Legends of Tomorrow: Camelot/3000
February 22, 2017 2:39 PM - Season 2, Episode 12 - Subscribe
The League of Doom is tracking down more fragments of the Spear of Destiny, which are guarded by some unexpected old friends. In Camelot?? ?!?!??!?? ??
AVClub recap: "I admire that balls-to-the-wall superhero craziness."
The episode scored 1.67 million viewers and 0.6/2 for the live ratings.
AVClub recap: "I admire that balls-to-the-wall superhero craziness."
The episode scored 1.67 million viewers and 0.6/2 for the live ratings.
Den of Geek review - "A lot of the episode rests on believing that Ray would be so caught up in the Arthurian delusions of grandeur first formed by his 12-year-old self that he would prioritize playing knight over making sure the shard of the Spear of Destiny stays out of Damien and Rip's hands. Luckily, this totally makes sense given what we know about his character. He's an idealistic idiot."
It cracked me up to see that the Legends would leave Rip conscious and unobserved in Vandal's old cell, instead of having Gideon keep him in a coma while they tried to figure out what the Legion of Doom did to his brain and how to undo it. Oh, this stupid stupid show.
Of course they had to have Sara and the Queen have a moment. Because we all need frequent reminders of Sara's sexuality.
True, but there was no way this show's writers could let the Lancelot pun go unmentioned, it would have killed them.
posted by oh yeah! at 6:39 PM on February 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
It cracked me up to see that the Legends would leave Rip conscious and unobserved in Vandal's old cell, instead of having Gideon keep him in a coma while they tried to figure out what the Legion of Doom did to his brain and how to undo it. Oh, this stupid stupid show.
Of course they had to have Sara and the Queen have a moment. Because we all need frequent reminders of Sara's sexuality.
True, but there was no way this show's writers could let the Lancelot pun go unmentioned, it would have killed them.
posted by oh yeah! at 6:39 PM on February 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
Well, it's like. literally like Ray said. That's how these stories work. The hero kisses the girl before they ride off into the sunset. Someone had to kiss someone.
I do like how they're tapping into the child-at-play aspects of the show's premise. Even if most of it revolves around Ray and Nate ... but still. They finally realized that the point of the show is to put Caity Lotz in period costumes and have fun.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 7:39 PM on February 22, 2017
I do like how they're tapping into the child-at-play aspects of the show's premise. Even if most of it revolves around Ray and Nate ... but still. They finally realized that the point of the show is to put Caity Lotz in period costumes and have fun.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 7:39 PM on February 22, 2017
I feel like they need to be reminded constantly that they have a time spaceship. They could literally fly off and hide the spear and then fly right back to where they just left and go rescue Ray.
Yeah I don't mind seeing more of Sara's sexuality being a point. It normalizes homosexuality and I'm totally fine with that. It's like we always expect the Lothario/a of a team to get the woman/man in whatever adventure they go on, and that's Sara.
posted by numaner at 11:47 AM on February 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
Yeah I don't mind seeing more of Sara's sexuality being a point. It normalizes homosexuality and I'm totally fine with that. It's like we always expect the Lothario/a of a team to get the woman/man in whatever adventure they go on, and that's Sara.
posted by numaner at 11:47 AM on February 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
Of course they had to have Sara and the Queen have a moment. Because we all need frequent reminders of Sara's sexuality.
I was born the year after Star Trek was cancelled. All my life I have been hearing people josh about how Kirk was a big man-whore and would manage to find someone fuckable on every planet and those observations ranges from approval to amusement to annoyance to dislike. But never once did i hear it phrased with regards to it being a reminder of his sexuality.
posted by phearlez at 12:44 PM on February 24, 2017 [4 favorites]
I was born the year after Star Trek was cancelled. All my life I have been hearing people josh about how Kirk was a big man-whore and would manage to find someone fuckable on every planet and those observations ranges from approval to amusement to annoyance to dislike. But never once did i hear it phrased with regards to it being a reminder of his sexuality.
posted by phearlez at 12:44 PM on February 24, 2017 [4 favorites]
Mostly I'm just rolling my eyes at the fact that every famous queen Sara meets turned out to be a secret lesbian.
