Hello, and welcome to the first official DC’s Legends of Tomorrow recap! I actually think this is the first show I’ve ever recapped from the very first episode. And, of course, that’s because we already know for sure there will be queerness to enjoy, because Sara Lance was Arrow’s resident bisexual badass before flying the coop to join a new flock. (We’ll see how Canaries and Hawks get along…) We also have confirmation that Betty McRae will be joining us ere long. (Well, Ali Liebert. Probably not actually Betty McRae…time will tell.)
I have no idea what to expect from this show, so let’s dive right in!
We begin in London, in the year 2166. Vandal Savage is knee deep in “The Second Blitz” and the voice over talks of total destruction while Vandal Savage kills a very specific woman and her son, besmirching his father as he does.
The voiceover man turns out to be Rory from Doctor Who, standing before a council of time masters, asking for their help. Rory’s name in this timestream is Captain Rip Hunter, and he only asks the reluctant grumpfaces for a timeship and permission to try to change history.
He swoops out of the room, jumps in a timeship, and asks the AI inside (named Gideon) to take him to January 2016, Star City. He tells his ship he needs to assemble a team of eight men and women. A very specific team. And he collects them, one by one.
- Ray Palmer: The Atom
Right before Rip rips into his timestream, The Atom and the Green Arrow are in the HIVE, in a trap no less. They defeat the baddies and receive a round of applause from Rip before he unceremoniously kidnaps him with his light gun.
- Sara Lance: Canary
She’s in Tibet, drinking alone in a bar, probably missing Nyssa. A man in the bar roughs up a girl and answers to Sara’s kickass ways.
When she’s done, Rip shows up and lightnaps her, too.
3 & 4: Jefferson Jackson & Martin Stein: Firestorm
These two are trying to perfect their Firestorm gig but are having a hard time getting along. They split up and are mid-fight when Rip lightnaps them.
5 & 6: Kendra Saunders & Carter Hall: Hawkgirl and Hawkman
Kendra and the Koof are also fighting when they’re nabbed.
7 & 8: Mick Rory & Leonard Snart: Heat Wave and Captain Cold
These are criminals we’re familiar with from Arrow, and sure enough they’re up to no good when Rip gets them.
This band of misfits wakes up on the roof, surprised to see each other, especially those who know each other at least a little. Rip swoops in and makes bold speeches to the moon about being from the future and needing their help to stop Vandal Savage.
Sara is incredulous at best.
Rip says that in 2166, they’re not heroes, they’re legends, which immediately piques Ray’s interest. Everyone else is concerned about the whole getting dead thing, but shows them a glimpse of what will come of the world if they don’t help him. And it’s not pretty.
He gives them an address to meet up if they decide to join, and they all split up to deliberate.
Ray goes to tell Oliver he’s leaving, he has no doubt in his mind that he wants to make his mark on this world, even if it’s not in this century.
Hawkman is in, because he lives and dies to stop Vandal Savage…like, a lot. He starts chanting, “Remember, Winnie, remember,” but try as she might, Kendra doesn’t remember her time as Chy-Ara. Except that first time. She thinks maybe they weren’t meant to beat him, but Carter is sure they can. Carter suggests settling it like warriors and Kendra has wanted to punch his smug little face all day so she whips out her guns.
In Star City, Sara tells Laurel about this opportunity, and even though Laurel is still kind of hung up on the whole my-sister-came-back-from-the-dead thing, so time travel is a little much, she thinks Sara should go.
Oh, and they have this conversation while sparring. Typical sister stuff.
Sara is worried about her bloodlust, she thinks she’s dangerous, but Laurel suggests she channel that energy into something good, the way she, Laurel, channeled her grief into becoming the Black Canary. Sara isn’t sure she wants more blackness in her life, but Laurel has a better idea. She could be the White Canary. A hero in the light.
She even already had Cisco make her a suit, implying she knows more about time travel than she’s letting on.
Sara takes in the new suit, probably making a mental note to buy leather cleaner in bulk, when she notices there’s no mask. But Laurel rests her head on her baby sister’s shoulder and says that she doesn’t need to hide anymore.
Captain Cold and Heat wave are obviously fine with the plan because they can be Bad Guys in any time period. Firestorm is split (no pun intended). Baby Firestorm is like NOPE NOPE NOPE big fan of being alive. Grandpa Firestorm can’t resist the science of it all. So he drugs his other half so they can be Firestorm together whenever.
All eight of them end up showing up at the meeting spot, albeit some more reluctant than others. Though none more reluctant than Jax, who is still unconscious.
Rip unconceals his timeship, the Waverider, and introduces everyone to Gideon. They pick their first destination, and just like that the adventure begins. They’re off to New Orleans, 1975, to see Professor Aldus Boardman, the world’s leading (read: only) expert on all things Vandal Savage.
After they take off, a man in a very elaborate metal suit shows up and kills two witnesses because they’re not Rip Hunter.
