Legends of Tomorrow Season 2 episodes 2-3 - Justice Society of America/Shogun

The Justice Society of America

Well… that was definitely interesting.

What I like about Legends of Tomorrow is the great characters, the diverse settings, the limitless possibilities the premise provides them with and the fact it isn’t so bogged down in melodrama that it forgets to have fun. The Flash had many of these things but they amped up the melodrama and really amped up the stupid which ruined it for me a bit.

Yes, I seem to be talking about this a lot, don’t I but my opinion on this episode is almost identical to the last one. Fun, colourful, full of interesting (if underdeveloped) characters and not too bogged down in melodrama, but containing that element of stupid that just WON’T GO AWAY!

Let’s get down to business… The JSA and the Legends are at odds for most of the story because… that’s how this cliché works, right? And they fight because of course they do (OK, they suspect the Legends are German spies for some reason but it’s still fairly cr*ppy)

Clichés are not within themselves a bad thing but I prefer it better explained than it is here. But having said that, this show does have some decent action even if the CGI sometimes can’t keep up (did you see that Nazi guy)

So, plot, Thawne is giving the Nazis the key to making super-soldiers in exchange for some cr*p Damian Dahrk will probably use. I still think there are better villains to use, maybe ones that aren’t entwined with other series.

Anyway, the Nazis have an artefact, Professor Stein takes command of the team because he’s the most ‘mature’ and proves he’s a cr*p leader who can’t think on his feet or at any reasonable speed. Whilst the Justice Society are a well-oiled machine getting everything done. Oh and there’s some bullsh*t about Ray only being a ‘hero’ because of the suit, it basically resolves itself.

Also turns out Nate is not only Hourman’s son but also a haemophiliac, ie his blood doesn’t clot properly so he can bleed to death from a cut. I guess that means he’s there to add tension every time he’s injured unless Ray Palmer can rework the super-soldier serum into a bullsh*t cure-all serum. I sound like I’m hating a lot on this episode, but I don’t dislike it, I still think it’s fun.

The episode delivers on Legends of Tomorrow’s strengths and doesn’t with its weaknesses, it’s not a bad episode, but I am looking for higher standards that I feel aren’t yet being delivered

Rating 7/10

Shogun

We have a packed episode here, folks, so much so that the main drive of the plot is by far the least interesting part of the plot.

OK, it led to a pretty cool action scene, if ruined by 2 problems.

1 why didn’t vixen use her powers aside from making an entrance?

2 why did the bad guy stand still during the final seconds? There’s no evidence it was bullet time!

So, plot thread one, Hourman was killed in the last episode (by Thawne) and somehow Nate out of existence yet. Vixen hears that the killer was a time-traveller and instantly assumes it was Mick Rory for some reason. Yeah, I know they’re the only time travellers she knows but it could have been any of them, it’s not like Sara doesn’t have a checkered past.

So, that was the way of bringing Vixen on board. I hope they remember she has powers and allow her to use them in future climaxes. So as one ends another one begins, turns out the Nazi serum Ray modified in the last episode (didn’t know he was a chemist, but I’m just going with it) allows Nate to sometimes turn into a sh*t looking special effect. Sorry, was that supposed to be steel, I couldn’t tell.

So naturally he spends most of the episode away from the action and bleeding to death because that haemophiliac plotline is just there to add forced drama, as I’d proclaimed last week. Meanwhile, Ray gets his armour stolen by a villain I couldn’t give a sh*t about and I really don’t care about this plotline at all.

So yeah, Mick and Vixen don’t get along, guess it was his turn after Ray last week. Guess she’s not going to get along with Martin next week or something. Speaking of Martin, him and Jefferson have a subplot to keep them out of the action. They discover a secret room, hidden from them by Rip (which they access… somehow) containing a message from Barry Allen of some time in the future but we don’t get to hear it and they don’t feel like sharing. What’s the bet the reason for them doing so will be really f*cking stupid. It’s a good bet.

Sara meanwhile proves she’s quite the team leader in this episode, I’m very impressed. Plus, she kicks ass, which is always nice.

It’s another average episode for this series. It’s fun, and provides some decent character moments for characters I generally like. But the plot is really f*cking dumb, and my patience is wearing thin on this point.

Rating 6.5/10

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Images/clips used are from DC's Legends of Tomorrow. All images in this review are subject to fair use