My Geeky Geeky Ways

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

The Legends travel to Memphis, Tennessee in 1954 after they detect an anachronism that indirectly caused the death of modern music. As Zari helps Wally adjust to life on The Waverider, Nate relishes the chance to teach Amaya about classic rock and roll, accidentally discovering the sixth Zambesi Totem - the Totem of Death - in the process!

Influences

The legends of Robert Leroy Johnson and Elvis Aaron Presley and the movie Footloose.

Goofs

While Elvis Presley was a devout Christian, he was raised a member of The Assembly of God - not the Church of Zion, as the episode depicts.

Elvis Presley also did not have a rock-and-roll hating preacher uncle named Lucius.

The episode seems to have either confused or intentionally combined the recording of Elvis's first record and Elvis first performance that was broadcast on the radio. The episode depicts Elvis as having recorded his first record at Sun Studio in July 1954. Elvis truly recorded his first record at Sun Studio on July 18, 1953. The song Elvis plays in the studio for his first record in the episode, "I'm Gone, Mama" isn't the song he recorded for his first record. He did two songs - "My Happiness" and "That's Where Your Heartaches Begin." Elvis recorded the song "That's All Right (Mama)"for his first radio performance, recording on July 5, 1954. The song played on the WHBQ two days later on July 7, 1954.

While Nate's insistence that Elvis be allowed to record his first record with the Death Totem Guitar is treated like the unreasonable request of a crazy fanboy, the loss of rock and roll on American culture would be a major anachronism with long-lasting consequences for the timeline. So why is Sara so resistant to letting Nate give the guitar back to Elvis?

It seems highly unlikely that even Mick could go into the galley and make a sandwich without seeing the dead Axl in the middle of the floor.

Elvis Presley did not write the song "Jailhouse Rock". It was written for him by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, for his third movie with the same name.

Given Zari's cynical nature and how she had to hide her religion in her time period, it seems highly unlikely that she'd be the one to suggest to Wally that they try talking to Elvis' conservative preacher uncle about giving his nephew's music a chance... even if she is trying to get Wally to explore options that don't involve just using his powers to solve everything when, in this case, Wally's powers totally could solve everything.

As much as one would like to cheer the general pro-religion, "not all Christians are bigots" message of this story, it's still somewhat unbelievable that a white Southern preacher at this point in time would be open to talking to a young black man or Muslim woman.

For that matter, Nate and Amaya kissing in a church should have been a MUCH bigger deal to the assembled crowd of all-white Southerners.

We never do find out exactly how The Darhks were involved in all of this and how their arrival prompted the anachronism that led to Elvis being committed and Memphis being abandoned.

Artistry

The direction, cinematography and use of music in the opening scene is fantastic. It's also amazing how well the establish the supernatural mood with a simple change of lighting and a few props being shaken around.

The musical performances are strong.

Trivia Of Tomorrow

The guitar player mentioned in the opening sequence - Robert Johnson - is a nod to Robert Leroy Johnson. Ranked fifth on the Rolling Stone list of the greatest guitar players of all time, Johnson died young under mysterious circumstances at the age of 27 in 1938. Recordings of Johnson's blues music are credited with inspiring later artists - such as Elvis Presley - to create rock and roll. Popular folk legend has it that Johnson met with The Devil at a Mississippi crossroads at midnight and bargained for his amazing guitar skills.

The third episode of Constantine - The Devil's Vinyl- dealt with a legend similar to that of Robert Leroy Johnson. In that episode, John became involved in the hunt for a vinyl record by a legendary fictional blues man (Willie Cole) that apparently captured the voice of The Devil as he came to claim Willie Cole's soul.

Wally uses the initials WFW when he sets his high scores on Zari's video games. In the classic comics, Wally's full name is Wallace Rudolph West. It is unknown what Wally's middle name is in The DCTVU.

Rory named his pet rat Axl. This is likely in tribute to Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose.

Rory notices that Axl's name has mysteriously changed to Josh Groban, who is a popular classically-trained singer that sold over 20 million solo albums in the first 10 years of his career.

As Nate notes, Beale Street was the heart of the music scene in Memphis in the 1950s.

Elvis Aaron Presley did have a twin brother named Jesse Garon Presley, who was stillborn. The historical record is divided on what effect the loss of his twin may have had on Elvis, but some of his friends and biographers claim that Elvis believed that Jesse's ghost was always close to him and that Elvis would frequently talk to his dead brother as if he was there in the room.

The episode ends with a video tribute to Axl, showing Ray running from him and Mick making faces at him in his cage.

Technobabble

EMF ratings are a measurement used to gauge the strength of ambient electromagnetic fields. They are measured in metric units called Gauss. As Ray notes, some people believe that supernatural entities - such as ghosts - give off signals that can be detected using an EMF probe.

Constantine's notes on The Death Totem read as follows:

"The background of the Death Totem is entangled in contentious debates amongst ancient artifacts experts. The chronology of other totems are directly traceable through lineage, but records of previous death totem bearers are unknown. Witness accounts of the totem's powers are hard to verify. What is consistent in the testimonies is that The Death Totem is the most volatile of the totems. Historians have concluded that it was lost for eons, along with a sixth tribe of Zambesi."

The Death Totem gives its bearer the power to raise the spirits of the dead, control them and put them to rest.

The average life expectancy of a rat is 1.5 to 2.5 years.

The Wind Totem blasts can affect ghosts.

Apparently a speedster running through a ghost can disrupt their ectoplasmic form (At least, we think this is what Wally does to get rid of the ghosts inside the church.)

Ray develops specially encrypted lock-boxes to hold each of the six Totems.

Dialogue Triumphs

(Wally looks at Ray's Chore Wheel.)
Wally: Wipe down food fabricator?
Zari: Bet you thought time-travel would be seeing Woodstock, saving Shakespeare and having ethical debates while standing over baby Hitler. Trust me. It takes time to get used to life-
(There is a sudden burst of yellow lightning around the room as Wally gets to work. When he stops, the kitchen is spotless.)
Wally: Cool. So what's next?
Zari: It's gonna take time for me to get used to life with a speedster.

(Gideon tells The Legends where Elvis Presley might be found.)
Sara: You heard the lady.
(Everyone just stares at Sara.)
Sara: (impatiently) What?! Why are you staring at me?
Nate: I dunno... we're waiting for you to... do the thing you do.
Sara: What thing?
Ray: You know? You usually send us into the field with a little more... piazza.
(Sara rolls her eyes and flips her hair in an exaggerated manner before walking off making a jazz hands gesture.)
Sara: All right Legends! Put on your Sunday best because we are going to church!
(Everyone nods, satisfied, and moves to change clothes.)
Ray: Amen!

Sara: (dryly) So Elvis is the bearer of the long-lost sixth totem? Consider me all shook up.

Amaya; Every totem is growing strong in response to Mallus' threat. What if the preacher is right and Elvis' music literally drives Memphis insane?
Sara: Then we have to get it before that happens.
(Wally dashes off, leaving papers flying in his wake, and returns seconds later holding Elvis' guitar.)
Wally: I got it! Elvis' guitar totem.
Zari: So I'm not the only one who finds that annoying right?
Nate: So annoying.

(Sara attempts to pry the black gem loose from the guitar with a wrench. Suddenly, there is a weird tone. Sara stops and drops the wrench.)
Ray: Woah. That was weird.
Sara: Yeah.
(The lights flicker and there's a distinctive electric crackle in the air.)
Sara: You feel that?
Ray: Yeah. It's freezing.
Gideon: I am detecting an EMF rating of 6 milliGauss that is disturbing the ship's electrical service.
Sara: EM-what?
Ray: Electro-Magnetic Field. It's a scientific term that'swrapped up in a bunch of (sputters, clearly finding the idea distasteful) paranormal nonsense.
(There's a noise across the room as Sara and Ray both run to a glass wall that's suddenly frosted over with a hand-print in the middle of the frost.)
Sara: Paranormal? As in...
(The two turn to see the guitar hovering in mid-air as if picked up by an unseen figure. The black gem glows as a figure resembling a young Elvis Presley suddenly comes into view only to fade into a grey indistinct shriveled figure,covered in ice.)
Ray: ... ghosts.

Nate: (into comm) Guys? Elvis' guitar is haunted.
(Cut to The Waverider, where Wally is being pulled along the floor of the bridge by the guitar.)
Ray and Sara: We know!

Continuity

We see Ray's Chore Wheel, which was mentioned but not shown in 211.

The chore wheel lists the following parts of The Waverider: Cargo Bay, Galley, Library, Dining, Air Ducts, Storage, Controls, Engine, Servers, Fabricator, Lab, Gym, Med Bay and Parlour.

The chore wheel lists the following duties: Wipe Down Food Fabricator; Tidy, Sweep and Remove Debris; General Cleaning and Tidying; Clean & Maintain Pipes & Ducts, Electrical Set-Up and Dust Removal; Regular Systems Check & Tune-Up and Equipment Maintenance.

Zari pretends not to understand Ray's system for the chore wheel since he'll eventually do all her chores for her rather than make a fuss about it.

Wally beats the high scores on Zari's favorite video games.

According to Wally, the trick to Ms. Pac-Man is to focus on attacking the ghosts - not chasing the fruit. Zari says everyone knows that.

The first clue that an anachronism destroyed rock and roll music is Zari's discovery that her copy of Guitar Hero is now a game called Trombone Hero.

The rat that Ray gave to Mick as a pet in 211 is seen for the first time. Rory named him Axl.

Ray refers to using cold fusion to fix The Fire Totem again, as in 313.

The second clue that an anachronism destroyed rock and roll music is that Axl's name has mysteriously changed to Josh Groban.

Sara is now fully aware that Nate and Amaya are dating again.

The third clue that an anachronism destroyed rock and roll music is that Nate's distinctive hairstyle has changed.

Nate uses Royal Crown Pomade to spike his hair - the same hair product used by Elvis Presley.

Gideon determines that Memphis, Tennessee became a ghost town following a mysterious bout of mass hysteria in July 1954. This coincided with a concert performance by Elvis Presley, which ended with Presley being committed to Bolivar State Hospital.

As Nate explains, without Memphis, there would be no rock and roll, which would have a butterfly effect on American culture further down the line.

Mick likes peanut butter and banana sandwiches fried in bacon fat - a reported favorite food of Elvis.

Nate hates ska music.

It is confirmed that the anachronisms being caused by The Darhks are not showing up on The Time Bureau's Radar, for some reason.

Amaya is a fan of Benny Goodman.

Zari's amulet reacts to Elvis' guitar while he's singing. This leads The Legends to conclude that Elvis is a totem barer.

Sara has some means of contacting John Constantine.

Amaya refers to the events of 213 and how she and Nate saw dinosaurs together.

Amaya and Nate once watched the entire series of Friends in one week on Netflix.

Axl dies after ingesting some green liquid left on the floor of the galley.

Nate is apparently something of a Goth, being a fan of The Smiths and Morrisey.

Amaya exposes Nate to the traditional music of Zambesi.

The episode ends with the box containing The Death Totem visibly jumping around on Ray's desk.

Location

Memphis, Tennessee - 1950
Memphis, Teneessee - July 1954

Untelevised Adventures

There was a Category Two Anachronism during the Belle Epoque in Paris.

The was a Category Three Anachronism during the launch of The Spirit of St. Louis.

The Bottom Line

Badly researched in terms of its history and full of plot holes and a lot of out-of-character moments. The production values are decent and the music is fantastic but the writers forced a lot of the story elements in order to tell the story that they wanted to tell. Ultimately, this is a painful and problematic episode in many respects and easily the worst one of Season Three so far.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

The tenth Bus Meta - whom Cisco dubs Melting Point - has the power to change the DNA of other people. When his encounter with Team Flash leaves Iris with Barry's super-speed, they will have to switch roles in order to save Central City.

Influences

The Flash #22 (New 52 Series), where Iris West temporarily acquires a connection to The Speed Force.

Goofs

Cisco's speculation at the start of the episode does bring up an interesting point - why not hide Ralph on Earth Two or someplace else?!

Ralph's complaints about Iris not knowing what it's like to risk your life as a hero seem to be meant to make Ralph sound whinny and ungrateful. The thing is, fear-driven as his responses might be, Ralph has a point about how keeping him safe should be a priority when it comes to stopping DeVoe's plan but everyone on the team except Caitlin seems to view keeping Ralph alive as a necessary evil, at best.

Also, Ralph's cowardice has come out of nowhere given Ralph was chomping at the bit to go after DeVoe to avenge Izzy two episodes ago, to the point where he made Barry a partner in his detective business.

Joe and Barry are stumped on how to get Ralph to impersonate DeVoe again to talk to The Mayor about Barry getting his job back while keeping Ralph safe. What about that hologram projector Cisco made in Season 2 that could project an image anywhere in Central City?

Eric Fry was smart enough to leave Central City after The Flash first appeared three years ago and started taking down metahuman criminals. Why then did he come back to Central City now?!

While it's a good idea not to have Barry go with Joe to question a person of interest in regard to a bank robbery given that Barry is persona non grata with the CCPD, that has nothing to do with why Iris tells Barry to stay at STAR Labs - it's so that she can go out in the field and prove to Ralph that she doesn't just hide in STAR Labs bossing everyone around!

On that note, how the heck does Joe justify bringing his daughter along to question a suspect in an official capacity?

Apart from being a funny sight gag, what is the point of Iris changing clothes with Caitlin at super-speed? Couldn't she just run home and find something else to wear rather than forcibly stripping her friend against her will? Especially since Caitlin was about to change into her Killer Frost clothes anyway?

For that matter, why DOESN'T Caitlin wind up going along to help put out the fire after Iris tells her to get ready to go and do that?

The spare mask Jesse Quick left behind on Earth One doesn't match her red costume.

Iris reveals that she did quit her job as a reporter. So how the heck are she and Barry affording their fancy loft since they're both unemployed. (Yes, I know Barry is supposed to be somewhat independently wealth after inheriting STAR Labs from Wells/Thawne, but they've never bothered to explain this point...)

Pretty much everything involving the stand off with the man who winds up with Eric Fry's powers. First, this guy decides to become a criminal after two days. Next, the fact that he's able to master his new powers enough to be a threat in that much time when Iris can barely use her own powers with a team of experienced metahuman scientists training her. Third, the fact that his brilliant scheme is to go into a park and start demanding money rather than robbing a bank or a business. Fourth, the fact that he allows the police to surround him. Fifth, the fact that the police let a civilian like Matthew Kim into the area to try and talk to the metahuman terrorist. Sixth, why in the name of little green apples doesn't Iris just run in and punch the guy at super-speed like she did with Matthew Kim? Seventh, why not send in the metahuman with ice powers to control the fire, apart from Iris needing to do this to prove that she could be a superhero if she had powers?

Cisco says the fire being generated by the man with the fire powers is 800 degrees, which is as hot as lava. This is just barely true in the Celsius scale, where lava ranges from 700-1200 degrees C. In the Fahrenheit measure, lava ranges from 1300-2200 degrees F. Either way, the heat should be enough that convection should bake Iris alive as close as she is to the fire.

Iris' speech to Ralph about not giving in to fear doesn't really ring true given that the only thing that saved Iris from the consequences of living her life was HR Wells switching places with her without telling anyone he'd done so.

Flash Facts

The episode title is an nod to the repeated line, "Run, Barry, Run."

There have been a few stories where Iris West temporarily acquired The Flash's powers. The most recent one was during The New 52 The Flash series, where Iris West developed her own connection to The Speed Force in The Flash #22.

Eric Fry - the fire-starting British bank robber in this episode - is a new character unique to The DCTVU. He shares a name with a notable American rugby player.

Melting Point -a.k.a. Matthew Kim - is a character unique to The DCTVU. His power set, however, resembles that of Ragtag - a villain from the Static Shock animated series. Ragtag was a homeless man who developed the power to give ordinary humans temporary super powers. He could also drain the powers from other metahumans. He used these abilities to get ordinary teenagers addicted to the power that he gave them and then used them as his pawns to commit crimes.

Melting Point uses his powers in a benevolent fashion - not surprising given his status as an EMT.

The advance press for this episode called Melting Point by the name "Melting Pot".

The name of Melting Point has been used before in another DC Comic book. Strangely enough, it was in The Flash: Year Zero comic book, which has largely been declared non-canon since its original release. This comic saw the creation of a villain named Doctor Melting Point, who was Dr. Wangari Hollowell - a former teacher of Caitlin Snow's. Half of Dr. Hollowell's body had been transformed into Quantum Energy, giving her the ability to melt down organic materials and absorb them into herself.

Cisco makes reference to the movie Spider-Man 2 in explaining to Caitlin why he thinks Harry building his own Thinking Cap is a bad idea. In that movie, Doctor Otto Octavius was driven crazy after the artificially-intelligent robotic arms he built to assist in his more dangerous lab work took over his brain.

Cisco also makes reference to The Borg from Star Trek, when laying down the conditions under which he will help Harry with The Intelligence Booster/Thinking Cap. Namely that he will vibe Harry elsewhere the minute he starts trying to assimilate everyone.

The date of Iris' first blog post on Saved By The Flash is March 13. 2018 - the original air date of this episode.

Technobabble

Harry suggests altering each Bus Meta's DNA using inter-cellular surgery and turning them into chickens.

Harry determines that DeVoe boosted his intelligence using neurochemical engineering powered by the dark matter released by the STAR Labs Particle Accelerator. Using that knowledge and the security footage from STAR Labs showing DeVoe on the night of the particle accelerator explosion, Harry builds his own intelligence booster (a.k.a. Thinking Cap) to enhance his mind to match that of DeVoe.

Barry says that what Harry is proposing would 10 billion joules through his brain.

According to Cisco, it would take a temperature of 6000 degrees Fahrenheit (3315.556 degrees Celsius) to melt through 10 inches of reinforced steel. This is reportedly 10 times the thermal out of of Mick Rory's Heat Gun.

When pondering how a metahuman could just lose their powers, Caitlin theorizes that Eric Fry's powers, if based around metastasizing solar radiation to create hat, locking him in a dark room should neutralize his powers. As Joe points out, however, Eric Fry lost his powers in the middle of the day when it was sunny.

Caitlin then suggests that Eric Fry's internal bio-chemistry had been altered to develop its own internal thermal combustion and ran out of fuel.

Without the edition of dark matter, The Intelligence Booster causes Harry's neurons to fire 20 times faster.

With the Thinking Cap, Harry is able to analyze Ralph's eating habits and extrapolate them at a predictive behavior model. determining there is a 67% chance that Ralph will spill mustard on himself while eating his veggie dog in four seconds. He is also able to deduce that Ralph is not wearing any underwear based on the movement of the fabric of his pants as Ralph is wiping his hands clan.

Caitlin runs a series of tests - EKG, cellular regression synthesis, dark matter and brain chemistry - to confirm that Irish has become a metahuman with speed powers.

Matthew Kim's powers work by melting down the highly concentrated bonds between DNA, making them pliable so he can extract them and infuses somebody else with the exact same metahuman DNA sequence.

Harry needs a micro-filament compression wrench with a cobalt retrieving clamp to finish his work on The Thinking Cap.

Caitlin considers dark matter splicing, pattern DNA cloning and regrowing meta-enhanced stem-material on a cellular level as a way to replicate Melting Points powers but concludes that nothing else will work.

The fire generated by the new fire-powered metahuman is described as being 800 degrees and "as hot as lava." Presumably Cisco is using the Celsius scale, where lava ranges from 700-1200 degrees.

The new fire metahuman is able to generate a thermo-cyclone - a cyclone made of fire.

Cisco disengages the photo flow to The Thinking Cap once Harry goes 20% over his own recommended safety standards.

Dialogue Triumphs

Cisco: I'm sorry - don't you have like, six PhDs?
Harry: Seven.
Cisco: Yeah, which one of them is in mad science?
Harry: Mad science is just an area of study. It's not a degree.

