Legends of Tomorrow - Dancing Queen - Review

Well Legends Fans, It happened. Season 4 had an episode that really wasn’t stellar. It’s not that I hated Dancing Queen, I just know I zoned out several times. I’m not much of an Arrowverse Ray Palmer fan, so this episode tended to feel like a chore to get through. The team feels a little scattered at this point and while it does lead to character growth in some instances, it just happens to be with character’s I’m not too excited about.

Ray was very much in the forefront of Dancing Queen, and while seeing Straight edged Ray infiltrate the punk scene in London started off fun, it started to grate by hours end. Yet, with the message that it seemed to be delivering at the end of the hour, it still made for a decent-ish hour. Ray learns from the punks that sometimes you have to act outside of the rules for the greater good, something Ray might’ve needed to hear in light of his hand in setting Nora free from the Time Bureau. It was nice to see Ray go against the grain and even rub the team the wrong way. Sure, Sara thinks she knows all there is to Ray, but it is nice to see that even he can surprise her every now and again.

I’d been wondering and waiting how they were going to work Maisie back into the show as not Amaya and now that I’ve seen it, I’m really let down. I love having Maisie on the show, but this is such a wasted opportunity to have a shapeshifter with abilities actively on board and feature some pretty sweet cameos or new acting opportunities. I’m happy that Maisie gets to play an entirely new character named Charlie, but I feel like some of the fun has now been taken away by depowering her just for the sake of convenience. Either way, I loved that Ray and Zari were among the first to call off sending Charlie back to hell, and I loved even more that Mick reflected that they almost became cops that day.

Constantine was the real surprise of the episode for me. It seems that he’s finally getting his overdue character development one cancelled show-a few guests spots- and one animated series later. We get some more insight as to where Mister Broody McMagicson started going dark. Talk about a heavy load! Learning he has had to cope with his mom dying during childbirth and his dad calling him killer because of it was disheartening and really kind of explained everything you need to know about this guy. Since birth, he’s carried the loss of someone else’s soul with him. Him trying to stop himself from being born by kicking his father’s junk, but failing due to a paradox was hilarious and touching. Nothing really got to me as much though, as when Zari gives him a picture she took of him and his mother for surveillance at the end of the episode. Real tears fell from my face!(I do love his and Mick's bickering)

The Gary and Nate of it all was fun, but not really all that exciting. I’m starting to feel like Gary is best in small doses, as the more I saw him this week, the more I wanted him gone. Nate is still struggling to adjust to his new role, and so am I. I, like Sara, feel like it makes no sense and seems like the life he wanted to get away from. Sure, it was touching that Amaya seemed to be the real reason he left, but honestly his extended stay with the bureau feel more like an attempt at keeping the bureau(Ava and Gary) around than letting Nate deal with his issues. Still, Nate is bringing a bit of his Legends style to the bureau and has a new sortof time-bro, so b or c plots entirely dedicated to him won’t bother to much since the arrival of Charlie/Amaya will be derailing his return.

Legends may not have been as fun for me this week, but the glimpses of character development this week were worth it. I’m curious as to how the Charlie thing shakes things up going forward and Constantine seems to be working so far. The shapeshifter wasn’t as fun as the unicorn or fairy godmother but I am loving the magical theme of the season and serious hope the show doesn’t muck things up with a big bad. It was a decent hour, that while not my favorite, was still an hour well spent in retrospect. C

What did you think about the episode and the Charlie as Amaya reveal? Sound off below.