Intergalactic Comics: Legends of Tomorrow: Raiders of the Lost Art (Recap)

Friday, January 27, 2017

Legends of Tomorrow: Raiders of the Lost Art (Recap)

By: David Carner (@davidcarner)

Welcome to the Legends of Tomorrow review. Before we begin, it should be noted that over the winter break, Legends of Tomorrow was renewed by CW for a third season. This week’s episode, “Raiders of the Lost Art” is directed by Dermott Downs, and is written by Keto Shimizu and Chris Fedak. Keto Shimizu is a longtime writer of the Arrowverse. If Chris Fedak’s name rings a bell, he is a friend of Josh Schwartz and according to Schwartz had the initial concept for a little show some of you may have heard of, Chuck.

Spoilers to follow!

This is the first episode after the winter break. Our story opens up to the beginning of the season and shows what actually happened to Rip. As the ship rocks like the USS Enterprise during a fire fight, Rip opens up a section of the floor and pulls out an old stick (spoiler part of the Spear of Destiny) Rip prays, grabs a ball of light and we head to the future where Stein overhears Mick talking to no one.

Mick tells Stein about seeing Snart, and then tells Stein to fix him. Vixen figures out that the two artifacts are actually one, a medallion, which leads to the team to look for the Spear of Destiny. At this point, the Legion of Doom nickname is stuck on the bad guys, and Sara says what we’re all thinking, is this some Indiana Jones movie? Steel admits the movie is why he became an archeologist. The legend says the spear has the ability to rewrite reality, which are permanent changes. The quest for the spear begins!

Cut to 1967 where Darhk and Malcolm kill some bikers, that of course create an aberration. The team heads to Hollywood. They find a sign that literally says Legends, and follow it. We cut to Rip as a director. Rip and George have a little chat outside about the movie they’re shooting. Big spoiler alert this is George Lucas. Yep, that George Lucas. Now if you don’t know who that is, you might want to do yourself a favor and go watch a couple of films. Star Wars, written and directed by George Lucas, and Indiana Jones, written by George but directed by Steven Spielberg. It’s fine, we have time, I’m patient. Seen ‘em? Good. (BTW, if you want to watch The Empire Strikes Back the story is by him and he is an executive producer. I mean it’s my favorite.) Back to Legends. The Legion of Doom shows up, the heroes show up and chaos ensues. George is shot in the arm and he runs off terrified. THIS will have far-reaching consequences. The police show up and everyone but Rip runs off. He is arrested.

On the Waverider, the heroes figure out that Rip has the spear, and Mick and Stein have a session. Sara gets the team together, and Stein enters the police station as a “shrink.” The team tries to convince Rip who he actually is and Rip loses it. Mick has to knock him out. The Legion shows up and the heroes escape to the roof. Rip sees the Waverider and faints, as the Legion show up. The Heroes escape.

Rip is scanned and Gideon informs the heroes that Rip has a new identity, this isn’t time drift, he’s someone else now. Ray is having trouble thinking and we learn later that Steel is experiencing the same problems. Mick wants the machine used on Rip to be used on him. Stein tells Mick that he is having feelings. Mick doesn’t do feelings. Vixen notice both Steel’s and Ray’s memories are missing. Vixen has Gideon do a search on George Lucas who is now an insurance salesman, which means no Star Wars and no Indiana Jones, so both men do not pursue their dreams, and they are mad. Steel is now a yoga instructor, while Ray is a heart surgeon. Sara begins the chase of George. Cut to George, who throws away all the props from the movie and tries to leave campus.

The group finds George and Ray and Steel tell George how he influenced them. Vixen sends them away and has a heart to heart with George. (I swear I’ve seen something like this somewhere.) In the Waverider, we discover Mick has an “antenna” in his head from the timemasters incident in season one, and Stein theorizes this could be how Mick is seeing Snart. Mick sees Snart and talks to him. Mick wants the antenna out, and makes Stein operate on him. Rip and Sara talk in Rip’s office, but he remembers nothing. Jax interrupts with the script, and tells them it’s about them and the Spear of Destiny. Rip tells them George has the piece of wood they used as a PIECE of the spear. Cut to film school where George is returning to school and the whole group is jumped by the Legion and defeated. George is very scared.

