There’s no doubt that Legends of Tomorrow every week is a wild time-traveling ride. Through three seasons we have witnessed multiple instances of things that if they happened on any other show, all we would say is “WTF?”
So when “guest starring” has the following : Barack Obama being attacked by a giant gorilla, a giant dragon-like monster and John Noble playing himself – All we can say is “Typical Legends of Tomorrow“ What keeps Legends as the best of the core 4 DC/CW shows though is that through all the silliness and goofiness is that below all that is a show filled with tons of heart. That heart shines through in the form of love in many different ways : Love between two old souls (Sara/Ava) , love that spans destiny and time (Nate/Amaya) and the love a father has for her daughter (Damien/Nora). That emotion is showcased prominently in “Guest Starring” as we chuckled at the silliness while holding back the feels.
Now let’s get to it by addressing the elephant in the room…..excuse me I mean the giant gorilla in the room….
THANKS OBAMA
So….Gorilla Grodd, a telepathic giant gorilla is sent to kill Barack Obama when he was in college so he can free Mallus, a demon that wants to rule the universe. Now re-read that sentence again and tell me how that isn’t peak Legends right there. The team splits up : Nate and Wally go to stop Amaya from preventing her village in 1992 Zambesi while the rest of the Legends join up with Rip Hunter to go save “Barry” Obama. Now they save him pretty easily (Ray shrinks him down – that becomes important for later) but there’s a couple things I wanted to mention about this.
- Barack Obama is never watching this episode of Legends is he? Or a episode of Legends ever, right? I mean – The Flash possibly, Arrow not likely, Black Lightning definitely but Legends probably not.
- “Make America Grodd Again”. So tired of this catchphrase, any version of it.
- Who is casting these historical figures? First Elvis that looked nothing like him and now a Barack Obama that looks in his 40’s in college. So so odd.
- Obama gets the mind-wipe treatment after the grodd incident not once but twice as Sara goes to him for advice on how to deal with what happens when a certain evil daddy shows up.
A FATHER’S LOVE
Imagine if your daughter is becoming more and more darker and she’s getting in really rough shape. A father would do anything to help his daughter including asking the people you loathe the most in the world for help. This is the Damien Darhk that arrives and practically begs Sara and the Legends for help. A discussion among the team and Ava and Rip leads to Sara consulting old Barry about advice on what to do. In typical Obama fashion, he’s able to inspire Sara to agree with the plan with one condition: She gets to kill Damien when this is all over. Not going to lie, I’ve heard worse deals before. So has Damien so they shake hands to agree.
Sara shaking hands with the man who murdered her sister has to be tearing her up inside but leaders overcome that. Sara Lance is the Captain of the Waverider because she overcomes everything that life has thrown her way. So when people don’t mention her among the best characters in the Arrowverse, that really pisses me off. Sara Lance is one of the best and this is just another moment that proves that.
So there first big plan comes to light when they catch Mick watching “Lord of the Rings“ and notice John Noble sounds a lot like that Mallus creature. Funny coincidence isn’t it??? So they decide to have John record some lines to Nora to trick her. The funny thing is : IT WORKS. Noble reads the lines so Ray can record them in his funny cameo. Ray shrinks into Nora’s ear to play said lines and it ends up with Nora captured in the Waverider.
There’s no way the Legends can screw this up, right?……..Right?
“SCREW HISTORY”
These words are spoken by Nate as he helps Amaya change history back in 1992. Him and wally arrive just in time for the ceremony where old Amaya is about to give her totem to Esi, her daughter. Esi no-shows however and this makes young Amaya happy. (also not my favorite thing using “Old” Amaya and “Young” Amaya so I don’t confuse anyone but timey wimey everybody).
As Nate goes to get the totem from old Amaya, Wally tries to talk him out of it. Nate’s only response is…
”I can’t not help her, Wally.”
