DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is coming back on Oct 13. Note the change in schedule; the show airs on Wednesday now.
Casting changes
Dominic Purcell (Mick Rory/Heatwave) has left the show, though he may be back for some guest appearances. Notwithstanding that the Waverider got blown up in last season’s finale, Amy Louise Pemberton (Gideon) is still part of the main cast. Matt Ryan is also still listed, but playing a different character.
Season promo
S07E01 The Bullet Blondes
COMFORT ZONE - After defeating the aliens and saving Earth, the Legends find themselves stranded in 1925 Odessa, Texas with a destroyed Waverider. Wanting to help fix things, Astra tries using her powers, which creates unwanted attention from the town and that of the new Director of the Bureau of Investigation, J. Edgar Hoover, and a surprise no one expected. Realizing they need to escape, Sara and Ava create a distraction by going on a crime spree with Hoover hot on their tails. Meanwhile, Zari is finding it hard to get over Constantine, so Behrad suggests the only thing he knows that can help.
A TICKET TO RIDE - While the Legends contemplate how to get to New York City, Behrad discovers Hoover has train tickets to DC and Sara and Ava come up with a plan. With the help of Gary, Nate will have to impersonate Hoover, but he soon learns it is harder being Hoover than he expected. Since Zari is stuck without the internet, she is forced to take a digital detox and becomes obsessed with figuring out who blew up the Waverider. Meanwhile, Astra and Spooner have stayed behind in Texas and are dealing with the aftermath of Astra’s special spell.
The writers really like to play with us, the viewers. Case in point: Gideon, the voice of the Waverider, initially had no voice in human form. Fortunately, that only lasted until the end of the episode.
Other highlights: Not-drunk Zari. Nate as fake J. Edgar Hoover. Robot J. Edgar Hoover. Also, subtle social commentary on the casual racism of the time. [Better social commentary than the crap going on in Supergirl right now.]
Next one is episode #100, directed by Caity Lotz. They’ve managed to get an impressive number of past Legends to come back for an appearance, especially considering COVID restrictions. It also promises to be even crazier than usual.
S07E03 wvrdr_error_100<oest-of-th3-gs.gid30n> not found
LEGENDS OF PAST AND PRESENT IN THE 100th EPISODE - With Astra, Spooner and a now-human Gideon trying to save the Legends, Gideon becomes overwhelmed by her new human choices sending her into a catatonic state. Astra and Spooner combine their powers to enter Gideon’s mindscape and discover that a virus is trying to erase all of Gideon’s memories. Acting fast, they devise a plan to defeat the virus before it’s too late. Meanwhile, the Legends are about to go up against a powerful new foe.
When Jax, or rather Gideon’s memory of Jax, showed up speaking with a British accent, I though, “How meta!” Franz Drameh, who played Jax, is from London so he speaking in something closer to his normal accent. And then the next sequence, where Astra and Spooner saw Carter, Ray, and Snart, Gideon said, “I remember them all now: Hawkman, Vandal Savage.” To which Spooner asked, “You sure that’s a good thing?” Yup, meta.
All in all, a great trip down memory lane. My only complaint is the realization that the writers have been using Amy Pemberton all this time as a mostly disembodied, mostly robotic voice. The girl can sing!
It looks like Bishop was the one who blew up the Waverider, with a freshly-installed Gideon. Does that mean he’s going to be the Big Bad again? I rather hope not. His character was really played out last season.
Yeah, and pretty much all of the “good” memories that showed Gideon the true meaning of humanity were from the later, goofier seasons.
Apparently, they couldn’t get Dominic Purcell for the episode, but I thought having an extra as a passed out Rory was clever, and perfectly in-character for that era’s Rory. On the other hand, having Hawkman without Hawkgirl felt a little odd. And Maisie Richardson-Sellars was really conspicuous by her absence - Vixen/Charlie were key members of the team for several seasons, and it really felt wrong not to have her as part of a retrospective.
Still, that hallway shot was great (even if it was spoiled a bit by the publicity still).
PROTECTION - When the Legends arrive in Chicago, they come across a speakeasy that caters to a diverse crowd, however their presence results in upsetting a mob who in turn burn down the club. Wanting to make things right, Zari demands they help to fix the club by throwing a party, with a special performance by The Bullet Blondes, to help raise money to rebuild it. Coincidentally, Astra, Spooner and Gideon are also in Chicago and feel compelled to help a female musician sever ties to the mob, while also trying to reach the Legends. Meanwhile, Gary points out something that Nate never realized about his relationship track record.
They are just using any excuse to let Gideon sing now, aren’t they? Not that I’m complaining. Plus a great dance/fight sequence by the Bullet Blondes.
“Gals helping gals.” This show does feminism better than a certain other Arrowverse show that’s supposed to be all about Girl Power. It’s also showing the casual racism of the era without being all preachy about it.
Yeah, I’m actually really impressed by that. It would be very easy just to skip past it, or have a token racist bad guy or two, or get really heavy-handed about it, but they’re doing a remarkably impressive job of portraying casual, petty racism, and in a way that feels entirely organic to the plot and the characters. It’s not just impressive for a goofy time-travelling superhero show, it’s just impressive. I’ve seen a lot “serious” dramas that don’t handle it nearly as well.
That aside…
The three-way song-and-dance/fight-and-fight/fight scene was, I thought, one of the highlights of the entire series. It was entirely delightful. And remarkably well-choreographed, edited, and directed.
It’s kind of weird just how variable the CW Arrowverse shows can be with the technical stuff like that. I think Legends is cleverly written, but the fight choreography and directing is often passable but nothing special, except for the occasional bravura sequence like that one.
That was a very fun sequence. Funny that that was the second aerial dance (not sure what the correct term is) I’ve seen in a row — there was one in Shadow and Bone I watched the previous night.
Brian
ETA aerial silks. Don’t think it was around in the 1920s, but it isn’t like this show pays close attention to that (robot Hoover anyone?)
Speaking of, who made robot Hoover?
Apparently they were first used c. 1992. And aerial dance as an art form apparently only dates to the 1970s. And as far as I can tell, even putting people in wire-flying harnesses for stage and film productions only dates to the 1950s. But the Mansion itself exists outside of Time, so maybe Constantine happened to have some aerial silks laying around in the attic for some reason?
We don’t know. Along with what was up with the other Waverider, it’s one of the central mysteries of this season. Those two are probably connected, but…
I found a couple of sites that put the earliest hammock/silk/tissu in the very early 60s. Still, I don’t think the characters were supposed to have been using real silks - I think they were supposed to be improvising with John’s curtains (which certainly pre-date the 20s).
Again in a time travel show you expect anachronisms. The Legends certainly know about aerial silks even if the audience wouldn’t. Though they might think it is just a circus act they haven’t seen before. My major surprise was seeing it two different shows viewed soon after each other.
Yup, meta.
