When last we met, three of the titular legends had been left in the 1950's after an attack from Chronos drove the Waverider away. The episode is an interesting counterpoint to its predecessor. Where it painted the 1950's in a negative light, this one shows a bit of the more idealistic aspects as Ray is quite happy having settled down with Kendra after living a peaceful life for two years. More than that, where the last episode was poorly structured and beyond underwhelming, this one was actually really good. The character motivations felt natural, the stakes felt high, and the action scenes were top notch.
Even the once weak link of Ray and Kendra's romance gets handled fairly well. They form a genuine bond, building a relationship and a life together over the two years they were stuck there, and it makes Ray's lamentation of what he perceives to be the end of his relationship that much more poignant.
As Sara feels that she has nowhere else to go, she returns to Nanda Parbat so that she can rejoin the League of Assassins...for the first time. It was good to see Matt Nable appear as the real Ra's al Ghul. He doesn't get a whole lot to do, but he gets a few great moments. One of the real highlights, though, was the cameo from Nyssa's heretofore unmentioned older sister Talia. Considering how much the Arrowverse's version of Nyssa draws from Talia, it makes you wonder what they could do with her. Then again, it could just be a nod to the fans, so we'll see.
The episode does have a notable reveal as we discover the true identity of Chronos. Admittedly, the episode somewhat buried the lead as once characters start asking why Chronos would specifically kidnap Snart, you kind of know where they're going, but the twist was still pulled off dramatically enough.
As many suspected, Snart didn't kill his best friend and now Mick is pissed. Purcell does a great job with it, as his growling voice works really well when he's going on at length about how much he plans to pay his old team back for what they did.
Honestly, this makes Chronos a much more fearsome villain. While he managed to chase the team around a few times, he was fairly bland. Now there's a personal stake and his motivations for pursuing them feel much stronger as a result.
He also makes for a satisfying end villain, giving the whole team a worthy challenge and even laying waste to a good chunk of the league of assassins. The latter isn't an especially fair fight admittedly, what with the armor and high-tech weaponry, but still.
If the episode has a weak link, it's Wentworth Miller. I don't know what happened, but the guy's line delivery and facial expressions feel forced and don't work anymore. Even when Snart freezes his own hand and smashes it, Miller's performance takes you out of what was otherwise a legitimately solid "oh crap" moment.
Speaking of, I was disappointed about the backpedal, where it's revealed that the ship's tech can just regrow a new hand for him. Having advanced medical technology is one thing, but that seemed like it was pushing it. It would have been interesting to see a one-handed Snart in action, or if they had to give him a new hand, make it robotic so that Ray can make the obligatory 'Star Wars' reference.
All in all, though, this was a blast. It really made up for the last outing and got me excited again to see where this show is going. Here's hoping that the next few episodes can take all of this positive growth and run with it.
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