DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Review: Out of Time (Season 2 Episode 1)
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow didn’t quite live up to all the expectations in their first season. Their Season 2 premiere “Out of Time” attempts to fix where they went wrong; to varying degrees of success.
First, they improve the villain. Chasing Vandal Savage across time became boring after a while. DC’s Legends of Tomorrow came up with a hundred reasons why Hawkgirl couldn’t kill him until the finale. In reality, she should have just killed him eight episodes prior.
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow fixes the “ho-hum” villain problem by introducing favorite villains from past seasons of Arrow and The Flash. This is actually a really smart play. It gives the audience more time with our favorite bad guys without making Oliver and Barry look completely incompetent.
They improve the drama between the heroes and the villains as well. So much of last season was tied up in Hawkgirl and Hawkman’s history with Savage. Unfortunately, it just didn’t snare like it should. “Out of Time” fixes the issue by weaving Laurel Lance’s death on Arrow with Sara Lance’s vendetta against Damien Darhk.
This is one of the main reasons I am a fan of Arrow killing Laurel Lance. Her death has significant ripple effects across the Arrowverse, specifically DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. The bond these two sisters shared was extremely powerful. It launched both of their hero’s journey.
Damien Darhk killed Laurel, so of course Sara is going to go after him. Of course, she’s going to try to change history to prevent her sister’s death. This is meaty drama and gives Caity Lotz a lot of room to play.
Do I think they are bringing Laurel back to life on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow? No. I don’t. The entire point of using time travel for personal benefit is to show what a colossal mistake it is. Also, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is clear there are simply events time travel cannot alter. For example, the death of Rip Hunter’s family.
The focus of this arc is on Sara. It’s about grief, acceptance and what it means to be a hero.
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow has a big cast and it can be difficult to serve all the characters on an individual basis. So much time went into setting up Hawkgirl, Hawkman and Savage. The characters we know from Arrow and The Flash suffered as a result. It was frustrating because they are the characters who drew us to DC’s Legends of Tomorrow in the first place.
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow needs to slow down and let some of the stories marinate a little. The scenes between Sara and Ray are particularly effective in solving this problem.
Speaking of Sara and Ray, they feel very vibey in the premiere. Fair warning: I am a shipper. I enjoy shows more when I have an emotional investment in the romantic lives of fictional characters. It’s just how I roll.
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow has a serious shipping problem. I loved Sara and Captain Cold, but they killed him. Ray and Kendra’s relationship took place mostly off-screen. Then they were getting engaged. They gave me whiplash.
I didn’t connect with Hawkgirl and Hawkman. Jackson isn’t allowed to merge with anyone, but Stein. I am all in favor of Nyssa and Sara, but that’s not going to happen. Katrina Law has a pilot.
Sara and Rip have potential, but he may or may not be dead. In any event, he’s not hanging out on the ship with Sara. So, it’s going to be hard to build a relationship.
Ray Palmer is supposed to be a little bit Mr. Magoo in the body of Superman. Unfortunately, he annoys me most of the time. This is no fault of Brandon Routh by the way. It’s just the character.
Ray works best when he has a straight man to play off of like Oliver Queen or Mick Rory. Sara, in many ways, is the female Oliver Queen. So, the scenes between her and Ray really pop.
I thoroughly enjoy Sara taking Ray down a peg or two. Ray’s optimistic sunshine and genuine concern for Sara is a nice foil for her as well.
I hoped they’d put these two characters together when DC’s Legends of Tomorrow was first announced. Then I got swept up in Captain Canary. No matter… I’m in DC’s Legends of Tomorrow! Show me what you got Atomic Canary!
Rip Hunter is missing in “Out of Time,” which makes way for Nate Heywood, a historian, to join the team. It’s probably a wise move. Rip’s story was intricately connected to Vandal Savage.
Mick Rory refers to Nate as “The New Guy,” which is funny, but also brings up a larger concern. The cast of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow can be quite bloated.
I don’t know if throwing new characters into the mix right now is the solution. Furthermore, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow seems to exacerbate the problem by doubling the masked heroes with the Justice Society of America.
However, using Oliver Queen , who is my forever cupcake, to introduce Nate Heywood is a stroke of genius. Even though Nate’s “evidence” is absolutely ridiculous (A hieroglyphic referencing Sara? REALLY?) Oliver lends some seriousness to the scenes, which ultimately sells it.
All in all, I think “Out of Time” is a strong set up for the season. DC’s Legends of Tomorrow still has some kinks to work out, but I am willing to go along for the ride this season.
Stray Thoughts
- I thought I’d select an MVP each episode since there are so many characters. MVP for “Out of Time” is Mick Rory. (Fair warning, it will probably always be Mick Rory.)
