Legends of Tomorrow: Zari, Not Zari
April 21, 2020 7:39 PM - Season 5, Episode 8 - Subscribe
Sara, Constantine, and Charlie find themselves in British Columbia searching for another piece of the Loom, but they run into a problem they couldn't have foreseen. Zari has been having trouble feeling like herself, so she goes on a meditative journey at the suggestion of Behrad. Meanwhile, Ava volunteers to try and help Rory with a personal problem.
Sara's hall pass is Dean (Jensen Ackles)
I was glad to have the show back; though I would have been gladder if Brandon Routh was still in the cast, but, oh well.
posted by oh yeah! at 3:11 PM on April 22, 2020
I was glad to have the show back; though I would have been gladder if Brandon Routh was still in the cast, but, oh well.
posted by oh yeah! at 3:11 PM on April 22, 2020
I'll admit, I looked him up. I knew that Jensen is the Red Hood fan, but didn't have the brothers' names straight in my very limited pool of Supernatural knowledge. I usually think of Jensen as the one on the right hand side of the promotional art (and I don't know the other actor's name). He certainly resembles Oliver Queen more than Sam, so it makes sense he's Sara's favourite.
I never thought I'd say this, but with Ray's departure and Behrad's death, we're starting to run low on guys. I mean the only options now for a bro buddy for Mick are Nate and John, and we all know John and Mick aren't fans of each other, and Nate will definitely be missing having a best male buddy on the team. This gender balance certainly isn't the way the team started. I can't say I don't appreciate the change of focus, but it does create some storytelling challenges (or maybe they're just-not-yet-realized opportunities).
posted by sardonyx at 4:07 PM on April 22, 2020
I never thought I'd say this, but with Ray's departure and Behrad's death, we're starting to run low on guys. I mean the only options now for a bro buddy for Mick are Nate and John, and we all know John and Mick aren't fans of each other, and Nate will definitely be missing having a best male buddy on the team. This gender balance certainly isn't the way the team started. I can't say I don't appreciate the change of focus, but it does create some storytelling challenges (or maybe they're just-not-yet-realized opportunities).
posted by sardonyx at 4:07 PM on April 22, 2020
Supernatural character names always confuse me because one of them is played by Dean Forester.
Anyway, my enthusiasm about Behrad’s presence on the show has certainly dampened since his introduction, but Zari deserves an alive Behrad and I’m very invested in that.
posted by polytope subirb enby-of-piano-dice at 7:18 PM on April 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
Anyway, my enthusiasm about Behrad’s presence on the show has certainly dampened since his introduction, but Zari deserves an alive Behrad and I’m very invested in that.
posted by polytope subirb enby-of-piano-dice at 7:18 PM on April 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
I'm more of a Behrad fan than some, I think, but only since he began interacting with his sister a lot more, and we got to see a more supportive, caring (and even thoughtful!) Behrad than the original dudebro we were introduced to. By the time of this episode, he was becoming a favorite character and I'm sorry to see him dead.
posted by Mogur at 5:02 AM on April 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Mogur at 5:02 AM on April 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike him. It's just that if somebody had to get killed off, I think he was the best choice, although as said above, Zari has sacrificed so much, she deserves a living brother.
If I had to list the characters I'd kill, Behrad, would probably top the list, just because I'm the least invested in him. Of the longer-serving team members, Charlie would probably be next. It seems the writers love her (or love the actress) and keep trying to find a story line that makes me really care about the character, but I find most of them just fall flat. It's not her, it the plotting around her.
After that, I'm sad to say that Nate would be my next choice. He had a great arc with his dad. He's had a nice brotherly/best-friend relationship with Ray (and a similar one with Behrad). They've done the ill-fated love story line with him a couple of times now. His powers are too expensive or difficult or overwhelming to trot out on a regular basis. He's another character that I think is suffering from a lack of creativity in the writers' room.
After that, it gets pretty tricky. Sara deserves to have love in her life (finally), so Ava has to stay. John is a great foil to everybody and a useful device when the writers need somebody to throw a monkey wrench into the team's dynamics or plans. Mick is probably hitting the same sort of writing plateau as Charlie and Nate, but for whatever reason, it seems like the writers (when they put their minds to it) are able to come up with original (for Legends) story lines for him. On the more personal side, I don't want to see yet another original member depart. Sara, of course, has to stay, no matter what--that's not up for discussion.
posted by sardonyx at 6:30 AM on April 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
If I had to list the characters I'd kill, Behrad, would probably top the list, just because I'm the least invested in him. Of the longer-serving team members, Charlie would probably be next. It seems the writers love her (or love the actress) and keep trying to find a story line that makes me really care about the character, but I find most of them just fall flat. It's not her, it the plotting around her.
After that, I'm sad to say that Nate would be my next choice. He had a great arc with his dad. He's had a nice brotherly/best-friend relationship with Ray (and a similar one with Behrad). They've done the ill-fated love story line with him a couple of times now. His powers are too expensive or difficult or overwhelming to trot out on a regular basis. He's another character that I think is suffering from a lack of creativity in the writers' room.
