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Friday, May 29
DC’S Legends Of Tomorrow S01E16 ‘Legendary’ Review
Legends of Tomorrow S01E16 “Legendary” REVIEW
Airing in the UK on: Sky1, Thursdays, 8pm
Writer: Story by Greg Berlanti & Chris Fedak, Teleplay by Phil Klemmer & Marc Guggenheim
Director: Dermott Downs
Essential Plot Points:
- Rip insists on returning the Legends to 2016, feeling that there is nothing else that they can accomplish on their mission. The team doesn’t want to let him leave them behind, but he tricks them into staying. Sara is reunited with her father and is devastated to learn of Laurel’s death. Mick tries to return to a life of crime but is unhappy with his options for partners. Ray pulls him aside for a heart-to-heart and offer his condolences for Snart’s death. Ray feels that he was the one that was supposed to die. He proposes that Ray and Mick can partner up and finish what they started.
- Stein and Jefferson also realize that they need to get in contact with Rip. Sara joins them at the spot of Rip’s departure and together, the Legends are able to send a transmission to Rip. Rip returns and the team is insistent that he is not leaving without them again. They’re a team.
- Meanwhile, in 1944 France, Kendra is able to get away from Savage long enough to send the team a message via a soldier’s helmet that she recognized from Rip’s ship. Sara demands that Rip take her back so she can save Laurel but he disarms her and knocks her out with a sleep gun. The helmet moves locations on board the ship due to a temporal displacement caused by Kendra’s message and Rip realizes what has to be done. He has Gideon set course for Kendra, Carter, and Savage’s place in time.
- In the past, Savage extracts blood from Carter and Kendra, revealing that the Thanagarians had sent three meteors to ancient Egypt that became the source of each of their powers. He intends on using the blood to active the alien technology of the meteors so that he may erase time all the way back to 1700 BC where he can rule.
- On the Waverrider, Sara wants to save her sister’s life. Rip explains that there is no way to save Laurel and that interfering would only result in her father also dying.
- The team reach 1944 France and end up in a fight, after which they are only able to rescue Carter. Carter informs the Legends of what Savage is planning, and Stein is able to deduce that he will conduct the same ritual across three time periods that will create a temporal paradox to destroy everything after ancient Egypt. He then deduces that the three time periods are 1958, 1975, and 2021.
- Mick and Ray travel to 1958, Sara and Firestorm to 1975, and Rip and Carter go to 2021. They must all kill the respective Savages of those time periods simultaneously as the ritual begins. Kendra is able to break free during 2021 and aid in the fight. All three groups are able to kill Savage and as he is now mortal due to the ritual, this time his deaths are permanent.
- Ray uses his suit and Firestorm their powers to destroy the first two meteors, and Rip uses the Waverider to send the last meteor into the sun so it doesn’t explode and destroy the Earth. The ship is badly damaged and Rip, feeling he has nothing left, decides to go down with it. Gideon has other ideas and informs her Captain she isn’t ready to die. They eject the meteor and prepare to make one last jump back to the Legends.
- The crisis over, the team take stock. Rip declares he will now work to defend the timeline and that everyone on the team is welcome to join him. Eventually, everyone decides to join Rip except for Kendra and Carter who decide to stay behind in order to protect 2016.
- The team minus Kendra and Carter are preparing to leave 2016 when they hear an explosion. They turn and watch in horror as a second Waverrider, badly damaged, crash lands. A young man in a cape strides out and tells them they are exactly where they said they would be. His name is Rex Tyler, he is a member of the Justice Society of America and he’s been sent to save their lives. By their future selves..
Review:
Finales, good and bad, are a culmination of everything that’s led up to them. In Legends’ case the good has been the tension that’s built across the show and the bad how how off-putting and one-dimensional of a villain Vandal Savage has been. Both made it quite the relief to finally see the Legends defeat him and show just how much of a team they have become.
The chemistry among the team members and formation of new partnerships shows that even more, and the script cleverly lays the groundwork for things to come in future seasons. These are not the same people who reluctantly stepped aboard the Waverrider at the start of the season and it’ll be interesting to see how they change next year. The final cliffhanger in particular proved intriguing and we’re looking forward to seeing how the show does when it returns. Bring it on, JSA!
The Good:
- There were a number of action sequences between the various Vandal Savages and the Legends that gave the stunt coordinators the chance to show off. They did a great job choreographing sequences that fit cohesively with one another while also maintaining styles unique to each character. Caity Lotz was particularly impressive, and her background in dance, Wushu, Taekwondo and Muay Thai continually marks her out as one of the best action performers working today.
- There were many partnerships on display, with each offering up a different dynamic for viewers to enjoy. The recent shift in relationship between Ray and Mick is the one that will be most intriguing to see play out when the show resumes, given how different the characters are in background and personality. An honourable mention must also be given to Jefferson and Stein (“Firestorm”). The moment near the end of the episode where you find out Jefferson was conspiring with Stein’s wife to get the scientist out on more adventures was particularly entertaining.
- Arguably, the most talked about development following the episode’s conclusion was the appearance of Rex Tyler from the “Justice Society of America”. It was only a matter of time before more characters from the comics would be introduced so only time will tell what specific source material the writers will draw inspiration from.
The Bad:
- Due to the nature of the network and the shorter length of episodes, the pacing is a bit strange. The Legends being left behind by Rip is a fair enough plot point to introduce conflict but because of the time constraints, it feels as if they were barely away from their adventures before Rip had circled back around to bring them back.
And The Random:
- It may be a bit self indulgent but that shot of Rip standing on the Waverider right after it seemed as if he’d fallen to his death was COOL.
- Sara’s “Ah man, you got my boots wet,” after Firestorm melted the the second meteor was a nice comedic touch to demonstrate the banter and chemistry of the team.
- Rex Tyler made his first appearance in Adventure Comics 48 in 1940. He draws his powers from the Miraclo pill, a chemical that gives him superhuman speed and strength for 60 minutes. He’s an interesting character and if they play up the addictive nature of Miraclo in particular then there’s lots of opportunity for some intense drama with him.
- Rex is played by Patrick J Adams, who is best known as Mike Ross, one of the two leads in legal drama Suits.
Reviewed by Jenevia Kagawa Darcy
Stan Lee’s Lucky Man S01E09 “The House Always Wins” REVIEW
Stan Lee’s Lucky Man S01E09 “The House Always Wins”
Airing in the UK on Sky 1, Fridays, 9pm
Writer: Rachel Anthony
Director: David Caffrey
Essential Plot Points:
- Winter arrests Harry and interviews him about the severed head in his freezer.
- Harry’s statement proves he could do with a magic fibbing bracelet to go with his magic luck bracelet; he’s a terrible liar.
- Winter isn’t totally convinced that Harry is either totally guilty or totally innocent.
- Winter reveals to Suri why he thinks Harry is dangerous; he once gambled that a psychopath would be unarmed, but he was wrong and lead his team into an ambush.
- Winter assures Suri he doesn’t hold a grudge, though; that he is pragmatism in a beard. To be fair, everything he does this episode would seem to back up that claim.
- Orwell doesn’t care about facts and hides a forensics report that casts doubt on the case against Harry’s brother, Rich, and which also lends weight to the veracity of Harry’s other claims.
- Harry is incarcerated in Whitecross where he discovers that all the inmates and the prison guards are under Golding’s control. Not good news for Harry or Rich who keep getting whispered at really harshly. (Don’t worry, this will soon escalate into something properly scary.)
- Nikhail Julian invites Anna and Daisy for tea. This will become ominously relevant by the end of the episode.
- The inmates try to forcibly cut the bracelet off Harry but fail.
- Winter discovers the forensic results that Orwell hid. He is not happy with Orwell. Orwell shows signs of being a crooked cop and we all know what Inspector Pragmatism thinks of crooked cops.
- Winter also follows up Harry’s investigation into the murder of Eve’s mother. Luckily all it needs to solve it is an archives officer who enjoys a challenge.
- Winter discovers that Nikhail Julian was the suspect who was covered up. Julian paid off Frierson to wrap up the investigation then kept him on as a mole within the police and after that in the Mayor’s office.
- Winter arrests Frierson and realises… JULIAN IS GOLDING!
- Back at Whitecross, Nikhail Julian has his men use Rich as a punching bag and invites Harry along to be in the audience.
Review:
In terms of the show’s supernatural elements this week’s Lucky Man hits a new low. Harry uses his magic luck to fix a broken washing machine. Well, blimey. Match that if you can, Captain America: Civil War!
To be fair, there is also a bit where the prisoners try to cut the magic bracelet off Harry with a buzzsaw and it shatters but we’ve seen that before in the series and it’s not so much a matter of luck as self-preservation on the bracelet’s behalf. In fact, if you’d never seen the series before, you could watch this episode of Lucky Man and not realise it was fantasy show.
Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily. As a piece of action/crime telly “The House Always Wins” delivers a tense, pacy, revelation-packed episode of trusty old “wrongfully imprisoned” tropes. It has that pleasing feel of everything coming to a head that all good penultimate episodes should have. Support characters are taking their final positions for the endgame, revealing or realigning their allegiances (which in Suri’s case is a blessed relief; she’s recovered from last week’s bout of chronic stupidity and is firmly back on Team Harry).
