the team could never travel to 1942 or it would mean their deaths before disappearing.

Damien Darhk was alive in 1942, thanks to his use of The Lazarus Pit.

In the revised timeline, The Germans get the Atomic Bomb three years before The Allies and bomb New York City in 1942. The Allies still win World War II but it takes them an additional two years, during which time 12 million more people died.

The Waverider is now equipped with a "time library" that enables anyone to research anything involving the current state of history.

In the previous six months, Rip has had Jax create the time library, modify the bridge of The Waverider, and several other technical tasks.that he only trusts Jax to manage instead of going out on missions.

Nate Heywood's lead on finding Ray Palmer is an article entitled - Jurassic Man - Real or Hoax?

The side effects of time travel on the human body can include nausea.

Stein and Jax were sent to England in 821, where they play at being wizards.

Sara was sent to Salem at the time of the witch trials, where she was nearly hung.

Damien Darhk was working with The Nazis in WWII. At the end of the episode, he is revealed to also be partnered with The Reverse Flash.

The Justice Society of America stop The Legends as they are about to leave 1942. Full write-ups on each member we see will be included in next week's entry.


Location

Star City 2016
The floor of the Atlantic Ocean 2016 (one day after Star City)
France 1637
New York City 1942
Hoboken, New Jersey 1942
South Dakota - 70 million years ago.
Tintangel, England 821 AD
Salem, Massachusetts 1693


Untelevised Adventures

The Legends had been working at protecting history for six months between when they met Rex Tyler and their rescuing King Louis XIII.


The Fridge Factor

Granting that Sara Lance is a sensual woman, it's a little hard to believe that she wouldn't have the common sense to curb her appetites when she's stranded in Salem at the time of The Witch Trials and the local civic leaders were looking for any signs of deviant behavior among the local women.

Also, have the writers decided that Sara is a full lesbian rather than bisexual? We've yet to see her get involved with a male character out of the many dalliances she's had since she started time-traveling. It would be nice if this point were clarified, yet it hardly matters as it seems the writers are encouraging the stereotype of bisexuals and lesbians being promiscuous either way.


The Bottom Line

Definitely more than the sum of its parts. The penultimate section of the show is particularly weak and Stephen Amell's cameo is wasted. There's way too many cheap jokes about Rory being slow-witted and Sara being promiscuous that really don't make sense in context. And yet, there's so much that DOES work that you find yourself liking it anyway. And then you get the double-whammies in the final two minutes that I can only imagine were truly shocking for those, unlike me, who hadn't read the news about the plan for merging the various DCTVU shows together this year. As an episode, it's merely decent. As the base for something bigger, it's perfect.