“Do I get to use my gun?”
Episode 4 of LEGENDS OF TOMORROW took the slow burn method to good use. Not rushing too many things, keeping good story telling a priority and making some good, fiery action. That was my attempt at a Firestorm joke!
LEGENDS OF TOMORROW Season 1 Episode 2: Good Action, Story Progression and Individual Moments
Right from the beginning I think the use of the Pentagon was an excellent idea. Not only did it make for another exciting sequence that we are getting accustomed to seeing on this show. But it helped build the character of Vandal Savage in a sense. It makes his evil “bigger” knowing that the Pentagon is involved. It also dips him into realism and strays away from this immortal Egyptian priest that we already know he is.
Again in this episode, the team was split up. Let’s hope it pretty much stays that way to keep things from getting messy. Our main chunk of the story belonged to Ray and Snart, who both played into their roles well as the goof and the snidely criminal. The two continued their on-screen chemistry together and even added a little humor with a Top Gun joke. The mission revolved around those two infiltrating and discovering a Russian scientist’s plan to create an army of Firestorms for Vandal Savage. Like last week, I think the problem at hand was good. It definitely got bigger, but it’s still something we could see a solution to in 1–2 more episodes.
Professor Valentina, the scientist behind the special project for Savage, was also a good character. She was the perfect femme fatale to match wits with Snart. From the preview of next week’s episode, we probably haven’t seen the last of her. Her involvement made the untimely capture of certain members of the team a bit obvious, but it was a good bridge to the next episode. One of my personal highlights from this episode was Snart's declaration of his criminal code when Heatwave was left behind. It further showed how this show is able to take a bigger dive into these characters that we couldn’t get on Arrow or The Flash.
The rest of the team’s stories this week weren’t nearly as crucial to the plot. But everyone needs to keep busy. Rip came in contact with his mentor from The Time Masters, Time Master Druce. Druce offered Rip a deal but only to betray him after with the help of a returning Chronos. Everything with those two seemed a bit predictable, but it wouldn’t have made a lot of sense to the show if Rip didn’t receive backlash from The Time Masters after disobeying orders.
Sara and Kendra spent much of this episode “training.” But it really more or less just seemed like something to keep them out of the storytelling spotlight. I like the idea of these two trying to help each other with their wild and feral instincts. But as a fan of all the DC shows, I’m a bit confused. I thought Sara’s problems were fixed with the help of Constantine?
As much as I gush about The Rouges, I think my MVP this week has to be Professor Stein. His character really stepped up to the plate and showed a lot of depth with his revealing of how Ronnie Raymond’s death affected him and how he treats Jax. Crucial to the story, it will be interesting to see how his involvement plays out next week since he sucked up the power of the thermacore. I’d like to see Franz Drameh step his game up a little bit and tighten up those acting chops to have his character keep up with Stein.
We’ll see what happens next week when we enter the gulag!
Written by Mark Storey, LoT Beat Writer -- Click here to read Mark's posts.
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LEGENDS OF TOMORROW Season 1 Episode 3: A Savage Ceremony and a Team DividedLEGENDS OF TOMORROW Season 1 Episode 2: Good Action, Story Progression and Individual Moments