‘Legends of Tomorrow’ season 2, episode 5 review: Damien Darhk goes to Washington
While “Legends of Tomorrow” season 2 to date hasn’t been a perfect season by any means, we do think there is quite a bit that is still here in terms of content to celebrate. This is a show that, at least to date this season, is doing a rather stellar job balancing out humor with heart, and action with drama.
Also, we’ve got some great villains. Damien Darhk and Eobard Thawne have a natural advantage in that we do already know the two of them well. We came to know them previously on “Arrow” and “The Flash,” and while it may be crazy to see the two of them alive in this world when they’re dead elsewhere, we guess that it makes enough sense that it’s not worth focusing on.
The primary mission tonight revolved around Captain Sara and the rest of the team heading to the 1980’s, where they were tracking down Damien Darhk in Washington. He was present there in order to help negotiate an arms deal, which was not great news for the remainder of the Legends as they all had the challenge of trying to pinpoint his location and stop him in time. Unfortunately for them, Damien was also preparing to team up with Thawne, a man who Vixen’s going to have a personal vendetta against given that he is the responsible party for the murder of Rex Tyler. As we uncovered here, there was a history between her and Rex romantically — or at least there would be. They didn’t have that bond on the JSA per se, but were planning for a future where they would be together.
Eventually, the team managed to infiltrate the meeting, which included Damien collecting some information on a particularly-awesome technology otherwise known as CD-ROM. There were showdowns, violence, and ultimately another face-off between Sara and Neal McDonough’s character, who’s got an incredibly memory given that he remembered her right away despite the fact that the two haven’t seen each other in several decades.
Eventually, the team was successful enough that they were able to leave 1987, and it left new partners Darhk and Thawne with a dilemma. They had an opponent who can travel through time, and apparently, they’re going to fight fire with fire now. Thawne took Darhk with him to an unknown timeline, with the intention of trying to keep the future from happening.
Awkward time travel moment of the week – Martin asking a younger version of his wife Clarissa to dance with her, and then failed to have more of a cover story beyond the fact that his name was also Martin. At least this did turn into a powerful moment, and that was the older Martin eventually meeting the younger version of himself and giving him a stern lecture about taking care of Clarissa rather than ignoring and abandoning her for the sake of her own research.
Overall – Another really solid episode of the show, even if there are times still where we get really caught up in generic “be a hero” moments. Take, for example, Mick Rory giving a speech to Ray Palmer about how he’s a scientist, and should be stressing that rather than trying to be the next Captain Cold. Ya think? One other thing we liked was meeting the older version of Obsidian, another reminder that things are actually happening in the decades that the Legends are missing. (He gave some great advice over to Amaya about finding the right person — hopefully this doesn’t mean that a forced love-story is coming up. We’re down with romance, but you gotta be patient with it!)
Also, the costumes of the era were amazing. Episode Grade: B.
Next week – If you want to get some additional news on what is coming up with “Legends of Tomorrow,” be sure to head over here! Let’s just say that the next new installment is going to feature an appearance from Jonah Hex, and it will absolutely be nice to have him around once more.