Legends of Tomorrow: Dancing Queen
November 5, 2018 8:56 PM - Season 4, Episode 3 - Subscribe

The Legends go to 1970s-era London in search of a fugitive (mythtery) targeting the British monarchy; meanwhile Gary shows Nate the ropes at the Time Bureau.

*Introducing season-regular-to-be Mona Wu played by Ramona Young
*And returning regular Maisie Richardson-Sellers in her new role as shapeshifter Charlie trapped in the form of Amaya
posted by oh yeah! (25 comments total)
 
HELLO, PUNK FRIENDS!

Is it just me, or did Bad Ray have a bit of Evil Superman going on?
posted by MrBadExample at 9:48 PM on November 5, 2018 [1 favorite]


There is no Bad Ray, there is only Rayge.
posted by Samizdata at 10:58 PM on November 5, 2018 [5 favorites]




I haven't had a chance to watch this yet, but I just saw the video numaner posted on the previous thread and I need to know, did we get any reference to John's career as the lead singer of Mucous Membrane? (Yes, I know this John isn't old enough for that timeline, but let's just handwave it away saying he's older than he looks due to magic.)
posted by sardonyx at 9:11 AM on November 6, 2018 [1 favorite]


> sardonyx:
"I haven't had a chance to watch this yet, but I just saw the video numaner posted on the previous thread and I need to know, did we get any reference to John's career as the lead singer of Mucous Membrane? (Yes, I know this John isn't old enough for that timeline, but let's just handwave it away saying he's older than he looks due to magic.)"

Yup. He mentioned it himself.
posted by Samizdata at 9:28 AM on November 6, 2018 [3 favorites]


Given his family history made perfect sense for John to go see his mom and to try to do something about his dad. His inability to kick his father is the first time we've seen the time force (or whatever we're calling it) be so blatant in preventing a negative interaction with a person's past, so that was interesting.

I'm not sure what the production team is doing with Zari. Either they're trying her out with all of the single guys as a potential pairing or they're turning her into the ship's counsellor à la Deanna Troi. I'm not really a fan of either of those two options. Also, I'll miss the Isis necklace.

I was kind of hoping that given Nate's background as a historian and researcher, he'd be more interested in the delving into the rules and regulations of the Time Bureau, just so that we could see another side of him. As Sara said, it would be nice to watch him grow up and develop a bit as a character. Plus, he could really make himself useful in rewriting policy to benefit the Waverider crew and make their jobs easier.

I do, however, expect him to play matchmaker with Gary and sandwich girl Mona, because Gary isn't likely to do a good job of building that relationship on his own.

I did love the improvised paper cutter machete, although would it have been too much to ask for the plant to sing even just a few notes?

Ava needs a stronger storyline. Maybe she should pop onto the Waverider for a mission or two to test out all the new magic policies the Bureau has implemented.

Mick and Ray need to spend more time with each other. They're too good together and share too much chemistry to be kept apart, even if the show seems intent on putting Mick with John just to watch them clash.

I don't really have an opinion about Charlie yet. She worked as a character in this episode, but I don't know how she is going to work going forward. I suspect she'll end up being sacrificed or sent to Hell, because I can't see her reforming and working for the system.

I know this was Ray's story, but I don't know how much he's going to be affected by this newfound punk attitude. I suspect he'll go right back to being the square goofball he has become. Somehow, I feel this was a more important mission for John, but that just could be my inner Hellblazer fan coming through and projecting more onto the episode than is warranted.
posted by sardonyx at 7:38 PM on November 6, 2018 [2 favorites]


Oh wow, this was really great!
* Ray(ge), the squarest of them all, going punk.
* Ray steals a corgi
* Charlie is actually nice
* John tries to take out his father's balls and fails.
* Zari is everyone's pal
* The return of Disco Ray to haunt him!

So what is the state of Gary's virginity vis-a-vis Constantine?

I DID NOT SEE THE RETURN OF "AMAYA" COMING. I had heard that the actress was coming back and thought that didn't sound like a great idea given her plot, but DAMN this fixes that. Nate, stay off the ship with your new time bro! Though I wonder what'll happen when he sees this.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:45 PM on November 6, 2018 [4 favorites]


"I'm sort of down to my last nipple" damn near killed me. I did NOT see that coming.
posted by numaner at 3:30 PM on November 7, 2018 [2 favorites]


too many things!

The Queen stage diving!
I want my own totem smart watch
"Are you being serious or racist?" "Both, love"
"Sorry, I can't hear you over the terrible music"
Taco Monday! SO rebellious! Taco girl Mona (not Lisa) is played by Ramona Young, who some of you might know as.. Ramona on Santa Clarita Diet
"Time bros? Me and you?" * biggest dork grin *
Corgis! Royal corgis!"if it may please the crown" Corgi-napping! Corgi mohawk!
"I'm really wishing I had not said 'panty dropper'"
Daaaamn Gary, going hard in on Nate getting dumped
"it's Rayge, mate"

WHOA. OK. This show just totally said "fuck it" and showed us how you handle a goddamn time paradox: time and space itself just won't let it happen. Like, I've watched a lot of time travel shows and they all skirt around that issue, with time wraiths and whatnot, but this one just straight up said NO. NOT IN MY HOUSE. That's bloody brilliant!

