‘DC’ Legends of Tomorrow’ Recap ‘Blood Ties’

With the Pilot episodes out of the way, we are finally given the opportunity to see what the intention of Legends of Tomorrow is meant to be. We are able to dig deeper into some other characters and allow for previously sidelined characters the chance to shine. If Berlanti’s other two DC series are any indication, we are in for an a mix of what Arrow and The Flash have given us- heart and adventure with a little bit of darkness.

It is not lost on me that Legends’s best episode thus far is significantly lacking both Kendra and Carter. While their story is integral to the Vandal Savage plotline, the lack of chemistry between the two and the constant Egyptian flashbacks were in a way, weighing the show down. It was freeing to see that these other characters can hold their own and provide us with a fun episode that truly reflects the fun and action packed Legends we expected

We start the episode with one of the aforementioned Egyptian flashbacks. Rip Hunter has traveled back to this period to kill Savage in his mortal life. It’s actually a smart move on Rip’s part, but as we all know it’s unsuccessful. Still in 1975, the episode then continues in its usual format of breaking off into different teams for this week’s missions.

Captain Cold, Heat Wave andFirestorm Jax

Snart discovers that the Waverider has a small ship on board and brushes up on his thievery by pit pocketing the key from Rip. However, the ship needs a little bit of work done, so Jax also brushes up on his auto mechanic skills to get it working again. Heatwave is just kind of there, brushing up on his…not even sure what he does (let’s get some Heatwave backstory!). Cold and Heatwave are able to convince Jax to come with them to Central City to steal an emerald. It was Cold and Heatwave’s original intention to time travel and steal things along the way, so it doesn’t seem too out of the ordinary for them.

However, Snart has an ulterior motive. He wants to steal the emerald and give it to his father in this timeline. Back in 1975 Snart’s father steals the emerald and ends up going to jail and abandoning his family. Snart obviously wants to make it so that does not happen. Once they have the emerald they go Snart’s family home and he talks to his younger self. He tells young “Leo” to “never let anyone hurt you, ever.” That’s when Mr. Snart appears and threatens to shoot Cpt. Cold. Cold is able to dissuade him by giving him the emerald but also begs him not to leave his family.

Of course, villainy runs in the family blood as Snart soon finds out that his attempt did nothing to the timeline. He hears that his dad tried to sell the emerald to an undercover cop and ended up in prison anyway. It was a fabulously executed backstory for Cold. He tends to stay a pretty consistent wise ass so it was nice to see him having more of a touching moment that offered something about his past and why he is the way he is.

Atom and Firestorm

Kendra is still dealing with the aftermath of her stabbing last week. Apparently, there are fragments from the dagger that are making their way through her bloodstream to her heart. Her vitals are all over the place and she is sporadically seizing while calling out for Carter.

Ray and Stein decide that it would be a good idea to have Ray become the Atom and go into Kendra’s bloodstream to blast the fragments. Ray’s attempt is mediocre at best as his suit becomes too damaged making him abort the mission. You see, he is suffering from confidence issues, which in a way make sense considering these Legends have not been superb at completing missions thus far. Stein tried to crack Ray by figuring out what it is that’s holding him back. He is able to pick up on the fact that Ray lost someone, but Ray refuses to open up to someone who didn’t even remember him as a student. It’s a stretch for Ray to be this upset about a professor not remembering him, but Stein being the wise man of the group tells Ray that he does remember him. He says that he recognized Ray but did not want to admit it since Ray was far more exceptional than Stein ever was.

Basically, he just tells Ray what he wants to hear in order to save Kendra. This being just what Ray needed allows him to open up about his fiancée, Anna that passed away during an attack on Starling City. This moves into a lovely inspirational talk from Stein that leads to a successful mission of blasting the dagger fragments.

So where does that leave our final two Legends?

Sara and Rip Hunter

With all of the other Legend’s off doing their own things, Sara and Rip attempt to continue the mission at large-taking down Vandal Savage. Sara comes up with the idea to corrupt Savage’s fortune. With a lesson she learned from her days in the League of Assassins, if you can’t beat your enemy then you must weaken them and taking away the money that provides Savage so much power could be a great starting point to the overall mission.

At the bank where Gideon found Savage’s account it quickly becomes apparent to the two that everyone that works there is some sort of mercenary and all are followers of Savage. Sara is able to protect the two of them thanks to her bloodlust from her dip into the Lazerous Pit. She almost takes it too far when she attempts to kill the bank manager, Blake, but she is stopped just in time by Rip.

Sara is then forced to reveal to Rip about her bloodlust and need to kill, but instead of being scared off, Rip sympathizes with her and brings her along with him to interrogate Blake. We flashback to the beginning of the episode and see that Rip had the opportunity to kill Savage but could not go through with it. In deep regret now, Rip says that a monster is someone who has the chance to avenge his loved ones but does not go through with it.

Blake does let the duo know that they can find Carter’s body at a private event Savage is holding. They dress to the nines and even dance a little, but eventually make it to the room where Carter is only to be taken by Blake and his men. Savage appears and lets the two know that he will be draining Carter’s blood and giving it to his men so that they can also be immortal. Uh oh.

But since Kendra and Carter are star crossed lovers and soulmates forever and ever, Kendra is able to sense that something is wrong with and alerts the group to go after them. As usual, the whole gang ends up together for the final battle and as usual they end up being defeated by Savage. Rip is able to get a stab in on Savage and makes the mistake of letting him know the names of his wife and son that Savage will kill in 2166. Rookie mistake, because now Savage has vowed to track down and kill them anyway.

Once back on the ship, there is a heartfelt burial ceremony for Carter and Professor Boardman in which Rip provides an uplifting eulogy about how they all need each other
in order to complete their mission and save the world. Rip also apologizes for going on such a risky mission without telling them and they all agree that they will fight and stick together as a team moving forward, as they have done at the end of every episode so far.

Gideon chimes in saying that Savage has popped up in the 80s. Grooooooovy .