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Legends of Tomorrow: Star City 2046

“This future is not set.”

Although tonally inconsistent and occasionally nonsensical, “Star City 2046” had many good points, not least of which was—surprise, surprise—some character development for Mick Rory.

I wondered how LoT would handle the Arrowverse mythology with such a big leap into the future, and I got my answer tonight: oddly. According to Rip, the future is in flux. Not all futures, maybe, since he has to work so hard to change the future in which his wife and son die. And not all the time, since Rip tells Sara at one point that she can’t change this future (while in it), she can only do so from the past. (Even though Rip is also always saying they should be careful about how they change the past.) But it is all fluxy. Okay, maybe that makes sense. Sure.

All those time-travel rules were reiterated more than once (to say the least), just in case we were worried that Oliver Queen might wind up alone, armless, and a complete failure at his mission of saving his city. I enjoyed that plot, mostly because Stephen Amell looks sort of like Clancy Brown when he’s in oldface and sporting a real beard.

The emphasis on next-generation rivalries, especially between Diggle’s son Connor Hawke (who must be a canonical character with a name like that) and Slade Wilson’s son Grant, was pretty cool. I did wonder why it took everyone So. Very. Long. to realize that it was unlikely that Oliver would still be actively Arrowing 30 years from now. But that’s okay. They’re trying to be legends, not geniuses.

Sara’s plot was…well, to be honest, I don’t love the fact that Rip and Sara seem to have a lot of conversations about her feelings and Rip’s fear that her feelings will get in the way. I think that might be all I have to say about that.

Moving on: Mick Rory is developing as a character! After going full Hrothgar with a chalice, fur coat (complete with at least one tail), and a bunch of leather-clad thanes, Rory decided he wanted to live in the semi-post-apocalyptic future, also known as “Christmas every day.” Snart had to talk him down, then knock him down, in order to get him back on mission.

I loved the bromance tension there. I tend to think of Rory and Snart as a couple, and I had been wondering if the show was pushing them in that direction. (I couldn’t remember if their orientations had ever been clarified.) But, bromance or romance aside, they are growing apart as Snart discovers his heroic impulses and Rory discovers the power that comes from time-hopping. It’s the most interesting character struggle we’ve had on this show so far, and the charisma between these two actors is making it a fun struggle to watch.

Speaking of bromances: Ray Palmer violated the bro-code, didn’t he? Him hitting on Kendra when he knew Jax was interested was—I believe this is the correct term—a dick move. Watching Victor Garber give Jax advice was fun, though, especially since I still think of him as Spy Daddy. As mildly interesting as that plot was, though, it was odd to see it mixed in with the dour Star City stuff. The Kendra/Ray/Jax triangle could have happened in any week. Why this one?

Everybody Remember Where We Parked:

• Oldiver: “I’m literally half the man I used to be.” Oliver, you suck at math. It’s only half an arm!

• Kendra was a real-life Rosie the Riveter, which is pretty darn cool.

• Sara seemed really sad that a bunch of people were dead in the future. I love my parents, but if I found out they had passed away 30 years from now, I would not be particularly surprised.

• About halfway through the episode there was a hilarious shot of Snart half-asleep at the bar. That’s exactly how I feel at most parties. If only I were as pretty as Wentworth Miller…

• Snart and Sara both seem to be struggling with their costumes. Snart didn’t wear his parka at all this week, did he? And when was the last time we saw him coldify something?

I’m going to give this episode a three out of four cyborg arms. I think the show can eventually do a lot better, but I’m willing to sit through a few more hours of growing pains to see if it finds its footing.

Josie Kafka is a full-time cat servant and part-time rogue demon hunter. (What's a rogue demon?)

6 comments:

  1. I too think of Snart and Rory as a couple. I think I read that Wentworth Miller sees Snart as pansexual or at least as having fluid sexuality, so he hasn't ruled that out. He and Rory have great chemistry and Heatwave is becoming a favorite character of mine.

    Sara shouldn't have been too shocked that Daddy Lance was dead, but Laurel isn't that much older than Sara, so I can understand why that hurt. Everyone seems to have forgotten about Mama Lance, however. Sara certainly didn't really ask about her.

    I was surprised at how spry Oliver was. I mean, for deciding he was giving up Arrowing, he still apparently worked out. I kept expecting his fight scene to turn comedic and have him say "OWW! My knees!" when he jumped around.

    I'm enjoying the show for the fluff that it is.

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  2. LOL, Josie. Great review. :)

    I can't see Snart and Rory as a bromance so much because I'm still sort of seeing them as brothers. But I really liked that Snart is emotionally pulling away from his criminal partnership with Rory because he's starting to care about the mission. I think he is also starting to care about Sara. It's pretty clear to me by this time that Wentworth is a big reason why I'm watching. He was the reason I hung in for the entire run of Prison Break, too. Will Snart and Rory come to blows and break up, or will Rory start to care about the mission, too?

    The Ray/Jax/Kendra possible love triangle didn't do much for me, except that as always, I enjoy anything they do with Spydad.

    Stephen Amell rocked that old guy make-up, didn't he? "Oww! My knees!" LOL, Percysowner. :)

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  3. Connor Hawke is a comic book character, and he's the son of Oliver there.
    He's a hero too. Grant Wilson is Slade's canonical son, he also has a brother called Joshua, who's a good guy and a sister called Rose who's flipflopping between good and evil.
    I love the Snart/Rory bromance..they read as a couple on the verge of a breakup to me..Rory appears to care for Ray after last week's prison break..
    Ray/Jax/Kendra don't work for me..
    I like Snart trying to be heroic and Sara doing the right thing by saving Connor.

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  4. percysowner, I was thinking the same thing about spry Oliver. The whole thing reminded me of Batman Beyond in which Bruce Wayne was similarly grumpy.

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  5. You were right: this episode was fairly inconsistent. I feel like I can see what the writers were trying to do, but I'm not sure if they necessarily got there. So many points that Rip made could be very easily countered by the fact that they are actively trying to change the future, and whether Rip wants to admit it or not, it's very, very clear that is family is his main motivation behind this act. So I'm being a little annoyed at his hypocriticalness, even if I am enjoy Arthur Darvil in the role.

    I did enjoy all of the comic books nods though with Connor Hawke, Grant Wilson, and Oliver only having one arm in a fairly dystopian modern setting. There were so many mentions of Felicity Smoak, though, that I was hoping that she would make an appearance. :/

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  6. This would have been so nice as a two parter. I would've looooved if they had leaned in to the Mick Rory as gang leader thing for a bit. That's often a thing with time travel shows: they constantly establish different times and locales and have to leave quickly, but sometimes you happen unto a locale that's so cool you want to stay! Captain Cold and Heatwave in an apocalyptic setting is just sooo cool. Can we just have a show of them in this setting?

    Why is Oliver hanging around in his old haunt? Doesn't seem like a great place to live. Was he sleeping between the rubble inbetween foraging runs? For someone who was seemingly neglecting himself he sure still was fit.

    Surprised that Diggle Jr. didn't perk up at hearing Sara's name, given the name of his sister.

    Oliver seemingly. Blamed the end of Star City on Ray and Sara leaving despite the both of them not having that big of a role when they left. I agree that the time travel was weird! But so worth it. Rory in furs!

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