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Arrow: Legends of Yesterday

Thea: "I googled reincarnated nutjobs and came up with nothing."

What a terrific episode, and not just as a standalone, but as the conclusion of this crossover two parter.

I did not expect to see Vandal Savage taken down. That was surprising, especially since he is the primary villain revealed in the trailers for Legends of Tomorrow. Of course Malcolm scooping up Savage ash pretty much explained how he comes back without going into detail. Malcolm even calls him buddy, which makes all his appearances very suspect. I'm not sure why he was playing both sides, friends with Savage while helping team Arrow/Flash to defeat him, but it probably has to do with Thea.

At least we got one of the best crossovers ever, with basically the entire cast from both series interacting in one place. That's pretty amazing by itself, and a joy to watch them bounce dialogue off each other. Felicity and Cisco in particular have a way of doing geek talk that was a lot of fun. Most of the characters didn't get a ton to do, and as a true Arrow episode it focused on Oliver and Felicity, but no one felt left out.

So Barry's basically afraid of time travel. That explains why he hasn't tried it since he went back before. It makes sense, because the last time he did it he had to let his mother die. But it's such an advantage that maybe he should rethink his stance. I love stuff like this, but it was hard to watch all of our characters die horribly. Still, when shows do this kind of thing I can't help but smile, because it shows consequences and gives weight to the villain.

We even got a reset of the Oliver/Felicity break-up, but with that big secret still lingering in the background I bet it will come into play later on. Let's hope Oliver explains his reasons a little better, because it wasn't about a lack of trust in Felicity, it was about keeping his word. I just don't want it to blow up and cause Felicity's death. That would be awful.

There was yet another hint that Thea is going to be the one to die, but at this point everyone in the cast except for Oliver has been hinted at. I literally have no idea who is in that grave, so there is almost no point in speculation any more. At least Thea got her fair share of the best lines, even a totally meta one about the Avengers. Actually the writing in both parts was pretty excellent.

Flashback:

Probably the only real negative thing I can say about this episode was how those flashbacks were done. At least they weren't cringe worthy, but there is something about period settings that far back that are almost always inherently a touch silly. While it was important to understand the back-story for Kendra and Carter, and the sets and costumes were fairly well done, it didn't fully work for me.

Comic Book Bits:

Hawkgirl and Hawkman have a strange and complicated history. This version of them is in fact the original story told in the Golden age of comics. It was later revamped/rebooted making the characters into aliens from the planet Thanagar. In both versions the use of the Nth metal was critical to their powers. The major departure from that original story is the wings in this version seem to be mystical/magical and tied to the god Horus (which if true opens up a whole big can of worms for both series). In the comics the wings are actually a costume made from Nth metal. Kendra Saunders is also not the original Hawkgirl either, which is getting into some more tangential comic book plotlines.

Bits:

I love how well done the costumes are for Hawkgirl and Hawkman, especially the helmets.

Barry ghosted again, so he knew he was going to time-travel. I wonder if he will always cross himself when time traveling, or maybe the speed-force only allows for time-travel if the traveler is traveling at the same speed into opposite directions?

I'll reiterate how awesome it was that this episode included everyone, a true crossover.

Carter is a dick. I hope his character is given more time in the Legends of Tomorrow.

I agree with both Samantha and Oliver. It's probably safer for William to stay out of Oliver's dangerous orbit.

I loved how Felicity recognized Oliver's DNA sequence. That was hilarious.

It hit me right after Barry traveled back in time, but they are doing time travel stuff in an Arrow episode. So cool.

I loved the hug moment between Oliver and Barry. So cute.

Quotes: (Too many for me to catch them all, so here are my favorites)

Oliver: "Barry, you're late."
Barry: "Sorry. Turns out it's not easy finding the ass end of nowhere."
Cisco: "Yeah, for real. The roaming charges alone are going to bankrupt me."
Oliver: "We're discussing how to take away Savage's newfound power."
Felicity: "His magic stick thing."
Carter: "Staff of Horus."
Barry: "It's protected by some kind of energy field. I couldn't lay a finger on it."
Felicity: "Maybe you wear mittens next time?"

Thea: "A bunch of superheroes in a farmhouse? I feel like I've seen that in a movie before."

Thea: "The Indiana Jones reference is the only thing I understood."

4 out of 4 Reincarnated lovers.

Samantha M. Quinn spends most of her time in front of a computer typing away at one thing or another; when she has free time, she enjoys pretty much anything science fiction or fantasy-related.

3 comments:

  1. I so enjoyed this one, as well as The Flash episode that preceded it. As you said, a true crossover, and they blended so well. Felicity and Cisco are probably my favorite characters in each series (yes, I'm geeky, why do you ask?) and they were both in top form. The flashbacks to the Hollywood version of ancient Egypt were... okay, and I agree that Carter is distinctly unlovable, but I'm willing to give him a chance. I also agree that Oliver probably shouldn't get involved in William's life just because of putting the boy in danger. Maybe when Oliver and Felicity get married and out of the superhero game and they're not nearly getting killed every day?

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  2. Sky rocks!

    I loved this episode just as much as the Flash crossover. Perhaps a bit more, because I thought the flashback were impossibly cringy (sky rocks!), but in sort of a perfect way.

    As you said, it's the way these teams work together that make these episodes wonderful. It's the little moments, too (like Cisco and Oliver) that are the best part.

    Sky rocks!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi, Anonymous: Your comment was terrific, but it included spoilers for future episodes. If you'd like to repost it without the spoilers, that would be great -- thanks.

    ReplyDelete

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