Legends of Tomorrow

The episode opens with Rip viewing old holograms of his family that they sent him while he was away on assignment, apparently having borrowed the machine and the whole idea from Tom Cruise’s character in ‘Minority Report.’ He is interrupted by Professor Stein, who informs Rip that the team has been waiting for about a week to figure out what they are going to do next, which surprises Rip (apparently the “Time Master” does not have a very good concept of time). Rip explains that in order to surprise Vandal Savage, the team needs to go further back in time before Savage was aware of their actions, but in order to find Savage in the past Gideon needs an upgrade, which Rip cannot get at the moment since he is on the run from the Time Masters.

The rest of the team is antsy, with Mick in particular hating being trapped on the Waverider, wanting to find something to burn. Fortunately, the team receives a deep-space distress signal from another Time Master, and though everyone (rightfully so) suspects it is a trap, Rip risks their entire expedition to go find the Captain in question. He leaves Ray behind in charge of the ship, along with Snart, Sara, and Kendra, while Rip takes Stein, Jax, and Heatwave along on the expedition to rescue the off-line time ship. Rip and his team arrive on the ship to find it looking almost empty, leaving Stein behind in the scout ship as a precautionary measure, even though lot space piratesthe man had commented earlier how he always wanted to be a space ranger when he was a kid.

Of course Rip, Heatwave and Jax are captured, but it is not the Time Masters lying in wait. No, it is Time Pirates, the whole idea of which gives me a headache (I sincerely hope this is something from the comics which usually provide some explanation and backstory, because based on what I saw in this week’s episode, Time Pirates make no sense whatsoever.) Anyways, Rip, Heatwave, and Jax are taken down and tossed in the brig, where the meet the actual Time Master of the ship, Captain Baxter, who is aware of Rip’s predicament with their organization and promises to turn him in regardless of his circumstances should they escape.

lot snart and sara freeze gunThe pirates grab Rip and open a channel to the Waverider, interrupting a conversation on the bridge of the legends’ ship where Kendra and Ray are discussing whether he is more Captain Picard or Captain Kirk. The pirates attempt to get Ray to give up the ship to them, but Rip speaks a coded message that Gideon understands, as she takes control of the Waverider and opens fire on the other ship. Stein is alerted to the danger his allies are in by the friendly fire, and sets off to sabotage the weapons on the pirate’s new ship, and just in time as the pirates are preparing to attack the Waverider. They get off some good shots, but soon enough Stein manages to disable the weapons array, (after taking out a guard all on his own and stealing his uniform, including a nifty hat) leaving the Waverider safe for the moment, aside from a new breach in the hull. Sara and Snart go to fix the breach, but somehow the cold gun does not have enough juice to ice over the relatively small hole (*cough*plot-convenience*cough) and the blast doors close behind Sara and Snart, trapping them in room with the breach, which is slowly re-opening around the ice. Snart appreciates the irony of dying in the frozen coldness of space, even while sharing a story about the origins of his friendship with Mick (they met in juvie when Mick saved Snart from a beating) and how he knows their friendship needs to be repaired. He asks Sara what dying is like and she relives her experiences with him, sharing that it is like being a million miles away from everyone you loved.

lot kendra and ray outside sealed hatchRay and Kendra rush to try to get their friends out, but the doors will not open while the hull is still breached.  Luckily, Ray just happened to design the ATOM suit to be able to keep him alive in the vacuum of space, and he heads out to seal the breach from the outside. (Is there anything the ATOM suit cannot do?) Unfortunately, the suit was not designed with a lot of oxygen (where exactly those oxygen tanks are is anyone’s guess), and it seems to take Ray a really LONG time to seal the breach, long enough that his oxygen runs out and he has to focus on Kendra’s voice asking him inane questions like “what’s your favorite color?” in order to stay awake and alive. Just as he is about to pass out, he finishes the seal, and somehow manages to fly back into the hold of the Waverider, where Kendra finds his unconscious body. After resuscitating Ray, the gang re-unites, ready to face whatever the pirates throw at them next.