Matthew Kim: Stealing is a sin. You shouldn't be using the powers you've been given in this way.
Eric Fry: I'll use them any way I see fit. Including frying you to a crisp, if you move any closer!
Matthew Kim: (calmly) Oh, I don't think you will. You don't want to hurt me. Or anyone in this bank. You can still walk away from this. But the moment you touch that money, your life changes forever. You don't really want that, do you?
Eric Fry: Maybe you're right.
(Matthew Kim reaches out and touches the man's shoulder. There is a quick flash of red light on his hand as the bank-robbing meta punches him to the ground. Matthew Kim touches another man and there's a quick flash of red into his hand.)
Eric Fry: Or... maybe you've got a death wish!
(Eric Fry raises his hands to throw a fireball... and nothing happens.)
Eric Fry: What the hell? My powers.... they're gone
(Eric Fry is tackled by a security guard.)
Guard: Hey, buddy! You're a real....
(The guard looks to where Matthew Kim was as the rest of the hostages look up. He is gone.)
Guard: ... hero?

(Harry has just used his enhanced intelligence to deduce that Ralph is not wearing any underwear.)
Ralph: You got all that from your fancy metal cap?
Harry: Yes I did.
Ralph: It's impressive, Harry. Except for one very small thing.
Harry: Which is?
Ralph: Your head is on fire.
Harry: (laughs) No it's...
(Harry rolls his eyes upward and realizes that the thinking cap just burst into flame.)

Caitlin: Cisco, why can't you just help him?
Cisco: Why am I the only one who thinks putting a rageaholic and dark matter together is a bad idea?
Caitlin: He's trying to stop DeVoe. That's not a bad idea.
Cisco: He's trying to match his intellect with a mad man whose innovations are warping his brain. Have you not seen Spider-Man 2?
Caitlin: No.
Cisco: ... how can you live with yourself?

(Cisco holds up a garment bag, holding a new costume for Iris.)
Iris: Thanks Cisco.
(There is a flash of violet lighting as Iris runs off. Her street clothes falling to the ground as Cisco is left clutching an empty garment bag.)
Cisco: I've got hangers!

Dialogue Disasters

(The line in which Iris pretty much sums up every problem most of the the fandom have had with her in Season 4.)

Iris: Barry, when I was a reporter, I was always in the field putting myself in danger for a story. And after last year, for some reason, that just stopped. Maybe it was because of Savitar. Maybe because you were gone into The Speed Force. I don't know, but... I quit my job. I joined this team. And now, for the most part, I just stay here while all of you are out there putting your lives on the line.

Continuity

Cisco contemplates breaching the last three Bus Metas and relocating them to Earth Two. Harry suggests altering each Bus Meta's DNA using inter-cellular surgery.

Harry Wells has seven PhDs.

On Earth Two, Mad Science is an area of study but not one with a degree plan.

Ralph, Caitlin and Iris agree to try Harry's "intelligence booster" idea. Cisco refuses to help.

Cecile is now in her third trimester. She and Joe have picked out names for the baby, but they aren't telling anyone what they are.

The mayor of Central City refuses to let Barry have his job back until she meets with The DeVoes personally.

According to Cisco, the energy output of Heatwave's fire gun is 600 degrees Fahrenheit.

Eric Fry got his powers at the same time as the first wave of metahumans. He left Central City after The Flash appeared and has been roaming around robbing banks ever since.

Matthew Kim has apparently been using his powers in secret to take away the powers of other criminals for some time.

Iris generates violet lightning whens he runs.

The movie Spider-Man 2 exists in The DCTVU. Caitlin has not seen it.

Cisco finally agrees to help Harry with The Intelligence Booster on two conditions - that they will now power it with dark matter and that the minute Harry begins to act like Locutus of Borg and starts trying to assimilate everyone, Cisco has permission to send him to another Earth.

Harry calculates 4,827 ways the fight with the new fire-manipulating metahuman could go but only one that will result in no loss of life. This involves Iris creating a 100-foot tall tidal wave to combat the fire cyclone.

It is revealed that Matthew Kim thought that his power was to remove the powers of other metahumans. He had no idea he was capable of transferring them to other people. He believed that he had been chosen by God to punish those who abused the power they were given.

Matthew Kim agrees to join Team Flash in the fight against The Thinker.

Ralph agrees to see the mayor, disguised as DeVoe in a bid to get Barry his job back.

Cecile recommends a good pizza place in Keystone to Barry.

Iris starts a new blog, Saved By The Flash, detailing stories of people... saved by The Flash.

The last two Bus Metas are named Janet Petty and Edwin Goss.

The Boomerang Factor

Pretty much all of Team Flash is nerfed this week so that Iris can prove that she could be just as good at being The Flash as Barry.

The Bottom Line

Everything insufferable about the fourth season of The Flash in one episode. No DeVoes. Virtually nothing except Iris and Barry being cute together. All of Ralph's character development being forgotten so that he can be the gross cowardly pervert nobody likes again. All of Harry's character development is forgotten so that he can go back to being shoutty jerkass again. And the writers finally confirm that Iris literally subverted her entire life for the sake of the man she loved, as everyone else is nerfed this week so that Iris can prove that she's just as much of a hero as Barry... if she has super powers. At this point, it''s a neck and neck race for what show disgusts me more - this or Arrow.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

With Black Lighting blamed for the death of Lady Eve, Anissa and Jefferson work to clear his name. Meanwhile, Jennifer begins interning for Lynn as Gambi finds himself in a most precarious position as Tobias Whale moves to increase his influence among the criminal underworld in Freeland.

Influences

The Black Lightning comics of Tony Isabella (implications of Gambi's secret life.)

Goofs

Lynn is a little quick to jump to the conclusion that Gambi's refusal to talk about Green Light means he was involved in the creation of the vaccine from 30 years earlier.

Performances

More than in any other episode to date, the chemistry between Cress Williams and Nafessa Williams really sizzles.

Trivia

The coordinates of the grave that Jefferson and Anissa are 33, 47, 84, 43. Translated into standard map coordinates, this makes them 33' 47" Latitude, 84' 43" Longitude. In the real world, this would place them in the middle of nowhere due west of Atlanta, Georgia, which is the real world city Freeland is modeled on.

The idea of Gambi raising Jefferson Pierce after causing the death of his father is taken directly from the classic Black Lightning comics. There, Peter Gambi was a hitman who accidentally shot Alvin Pierce while trying to take out another target. He retired from the assassin game and took care of a young Jefferson Pierce and his mother.

Technobabble

Gambi's holographic "Hogan's Alley" set-up also has "urban mix" and "urban crowd" modes, which Jefferson uses to train Anissa in close-combat fighting with civilians in the way.

Lichtenberg Scarring is the tree-shaped pattern left behind by an lighting strike or when electricity passes through an insulating material. It looks quite different than the marks left behind by a burn. The lack of Lichtenberg Scarring on the bodies of Lady Eve and her henchmen prove that they were not killed by Black Lighting's electrical powers but by a high-voltage flash.

Gambi estimates that the weapons used to kill Lady Eve and her henchman required a billion joules. That is as much energy as is found in a lightning bolt. Generating that much power in a portable weapon would require nuclear weapon.

Gambi has the means to track something by following a radiation signature by hacking a satellite.

Lynn asked for the power that Anissa discovered to be analyzed with an x-ray crystallography.

Lynn determines that the powder from Alvin Pierce's storage unit is a vaccine made with the same active ingredients as Green Light.

Dialogue Triumphs

(Anissa sees a hologram with a man wearing a Confederate flag on his shirt. She pounds the ground near his ankle and he screams in pain, grabbing his head.)
Jefferson: Freeze.
(The hologram stops moving.)
Anissa: Freeze?!
Jefferson: He might be racist, but he wasn't a threat. And you probably broke his ankle and... maybe gave him a concussion.
Anissa: The flag on the T-shirt!
Jefferson: No. I know why it happened. You looked and you assumed he was a threat. So you didn't actually see that he wasn't.
(Anissa sighs and stomps off in annoyance.)

Martin Proctor: I'm sick of this neighborhood, Peter. They don't take care of it. The food is all fried. The only thing the people here are good for is experimentation. They should be happy we're here! Green Light will give their lives purpose. Direction! We're doing God's work, Peter. God's work!

Lynn: How do you train someone to be what they're not?
Jefferson: She has her mother's brains. It won't take her long to realize that if she wants to change the world, she has to change herself.

(Anissa stares at the wall between the hallway and the morgue. She raises her hands to the wall, takes a deep breath and gets ready to shove it.)
Jefferson: Woah, woah, woah!
(Anissa stops in mid-shove.)
Jefferson: How much force do you need?
Anissa: Uh.. enough to get through the wall?
Jefferson: And how much is that?
Anissa: ...I don't know.
Jefferson: Tap it with your finger.
Anissa: Okay.
(Anissa braces herself, takes a deep breath and taps the wall. The one stone shifts maybe half an inch inward but nothing else happens.)
Anissa: Okay. Clearly that wasn't it.
Jefferson: (sighs) Do whatever you think.
(Anissa clears her throat, takes a deep breath again and shoves the same block with one hand. The entire block disintegrates as several other stones go flying into the morgue room, leaving an opening big enough to walk through and kicking up a lot of stone dust.)
Anissa: (quietly) Okay. Maybe I could have used a little less.
Jefferson: (dryly) You think?

Anissa: Dad, you know how I feel about the woods.
(Jefferson scoffs)
Anissa: No. Black people die in the woods!
Jefferson: Yes. In horror movies. But only after the monster kills the white nerd. And we don't have one of those with us, so you're good. (chuckles)

(Jefferson is telling Anissa about his early years as Black Lightining.)
Anissa: So why did you stop all those years?
Jefferson: That's complicated.
Anissa: Mom, right?
Jefferson: That's between me and her.
Anissa: Which is a yes. But an "ask your mother" yes.

Black Lightning: (into phone, to Inspector Henderson) You're welcome. (pauses) I know you didn't say "thank you." It's implied in your loud-ass questions.

Continuity

Jefferson refers to Anissa destroying the Confederate statue in 106.

Gambi meets with a man named Martin Proctor who is the head of the ASA in the region around Freeland. He puts a price on Black Lightning's head, despite Gambi's insistence that capturing Black Lightning alive could lead to the ASA making a break-through in understanding metahumans. Martin says the ASA has dissected enough Metahumans and still isn't any closer to creating their own.

Lady Eve was the liaison between The 100 and The ASA.

Martin is an elitist (probably a racist as well) who believes the only value the people of Freeland have is as test subjects for the ASA's experiments.

Green Light is part of an ASA experiment.

Anissa was once suspended in the second grade for kicking a teacher she thought had made her friend cry by being mean to her.

Lynn has both a PhD and MD.

The yellow legal pad notes with the odd equations go missing from the box of Alvin Pierce's papers.

The lab Lynn used to analyze the powder that Anissa discovered in Alvin Pierce's storage unit was also burglarized.

Jennifer's friend Kiesha is involved in student government, on the grounds that whoever controls the money controls the school.

Jennifer manifests her powers for the first time, inadvertently generating lighting from her hands and having sparks light up in her eyes when her friend Keshia falls off a scaffold. She burns a poster in one hand and fries her phone with the other.

Lala is having visions of LaWanda White who he talks to... much to the worry of his henchmen.

Anissa does not know if, when she is powered up, if she is immune to radiation, chemicals or if she can swim or if she'll sink like a stone.

Lynn determines that the powder from Alvin Pierce's storage unit is a vaccine made with the same active ingredients as Green Light.

Anissa has a fear of walking through the woods at night.

Jefferson and Anissa discover a dead body and the lighting gun out in the woods.

The coordinates of the grave are 33' 47" Latitude, 84' 43" Longitude.

Gambi moved to Freeland 30 years ago at around the same time Alvin Pierce died.

Gambi never told anyone about his past before he moved to Freeland.

The dirty cop sent to retrieve the weapon accidentally blows it and himself up. Anissa is able to determine by observing him that he had no clue what he was doing to the weapon would trigger a self-destruct mode.

Gambi reveals that his real name is Peter Esposito.

Peter Gambi worked for a government agency called the ASA. He moved to Freeland 30 years early as part of an experiment to drug the people of Freeland and make them more compliant and docile. The vaccine inadvertently created metahumans. Gambi was tasked with finding the metahumans.

Gambi leaked this information to Alvin Pierce when he realized that the vaccine was killing children. This investigation is what prompted Alvin Pierce's murder. Gambi then tried to make up for what happened to Alvin by training his son to use his powers in secret to help people.

Jennifer tells Anissa about how she broke her phone.

The Bottom Line

A fantastic episode that does much to expand the world of the series and begin explaining some mysteries. Of course it also leaves us with the mysteries of what the heck is going on with Lala, so there's still something to wonder about. Most enjoyable.

Amazo has been defeated, but the followers of Ra's Al Ghul who helped to bring about his defeat now face a difficult battle to escape from Gorilla City with their lives. Meanwhile, two teams must begin to rebuild and tend to the wounded - those wounded physically and those whose pain lies in their hearts and minds.

The better portion of this issue is devoted toward some rather intensive action sequences. Despite this, Tom Taylor still finds plenty of time to devote to quieter character moments - both serious and comedic. The quality of his writing is equaled only by the fantastic artwork by Daniel Sampere, Juan Albarran, Rex Lokus and Wes Abbott. This continues to be one of my favorite comics.

The Final Analysis: 10 out of 10.

In the wake of Gus Yale's death, the secrets of The Birds of Prey have been lain bare and the team is all but broken. Black Canary hid the fact that her powers were still overclocked from a previous encounter. Batgirl hid that she was using intelligence stolen from The Calculator to influence their activities. And Huntress... well, she's been visiting her crime-boss mother in prison and has been called to act as a character witness at her parole hearing. Despite the tension between them, the three heroines must come together again and soon, as the robotic assassin Burnrate begins to arrange a different sort of union...

Unfortunately, this series is coming to a close and I'll be sad to see it go. The Benson Sisters' stories have been nothing short of phenomenal and I've greatly enjoyed how they revitalized the classic Birds of Prey line-up for the reality of Rebirth. I just wish they'd had an art team worthy of their work. While not as bad as they've been in earlier issues, Roge Antonio's pencils are still incredibly uneven (particularly during the action scenes) and while Marcelo Maiolo's lighting effects are decently applied this month, this is still a very rough-looking comic.

The Final Analysis: 6 out of 10.

Roy Harper is convinced he has uncovered a super-villain conspiracy but Donna Troy fears he may be back on heroine and hallucinating. When Dick Grayson and Wally West go to confront their friend and former teammate, who will emerge victorious in the fight that follows?

Usually whenever you have a comic where the heroes are fighting other heroes, it is lazy padding. Granting I may be biased as a Roy Harper fan who is thrilled to see a story that remembers that Arsenal is a master strategist and no mean detective, Dan Abnett still writes a fantastic issue full of pathos, ethos and action. The artwork is top-notch, with Paul Pelletier giving every panel a sense of active motion - even the simple scenes of characters talking on the phone. The finishes by Andrew Hennessy and Adriano Lucas are also excellent.

The Final Analysis: 10 out of 10.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

When Mallus takes control of Sara and she takes up The Death Totem, Mick will have to overcome his dark side to save the rest of The Legends. Meanwhile, Ava recruits John Constantine to free Sara from Mallus' influence once and for all.

Influences

The Constantine: The Hellblazer comics series (John Constantine living in New York City, performing odd-jobs involving magic to make ends meet.), Swamp Thing #37 (John's line about being a nasty piece of work) and Hellblazer #41 (John's line about walking his path alone.)

Goofs

Nice as it is for Wally to finally get a scene where his relationship with Jesse Quick isn't treated like an afterthought relative to everything else on The Flash, the whole scene where Wally makes his peace when confronted by a hallucination of Jesse that he knows is a hallucination is just lazy writing that serves no purpose other than taking Wally out of play so he can't tie up the possessed Sara in two seconds.

It is worth noting that most D&D players do not dress up in costume to play the game.

Performances

Caity Lotz does a great job playing against her self, as she is tempted by the Death Totem.

Matt Ryan is once again amazing as John Constantine.

Jes Macallan does a fantastic job playing off of both Matt Ryan and Caity Lotz in this episode as Ava Sharpe.

Artistry

The production team did a great job establishing a spooky atmosphere on the Waverider set.

Trivia Of Tomorrow

The title of the episode is a riff on the 1984 action/romance/comedy Romancing The Stone.

Wally and Nate are sent on a mission to rescue a dog named Laika and return her to the Soviet Space Program. This is a reference to Laika - the first animal to orbit the Earth and prove that it was safe and possible for life to survive while traveling at the speeds necessary to achieve orbit.

When Zari and Amaya return from recovering The Mona Lisa, they say that they confirmed that The Mona Lisa was a self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci in drag. This is an actual theory proposed by real world art historians.

Ava's profile of John Constantine fits firmly in-line with John's background in the comics. John does have an older sister named Cheryl. Both of his parents are dead - his mother having died in childbirth and his father having been killed by a serial killer called The Family Man. Reference is also made to The Newcastle Crew and John's accidentally condemning a girl named Astra to Hell, as depicted in the Constantine TV series.

It is unclear if the DCTVU version of John Constantine's sister is named Cheryl or if his parents died in the same ways as in the comics.

When Ava tracks down John, he is living in an apartment in New York City which he claims to have won in a duel and helping a woman perform a ritual to find her son a wife. This seems similar to the setup of the comic Constantine, The Hellblazer, where John briefly lived in New York City and performed freelance works of magic to help people when he wasn't busy tending to more vital work.

John makes reference to being heavily under the influence of Ayahuasca. Also known as iowaska or yagé, Ayahuasca is an potent drink used as a traditional spiritual medicine in ceremonies among the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon jungle basin. Those who partake of it often report spiritual revelations regarding their purpose on earth, the true nature of the universe as well as deep insight into how to be the best person they possibly can. (Perhaps not coincidentally, John's first published adventure in the comics involved him taking a trip to the Amazon Jungle with Swamp Thing.)

John using psychedelic substances as part of his magic is a frequent occurrence in the comics.

The episode does make several references to the more recent editions of Dungeons and Dragons. These include referring to Constantine as a Warlock, which - in D&D - are magicians who work their magic by bargaining with mystical beings.There are also references to Wally West being a monk (warrior built around fast strikes and movement), Amaya being a druid (warrior/wizard who draws power from a bond with nature), Mick being a half-orc thief (half orcs are known for being crude and slow witted but powerful and quick to anger), Nate being a bard (warrior/wizard whose strength comes from their knowledge of history and lore) and Ray being a cheerful gnome who is also a mighty wizard. Zari is referred to as a sorceress - a magic user with a natural talent who typically draws power from their birthright.

Gary refers to his D&D campaign being centered around the search for six artifacts called The Swords of Sorrow. Perhaps not coincidentally, this was the name of a mini-series edited by writer Gail Simone (whose take on Black Canary informed most of Sara Lance's personality) and written by a number of female comic writers that saw various pulp heroines whose rights were held by Dynamite Comics (including Red Sonja, Dejah Thoris, Vampirella and many more) teaming up to recover the titular swords and fight an evil prince who drew power from the submission of strong women.

Several of John's lines in his conversation with Sara are taken directly from the comics. in Swamp Thing #37, he described himself as "a nasty piece of work" and in Hellblazer #41 he talked about walking his path alone.

The final scene of John playing D&D with Gary and his friends may be a nod to The Dresden Files - a series of novels based around a wizard/detective in much the same mold as John Constantine, who is also a old-school RPG gamer when he isn't busy fighting wicked faeries, vampires and demons.

Technobabble

Ray suffered a collapsed lung, three broken ribs and a shattered femur among other injuries after being attacked by Sara.

The Nostromo Sequence is a command programmed into Gideon and The Waverider which seals it off from the outside world and locks all the doors within it.

When Gary and Ava find John, he is chasing a live chicken around his apartment. This was apparently part of a ritual to help a woman find a wife for her son.

Zari can decouple the Jumpship from Gideon's mainframe so they can use it to escape The Waverider.

Normally when John Constantine draws a demon out of a possessed person, he has to use himself as a receptacle. Thankfully, John already has a direct spiritual connection to Sara's soul since they were lovers. This allows John to perform a ritual that calls upon Aken, the Ancient Egyptian ferryman of the dead, to take him to Sara in Mallus' realm. Ava is also able to make the journey since she and Sara are lovers.

John is able to track The Death Totem through time and space using a spell that requires a severed foot, a vile full of mothers' tears and his ruination stones.

Dialogue Triumphs

Amaya: With all these new anachronisms, the time tears are getting worse.
Zari: Yeah, I thought we were calling them "time cracks"?
Wally: What happens if we don't repair history?
Ray: Working theory? Time is frapped together like a smoothie. So instead of just dealing with Julius Ceasar in Aruba, we have to fight off Genghis Khan, a herd of woolly mammoths and a swarm of locusts from The Old Testament.
Nate: And Mallus is freed from Time Jail so he can rule over this giant mess.
Wally: Huh. So... worse than Flashpoint?
Ray: Is that what we're calling that thing that Barry did?
Wally: Mmm-hmm.
Ray: Uh - I think it's something similar.

(Sara hands out everyone's assignments.)
Sara: (tired) All right. That's it. No snazzy send-off. Mama's got a headache.
(Everyone leaves. Zari gives Sara a reassuring pat on the shoulder as she walks past. Nate does the same.)
Nate: Even when you don't try, you've still got it.

(Sara opens the lock box containing The Death Totem.)
Canary: It calls to you, doesn't it? The Death Totem chose you.
(Sara looks up at the voice. She sees herself in her costume as The Canary.)
Sara: You're...
Canary: You. After you died.
Sara: ...This is the Death Totem.
Canary: It yearns for a new bearer. Imagine all you could do with dominion over the dead. You could banish that little girl from your dreams.... bring back your sister.
(Sara looks down into the box but shakes her head.)
Sara: I'm no totem barer.
(Suddenly, The Canary is standing by Sara's side.)
Canary: You've conquered your demons. You're strong enough to wield it. Pick up the totem, Sara. It's the only way to defeat Mallus. The six totems need six totem bearers. Who else on your team was born to wield Death?
(Sara looks at The Death Totem in the open box... her hand slowly moving towards it...)

(The Legends have been locked in the med-bay by the possessed Sara.)
Mick: I'm going to kill that witch!
Amaya: If you kill her, then Sara dies too.
Mick: Better her than me!
Nate: Dude! How can you say that?
Mick: By moving my lips!

John: Are you guys from the housing co-op? Because it's perfectly legal to win an apartment in a duel.
Ava: We're here about Sara Lance.
John: Ah. (John takes the chicken from Gary and hands it to the woman) Right. Well, ah, Mrs. Veras, we will have to continue the ritual tomorrow, but not to worry, love. We'll have your son married in no time!
Mrs. Veras: Gracias, Senor Constantine!
(John closes the door and chuckles in a somewhat embarrassed manner to Ava.)
John: It's a gig economy. I have to take the work where I can find it, you know?

Ava: What do you mean you already have a link to Sara's soul?
John: Well, let's just say our souls have been one. Leaves a metaphysical connection, love.
Ava: Don't call me "love".
John: Oh, pardon me, pet.
Ava: Sara and I also share a very, very strong metaphysical connection, so...
(John ahs and nods silently.)
Gary: Wait... I can't believe.... you both slept with Captain Lance?!
Ava: Gary!
John: (slyly) Did we now? Well then, we both have excellent taste in damaged women.
Ava: Sara's not damaged!
John: Yeah, and I'm the bloody Pope.

John: There isn't exactly a paint-by-numbers spell for locating a spaceship floating in a temporal stream. My business card says "Master Of The Dark Arts." Not "Doctor Ruddy What's His Face."
Ava: Who?
Gary: Who?
John: Exactly.

Ava: Okay, so you have a foot, but you don't have a phone?! I - I just ... I really don't understand how Sara could have...
John: What? Shagged me in a mental institution?
Ava: Oh my God!
John: Oh, you have nothing to be jealous about.
Ava: I am not jealous! I'm just...
(Ava makes a gesture like she wants to strangle John, growls then sits down.)
Ava: Okay. Maybe I'm a little bit jealous.
John: Oh, we were just trying to find some calm in the storm.
Ava: I don't understand! Who sleeps with a warlock and then turns around and starts calling me her girlfriend?
Gary: She called you her girlfriend?
Ava: Yeah. And I really want to believe her...
Gary: ... but?
Ava: But I don't really think that Sara is a one-woman woman.
John: Well, if the price of admission is looking like a fool or getting your heart broken, then... well, I'd say Ms. Lance is pretty well worth it.
Ava: ... huh.

Gary: The Legends remind me of my D&D group. Don't laugh.
John: Too late.

(Sara takes the repaired Fire Totem from the nuclear reactor chamber.)
Amaya: This totem wasn't meant for me. You have to use it.
Mick: Forget it.
Amaya: You spent your entire life obsessed with fire and heat. What if this is the reason why?
Mick: How many times do I have to tell you?! I'm not a hero! Sara's a hero. And look what The Death Totem did to her.
Amaya: That was the work of Mallus. Most people who have seen what you've seen would have succumbed to darkness, but you didn't. You chose to become a Legend. You may try to hide it, Mick, but you're a good man.
Mick: What if you're wrong?
Amaya: (offers him the Fire Totem) There's only one way to find out.

Sara: (To Ava) You saved me again.
Ava: (glancing back to John and Mick) I had a little help.
(John throws a glance to Mick, who is still holding a fireball in his hand, transfixed by the flame.)
John: Well, while we're here... (coughs) A light?
(John puts a cigarette into his mouth and leans over the fire to light it.)

Sara: If you thought Mallus really would have freed Astra, you would have traded me, wouldn't you?
John: In a heartbeat. (pauses) Well, what can I say? I'm a nasty piece of work.
Sara: So am I.
John: But you survived, love.
Sara: For now.
John: You know, there's a reason why I prefer to walk this path alone. It's uh.. so I don't have to share with anyone how lost I really am. But you're not alone, are you, Sara?
Sara: Maybe I should be.
John: She's a good one. Try not to hurt her.
Sara: (quietly) That's what I'm afraid of.
John: Hmm.

Gary: So the question is... are you prepared to join us on this mission most deadly?
(Gary reaches across the table and opens his hand to reveal a twenty-sided dice. We pull back to see John Constantine sitting across the table from Gary. He takes the twenty-sided dice.)
John: Well tonight, squire... I'm all yours.

Continuity

Sara called out the name John in her sleep.

Sara tells Ava about how she slept with John Constantine but only sees him as a friend. This happened three weeks before she became serious about Ava.

Sara refers to Ava as her girlfriend.

The cracks/tears in the fabric of time in the temporal zone are getting worse.

Ray refers to the events of 301.

Wally refers to Barry Allen's alteration of the timeline, which resulted in the divergent dimension he called Flashipoint, in F301.

Mick sleeps in the nude.

Sara plans to go on a solo mission to save Einstein, who is stranded in The Ice Age.

For some reason, Mick refuses a mission to "rescue a Ruskie pooch."

Ray refers to 313 and the events that led to him retrieving the secret of cold fusion to repair The Fire Totem.

John Constantine does not currently (i.e. Spring 2018) own a phone.

Gideon is incapable of feeling rage.

Zari is claustrophobic.

While possessed by Mallus, Sara has the powers of telekinesis and teleportation.

The possessed Sara takes out Wally using the anti-speedster gun, first seen in 208.

John Constantine is 36 years old. He has an older sister and both of his parents are listed as deceased. His profile with The Time Bureau lists him as part of "The Newcastle Crew" and describes how he accidentally summoned a demon that dragged a girl named Astra Logue into Hell.

John is described as a true Warlock.

Gary Green plays a Level 9 Warlock in Dungeons and Dragons.

John Constantine now has an apartment in New York City which he won in a duel.

John learned what happened to the sixth lost tribe of Zambesi while heavily under the influence of Ayahuasca. (This seems similar to the tea made of the Lyoga Root from 303 used to enter the Zambesi Ancestral Realm.)

According to John, the sixth "lost" tribe of Zambesi were charged with stewardship over the realm of Death. They allied themselves with Mallus as the other five tribes moved to imprison him.

While not totally certain on this point, John believes that the sixth tribe's betrayal may have caused The Death Totem to have been corrupted by Mallus. He confirms that The Death Totem is inextricably linked to the demon now.

Zari used to read to her younger brother. His favorite story was "The Prince of Timbuktu".

Gary has an aunt named Stacy.

Gary likes Beebo.

Doctor Who exists in The DCTVU.

John kisses Gary, who does not seem at all repulsed by it.

The girl from Sara's nightmares is revealed to be the daughter of a man she killed while she was part of The League of Assassins.

Nathaniel is tormented with a vision of his grandfather, who refers to the events of 214.

Zari loves cats.

Ray was successful in repairing the Fire Totem.

Mallus impersonates Astra's voice in a bit to make John back-off of his exorcism ritual.

Sara offers John a bed on The Waverider. He says he's tempted to take it but reminds her that he prefers to work alone.

Sara theorizes that Mallus can attack a person by making them see their worst fears. In this case, Sara was tormented with the idea that she could never move beyond being a killer, Wally was confronted with the loss of the strongest love he had ever known, Zari was tormented by the brother whose death drives her and Nate was called a disappointment by the grandfather who was his inspiration.

Wally says he liked Sara with silver hair.

Sara breaks up with Ava, saying she doesn't deserve her.

The final scene depicts John playing Dungeons and Dragons with Gary and his friends.

Location

The Temporal Zone
New York City - 2018.

Untelevised Adventures

Zari and Amaya are sent on a mission to Billings, Montana in 1997 to recover The Mona Lisa before it winds up on an episode of Antique's Roadshow.

Wally and Nate go on a mission to rescue a dog named Laika and return her to the Soviet Space Program.

John learned the lost lore of Zambesi and the sixth tribe that was erased from oral legend while under the influence of Ayahuasca.

Once, while on a massive bender, John Constantine cast a spell on a Beebo toy to make it talk. The things it said made even his toes curl.

The Fridge Factor

Unfortunately, this episode brings back everyone's least favorite subplot - the idea that Sara has some kind of inherent darkness that has ruled her for her entire life - and runs with it to let Sara angst over how she doesn't deserve to be loved by a good person like Ava. While it is refreshing to see this sort of storyline with a female protagonist (usually only male superheroes are allowed to play the "I don't deserve you" card), it's still annoying that the writers can't think of any other way to develop Sara's character. At least we're spared hearing about how "Laurel had a light."

The Bottom Line

You know it's a great episode when they can bring back the idiotic idea of Sara having some inner darkness that can't be dispelled and it actually works. Chalk that up to some great acting from Caity Lotz, as Matt Ryan and Jess Macallan run riot over each other. The new Constantine series can't come fast enough and, a bonus, this episode came out the day it was confirmed that Legends of Tomorrow is getting a fourth season with Matt Ryan as a regular cast member. The only downside is that now I want to stat all the Legends characters for D&D.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

As tensions build between Jefferson and Gambi in the wake of the revelations of Gambi's role in the death of Alvin Pierce, Jefferson keeps trying to work to clear Black Lightning's name and train Anissa only to discover that Jennifer has begun to manifest super powers as well.

Influences

The Black Lightning comics of Tony Isabella.

Goofs

Some of the dialogue in this episode is extraordinary clunky in its exposition. ("Have you forgotten your father, Black Lightning, is being framed for a crime he didn't commit?')

It really doesn't help Black Lightning's case that he's innocent of murder if he's threatening to kill a prominent corporate lawyer with a lightning ball if he doesn't get help.

Performances

China Anne McClain manages to make Jennifer's fears over her powers relatable without making her seem like a self-absorbed brat. This is surprisingly realistic and her concerns over what her powers mean - like if she'll be able to have children like she wants to - explore a side of superheroes that is rarely explored.

Artistry

The final five minutes and the action sequence of Thunder and Black Lightning taking down the Green Light lab is probably the best the series has had yet.

Trivia

Jennifer makes a reference to Vixen - a DC Comics superheroine who draws her power from a necklace that lets her replicate the abilities of any animal. Two different versions of Vixen have been depicted in The DCTVU. It is unclear if Vixen exists on the same Earth as Black Lightning as a fictional character or if she is a real superheroine. The same is true of Supergirl, whom Lynn makes reference to.

Technobabble

Gambi looks for the manufacturer of a directed energy weapon that could mimic Black Lightning's powers.

Black Mamba venom is refereed to as the kiss of death. It is a fast-acting poison.

Dialogue Triumphs

Black Lightning: Yo... yo, you strike me as a good man. A good man who knows that a lot of the men he's working with ain't.
Inspector Henderson: You know, it's so easy for someone like you. There's no rules. No one to answer to.
Black Lightning: Yeah, well.. it ain't always easy, Brother. But neither one of us signed up for easy.

Lynn: I know exactly what you're going through.
(Jennifer rolls her eyes, sighs and sits up.)
Jennifer: Well, not unless you came in here to tell me you're Vixen.

Jennifer: Anissa, I don't want to be like this.
Anissa: This is who you are, Jennifer. This is who we are. And, listen, you can think of this as a burden. Or you can think of it as a gift, a blessing from God. Choice is yours. We are who we are.
Jennifer: But that's the point! The choice is not ours! We don't have a choice! Doesn't that piss you off, just a little bit?
Anissa: Not as much as the thought of a woman getting raped or beaten down because Thunder wasn't there to protect her.

Doctor: I'm not a bad guy! I'm a doctor! I just-
Black Lightning: Kill thousands of people every day with this poison you're making?

Continuity

Black Lightning refers to the destruction of the evidence that could have cleared him, which occurred in 108.

Jennifer smokes marijuana.

Anissa refers to how she broke her sink in 101.

Anissa refers to herself by the codename Thunder for the first time.

Anissa tells Jennifer that Jefferson is Black Lightning.

Alvin Pierce's file on the vaccine also contained references to a bribery case involving a local politician - Tobias Whale - along with the research regarding the vaccine.

Lynn makes reference to Vixen and Supergirl, like Grace did in 103. It is still unclear if these heroines exist in the same world as Black Lightning as real superheroes or as fictional characters.

There was a check to Alvin Pierce from BendsCORP in his files.

Alvin Pierce would say GTC instead of Gotcha.

The man Gambi shakes down for information about the weapons emulating Black Lighting's powers was named Thomas Hildago.

Anissa tells Jennifer about her physical fight with their father in 106.

Thunder has more fans on-line than Black Lightning.

The weapons dealer who has the special energy weapons is named Caleb Scott. He lives at 1245 Goff Avenue.

Gambi tells Anissa about his past with the ASA, though he does not identify them by name. He tells her about the lab he broke into and how he saw the bodies of some of the young people he helped to hunt down 30 years earlier.

Gambi gives Anissa the super suit he made for her.

Lynn confirms that she left Jefferson because of his being Black Lightning.

Anissa knows how to read lips.

The last time Jefferson and Jennifer watched a movie together was when she had the flu.

The Bottom Line

Another solid episode. It's a bit jarring not seeing Tobias Whale given his prominence in the early episodes, but the tight focus on The Pierce Family only helps to sell the drama. Despite this, the episode's final segment, in which father and daughter team up in the field for the first time as Thunder and Black Lightning is the best action sequence the series has seen yet.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

When Ava disappears, Sara and Ray set out to find her and discover a disturbing truth about her. Acting Captain Amaya puts Zari in charge of training Rory in the use of The Fire Totem, as Nate and Wally set out on a mission that goes awry when they pair with the most unlikely ally possibly.

Influences

The film version of I, Robot and the movie Blade Runner

Goofs

Shouldn't Amaya be more worried about a fight between two totem bearers on-board The Waverider?

Performances

Neal McDonough manages to find just the right mixture of comedy and pathos during Darhk's breakdown.

Maisie Richardson-Sellers doesn't get a lot of screen time in this episode but she sells the hell out of Amay's conflict in the final segment regarding the man she loves, the guilt she feels over Kuasa and all the responsibility that comes with her powers.

Trivia Of Tomorrow

The holographic commercial for the Ava Shape clone briefly includes a flash of the phrase "More Human Than Human." This was the motto of The Tyrell Corporation in the movie Blade Runner - the company that manufactured the super-realistic biological androids known as Replicants. The general theme regarding humanity existing within artificially created beings is also taken directly from the movie.

Damian Darhk says that watching the drama between Kuasa and Nate is better than "The Brave and The Bold."The Brave and The Bold, while sounding like the name of a soap opera (Darhk may have meant, The Bold And The Beautiful), is the name of a long-running DC Comics series that saw Batman teaming up with other superheroes. It was also the name of a long-running animated series devoted to Batman teaming with other superheroes.

Sara refers to the Ava clones as "fem-bots." This is a reference to the sexy female android assassins used by Doctor Evil in the first Austin Powers movie.

Technobabble

Ray Palmer is a capable enough hacker to break into The Time Bureau's computer.

Time Couriers keep a log of where they have been.

The Time Bureau has declared certain times and places to be "no fly" zones. Only The Time Bureau Director can sanction travel to one of these places. Time Couriers and The Waverider are programmed not to allow travel to time no-fly zones. Vancouver in 2213 is one such no-fly zone.

Ava was apparently created from what were believed to be the best genes from around the world to make the perfect woman.

Bylaw 575 prohibits unauthorized personnel from being inside the AVA Corp. labs, The penalty is death.

The Totems allow the bearers to sense when another Totem Bearer has died. In this case, Zari and Rory are able to sense the death of Kuasa.

Dialogue Triumphs

(Gary tells Sara and Ray about Ava's disappearance.)
Gary: I've already been covering for her! I've forged her signature twice! What am I supposed to do next?! Put on a wig and pantsuit and pretend I'm her?!
(Ray gives Gary the biggest side-eye glance ever as he looks to Sara as if to say, "Is he serious?")
Sara: No. Don't do that.

Wally: You're sure you saw Kuasa?
Nate: Yeah. Just be on the lookout for a badass in a leather outfit. Or a suspicious puddle of water.

(Ava's "parents" confess to being paid actors.)
Ray: Why in the world would you ever agree to be part of such a charade?
"Pam Sharpe": Do you know how hard it is to get an acting job in Fresno?!

Nate: I thought you hated Mari?
Kuasa: She's still my sister. And even though I resented her for inheriting The Anansi Totem, I'd still rather see it around her neck than Nora Darhk's.

(Wally asks why he can't just run to where the Darhk' are and swipe The Anansi Totem)
Kuasa: You overplayed your hand. Now they know you have a... whatever you are on the team.
Wally: What I am is the "fastest man alive", thanks.
Nate: Second fastest.
Wally: Shhh! She didn't need to know that.

(Nora has just given Kuasa The Anansi Totem)
Nate: (quietly) The plan worked. Free me.
Kuasa: I once thought that losing this totem was the greatest threat to me and my family. (looking down at Nate) But you are in love with my Nana Baa, and should she choose to love you in return, me and my sister will never even exist.
Nate: This is not the plan.
Kuasa: Plans change.
Damien Darhk: (whispering) This is better than The Brave and The Bold.
Kuasa: For a PhD, you're remarkably gullible.
Nate: Oh, Kuasa... you're better than this. Be the woman your grandmother believes you to be!
Kuasa: I am being the woman she knows me to be.

Nate: Your daughter, she looks - um - she look different. No offense.
Damien Darhk: (sighs while picking up a cattle prod) None taken.
(Damien zaps Nate with the prod. Nate howls in pain but Damien pulls the prod away and sighs, clearly not into it.)
Damien Darhk: Her face...
Nate: (choking) How long has that been a situation?
Damien Darhk: You know what? Since you're going to die, I may as well tell you. The-the closer that Mallus gets to escaping his prison, the worse the situation gets.
(Nate nods, looking up at Damien earnestly.)
Damien Darhk: It's... Don't. Stop looking... don't look at me! I'm just gonna... just gonna...
(Nate keeps looking at Damien and all but gives him puppy dog eyes. Damien sighs in frustration.)
Damien Darhk: I'm sorry! It's - it's not you! It's- It's me! Torture just doesn't bring me the same joy anymore!
Nate: It's okay! You're distracted! I get it! You made a deal with the devil, and now he's come back to claim your little girl Am I right?
Damien Darhk: Yes! I mean, I want to burn the world down and rebuild it in my image! Not lose the person I was doing it for!
Nate: (reassuringly) Damien, this is deep stuff, man. Let's just keep digging, let's just keep digging. Just do me one favor?
Damien Darhk: (half-sobbing) Yes! What?!
Nate: Can you lose the cattle prod? I mean, I'm gonna die anyway. Let's make this a safe space.
Damien Darhk: (nodding as he puts the prod down) Safe space.
Nate: Safe space.
(Damien takes a deep breath to calm himself and smiles.)