Though I'll be honest: I enjoy Ray living out his 12-year-old dreams for the rest of us.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:44 PM on February 24, 2017 [1 favorite]
Though I'll be honest: I enjoy Ray living out his 12-year-old dreams for the rest of us.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:44 PM on February 24, 2017 [1 favorite]
I just happened to catch this episode again and had to explain a few things to the person I was watching with as they weren't up on the current season, when a major flaw occurred to me: if the Camelot we saw was the creation of Star Girl, why did the Legends allow it to exist? Isn't it the definition of a time aberration? Shouldn't they have done something to "fix" the situation? I realize they've been playing fast and loose with some of the fundamental time master rules and have allowed some aberrations to stand, but this is a pretty major one, isn't it?
posted by sardonyx at 9:34 PM on February 24, 2017
posted by sardonyx at 9:34 PM on February 24, 2017
I was born the year after Star Trek was cancelled. All my life I have been hearing people josh about how Kirk was a big man-whore and would manage to find someone fuckable on every planet and those observations ranges from approval to amusement to annoyance to dislike. But never once did i hear it phrased with regards to it being a reminder of his sexuality.
posted by phearlez at 12:44 PM on February 24
I'm not sure if your response is intended to be a dig at me or not, but it feels that way.
Viewers of Arrow got to know who Sara is. They saw her with Oliver. They saw her with Nyssa. (And the only reason I've listed Oliver first is because chronologically his relationship with her came before her relationship with Nyssa.) They saw her develop as a character and got a good sense of who she is supposed to be.
I know there are people who watch Legends who didn't/don't watch Arrow. Those people missed out on learning who Sara really is. On a team show such as this one, there isn't a lot of room for character development or romantic story lines that don't involve two team members.
During the first season, it seemed as if the writers were experimenting with pairing Sara off with at least one of the other Legends. It felt as if they were going for a Rip-Sara-ship for a while. Other times it appeared as if they were trying out Sara with Snart.
Since we know those pairings didn't go anywhere (and I'm especially glad they didn't make Sara and Rip a thing), it seems as if the writers have decided to focus on Sara's attraction to women. That's fine. It's part of her character and a vital part of her past. But given the restrictions of the show (the team jumping around from one time period to the next) it doesn't give her a chance to engage in a long-term relationship (which seems to be the primary pattern in her dating history on Arrow). So now she is forced into short-term encounters. The problem with these hook-ups, however, is that a lot of them feel forced in the vein of "Look, there's a strong, attractive woman (who isn't being actively courted by Ray), we must get Sara together with her/have her fall for Sara," and I think part of the reason why the writers do it is to better acquaint the casual or Legends-only viewer with who Sara is as a character. It feels more like story-telling shorthand* than strong writing or character development, especially when Sara and her love interest of the week aren't given much of a chance to interact with each other. At least in this episode, Sara and Guinevere had things in common and had a chance to talk, which hasn't always been the case.
So in other words, no I don't have a problem with Sara sleeping with women.
*If you want an analogy, think of it as character traits bingo. In any episode, Sara could be:
-brave
-good fighter
-smart captain
-angsty/brooding/guilty over her past as an assassin and/or her dead sister
-bisexual (or lesbian--I'm not sure if they've ever made it clear how she defines herself)
But since there is only a small amount of time, the writers have to pick off the top two or three defining traits and indicate them somehow in the quickest way possible (that's assuming one or more of these traits doesn't affect a major plot point).
posted by sardonyx at 10:53 PM on February 24, 2017
posted by phearlez at 12:44 PM on February 24
I'm not sure if your response is intended to be a dig at me or not, but it feels that way.
Viewers of Arrow got to know who Sara is. They saw her with Oliver. They saw her with Nyssa. (And the only reason I've listed Oliver first is because chronologically his relationship with her came before her relationship with Nyssa.) They saw her develop as a character and got a good sense of who she is supposed to be.
