Legends of Tomorrow has been a much different and better show this season thanks to Legends being able to mix seriousness with the absurdness of it all. In “Land of the Lost”, we get to see again this in full effect as in our two storylines, we get both with a mixed bag of results. So lets start off with the weaker storyline of this week’s Legends of Tomorrow. Hint : It involves Nate because of course it does.
Three’s Company
We begin as how we ended the last episode as Rip figures out that he can still command Gideon via some code words he implanted into her commands. Rip tells Gideon a self-destruct command and before Jax and Sara can get control of the ship, the Waverider is down and out in a unknown time period.
A quick check reveals they landed in the time where Ray was stuck in the season 2 premiere. May I say what a wild coincidence that is? All the places to get stuck, one very familiar to one of the team member has to be a lucky break.
So after getting their bearings, the team discovers a piece of the ship is missing. As he has experience with this land , Ray volunteers to retrieve it. Amaya goes as back-up and Nate comes because..well I guess he’s got to do something in this episode.
We get some walking scenes of the group and Ray goes to look for the piece at a old friend of his – a dinosaur named Gertrude and her nest. Sorry Ray but not only did you eat one of her eggs but you named her Gertrude? I would want to kill whoever named me that too!!
Love in the time of Dinosaurs
So as Ray is off making friends with Gertrude again, Nate and Amaya do a little flirting with a quick cameo by a giant snake. Amaya this time around is full-speed ahead with making sweet love to Nate. Nate is a little confused by this as he remembers when she said teammates shouldn’t be a couple. Amaya however has changed her mind since the jaunt into KIng Arthur’s time and her chat with Stargirl. She figures that life is short and if you find someone to be with, then be with them. Nate agrees because of course he does and is about to make with the smooching when Ray interrupts. After a bit of running away Forrest Gump would be proud of, the group hide out in Ray’s old shack.
Ray reveals the egg eating incident to Nate and Amaya and goes off to get more food. In rom-com fashion, just as Nate and Amaya are about to kiss, Ray shows up with food. Now normally bringing food is a good thing but when you are interrupting a possible make-out session, I wouldn’t be happy to see you.
Okay now here’s where I was like huh? First Ray tells Nate not to date Amaya as he dated a teammate and it didn’t end well for them. While true, never ever should Ray Palmer give dating advice to someone. That’s just a rule of life. After Amaya returns, they easily take the piece of the ship in Gert’s nest and hightail it towards the Waverider. Gertrude stops them cold though and only because of Amaya’s powers to calm her down are they able to make it back to the ship. Nate really didn’t do anything here to help. I mean, if you can turn to steel, a dinosaur shouldn’t scare you.
A Mind is a terrible thing to save
Now let’s dig into the part of the episode I really loved. Sara and Jax decide to take a suggestion from Mick and go inside Rip’s head to find out where Commander Steel of the JSA has hid the last piece of the Spear of Destiny. Read that sentence back. Still makes more sense than season 5 of Arrow doesn’t it? Nevertheless, Sara and Jax go into Rip’s mind not knowing what to expect.
They arrive at the cargo bay , dark and moody atmosphere adding to the tension. Suddenly a costumed Sara shows up, voice slightly altered as Rip’s warped mind has now made the Legends he thought of as friends into evil versions of themselves.
Sara being the boss that she is, takes down her evil self but is overwhelmed by the evil versions of Mick and Ray. They throw her in a cell where it’s revealed that the normal/good side of Rip has been trapped there. After some misunderstanding and a discovering of Rip having a power there, Captain Lance gives Captain Hunter a pep talk about how strong he can be. I know Sara gives one of these speeches every single fucking week but dammit they work every single time. They always feel right for the moment and never feel cheesy. They are the speeches leaders and heroes give. After it, Rip is able to open the door to escape where they run into Jax and Gideon?
While Sara and Rip are in the cell, Jax runs into a human version of Gideon. The biggest revelation of this episode is how much in love Rip is of his ship. He imagines Gideon as a beautiful woman, has a emotional goodbye in the final moments before the evil dreamworld collapses, kisses her! and then admits how much he enjoyed that kiss. It is confirmed : Rip Hunter wants to have sex with his ship. hahaha
Okay so after they all meet up, the four of them have a battle with the evil Legends. It is tooth and nail until Rip, with a assist from Sara, remembers his time with the Legends. He is able to realize none of what is happening to him is real and defeats the evil Legends group. However, remembering also gets rid of that world and after a close call for Sara, the three of them escape back into reality. Rip Hunter is back to being the regular normal GOOD guy we all liked in season 1. Well some people liked.
Rip and Sara work so well together but I fear a power struggle coming. The ship can only have one Captain and that should be Sara Lance. She has more than earned it and Rip should realize this. Also it would be a much better and interesting arc for Rip as a member of the crew trying to earn everyone’s trust back from the bad things he did earlier this season.
So we go to find out that Commander Steel has the final piece with him and is about to be a part of the Apollo 13 mission. However, the doctor revealed to be checking him out is none other than Thawne!! It is never going to be easy for the Legends of Tomorrow but come on? Can’t they catch a easy break for once?
Legends of Tomorrow airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on the CW.
