Legends of Tomorrow - Freakshow/Zari - Double Review

Sorry this is coming at you so late, there's been things going on out of my control that caused the delay, but I think I should be clear to get these done much timelier now. So, because this is really short notice, I'm doing "drive by" reviews that are quick in and quick out of the episodes.

Freakshow
What I loved most about Freakshow, is that it truly was an accurate refelct of what a great episode of Legends is. It was a prefect action-comedy romp that took something from the real world, PT Barnum (Played by The Phantom Billy Zane!) added in our signature Legends dysfunction and created a good time. I think it's fun that show is really driving home that Sara and the team were never really trained to be time masters, so when they have a simple job that should be around a 2, they end up turning it into a 9 by just being themselves. I'm loving the addition of Agent Sharpe into the show, and her brawl with Sara (While a bit unbelievable because I mean Sara is LoA tried and should be able to take her instantly) was one of my favorite parts of the episode. I think what really has Sharpe in a such a foul mood, is that she's probably jealous of the soft spot that Rip has for the team. I wouldn't be surprised if she fancied him a bit more than just as co-workers even. I loved Billy Zane as Barnum, I think his portrayal of man so desperate to put on great show that's he's willing to go to such drastic links as kidnap and torture was kind a perfect mix of crazy yet believable. (Loved the titanic reference) I did think that the CGI for the tiger was a bit more on the pedestrian side, but I know with a show with this many different heroes that require effects that sometimes you just go big, or you just kinda go. Either way, I think Billy Zane played such a great role this week, that the tiger really was more of a mere afterthought this week. I love how when normally the Legends go back in time to protect it is to protect someone like Barnum, but this week the show switched up and it was the Legends who needed protection from him.

I was happy to see Amaya return this week, been though her story still has so much cloud around it at this point. I really liked Amaya last year, and to me she's a core member of the team, though I wouldn't say no to seeing Kendra come back for one appearance just to see if she mentions she was once a barista she's doing okay. Honestly, I like Nate and like Amaya, but I've never cared too much for them together, so it;s hard to really muster up strength to say I really CARED about what happened between them. Amaya can try and say she never meant to hurt Nate, but I mean...she did just disappear on his birthday. No matter how valid the reason, I can't believe that the Vixen from the finale who chose to give time the big FU and be with Nate, would just leave without at least talking to Nate first. Sure, maybe she's feel compelled to stat or was worried he could talk her into staying, but at least talking to him would seem a little less heartless. I was a little less concerned with their relationship and was more concerned about finding out, what is going on with Amaya's powers. She's obviously off, but why? Aaother great part of the episode was seeing the follower of Mallus, raising Kuasa (Mari/Vixen's sister and Amaya's Granddaughter) for some unknown task.

Overall Thoughts: I loved this episode. It was everything I could want from an early in the season Legends episode. Things aren't running full force and details are trickling in about the threat the Legends will face this season but there's plenty of action and wit to go around to make things feel less filler and that's good. I'm sure it will be hard to top the Legion, though they started to overstay their welcome towards the end, but I'm confident that the ride to meeting the villain will be fun. Even Vandal Savage was a bit of a dud, there were still highlights form season 1. I enjoyed seeing Billy Zane and I liked that the Legends were in a bit of a different situation and how this episodes reinforces that the Legends tend to do all the wrong things to make things right. I wasn't over the moon about the romance bit, but the episode itself was just all around fun. A

Zari
As far as this episode goes, it's not my favorite of the season thus far, but here's only been three, so it's not the end of the world. I'm not attached to Zari yet, but I'm hoping that as time goes on she'll fit right in with our rag tag group of time correcting cowboys. I love the show is being more diverse and not just added another woman but a woman of color as well, so I'll chalk this up to a win. Let's talk the good parts of the episode. I love that we got to go to the future! I know most time travel shows try to avoid from going to the future in order to not date themselves up rewatch later, but with a show like Legends, that can have multiple timelines and universes, I get a little tired of only going to the past. I love that Zari is not only a criminal for Mick to bond with, but that she is also from the future, kind of filling the void left by Rip leaving the team. Zari is actually based on the DC character ISIS, who can be linked to Shazam but I doubt the show is going to introduce him anytime soon given the recent news of the feature film. This week's big story revolves around the team coming to save Zari, from Kuasa who is after the same totem that Zari's brother wielded that she is trying to steal back from ARGUS. It's interesting that Seattle 2042 is such a police state and that Meta's are imprisoned in the future, I really hope the show comes back around and address that. I love that Sara once again antagonizes Sharpe by playing chicken with the Waverider, but I don't think it's wise in the long run to isolate the Bureau like this.

The other big part of this episode involves Amaya going on a spirit journey to figure out what's wrong with her totem. Stein, because the budget only allows Firestorm scenes 5 times per season being the kind man of science he is, attempts to help Amaya discover what is wrong before she goes all Buffy and vision quests with her ancestor who tells her that her power is evolving and to basically protect Zari and her totem. This leads Amaya to making the executive decision it appears to inviting Zari on board rather than let her stay and be a hacktivist in 2042. (Girl's got mad skillzz) I'm loving how badass Kuasa is as a villain and i loved Amaya's face when she tells her that if she killed her, she'd be killing herself. I think the water effects are very terminator, but done very well, and the character is the right bit of menacing that she's believable and she's the best part of a rather blah episode. There wasn't as much humor and while the episode seemed to try and integrate Zari into the team, it felt like an out of place case of the week episode more than like a character building one. I DID love the Prison Break references this week and that Mick seems genuinely happen to have another person like him on the team, and watching him get upset about not shooting anyone made my night.

Overall Thoughts: This was a rather bland episode. I'm taking a wait and see approach with Zari, and the Amaya stuff felt a little too done before by Buffy to intrigue me. The show really is best when it has episodes like the first two, as it usually struggles when it comes to world or arc building episodes as it can usually wind up feeling uneven. That was he feeling I got from this episode. It was by no means the worst episode of Legends, but it wasn't the best. I get the need to shake up the dynamic, but I think the addition of Gary (who I adore) and Sharpe have already done that, but I guess it will all tie into the bigger story this season. We'll see how it all plays out. C


What did you think of these episodes> Are you a fan of Zari? Do you think Amaya was a jerk? Sound off below!


Don't miss the next episode of Legends of Tomorrow, Phone Home, airing 10/31 on the CW!