I know there are people who watch Legends who didn't/don't watch Arrow. Those people missed out on learning who Sara really is. On a team show such as this one, there isn't a lot of room for character development or romantic story lines that don't involve two team members.
During the first season, it seemed as if the writers were experimenting with pairing Sara off with at least one of the other Legends. It felt as if they were going for a Rip-Sara-ship for a while. Other times it appeared as if they were trying out Sara with Snart.
Since we know those pairings didn't go anywhere (and I'm especially glad they didn't make Sara and Rip a thing), it seems as if the writers have decided to focus on Sara's attraction to women. That's fine. It's part of her character and a vital part of her past. But given the restrictions of the show (the team jumping around from one time period to the next) it doesn't give her a chance to engage in a long-term relationship (which seems to be the primary pattern in her dating history on Arrow). So now she is forced into short-term encounters. The problem with these hook-ups, however, is that a lot of them feel forced in the vein of "Look, there's a strong, attractive woman (who isn't being actively courted by Ray), we must get Sara together with her/have her fall for Sara," and I think part of the reason why the writers do it is to better acquaint the casual or Legends-only viewer with who Sara is as a character. It feels more like story-telling shorthand* than strong writing or character development, especially when Sara and her love interest of the week aren't given much of a chance to interact with each other. At least in this episode, Sara and Guinevere had things in common and had a chance to talk, which hasn't always been the case.
So in other words, no I don't have a problem with Sara sleeping with women.
*If you want an analogy, think of it as character traits bingo. In any episode, Sara could be:
-brave
-good fighter
-smart captain
-angsty/brooding/guilty over her past as an assassin and/or her dead sister
-bisexual (or lesbian--I'm not sure if they've ever made it clear how she defines herself)
But since there is only a small amount of time, the writers have to pick off the top two or three defining traits and indicate them somehow in the quickest way possible (that's assuming one or more of these traits doesn't affect a major plot point).
posted by sardonyx at 10:53 PM on February 24, 2017
I feel like they need to be reminded constantly that they have a time spaceship. They could literally fly off and hide the spear and then fly right back to where they just left and go rescue Ray.
It's a tricky situation as a writer, because if you use time travel constantly, you can get really quickly in Doctor Who: The Curse of Fatal Death territory.
posted by Pendragon at 11:11 AM on March 3, 2017
It's a tricky situation as a writer, because if you use time travel constantly, you can get really quickly in Doctor Who: The Curse of Fatal Death territory.
posted by Pendragon at 11:11 AM on March 3, 2017
I'm not sure if your response is intended to be a dig at me or not, but it feels that way.
It was absolutely meant to be a dig at your choice to phrase your complaint as an issue with her sexuality and I don't find your subsequent explanation terribly compelling either. You call it a writer effort to emphasize the trait that describes her attraction to other women. I say it can just as easily - and most commonly with these sorts of travelling adventure shows - be describing her trait of liking to get it on.
posted by phearlez at 2:39 PM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
It was absolutely meant to be a dig at your choice to phrase your complaint as an issue with her sexuality and I don't find your subsequent explanation terribly compelling either. You call it a writer effort to emphasize the trait that describes her attraction to other women. I say it can just as easily - and most commonly with these sorts of travelling adventure shows - be describing her trait of liking to get it on.
posted by phearlez at 2:39 PM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
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I liked the "history be damned" attitude. I mean it's not like this show (or these kinds of shows) ever show an accurate portrayal of history anyways, so they might as well admit that and go for broke.
Ray was an idiot (which isn't unusual) but having Nate be the voice of reason was a bizarre change of pace.
Of course they had to have Sara and the Queen have a moment. Because we all need frequent reminders of Sara's sexuality.
I'm with Jax in that I can't believe Mick would miss a medieval feast. No way.
If they knew that the whole period was anachronistic, why oh why did Amaya and Sara wear those horrible side capes and skirts into battle? Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Overall, however this was still a lot of fun. In contrast to some of the other DCCW shows this one feels like it's working even when it's completely over the top and totally silly.
posted by sardonyx at 3:00 PM on February 22, 2017