After the downer ending from the last episode, you might be looking for something more fun and upbeat. As it happens, this episode delivers said fun in spades.
In order to hide from the Time Masters, the group goes to the Old West. Rip explains that, due to the nature of time, there are "blind spots" and this era is one such spot. Of course, the group can't resist going out to look around and see it for themselves. Rip has a good point when he says that they should just stay on the ship and stay out of trouble, but if I were in that situation, I'd want to see it too. I can't really fault the characters for their excitement in this case.
What follows is a story that invokes every Western movie trope you can think of. It's revealed that the nearby small town is being plagued by a group of outlaws and the team decides to take it upon themselves to stop them. It's a familiar plot, but that is, of course, part of the episode's fun. On top of that, we, of course see a bar fight as well as a shootout. It was kind of sad to see Mick had passed out by the time the initial fight broke out, but he does get to partake in the final battle, so he wasn't completely sidelined.
This show is really starting to play up Ray's idealistic side. It's weird to see him be a better Superman here than he was when he was playing Superman. I'm guessing it's an intentional nod on the part of the writers, but there you go.
With this being the DC Universe and the story being in the old West, I think fans would have been disappointed if Jonah Hex didn't make an appearance. Rest assured, he does. It was actually one of the major selling points of the episode, and understandably so. He's fairly popular in comic circles and he doesn't really get much opportunity to crossover with the "present day" characters.
This portrayal wasn't the best, but it got the job done. He doesn't really have a whole lot to do, which means he spends a lot of time tagging along and conveying information so that the team (and viewers) know what's going on.
I did like that he had already seen some weird stuff by the time the team meets him. He immediately pegs them as time travelers and even seems to know Rip personally. It really shouldn't come as a shock that he had been there before, but it does lead to some minor conflict between the two. Sadly, the episode doesn't really have too much time to delve into it, but we get all the necessary information and it does work well within the context of the episode.
The episode's plot is pretty singular, but Kendra does have a sub-plot that goes off in its own direction. She and Sara go off to find a woman that had triggered a vision in Kendra, and they soon discover that she is that era's incarnation of Hawkgirl. It doesn't bode well as the woman explains that they can't fight their destiny and that any romantic relationships beyond Carter that Kendra pursues will end badly.
It's a pretty heavy bombshell, given that Kendra's still fairly young and currently involved with Ray. You'd think that this would lead to some sort of tension that would build up over several episodes, but a quick pep talk from Sara is enough to convince Kendra to shrug it off. It's a bit of a plot cul-de-sac, but it could lead to something later on down the line.
I was surprised to see the team go all out in the climax. Given that the Time Masters' hunters had shown up, its perfectly understandable, but the fact that the characters were working with limited era-appropriate resources was oddly working to the episode's favor. It was likely much easier on the budget, but the episode was still able to build up tension and make it seem like the team was in danger despite the fact that, by all accounts, a gang of cowboys is small potatoes to them. Still, I can't really complain when the show lets Firestorm and Atom cut loose.
Although, looking back, with all the shootouts that went down, you'd think somebody would have been grazed at some point. There were a couple of close calls, but Snart actually stepped up and showed some impressive marksmanship.
As stated above, this episode was pure fun. It managed to balance both the humorous and more dramatic elements perfectly. It also showed why the time travel aspect doesn't have to be a weakness. I had said before that the show could work better just staying in the present. Watching "Flash" and "Arrow", Lord knows they could use the backup, but the simple adventure and the homages on display here worked really well.
Of course, there is something of a cliffhanger, though it isn't quite up to the same standard as others. Mick discovers that another hunter called "the pilgrim" is gunning for them. Snart is understandably unimpressed as they've gotten by so far, but what makes the pilgrim different is that she goes after her targets in their youth. It's an interesting twist that makes perfect sense in terms of time travel plots. The first thing you're likely to think of is "The Terminator" and, sure enough, the first line in the preview is Ray saying "Come with me if you want to live". It's a little on the nose, but I guess it's one of those things you have to do.
All in all, this was fun. Yet again, we have a strong entry in this series. It seems like the show's found its footing as the latter half has been fairly solid. It's a little odd that Vandal isn't all that prominent, but in this instance, I can't say that he was missed all that much. As we get closer to the season finale, I'm guessing he'll really start to step up his game, so we'll see how that plays out.
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