Amaya: How can you be so selfish?
Kuasa: You are the selfish one. Our family's destruction looms in 1992. You promised you'd save us. And yet you continuously search for ways to abandon your family and Zambesi.
Amaya: I have done everything in my power to try and redeem you! And in doing so, Mari got hurt. She understands that being a Totem Bearer means protecting all people - not just our own. It's no wonder this totem ended up with Mari and not you. You are beyond redemption.
(Kuasa says nothing but walks away.)

Sara: Ava. You are real. You are as real as I feel about you.
Ava: How can you say that when I'm just like one of those things?
Sara: Because I know you. And I know that you are a badass. And you are different. (pauses) And now that we both know that, I need you to act exactly like one of those clones if we want to get out of here.

Nate: I got Kuasa killed.
Amaya: (shaking her head) I got my granddaughter killed.
Nate: You... how?
Amaya: By goading her to be more like her sister. Kuasa wanted to prove that she was worthy of this. (holds up the Anansi Totem) She died proving that I was wrong about her, by saving the life of aman who threatened her existence.
Nate: Exactly! And if I didn't get captured, then Kuasa-
Amaya: - was doomed either way! I mean, that's how Time works. Well, clearly Time wants my family to suffer.
Nate: Amaya, you have to believe that you are in charge of your own destiny.
Amaya: You know, there are times I wish I'd never set foot on this ship? If I'd never left 1942, I would have returned to Zambesi like I was suppose to. With no idea of the tragedy that awaited me. I would have died an old woman.
Nate: Murdered by warlords. And you and I never would have met. (pauses) Is that what you want, Amaya?
Amaya: I don't know, Nathaniel.
(Amaya takes The Anansi Totem and leaves the library.)

Dialogue Disasters

(Ray, Sara and Gary discover that Vancouver 2213 is full of Ava Shapre clones)
Ray: What kind of world is this?
Gary: Paradise?
Sara: I'm surrounded by my exes, Gary... this is Hell.

Ray: This is the second worst "attack of the clones" I've seen.

Continuity

Sara takes a day off from the team to get her head together after the incident with The Death Totem and her break-up with Ava in 315.

Sara appoints Amaya as acting Captain while she's gone.

Zari doesn't eat pork or bacon and is fasting during the day for Ramadan.

Mick has been "training" himself by using the Fire Totem to grill hot dogs and make popcorn. He has also mastered a trick that requires someone pulling his finger that we do not get to see demonstrated.

Nate and Wally leave for Detroit 2018 to talk to Mari McCabe, who was injured while trying to evacuate an apartment building on fire. Amaya reasons that with Nora Darhk having stolen The Anansi Totem from her, the timeline must be starting to adjust to the fact that it was never there for Amaya to pass on to her daughter, ensuring it eventually went to Mari.

Gary refers to the death of Director Bennett at the hands of Gorilla Grodd in 313.

Ray determines that someone erased Ava Sharpe's employee profile from The Waverider.

Ava's trash can in her office has a birthday card from her parents in Fresno, California in it.

Ava's "parents" are named Pam and Randy Sharpe.

Sara figures out that Ava's parents are fakes based on a photo they say was taken at a slumber party held on Ava's 15th birthday, when Sara recalls Ava telling her in 312 that she spent her 15th birthday playing paintball.

Mick Rory has the eating schedule of a Hobbit, having four lunches.

Kuasa has been watching over Mari ever since Nora Darhk stole The Anansi Totem from Amaya.

Kuasa agrees to help Nate and Wally steal The Anansi Totem back.

Gary Green has astigmatism and was never authorized to fly the Time Bureau mothership.

The Time Bureau's mothership has the ability to travel to temporal No-Fly Zones without the Time Bureau Director's direct approval.

Ava turns out to be a clone created by a company called The Advanced Variant Automation Corporation (AVA Corporation.)

Gary has a fear of things covered in sheets.

Ava does not know about the clones of her in the future and faints when she sees a clone of herself being made.

Kuasa gives Amaya back The Anansi Totem.

Ava called her ex in Las Vegas and created an UpSwipz profile after Sara dumped her. This is where she was when she claimed to be in Fresno visiting her parents.

Mallus is apparently capable of draining The Speed Force from a speedster's body and throwing it back at them as lightning.

Kuasa returns to free Nate during the fight with Nora/Mallus.

Nora kills Kuasa by pulling The Water Totem from her body.

Ray erases Gary's memory of the events of the trip to 2213

Zari admits that part of the reason she keeps to her Muslim upbringing regarding dietary restrictions and fasting during Ramadan and cooking iftar is because it reminds her of her family.

Sara guesses that Rip Hunter was the one responsible for declaring Vancouver 2213 off-limits, hacking Ava Sharpe's personnel records and recruiting the actors who played Ava's parents.

The episode ends with Amaya taking the jump-ship to the M'Changa province of Zambesi in 1992.

Location

Detroit, Michigan - 2018
Time Bureau - Star City - 2018
Fresno, California - 2018
Vancouver, British Columbia - 2213

The Bottom Line

A mixed bag, overall. While the script generally does a good job of balancing all of its subplots, the plain truth is that the Mick/Zari subplot only seems to exist because the writers suddenly decided they needed to be more overt about Zari's religion and needed to give her and Mick something to do while Sara chased after her ex and Nate fell into an obvious trap. Still, the moments that are good are incredibly good but the episode still feels like a bit of filler apart from everything involving Amaya's conflict.

With Ra's Al Ghul's Amazo defeated, the time has come to rebuild. The first item on Bruce Wayne's agenda is reforming the alliance of independently wealthy idealists who can help him build a better world. Unfortunately, another meeting far closer to home will demand his immediate attention. One involving a family matter...

It becomes harder and harder for me to describe the story of Injustice 2 with every passing issue. I curse Tom Taylor for crafting these amazing cliffhangers I can't discuss as a critic, even as I rejoice in his storytelling as a reader. Suffice it to say that fans of The Bat Family will want to read this issue.

Thankfully, I have no such restrictions when it comes to this issue's artwork. Bruno Redondo is a fantastic visual storyteller, whose pencils are crystal clear yet divinely detailed. Juan Albararan's inks define and enhance the original pencils without obscuring them. Rex Lokus' colors provide the perfect finishing touch. This is one of the best looking comics on the market today!

The Final Analysis: 10 out of 10.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

Following up on Gambi's discovery, Black Lightning and Thunder investigate a mysterious lab which seems to be holding the cryogenically frozen first generation of Freeland's metahumans. Meanwhile, Lynn studies Jennifer in order to learn about her new powers.

Influences

The Black Lightning comics of Tony Isabella and the Milestone Comics Universe.

Artistry

The direction of the opening sequence with Thunder tracking an abducted kid and finding the lab Gambi spoke of is fantastic, well-shot and with a great musical accompaniment.

Trivia

While not referred to by name, thematically this episode seems to draw off of the general aesthetic of the Milestone Comics Universe. The idea of young people accidentally being given superpowers and then being quietly picked up by the government seems to mirror a similar plot thread in the comic book Static, in which teenagers gained superpowers when an experimental new tear gas proved to have unintended side effects.

Technobabble

Jefferson is able to use his powers to make a springboard of sorts that Anissa uses to jump and flip, so that she can deliver a more effective blow to the ground.

Jefferson can "feel" the presence of electrical currents with his powers. With the help of the goggles Gambi made for him, he can see them as well. He calls this "Electric Vision."

Jennifer's body chemistry disrupts an MRI.

Lynn compares Jefferson's powers to a battery - he takes energy in from the source, stores it and channels it. Jennifer's powers, by contrast, have turned her into a generator, with her cells creating pure energy.

Dialogue Triumphs

"Will": (whistles) Damn. You always mercing someone. Just like how you killed me.
Lala: I didn't do nothing to you but give you a job. Everything after that, you did to yourself.

(Jefferson has just told Lynn about his "Electric Vision".)
Lynn: Can you see through people's clothes?
(Jefferson just stares at her and then his gaze moves downward, as he smiles approvingly.)
Jefferson: Mmmmmaybe?
Lynn: Are you undressing me with your eyes?
(Jefferson just chuckles.)

Jefferson: Anissa told me what happened. Are you okay?
Jennifer: Yeah.
(Jefferson nods and watches her expectantly.)
Jennifer: (sighs) No.
(Jefferson sits on the foot of her bed.)
Jefferson: Look... I promise you, you will be. Ok? You will live the life that you want to live. Not the one Anissa or me or your mother or anyone else wants you to live. The life you want. But you have to learn to control your powers. Someone could get hurt.
Jennifer: I didn't ask for this.
Jefferson: I know (sighs) Believe me, I know. But you still have to deal with it.

(Two Bits is lighting up a marijuana cigarette. A bolt of electricity blasts it from his hand. He looks up to see Black Lighting.)
Two Bits: What-?
Black Lightning: We had a deal.
Two Bits: I'm following our deal! I said I wouldn't sell no more drugs and I'm not!
Black Lightning: You ain't supposed to smoke no drugs either.
Two Bits: It's legal, man! I got a card!
Black Lightning: Uh-uh. You ain't got a card from me.
Two Bits: (pauses) I hate you.
Black Lightning: No, you don't. I'm making you a better man.
Two Bits: I don't want to be a better man!
Black Lightning: Yeah, you do.

(Two Bits is telling Black Lightning about the military trucks he saw. Suddenly an air conditioning unit comes falling down above them, almost hitting them both. The look up to see a woman looking out the window at them.)
Two Bits: What the hell?!
Woman: Damn! I almost got you! I'm sorry, Black Lightning, but you're worth a lot of money.
Two Bits: They doubled the reward they put on you for killing Lady Eve. I'd take you in myself if I thought that I could... take you.
Black Lightning: I didn't kill her.
Two Bits: (laughing nervously) Okay. I believe you. But what I think don't matter. Man, you're doing too much. Maybe you should try keeping a low profile, you know?
Black Lightning: I don't do low profile.
Two Bits: Yeah. I see that.
Black Lightning: Stop smoking them drugs, all right? You need to do better.
(A microwave falls from the sky just barely missing Black Lightning and Two Bits again.)
Woman: Dammit!
Two-Bits: (to the woman) What is wrong with you?! (to Black Lighting) You've got people trying to drop microwaves on your head, and you're telling me to do better?!
Woman: He killed no one, but I've need my bills paid!

Malik: Where's everyone else at?
Jefferson: Behind that preposition?
Malik: What?
Jefferson: It is bad English to end a sentence with a preposition.
Malik: Oh. Where's everyone else at, brah?
Jefferson: Good. That's good.

Continuity

Two Bits is seen for the first time since 104. He witnesses a young girl who appears to be manifesting fire powers being grabbed off the street and put in a van.

Anissa tells Jefferson about the lab that Gambi discovered in109. She determined that the bodies of the metahuman children were in suspended animation.

Lala is now talking to his dead cousin Will, who he killed in 102.

Will's mother doesn't know that he's dead.

Lala develops another tattoo that looks like Will.

Jefferson tells Anissa about what Gambi told him about his past in 108 and the ASA project that accidentally gave kids superpowers.

Anissa tells Jefferson what Gambi told her - that he leveraged his knowledge to end the ASA program in Freeland and has been trying to make amends for his role in things since.

Two Bits tells Jefferson about the abducted metahuman girl. He says the uniform looked like it was from Jefferson's school.

The abduction occurred on 34th and Oglethorpe.

The missing girl's name is Neema.

Jennifer's powers are determined to be just like Jefferson's, after she sets a couch cushion on fire after she loses her temper.

Two Bits has been tracking the comings and goings of every delivery truck in Freeland since he was a teenager.

Gambi is abducted by The ASA. Martin Proctor from 108 leads the team that does it.

Two Bits has a prescription for medical marijuana.

The warehouse where the metahuman kids were being kept was on 12th street. They were moved by large, military trucks that didn't leave Freeland, but nobody saw where they went.

Jefferson approaches Malik - the boy who works for Lala as a drug dealer - who was last seen in 102. He offers to help Malik by finding a place for him and his grandmother to live if he'll come to the mentoring program at Garfield High at 10 am the next day.

Jefferson give Malik a book of poems by Langston Hughes and instructs him to read one poem a day.

Gambi says the ASA must have another spotter working in Freeland who is tracking the new metahuman kids and arranging for them to be abducted.

Lala begins to push the local drug dealers working for The 100 to sell cocaine and weed instead of Green Light.

Jefferson moves Lynn, Jennifer and Anissa into the house he grew up in, which was held in trust for him until he was 21.

The ASA Spotter is revealed to be Kara Fowdy - the Vice Principal at Garfield High.

Martin Proctor now knows that Jefferson Pierce is Black Lightning. He orders Kara Fowdy to kill him.

The Bottom Line

Another great episode. Though it's unclear where the subplot with Lala is going, it is engaging. More, it's nice to see some scenes here in which we see Jefferson being a hero outside of costume trying to save a young drug dealer from the dark path he was put on. The main plot is moving along nicely as well.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

Nyssa Al Ghul returns to Star City to warn Thea that a League of Assassins splinter group is coming to kill her. This new faction, The Thanatos Guild, also seeks a mysterious box that was created by Malcolm Merlyn. Meanwhile, Oliver comes to a realization about his life.

Influences

Raiders of the Lost Ark (the traps in Merlyn's hideout) The Benjamin Percy run on Green Arrow (evil group seeking to recruit or kill Oliver Queen's half sister) and the New 52 Batman books (heroes warring with League of Assassins splinter group)

Performances

Katrina Law is as amazing as always.

As far as final bows go, Willa Holland gives a good one. The only downside is there's no final moment with Quentin, who has been more of a daughter to him than anyone else the past two seasons.

Artistry

The fight sequences are well-choreographed, even by the usually high standards of this show.

Trivia

The Thanatos Guild is named for Thanatos, the Greek God of Death.

The plot of this episode borrows somewhat from the recent Batman comics, which have seen the heroes contending with Leviathan - a new secretive group of assassins that employs many former League of Assassins members, including Talia Al Ghul.

The plot also vaguely resembles a plot thread from the Green Arrow comics of Benjamin Percy. There, Emiko Queen was head-hunted by The Ninth Circle - a cabal of Satanic bankers with a long association with The Queen Family, who employed Emiko's mother Shado.

The ball-cap worn by Roy Harper in this episode has a distinctive crown-shape icon on the front. This resembles the ball-cap worn by Roy Harper as part of his Arsenal costume in the DC Comics Rebirth universe.

Technobabble

Spartan has thermal imaging scanners built into his new helmet.

Iodine Dixonium is a component that is magnetically attracted to the same type of steel Ra's Al Ghul used to encase relics.

The League of Assassins cipher is based on The Fibonacci Sequence - a mathematical pattern dating back to Pingala's Formula in 450 BC. The Fibonacci Sequence is that every number is the sum of the two starting numbers.

Felicity attempts to scan the map to create a 3-D voxel-based re-creation of the original parchment. This might reveal some hidden markers.

Felicity is able to locate a bomb by tracking the frequency root of the detonator.

The bomb has a collapsible circuit. Since it has a mercury switch, it cannot be frozen. It can be short-circuited with an electricity arrow.

Merlyn's map was made with nanolithography - printed with bacteria. When the enzymes in it are exposed to Thea's DNA, the map reveals itself. This is, according to Felicity, cutting edge science requiring an atomic force microscope to create.

Dialogue Triumphs

Nyssa: I would so relish slitting your throat, Athena.
Athena: One thing we have in common.
Nyssa: Except I've grown a taste for the contemporary...
(Nyssa holds up a detonator and grins.)
Nyssa: Such as plastic explosives.

(Roy and Thea are driving away through the streets of Star City.)
Thea: I can't believe we're actually doing it.
Roy: Yeah. I can't believe it either.
Thea:(purring) Happily ever after.
Roy: Yeah. (hesitatingly) Ever after.
Thea: Okay. That wasn't so convincing.
Roy: Look, Thea - I'm thrilled. I just don't want to jinx it.
Thea: Okay. And since when do you believe in superstitions?
Roy: Well, ever since I met your brother, there's not a lot I don't believe in.
(Thea scoffs as suddenly one of their tires blows out. We cut away to see Roy struggling to control the car as it spins out. Close-up on the front passenger tire, which has been shot by an arrow.)
Thea: Okay. Now I may believe it too.

Tigressa: Your father had much faith in you.
Thea: Yeah, well... with that new league he created running around, I can't say the same for him.
Tigressa: So you've met Athena. She's not the leader your father desired. You are.
Thea: Yeah, well, I'm sure death has cured him of his disappointment.

(Athena and her men are standing above a dropped Roy and Thea.)
Athena: Make your father proud! Come with us!
Thea: (weakly) Felicity? I know you were wondering...(suddenly stronger) it's from Raiders. (To Roy) Kiss the floor.
(Roy and Thea both lie flat as Thea hits the trigger panel next to her. The darts in the hallway go shooting into Athena and her soldiers. most of them dropping dead instantly.)

Oliver: Nyssa.
Nyssa: Husband.
Oliver: (forced chuckle) You've got to stop doing that. I... I do have a wife now and...uh... she doesn't like it.
Nyssa: But that's the fun of it.
Oliver: Thea may want you to stay. Doesn't mean you have to.
Nyssa: Her point about Felicity's utility was well taken.
Oliver: So was her point about wanting nothing to do with Malcolm.
Nyssa: It is her life and she must find her own truth.
Oliver: I think her truth is a new life. That she's earned.
Nyssa: She's earned your support for her actions. Whatever those may be.
Oliver: I can understand why she would be conflicted with Malcolm. He was her father. I am not conflicted. He was evil. And Thea should not be charged with writing his wrongs.
Nyssa: My father was also evil. And I've dedicated the rest of my life to righting his wrongs. From what I understand, you have done the same.
Oliver: But my father asked me to! With his dying wish, he asked me to!
Nyssa: Back on Lian Yu, Merlyn gave up his life for Thea. Just as your father did for you. I believe Thea owes him the same debt!
Oliver: Well, it is convenient for you to believe that. Because Thea gets you closer to what you want, so do not pretend that you are selflessly supporting her. And never, ever lecture me on what I owe my sister.

(Felicity explains the code for the League of Assassins' Puzzle Box and The Fibonacci Sequence)
Roy: Wow.
Felicity: Yeah.
Roy (To Nyssa) When you said ancient, you were not kidding.
Nyssa: I never kid.
Felicity: Except where my marriage is concerned, apparently.

(Felicity explains the horribly technical thing she is trying to do to an oblivious Nyssa. She is clearly reveling in Nyssa being unsure of something for the first time since she's ever known her.)
Nyssa: That sounds... complicated.
Felicity: It is. Very.
(Felicity turns back to her computer, still smiling.)
Felicity: So it would be really great to not be distracted. You know?
Nyssa: Very true. (pause) I'll stay here to make sure you remain uninterrupted. Sister-Wife.
Felicity: ... okay.

(Thea asks Oliver why he's still The Green Arrow when John wants to take the mantle from him.)
Oliver: I don't know. I - I - I gave it up because I wanted to be a better father. But... William accepts the idea that I'm The Green Arrow. Plus, I don't want to give it up. I don't know why.
Thea: I do. Because being The Green Arrow is what makes you feel complete. For some reason when you... you put that hood on, it enables you to become the best version of yourself.
Oliver: We're supposed to be talking about you.
Thea: Maybe we are. I don't know... Maybe that's the reason why I can't seem to give this... life up. I... (sighs) I dunno maybe I'm hoping that maybe I'll get the same thing... and find the best version of myself. Whoever she is.

Felicity: Don't forget guys - we have a bomb situation.
Roy: There's always a bomb situation!

Thea: One more piece of advice?
Oliver: Sure.
Thea: If you're going to wear that hood, you shouldn't string John along anymore.
Oliver: I thought I was the one who gave the wise sibling advice?
Thea: Nope. That has never been the case.

Continuity

The opening flashback from Four Years Ago with Thea talking to Merlyn took place in 223.

