I have so, so many conflicted feelings after this episode, but I think I speak for the entire Legends' fanbase when I say this: Please, please, *please* don't let it end here!
I'll say this about the episode, the Legends' team knows how to write a finale. And by that, I mean that they know how to keep their biggest cards in their pockets and use recurring elements to their advantage. And no, I'm not talking about Booster Gold.
The Legends' team slowly seeded a lot of things into the season that ended up coming back around. For example, when the Waverider exploded in the first episode of the season, "The Bullet Blondes", Astra attempted a "Resurrection Spell", and couldn't pull it off. In this episode though, Astra's able to complete the spell without even uttering the words. Really shows her progression. Not only that, but we also saw a lot of things from the previous episode "Too Legit to Quit" pay off, and I'm not just talking about Sara and Ava's kid, which I do have thoughts about. In the last episode, Fashion Zari thought that her taking off her totem felt regressive, and she (and frankly I) really thought that she developed more as a person, and was disappointed that she went back to being as shallow as she was when we first met her back in season 5. She needed to prove to herself that she was just as much of a hero as the other Legends, and so she wanted to find her "Hero Moment". And it turns out that her giving up her totem was actually so Nate could live with Flannel Zari in the totem forever. It was a really great moment, and this episode is full of little callbacks like Astra's and Zari's here.
As for Booster Gold though, I thought he was fun! I, admittedly, don't know much about the character, just that he's a time traveler and a fake superhero, but from what I have seen they managed to get the character right! Yeah, his origins may be a little screwy on the show for any DC purists out there (aka the Godspeed cult, of which I sympathize because screw every writer of Flash season 7), but it will probably be cool to see what they do with DC's No. 1 nobody during season 8... If we get one.
And that leads into my cons of the episode. This doesn't feel like a series finale. If anything, this feels like an inflection point. It feels like the series is going to be going somewhere new this season, or maybe reintroducing some old elements akin to the Time Masters from season 1. I mean, somebody has to be placing people in the Fixed Points, right? Who are they? That's interesting, and I actually really like this "Fixed Point" concept. But if Legends' doesn't get renewed for an eighth season, of which there is currently ZERO confirmation, then I am not at all satisfied with *this* episode being the series finale! They introduced too many new things here, and left the episode on a cliffhanger with many things left unresolved! A series finale is supposed to feel satisfying, or at least feel *final*, and this episode is neither of those!
I also found Nate leaving the show to have come out of nowhere. Like, people have been saying they were building up to it all season, what with Nate wanting to move into the totem to be with Flannel Zari, but I never once saw it that way. In fact, I found this to be a lot like John Constantine's death during season 6's "There Will be Brood" (and resurrection the following episode "The Fungus Amongus"). It feels like the writers were trying a bit too hard to tug at our heartstrings, and didn't think to build it up naturally. Nate was developing a new friendship with his new "Time-bro-ette" Fashion Zari, and him and Sara were really leaning on each other as their support systems this year, with Nate essentially being an OG. But now, he's just gone. Just like Mick and Ray before him. And can I just say, if there's one area where Legends' struggles, its with character sendoffs. Mick's was probably the best of the OGs leaving outside of season 1, but Ray's and Nate's felt just wrong and rushed, especially Nate's. Unless this leads to Sara feeling some kind of power imbalance, like even though she's got Ava, she lost her best friend and feels kinda vulnerable now, then Nate leaving will feel wholly unsatisfying, and will bug me more than a little bit.
And alternatively, if we are getting an eighth season, the writers are pretty clearly paving the way for whatever next season is to be Sara's final season. And if Sara (and by extension, Ava) leaves the show, but the show keeps going... That will turn me off of the show. Here's the thing about Legends: it's a revolving door of people that join and leave the Waverider. You join the Waverider a mess, and leave a Legend, and I get that. But the show hasn't exactly been the kindest to the OGs the last few years. That's not to say that there isn't any heart left in the show, I'm not saying that at all! But Sara is literally the last OG on the Waverider. Personally, I consider Nate and Flannel Zari to be as good as OGs, not sure how other people will feel about that. And slowly but surely, every OG left the show. First it was Jax when Stein died in season 3, then Ray during season 5, then Mick in season 6, and while Flannel Zari shows up every once in a while, I don't think that will happen anymore now that Nate's gone and Fashion Zari is a more fleshed out character. And now that Nate's gone, it's pretty clear that the Waverider is running on fumes, as Sara is the last OG left standing! Don't get me wrong, I love Astra and Spooner, I'm sure Booster Gold will be a fun new addition, and you could technically consider Gideon an OG, though the human body being a full-time thing definitely makes you have to squint to do so (and no, this is not me changing my opinion on Human Gideon from my review of the hundredth episode with an obscenely long name, as she is *actually* an OG, it's just not until this season that her character development has been put on full display), but if Sara leaves, it would be a loss that I don't think the show can take.
So here, let's make a proposal. This is what I would do with season 8 if it happens. The Time Masters are back under new leadership. They were tipped off by Booster Gold trying to cover his own hide, and they refuse to believe the timeline is malleable like the Legends (because season 7 had this theme of asking whether or not it was okay to change history to save someone's life or improve someone's conditions, which was a really great and thought provoking question by the way). The Legends fight for their right to time travel and improve history, and eventually learn that maybe they work best improving history on a small scale, like saving someone's speakeasy or protecting a singer from her abusive boyfriend/manager (which literally happened this season during "Speakeasy Does It", which was probably one of the season's best episodes), but when it comes to grand things like WWI or the Right to Vote, they might have to say out of those types of affairs and let history run its course.
Ultimately, Sara and Ava have their daughter and name her Laurel (you know why), and turn the Waverider into a house, officially retiring the Legends' for good. As for everyone else, I felt they all got shafted when they saw their futures, so maybe we find something different for all of them. I don't have an idea for everyone, but I do know that I want Astra and Spooner to live together in John's *real* mansion out in the Stix, and for Spooner to come out as Ace to Astra because that scene when we found out she was Ace this season was so good! (Lisseth Chavez was frickin' brilliant during that scene, and it *almost* had me tearing up! Her facial expression when Zari proposed that she may be Ace spoke a thousand words!) So basically, Astra and Spooner just get to be besties in the Stix for all eternity. And maybe Gwyn and Alun get to live in John's pocket dimension for all eternity, that's not a horrible idea. And as for Booster Gold, well it would be cool for him to learn to be a real hero as opposed to being an arrogant loser for all eternity, so I think he should save someone during the season. Specifically, someone not important to history that he learns to care about. Booster Gold can come off as really shallow, so turning him into a real hero at the end would be a cool way to develop the character.
Overall, I think the finale itself was *fine*, definitely a step up from last season, but fine overall. Where the episode really loses points is if this is where the Waverider crew signs off for good. I'm gonna be sad to see the show go regardless, all good things must come to an end after all, but if this was how they went out, I'd be more than a little underwhelmed.
7 / 10.
22 out of 29 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink