Legends
of Tomorrow Season
Four, Part Two
Legends,
week in, week out,
keeps
on being the most fun of the Arrowverse series. Splitting the series
in two so sharply, with episode eight airing mid-December and episode
nine a the beginning of April, robbed the season of some momentum.
Nonetheless, things kicked off well with “Lucha De Apuestas,” an
episode that revolves around Mexican masked wrestling, one of those
strange cultural artefacts that Brits only really get to see on
telefantasy shows. The episode brings a lot more focus onto Ramona
Young as new Legends recruit Mona Wu, whose nervousness and trouble
fitting in is put into sharp relief by her new ability to turn into a
hulking were-beast.
Much
of Legends'
appeal has been in its ability to take characters who don't fit
together and turn them into workable double-acts and team-ups. Some
of these have been established characters, such as Mick Rory, who
gets to show new and ever-more sensitive aspects as he shows there's
a lot more to him than the arsonist villain he started as on The
Flash.
His grudging respect for Ray Palmer, or “Haircut” as he prefers
to call him, his more rough-edged buddying up with Charlie, and his
surprising reveal as Mona's favourite author (after Jane Austen) all
serve to make this once paper-thin character into a three-dimensional
one, and a fan favourite at that. Other characters were created just
for this series, such as Jes Macallan's wonderful Ava Sharpe, who
went from being a jobsworth obstacle as the head of the Time Bureau
to being one of the most complex and relatable characters in the
series as she tries to understand her place in the world. Unlikely
friendships, such as Ava, Mona and the formerly villainous Nora Darhk
forming their wine-fuelled book club, bring out new sides to their
characters. Legends
has
a big ensemble cast, and this can be tricky to pull off, yet the
writers manage it with style by juggling the various relationships
across the episodes.
Alongside
all this is Nate's budding relationship with Zari, helped along by
some very sweet chemistry between Nick Zano and Tala Ashe, juggled
with his difficult, but slowly thawing, relationship with his father
(just cannot get over Thomas F. Wilson being on this show). Hank's
seemingly villainous turn is revealed to be nothing of the sort,
although there are some dodgy undercurrents to his actions, and it
turns out that he's literally made a deal with the devil (or, at
least, a devil).
The reveal that he wasn't planning to use the various subdued magical
creatures as weapons, but as exhibits in a huge theme
park/circus/magical zoo as a present for Nate, is one of the harder
things to swallow in the series. Given how batty this series can be,
this is saying something. It does, however, all come together rather
beautifully at the end.
In
amongst all the love, though, is poor old Gary, played to nebbish
precision by Adam Tsekhman. Constantly overlooked, put upon and
mocked by both his bosses at the Bureau and his heroes in the
Legends, it was only a matter of time before Gary snapped.
Thankfully, he does come good in the end, but his turn to the dark
side has been, in retrospect, signposted since the beginning of the
season. It also gave us the unforgettable visual of his demonically
possessed severed nipple crawling back to him, which is a sight I had
not expected to see on any series, let alone this one.
The
decision to mix in supernatural monsters with the time travel
revitalised this show during season three, and the
monster-of-the-week format carried it forward nicely through the
first half of season four. Wisely, though, the second half of the
season phased this out in favour of more serialisation, with the
character-pieces playing out against the background of the demon
Neron's invasion of the living realm. Having Brandon Routh's
character Ray subsumed by Neron is a bold move; Ray has been the
noble heart and conscience of the group since its inception, and his
gradual temptation by Nora showed that his love for others can lead
him to make the wrong decisions. Having him allow Neron to take
possession of him in order to save his friends is absolutely in
character but almost ends up destroying the world, and gives Routh a
rare chance to play a villain, something he excels at. (I cracked out
Scott Pilgrim
after
watching the finale; he really is good at playing a charming
bastard.)
The
Neron storyline also brings Constantine's story to the fore, and
while I still live in hope that we'll have a resolution to Matt
Ryan's own series someday, this follows up on much of his backstory
and brings things forward. We finally get to see Astra, the girl he
lost to Hell in his greatest failure. Now played by Olivia Swann in
her jaded adult form, Astra seems like an clear candidate for a
recurring character in season five, albeit on an unknown agenda.
Plus, we get to see Constantine at his best, playing the forces of
Hell against each other in a take on some classic material from the
Hellblazer
comics.
The
finale brings together these many disparate elements in a
more-or-less coherent manner. It's all a bit syrupy, with a “love
conquers all” message that they just about carry off. There are
similarities between the messages of tolerance here and in Supergirl,
but the use of magical creatures is a much poorer allegory than alien
immigrants and it's lost amongst all the silliness. Still, it does
see a whole bunch of monsters teaming up with the Legends against
Neron (and Jane Carr reprising her brillaitn turn as the evil Fairy
Godmother), which can only be good fun. It's good to see that the
time travel element hasn't been pushed to the wayside, and the fact
that Zari is from the future means that the world-changing events in
the present have unforeseen effects to her timeline. Thankfully, Tala
Ashe is confirmed for season five, because if she wasn't, I'd be most
unhappy.
Best
episode of the half-season: “Terms
of Service.” Constantine faces the Triumvirate in Hell.
Best
episode title: “Seance
and Sensibility.” Jane Austen and a love god.
Most
unexpected cameo: Caspar
Crump returns as Vandal Savage, now dead and totally over himself.
Elseworlds
It
seemed sensible to look at the annual crossover event separately,
since more and more they act as a multi-episode serial instead of
individual episodes from each parent series. This year didn't feature
Legends of
Tomorrow in
the line-up, instead crossing Arrow,
The Flash and
Supergirl.
On
the whole, Elseworlds
was
a qualified success, and this lies in the fact that it's purpose was
less to provide a coherent adventure than to introduce new elements
to be followed up later. Firstly, it had to introduce Ruby Rose as
the new Batwoman and bring Gotham City into the Arrowverse. Secondly,
it had to plant the seeds for the next season's upcoming crossover
extravaganza, Crisis
on Infinite Earths.
As
a multiverse-building exercise, it works. It's a lovely touch to have
the nineties The
Flash explicitly
included in the new multiverse (as Earth-90, the 52 Earths idea
having now been completely abandoned). The Monitor is about as
outlandish and comic-booky a concept the franchise has brought to the
screen so far, even ahead of Gorilla Grodd, and we finally get the
Arrowverse version of Lois Lane. Played by Elizabeth Tulloch, Lois
was a major missing element of the Superman family of characters in
the CW multiverse.
Ruby
Rose is pretty perfect as Kate Kane. The character is, after all, one
of the LGBT icons of the DC universe, even if the comics have fluffed
it in the past, and having such a real life LGBT icon in the role
seems appropriate. More importantly, Rose has the tough-as-nails
bravado and incredible sexiness that the role needs. We'll see how
she does heading her own series in Batwoman
this
coming season. For now, though, the Gotham sequences are the elements
of Elseworlds
that
work best.
The
central story, though, with John Deegan manipulating reality from
within Arkham, doesn't work as well as it should. Having him become
evil Superman has some clout, but since Superman is a peripheral
character in this franchise, it doesn't deform the story the same way
it would in, say, the DCEU or Smallville.
Swapping
Barry and Oliver over in their superhero roles works OK, but Barry is
such an angsty dick lately and Oliver seems a lot more centred, so
that they don't contrast nearly as much as they would have if this
had been done a few years ago. I like the hints that Batman exists on
Earth-One but no one really believes in him, whereas he's a known
quantity on Earth-38 and good buddies with Superman. On the other
hand, meeting Earth-One versions of Alex and James Olson should be
significant, but since they're part of an already altered reality
they matter less to the overall story than they should.
Given
the huge, anything goes crossover to come, I wouldn't be surprised if
Jeremy Davies again either as John Deegan or an alternative version.
He did, after all, play Ritchie Simpson on Constantine
(retroactively
part of the Arrowverse) as an essentially very similar character, and
in Justice
League Dark voiced
him alongside Matt Ryan's Constantine, where Dr. Destiny took control
of him. So really he's played three versions of the same character
already, plus the version here seems modelled after the version of
Dr. Destiny seen in The
Sandman.
Anyway, if he doesn't turn up again in some form alongside the
Monitor I'll be surprised.
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