Legends of Tomorrow: Moonshot Recap

By: David Carner (@davidcarner)

Spoiler alert!!!

On this week’s Legends of Tomorrow, Rory does the open and reminds us they screw everything up. Tonight we start in Manhattan 1965 (Manhattan? Really? I mean, at some point, does Arthur Darvill just turn to the writers and ask, “You are aware I was on another time-show in the UK? You might have heard of it? Doctor Who?” Sorry, I digress.) We find that Commander Heyward has been moved to this timeline with a fragment of the spear. He hands Rip his dogtags and walks away. Rip looks around walks off, and literally the next second current Rip and the team walk down the same stairway. They can’t find him, and we cut back to the Waverider. They try to figure out what job he would have taken and Martin believes he is now working for NASA. Steel is excited his grandfather might be an astronaut. He isn’t; he works in mission control. They’re going to infiltrate NASA; what could be easier? Rip finds the Commander, and he slugs him in front of everyone. Heyward recognizes Ray. We cut to a holding cell/interview room where Rip is being held. Heyward is ticked at Rip, and refuses to talk to him. Vixen walks in with Steel and Sara. Vixen hugs him and Steel hugs him. They explain what is going on, and we find out the spear is hidden on the moon, in the flag that Neil Armstrong planted there. Heyward goes to get back to work and they ask him how the mission is going since the oxygen tank exploded. It hasn’t. Everything is going textbook and they all realize something is wrong. Cut to Apollo 13, and one astronaut stabs the other two (They aren’t dead, just knocked out). It’s Thawne.

We return to mission control, because Houston, we have a problem. The team splits, with Rip, Sara, Vixen, Steel, and Rey headed to intercept Apollo 13, and the rest of the team will work in mission control. That’s right, they sent Rory into mission control. They are introduced as members of the British space program. (This should be fun.) Heyward goes to join the others and be with his grandson in space. Heyward refuses to talk to Rip and Steel watches it all. He tracks down his grandfather. They talk and Heyward is bitter that he was asked to abandon his family, especially since he has a wife and son. Steel tells him they were killed. Heyward wants to go back to his family when it’s over. Vixen overhears and has a strange look on her face. They find Apollo 13, and its not where it’s supposed to be. Ray has flown over and has shrunk down. He tells them that Thawne is there and headed to the moon, but he sees Ray.

Ray punches him in zero gravity and both men fly around, and Stein warns Ray that radio contact will be reestablished in three minutes. The fight continues and Thawne has a knife. It’s knocked loose, they fight some more, and eventually they hit the red button…which separates the limb from the command module, and of course, Ray has to fly it now. Stein has to create a distraction so they don’t hear the fight in Houston. Stein begins to sing “Day-O”…badly. Rory joins in as Jax finds a way to stop the broadcast and he cuts the feed as Ray lands hard. Ray is stuck on the moon. He decides to go get the spear, while Thawne is tied up in the arm. Vixen picks this time to talk to Steel. She warns him about messing up the timeline and that he doesn’t need fixing. Gideon warns them about impact. The command module is heading toward meteoroids. (Of course it is.) Sara puts the ship in the path of the command module. Rip and Sara argue about how to handle the situation while alarms go off (Why is Sara flying the ship?) Gideon begins to talk funny as meteoroids beat on the ship. Cut to the moon, and 2001: A Space Odyssey music plays as Ray finds the flag. He gets the last part of the spear, and we find out the Waverider can’t pick up Ray.