Nate knows the risks. He knows that do this could change everything. It could free Mallus but he doesn’t care. He loves Amaya so much that he would risk losing her to history just to make her happy. That sounds like love.
So he sneaks into old Amaya’s tent to steal the totem but gets caught by her. Excpet she doesn’t remember him or the Legends till she sees proof of it on Nate’s phone. Which doesn’t phase her at all shockingly. I mean, it’s the early-90’s. Cellphones were the size of bricks back then so her seeing a tiny one should cause pause but she doesn’t even….
Sorry back to the episode everybody.
Esi is convinced by young Amaya to take the totem so that means that history is changed! But that’s also a very bad thing as that frees Mallus as well. Remember when I said the Legends couldn’t possibly screw this up? Wellllll they do. Sara comes up with a dangerous plan of letting Mallus arrive by saving the village and using the totems to defeat Mallus. Okay this is insane but not the worst idea ever. UNTIL SHE GIVES ONE OF THE TOTEMS TO DARHK. The Death Totem. Oh boy. Rip agrees with the plan but Ava doesn’t and heads for the exit. Sara tries to stop her and we get our Ava Lance heart to heart of the week.
Ava is hurting at this point because earlier she was told by Rip that she’s not even the first version of Ava Sharpe to be a part of the Time Bureau. She’s version 12. Finding out that you aren’t unique is quite the stinger and handing Darhk the death totem is the final straw for her. Sara goes to stop her from leaving and Ava admits that without rules she has nothing. Now that’s BS as Sara tells her she has her and her love as she kisses her. Normally this would be the big romantic moment but this isn’t your normal tv show. Instead, Ava’s depression about being a clone is still overwhelming her and she leaves back to the Bureau. Ava Lance: Fills your heart with love one minute and breaks it the next.
So the Legends and Rip head to 1992 now to help save the village. Also the rest of the totems are given out so here’s your official totem scorecard :
- Anansi Totem : Amaya
- Fire Totem: Mick
- Wind Totem : Zari
- Earth Totem : Nate
- Water Totem: Ray
- Death Totem: Damien
That last one is the big one as when it comes to getting ready to let Mallus out of his cage, Damien has some second thoughts. He’s not ready for his baby girl to die so he frees Grodd from his bottle and sets him out on the village. Curse you Damien for your inevitable betrayal!! However, Grodd is defeated by Nate wielding the Earth Totem and Mallus is set free.
The thing is Damien didn’t want to do this betrayal but what father wouldn’t try to save their daughter? And much like many things on Legends, it’s all for naught as Mallus is freed and takes over Nora’s body completely. By completely, I mean transforms it into some weird demon/monster/dragon hybrid thing. If you ever wonder why they have bubble episodes or Nate doesn’t turn to steel hardly anymore, this is why. Spending all your CGI money on cool effects like this one.
Damien is paid back for this by Sara stabbing him in the back. So not only did the Legends plan not work but their back-up plan did..meaning they now have to fight Mallus while not being able to work all of totems together. (Ray tries bless his heart but fails miserably).
Next week is the big season 3 finale and now with word season 4 is confirmed, we all know the Legends will survive this. The world will survive but at what cost? Remember John Constantine is joining up with the team and my gut feeling is Ava Sharpe will be too. With added on members, will some be sacrificed to stop Mallus? So many questions left unanswered with so little time left to go. My prediction is the day gets saved after a few screw-ups and a heart-felt moment or two. Much like “Guest Starring John Noble” , classic Legends of Tomorrow.
QUICK THOUGHTS:
- Damien Darhk: concerned father and master of the one-liner is my favorite Damien Darhk.
- The scene with Nate in old Amaya’s hut is probably one of the most romantic moments that couple has had even if she couldn’t remember him.
- Wally, we don’t mention “Flashpoint” around here. It’s the Arrowverse’s version of Voldemort.
Legends of Tomorrow‘s season 3 finale airs on the CW at 8 pm Monday Night April 9th.