Ray has lost his suit and Steel can’t “steel up”. George admits he threw all the props away. The Legion takes the heroes to the dump. The group is thrown into a trash compactor (I’ve seen this) George complains about the heroes not having super powers while the bad guys have laser guns (sounds familiar). Ray and Steel tell George this is his fault because there is no movie. The Legion then start the trash compactor and the heroes race to find something to brace the walls with (now I know I’ve seen this somewhere!) Doesn’t work. George found the spear. The Legion considers shooting into the trash compactor. (Wouldn’t that ricochet?) Waverider shoots the Legion before that can happen. Sara and Jax fight the Legion while the other heroes are being squashed. Rip realizes things are going bad on the Waverider. Gideon talks up Rip. Outside the heroes tell George he has to believe that he will make movies. He does, Steel “steels” up, and Ray has the suit. Showtime! Vixen recovers her amulet from the Legion and Sara gets back the medallion. Reverse-Flash enters to even the fight. Rip appears in his trench coat with an old gun. Except, it’s not Rip, it’s his other consciousness. The heroes try to escape, but Rip is captured. The heroes leave and Sara feels terrible.

Jax tries to give Sara a pep talk, but Sara says as a captain she has failed. Jax tails her they will find Rip. Stein tells Mick that the antenna didn’t work, and Snart is dead. Stein tells Mick he is experiencing cognitive dissidence. Ray, Steel, and Vixen have a movie night, but Howard the Duck is voted down. The group thinks that maybe they shouldn’t because they lost Rip, until Gideon encourages them to do so. The show ends with the Legion menacingly surrounding Rip as he sits on a chair bathed in light. Rip pleads with them telling them he is a nobody. Reverse-Flash tells Rip that they, Darhk and Malcolm are going to torture him. Rip screams no, fade to black.

While not a part of the show, I feel I must say, May the Force Be With You, and Snakes, why did it have to be snakes?

Quotes

“The Waverider is surprisingly not destroyed, Captain, but that condition may not be permanent.” – Gideon

“It’s from a Hannah-Barbara cartoon I like as a kid.” – Steel

“What? I went to Sunday School.” – Jax

“This sounds like an Indiana Jones movie.” – Sara

“So, this would be a new milestone for you then.” – Stein

“Glucas, isn’t that what you pretend to be allergic to, Ray?” – Vixen

“As a result, he never made some movie about space battles or another one about an improbably handsome archaeologist.” – Vixen

“I don’t care about movies, but guys like them, but they do. So before you get into that car and drive back to Modesto, think about them, okay? Them and the millions of other people whose stories will someday inspire. The future of the entire world is at stake and you’re our only hope.” – Vixen

“That’s a prophecy.” – Jax

Little Things

This is the greatest love letter to George Lucas I have ever seen, and I 1000% approve.

Vixen has some of the best special effects. They are simple but so effective.

There were so many movie jokes and references in this episode. In my opinion, this was the funniest and my favorite episode of the show. It’s not Arrow ep 100 good, but it’s real good.

I’ve been wrestling fan for over 35 years, and there used to be a tag team called Legion of Doom. Everytime one of the characters says the name, I can’t help hearing in my head one of their catchphrases, “What a Rush!”

There are six more episodes of Legends this season, and I suspect they all lead up to the spear being reformed. The Season finale is called “Fellowship of the Spear.”

I hope you enjoyed the review. If I missed an Easter Egg, please let me know and if I can confirm it, next week I’ll give you all the credit.

If you haven’t today, please take a second to open the Donate a Photo app by Johnson & Johnson. When you donate a photo, $1 is given to the charity of your choice, and Operation Smile is one of those charities. There are several other charities on there as well. Come on back next week and we’ll talk “The Legion of Doom.”