Nyssa Al Ghul is confirmed to still be alive following the events of Lian Yu's destruction. The last mention of her was in 601, where Slade Wilson said he saw her heading towards the cages to see if Artemis had survived the bombing.

Thea and Roy are planning to run off together, though they don't know where just yet.

According to Thea, Oliver was afraid of the dark and couldn't sleep without a light on until he was 16. Ollie says he just had a problem with pitch blackness.

Oliver makes reference to the two times he shot Roy Harper with an arrow in 208 and 220.

According to Quentin, Black Siren is as messy as Laurel but is a better cook.

Dinah and Curtis are working on figuring out which cops in the SCPD are working for Diaz, but Quentin fears that other parts of the city government might be under his control as well.

Quentin confirms that the Star City District Attorney is still going forward with the case against Oliver Queen being Green Arrow, even without Roy Harper as a witness.

One of the dirty cops working for Diaz is named J. Hester. Dinah recognizes him by sight from the fight to rescue Roy in 615. He is the tenth dirty cop Dinah has identififed.

Nick Anastas is an SCPD officer Curtis thinks is cute. He has no blackmail pressure points and hasn't had any odd deposits into his accounts that Curtis can track.

Curtis has been taking care of Zoe since 615. He cooks Macaroni and Cheese far too much for her liking.

Rene is supposed to be starting physical therapy soon.

The licene plate on Roy Harper's car is JJV-467.

The Thantos Guild was Malcolm Merlyn's attempt to reform The League of Assassins following Nyssa's disbanding them in 413. His second in command was a woman named Athena.

Athena was a rival of Nyssa's in The League of Assassins.

Merlyn found a map to something he wanted to unearth with Thea. The Thanatos Guild wrongly believe Thea to have the map or knowledge of where it is.

Merlyn had one female associate in Star City with whom he confided - Tigressa. She is an assassin with over 200 confirmed kills, including her own brother, whom she killed because he had matched her record. She claims to have rejected the path of The League of Assassins.

Captain Hill takes over a drug-related homicide which Dinah is investigating. This tips Dinah off that something strange might be going on, beyond her suspicion there's no way there can be this many dirty cops in the SCPD without the Captain being dirty as well.

The map is contained within a puzzle box made with an ancient cipher used by The League of Assassins. It utilizes 18 characters from three different alphabets.

Curtis is able to bluff his way into a tour with Officer Nick Anastas when he catches him standing watch outside the evidence room while Dinah is breaking into it.

The League of Assassins cipher is based on The Fibonacci Sequence - a mathematical pattern dating back to Pingala's Formula in 450 BC. The Fibonacci Sequence is that every number is the sum of the two starting numbers.

The starting numbers are 10 and 13. 1013 was the year The League of Assassins was founded. It is also, according to Thea, Malcolm Merlyn's birthday (October 13).

Roy Harper was always good at math.

Felicity holds the map close to a fire, hoping there is invisible ink in much the same way as utilized in other League of Assassins documents, such as The List from 106.

Nyssa was 25 when she first used a computer.

Curtis determines that the drugs Hill took from Dinah at the crime scene were Vertigo - not something Diaz manufactures. This suggests that Hill is clean.

Athena is able to escape despite an apparently fatal wound dealt by Thea.

The map requires Thea's blood as an agent to make the invisible ink visible.

The map shows a series of ley lines spanning the globe. There are three points which have the same confluence of ley lines as Nanda Parbat, suggesting that Merlyn discovered the location of three more Lazarus Pits.

Curtis asks Nick Anastas out to dinner. He says yes.

Dinah determines there are no cases involving Vertigo being handled. This means that Diaz is now selling Vertigo and that Captain Hill is working with him.

Thea decides to go with Nyssa to destroy The Lazarus Pits. Roy decides to go with them.

Nyssa gives Oliver a dagger that symbolizes the cutting of marital bonds among The League Of Assassins members. This officially annuls their marriage.

Location

An unnamed castle run by The Thanatos Guild.

The Bottom Line

A marked improvement over most of the episodes of the second half of Season Six, but that's likely due to the fact that it has nothing to do with the on-going story of Season Six. Even the bits with Dinah and Curtis investigating the SCPD seem far removed from the on-going story since it doesn't involve them butting heads with the Original Team Arrow and there's no Black Siren getting in the way.

This episode is almost entirely devoted to giving Thea Queen a proper send off . It does the same for Roy Harper and Nyssa Al Ghul to a lesser degree, but this is honestly Willa Holland's swan song and she makes it clear just why she was so essential to this show's success. Of course the show hasn't given her much to do in recent episodes but at least she's been given a good send off with a chance of coming back later.

Unfortunately, the preview for next week indicates more stupid bickering and heroes fighting heroes while the villains get away with murder. For this week, however, Arrow was good.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

With the timeline barely stable and Mallus about to break free, The Legends have their hands full. As Wally and Nate try to stop Amaya from changing her own future, the rest of The Waverider crew will recruit a most unlikely ally in the battle against Mallus after thwarting Gorilla Grodd's attempt to assassinate a young Barack Obama.

Influences

The Lord of The Rings (references to the movie and the whole plot does center around the retrieval of magical jewelry to stop the release of a great evil who takes possession of people.)

Goofs

Grodd is oddly resistant to fire, surviving two point-blank blasts from Mick Rory's Heatwave gun.

The old age make-up used to turn Maisie Richardson-Sellers into "Old Amaya" is pretty lousy.

Performances

There is something about the way Dominic Purcell says "Boss?" when he's questioning Sara as to whether or not he should just kill Damien Darhk when everyone except Sara is giving him reasons not to. While it's understandable that Mick would ignore Ava as an authority figure and Rip as someone who has betrayed him more than once, that one word speaks volumes about Mick's respect for Sara and his acceptance of her as a leader.

Caity Lotz and Neal McDonough steal this episode. Usually their individual performances will be the best aspect of any given episode buy the way they play off of each over is smooth as silk.

Artistry

The special effects work for Grodd is top-notch for television quality.

Trivia Of Tomorrow

John Noble is an Australia actor and director, best known for playing the role of Denethor in The Lord of The Rings trilogy. He has provided the voice for Mallus throughout Season 3 of Legends of Tomorrow, but appears in this episode playing himself on the set of The Lord of The Rings in 1999.

This is not John Noble's first time appearing in a DC Comics related production. He also provided the voice of The Scarecrow in the video game Batman: Arkham Knight and voiced Brainiac in the animated movie Superman: Unbound.

Ray tells a terrified Barack Obama to "Run, Barry, Run." This is a callback to a repeated line from The Flash, where Barry Allen is told to, "Run, Barry, Run."

Zambesi is described as being 14 km west of Mount Kilimanjaro. In our Earth, this would place it the middle of north-eastern Tanzania. This matches the description of Zambesi given in Animal Man #10, which said that Zambesi lay in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro.

The exact location of Zambesi has changed throughout comics history. It is generally described as being in Central Africa, but has also been described as being in West Africa along what was called "The Slave Coast". Confounding matters is the fact that there is a real world Zambesi River which flows through Zambia and Zimbabwe in East Africa. Further complicating things is that the mythology behind The Anansi Totem is based around the legends of The Ashanti - a people based in West Africa - but the name of Vixen villain Mustapha Maksai is Swahili - a language based in East Africa!

Originally, Vixen's home country was called D'Mulla in her first appearance in Canceled Comics Cavalcade #2. It was later changed to M'Changa in Justice League of America #234, with her tribe being referred to as The Zambesi Nation for the first time in Animal Man #10 and eventually just being called Zambesi. The Vixen animated series reconciled this by saying M'Changa was the name of a province within Zambesi.

John Noble tells Ray to tell Peter Jackson that he is sick of eating chicken, having eaten four whole chickens that morning. One of the more famous scenes of Lord of The Rings has Denethor eating chicken rather messily while Pippin sings for him.

Technobabble

John Constantine gave Ray instructions for a magic spell that could be used to contain a hostile magician. It requires a magic circle with an ankh. One of the ingredients needed is bat spleen.

According to Damien Darhk, The Death Totem was drawn to Sara because she had died and come back from the dead. He says that he can wield The Death Totem for the same reason.

Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon.

Water is crucial to life on Earth.

The human body is made up of 60% water.

The Earth Totem does allow its bearer to reshape the ground around them. Previously, we had only seen it being used to control plants.

Dialogue Triumphs

Nate: Code 1-3-1?! Come on, guys! I wrote a whole memo!
Sara: Yeah. Nobody read it.
Ray: I did!
Nate: Thank you, Ray!
Ray: Pancakes for breakfast!
Nate: (frustrated) No! 1-3-1 is not... (suddenly uncertain) Is it?!
Ray: Yeah. (pauses) Does this mean no pancakes?

Nora Darhk: (gasping) I can feel his arrival.
(Nora begins to move around the altar, making the kind of moans that a father does not want to imagine his daughter making, much less hear, as Damien Darhk stands in the background looking horrified and disgusted.)
Damien Darhk: (sarcastically) Oh goodie.

(Barack Obama looks up at the stunned Grodd, clearly terrified.)
Ray: Run, Barry, run!

Rip: I must say it has been such an honor, Barack.
Barack Obama: Oh, I go by Barry.
Sara: I really like Barack.
Barack Obama: Well, Barack is what it says on my birth certificate.
Sara: Yeah... you might want to hold on to that.

Sara: The hardest thing I ever had to do in my life was let Darhk live. And now he's back. And it is taking every ounce of self-control not to kill him. And I keep asking myself... why?

Rip: Where are you going?
Sara: To go talk to someone who can think straight when the world has gone crazy!
(Cut To: Barry Obama's dorm room.)
Barack Obama: So, what you're saying is... you won't aid the man who killed your sister, even if it will prevent Mollusk from escaping-
Sara: Mallus
Barack Obama: - from escaping an inter dimensional prison. And wreaking havoc across time?
Sara: Yeah, when you put it that way it DOES sound kinda petty.

Sara: (smiling at Barack Obama) I really miss you.

Sara: I want you to listen to me carefully. I don't believe for a second that you've changed. You're still the same cowardly son of a bitch that put an arrow in my sister. But I will work with you to defeat Mallus under one condition. After this is over, I'm putting you back in the ground where you belong.
Damien Darhk: Deal.
(Sara scuffs the chalk marks of the magic circle. Damien offers her his hand and they shake.)

Ray: What if we just ask Nora nicely? I did have a bit of a connection with her in Berlin.
(Damien growls at Ray while glaring at him.)
Ray: Not that kind!
Sara: All right. Maybe she'll listen to her dear old dad?
Damien Darhk: Not anymore. Nora only listens to Mallus now. He's always in her ear.
Ray: That's it! What if I get inside Nora?!
(Damien growls at Ray while glaring at him.)
Ray: Not like that! What if I shrunk down, flew into her ear, and pretended to be... (puts on a deep scary voice) Mallus?!
Damien Darhk: New guy on the team here. Is that a joke plan or a real plan?
Ava: We are so screwed.

Damien Darhk: Nora's gone. It's just Mallus now. You must be enjoying this, seeing your nemesis with a broken heart?
Sara: I didn't know you had a heart to break. (pauses) Where was it the night you murdered my sister?
Damien Darhk: Look, what I did was unforgivable. But back then I hadn't loved anyone enough to understand the pain that I caused. Not that it's any comfort, but if I could take it all back... I would.
Sara: We all have regrets. But we can't undo the things that we've done.
Damien Darhk: True. But even the worst of us can be made whole again. You, for example. From League to Legend. Killer to Captain. That's not a bad makeover, is it?
Sara: It's not good enough.
Damien Darhk: Why? Because you put on The Death Totem and almost killed your entire team?
Sara: Yes!
Damien Darhk: But you didn't, did you. And you know why? The same reason I'm spilling my guts out to a woman who has imagined my death a thousand times over!
Sara: (quietly) More like ten thousand.
Damien Darhk: Love, Sara! Because without it, people like us? We're left alone with the darkness. (pauses) That's not good for anyone, is it?

Nate: You couldn't be selfish if you tried. See that boomin' granny over there? (nods to the older Amaya) She doesn't remember me. Or The Legends. You know why that is?
Amaya: I must have erased my memory...
Nate: And why would you do that?
Amaya: Because if I chose to came back here, after everything we've been through, then... erasing you would be the only way that I could be the protector my people deserve. Otherwise, I'd always be split in two. And part of me would be in love with you.

Sara: Ava! Please! Just trust me.
Ava: You don't understand! This plan breaks every rule in every book and all I have right now are the rules. Okay?
Sara: You have me.
(Sara kisses Ava passionately.)
Ava: What are you doing?
Sara: I'm admitting something that could save us both... I love you.
Ava: ...there is no me to love.
(Ava steps through her Time Corridor, leaving Sara alone.)

Damien Darhk: (To Sara) You literally stabbed me in the back!
Sara: It only seemed fitting. You're lucky I wasn't aiming for your heart.

Dialogue Disasters

Grodd: Time to make America Grodd again!

Continuity

Mick is in the middle of marathon-viewing The Lord of The Rings movies as the episode opens.

Nate wrote a series of codes for The Legends to use in a crisis situation. Only Ray read the memo and he composed a song to help people remember the codes. Despite this, even Nate can't remember whether Code 131 means "all hand to the bridge" or "pancakes for breakfast."

Code 111 means "Mallus has escaped the time dungeon."

Zari uses her Temporal Simulator to try and find a loophole that will help Amaya save her family but keep the timeline intact. She fails to find one.

Mick makes reference to 307 when he confronts Grodd, saying he should have killed Grodd in Vietnam.

Ray makes reference to 302, saying he thinks they still have some chew-toys on the ship from when they had the saber-tooth tiger, after shrinking Grodd.

Nate uses the alias Andy Watkins when he visits Amaya's village in 1992, claiming to be a PhD student doing history research. Wally is Darren Applebottom - a talent scout for The New York Knicks.

Code 222 means "We're screwed no matter what we do."

Damien Darhk gives The Legends The Water Totem as a gesture of good faith and consents to be locked inside a magic circle. Sara still gives Rory the order to kill him in spite of this.

Amaya discovers that her daughter, Esi, rejected the right to become a totem bearer and take up her role as the protector of their people in 1992.

Wally refers to the events of F301 and how Barry Allen changed the past, creating the divergent Flashpoint timeline when he stopped his mother's murder.

Sara refers to 217 and how the hardest thing she had to do in her life was restore Damien Darhk to his proper place in history, knowing he would go on to kill her sister.

Damien makes reference to The Time Bureau's failed plan to take down Nora Darhk before she got the power upgrade from Mallus in 305.

Ray refers to his brief bonding with Nora in Berlin in 313

After hearing the voice of actor John Noble as Mick is watching Lord of The Rings, The Legends go to New Zealand in 1999 to get John Noble to record some convincing dialogue for Ray's Mallus impression.

Old Amaya has no memory of her time with Nate or The Legends. This suggests that her memory was erased before she returned to Zambesi in 1942.

Rip reveals that he has recruited several Ava clones for The Time Bureau. He says that Ava Sharpe is exceptional, but Ava does not give him a chance to explain why.

Ava Sharpe is the 12th Ava Clone recruited for The Time Bureau.

Sara suggests letting Mallus break free so they can use The Zambesi Totems to kill him, reminding everyone that Constantine said the only reason the Totem Bearers couldn't kill Mallus and had to settle for trapping him in time was because The Death Totem betrayed them.

Damien Darhk is given The Death Totem.

Rip is fired from The Time Bureau.

Nate takes up The Earth Totem.

Nate watched all of the Planet Earth series on Blu Ray while stoned.

Ray takes up The Water Totem.

This makes the roster of Totem Bearers...
Earth: Nate
Fire: Mick
Air: Zari
Water: Ray
Spirit: Amaya
Death: Damien

Damien has a vision of Nora saying that Mallus hasn't killed her yet and it's not too late to save her.

Damien releases Grodd on Amaya's village. This destroys the village, keeping history intact despite Esi stopping the warlords.

Nate saves Esi from Grodd, managing to get The Earth Totem to let him create a wave of Earth that knocks Grodd flying several hundred feet.

The older Amaya recognizes Nate after taking a blow to the head after being hit by Grodd.

Sara stabs Damien in the back allowing Ray to take The Death Totem from him.

The episode ends with Mallus breaking free, manifesting as a large bat-winged monster.

Location

Occidental College - Los Angeles, California - 1979
Zambesi - 14 km west of Mount Kilimanjaro - 1992
New Zealand - The set of The Lord of The Rings - 1999

The Crisis Factor

The only reason Damien is put in a position to betray the team is because Sara manages to put her hatred and rightful distrusting of Damien aside long enough for him to get to that position.

The Bottom Line

A fitting penultimate chapter for the season, silly and touching in equal measure with most of the meta jokes working well. The Nate/Amaya subplot seems to get buried under everything else, sadly, but the Sara/Damien conflict is so strong you almost don't mind Sara's apparently out of character decision to trust Damien with The Death Totem. (Personally, I think she was just looking for an excuse to kill him and figured that if he upheld his end of the bargain, she got to kill him and if he double crossed them, she got to kill him slow.)

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

As The ASA begin to suspect that Jefferson Pierce is Black Lightning, they arrange to have him arrested. Lynn seeks help from Inspector Henderson, as Gambi and Anissa work together to show the public that Black Lightning is still running around the streets of Freeland.

Influences

The Black Lightning comics of Tony Isabella.

Performances

Cress Williams' performance here is easily his strongest to date as Jefferson Pierce. The non-verbal acting as Jefferson is dehumanized during his arrest and time in jail is fantastic. There's another great moment as you can feel his shame when he is given a chance to come clean to Inspector Henderson about being Black Lightning, declines to take it, and Henderson says he's going to help him anyway even though he knows that something is being hidden from him... all conveyed without a word.

Artistry

The direction of the second segment in which Jefferson is arrested is amazing. The cinematography and use of music - an ironic recording of This Land Is Your Land - is easily the strongest moment yet in the series' history.

Trivia

The original Black Lightning comics also saw Inspector Henderson working against corrupt cops in his own department.

Technobabble

One of the older metahuman captives shows abnormalities after being moved. An ASA scientist says that the internal temperature fluctuations are affecting their vital signs. He thinks this is a result of moving them on back-to-back days, but that things should stabilize now that they are powered on in a new location with a consistent pod temperature.

Gambi hacked a nuke-tracker satellite to detect an abnormal energy field in Freeland.

Jefferson's "electric vision" doesn't work through grounded security doors.

Gambi guesses that The ASA figured out how he was tracking the life-support pods and found a way to shield them from a satellite scan.

Even with the pods being shielded, Gambi thinks he can locate them by using a radio signal. The energy signature of the pods will light up once the radio signal hits them.

Gambi developed a subperiosteal hematoma as a result of his recent injuries.

Gambi develops a prototype hologram projector in half a day using parts he cannibalized from The Sanctum.

Dialogue Triumphs

(Gambi asks Anissa to keep a close watch on Jefferson.)
Gambi: Make sure he makes good choices, okay?
Anissa: How exactly am I supposed to do that?
Gambi: Trust your instincts.
Anissa: (frustrated) Come on. Make it plain, Uncle Gambi!
Gambi: Anissa. Look at your father. And your father's father. Protecting people is in your blood. There are certain things no one can train you for. Everything you need is already inside you.

(As the police are leading Jefferson away, a group of young men block the exit.)
Tavon: Well, ya'll not just gonna take Mr. Pierce.
Cayman: Look, son. This ain't no rap video. Step aside!
Tavon: Hey, look - my daddy's last name is Lamont and you damn sure don't look like a Lamont.
Jefferson: Tavon. No one wants to see another black man in cuffs today. You want to help? Keep doing what you're supposed to be doing and make sure all the other students do the same. Can I count on you?
(Tavon nods.)
Jefferson: I didn't hear you, Tavon.
Tavon: (loudly and clearly) Yes, sir. You can count on me.
(The young men break ranks. Jefferson nods at the police as they escort him outside.)

Inspector Henderson: Lynn, look at me. (pauses) Do you trust me?
Lynn: No. But I know Jefferson does.

Lynn: I know you're scared. It's okay to be scared.
Jennifer: I'm not. (scoffs) Dad told me to be strong for you.
Lynn: It's okay to be strong and scared at the same time. It's called having sense.