- “Cocktail party means booze. Where is it?” Never change Mick.
- Where was Mike from Suits? I was looking forward to seeing Patrick J. Adams.
- Nate is the only person to figure out that The Green Arrow showed up a week after Oliver returned to Star City. He should rule the Arrowverse.
- Security guard who actually do their jobs: a TV first.
- Oliver Queen looks even more handsome in the deep sea. There is simply no enviroment this man cannot conquer.
What did you think of this episode of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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DC’s Legends of Tomorrow airs Thursday at 8/7c on The CW.
Jennifer Knutson
Wife, mother and TV enthusiast. She has a degree in Communications, a minor in English, a background in marketing, and a deep love for all story telling mediums. The TV obsession probably started from birth, but hit saturation level with Buffy The Vampire Slayer and hasn't dissipated since. She has a weakness for dark & twisty heroes and selfless love stories. When she's not working, raising her little human, or spending time with her spouse, she's writing, analyzing, tweeting, and obsessing about all things Arrow. You can check out her blog here: http://jbuffyangel.tumblr.com/ You can also follow Jennifer on Twitter: @jbuffyangel
4 comments
I agree big time. While i LOVED captaincanary, I’m a little excited to see how Ray and Sara play out. Mostly because Ray is basically Felicity and Sara is basically Oliver. However, Sara is definitely Laurel’s sister the way she was snapping at Ray. I want to see them develop organically though. If they try to rush it like they did with Kendra and Ray, that won’t be good. Overall, it’s a potentially good pairing cuz Sara needs a little sunshine and happiness in her dark life, and well… ray just needs a woman hahah the poor guy keeps losing girlfriends to destined lovers.
I agree with all of this, ESPECIALLY with Ray and Sara. In fact when the show started out, I thought they were going to put Ray and Sara together. Then I fell in love with Sara and Leonard as a couple and Leonard is dead so Ray and Sara can become an item now.
Overall, this is a great review.
I mostly agree with this review. First, I’m also not sure introducing a new ”regular” right now was the best idea, since it’s fairly certain from the interviews that Rip is not gone forever( nor would I want him to be), but I think Dr Heywood actually fits in perfectly with the team. And I am someone who very rarely gets attached to a character from the first episodes. This time, I thought Nick Zano as Dr Heywood was spot on. Other than that, I think Legends is getting more and more entertaining. Started out a little shaky in S1, but the last few episodes, as well as the finale was superb. So was the premiere IMO. Ray and Sara though is a very interesting concept. They are the absolute opposites, which on TV paper should make them an intriguing ship for sure. They are both also charismatic and, arguably, the male and female leads of this show now, so, duh–hh… But there was a problem for me. Caity Lotz can be shipped with pretty much everybody imo. But Brandon Routh, though a good actor, also seems to me like someone who will play it flirtatious and ”with a sensual vibe” only if he sees it written that way in the script. And that is not necessarily how the best ”ships” are born. Let us not even talk about legends like Olicity, but taking Sara and Snart, for example. Caity Lotz said multiple times that they weren’t written with a romantic vibe at all, but they just played the scenes that way, until the writers picked up on it — clearly, it worked. And then there is a relationship that WAS written romantically – Ray and Kendra – and, oh my god…. I would argue there was even less chemistry than between Oliver and Laurel. If that is actually possible. So, my point is.. I can imagine there being potential between Sara and Ray, but the actors would have to play it and make it look like there is an attraction there before I could believe any scripts. Anyway, Arrow is my forever favorite, but Legends is quickly getting to be 2nd best in my books. Thanks for your reviews!
The concept of Sara and Ray becoming a couple or whatever they do interest me as when the show was first coming out everyone started writing about a romance between the two charcters and I could never see it happening. As I watched the first season we were presented with the two relationships of Ray and Kendra, and Leonard and Sara. Kendra and Ray bored me I could never understand the chemistry between them, I loved the characters but separately. Captain Canary on the other hand killed me, the emotional roller coaster over 15/16 episodes surprised me they were a ship I thought I would never see or become a fan of. With Leonard’s death I think Sara is still raw about it maybe not as much as she was in the finale but still it’s got to hurt to want something but never know what could of happened. The concept of Ray and Sara becoming a couple interest me as its one that could play out in many different ways. I believe that if the writers and actors do it justice and let it slowly grow (but as slow as someone ships if you know who I’m talking about) then it could be one of the greater ships. Growing the realtionship on screen over a period time and letting audiences fall in live with a couple then they could be a great one. Also it could turn bout to be terrible if they write in the way they write Kendra and Ray last season.
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