'Legends of Tomorrow' Season 4, Episode 16: "Hey, World!'

 

It's been a bit since I dived into this one.  You might think that this was just another instance of epic schedule slip (see Attack on Titan for an example).  However, there actually was a somewhat valid reason to keep this one on the back burner.  The episode after this is the finale of "Crisis on Infinite Earths".  As I still have quite a bit of other things to watch to build up to that, I figured I'd wait until I got closer.  There's still more to watch, but I think it's time to finally knock this off the to do list. 

All in all, I found it a little underwhelming.  Part of it is the gap, but as a finale, it was pretty lackluster.  It has its moments, but I don't know if I'd mark this as a highlight of either the show or even the season as a whole. 

It turns out that Neron's real plan isn't to rule Hell, but to use people's fear of monsters and magical creatures to open a portal to it.  Or, as he so originally and subtly puts it, "Make Earth Hell Again".  

To counter this, the Legends decide to revive Nate's dad's idea for a creature theme park as a way to show people that the creatures aren't to be feared, only be better understood.  It leads to more than a few cornball moments and speeches.  Some work OK, others, not so much.  The stage show they put on is cringe, but that fact is mitigated by the fact that the in-universe viewing audience boos and is just about to walk out before the big dragon shows up.

This is an element that has been foreshadowed quite a bit via the egg.  It finally hatches and we finally get to see it.  Interestingly, it starts off rather cute and cuddly.  Young Zari and her classmates all take a liking to it and a video of that goes viral.  

This actually marks one of the few instances where the Legends' time travel has lasting consequences for both the present and the future.  As a result of both the video and the amusement park, Zari has a better childhood and her family is saved from future calamity.  This means that she never joins the Legends, who are instead joined by her brother.

Sara had earlier vowed that they weren't going to lose another Legend, but Nate seems to be the only one aware of any change to the timeline, which just adds salt to the wound.

Speaking of Nate, he comes close to biting the bullet, sacrificing himself as a way to get Neron to break his contract and get sent back to Hell.  The moment worked well and the cast all did a good job of showing the necessary grief and shock. 

This leads to one of the aforementioned cornball moments as the spirit of Nate's dad uses music to trigger the power of love, which can be channeled into magic to revive him.  Ray's point about love being channeled the same way that Neron was fear gives it at least some legitimacy, but there's a part of me that wishes that the death had stuck.  It was a noble hero death.  It's good to see he and Ray reunite, but still backpedals like that are a mixed bag.

Did anybody else find it odd how they sidestepped the whole Heaven thing?  You've established Hell, the existence of souls, and the divinity of Christ (through the Spear of Longinus in season 2) in this universe, I think you can just say "Heaven".  

I did like the Monitor cameo.  He doesn't actually do anything and considering the next episode is the crisis, it's not that surprising.  It was cleverly done.  It was a way of teasing what's to come without outright saying it.

The Vandal Savage appearance was also a curveball of sorts.  I don't know if it was an intentional nod to an episode of "Justice League" where Vandal turns over a new leaf, but I did get a similar vibe.  It's another instance of Ray's positivity being infectious.  Had they known, the Legends could have used that to stop his evil plans back in season 1, but hindsight is still 20/20, even when you have a time machine.

As noted, I've still got some watching to do before "Crisis", so there will likely be another gap, but I can at least move forward on those shows and check this season off the to-do list.

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'Attack on Titan' Season 3, Episode 9: 'Ruler of the Walls'

 

Rod Reiss' giant titan makes its way towards the city of Orvud.  As established at the last episode's cliffhanger, Erwin declares that they won't be evacuating the city.  

The others are rightly perplexed and angry, but Hange jumps into explain that abnormal titans are drawn to large, crowded areas.  Not only would evacuating not solve the problem, but it would also put people in greater danger.    Having them stay put to draw the titan to where they want it to go is the better play.

Risky and callous as it may seem, this aspect of the plan makes sense.  Erwin's confidence that the perimeter cannons will be super effective is another story.  Have they ever worked?  Maybe it annoys them or causes them some degree of pain, but it seems like the only real way to take a titan down is through the nape slicing that the scouts do so regularly.  

The episode paints the cannons not working as some big surprise, but they do have a plan B.  It's a little peculiar, but it works.  

Eren's fit of self doubt was a little forced and didn't really add anything to the episode.  I know the last few episodes put him through the ringer, but his whole, "I suck, I'm useless, and not anything special" felt a little forced.  Shouldn't what he learned about his father make him more driven to at least try and make things right?  While he doesn't "verbally" express guilt, we do see him beat himself up...literally, he starts punching himself "Fight Club" style.  On the plus side, it got all that out of his system (for now, anyway) and he's able to focus on the task at hand.

Historia herself is especially determined.  Not only is she eager to fight and stop her father, but her reasons for fighting show a degree of political savvy.  She recognizes that people won't readily follow a new queen due to bloodline alone, so by fighting on the frontline, she wants to prove herself and show that she's someone worth following.  It's commendable, and for his part, Erwin does see her reasoning.  He still protests, but notes that he can't really stop her, so that settles that debate.

Sure enough, Historia is the one who delivers the killing blow.  It was a good moment for her and it got her her desired results.  She's still not sure what her role and purpose are, but she seems closer now to finding herself than she was before. 

The episode offers a nice parallel to the first, with a set of kids witnessing the titan rising above the walls the way the colossal titan did way back in the day.  Not only does Eren vocally acknowledge the parallel, but a lot of the imagery mirrors what we saw before.  As Armin notes, though, this time they're ready for it, and thus a much better outcome is achieved.

Levi himself also manages a victory as he finds a wounded Kenny out and about.  I'm not sure how he knew where to find him or what he was doing out there, but it does give the two a small scene as Kenny starts to succumb to his wounds.  Before he dies, though, he unveils a syringe with the titan serum in it, thus marking the end of the episode.

This episode was fairly solid overall.  It was straightforward, but it did give several characters a moment to shine.  It also provided some nightmarish imagery as the eroded face of Reiss' titan will likely haunt the dreams of many a viewer.  We'll see where things go from here.

  

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