Jefferson: I don't know how things are going to be moving forward.
Gambi: I don't expect you to forgive me.
Jefferson: I might not be able to. But I still can't forget what you've done for me. For my family. (pauses) I want to find a new balance. Somehow.
Gambi: ... okay. Just let me know what you need from me.
Jefferson: I need you to help me save those children.
(Gambi nods.)

Continuity

One of the captive metahuman is experiencing complications after being moved.

Kara Fowdy has some kind of quota for tracking metahuman kids with The ASA.

Black Lighting blows up one of The ASA armories that is full of anti-Black Lighting weapons.

Kara Fowdy still refuses to believe that Jefferson is Black Lightning, but agrees to move against him when pressured by her bosses.

Gambi has had several subperiosteal hematoma in his life.

Deputy Chief Cayman - the crooked cop working for Tobias Whale - is who Kara contacts to set up Jefferson.

Jefferson tells Anissa about the events of 109 and Gambi's being tortured by The ASA.

Despite acknowledging that Gambi didn't give him up under torture, Jefferson still doesn't trust Gambi completely anymore.

The problematic captive metahuman dies.

Jennifer just got her driver's license.

Jefferson drives a blue Volvo wagon.

Jefferson is framed for possession of Green Light.

The full name of the girl who Two Bits saw getting abducted in 110 is revealed as Neema Summers.

Gambi calls his base under his tailor shop The Sanctum.

Henderson calls in a lifetime of favors to determine that Detective Glennon, who was working with Deputy Chief Cayman on Jefferson's case, is on the take and that his son paid cash on constructing a brand new house.

Henderson tells Glennon he doesn't want him - he wants his help bringing down Deputy Chief Cayman.

Kara Fowdy pleads with her bosses to free Jefferson Pierce after Black Lightning and Thunder are seen chasing a car while Jefferson is in jail. She is told to mind her own business.

Glennon confesses to planting the evidence in Jefferson's car at Cayman's direction.

Henderson arrests Chief Deputy Cayman.

Jefferson is cleared of all charges.

Henderson is promoted to Deputy Chief of the Freeland Police Department.

Gambi joins The Pierces for dinner and leads them in prayer before the meal.

The Bottom Line

Another solid episode. Possibly the best one to date. Everything works perfectly.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

Oliver and John come to blows when Oliver reveals his reluctance to surrender the mantle of Green Arrow as planned. Meanwhile, Black Siren continues to manipulate Quentin Lance while working for Ricardo Diaz and Curtis's new romance hits a snag when he discovers his new cop boyfriend is strongly against vigilantism.

Influences

The Green Arrow comics of Judd Winick (heroes fighting each other, the villains being three steps ahead of the heroes at all times...)

Goofs

The idea of Quentin home-law-schooling Black Siren to the point where she can pass herself off as a lawyer is perhaps the most idiotic development yet in the Black Siren story arc. (Then again, given what a crappy lawyer Laurel was, it might not require much acting or studying.)

Black Siren - apparent career criminal all her life - keeps the name of Ricardo Diaz saved on her cell phone as "Ricardo Diaz".

John's sudden change in attitude does not make one lick of sense. He says it himself in his conversation with Lyla - he has no idea why he is acting the way he is.

Stephen Amell and David Ramsey have given some wonderful, understated performances during their time on Arrow. Then there's their Shatner-esque shouting match in this episode building up to their fight.

Apparently having Oliver Queen impeached was not part of Diaz's plan, as the impeachment plot is all Black Siren's idea. What then, was the point of everything they've been setting up involving having Oliver Queen put on trial for being The Green Arrow?

Performances

Emily Bett Rickards does a great job going into "mom mode" and reading Oliver and John the riot act when they are fighting.

Artistry

The sequence in which Green Arrow and Spartan destroy the Vertigo lab is good.

Trivia

There are elements of Dennis O'Neil's run on Green Arrow here, with John's drug use driving a wedge between himself and Oliver in much the same way that Roy Harper's drug use drove a wedge between himself and Oliver Queen.

Technobabble

Oliver makes use of a new explosive trick arrow that breaks when shot, releasing several small explosive balls like buckshot, that spread out, creating a series of small explosions.

Vertigo is flammable in its liquid state.

Dinah's Canary Cry is revealed to be strong enough to break through a solid wall, as she clears a path for herself and the cops to escape from Diaz' ambush.

Dialogue Triumphs

John: The city needs the mayor now more than it ever did!
Oliver: (clearing his throat) It also needs The Green Arrow.
(There is a long pause.)
John: And that's not me anymore?
Oliver: I've been waiting for the right moment... the appropriate moment to tell you. I'm not giving up the hood.
John: I guess I should have taken the hint the way you kept putting me off, right?
Oliver: You know, John - this team? This mission? It's all of us. You helped build it. I don't understand why it matters what somebody is wearing.
John: ... I guess it doesn't.
(John exits the room.)
Felicity: That's the moment you were waiting for? That one?
Oliver: At least now he knows. (sighs) John's an adult, Felicity. He'll be fine.
Felicity: I hope so.

(Anatoly kills the cop to whom Diaz is talking. The shots are precise, killing him instantly.)
Diaz: You didn't want to torture him a bit? Maybe slit his throat? Whatever happened to all that Russian vengeance I've heard so much about?
Anatoly:(gestures to his clothing) Is new suit!

Oliver: John is not going to get bent out of shape over a uniform.
Felicity: ... he's a soldier, Oliver!

Oliver: Thank you both for coming.
D.A. Armand: I have to say, Mr. Mayor, I'm more than a little uncomfortable meeting with you without your attorney present.
Oliver: (grinning wickedly) Well, it's not about the case, Sam. It's about the two of you working for Ricardo Diaz.

(Oliver offers to help Diaz and Hill with their families.)
D.A. Armand: The idea of you protecting anyone is a joke! The whole force is under Diaz's thumb! (sarcastically) Or were you offering your protection as The Green Arrow?
Oliver: (quietly) If I was The Green Arrow, I don't think you'd want to be in this room right now.

John: Truth is, Oliver, you have become a better man, but with your focus split, a worse leader. The Green Arrow allows you to become the best version of yourself, and I respect that. I respect you. But if I'm gonna be the best version of myself... Oliver... it can't be with you.

Dialogue Disasters

(In which Oliver speaks on behalf of the viewers.)
Ollie: John, what's going on with you? First you were mad at me because you're not The Green Arrow. And that is - that is - that is WAY out of character for you, my friend.

(On Black Siren's studying Laurel Lance's law books.)
Diaz: Don't waste your time. People like us don't learn the law. People like us - we are the law.

Continuity

The Orchid Bay Night Market runs three-blocks, east-west, along Arguelo Street. Anatoly has being using an alley there as a drop point.

Dinah only knows seven cops in all of the SCPD she is certain aren't dirty.

Anatoly is arrested for Possession of Narcotics with Intent To Distribute

Curtis is still taking care of Zoe.

D.A. Armand dismisses the charges against Anatoly due to their not being a warrant for his arrest issued when Dinah's team of cops caught him. This causes Dinah and Oliver to figure out that Armand is also working for Ricardo Diaz.

The first cop Diaz and Anatoly kill personally is Martain Hurst - a six-year veteran of the SCPD.

Curtis determined that Diaz's Vertigo operation is making over one million dollars a day.

Curtis has been on three dates with Nick Anastas since 616.

Captain Hill reveals that she got an e-mail showing that her family was under surveillance the day after she was promoted.

D.A. Armand's son has Stage IV leukemia and even with the city's health insurance plan,he can't afford the treatments without Diaz's money.

Oliver fires both Captain Hill and D.A. Armand.

Black Siren has never had a real job in her life and isn't even sure how to write a resume.

Quentin has kept a hold of all of Laurel's textbooks when she went to law school.

Black Siren is still keeping in touch with Ricardo Diaz by text.

One of Ricardo Diaz's suppliers is a man named Marshall Katz.

Katz is killed by his lady friend, who it turns out is in the employ of Diaz.

Black Siren is fully recovered from her injuries 614.

Lyla just now found the gift John brought to her office back in 609. She also found how he hacked her computer in order to steal the nano-aluminum amplifier.

Lyla suggests that the reason John is upset about not being Green Arrow is that he thinks that all the bad things that happened wouldn't have happened if he hadn't had to step down due to his nerve trouble.

One of Dinah's clean cops turns out to be dirty and shoots Curtis. He also told Diaz about where Dinah was hiding the clean cops.

Nick Anastas discovers that Curtis is Mister Terrific after he opens Curtis' shirt to find he's wearing his Mister Terrific armor underneath... and when the T-spheres move to help protect them.

John quits Team Arrow.

Captain Hill fired Dinah, Nick and every cop that wasn't on Diaz's payroll before clearing out her desk.

Nick is unsure how he feels about vigilantes but does know how he feels about Curtis.

Lyla offers John a job working with ARGUS.

Armanda and Hill call a press conference claiming to have been fired by Oliver Queen as an effort to stonewall the investigation into his being Green Arrow. They say that this is an impeachable offense that can drive him from office.

Black Siren apparently had the idea to try and get Oliver impeached from studying Laurel's law books.

It is confirmed that Diaz and Black Siren are lovers and that she is done pretending to be Laurel Lance.

The Winick Factor

Diggle is taken for a ride on the plot railroad so that they can continue to force this narrative that Oliver Queen drives everyone away from him

The Bottom Line

You know we're in for a bad time when half the dialogue seems to be the actors complaining about how terrible the writing is. I honestly don't know how this show got renewed for a seventh season at this point.

The trailer for next week looks even worse, somehow, with Felicity - who ended this episode telling Oliver she'll stay with him forever, suddenly saying they need some time apart.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

With Mallus freed, Rip Hunter becomes determined to improvise a new plan that doesn't involve using the six Zambesi totems. Amaya, in turn, becomes more determined than ever to use the totems to destroy Mallus once and for all while Sara wants to seek out new bearers. It all leads down to a Legendary showdown in The Wild West... but not everyone may be making it out of this fight.

Influences

Weird Western Tales (the general theme), every cartoon that involves the themes of the heroes combining positive energy and elemental powers for an ultimate attack and the movie Ghostbusters (the team goofball causes an elemental being to manifest in a silly form.)

Goofs

With all the references to Care Bears and Voltron, they really should have dropped a reference to Captain Planet too. (Elemental jewelry being used to summon a perfect being?)

Performances

It's a brief thing, but the short scenes of Tala Ashe and Johnathon Schaech as Zari and Jonah Hex become friendly (despite Zari's obvious aversion to a man who wears a Confederate officer's hat) are magical.

Artistry

The final battle between The Legends and Malice's forces is perfect.

The CGI for the battle between Malice and The Perfect Being, while not wholly realistic, does work for what it is.

Trivia Of Tomorrow

The title is a parody of the classic Western The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

This episode reveals that Mallus' true name is Malice. Strangely enough, there is a long history of comic book villains named Malice, but only one of them is from DC Comics. These include two Black Panther villains, an evil secondary personality of The Invisible Woman, an alternate universe version of The Invisible Woman, a body-less X-Men villain who possessed others, a Ghost Rider enemy and two characters from two separate Image Comics series. The DC Comics Malice is the daughter of the New God Vermin Vundabar and a member of The Female Furies.

Ray identifies the town of Salvation as lying in North Dakota, though in 1874 it was still known as The Dakota Territory. North Dakota did not become ratified as a state until 1889.

Nate compares the original Totem Bearers unifying their powers to The Care Bear Stare - an attack used in The Care Bears cartoons where the titular animals would fight beings that thrived on negative by radiating their positive energy through focused blasts of light that emitted from their tummies.

Nate also compares using the Zambesi totems to create a perfect being of light to counter Malice to the cartoon character Voltron - Defender Of The Universe - who was formed by a combination of five robot lions.

Technobabble

By removing The Time Drive of The Waverider, Rip makes it unstable. He hopes to use its explosion to temporarily delay Malice, though it will likely kill him in the process.

Salvation is a temporal blind spot to those who have the ability to see through time. Sara presumes that this applies to a time demon like Malice as much as it did The Time Masters. This turns out to be dead wrong.

Zari creates a "temporal beacon" program to contact The Legends allies across time in order to find likely totem bearers.

Code 1-1-3 in Nate's system for PA announcements means "Everyone Report To The Bridge." It seems likely this is the code Nate meant to use in the last episode, when he usded Code 1-3-1, which means they're serving pancakes at breakfast.

The process for creating a perfect being of light using The Zambesi Totems is thus: Fire provides the spark of life. Air gives it breath. Water gives it blood. Earth gives it flesh. Spirit gives it a soul. Death gives it the power over Malice.

Dialogue Triumphs

Gideon: I believe I know what you are planning. It is extremely reckless with a low likelihood of success.
Rip: Well, then. It seems like I've finally learned how to think like a Legend.

Sara: Rip?!
Rip: I'm a little busy at the moment, Sara!
Sara: Look, you didn't tell us that you were buying us time with your life.
Rip: Listen carefully: this gambit will not kill Mallice. I'm only delaying him long enough for you to make an escape.
Sara: There has to be another way!
Rip: No. There isn't. (calmly) It's all right, Sara. I should very much like to see my wife and son again. I will miss you, Captain Lance. You and the rest of The Legends. My one hope is that you all live up to that name.

Rip: Goodbye.
Sara: (quietly) Goodbye, Captain. (shouting) Gideon, get us out of here!
(Malice approaches Rip, growling and throwing fireballs, but unable to reach him because of the force field. The Waverider flies past them and disappears. Malice growls in rage.)
Rip: Ironic, isn't it?! A time demon who has run out of time!
(The Drive explodes, creating a portal that pulls Malice into it.)
Damien: (depressed) Well, I hope you're here to make good on your promise and kill me. Which would work out for both of us. It would be a real win-win.
Sara: Mercy killing's not my style. Even if it were, you don't deserve my mercy. You deserve to live out the rest of your days knowing that you destroyed your own daughter.

Sara: Ray? Nothing stupid.
(Sara leaves the lab. Damien turns to Ray.)
Damien: Is she right? Are you really planning something stupid?
Ray: Maybe. Probably. (pauses) Most likely. But it could fix this whole thing. And get Nora back.

Sara: So who died and made you Sheriff?
Jonah Hex: That would be the old Sheriff.

Sara: We are not here to cause trouble. We're here to avoid it.
(Suddenly, there is the sound of shooting out in the streets. Everyone runs out to see three riders approaching.)
Jonah Hex: This the trouble you aiming to avoid?
Sara: ... not exactly.
(The riders stop to reveal themselves as Blackbeard, Julius Caesar and Freydís Eiríksdóttir. Their eyes glow red, indicating their possession by Malice.)

(Ray punches Nate and runs onto the now activated jump-ship. Nate can be heard pounding on the side of the ship, asking Ray if he's gone crazy.)
Damien: You know, not that I couldn't watch Pompadour get punched out all day, but you could have just told him where we are going. (pauses) Where are we going?
Ray: To right before Mallus took over Nora. And I can't tell anybody because we're not supposed to travel to events in which we've participated in.
Damien: Hah. And no one on your team trusts -me-?
Ray: Well, that goes without saying.

Zari: Sara wants us to find new totem bearers but we're a little short on allies.
Jonah Hex: Well, The Legends, they may be... an unorthodox lot, but they got a knack for making friends.
Zari: Like you?
Jonah Hex: (grunting) I don't take a shine for most folks.
Zari: (smirking) Me either.

(Amaya is running through how to use the totems to create their "perfect being".)
Amaya: Nate...
Nate: (firmly) I will use The Earth Totem to give Voltron flesh!
Sara: You've got to stop calling it that.
Nate: I will never stop calling it that!

(Sara is reluctant to wield The Death Totem)
Mick: (earnestly) Don't worry. If you turn into witch bitch, I'll kill you.
Sara: ... thank you.
Mick: You're welcome.

(The six totem bearers join hands and the totems light up. The following conversation takes place telepathically.)
Mick: Why does Pretty have such girly hands?
Nate: Damn... this Lyoga root is strong! Concentrate Nate. Think about "Voltron: Defender of the Universe."
Wally: I kind of pictured myself wielding something cool. Like a lightning totem.
Zari: Am I crazy, or is Jonah Hex hot?
Sara: Eh. You could do worse than Hex.
Zari: Wait. You can hear me?
Amaya: We can all hear each other.
Mick: Even what I said about Pretty's girly hands?
Everyone Except Mick: YES!

Ava: I got your message. We all did.
(Helen and Kuasa nod to The Legends.)
Jax: You guys just can't seem to keep yourselves out of trouble, can you?

Sara: All right. We're facing an army of Romans, Vikings and Pirates. But you know what today is? Today is the day that we prove that Rip did not sacrifice his life in vain. And today is the day that we prove that we are not losers! And today is the day that we earn the name Legends!
(Everyone cheers as Sara slams back a shot of whiskey.)
Sara: Now... how do we sneak out the back?

(Amaya opens her eyes to look at the perfect being as it is forming.)
Amaya: Wait - Is somebody thinking of-?
Nate: I'm sorry! You said think of something pure and I thought -
Sara: (disgusted) No. You didn't...
Nate: Again, I said I'm sorry!
Zari: Yeah. I can't stop thinking about him either.
(The being continues forming as Jax backs into the saloon, gun in hand.)
Jax: Guys! Whatever you've got -
(Jax spins around and goes slack-jawed as he sees something astonishing. He then runs back out into the street because whatever he was running from is clearly not as bad as what the other Legends have unleashed. The ground begins to shake as the assembled hordes of Malice's troops and our heroes look around, united in terror.)
Jonah Hex: What the Sam Hill is going on?!
Ray: I think this is part of Sara's plan.
(The roof is blown off of the saloon. Everyone looks up in shock as a being lands on the ground before them. It is big, blue and cuddly with large eyes. It is a giant Beebo.)
Beebo: Mmmm! I lo-lo-love you!
Freydís Eiríksdóttir: (horrified) The Blue God - he has returned!
(Ray's jaw drops as he tries to say something but instead laughs manically.)
Helen of Troy: That is your Captain's plan?!
Ava: Where in the hell are Sara and the others?
Jax: That is Sara and the others!
Ava: What?!
Beebo: Beebo hungry!
(Beebo runs off towards where Mallus stands in the distance.)
Jax: Man, have I missed you guys.

Beebo: Beebo want cuddle!

(The rest of the team run up to find the Totem Bearers in a crater as blue fur and stuffing rain down from the sky.)
Zari: Guys, we did it! Our totems united to create a single furry love child.
Mick: Worst. Orgy. Ever.
Nora: (looking around the scene, hoping to see her father) Dad?
Ray: I'm sorry, Nora. (pauses) He died a good man.
Jonah Hex: Damnation. Now I've just have seen 'bout everything.
Ava: (spitting fluff from her mouth) So, wait? That's it? You destroyed the demon?
Amaya: I'm just glad the ancestors aren't here to see this.
Sara: Yeah, but Rip would be proud.
(Ray laughs again as everyone cheers.)
Nate: We did it, Mick!
(All the totem bearers run forward and group hug a clearly annoyed Mick.)
Mick: Get off of me!

Ray: (To Nora) He died to give you a second chance. Don't waste it.

Amaya: You guys are my family. Always will be. But I have another family waiting for me in the years to come. And they need me more.

Amaya (To Nate): I don't want to forget. Because if I do, I will have lost the only part of you that I'm allowed to keep.

(John Constantine has dropped a large sack onto the beach.)
John Constantine: Now...
(John pulls the sack away to reveal a dragon's head.)
John Constntine: Whose brilliant idea was it to let an ancient demon out of his bloody cage?
Nate: Sara's.
John Constantine: Well, you opened a door, love. And Mallus wasn't the only thing that got out.

Continuity

Mallus' true name is revealed to be Malice.

Rip removes The Time Drive from The Waverider.

Wally and Zari remove the Time Drive from The Waverider's jump ship and use it to fix Gideon's systems so the team can escape.

Rip is apparently killed blowing up the Time Drive in a bid to slow down Malice.

Ray doesn't drink alcohol, but makes an exception because of Rip's apparent death.

The Legends first traveled to Salvation in 111. They arrived there in 1871. This time they arrive in 1874.

