Non Spoiler Review- 'Legends of Tomorrow' is a blast! The pilot was very exposition heavy but it needed to lay the groundwork for the series and find a way to bring in new viewers as well as appealing to fans of 'Arrow' and 'The Flash'. The pilot has a few problems but I think this series will find itself in the next few episodes.
*******There will be Spoilers from this point on*******
Highlights of the episode
1. End fight- It was pretty cool to see the team fight together for the first time against Chronos and I can't wait to see more action sequences with the team collaborating.
2. Rip Hunter tells them the truth- One of the greatest story points of the episode was when Rip Hunter revealed to the team the real reason he selected all of them, why he defied the Time Masters, and why he wanted to stop Vandal Savage. He told them all that he picked them because they weren't essential to the timeline and were expendable rather than actually being legends. He also tells them Chronos is after them because he was tasked by the Time Masters to stop him. It also reveals that the boy and mother killed at the beginning of the episode were his wife and child. I liked this moment of truth as Hunter was finally being transparent with everyone and gave them the opportunity to bow out if they desired.
3. Captain Cold, Heatwave, and White Canary- I think one of the greatest things about teamups are the opportunity to explore character interactions and these three have such great chemistry and worked well together in the episode. I loved when they went off by themselves to that bar and started a bar fight. It was such an entertaining part of the episode and I hope to see them paired together throughout the series.
4. Time Travel- I just love the idea that this series gets to explore time travel and will go to a different time period each episode and I think that will allow for some fantastic storytelling.
5. Albus Boardman's connection- The team goes to 1975 seeking Albus Boardman, as he's an expert on Vandal Savage, so it's their best bet at locating where Vandal Savage is at certain points of time. But when they visit him, we learn that Hawkman and Hawkgirl are his parents, since they can reincarnate. So they attempt to save him but he ends up dying from bleeding out. I liked how they managed to tie his character into the team in a way that was logical and effective for the story.
6. Rip Hunter assembles the team- I liked how Rip Hunter went around retrieving the various members and assembling them all together on the rooftop. It was also great to see these characters all together for the first time since most of them have been on 'The Flash' or 'Arrow' separately and some haven't interacted with the other characters. I can't wait to see how the interactions are developed and what kind of relationships are explored.
7. Conflict before the journey- I also really liked each respective member in conflict of whether or not they should join Rip Hunter in his crusade. I liked seeing Ray turn to Oliver which lead to a great joke. I really liked seeing Laurel give Sarah her White Canary suit and name. I really liked the conflict between the two parts of Firestorm as Jackson didn't want to go so Stein roofed him, which lead to an interesting subplot between them. I liked how Cold and Heatwave developed a plan to steal throughout history, etc. I also enjoyed the conflict between Hawkman and Hawkgirl, so I can't wait to see if this continues through the series.
8. Atom's mission- I really enjoyed the little teamup with Atom and Oliver, who was advising him over an earpiece. I thought it lead to some great action with Atom showing off his size changing abilities.
9. Chronos- Chronos is a bounty hunter who works for the Time Masters tasked with getting Rip Hunter. I'm not really a fan of his look as the mask looks a little silly but hopefully that may be improved in future episodes. Above you can see a picture of him from the episode as well as the character he is based on from the comics.
10. Wave Rider- Rip Hunter's ship is named Wave Rider, which is an easter egg. Wave Rider is based off a comic character shown above who could travel through time. I think it's cool as an effective little easter egg that is small yet contains a lot of depth.
Promo
