Legends of Tomorrow: The Virgin Gary
October 22, 2018 7:53 PM - Season 4, Episode 1 - Subscribe

In the Season 4 premiere, the Legends find themselves in unfamiliar territory with the Time Bureau after defeating Mallus and eliminating the final anachronism from time. All that changes when Constantine informs Sara of a new magical threat that leads the team to Woodstock.
posted by oh yeah! (23 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
If you'd told me back in Season 1 of this show that someday, I'd be looking forward to its return more than any of the other Arrow-verse shows, I would seriously have doubted you. But I was! And it did not disappoint me in the least.

The only thing that really has the potential to be a future problem for the season is if Ava gets relegated to just being "Sara's girlfriend back home" and nothing more.

Supernatural did the murderous unicorn thing first, of course, but it's a pretty good bit (and they had a lot of fun with it here) so I forgive them.
posted by mstokes650 at 10:58 PM on October 22, 2018 [8 favorites]


What the... what did I just watch?

I gave up on this show midway through season 1. I loved a couple of the cast, particularly Caity Lotz who I've always thought was the brightest star in the CW DCverse (though now that Supergirl is on CW Benoist might edge her out) but there were just so, damn, many boring characters I didn't care about (wtf hawkpeople) and the plots were serviceable but not particularly noteworthy. But I thought I'd give this season premiere a watch to see if I should go back and pick up on Season 2.

... there was an evil unicorn impaling a hippie?!? The unicorn shot rainbow sparkle spooge on the crew, sending them into drug-fueled hazes. They stole a doobie from Jerry Garcia?!? Mick hallucinated a giant... squirrel thing??! Why is Constantine there? Wasn't this the same guy from the Constantine show on a completely different network!? I guess it worked for Supergirl! AND WHITE CANARY IS THE CAPTAIN! She always should have been!

I have no idea what is happening and it is AMAZEBALLS.

At what point did the show jettison the boring dead weight? Was it the start of season 2?
posted by Justinian at 1:11 AM on October 23, 2018 [10 favorites]


At what point did the show jettison the boring dead weight? Was it the start of season 2?

Ha! Welcome to the delight that is Legends of Tomorrow, Justinian. Yes, season 2 was when they found their ridiculous groove, and season 3 was even more bonkers, you have a wonderful Netflix binge ahead of you (just be aware that for the S3 'Crisis on Earth X' crossover event, you should watch the Supergirl, Flash, and Arrow episodes first - part 4 is the Legends episode, but it really was a 4-show mix the whole way through so you'd miss a bunch of Legends stuff if you only see a 'previously-on' clip for parts 1-3). And, yes, that is NBC's Constantine, Matt Ryan. DC/CW were able to regain rights to the character after NBC canceled the show, and he made his first guest appearance on Arrow first, then in Legends S3, and will be a series regular this year.
posted by oh yeah! at 4:46 AM on October 23, 2018 [7 favorites]


Eventually we simply must get a joke about Tom Wilson and time travel, right? Please? You can't bring the man who was Biff Tannen onto a time travel show like this one and not make a joke about it.
posted by Servo5678 at 9:44 AM on October 23, 2018 [5 favorites]


Hooray! I'm so glad this show is back. If I list all the things I loved I'll just have to transcribe the episode. I love how Sara has gone from being a longer to being a team leader who actually wants to not be a screw-up. I can't wait to see John on board. I LOVE THAT THERE ARE TWO UNAPOLOGETIC BISEXUALS!!! And I can't wait to see how they bring Norah Dahrk on board or what they do with Nate's Daddy issues.
posted by rednikki at 1:04 PM on October 23, 2018 [4 favorites]


I LOVE THAT THERE ARE TWO UNAPOLOGETIC BISEXUALS!!!

Three! Gary has boss-crushed on Ava in the past and is definitely crushing hard now on Constantine, who may have addressed Gary's technical virginity problem. I both ship them and want to shield Gary from the angstwreck ahead. Don't risk your poor innocent heart, Gary! Use the sexy British wizard for makeouts and then run away!

I do love that Sara is there with Constantine in bisexual solidarity to say, "Uh, we're not all doomed to misery and loneliness, John, you're just a moody loner jerk."
posted by nicebookrack at 4:14 PM on October 23, 2018 [8 favorites]


Are you actually not allowed to show smoking on TV? I thought it was just sorta something that networks generally avoided with new shows? But the coy "Constantine almost smokes but then doesn't" thing is kinda weird? And didn't they do that on NBC also?
posted by Justinian at 4:41 PM on October 23, 2018


Was there any specific reference to the man Mick stole the power stone from? They didn't name him (or I don't think they did), and my 1960s music trivia isn't strong enough to say, well that's actually supposed to be [insert famous ]musician.

I loved the Clark Kent drag they had Brandon Routh in during the Beatles opening. I laughed so hard when Mick got a chance to see his furry little rat (not squirrel) buddy again. I'm so happy this show is back again. It looks like it's going to be a fun ride, even if we are deprived a Legends role in the crossover.
posted by sardonyx at 6:31 PM on October 23, 2018


Never mind. I guess it was supposed to be Jimi Hendrix. Sixties musicians is so not my Jeopardy category.
posted by sardonyx at 6:37 PM on October 23, 2018


Are you actually not allowed to show...

Well, a lot of people probably don't want to watch it _at all_, so there's that.
posted by amtho at 9:03 PM on October 23, 2018 [1 favorite]


Are you actually not allowed to show smoking on TV? I thought it was just sorta something that networks generally avoided with new shows? But the coy "Constantine almost smokes but then doesn't" thing is kinda weird? And didn't they do that on NBC also?