Salvation is a temporal blind spot that The Time Masters were unable to see into. Sara believes Malice should be similarly blind to the events that take place there. She turns out to be wrong.

Sara theorizes that the reason why the totems were ineffective against Malice is because the people wielding the totems were not born to be the bearers, as Zari and Amaya were.

Jonah Hex makes his first appearance since 206. Since The Legends last encountered him, Jonah Hex has become Sheriff of Salvation.

Blackbeard (last seen in 312), Julius Ceaser (last seen in 301) and Freydís Eiríksdóttir (last seen in 309) appear as the leaders of Malice's new army.

Amaya journeys into the Zambesi Ancestral Realm for the first time since 313, in order to learn how the first Totem Bearers defeated Malice. Unlike Sara, she believes they can use the totems - they just need better instruction on how to use them properly.

It turns out that Nate has been drinking far too much of the Lyoga Root tea when he took it. One is supposed to take one sip of the tea - not drink the whole cup.

Amaya discovers that The Totems were meant to be used together, with five totems giving form to a perfect being of light and the Death Totem allowing Malice to be made mortal. Without the Death Totem, the other five totems could only imprison Malice.

Code 1-1-3 in Nate's system for PA announcements from 317 means "Everyone Report To The Bridge." The song Ray wrote to help everyone remember the codes actually got stuck in Mick's head, causing him to remember that one code. ("If the code is 1-1-3, it's off to the bridge, for you and me.")

Amaya refers to Mick running into his father in 307.

Amaya refers to Zari taking up the Air Totem in 303 and how their totems called to each other.

Wally says that maybe his joining The Legends in 313 wasn't a coincidence either.

Wally takes up The Water Totem in Ray's absence.

Sara takes up The Death Totem again.

The first effort to create a perfect being fails. Mick kills the resulting creature with his fire gun.

Damien and Ray travel back to Zambesi in 1992, hoping to knock Nora out before her body is destroyed to give Malice a physical form.

Helen of Troy, now trained as an Amazon warrior, makes her first appearance since 306.

Kuasa makes her first appearance since her death in 316.

Since the alteration of the past in 1992 and the salvation of Zambesi, Kuasa's fate has changed. Kuasa has now grown into a good soul, who is anxious to fight alongside her legendary grandmother. She describes Amaya as "The Woman Who Saved Zambesi." Kuasa and Mari also now share The Spirit Totem. This indirectly means that the events of the Vixen animated series never happened.

Jefferson "Jax" Jackson makes his first appearance since 309. While it has been a few months since The Legends have seen him, for Jax it has been five years since he flew on The Waverider, meaning this version of Jax was retrieved from 2023. During those five years, Jax has gotten married to an unnamed woman (Nate comments on how he is wearing a wedding band) and Jax has a daughter named Martinia.

Damien steals Ray's naninte gun and uses it to shoot Nora. This drives Malice into possessing him instead. Ray takes the wounded Nora and returns to Salvation as Damien.

Ava has never ridden a horse before.

When The Legends try to create a perfect being this time, they create a giant Beebo doll.

Kuasa is given the Death, Earth, Water and Fire totems to guard until they find new bearers.

Jonah Hex gives Zari his hat.

Ray gives Nora Darhk her father's time stone.

Amaya returns to Zambesi in 1942. Nate does not erase her memory.

The team now consists of Sara, Ray, Mick, Nate, Zari and Wally. They go on vacation in Aruba together, much to Mick's annoyance.

Ava and Sara have made plans to celebrate their victory later, but Ava is busy cleaning up all the anachronisms caused by the latest adventure.

Gary Green has been traveling with John Constantine and is wearing a John Constantine cosplay.

John shows The Legends the severed head of a dragon, informing them that other things escaped from Malice's prison when he was released.

Location

Salvation, Dakota Territory - 1874
Zambesi - 1992
Zambesi - 1942
Aruba - 2018

Untelevised Adventures

Apparently John Constantine and Gary Green fought a dragon.

The Fridge Factor

Averted hardcore. Indeed, after seeing how easily Helen of Troy is able to handle multiple enemies, the only real goof here is that Hippolyta didn't send a horde of Amazons to help Helen in this fight. Then again, given what one Amazon can do, there wouldn't be much of an episode of a score of them ended the fight in two minutes

The Bottom Line

Absolutely perfect. Does it always make sense? No. Is it goofy as all get out? Yes. But unlike every other CW Superhero show, Legends of Tomorrow has embraced its goofiness without making its characters into total idiots to make its stories work. In doing this, it has perfectly captured the spirit of the comic books that inspired it. And I can't wait for Season Four.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

With two of the so-called "Bus Metas" left to locate, Ralph and Barry butt heads over how to go about approaching them. This causes trouble when they find out one of them is a jewel thief named Janet Petty, who has the power to negate gravity and she has no interest in hearing out the heroes about how her life is in danger. Meanwhile, Breacher returns to ask Cisco for a favor.

Influences

X-Men (the new "danger room" in STAR Labs), Hawkworld (character of Null), the films of Kevin Smith (Jay and Silent Bob cameo) and The Flash comics of John Broome (general comedic tone)

Goofs

Ralph is once again back to being carelessly brave after being an overly-cautious coward for the last two episodes.

Barry - who is meant to be the most lighthearted and positive of superheroes - is suddenly more serious than Oliver Queen, so as to provoke more drama between him and Ralph.

Artistry

The floating effects for this episode are nicely handled.

Flash Facts

This episode was directed by Kevin Smith - the famous independent film director and superfan.

Ralph jokingly refers to the Thinker hologram as Doc Ock. This is a reference to Doctor Octopus - a Spider-Man villain whose mechanical tentacles resemble the mechanical arms on The Thinker's chair. This is one of another series of references confirming that Marvel Comics exist in The Arrowverse.

Ralph shouts the phrase "Turtle Power" before drawing his head into his body. This is a nod to the catch phrase of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in their original 1980s cartoon series. He also mockingly calls Barry "Master Splinter" in reference to The Ninja Turtle's teacher and foster father.

Ralph's suggestion for a superhero improve group based in Washington DC called "The DC Comics" is, of course, a nod to DC Comics - the comic book publisher that publishes The Flash.

A career criminal metahuman called Null appeared in Hawkworld #28 (November 1992). This villain had the power to manipulate gravity in the area around him. This villain was a white male.

The DCTVU version of Null is an African-American woman named Janet Petty. The only thing she has in common with her comic book counter part is the code name, the powers and a criminal past.

Lord Crucifer was a vampiric overlord who first appeared in JLA #94 (May 2004) and was created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. Part of a cult known as The Tenth Circle, who became vampires as a result of a magical ritual, they were banished into another dimension by Queen Hippolyta and the Amazons. They began to seek a way of escaping their prison, using metahumans as host-vessels for their essence since regular human bodies were not powerful enough to hold the vampire's spirits.

Breacher mentions The Arrowverse equivalent of The Tenth Circle and Lord Crucifer when he describes to Cisco how he lost his ability to "vibe-blast". He says he killed all of The Tenth Circle except for Lord Crucifer. This particular breed of vampire is not hurt by sunlight.

Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes - most famous for playing the roles of Jay and Silent Bob in various Kevin Smith movies - have cameos in this episode playing a pair of museum security guards. Though not identified by name, Smith's guard does not speak whereas Mewes' guard is as talkative and expressive as Jay.

The crown that Janet Petty steals was The Khandaq Dynasty Family Crown. In the original DC Comics, Khandaq is a fictional Middle-Eastern country located between Egypt and Israel. It is the home of the anti-hero Black Adam.

At one point, Janet Petty is sighted near the corner of Orchard and Broome. This name of Broome Street is a nod to John Broome - a legendary comic book writer responsible for creating several classic Flash villains and other characters, including The Elongated Man.

Ralph suggests that Barry can lower himself to the ground by burping like Charlie Bucket. This is a reference to the film Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory, where Charlie Bucket drank a "Fizzy-Lifting" Soda that caused him to levitate. Charlie was eventually able to get to the ground by burping the gas out of his system.

Cisco calls Lord Crucifer From Dusk Til Dawn. This is a famous vampire movie in which Danny Trejo, who plays Breacher, played a prominent role.

Breacher mentions a dragon ranch on Earth 47 that he always wanted to visit. In the pre-Crisis DC Comics Multiverse, Earth 47 was a world where Lois Lane was superhero called Krypton Girl and Clark Kent an ordinary human. Krypton Girl responded to his repeated attempts to figure out her secret identity by banishing her to The Phantom Zone. In the New 52 DC Comics Multiverse, Earth 47 is home to various superheroes inspired by the 1960s counter-culture movement, including Prez Rickard, Brother Power The Geek, Sunshine Superman and The Love Syndicate of Dream World.

Technobabble

STAR Labs now has a holographic combat simulation room.

Barry has created a maneuver called "The Double Scarlet Speedster' to perform with Ralph.

The Mechanic says it may be possible to prolong The Thinker's current host body's lifespan by adjusting the biomass index and recallibrate the energy distribution through The Thinker's chair.

Barry calculates that in order for the crate holding The Khandaq Dynasty Family Crown to have broken in the way it did, it would have to have been traveling at least 55 mph.

Caitlin says that Breacher's loss of power is due to his increasing age. The vibrational powers shared by Gypsy, Vibe and Breacher require a lot of energy to use and Caitlin determines that eventually they fade away. The loss of vibe blasts is the first sign this is starting to happen.

Caitlin says that Null's powers work by altering the density of whatever she touches, effectively making it like they are full of helium.

Harry calculates that the effects of Null's powers are temporary and what goes up must come down.

The Mechanic determines that her cortisol levels are low and that she is showing signs of tachycardia (i.e. a faster than normal heart rate) and repetitive pupil dilation. Her seratonin levels are 319 nanograms. All of these signs are consistent with those of someone on psychoactive narcotics.

Cisco suggests putting Breacher on an all-alkaline diet and pumping him full of antioxidants to give him more energy. Caitlin says this will not work.

Cisco also suggests making a super-shake full of enzymes and probiotics. Caitlin says that wouldn't work in the long-term.

Harry says that the fact that Null's fingers glow when she uses her powers means that her powers act as a dark matter accelerator which means her powers are generated from the optic nerve. In other words, Null can't alter things she can't see. This means that if Barry approaches her while vibrating beyond the speed of sight as he approaches her eye-line, he'll be invisible to her.

Barry notes that scientists have spent years trying to reconcile relativity and quantum gravity.

Dialogue Triumphs

Ralph: (referring to his idea that he can draw his head inside himself to keep The Thinker from stealing his powers with his brain sucking machine) I still think it's a pretty good plan. I hide my face, I save my ass.

(Barry is holding on to the lighting rack on the ceiling of the main lab room.)
Cisco: Is there a way to reengage his gravitational -
Harry: (putting on his Thinking Cap) Gravitational force.
(Iris struggles with the rope tied to Barry's feet.)
Harry: Huh. Turns out - not necessary.
Barry (To Iris) Do not let go!
Harry: Based on Barry's standard mass and the gravitational force G and taking into account the half-life determent of Null''s dark matter infusion, this effect should eventually just... wear off.
Barry: Wear off?!
Harry: Your cells should return to normal right about -
(Harry pushes Cisco as Barry gasps and falls to the ground where Cisco was standing.)
Cisco: - the hell?!
Harry: - now.
Ralph: Two for the landing, but a perfect ten for the thud noise!

Breacher: I've tasted all your donuts. Where's my cure?!

The Mechanic: (on the recording) You must escape!
The Thinker: You always save it under the same name.
The Mechanic: (on the recording) Escape now!
The Thinker: Every time you discover it. It's quite clever, really. But I would expect nothing less from you.
The Mechanic: How many times have I been through this?!
The Thinker: Too many. But that is of no concern. Because with the tears from The Weeper, mixed with Dominic Lanse's powers... I can alter your memory.
The Mechanic: So that is why you created The Weeper?! You didn't need a potential host! He was-
The Thinker: For you, yes. I knew that the same thing in you that I fell in love with had the potential to destroy us - your humanity. I couldn't let that get in the way of us achieving our goal. The Englightenment!
The Mechanic: (sobbing) Clifford, I am your wife-!
(A tentacle snakes out from behind The Mechanic, latching onto her head and injecting her with something. She sinks to the floor as The Thinker kneels by her side.)
The Thinker: And I love you... but you are nothing without me.
(A happy expression comes over The Mechanic's face as she passes out.)

Ralph: I know this is serious. I watched Izzy die in front of me. (pauses) I'm scared out of my mind.
Barry: Well, you've got an odd way of showing it.
Ralph: Yeah, well, not everybody grew up with a super-dad like Joe West, who makes it easy to talk about your feelings.
(Barry nods.)
Ralph: When I was ten years old, my dad walked out on me and my mom. I was terrified. But my mom? She was even more afraid. So, you know, I just started making jokes. Started doing stupid gags and funny bits and whoopee cushions. Anything to push her fear away. And the thing is after a while it started to push my far away too.
Barry: I had no idea, Ralph...
Ralph: It's not that I don't care about beating DeVoe. It's not that I don't care about being a great hero. It's just that ever since then, anytime that I'm afraid, I either hide.. or I make jokes.

Dialogue Disasters

Ralph: We'd make a fortune! An improv group made up of superheroes? We could take it to Washington! We'd be the DC Comics.

Harry: Nor did either of you predict the location of a 120-pound woman using the curvature of spacetime caused by the uneven distribution of mass yet still somehow fail to account for the gravitational pull of a 4000 pound car floating right above her head!

Continuity

Edwin Gauss disappeared the day Barry came out of The Speed Force.

Janet Petty is a career criminal who has lived a nomadic existence since she was 13. She was last seen in Iron Heights prison, serving a sentence for breaking and entering, trespassing and burglary. Her social media handle is Null.

Breacher was last seen in 404.

Breacher lost his ability to "vibe-blast" following a battle with a vampire named Lord Crucifer.

The Thinker's current host body - Izzy Bowin - has one week left before it burns out.

Despite his increased intelligence, The Thinker says his mind for engineering is still not the equal of The Mechanic's.

The Mechanic is unaware that The Thinker has already killed The Weeper and claimed his power.

Breacher's loss of powers is due to old age - not anything done by Lord Crucifer.

The Mechanic discovers that The Thinker has been lacing her drinks with The Weeper's tears.

The vase which Ralph accidentally broke was worth $40,000 and made of gold.

Janet Petty has used 17 different aliases, including Judy Newton, Jeannie Williams, Jackie Plumber, Jordan Smith, Jane Liksa and Jesse Rivers.

Harry uses his Thinking Cap to calculate that Janet Petty was last seen on the corner of Orchard and Broome.

Earl Cox - Ralph's sleazy detective associate from 413 - appears again. It seems that he acts as a fence for certain criminals and Ralph theorizes that Null might be selling her loot to him.

Cisco gives Breacher an antihistamine, saying that his problem is he has too much stamina. Breacher is able to unleash a vibe blast again, but the color is different.

Lord Crucifer is immune to the effects of sunlight.

The Mechanic attempts to leave a video message to herself warning her about The Thinker's manipulation of her mind, under the file name New Lemonade Recipe. She the discovers she has already done this and that The Thinker has altered her memory several times already.

Ralph's dad abandoned him and his mom when he was ten. Since then, Ralph has used comedy as a coping mechanism when he is scared.

Barry is sent flying by Null. Ralph saves him by slapping a pair of power inhibitor cuffs on Null's legs and then turning himself into a giant whoopee cushion to pad Barry's fall.

Earl Cox cleared Ralph's tab.

Breacher retires and decides to go visit a dragon farm on Earth 47. This Earth is the home of Harrison Lothario Wells, who was seen in 406.

Breacher says that he will never see Cisco again, but that he has recommended him to take over his job on Earth-19.

It is revealed that all of the work done to adjust The Thinker's chair was done by The Mechanic - she just had no memory of having done the previous work.

The episode ends with Harry going into The Time Vault, plugging his Thinking Cap into the power relay that used to charge Eobard Thawne's chair and activating Gideon. Gideon says that it has been 1,078 days since they spoke. This would correspond, roughly with 119 - the episode in which Barry, Cisco and Caitlin discovered that Harrison Wells was not really Harrison Wells. This suggests that "Harry" is Eobard Thawne.

The Boomerang Factor

Most of the drama in the episode is caused by Ralph's sudden recklessness and Barry's sudden need to look on the dark side of life.

The Bottom Line

Another lackluster episode, saved only by the ensemble cast giving a weak script far more effort than it deserves. Smith's direction helps somewhat, but it doesn't change the fact that Barry is out of character, Ralph's character has changed again and the villain of the week is poorly developed.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

Tobias Whale returns to Freeland, under orders to capture Black Lightning alive, with the help of an unexpected ally. Thankfully, Jefferson will not be alone when he confronts his father's killer, as both his daughters provide some unexpected help when Garfield High is placed under siege.

Technobabble

Green Light gives ordinary people super-strength, a high pain tolerance and no flight instinct. It also awakens super-powers in potential metahumans, but their survival rate is no better than under the original ASA vaccine.

Gambi says that there are implants that can heal severed spines in lab mice but he thought that technology wasn't ready for humans yet. He says that it must be a billion-dollar technology, at least.

Gambi says that the development of high-output mobile solar power coincided with the sudden end of random power fluctuations on the Freeland power grid. He susepcts The ASA did this to get off the grid so they would be harder to trace.

Tobias Whale has some kind of under-armor that protects him from electrocution.

Dialogue Triumphs

Proctor: How much do you know about (Lady Eve's) operations?
Tobias: Well, let's just say she helped the citizens of Freeland find happiness by muting the pain of their deprivation.
Proctor: Is that what drug dealers tell themselves?
Tobias: You and I have never worked together directly, so... being cautious with my words seemed wise.

(Proctor describes how the ASA project to make the people of Freeland more docile created metahumans instead.)
Proctor: A side effect with strategic implications.
Tobias: Yeah. Meaning in a dangerous situation, a few local folks fight and die, saving the lives of some fancy white boys.

Khalil: Stop with that surrogate daddy act. You don't care about me. I was just another poor, little kid from Freeland for you to parade around to make you and Garfield look good.
Jefferson: That is so not true.
Khalil: Yes it is! As soon as my black ass couldn't run no more... where were you? You wouldn't even let your daughter near me. (turns around and starts to walk away, but spins around) Where's the future, Mr. P? (points to himself) It's right here!

(Gambi goes off to meet a contact, warning Jefferson and Anissa that Proctor will be looking for them.)
Jefferson: Gambi? Proctor will be looking for you too.
Gambi: Yeah. But this old man's not going to save the world. So if he catches me? It's not as big a deal.

Dialogue Disasters

Proctor: Alive, Mister Whale! I need Black Lightning alive!

Proctor: This experiment! Can not! Fail!

Continuity

Tobias Whale is revealed to have been in the care of the ASA since he was shot in 107.

Tobias knows of Martin Proctor, though they have never worked together directly.

Green Light is revealed to be the result of the ASA efforts to stabilize the vaccine formula that was creating metahumans. While it would create more useful soldiers, their bodies still burned out as quickly as the first generation of metahuman test subjects.

Proctor asks Tobias to capture Black Lightning alive, as they think he is a product of their vaccine and the only one to have survived to adulthood that they know of.

Martin Proctor is revealed to finished work on Tobias' project to heal Jennifer's ex-boyfriend Khalil Payne.

Jefferson and Lynn reconcile but decide to keep that a secret from their daughters until they are sure they are ready to get back together.

Tobias has Dwayne - the man who pulled him to safety but left Tori to die - shot by Syonide.

Anissa figures out that 42 kids from the 1980s went missing. Neema makes 43.

Anissa only counted three dozen pods when she discovered the ASA warehouse in 110. Jefferson guesses this means 7 kids died in ASA experiments.

Lynn tells Jennifer that she's going to try and isolate the metagene and find a way to negate it. Jefferson is upset when he learns this.

Khalil's mother says that she was told that Khalil was sent to California as part of some experimental procedure and that she hasn't heard from him since. The contact who set everything up was named Mr. Martin.

Gambi goes after Tommy Hildago - the weapons maker from 109. He gives him 48 hours to give him Proctor.

Khalil tries to reconcile with Jennifer, but he changes his mind after she questions where he got his spinal implant from.