Back on the moon, Ray does his best Matt Damon impression from The Martin. Thawne wants to know what he’s doing and then proposes an alliance to fix the ship. He promises to be good; Ray doesn’t believe him. Thawne reminds him that he is a scientist from the future. Vixen walks in on Steel and Heyward talking, and tells him he can’t go back to the past. She explains aberrations. She tells him Steel might not be born. Heyward wants to know why he didn’t tell him, and he tells Steel the mission comes first. Steel walks off mad, and Vixen tries to talk to him. Steel tells her they don’t have a future, and explains what happens to her. He tells her to find out what happened to her family and see what she chooses, and walks away. Back in his study, Rip and Heyward finally talk. They bury the hatchet, and shake. Heyward compliments him on the Legends and Rip tells him he doesn’t deserve the praise. On the arm, Thawne and Ray work to fix the ship. Thawne talks about Cisco and Caitlin and misses them. Ray rips him for all the people he has killed, and Thawne reminds him they are both scientists and both obsessed with achieving the impossible. Ray responds that he uses his power to help people, and Thawne responds Ray could use the dwarf star power to power an entire city. Ray is a little uncomfortable with that. After a bit, Thawne says he wants the spear so he can live. Stein cuts in that they have one minute. Everyone gets in position and Stein gives them the countdown. They hit the button and the arm blasts off the moon and heads toward the capsule and the Waverider. The capsule and arm reconnect. Mission control gets the feed back and finds Apollo 13. Control room erupts! Stein knows the Waverider has little chance of getting back to Earth, or, as Rory says, “A snowball’s chance in hell.” Stein responds, “That would be rosy in comparison.”

Back on the Waverider, Thawne enters the ship. He tells them he wouldn’t kill the ride home, and says hi to Rip. They take him to the brig. Stein tells them to power down all non-essential systems. (It seriously has just turned into Apollo 13, and The Martian.) Sara says Gideon is shut down and tells Stein that they are using gravitational inertia to guide back to Earth. Steel is impressed. Stein tells them it’s not enough and they have to shut down more systems. The situation is dire! Back at mission control, Steel’s father, as a young man, shows up to watch the landing. Stein realizes something is up. Rory tells them what is going on and we find out Heyward fixed an essay writing contest so he could meet him. Rip returns, only to find the guidance system did not power back on and they will have to manually figure the angle of re-entry. Stein needs a supercomputer. Ray realizes they have a supercomputer, runs to Thawne to tell him, and Thawne says, “38 degrees,” before Ray can say a word. Thawne tells him he learned astronavigation in grade school. Ray tells the crew, and Sara asks Stein. Rip tells them that someone needs to make a decision, and Sara stares at Rip. Rip tells her she’s the captain. She asks Ray if he trusts Thawne, he does, so she does. 38 degrees it is. Rory enjoys some food while the crew tries to land the ship. A door needs to be opened to depressurize the cabin, and Rip says he’ll go. Sara says she’s captain and she’ll go, but they soon realize Heyward has gone to do it. Steel runs after him. Heyward locks himself in the room, and goes to open the door while Steel begs him not to. After an emotional minute he does, and flies out. The ship corrects to 38 degrees and doesn’t bounce off the atmosphere. Vixen finds Steel and all he can do is cry on her shoulder.

Back in the brig, Thawne phases through the cage, but as he does, the door opens and Ray is holding a gun on him. Thawne tells Rip that he invented the anti-speedster weapons. Ray tells him that he knows something is chasing him. The watch goes off, and Thawne takes off without having time to search for the spear. Back at mission control, Steel sees his father, the kid. They have a moment, and Steel tells him that his dad wasn’t there for him either, but he didn’t blame him because he couldn’t show him. The kid is near tears and says it’s not fair. Steel agrees. He tells his dad that if he can accept that, he’ll be a better man for it, him and his son. Back on tbe Waverider, Rip is drinking in his office, and Sara joins him. Rip admits that Sara is a better captain than he ever was. Rip says he’s trying to find his place. Sara says if he’s an outcast, then he’s a Legend. Back with Steel, Vixen apologizes again, but Steel said he would have done it anyway. They talk about the future, Steel apologizes, they hug, and then he walks off. Vixen asks Gideon to show her the future once she returns home.

Quotes
“Sorry folks. He doesn’t have the right credentials.” – Commander Heyward

“Houston, we have a problem!” – Ray

“You don’t fixing. Your childhood made you into the man you are. The person that you are today. And without that man, well, this ship would probably still be stuck on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.” – Vixen

“Now I know how Matt Damon felt.” – Ray

“What? I know science.” – Sara

Little Things
This second half of the season has played with themes. Tonight’s felt a little different, and I can’t put my finger on why. It was good, but something was just a little different. Maybe it was how parts were so similar to Apollo 13 and The Martian, but I don’t think that’s it.

It’s Sara’s team for now. Rip seems somewhat lost, but he’s probably been the most effective as a character in this role.



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 back next week and we’ll talk “Fellowship of the Spear.” We’ve only got three episodes left in the season!

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