DC'S LEGENDS is flat out fun

I was not an instant fan of LEGENDS OF TOMORROW when it started, but by the end of season one, I was on board. An ensemble cast of super heroes doing a kind of QUANTUM LEAP thing, with more than a little bit of the 1987 JUSTICE LEAGUE Bwahahaha team comedy sensibilities.

In other words: just my kind of show!

Confession time: I've just now gotten around to watching the back end of the new season, so I am several weeks behind. But episode 11 made me stop and want to write this post.

In season two, the show cemented itself for me, when they ended up meeting George Lucas in the early 1970s and a madcap adventure ensued. Also, Civil War Zombies.!

The cast has rotated a bit, losing the Hawkman and Hawkwoman characters from early one, and (thankfully) losing Rip Hunter for the most part (the character is great, but the actor not so much). Then in the incredible 4 part crossover of CW shows this year, they lost Martin Stein, and soon after Jackson, thus ending Firestorm. It was a gripping and emotional loss that carried significant weight. And it was incredibly well done. It helps when you have someone like Victor Garber in the role of Stein.

Newest cast member, Zari (The Mighty Isis, though they are never going to use THAT name) played by Tala Ashe is a great addition who just earned her stripes in season three episode 11 "Here I Go Again." It is a straight up GROUNDHOG DAY send up, though Ray Palmer references the Star Trek Next Gen episode, "Cause and Effect."

Zari is trapped in a time loop, and goes from being a pain in the ass new member to actually caring deeply for the team, and she employees Nate (Steel) first, then Ray (The Atom) as she has an hour each time she reboots to save the ship from exploding. Along the way she learns deep secrets, fears, and desires of her team mates.

The team return from a Disco era mission that we don't see, but hear enough to figure out that Napoleon Bonaparte somehow escaped his time and ended up making an 8 track tape, including a song called "Waterloo." (It's that kind of humor.) Zari has been secretly planning to use the time ship to manipulate her own past, and her tinkering would seem to have set off a series of events that cause the ship to explode, after which she returns to an hour prior to the explosion and repeats.

No spoilers, but towards the end, Zari gives an emotional plea to them all, addressing each of them individually with sincerity and love.

Mind you, this episode was incredibly funny as well as exciting.

At first I bristled a little with Nate and Ray became the Beetle and Booster stand ins for the show, with Mick as Guy Gardner essentially. I had wanted to see those characters show up in the rotating ensemble from the jump, and was hoping it would come to pass. But clearly, the writers are going for that vibe without those characters. And, at this point, introducing the Blue and Gold. would be redundant to the show.

Still, I'm OK with this team, and the way they are evolving.

LEGENDS is, hands down my favorite of the CW shows. It is most boundlessly fun. It doesn't really get the credit I think it deserves among those shows, and maybe that's why it can get away with being so random and fun. Time travel means that they can bounce around, screw things up, and fix them, without worrying about the larger CW DC U. That must be liberating to the staff behind the show.

Constantine is going to be a regular in season 4, which was recently announced. I'm OK with that, though his appearance in episode 10 of season 3 was the least favorite of mine thus far this year.

Overall, the show has as much heart as it does a sense of humor. And the blend makes for some of the most enjoyable super hero TV you're likely to see anywhere.

Check it out, if you're not already!

The CW hits the jackpot with Crisis on Earth X

I've seen it everywhere online, including from good friends (my old pal Donald messaged me one episode in to proclaim his love for it) that the CW crossover event, CRISIS ON EARTH X was a fun, comic book romp.

Mark Waid (comic writer/creator) took to Twitter to declare that it was perhaps his favorite comic book to film ever.

And I am happy to see such outpouring of love. This 4 part crossover was nothing short of pure joy to watch, start to finish. It was a comic book crossover come to life. No wonder they used the old JLA/JSA crossover concept to sell the event in the months leading up:

I used to love those regular team ups from across the multi-verse to tackle ultimate evil that only a collection of super teams could accomplish.

The CW likes doing these team ups each year, starting several years back with Arrow and The Flash, then continuing with The Flash and Supergirl, then last year with a (mostly) 4 show crossover with Legends of Tomorrow joining the fun. However, last year's INVASION felt a little smallish for such a big event. (Kind of like how empty that airport looked in CAPTAIN AMERICA CIVIL WAR in comparison to how it should have, and wanted to look and feel).

And how could you not love the idea of mad Nazis from a dark world getting punched and slain by super heroes?

Everything was perfect this time around. The humor was great, the action was choreographed to a cinematic scale, and the gravity of the situation was right out of the pages of classic comics.

Also, the emotional weight of several subplots threaded their way perfectly through the episodes without taking away from the overarching tale being told.

To have pulled this off on a TV budget is nothing short of miraculous. Of course, to save some money, they confined some actors and set pieces to the sidelines or to their own shows. The Atom, Steel, Black Canary, Mr Terrific, Wild Dog and others didn't get to come out and fully play for the whole crossover, but when they did arrive it made sense and they made it count.

In many ways I can't imagine how they could have done it any better. The bar has been raised, and the potential of them taking it even higher next season (and beyond) has me very excited.

Sure, it took me a few years to get used to the reality of the DC TV U, which is quite different from the comics or the movie worlds. But like the comics, once you embrace the TV U as its own thing, and stop looking for continuity that fits into the other worlds, it is a great ride. They have created quite a fun universe to play in, and they are holding true to it and building on it with interesting layers.

I have finally given up my discomfort with Oliver and Felicity, and stopped waiting for the Arrow and Canary to find their way together. I have finally realized that Booster and Beetle won't show up on Legends, because The Atom and Steel are essentially those personalities (with Rory as Guy Gardner). I have committed myself to not judging too harshly the unfolding Legion story on Supergirl, since they OBVIOUSLY are deviating wildly from what we have known and loved. But it is Earth 38 that Kara is on. So, we can all have our own versions secure in our hearts and let these also play out.

Plus, its all made up stuff anyway. Let it be what it is, and enjoy it as such.

Major kudos to William Katt (The Greatest American Hero) for a tiny role as the priest on the crossover, and it was a great little hint that has Legion fans going nuts to see what they think could be XS as a waitress at the wedding. (She is a 31st century relative of Barry Allen who is part of the reboot Legion). Clearly she has more to do, since they cast Jessica Parker Kennedy of Black Sails in the role, and it seems like there's something going on with her deliberate interaction with Barry.

Let me take some time to also commend the creative forces behind the shows for continuing to be pro-LGBT and to approach it without a heavy hand. The Sarah and Alex hook up and ripples from it were deftly done. As was the arrival of The Ray in a concentration camp for being gay on Earth X, and his relationship with a decidedly delightful turn on Captain Cold.

Everyone got to shine during the run of episodes, including Iris and Felicity teaming up as the non-hero girlfriends who have to fend off the baddies.

And who doesn't love the good guys turned evil from another world takes that Stephen Amell and Melissa Benoist got to deliver as dark Arrow and Ubergirl! Plus we get Tom Cavennagh back as Reverse Flash.

A major character death and the fallout from it in the final episode was heart-wrenching, and packed more of a punch than you might have expected as well.

All in all, this was simply the most fun time you could want to have with these super heroes. They were all at their finest and the fact that the actors clearly relished the material and brought their A games to it helped to make this a comic book fan's dream come true.

Now, if only the shows will still be airing in 2024, when they have hinted at:

Final seasons for The Flash and Supergirl, no doubt. Well, if they stick to continuity....