After that, it gets pretty tricky. Sara deserves to have love in her life (finally), so Ava has to stay. John is a great foil to everybody and a useful device when the writers need somebody to throw a monkey wrench into the team's dynamics or plans. Mick is probably hitting the same sort of writing plateau as Charlie and Nate, but for whatever reason, it seems like the writers (when they put their minds to it) are able to come up with original (for Legends) story lines for him. On the more personal side, I don't want to see yet another original member depart. Sara, of course, has to stay, no matter what--that's not up for discussion.
posted by sardonyx at 6:30 AM on April 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
I personally adore Behrad and I'm hoping he gets resurrected.
I saw someone describe the Zari 1.0 / Zari 2.0 interaction as "getting Tatiana Maslany." I will be amused if Maslany's name becomes a shorthand for an actor playing multiple roles. Ashe did a very good job of playing the two different roles and making them distinct.
Logistically, I find it interesting that Zari 1.0 is a different individual. So it's not just her memories but actually HER that lives in the gemstone? If they are two different people, then what does this mean for other times that they've jumped realities and had different versions of, for example, Amaya?
I felt for Charlie in this episode and I feel like they're setting up some interesting stuff for her for the rest of the season. I can't believe I'm writing this, but John's go-it-alone philosophy is starting to grate. If they plan to keep him around for next season they are going to need to create a damn good reason to do so. It's hard to believe he hasn't been booted off the ship by now.
posted by rednikki at 4:08 PM on April 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
I saw someone describe the Zari 1.0 / Zari 2.0 interaction as "getting Tatiana Maslany." I will be amused if Maslany's name becomes a shorthand for an actor playing multiple roles. Ashe did a very good job of playing the two different roles and making them distinct.
Logistically, I find it interesting that Zari 1.0 is a different individual. So it's not just her memories but actually HER that lives in the gemstone? If they are two different people, then what does this mean for other times that they've jumped realities and had different versions of, for example, Amaya?
I felt for Charlie in this episode and I feel like they're setting up some interesting stuff for her for the rest of the season. I can't believe I'm writing this, but John's go-it-alone philosophy is starting to grate. If they plan to keep him around for next season they are going to need to create a damn good reason to do so. It's hard to believe he hasn't been booted off the ship by now.
posted by rednikki at 4:08 PM on April 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
If you haven't yet seen it, the Legends extended return trailer is something else.
posted by plastic_animals at 9:48 AM on April 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by plastic_animals at 9:48 AM on April 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
That trailer looks completely insane, and I am here for it.
posted by Mogur at 11:42 AM on April 24, 2020
posted by Mogur at 11:42 AM on April 24, 2020
I just hope Mr. Parker gets involved with the Legends since he shows up in the trailer. That way, there might be more Mr. Parker episodes.
posted by sardonyx at 11:59 AM on April 24, 2020
posted by sardonyx at 11:59 AM on April 24, 2020
I'll be bummed if they don't do an episode called "Who's Zari Now?"
At this point I really don't care about the main plots at all. If be happy with "Mick uses up all the butter the night before Zari is going to make cookies, but all the stores are closed and he can't get more without enlisting John's help. Meanwhile Charlie takes the form of Nate as a prank, but gets hit on the head with a coconut and loses her memory, and thinks she actually is Nate.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 9:57 PM on April 24, 2020 [5 favorites]
At this point I really don't care about the main plots at all. If be happy with "Mick uses up all the butter the night before Zari is going to make cookies, but all the stores are closed and he can't get more without enlisting John's help. Meanwhile Charlie takes the form of Nate as a prank, but gets hit on the head with a coconut and loses her memory, and thinks she actually is Nate.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 9:57 PM on April 24, 2020 [5 favorites]
Exactly. I favourited your comment so hard, I wish that enthusiastic slamming of the favourite button could somehow be registered. The character interaction is why I care about Legends. Fighting big bads is just an excuse for them to have stuff to do, but I'd be fine with mundane daily activities as long as the characters could just be themselves.
posted by sardonyx at 10:01 PM on April 24, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by sardonyx at 10:01 PM on April 24, 2020 [3 favorites]
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Speaking of daddy Mick, that growing up montage was fun, and I love Ava for wanting to help him. This seems like a piece of character development that Ava needed, because I don't feel he characters has been demonstrating a lot of growth lately either. (Mind you, it's been so long between Crisis and the hiatus that I can't exactly recall the last Ava-related plot.)
It was nice to see Zari confront her former self, and honestly, I don't mind that Behrad is dead. He always came across as a one-note character (no blame laid on the actor, but the scripts just didn't give him any depth). I'd rather see new Zari find herself and find her way onto the team proper.
I know I'm not talking about Charlie and the main plot, but I don't have much to say about it. It's fine, I guess, but the story hasn't really captivated my attention. It was nice to see Sara back in fighting form.
I'm more familiar with Supernatural than Charlie is, but I don't know which brother is which. Is Sara's hall pass the more Stephen Amell-looking brother or the other one?
posted by sardonyx at 11:07 AM on April 22, 2020