He was definitely not allowed to smoke on NBC. Last season, when he showed up as a guest star, he definitely smoked on this show, but some of the time, they prevented him from smoking as a way of subtly making fun of how he wasn't allowed to smoke on NBC. I dunno if there's different rules now that he's a season regular - maybe there's a limited amount of smoking they're allowed to show so they've got to parcel it out a little more carefully this season? I'm not sure.
posted by mstokes650 at 9:46 PM on October 23, 2018


Hell, the movie "Thank You For Smoking" does not even show actual smoking. Nor does "Saving Mr. Banks" even though Walt was a notorious smoker. No, it's not allowed anywhere these days.

Other than that, super enjoyed the sparkle and tripping and "bronies" and chest bumps and Sara sassing Constantine and all that jazz. I continue to be amused at the subtle in-joke of Nora and Ray's real life actors being married and now he has a crush on her character (bad idea!).
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:29 PM on October 23, 2018 [2 favorites]


Clearly Constantine needs to take up vaping.
posted by Justinian at 10:40 PM on October 23, 2018


I put seasons 2 and 3 into my netflix queue. I will read a summary for the back half of season 1 so I don't have to suffer through more hawkpeople.
posted by Justinian at 10:48 PM on October 23, 2018


Constantine needs to market his expertise as a towel tying expert or sell a prepackaged "towel-stay-tied" spell, because if he can suffer through that kind of assault and keep his towel around his waist, he has a unique skill in this world beyond being a master of the dark arts.
posted by sardonyx at 11:01 PM on October 23, 2018 [3 favorites]


The towel trick is a sari spell that John begged off from Draupadi way back when. Amazingly versatile!
posted by nicebookrack at 12:32 AM on October 24, 2018


Are you actually not allowed to show smoking on TV? I thought it was just sorta something that networks generally avoided with new shows? But the coy "Constantine almost smokes but then doesn't" thing is kinda weird? And didn't they do that on NBC also?

I don't know about NBC, but this has always been a policy on the CW, because many of its shows are aimed at a teenage/young adult demographic and they don't want to glamorize smoking. Honestly, I think it's good for both selfish personal reasons (I think smoking is gross and I don't particularly want to see it) and because I support the idea that promoting smoking to young viewers is a bad idea. I don't mind the "John almost smokes but doesn't" thing. I can headcanon/handwave that he's trying to quit but still carries one around due to habit/muscle memory.
posted by katyggls at 12:34 AM on October 24, 2018 [1 favorite]


Just popping in to mention that I laughed so hard at the first unicorn appearance that my SO wanted to know what I was even doing. I ended up having to run the section back and just make her watch, although I did compare it to a webcomic we're both fond of.

LoT is the best live action DC thing ever made.
posted by mordax at 10:21 AM on October 24, 2018 [7 favorites]


I'm going to go ahead and call it... Gary's nipple is going to come back later in the season.

I love how random and unnecessary the unicorn's nipple-biting lunge was.

Nice Doctor Strange nod with the floating orange magical mandala drawn in the air. I really wanted Sara to see it and say "That looks strange."
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 2:23 PM on October 24, 2018 [1 favorite]


I put seasons 2 and 3 into my netflix queue. I will read a summary for the back half of season 1 so I don't have to suffer through more hawkpeople.

Justinian - you might want to watch the last couple of S1 episodes for the end of original-flavor Captain Cold and just fast-forward through the boringsville Hawkpeople & Vandal Savage scenes. Snart (and Snart+Rory) were the highlight of Legends S1, and I think you might miss out a little on Rory's S2 & 3 arc from just reading summaries.
posted by oh yeah! at 4:43 PM on October 24, 2018 [3 favorites]


Snart+Mick the grieving widower still make my heart hurt. Apparently OG Leonard was the monkey's paw price we had to pay to get a wacky Legends show that was actually great, and while I would never trade this show back, I hope Wentworth Miller continues to guest star as much as he wants.

A lot of reviews of the past couple of seasons and this episode in particular have pointed out that the Legends groove of Wacky Hijinks Plot works so well because it's firmly rooted in character, who the characters actually are instead of what the plot dictates they be (the Hawks are romantic lovers! Rip Hunter is a trustworthy captain! good luck with that).

So this episode can have wacky killer unicorn hijinks and still have little character moments of human realness, like Zari grieving for her mom and Mick asking if Nate's dad was abusive like Mick's dad and Sara having grown comfortable enough in her relationship and job to be emotionally open with Ava and to notice that Constantine was even gloomier than usual.
posted by nicebookrack at 7:45 PM on October 24, 2018 [4 favorites]


Hey, I don't know if I'll have time to watch & post tonight's Legends & Arrow before midnight (cooking for tomorrow's office potluck is taking longer than I'd planned), if someone else wants to get the threads up, feel free.
posted by oh yeah! at 7:06 PM on October 29, 2018


I watch the day after, but I'll get a post up if you haven't by tomorrow night.

Man that was so fun! I love that unicorns goring people never get boring. Also, I love that Mick and Ray are bronies. I instantly laughed at the Twilight Sparkle reference (but let's be real that thing was Starlight Glimmer all the way, with the evilness).

What I really love is that as wacky as this show is, it's also inclusive and topical. Casually and unapologetically referencing bisexuality and anal sex and then getting real with Zari dreading how this country will betray people like her family. That was a little bit too real for me, with the state of our current politics.
posted by numaner at 8:30 PM on October 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


« Older Arrow: The Longbow Hunters...   |  Movie: Wings of Desire (1987)... Newer »

You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments

poster