Legends of Tomorrow: Terms of Service

May 13, 2019 8:55 PM - Season 4, Episode 15

With things getting out of control, Sara and Ava concoct a bold plan to take back the Time Bureau. But when things go awry, Zari and Charlie must work together to discover what Neron is planning. Elsewhere, Constantine is given a tough choice on who to save from Hell.
posted by oh yeah! (10 comments total)

AV Club - NeRay exploits human foolishness in an overstuffed Legends Of Tomorrow

Den of Geek - Legends of Tomorrow gets political and Charlie gets heroic in this penultimate episode, Terms of Service
posted by oh yeah! at 3:38 AM on May 14, 2019 [1 favorite]

So Hell and Gotham share an atmosphere. Gary is certifiable and still the crew will bring him in, until Mick stuffs him in an airlock. The sidekick outfit is perfect. Flirting with Gideon, also perfect. Fairy GodNora in Hell to help Ray and John should be great. I really want Constantine to stick around, or maybe do a stint on The Flash (they could use a little slap of someone constitutionally allergic to the navel gazing that show over indulges in). For anyone who thinks that to much was going on in this episode I want to point out that every was one that was fully realized (I am looking at you AV Club). Compared to the Arrow season finale that followed this it was a freaking masterwork. All the stories made sense and the only real handwavium was used to power stopping Mick from clocking Gary before giving him another chance. Thank you Legends of Tomorrow for being the whacked out Silver Age madness with a modern surrealist gloss that brings joy to this old comic book reader. Grim, dark, goofy, and heartfelt without being overly sentimental. Waverider long may you fly.
posted by Ignorantsavage at 5:55 AM on May 14, 2019 [5 favorites]

Yeah, this was marvelous, and I am especially pleased they went with pointing out how Neron was using fear to control people. (It makes me doubly glad Zari is Muslim and already comes from a similarly dystopian future for the added kick.)

Loved all of this. I expect GodNora cosplay will now totally be a thing. I also about died at, "Gary, you dick!"

I also appreciate that despite everything, Gary really is comparatively harmless, and Sarah going ahead and recognizing that despite everything he's done. (I am unconvinced that what Gary has done here is anywhere near as bad as early-era Rip Hunter's choices.)
posted by mordax at 10:14 AM on May 14, 2019 [1 favorite]

John arranging to parler with the Triumvirate of Hell, offering to work for them and against another demon and then getting so caught up in his guilt regarding Astra is such ripped from the pages of Hellblazer type of plot that I couldn't help but enjoy John's torment. I wasn't expecting Astra's soul to be all grown up but did know that there was no way to return her back to earth. I thought the catch was going to be that she was dead and inhabiting Hell for so long there would be no body to return her to (unlike Ray) and in his emotional turmoil, that detail would have slipped John's mind, but this approach also works. Plus it will add an extra layer of guilt to the amount John is already carrying.

I was going to ask how NeRay thought he could get away with showing Ray Palmer to the public, considering everybody assumes Ray is very publicly dead (so dead Palmer Tech was transferred to Felicity and reborn as Smoak Tech), but he's magic, so I guess wiping people's memory of that would be a piece of cake. (Or it's being hand waved away by the I was developing a demon-hunting exoskeleton excuse.) Still, it was nice to watch a more suave and sophisticated Ray than we normally get to see. It might be nice if Ray was able to keep a bit of that self-confidence as a residual effect once the team boots Neron from his body.

I'm not sure I wanted the Gary against the Legends story wrapped up so quickly and easily. While he was a jerk in a lot of ways, he also has a lot of legitimate grievances with how he was treated, and I think getting resolution for all that should have taken a bit more time.

Tabitha looked great after her transformation--really stunning. With her revelation that Neron is much older than she is, the show has subtly given us another reminder about the difference in ages between Nora and Ray. I'm glad they're not ignoring the issue entirely. As for Fairy GodNora, this should be worse than going to Hell for her--being powerless and under somebody else's control is pretty much the situation her dad condemned her to, and seems to be what is currently her worse nightmare.

I find it hard to believe that dragon-baby crazy Zari and Mona left the egg and the cat carrier at young Zari's home, but I guess that's what happens when you get caught up reading the terms of service of a demon app. I know the Legends say they can't change their own pasts, but I can't help but think that being there for the birth (and imprinting?) of a dragon is going to have some effect on young Zari's life and future.

Seeing puppet Martin Stein creeping around the edge of the cell door was a nice treat.
posted by sardonyx at 1:39 PM on May 14, 2019 [5 favorites]

Wow, there were so many interesting directions they could have gone with the Gary storyline and they didn't pick any of them. I wanted to come out of it with deeper feeling for Gary, but he turns out to be exactly as useless as he seems, and his reward for having a tantrum and jeopardizing the souls of humanity is that he gets to be a member of the team despite offering nothing of benefit to anyone.

