DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Review: Beebo The God Of War (Season 3 Episode 9)

On DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Season 3 Episode 9, “Beebo The God Of War,” the Legends travel to the Viking New World to celebrate Beebo Day, deal with the grief of losing a friend, and end up facing a battle with Damian Darhk.

Agent Sharpe: . . . the Legends fixing a level 12 under normal circumstances would be a Beebo Day miracle.
Sara: Did you just say, Beebo Day?

The premise of ancient Vikings worshipping a talking child’s toy provides a delightfully ridiculous starting point for this episode, which certainly delivers on funny moments.

However, the Viking/Beebo plot is ultimately pointless. It simply functions to give the Legends a problem to solve as they suffer from the loss of Martin Stein on Legends of Tomorrow Season 3 Episode 8, “Crisis on Earth-X, Part 4.”

This is not an unusual approach; shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer are particularly good at using silly plots to explore the inner lives of their characters. Unfortunately, other than setting up Young Stein’s (and Beebo’s) presence, the Viking side of the story quickly becomes irrelevant and doesn’t really connect to the more important character arcs this episode explores.

“Beebo The God Of War” is still enjoyable, with many of the interactions, quips, and action that makes Legends of Tomorrow such a fun show. It just loses out a bit when the main premise becomes mostly disconnected background noise. It’s good for some laughs, but not essential to everything else going on.

Beebo: *giggles*  I love you.
Amaya: I accidentally squeezed him.

The main character focus for this episode is squarely on Jax as he struggles to come to terms with Stein’s death.

While the outcome is understandable, with Jax leaving the Waverider, I feel this storyline does not live up to the emotional impact of Stein’s loss from the previous episode. This is partly due to the actors, Franz Drameh needs a stronger scene partner than the actor playing Young Stein provides.

There is also a tonal issue at play with Jax’s storyline. The writers are digging into how he is coping with the death of a father figure and partner, but they are doing it in an episode featuring a furry blue God and a lot of really terrible wigs. We never get to experience the full weight of Jax’s sadness because the shift from it to the silly Beebo plot would be too jarring.

While Jax’s arc has a few problems, we do get a nice subplot involving Mick and Earth-X’s Leonard Snart. The chemistry between Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell is in full force during all of their interactions.

I also like the show’s message that even though these two friends are very different people, who literally come from different worlds, they still have each other’s back in the end.

The Good

Love the Arrow theme playing when Young Stein shoots the plastic sucker arrow to win the last Beebo in the toy store.

Everything involving Beebo is funny, but extra points to miniaturized Ray flying the stuffed doll around and telling the Vikings that science and global warming are real.

Seeing the Legends ladies dressed in their Viking best is great. The less said about historical accuracy here the better, but Sara, Amaya, and Agent Sharpe all look very cool.

After much internal debate, I have come to the conclusion Damian Darhk’s Viking wig is so awful it’s actually amazing. It made me laugh every time he showed up.

Interesting to see the issue of anachronisms centering themselves around the Legends come up again. I am looking forward to where this may go in upcoming episodes.

Jax’s speech at his going away dinner with the Legends is really nice.

Jax: When you get a bunch of broken pieces and you put ‘em all together the right way they make something new. And suddenly, they don’t feel so broken anymore. I’m pretty sure that’s what a family is.

The Bad

The shift from Agent Sharpe being an antagonist for the Legends to being a helper is pretty abrupt.

Also, I guess the fact Sharpe is wearing her hair down in this episode means her character is ready to transition over to being a love interest for Sara. This is a silly visual trope I find a bit disappointing to see the show utilize.

For a mid-season finale, this episode is lacking in the kind of story tension and excitement needed to carry viewers’ interests over a long break.

The What?

Constantine? Really? I like character and the actor, but he operates in a darker world than the Legends do. I’m not sure how his presence will fit in with the lighter, more fun tone of this show.

What did you think of this episode of Legends of Tomorrow? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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Legends of Tomorrow airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW.

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