Anissa made use of a man named Marcus Roberts, who graduated a year ahead of her, who now works for FGE. He tracked several power fluctuations for Anissa, finding a likely location for The ASA hideout until about three years earlier.

Khalil attacks Garfield High, throwing darts filled with Green Light at the students.

Thunder is able to win a one-on-one fight with Syonide.

The Green Light darts seem to stop Jefferson's heart. He is revived by Jennifer using her powers like a defibrillator.

Lala kills Thomas Hildalgo.

Tobias Whale was responsible for Lala's resurrection.

Whale plans to take out Proctor in order to take over the whole operation.

Location

A cabin Gambi keeps in a forest outside Freeland.

The Bottom Line

A surprisingly weak episode by the standards of this series to date. Not bad, exactly, but mostly concerned with reviving several long-dead subplots in anticipation of the finale. Not a lot of great dialogue, but the actors sell every line well enough, though the actor playing Proctor apparently decided to attempt the world's worst William Shatner impression with his enunciation this week. Still, the action sequences are thrilling and next week promises to be interesting.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

With all of his allies having abandoned him except Quentin Lance, Oliver begins to question his failings as a father, a husband, a mayor and a hero.

Influences

The Green Arrow comics of Judd Winick (The heroes are complete idiots, at the mercy of villains, who don't kill the heroes despite being given ample opportunity to do so.)

Goofs

Granting that it is in Oliver's nature to blame himself for everything, Laurel's becoming Black Canary was not his fault. She did it while Oliver was recovering from falling off a mountain and he did his damnedest to stop her from trying to replace Sara.

Felicity runs to SCPD HQ from her and Oliver's apartment?

All of this episode is devoted towards Ricardo Diaz pushing Green Arrow into a death trap. At the end of the episode, he declares that he isn't going to kill Green Arrow because that would be too easy.

Also - how could Diaz be sure that the strung out Oliver Queen would be coherent enough to go into the trap in the first place?

Performances

The main saving grace of this episode is Stephen Amell's performance.

A close second is Amell's chemistry with Emily Bett Rickards and the scene in which Felicity has to convince Oliver that she is real.

Paul Blackthorne gets the episode's MVP trophy, however. He hasn't always had a lot to do as Quentin this season and he doesn't really have much to work with here either. What he does have, however, he nails.

Artistry

The opening sequence of Green Arrow fighting his way through the mob of crooked cops looks fantastic - lighting, fight choreography and direction.

Trivia

The Arrow logo at the start of this episode does not include the usual swoop of symbols for the other heroes of Star City.

Technobabble

Felicity makes a isotonic concoction, with oranges, almonds, avocados and fermented fish oil (Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Omega 3s and salt) as a hangover cure/Vertigo recovery tonic for Oliver.

Dialogue Triumphs

Felicity: We need to stop Diaz! (To John) And we have some pretty good intel.
Oliver: Good intel tends to fall apart in the hands of bad leadership, don't you think?
John: Oliver, come on. It doesn't have to be that way.
Oliver: How would you like it to be?

Oliver: On the bright side, if I get impeached, you get promoted.
Quentin: (chuckling) I'm not much of a politician, Oliver.
Oliver: Well, with Diaz running the city, it's not really politics, is it?

Oliver: Why does everyone keep leaving me?
Quentin: That's the thing about change, right? You hope you're doing the right thing, by becoming a better person. But you're also becoming a different person. Some people, they just, I guess like John, they react badly.
Oliver: That's one possibility.
Quentin: What's the other?
Oliver: That I haven't really changed at all.

Prometheus: Hey. What's Vertigo do? Does it show you your worst fear?
Oliver: (smirking) You aren't my worst fear, Adrian. You're nowhere close.
Prometheus: Oh, I know. Your worst fear is yourself. Your worst enemy is yourself. Guys like me? Ricardo Diaz? Damien Darhk? Ra's Al Ghul? When it comes to destroying you, Oliver? We all come in second place. You're the one enemy you can't defeat.

(Oliver puts down his phone. He looks up and sees himself in his first costume, standing in the shadows.)
The Hood: You have failed this city! And you know why.
Oliver: Because I got away from you.
The Hood: You were never supposed to have partners.There was never supposed to be a John Diggle. A Felicity Smoak. A Team Arrow! There was never supposed to be a Green Arrow! There was only The Mission!
Oliver: ... I lost sight of that.
The Hood: You lost your city! And now... you know what you have to do to get it back.

Oliver: You're not here!
Felicity: Yes, I am. It's me, Okay? The real me? Do not go through that door!
Oliver: I have to. I have to stop Diaz.
Felicity: And you will! But not like this. Not tonight.
Oliver: He is right on the other side of that door!
Felicity: So are a bunch of angry cops just waiting for you! You go through the door, what happens to William?!
Oliver: William has you.
Felicity: Well, what happens to me?
Oliver: (pauses) You left.
Felicity: No, I didn't! That was not me, Oliver. The real me is standing right here. And I'm not going anywhere. I'm glue, baby. Please.

Dialogue Disasters

Felicity: How you lost it on William? That is crossing a line. I know that you have a lot on your plate with Diaz and John and the impeachment, but that is no excuse. It can't be an excuse. He is your son. And you just showed him the man that his father really is! (pauses) That is not the man that I married.

Continuity

Felicity determines that the security feed at SCPD HQ shuts off for 45 minutes at 10:13 pm each night when Diaz is checking up on his minions.

Quentin says that Oliver visibly does not look good.

Felicity's high-school science fair projected involved hacking Napster.

William has no idea what Napster is.

William's project involves cloning a cabbage. He's worried about beating Sarah Epstein's solar-powered hot-dog cooker.

Felicity finds the proof that Diaz threatened Captain Hill's family and paid for D.A. Armand's surgery. Unfortunately, there's no way for Ollie to claim he got this information from a legitimate source.

Oliver loses his temper and accidentally destroys William's science project.

Felicity kicks Oliver out of their apartment.

Later, Felicity appears at The Bunker and asks for a separation.

Quentin suggests taking the evidence to FBI Agent Samanda Watson, since she's more concerned with justice than proving Oliver Queen is Green Arrow.

Oliver hallucinates being attacked by Prometheus in The Bunker.

Oliver determines that he was dosed with Vertigo by his handshake with Councilman Kullens. This is what caused him to lose his temper and start hallucinating.

Oliver hallucinates being back in Queen Manor with Laurel, just before he left to sail on The Queen's Gambit.

Oliver hallucinates being back in the hospital room where Laurel died, with Laurel taunting him with the idea that he was responsible for her death.

Oliver hallucinates Rene taunting him from his hospital bed about Oliver being responsible for his injuries in 614. Dinah and Curtis, in costume, torment him as well.

Oliver hallucinates Rissa being murdered by Diaz in his apartment and Diaz stabbing Oliver in the stomach.

Oliver continues to hallucinate Prometheus during the city council meeting. The hallucination tells Oliver the only way to win is to take Diaz down that night.

William wins second place at the Science Fair. The girl with the solar hot dog cooker won first, but Felicity swears she saw her project for sale on Amazon.com.

It is revealed that Oliver hallucinated Felicity chewing him out and kicking him out when she showed up at The Bunker.

Oliver attacks SCPD HQ in his original Hood costume.

Felicity is able to talk sense into Oliver. They escape SCPD HQ before Diaz and the cops emerge from the trap.

Oliver Queen is impeached from office.

Quentin Lance becomes the new mayor of Star City.

Oliver decides that he needs to get back to basics and go it alone as Green Arrow to take down Diaz.

Diaz tells Black Siren that the next step is to send out the word to other criminal enterprises that Star City is now open for business.

The Winick Factor

Even though it it is blatantly obvious that Diaz is attempting to divide and conquer his way into controlling Star City, the big lesson Oliver takes from his vision quest in this episode is that he has to go it alone even though his entire heroes' journey is devoted to his NOT being a crazed loner.

Ricardo Diaz's reasons for not killing Green Arrow don't make a lick of sense. Especially given that all of this episode was devoted to setting up a death trap for him!

The Bottom Line

This episode has no right to work as well as it does, given the idiotic plan of the villains and Oliver ultimately taking the wrong lesson from recent events before he inevitably realizes The Power Of Friendship. The primary reason it does work is because of some effective direction and the strength of Stephen Amell, Emily Bett Rickards and Paul Blackthorne's performances.

That said, there's some effective dialogue and psychodrama here but the whole thing seems really derivative of Three Ghosts from Season 2. That may be intentional as that was one of the first episodes that set Oliver on the path to becoming The Green Arrow and trusting other people, with this episode having Oliver learning the opposite lesson.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

In the wake of his father's death, Winn Schott must work with his estranged mother to thwart the plans of a copycat Toyman. Meanwhile, Alex accidentally discovered a stunning secret about J'onn's father.

Influences

The 1939 film The Wizard of Oz (The "Surrender Mary" sky-writing and robot flying monkeys), The Flash comics of The Silver Age (mention of Wiggins Toys) and multiple classic Superman comics involving The Legion of Superheroes and Toyman.

Goofs

How does James not break his hand punching the metal flying monkey?

Granting that an army of flying robot monkeys is not the sort of thing one can easily prepare for, one would think The DEO would have some kind of defenses to stop something from just flying in through their front door. Or, at least, that once something had flown in through the front door, that they might have trained agents with weapons at the ready to deal with said thing that had flown in through the window.

The conversation about why J'onn continues to live the life of a black man in America when he could shapeshift into anyone, while well-written, is incredibly awkward in its placement and grinds the pace of the episode to a halt.

While The DEO may not have armed guards ready to spring into action at a moment's notice, they do have extensive armories that are not locked and do not require a passkey, retinal scan or any sort of technology that would prevent someone from just walking in and picking up a gun, as Mary Schott does.

Performances

Mehcad Brooks and Jeremy Jordan don't always get a chance to shine in this series, much less get a chance to play an understated scene. Yet the scene in which James refuses to leave Winn alone after he leaves the bar after seeing the news report about his father's death as well as the scene in which James opens up about his own mommy issues shows that both actors can play a quiet scene just as well as they can play the action hero and the comic relief respectively.

While Carl Lumbly does not get much time to play the increasingly demented M'yrnn, he does so convincingly and his sudden mood swing when Alex approaches him about seeking help is true to life, as is M'yrnn's denial of his condition because he does not wish to burden his family.

Artistry

Though the CGI for the robot dinosaur is hardly fantastic, the fight sequence between it and Mon-El is amazing.

Super Trivia

The title of this episode is a pun on the title of a 1986 Bon Jovi song - "Shot Through The Heart".

The song Kara sings at Karaoke is Beastie Boys' song "Intergalactic Planetary" - appropriate enough for an alien with a goofy personality.

The song James sings is "Tears Away" - the debut single of James Olsen actor Mehcad Brooks. You can listen to it here.

The song Alex sings is "I Drove All Night" by Celine Dion. An appropriate choice given Alex's recent heartache, given that the song is about wanting to be with someone despite the distance - physical and emotional - between you and them.

The song J'onn sings is "So Emotional" by Whitney Houston. Given J'onn's recent attempts to open up more in the wake of his father's arrival on Earth, this too seems fitting.

The song M'yrnn sings is "Suspicion Minds" by Elvis Presley - a fitting choice given that it's about love and paranoia, which describes M'yrnn's state of mind after centuries of torture at the hands of White Martians only to be saved by the son he thought was dead. It also neatly foreshadows his paranoia at having his dementia discovered.

Mon-El confirms that the DCTVU version of Saturn Girl is only telekinetic, not telepathic. In the original comics, Imra was primarily a telepath who later gained the ability to move things with her mind.

The song Winn is planning to sing is a-ha's "Take On Me". A bouncy, happy song about wanting to be hugged before someone leaves you.Definitely fits Winn's personality and, fittingly, he sings it with his mom at the episode's end.

It is revealed that Mary and Winslow Schott were both students in Ivy Town. This is a nod to Ivy Town - a fictional college town in the DC Comics Universe, where Ray Palmer was a professor at Ivy University.

The parts used to make the flying monkeys that attack Mary and Winn are eventually traced to the Willard Walter Wiggins Game Company. In the original DC Comics, Wiggins Toys was the name of a toy and game company, run by Willard Walter Wiggins, which employed George "Digger" Harkness as a mascot for their line of boomerang toys. They billed Harkness as Captain Boomerang before Harkness turned to a life of crime and began fighting The Flash.

Mary refers to her captor as Buffalo Bill - a reference to the serial killer from The Silence of The Lambs. This is a double reference as the actress playing Toyman's apprentice - Brooke Smith - was one of Buffalo Bill's kidnapping victims in the movie.

The RC cars carrying explosives seem to be a nod to the "Beware The Grey Ghost" episode of Batman: The Animated Series which was based around a villain, similar to The Toyman, who used toys as a delivery system for explosives.

Though not identified by name in the episode, the episode credits name Toyman's apprentice as Jacqueline Nimball. This is a nod to Jack Nimball - the second Toyman in the classic Superman comics - who took up Winslow Schott's name and gimmicks when the original Toyman had reformed. Kimball would eventually be brought to justice when Schott and Superman joined forces, only to be murdered by Winslow Schott when he returned to a life of crime.

Mon-El sings "Carry On My Wayward Son" by Kansas - a song about a man searching for meaning in his life after realizing how little he knows and how much time he wasted pretending to be something he isn't. Again, a fitting choice for Mon-El.

A passing reference is made to the planet Rimbor, when Mon-El says his regular Legion costume was damaged there. In the original comics, Rimbor was part of the United Planets in the Legion of Super Heroes books. Rimbor had a reputation as a lawless world where crime and corruption were commonplace. It was the homeworld of LoSH member Ultra Boy and was populated by several different species, including humans.

Technobabble

J'onn suggests running a full mass-spectrometry on the explosive residue from Toyman's exploding coffin.

Za-alet is a Martian condition similar to dementia in humans. It translates literally into English as "decay of memory." It causes a person to slowly forget words, why they walked into a room and eventually people.

Dialogue Triumphs

(Kara stares down a line of people including James, Alex, J'onn, M'yrnn and Winn. She walks down them like a drill sergeant, her tone serious.)
Kara: I know some of you are scared. I know some of you have never done this before. I know some of you are ready to get out there and prove yourselves. But just remember why we do this. We do this for the people!
(Winn smiles and holds up a microphone, which Kara takes as she returns the smile.)
(Cut to: A Karaoke Bar. Kara is on stage singing Beastie Boys'"Intergalactic Planetary.")

M'yrnn: Karaoke is not for the weak. It requires either great courage or a complete lack of shame! But I like it!

Winn: Let me set the scene for you. It's the night Dad finally snapped and I'm sitting in the police station, freezing cold, because I'm in my pajamas. When the police came to pick me up from home, I was asleep. Remember? In bed. Alone. And the nice officer, he drapes the coat over my shoulders. I feel a little better. So I'm sitting there, in the cold, little feet are dangling in the air and I'm waiting. I'm waiting for my mom to pick me up. 'Cause they said that they called you. Yeah. Yeah, they said that it was just going to be like, an hour. And then they'd explain everything. And then it was two hours. And then it was the next morning. (grits his teeth) When I lie in bed at night at night, staring up at the ceiling unable to sleep? I'm not wondering why Dad finally, suddenly snapped. No, that doesn't haunt me. What haunts me is you. You, who left me. When I needed you the most, with no explanation. No goodbye.
Mary: I'm so sorry!
Winn: I don't care anymore
Mary: Winn...
Winn: I don't need your excuses. You want to keep me safe? Great.
(Winn walks to the door and holds it open.)
Winn: You know what you should do? Leave. Again.

Mary: I always knew he was brilliant and capable but I worried when I left that he'd go the same way his dad did.
Supergirl: He worried about that too.
Mary: I should have been here to tell him that he and his father were worlds apart. (pauses) Did his friends tell him?
Supergirl: We did.
Mary: Thank you for that.
Supergirl: Well, it was easy. He doesn't always get the credit, but he keeps us going around here. He's always the one with some crazy idea that no one else would possibly dream of.
Mary: (chuckling, shaking her head) My son works with Supergirl. It's just such a relief. He saves lives. I just wish he'd let me tell me how proud I am of him.
Supergirl: I think he will. Eventually.

Continuity

James tells Mon-El that he is interested in someone (Lena Luthor) but they haven't figured out where their relationship stands yet.

Alex has not seen J'onn and M'yrnn's new apartment yet.

It has been three months since J'on and M'yrnn moved in together.

Winn has not seen his mother, Mary Schott, in 20 years.

Mon-El apologies to Kara for every time he ever lied to her while they were dating.

Mon-El then confesses to Kara that Saturn Girl and Brainiac 5 lied to him about some big Legion business and that he wants to discuss it with Kara later, over drinks, once everything with Winn and his father is settled.

Mon-El says that Brainiac 5 is his best friend.

Mary Schott claims that she left her husband because he threatened to kill Winn if she ever made contact with him or came near him.

Winn claims that he was far more traumatized by his mother failing to come for him following his father's arrest than by his father's crimes.

James has a sister.

James says that he had a falling out with his mother after his father's death, but he eventually reconciled with her.

Alex's grandmother was a music lover who suffered from dementia.

M'yrnn is starting to show signs of dementia. Over the course of the episode, he forgets that he had two granddaughters on Mars, orders a pizza on the night Alex and J'onn are having a dinner party and forgets the word "wine" while in the middle of dinner.

M'yrnn refuses to burden J'onn with the knowledge that he is starting to go senile, despite Alex saying J'onn should know.

Mary Schott helped her husband with building his toys early on, acting as his apprentice.

Mary and Winslow Schott were both students in Ivy Town but they met at a toy store. Mary was the bookeeper and Winslow a stocker.

Mary Schott recalls an incident where she planned to take a nine-year-old Winn to Disneyland. In truth, she was trying to make a break for a women's shelter. She was run off the road by Winslow Schott, who stole a car, ran her off the road (resulting in Winn getting a concussion) and that was when he threatened to kill Winn if she didn't leave.

Lena is not answering James' phone calls or messages and hasn't shown up to work in several days according to her assistant. This suggests that Lena has gone into hiding to help Sam in the wake of Lena discovering that Sam is Reign in 313.

The culprit behind the flying monkeys and exploding casket is revealed to be a maintenance woman at the prison where Winslow Schott was held. He taught her everything he knew and charged her with getting revenge on Schott's wife and son after his death.

This episode confirms that Kara needs to breath like an ordinary human, as she begins to suffocate after being sealed inside a giant plastic toy box.

Mon-El has trained in the art of cape-fighting. His Legion costume in the future has a cape. He offers to teach the art to Kara.

Mon-El cannot sing.

Winn reconciles with his mother.

Kara says that she can't talk about Mon-El's feelings of betrayal being lied to by Saturn Girl given their history. Mon-El understands, but explains that was not why he wanted to talk to her privately about his being lied to.

Mon-El reveals to Kara that The Legion's real mission was to go back in time and kill the third Worldkiller - Pestilence - before she evolves into The Blight (first mentioned in 310) in 1000 years time.

Mon-El says his old costume was damaged om Rimbor.

M'yrnn's favorite food on Earth is ghost pepper macaroni and cheese with a side of jalapeno peppers.

M'yrnn reveals the truth about his dementia to J'onn.

Lena calls James from a lab, saying that she and Sam have been busy working. The episode ends as we see Sam in a hospital bed in Lena's lab.

The Kryptonite Factor

Security at the DEO is made to look really lax, with the flying monkey robots able to get into the building no problem and Mary Schott having no trouble in stealing a gun from the armory so she can go confront Jacqueline Nimball alone.

The Bottom Line

An odd episode to come back to after the show was on hiatus for the better part of two months. Still, the performances manage to sell some dopey dialogue, though it's odd that Laurie Metcalf has the least amount of chemistry with Jeremy Jordan out of all the cast she interacts with. The plot with the new Toywoman is the weakest link in the story.

Thankfully, the writers seem to be aware of this and use all the other subplots to distract away from that, even though there's a lot of logic problems involving the lax security at the DEO and why J'onn throws a dinner party with only Alex being invited. Still, it's an enjoyable bit of filler... probably because this episode is almost entirely free of the nonsense involving The Worldkillers.

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