Heatwave however, gets into it with Rip while trapped in the brig, and Rip reveals he only brought Mick along because he was part of the package deal of getting Snart, adding to that by insulting Mick’s intelligence. Heatwave, already fed up with the team, makes a deal with the pirates, agreeing to get them onboard the Waverider as long as they take him back to 2016. With the deal struck, Rip is left alone in the brig with Jax and Captain Baxter, using the time to explain his defection from the Time Masters to her, doing everything with the Legends for the love of his wife and son. And while Baxter sympathizes with him, she still promises to turn him in, knowing she has a duty to their organization. Soon enough, Stein shows up to set the them free, having proven himself a fairly bad-ass space ranger over the course of this adventure, and Rip heads to the bridge to face the villain, head honcho of the time pirates, Valler.

lot welcome wagon for heatwaveHeatwave meanwhile uses his friendship with the team to gain access to the Waverider, where Ray and company greet him with open arms until they see the marauding pirates he has brought with him. A battle ensues, with the team working together to take down the pirates and Heatwave, with Snart saving Sara from being incinerated by using his cold gun against his old friend. With Heatwave down and the pirates defeated, the Waverider is safe once more.

On the other ship, Rip faces down Valler on the bridge while Jax and Stein take on the rest of the pirates, who outnumber them considerably. Luckily. they have access to the ship’s computer, who opens a hatch on the ship, sucking all the pirates (and almost Jax and Stein) into space, then closing before our heroes were lost. Rip defeats Valler and hands the ship back over to Captain Baxter, who lets him go and even gives him the upgrade to Gideon he needs to find Savage, though it is clear she is only helping him because he helped her, and will not be as generous when next they cross paths.

Tonight’s flashbacks dealt with the origins of Rip’s family and his time with the Time Masters, showing how his wife Miranda trained with Rip to become a Time Master, and was quite good in the role. Unfortunately, she and Rip fell in love and were caught making out by one of the Time Masters, who was forced to report the incident. (its almost like they wanted to get caught. They knew it was forbidden, yet they made out in plain site in the middle of a hallway. Ah well, another example of LotL [Legends of Tomorrow Logic]).    In order to protect Rip, who she feels will be an amazing Time Master (even though she just showed how much better at the job she was), Miranda gives up life as a Time Master so she can marry Rip… who chooses to stay with the organization who forbids love, yet somehow allows him to have a wife without throwing him out? (LotL).

In the episode aftermath, Kendra and Ray have a moment, having bonded over his near-death experience, and they kiss, much to the chagrin of Jax (when he finds out ), and the disembodied spirit of Carter Hall floating somewhere out there in the nether world. The team discusses what to do about Heatwave, with Snart saying he will have to deal with the man, as putting him back in 2016 would endanger the lives of Snart’s family and the families of everyone else on the team. Stein is wary of how Snart will “deal” with Heatwave, but it is clear the decision is Snart’s. Rip reveals their next travel will take them to 1958, and the Waverider takes off to find Savage. In the last scene of the episode, Heatwave awakens alone in a forest with Snart, knowing his partner has been given the task to eliminate him (or so it seems). Heatwave claims Snart does not have the guts, that he’s still the scared kid from juvie, but we all know Snart is colder than that (sorry, could not help myself). He fires on Mick, which we are supposed to believe is the killing shot, but the way it cuts out suddenly makes it clear things are not all they seem, and we will find out what is actually going on when the next episode airs.

THEORIES FOR TOMORROW:

– The Cold Gun can run out of juice? And could not seal a hole that small? Will we eventually learn how exactly it can be recharged?

– How did the Time Pirates get to Baxter’s ship? Do they have their own ship? How do the Time Masters safeguard the timeline from these pirates?

– I personally think that Snart is shooting at some unknown enemy, and not to kill Mick. Next episode will definitely see the redemption of Mick, and how Heatwave will become a heroic Legend.

Not as good an episode as the previous week (where the show was bolstered by Stephen Amell), but still not bad for ‘Legends’ either. Looking forward to see how they wrap up the Heatwave arc, and what surprises await the team in 1958, or if it will be more ho-hum as happened in both the 1970’s and 1980’s. See you back here next week!