A trip to the circus is usually a fun experience, and for most of this week’s Legends of Tomorrow, it is. Not only do we get to see sabretooth tigers, bearded ladies and Billy Zane (Oh My!) but we also don’t get many sights unseen. Instead we get the usual mix of good and bad that we usually do with these Legends. So let’s start the review with a team member that we didn’t get to see much of during the premiere: Amaya
Return of the Vixen
We start “Freakshow” six months in the past with Amaya and Nate celebrating Nate’s birthday together and all is love and rainbows. But then Amaya spots her granddaughter on the TV and before Nate can come back with the donuts , Amaya is gone for good.
Well until now, when after some colossal blundering by Nate, Ray and Jax as they free a sabretooth tiger from PT Barnum’s circus, Amaya is back. Sara takes a trip to 1942 to pick her up and after a good chat, Vixen is back. The whole team is happy to see her again except for one exception: Nate. As soon as Nate sees her, his first instinct is to drink away the pain of seeing her again. This leads to some stupid decisions I will mention in a moment.
One thing I thought Legends did well this episode was the two Nate and Amaya chats. The first one doesn’t last very long but it shows how much space is between the two. The hurt of a bitter break-up is tough when you see the ex for the first time. Nate is a mess this whole episode because of it. Hell, Nate gets his friends captured because his big mouth is so hurt he blurts out that he has powers and so do his friends. To add insult to injury, he’s still too drunk to use his powers for the rest of the episode till it comes time to help Amaya.
Seriously, who have thought Billy Zane would be playing a villain??!!!
The second talk goes much better as they are more open with each other and their feelings. Except Amaya is hiding something and it ends up being something scary. Amaya’s powers have gotten stronger and more violent. If not for Nate, she would have killed PT.
Amaya knows her powers are out of control and it will take not only the whole team but her powerful bond with Nate to make sure she can survive what is going to be happening to her in the future. The phrase “Can love conquer all?” might be tested out before the end of the season.
The Gary of it all
So our other story in this episode is the Legends do what the Legends seem to do best and mess up every before ultimately fixing it. Someone told me the other day that she didn’t like how much of losers the Legends were being portrayed as. Now, while I don’t think its that bad yet, the trope of them always messing up before fixing it is starting to show cracks. Its the Legends staple but you still have to walk that fine line or you will fall off the other side before you know it.
So the Time Bureau is spying on our team and Sara catches the master spy Gary and takes him to the Waverider. This leads us to once again seeing Agent Sharpe and we get a nice little fight between the Sara and Sharpe. Now, the show might as well be throwing a big neon light over these two that says ” THIS IS OUR NEW SHIP” as you can tell that’s what they are going for with the chemistry between the two. Even the end of the fight is cute between them, with a draw declared and water being drunk.
So the Time Bureau isn’t going anywhere and the team is ready for it’s next adventure. Hopefully with the introduction of Zari in next week’s episode, Legends will continue to walk that line. Hopefully the side it falls on will be the comfortable side with pillows and excellent storytelling. Otherwise, the plummet to bad decisions and even stupider plots is a long fall with a hard landing. And there will be no safety net like the circus has to protect this show.
Extra Thoughts:
- The episode ends with Kuasa being resurrected. If you are wondering who that is, check out the Vixen animated series ASAP.
- So much joy in seeing Victor Garber as a clown.
- Poor Gary.
- Even Gideon doesn’t like Sharpe.
- ” Looks like we gave time acne” Pretty good line from Mick there.
- So many Titanic jokes. So many Titanic jokes.
- Ray and Jax make a terrible team. They grew a sabretooth tiger bigger , let themselves get captured easily and couldn’t even do a conjoined twins routine right!
Legends of Tomorrow airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on the CW.
