Daniel Brount is a senior creative writing major and writes ‘Do You Copy?’ for the Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper. Write to Daniel at djbrount@bsu.edu.
“Legends of Tomorrow” may have had a shaky pilot, but it spent the episode building up elements that could make this show more exciting than both of its predecessors, “Arrow” and “The Flash.”
This is a spin-off of two of the CW’s other DC comics shows, and it takes a sci-fi ensemble approach with a massive amount of time travel and a main cast of nine characters. Unlike the other DC shows on TV, this one is entirely original. The main cast never appeared altogether as a team in the comics.
Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill), a time traveler from 2166, heads to 2016 to recruit a team of eight to save the world from Vandal Savage (Casper Crump). Savage has lived for thousands of years, extending his immortality each time he kills the reincarnated Hawkgirl (Ciara Renée) and Hawkman (Falk Hentschel).
In Rip Hunter’s present, Savage has taken over the entire world. Hunter is hoping his team, composed of Hawkgirl, Hawkman and six others, can travel through time to prevent Savage from succeeding in his mission.
Sound like a lot? Well, it is, and that’s part of why the pilot was so rocky. There was a lot of explaining to do and plenty of exposition to get through.
For fans of “Arrow” and “The Flash,” most of this exposition could have been glossed over; after all, the entire main cast (minus Hunter) and Savage have all appeared in the other CW shows. Even with that exposition, the characters are introduced too hastily, but the show is at least making an effort to be accessible.
The two halves of the hero Firestorm, Professor Martin Stein (Victor Garber) and young auto mechanic Jefferson Jackson (Franz Drameh), first appeared on “The Flash.” Sara Lance (Caity Lotz), the White Canary, and Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh), the Atom, both played major roles on “Arrow.”
Finally, Mick Rory (Dominic Purcell) and Leonard Snart (Wentworth Miller) are Heatwave and Captain Cold — two villains from “The Flash.” These two actors were the leads in “Prison Break,” and their reunion as these two villains has always been entertaining. But the two add a flavor that “Legends of Tomorrow” may not have worked without. They aren’t as into saving the world as the rest of the crew, which could lead to some interesting conflict down the road. Beyond that, Rory is by far the funniest character on the show.
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This show is much more similar in tone to “The Flash” than it is to “Arrow.” Jokes are thrown around often, with more than one reference to “Star Wars” in the pilot. In general, it’s entertaining to watch so many different characters interact.
Rory and Gideon, the artificial intelligence on Hunter’s ship, lead in humor. Rory is outspoken and not quite bright, while Gideon is witty. This humor comes with a couple emotional moments (which are necessary given the antagonist is a world-dominating immortal), and a lot of flashy elements. It’s hard not to be flashy when time travel, superpowers and loads of high-tech weaponry are involved.
What makes the show great is the unlimited potential; with an extremely varied main cast and a host of times and locations for them to visit, this show can essentially do anything. It would’ve been nice if more than two of the nine main characters were female, but hopefully more female characters will show up as the show progresses.
If you haven’t seen “Arrow” and “The Flash” and have time to do a hefty amount of binge-watching, definitely watch them. The references and background will better orient you to the show. Plus, there’s guaranteed to be guest appearances and a good probability of crossovers.
That being said, you don’t need to watch them. “Legends of Tomorrow” is a show all on its own. With so many elements, characters and complications of time travel to deal with, the series could face a bumpy road ahead. But it’ll be an exciting one.
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