It is hard to get too annoyed with “Legends of Tomorrow” when they make Snart such a cute baby that both Kendra and Sara get caught up in him. “Last Refuge” sees the team all go back to save their younger selves and The Pilgrim, who is, in essence, following in the footsteps of The Terminator, get terminated herself in a Davy versus Goliath riff.
In case we did not get the Terminator twist, Ray Palmer even gets to quote that iconic line:
“Come with me if you want to live. I’ve always wanted to say that”
Of course the whole problem with a storyline where the big bad goes back in time to kill the younger, and more defenseless, versions of transgressors is that the concept is flawed. Why, go and kill the infant versions of one “legend” and the teen version of another.
This murderer for hire can travel anywhere in the timeline she wants, why bounce from infant to teen?
Besides, if “Legends of Tomorrow” follow the “Terminator” redux properly, The Pilgrim should have just gone to the source, a’la Sarah Connor.
“Sarah Connor?”
“Yes.”
BLAM.
(Three word film recap by Kevin Williamson via Scream 2 who put the words in character Randy’s mouth.)
Unlike Arnold Schwarzenegger’s big leather clad killer, Faye Kingslee as The Pilgrim was able to be dispatched, with extreme prejudice. It seems the achilles heel of the “perfect” assassin was being outnumbered and tricked by the young version of Rip Hunter.
So in essence, The Pilgrim may have been deadly, to youngsters she was a guaranteed victor, but to thinking and battling adults she was a pile of ash. It may well be that since the Terminator wannabe was not the sharpest knife in the armory, that she became so proficient because children were easier for her to defeat.
This may well be the reason that she did not opt to “Sarah Connor” her way through missions. It does make a good bit of sense, look how badly it went for Arnold’s metal murderer.
Of course the point of this entire episode, despite its maudlin and somewhat sentimental tone of “bad guys wishing they were good” (think Mick Rory here) is that the band plays better when they work together as a team.
More backstory on Rip is revealed (that he was a cutpurse as a child) and that according to the episode’s Dame Maggie Smith clone, the superlative Brit actress Celia Imrie, he was a real handful in the Time Master “safe house.”
Problems abound with time travel unless of course you talk Time Lords versus Time Masters and another “British” character who happens to be a doctor and at least one villainous creation, a Dalek who says “ex-terminate” before blasting the life out of its victims.
The entire premise of this Americanized Dr. Who (there we said it) is based upon the very tenuous and fragile nature of time travel. None of it makes any real sense and much of the “rules” are broken repeatedly in different tales about the subject.
Theoretical rules aside (And who really cares anyway? This is not a physics exercise it is DC and comics.) the story is compelling in that Rip Hunter wants to save his family from Vandal Savage. The seemingly impotent future leader who wipes out a large portion of the world’s population is the next target for the group to attack and they will do so at the worst possible time. (See what we did there?)
Four episodes remain in season one. Time is running out for the band of legends and it remains to be seen where the whole Vandal Savage plot will end. One sure bet may be that if the mission next week fails, that the big bad may just take out Kendra again.
Why Kendra? Well, she is making the leap for a bit of temporary happiness with Ray Palmer, after a fashion, and this cannot be allowed to happen. Not only that but Hawkgirl does bring things down a bit. Depressing much?
“Legends of Tomorrow” is great heroic fun. It has characters that all bring something to the table, although Wentworth Miller as Snart is a personal favorite with his brilliantly drawled verbals. The actors who make up this pretty decent ensemble series are all able performers who sometimes rise above the material.
Now that this Terminator plot line has been abandoned the series can move on and up to 2166 where the team will attempt to terminate Savage (Casper Crump) and Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) can try to save his family.
“Legends of Tomorrow ” airs Thursdays on CW.
Discover more from Mikes Film Talk
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.