He could have revealed some hidden intelligence or skill, or courage, he could have gained a greater understanding of himself, he could have opted to embrace evil, but no. It was just Gary being the most banal version of himself and then getting what he wanted. It wasn't even fun to watch his storyline, and normally I'm a big fan of Gary's screen time.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 10:19 PM on May 14, 2019 [2 favorites]

Yeah, I've liked Gary before, but, he pushed the needle of the creep-o-meter too far for me in this episode.
posted by oh yeah! at 4:11 AM on May 15, 2019

Nora is not significantly younger than Ray. The Nora we see in the show is not 15; she's been brought back from the future. Her age isn't specified but we're given reason to believe she is an adult. At this point in the timeline she was 15 and in an asylum, hence the reference a few weeks ago.

What can I add to the Constantine discussion beyond what Sardonyx says? Watching this scene made me think that it would be a blast to have Lucifer (of the Netflix TV show) cross over to Legends for an episode or two. I know, I know, different producers, networks, etc.

NeRay was totally channeling Joe Macmillan in his presentation. (Any Halt and Catch Fire fans on this thread? No?)

I interpreted Gary's storyline a little differently than others in this thread. He did say that Tabitha wanted him to punish them and he was working to keep that from happening. I also felt that he did have a point in that the Legends have not treated him well. I'm willing to bet that his plotline isn't over. I mean, they brought his nipple back, I don't think it's as resolved as it seems.

I've been enjoying the character of Tabitha and the actress that plays her. She clearly has her own agenda separate from Nuron. And she does have a point with regards to how she feels about the Legends. She's not a good person but maybe not send-to-Hell evil. Although perhaps she was nice to Nora only to get Nora to take the Fairy Godmother curse. We'll see.

I don't know if they found out they were being renewed in time to make this a cliffhanger but I for one would be happy to see a bit more NuRay. It will be interesting to see how hell affects Ray.

Young Zari now has a dragon. It will be interesting to see how this affects the timeline.
posted by rednikki at 3:13 PM on May 15, 2019 [5 favorites]

Tom Ellis's Lucifer would be a blast on this show. Either that or a complete disaster. It's a shame that will likely never happen as it's unlikely the Constantine circumstances will repeat themselves.

Nora's chronological age and her biological age may differ, but the reality is, Ray still got to meet Nora when she was a young girl. I can't remember which Arrowverse show it was, but I seem to recall a scene with Ray and Kendra (maybe?) sitting in CC Jitters (or someplace else) talking about how he seemed to be developing an affection (of some sort) and feeling of responsibility for young Nora. So there is that less-than-ideal history between the two characters. Not to mention that Nora really didn't have an opportunity to grow up and mature in a normal way. Sure, being possessed by a demon will give you all sorts of dramatic life experiences. but I'm not sure how much they'll help when it comes to navigating adult relationships (although I'm willing to admit they may be very, very relevant).

Don't get me wrong. I like Ray and Nora together. I think they're good for each other as characters, and that they balance each other out. I just think we should expect that they might encounter some issues down the road, given their history. I mean look at Ava and Sara and the problems their backgrounds and upbringings caused them.
posted by sardonyx at 10:07 PM on May 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

This show's sly almost-4th-wall-breaking meta comments continue to amuse me. That exchange about how they love 3 person bridge scenes, and how if it's more than that everyone else just has to stand around all day, and Gary going "Oh that's why Mick is so grumpy all the time," absolutely cracked me up.

I would think the team's issues with Gary (and Gary's issues with the team) got sewed up a little too quickly and neatly except that I assume they'll continue having to deal with the adjustment of him attempting to be part of the team.

I'm not sure how well Tom Ellis-as-Lucifer fits with the Constantine theology/mythos, but it'd definitely be a blast (and more possible, rights-wise) for them to bring him in as some kind of charming minor crossroads-type demon, with a bit of meta commentary about how they had mistaken him for being a bigger player in Hell.
posted by mstokes650 at 7:29 AM on May 16, 2019 [3 favorites]

I thought Gary's storyline couldn't be wrapped up soon enough. I got tired of him being a pathetic creep really quick, and I would've liked for somebody to smack him over the head with the logic that there's a friggin' demon trying to do bad stuff! The team may have taken advantage of him in the past but real adults try and talk it out before resorting to magically holding their "friends" hostage.

I posted this in the last episode but I'll repeat it here:
From the wiki:

In "No Country for Old Dads", Nora states that she has been mourning her mother for 23 years. This implies that the adult version of Nora is from around the year 2039, thus being 35 or 36 years old as of that episode.

I would say Ray saw the good in young Nora and was kind to her, but the romantic affection wasn't there until he was stranded with her adult self in that one mission in 1962.
posted by numaner at 3:15 PM on May 17, 2019