Legends of Tomorrow - Aruba-Con - Review: "We Screw Things Up For The Better"

Legends of Tomorrow's season 3 premiere was a great reminder of why this show the most fun of the CWDCTV-Universe. Last season, the show greatly improved upon a so-so first season, to deliver a more consistent and rip-roaring good time in season 2, which ended with our team arriving back in 2017 after defeating the Legion of Doom and discovering that they essentially broke time. I know there were some groans on the boards about how the ending of season 2 wasn't really that spectacular or cliffhangery, but for me the finale was a perfect fun ending to a fun season. I was pretty confident that the show would come back and deliver more of what makes it work following the events of the finale (minus my views of how Laurel was used to prop up Sara), and for me...it did. The season 3 premiere, Aruba-Con featured more time Hi-jinx, funny one-liners, plenty of dialogue call backs, angst and action. What more can you ask for from the best show in the DC line up currently? (Don't @ me)

"I didn't know Men's Warehouse offered a group discount"
I'm glad the premiere decided to open exactly where we ended, with the team finding out and arguing about just how badly they screwed time in the finale when they were fighting the Legion, because I was curious as to how they were going to clean up this mess. I knew that Rip would be appearing this season with the Time Bureau as a sort of the foil of the Legends, but I honestly wasn't expecting it so soon. (15 minutes after he relinquished the ship to Sara to be exact) I do think that Rip's new look is not something I was quite ready for, but that is neither here nor there. For Rip it's been 5 years since he left the ship, and he's spent that time building a better team to watch over time and clean up the Legends mess, so he disbands the Legends on the spot. ( I mean the Time Bureau is his made up authority essentially, so I was hoping someone would at least question it but they don't) I thought it was pretty hilarious to see where the Legends end up without their Waverider adventures. Sara aka Freckles is working retail while fantasizing about murdering her boss who thinks she should be grateful since she was declared dead twice while Ray is in Silicon Valley not being the tech mogul he once was (because he handed his company over to she who must not be named for some reason, who ran it into the ground) and working for an app called Upswipe. Nate is the 2nd most popular hero in Central City apparently, and he has to ask Wally to save some bad guys for him, while Rory is finally chilling in Aruba but ends up being confronted by Julius Caesar (Who has no idea how he got here). Also, I did let out the tiniest of gasps when Nate went to meet Alana, as I was totally expecting Amaya!

I think for me the biggest flaw of the episode was how little care seemed to be taken with Caesar. While he was just a plot to pit the Time Bureau against our adrenaline depraved Legends, his presence never seemed to carry much weight. It was as if, which happens to be a true a lot of the time, that Caesar was more of an afterthought to the entire episode. I loved the whole the let's get the band back together feels that Caesar inspired from the team though, as it was painfully obvious that while the team felt they needed a reason to regroup, they mostly wanted to do so because they missed each other. (They are a wacky little family as Stein points out in the episode much later) Of course, the Time bureau isn't exactly welcoming to the Legends when they show up break in wanting to help, (though Nate confronting Rip about Amaya didn't help matters much) but Rip is kind enough to give them a tour and they learn that he's taught his new agents to be so efficient by teaching them to learn from his former teammate's mistakes(ouch) as he says their idea of helping is like performing brain surgery with a chainsaw. Rory's greed getting the best of him and letting Caesar get away was typical of Rory, and of course led to confusion when the Bureau showed up, and caught the wrong Caesar because there was a toga party on the beach of course. The Bureau then dismisses the Legends( after validating parking) but when they find the gold that Rory stole from Caesar, they realize Caesar is here and so they steal the ship (now being used as a simulator) to find him. Rebooted Gideon can only jump them 3 minutes in the future though, so they have to find a mechanic to do some repairs, so we cut to Jax on Stein's doorstep where we find out that Jax has quit school because he misses actually doing the work and that Steins' aberration daughter is now pregnant. The gang (minus Amaya) is finally back together and they head for Caesar.

I loved how they used Upswipe to distract all of the frat bro's at the toga party who were being enticed by Caesar, and the fight between Sara and Caesar was pretty awesome. I think for me, some of the best emotional weight of the episode was carried when Sara was questioning what she should do as leader. Obviously taking Caesar back to the Bureau would mend fences and prove they were capable, but at the same time, they have saved time many times over, so what do they really have to prove? Also, as we now know, Victor Garber is poised to leave Legends this season and I feel this episode was the beginning of his goodbye. His conversation with Jax about how Jax has this hole he needs filled while he knows Stein wants to be a grandpa was very telling. Stein came around in the end because he is essentially responsible for getting Jax into this life, but we can pretty much assume this isn't the last of this conversation and there are spoilers out there that point to this ending pretty messy. The Legends doing what Legends do and screwing up time further was pretty much a given, so no surprise that handing over world domination to JC when they decided to drop him off in his own time. They decide to re-fold history before the Bureau ccould get involved but it is too late, they show up but the bureau are the ones getting captured and needing the legends help. The team springs into action and saves the Bureau, but Sharp still concludes they are an even worse team than she imagined. Rip ends up letting the team go and Sharp questions it, but Rip mentions a new darkness on the rise and the time may come where they will need the legends chain saw expertise for brain surgery. (How awesome was it that Rory stole all those "thingy's" from Rip?)We end with Nate pining over Amaya, but we find out Amaya appears to be holding her own in her own time, but I can't wait for her to rejoin the team.

Final Thoughts: I really enjoyed the premiere. Sure the show didn't go full force into ratifying the events that happened because of the actions from the finale, wrapping it up offscreen, but I never expected it to. At the end of the day this is show is built around the idea of this rag-tag team of vigilantes and would-be heroes can team together and have wacky adventures and form not just a team but a family. To me, the premiere addressed the repercussions of the finale cliffhanger on a more emotional scale; the team lost each other and their purpose because of their actions and had to realize that they can't just give up their mission as it's apart of them individually and their "family". The humor and quips were on point this episode as well, and the premiere laid the groundwork for the season by introducing the Time Bureau and hinting at a darker force to come. For me, the show has found its rhythm and groove and has taken the highs of season 2 and really molded them into the core of the show, so each episode feels a bit more like an issue of comic that's a part of larger volume and that is what makes the show work so well now. I personally can't wait to see where the season takes us. A

So, what are your thoughts on the premiere? How do you feel about the Time Bureau? What do you think will happen to Stein? Sound off below!

The next episode of Legends of Tomorrow, Freakshow, airs 10/17/17 on the CW, following The Flash!