Time travel talk and then a red phone box? Not directly a Doctor Who reference, but maybe a Bill & Ted one?
Hey that plant isn't as sad as I thought it would be
Ha! I love that they call back to the Disco thing that was completely done offscreen last season
Oooo shapeshifter! We haven't had one on this show yet! And i like this one...
Ray with a tramp stamp!
Whoa bad Ray, bad!
Sooo how many times has that poor girl been memory flashed?
Wait he calls himself Gar-Bear?
Ha yay magical plant!
Ok I don't know why but I didn't expect Charlie to steal the Atom suit even though it's so obvious
NotAmaya! Yaaay I'm glad Maisie Richardson-Sellers gets some screen time!
That was a messy magical plant
"I can see where your nipple was" awww new time bro!
Haaaahahahaha "Amayas's no longer the Waverider" oh man poor Nate. "because I like to watch you grow"
Dang did Constantine just sum up the ending of every episode? "end-of-the-mission hugfests" are my favorite parts!
So NotAmaya's here to stay?? Yaaay?
posted by numaner at 4:43 PM on November 7, 2018 [3 favorites]


Time travel talk and then a red phone box? Not directly a Doctor Who reference, but maybe a Bill & Ted one?

Methinks it's Inspector Spacetime.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 12:04 AM on November 8, 2018 [1 favorite]


The Atom suit turns out to be surprisingly easy to operate. Never mind the subatomics, I want Ray to design all the user interfaces from now on.



Wait, no, unless shapeshifting also steals skills. That could be, too - in order to pull off the Queen prank in the first place, Charlie would need to know details of her security routine, and the easiest way to get that would be from the Queen's own mind. That would make shapeshifting way overpowered, though, so I see why they'd want to remove it from the storyline.
posted by Mogur at 6:11 AM on November 8, 2018 [1 favorite]


What I didn't get was how the shapeshifter could take on Amaya's form if it never saw Amaya.

Enh, on second thought, it's Legends of Tomorrow. Handwaveium away!
posted by fimbulvetr at 7:48 AM on November 8, 2018


She saw Amaya’s photo in the newspaper article that revealed Ray & the other Legends in their disco duds (from their offscreen adventures during Zari’s Groundhog Day episode)
posted by oh yeah! at 7:52 AM on November 8, 2018 [5 favorites]


Which explains the disco outfit. She mentioned she copied the original Charlie from a toothpaste ad, so she can work with photos.
posted by Mogur at 12:34 PM on November 8, 2018 [1 favorite]


Wait, no, unless shapeshifting also steals skills.

Amaya also depends on the Anansi/Spirit totem for her power, so Charlie wouldn't have any powers anyway.
posted by numaner at 12:41 PM on November 8, 2018


Love how they made a joke about Ray driving on the wrong side of the road but didn’t bother, or couldn’t find, a right hand drive van.
posted by plastic_animals at 2:55 PM on November 8, 2018 [1 favorite]


i don't have a clue about automotive history but is it possible many vehicles around the world back then were left hand drive because 'murica?
posted by numaner at 9:24 PM on November 8, 2018


I'm okay with a left-hand drive VW van coming from Germany, though I'm not enough of a car nut to know if the one used in this episode was a pre-1978 German-made VW. It seems a long way to go for that one joke, though - surely the team could have stolen a proper right-hand drive car and get Constantine to drive it? Or Sara, for that matter. Surely she's done jobs in the UK and/or Australia and/or Japan before.

Never mind, it was for that one joke.
posted by Mogur at 5:16 AM on November 9, 2018


The van was a 1960's Ford Econoline, not a VW.

Using a left-hand drive pretty well said "we don't give a fuck about accuracy".

i don't have a clue about automotive history but is it possible many vehicles around the world back then were left hand drive because 'murica?

Nah, vehicles in England would have been right-hand drive.
posted by fimbulvetr at 7:32 AM on November 9, 2018 [3 favorites]


Pity. They could have gotten an extra joke out of it, if they'd lampshaded the vehicle choice.

"This is the only vehicle the Waverider has in storage?"
"It was either this or a kayak. Count your blessings."
posted by Mogur at 9:39 AM on November 9, 2018


Putting Ray with the punk rockers yielded a few good jokes, but it also highlighted one of my least favorite aspects of the character, which is that his level of naivete/gullibility varies weekly according to the needs of the script. I get that Ray is a super-nerd who may have missed out on a lot of "normal" human interactions while he was in the lab or the library, but he also was the head of a major corporation who by now also has done a fair amount of super-hero-ing, so I have trouble buying into the "Legends" characterization of him as an amiable dope with savant-like technical abilities.

The B-plot with the monster plant at Time Bureau HQ also had a couple of good gags, but seems otherwise inconsequential. Gary is an OK character, but I don't need to see him every week.

And I have no idea what they're doing with Maisie Richardson-Sellers' new character, who (in universe) seems like nothing but dead weight. They're keeping around someone with no superpowers or abilities and a grudge against the team that would seem to make her an unreliable ally, at best, for what reason exactly? I like Richardson-Sellers, but if her storyline this time ends up being one of those "will she/won't she betray the team?" things, I will not be happy.
posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 8:46 PM on November 9, 2018 [2 favorites]


Love how they made a joke about Ray driving on the wrong side of the road but didn’t bother, or couldn’t find, a right hand drive van.

They could have just parted his hair on the other side and flipped the video in post.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 11:57 PM on November 9, 2018


Hey, for some reason my local CW channel is holding the "Wet Hot American Bummer" episode 4 premiere until Saturday, didn't realize it until tonight as I'm seeing the recaps & gifsets starting to show up. Whoever wants to post the thread, please feel free.
posted by oh yeah! at 7:37 PM on November 13, 2018


Any Bodyguard fans in here? I just learned that the actor who plays Charlie in this, Anjli Mohindra, is the same woman who plays Nadia on that show!
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 11:13 PM on December 10, 2018


Really? Good lord!
posted by Mogur at 7:54 AM on December 11, 2018


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