After a heavy episode of loss last week, Legends of Tomorrow returns to its usual ridiculousness, where a stuffed toy may change the course of human history.
The team is still hurting from the death of Martin Stein during their fight against the Earth-X Nazis in last week’s crossover. Jax is especially having trouble dealing with it. Earth-X Leo Snart has joined the crew, trying to help them through their pain with a fairly tasteless Martin Stein hand puppet. This isn’t the Captain Cold you used to know!
But as Sara reminds her crew, they have a job to do. And when there’s a Level 12 anachronism distorting history, there’s not a moment to waste. In this change, Leif Erikson and his Vikings choose to conquer North America rather than returning to Greenland. In the present, the entirety of the continent is New Vahalla.
What causes such a drastic change? The Vikings follow the lead of their new god….a talking toy called Cuddle Me Beebo. The Vikings believe Cuddle Me Beebo is a god…..and when they rub the toy and it says it’s hungry…..they think it hungers for battle. I just can’t with this show. It’s insane and I love it immensely. But the anachronism didn’t just transport the toy to the past, it brought its purchaser, Martin Stein from 1992! Once again, the team is running into their past selves, a trend that’s happening too often to be mere coincidence.
With the team still reeling from their Martin’s death, Sara calls in Agent Sharpe to lend a hand. They go for the stealth approach, which of course doesn’t work. But during the skirmish to recover Beebo, Mick burns the doll up, proving that it is a false god to the Vikings. Seems like time would be fixed. But then, Damien Darhk appears, calling himself Odin and sending lightning bolts all over the place. The Legends have a new problem.
Bringing Darhk (and his daughter Nora) into the episode helps elevate the threat nicely. Stealing a Beebo doll isn’t exactly enough of a challenge for an entire episode. However, the Darhks are on a whole other level. At first, Sara wants to go in by herself, to avoid risky any of her teammates. Of course, when the team runs through that scenario, it ends with Darhk quickly snapping her neck. Not the best outcome! The Legends all head in together, with Mick and Leo using their guns to knock out Nora and leading to the Darhks retreat. Sara gets transported with them for a minute, winding up in an alternate dimension where she sees Mallus before returning home. From the glimpse we see, he looks fairly Lovecraftian.
While this is all happening, Jax tries a Back to the Future technique with young Martin to find a loophole and save his life. But Martin refuses, knowing that he will live an extraordinary, full life. If you thought you got over his death last week, prepare to get sad all over again. With that, Jax realizes it’s his time to find a path forward as well. He chooses to leave the Waverider, to process Martin’s loss and find a different type of adventure for himself. Before he goes, the team has one last Christmas dinner together.
But we can’t end there! Firestorm may be gone, but there’s another hero who needs the Legends help: John Constantine! Now that’s a cliffhanger to end on!
Show Notes:
- Leo Snart has a bit of trouble fitting in at first, with his wholesome attitude clashing with the calculating image of the Captain Cold from their Earth. For example, Leo thinks Mick has a drinking problem, so he makes the Waverider a dry vessel for 48 hours. This escalates to a blow-out between the two vastly different people, each wishing for their Earth’s Leo and Mick, respectively. By the end though, Leo accepts this version of Mick, rather than trying to bring back his Earth-X partner.
- We learn from Agent Sharpe that Rip Hunter is in prison and the Time Bureau is in disarray. Their agents are no match for the Darhks and their numbers are severely depleted.
- When young Martin uses a toy bow-and-arrow set to grab the last Beebo doll in the store, the Arrow theme plays. Amazing.
- While the show keeps Jax’s potential return an open-ended question, it’s been confirmed that Franz Drameh is leaving Legends of Tomorrow. It’s a shame to see him go, especially as he’s grown to a fan favorite these last couple of years. Let’s hope he at least makes an occasional guest appearance going forward.
The Super Cinco:
- Sara Lance / White Canary – With the team still grieving over Martin’s death, it’s up to the Captain to keep her crew together. She navigates them through one of the largest anachronisms yet, even partnering with Agent Sharpe to help save the day. Plus, she knows how to throw a surprise holiday party.
- Jefferson “Jax” Jackson – Jax struggles with Martin’s death more than anyone else on the team. When young Martin shows up, he sees it as a chance to save his life. But after a talk with young Martin, Jax lets him go and leaves the Legends to find his own path.
- Leo Snart / Captain Cold –Sure, Leo Snart may be from Earth-X, but he is as well-meaning as this Earth’s Leonard was cold. He tries to help the team through their grief and get Mick to quit drinking. By the end though, he accepts Mick for who he is and partners with him to take down Nora Darhk.
- Zari Tomaz – Zari is the one who most understands what Jax is trying to do. She would try and change history to save her brother’s life, just as Jax wants to do for Martin. She convinces him to find a loophole, while also comforting him with some competitive Mortal Kombat.
- Mick Rory / Heat Wave – At the start, he’s pissed off at Earth-X’s kind Leo Snart, and it only gets worse when Leo takes away his beer. When confronting Nora Darhk though, he works with Leo to knock her out. As he said, it felt like old times.