Legends of Tomorrow: Outlaw Country

"Now, I know you don’t like taking orders from a woman but you’re gonna like getting your ass kicked by one even less."

This week the Legends travelled back to the old west. But to a completely different part of the old west from last time. You can tell because the identical towns have completely different names.

It is an unfortunate truth that shows about time travel always have their scope constrained by where they are made. The TARDIS may be able to take the Doctor and his companion anywhere in time and space, but most of the time it will be Victorian or Edwardian England because there are plenty of places in the UK that still look like Victorian or Edwardian England. This is why we have Legends of Tomorrow doing a wild west episode only two weeks after dropping in on the Civil War on what is clearly the exact same set as their previous wild west episode because there must only one wild west set in all of British Columbia. Come on, guys, I know that your budget is limited, but doesn't mean your imagination has to be.

While I'm preferring these "fix the aberrations" escapades to last season's relentless, often nonsensical, pursuit of Vandal Savage, a part of me is a little worried that Legends is starting to become a time travelling procedural. This episode followed the pattern the show has established for itself this season almost to the letter. All that was missing was a quick, moustache twirling cameo from a certain yellow suited speedster. Now, there is nothing inherently wrong with the procedural format, it is just not one I'm particularly keen on. Especially when almost every episode seems to be some variation on the same "villain from history gets future tech" story. If the show is just going to keep telling us the same story in different settings every week I am quickly going to lose interest.

Speaking of losing interest, I think I've finally figured out what it is that bothers me about Nate, besides his square-jawed blandness. With his boyish enthusiasm, excited geekery, and wide-eyed optimism, he is basically another Ray Palmer. And that is not something I think the show really needs. One Ray is enough. Two just feels like an overindulgence.

I normally enjoy it when Jeff Fahey shows up in a show I like, but he went a little too OTT here for my liking. Then again, when you are given a character as one dimensional as Turnbull, perhaps the best course of action is to ham it up all the way to eleven, otherwise you risk disappearing into the background.

I don't share the writers' affection for Jonah Hex. He is a rather cliched surly badass with an equally cliched backstory, although, to be fair, it is very difficult to find a comic book character who doesn't have a cliched backstory. The best thing about Hex's involvement in this episode was that it allowed us more opportunities to see just how amazing Sara Lance is as captain. Putting Sara in charge has to be the smartest decisions the writers ever made. If Rip ever does return from filming Broadchurch I hope he recognises that and doesn't try to fight her for leadership of the team.

Martin's repeated meddling with his past seems to have finally caught up with him. At first I thought this was how the show was going to solve the problem of Clarissa, by altering history so that she and Martin are no longer together in the present and therefore we won't judge him too harshly for essentially abandoning her. But then I saw some people speculating that this woman could be Martin and Clarissa's daughter and realised that that makes a lot more sense. If young Martin listened to his older self, stopped taking Clarissa for granted and spent more time with her, it is possible that they could've had a child. The team is on their way back to 2016. Will Martin return home to find out he's a daddy? If so, mazel tov, Marty.

Everybody remember where we parked:

--Liberty, Colorado, 1874. That's three years after 'The Magnificent Eight'.

--Where did the team get their horses? Is there a stable on the Waverider we don't know about?

--I'm relieved to see that Ray will be getting a new ATOM suit, but doesn't that make all the development he went through the last couple of weeks null and void?

--It really bothers me that no one seems to take issue with the fact Hex is a Confederate soldier who still proudly wears his uniform. You'd think Jax and Amaya would at least be a little uncomfortable with that.

--Sara says their friends in 2016 need them. I wonder what that could be for?

Quotes:

Sara: "All I know is it is never a good idea when your nemesis starts accessorising."

Martin: “The energy of the Speed Force grants the speedster chronokinesis, temporal manipulation.”
Mick: “English, professor.”
Sara: “It means that his running really fast lets him time travel.”
Mick: “I’ll be in my room.”

Hex: "You do a mighty fine job bearing a burden few men could deal with."
Sara: "Good thing I'm a woman then."

Sara: “This isn’t my first rodeo.”
Ray: “I wanted to say that.”

Two out of four manopause moments.

Mark Greig is like a rhinestone cowboy, riding out on a horse in a star-spangled rodeo. More Mark Greig.

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