When Team Legends lands in the 70s, Rip tells the three baddies he doesn’t need their skills, and Jax decides to stay behind too because he doesn’t want to be near the Professor and he knows Sara will protect him from Hot-n-Cold.
When the Team finds Aldus Boardman, he takes one look at Chy-Ara and Khufu and is instantly starstruck.
Sara gets on board the Waverider very quickly and says, “Let’s get weird.” They leave Baby Firestorm behind head off to find a bar.
Aldus re-explains Vandal’s whole beef with Chy-Ara and Khufu and the love and jealousy and meteorites and vendettas etc for anyone who didn’t see that episode of Arrow. Then he tells us something we didn’t know: Aldus Boardman is the son of hawks. He calls Kendra, “Mother” and her face does a thing I think we’ll see it do quite often as they encounter weirder and weirder things.
Aldus tells them that they died when he was ten, but knew that if he ever saw them again, they might not remember. He tells them that Vandal Savage is always in the thick of chaos, but never at the forefront. Which should help them find him over time.
The Trio of Trouble goes to a bar and Sara asks Leonard to dance. He says no because he’s a fool but the doesn’t stop her from dancing on her own.
A man gets way too close to Sara and invites her to go out to the parking lot with him. She tells him he’s not her type, then LEERS at a girl at the bar and says that his lady is more her speed. And then I scream because Legends of Tomorrow did something in one episode Arrow hasn’t done in years: Confirmed Sara’s bisexuality. And it was beautiful. The man calls her a bitch and grabs her hand and immediately regrets both of those things. I’m not positive if the boys would have jumped in to her aid, but at any rate, she tells them she won’t be needing them just yet.
She kicks his ass, and eventually the bar fight snowballs, and the boys join her on her cue.
In the Waverunner, Jax is yelling at Gideon to take him home, but Gideon is under strict instructions to stay put. Jax starts yelling more when the man in metal, a bounty hunter, starts attacking the ship. The Professor gets a twinge that tells him Jax is in trouble and they all run back to the ship, Aldus included (at Kendra’s insistence).
They fight and fight and eventually our Trouble Trio comes in to save the day.
Albus got hit by a laser in the fight though, so they dive into the ship as fast as they can and it takes off. Rip starts rambling about how maybe this wasn’t the best idea they’ve ever had, and Hawkgirl snaps him out of it by punching him in the face. She asks about the man who attacked them, and Rip explains that it’s a bounty hunter named Kronos.
When called out, Rip finally admits that he WAS a time master, technically. Sara punches him too because it looked like fun and he’s been lying this whole time. Rip confesses the rest: He was told he couldn’t do this so he stole his ship and ran, and that’s why Kronos is after him. Also he chose them for the opposite reason than what he originally told them…he chose them because their lives had no effect on the timeline in 150 years. He also admits he’s doing this because his wife and son were the ones murdered in the beginning of the episode, and that the time masters didn’t care.
Now that he has laid bare his truth, Rip gives them the chance to stay or go. Unfortunately, they’re in 1975, so it’s a little early for Should I Stay or Should I Go but they all break off to ponder it anyway.
Kendra goes to the son she doesn’t remember and pretends to recognize the engagement ring he saved all these years. She hides it when Carter comes in, probably afraid he’ll start babbling about how much they love each other again. He accidentally calls her Chy-Ara, but she says that’s okay.
Grandpa Firestorm apologizes to Baby Firestorm, but Jax has had a change of heart. When they were all working together to fight Kronos, he felt this rush like he would when he played football. Cooperation makes it happen, teamwork makes the dream work, and all that jazz. So he’s in if the Prof is.
Ray is pouting in a corner about being a nobody, but Sara tells him to snap out of it and stop feeling sorry for himself. She points out that in RIP’S future they were nobodies, but the whole point of this show is that they can CHANGE time. So aren’t they the masters of their own fate?
That was just the dash of optimism Ray needed (and I think the Bad Boys will go wherever their new ex-Assassin leader will take them), so these four are in too.
Aldus died, and Kendra blames herself, but Rip tells them that sometimes they’ll be battling time itself, because there are some things that are fixed points that will want to happen no matter what.
But when he turns around, the team is ready, all eight of them. Ready to be Legends.
So off they go, into time and space, to stop Vandal Savage from destroying the world, and probably some other bad things from happening.
Though they should probably start in Norway in 1975, where Vandal Savage is petting an atom bomb the way Dr. Evil pets his hairless cat.
What did you think of the pilot of Legends of Tomorrow? Are you sold, or do you need a few more episodes to convince you?
On Twitter, a few of us have been using the hashtag #cawcawmfs (short for the Canary Cry, CAW CAW MOTHERFUCKERS) for both Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow, so please tweet along with us! Maybe if we get enough players, we can start our own Legends of Tomorrow AfterEllen hashtag and start including a tweet roundup in the recap. Leave ideas in the comments!