It’s not a massive surprise that Nikhail is Golding (assuming he is Golding and there’s not another twist next week when Daisy is unearthed as the criminal mastermind). Dramatically he – and his prison – didn’t seem to have a reason for being in the show so prominently otherwise. On the other hand, it was great seeing Winter claw his way towards proving our suspicions. The final sequence of the episode – an edgy series of alternating cuts with overlapping dialogue between the Winter/Frierson showdown and Harry watching his brother being brutally beaten – is one of the show’s best-directed moments so far as the horror builds and the realisation dawns. By the time Nikhail’s smug face appears in the cell door window you can happily punch it through your TV screen.
But it still seems odd when the best moments in a fantasy series aren’t the fantasy moments. Ah well, that’s Lucky Man. We should know by now.
Most of the prison sequences are compelling, even if most of the inmates and guards have clearly been hired from Clichés’R’Us. Meanwhile, on the outside, the wet but dogged Winter continues his rehabilitation into the ranks of herodom. It’s actually quite fun to try to work out if he’s secretly cursing every time he finds more evidence that makes Harry look less guilty but he’s a man of honour and the truth is more important to him than any grudge. His measured, restrained approach, however, does mean that his confrontation Frierson is a tad lacklustre; imagine Gene Hunt nicking the crooked deputy mayor instead.
So next week – the finale. “The House Always Wins” certainly leaves you wanting more. But what we really want more of is some fantasy. If we’re lucky, there’ll be loads of jawdroppingly unbelievable examples of luck in episode 10. (Fingers crossed.)
The Good:
- Pacy, paranoid prison drama.
- Suri getting her brain back
- Winter barely getting a word in edgeways when Anna gives him a tongue-lashing.
- Winter slowly but methodically getting to the truth.
- Winter shouting out Orwell.
- This expression. (We were going to call it “shot of the week”.)
- In fact, the whole Lily-Anne/Karim scene was great from, “You getting the carpet cleaned?”
- Nesbitt is still on fine form. We love the fact that in a TV drama landscape where 95% of all protagonists must be masters of witty repartee, Harry comes up with crass comebacks like, “I remember smacking you in the face. You went down like a sack of shite.” And Nesbitt sells the line completely.
The Bad:
- When the archives officer says that it took him a couple of days to get the information Winter needs, you suddenly realise you have no idea of the time scale over which the events of this episode have taken place. There’s something about the way the episode’s either written or edited that makes the passage of time really unclear. Harry could have been in Whitecross anywhere from a two days to a week.
- Winter just suddenly appears with the forensics report that Orwell had hidden. We’re not complaining that it’s a plot hole (there are any number of ways he could have found the report) but that the report’s discovery was handled in the least exciting way imaginable.
- We get a couple of Anna scenes – one in the car where she asks her mum to babysit Daisy, another where she discusses Nikhail with Daisy – which seem oddly prosaic and eminently cuttable. Even her conversations with Nikhail seem to go on twice as long as they need to while her prison meeting Harry is surprisingly non-eventful considering how much effort she went to to get to see him.
- Harry might not want to use his luck bracelet to escape prison while Rich is in there but that’s no reason to forget he’s wearing the bloody thing altogether! There are loads of occasions in the episode when it would have come in useful.
- Nikhail as Golding? Well, it was becoming obvious, wasn’t it?
And The Random:
- The guy who plays the archives officer is Tom Mannion, who’s been guest starring in Brit dramas for decades now but who, more interestingly, was Star Destroyer Captain #2 in Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi.
- The Whitecross Prison exterior is actually the former HM Prison in Shrewsbury, which is now called a tourist attraction called Dana Prison (after the medieval Dana Gaol which was situated nearby) which offers tours and “prison break weekends”.
- Suri and Winter must be desperately hoping another suspect isn’t added to the case because that would involve finding another wipe board.
- We’re a bit confused about Yuri Becker’s body. Last time we saw the body, Eve told Harry that she would deal with it. The last we saw of Eve, she was kidnapped by Collins. Assuming that Eve isn’t secretly in league with Golding (that would be a twist too far and require a hell of a lot of retconning) it seems that Golding (or his associates) have tortured the information out of her about where she buried Becker’s body so that they could a) decapitate it and leave the head in Harry’s freezer and b) give Orwell an anonymous tip-off. But we could have got that all wrong… Eve is conspicuous by her absence this week!
- “I was disorientated when I woke up. I drove away,” says Harry during his interview with Winter. So if Winter can’t nail him on anything else he can get him for dangerous driving.
Review by Dave Golder
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