Most everybody's happy to have him aboard, though he and Mick do butt heads. I was kind of surprised by it. You'd think that the two snarky loners would bond over booze and sports. The way it plays out, you can see the logic, but it was still surprising to me.
It's not quite as surprising as the Legends's adversary-du-jour. Where the team faced a unicorn before, now they face off against a fairy godmother. As was the case before, the episode juxtaposes the bright cheerful imagery normally associated with the figure with grim violence. Admittedly, she's not quite as gruesome as the unicorn, but she does express a desire to rain down hellfire and brimstone. At the same time, though, she lambastes previous hosts for being self serving (making a blatant and yet nonsensical reference to Cinderella in the process) and actually seems to like that Prudence, a young girl who's mother has been accused of witchcraft, cares about other people's well being.
Oddly enough, she's not really the villain. I mean, she's not a hero by any stretch, but the real villain here is man.
It makes sense given the setting and, sadly, the lingo still resonates. Still, the writing here was solid. Zari chastises the townsfolk, but she also spends a lot of time appealing to the tenets of their faith, rather than lambaste them for it. It doesn't work, but it was still a strong and sincere effort that is well sold by Ashe.
Even when Zari lets her anger get the better of her, it still comes off as a genuine character moment. Her subsequent realization that she was turning into what she hated and what the people feared made for a poignant moment in the episode.
Zari gets quite a lot of character here. This episode follows up on the scene where she laments her inability to save her mom by putting her in a similar situation here. It turns out that Prudence's mother is set to die and there's nothing the team can do if they want to keep the timeline intact. It was a logical way to draw some conflict between the team and Prudence.
The episode doesn't really address this by the end. Zari just tells Jane and Prudence that they need a change of scenery. I thought Zari was going to send them both to Themyscira, but it isn't really explained how they managed to skirt that particular issue.
There's also a sub-plot where Nate tries to reconnect with his dad. It seems like the progress made in the premiere is undone as the two can't really click. The fact that both do work that requires secrecy doesn't help matters.
It's made worse when it's revealed that Ava has to go to him to ask for funding for the Time Bureau. It's a bit of a contrived coincidence, but having Nate point out that he just had told his dad that he doesn't need his money before they go in validated it.
I never thought of the Time Bureau as a government thing. It just seemed like one of those things that just exist in the show. Actually, now that I think about it, didn't Rip put it together in the future? I guess the Legends have changed the timeline enough that it now exists in the present as a government operation. Interesting note: the Time Bureau's budget is less than the Stargate program's. It's a little strange, but there you go.
In any event, Nate's dad is skeptical. It's played for laughs, but given that this is the Arrowverse and the agency has been approved funding before, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It never even occurs to Nate to go into "Steel" mode until the last second and even then it seemed like it was done on accident after pig-Ray turned back into a (nude) human. What? It makes sense in context.
I'm getting the impression that Nate is leaving the show in the near future. He opts to stay in the present and continue building his relationship with his dad. True, his newfound position as a member of the time bureau (which is paid, unlike being a Legend) would allow him to continue to help, albeit in a different capacity, but it's just the vibe I'm getting. It's a shame too, as his bond with Ray gets to shine here and he also clicks pretty well with Ava.
Overall, this was a solid episode that managed to balance humor, drama, and character rather effectively. I am starting to worry that the show is getting a little too goofy, but it's still pretty entertaining overall. I have to admit, I did get a kick out of Nate's inexplicable ability to communicate with Ray when he was still a pig. So far, though, the fourth season is turning out pretty well. We'll see how things play out going forward.
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