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Mid-Season Recap: DC’s LEGENDS OF TOMORROW Season 2

After the defeat of the immortal villain Vandal Savage and the corrupt Time Masters who colluded with him, a new threat emerges. Dr. Nate Heywood, an unconventional and charming historian, is thrust into the action upon making a shocking discovery – the Legends of Tomorrow are scattered throughout time.

Nate must find a way to rescue the Waverider’s beloved team of heroes and rogues, including Star City inventor Ray Palmer, who has created an exo-suit with the power to shrink him to miniscule size, as the Atom; Sara Lance, a trained assassin known as the White Canary; Professor Martin Stein and Jefferson “Jax” Jackson, who together form the metahuman Firestorm; and career criminal Mick Rory, aka Heat Wave. When the Legends encounter the Justice Society of America (precursor to DC’s Justice League) in the 1940s, Amaya Jiwe, aka Vixen, joins the team. While the team reunites, a mystery looms – the fate of former captain Rip Hunter.

Once reunited, the Legends continue their new mission to protect the timeline from temporal aberrations – unusual changes to history that spawn potentially catastrophic consequences. When Heywood, the grandson of J.S.A. member Commander Steel, unexpectedly finds himself with powers, he must overcome his own insecurities and find the hero within himself. Ultimately, the Legends will clash with foes both past and present, to save the world from a mysterious new threat.

[Warning: The Following Contains SPOILERS From the First Half of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Season 2.]

After premiering in January, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow returned this fall for a second season. This year, the Legends focus on travelling through time to correct a series of “time aberrations,” aka errors within the timeline. Along the way, they recruit new crew members Nate Heywood/Citizen Steel and Amaya Jiwe/Vixen. They also confront enemies Damien Darhk, Reverse-Flash and Malcolm Merlyn, who are forming the Legion of Doom.

Personally, I loved the first season of Legends of Tomorrow. Sure, the Vandal Savage storyline dragged on a bit too long, and the cheese factor was there in full force. But ultimately, I had a lot of fun with it. With that being said, so far, season two has been significantly better, cementing itself as yet another great series in the Arrowverse.

This season has introduced the Justice Society of America in this world. Seeing this World War II team operate was very cool – although I would have liked to see more of Hourman before his death. One JSA member is Amaya Jiwe, aka Vixen. Amaya is the grandmother of modern-day Vixen Mari McCabe. While Mari would have been an exciting addition to Legends, Amaya is still a good character, and I’ve enjoyed seeing her interact with the rest of the Waverider crew.

Another new addition to the cast is Nate Heywood, the grandson of JSA member Commander Steel. Nate is charismatic and likable, and he brings a fresh, upbeat energy to the team. Seeing his journey to becoming a superhero is interesting, but when he’s in his Steel form, he looks identical to Colossus in the X-Men movies. Also, his superhero costume is mediocre, even by CW standards.

One way Legends of Tomorrow has improved this season is putting more focus on character-driven stories. For example, in the episode “Abominations,” the crew travels to the Civil War era and fights a bunch of zombies. This could have easily been a “style over substance” episode, but the episode had a compelling story arc for Jax, as he witnessed the brutality of slavery firsthand. Meanwhile, Ray undergoes an existential crisis following the destruction of the Atom suit, Sara struggles with her desire to kill Damien Darhk, and Stein deals with a time aberration of his doing: his daughter. This season has put the spotlight on character arcs such as these, and it only helped the series as a whole.

Legends of Tomorrow‘s biggest plot point is the team travelling from one time period to another to correct an aberration. It was cool in the first season, and in season two, we got to visit new eras. From the 1920s to the 17th century, the team visited unique new periods and met new characters. I also enjoyed the return of Jonah Hex in 1874. He’s a character I hope to see plenty more of in the future. And of course, we have the “Invasion!” episode, which concluded Legends‘ crossover event with Supergirl, The Flash and Arrow. Needless to say, this crossover was simply astonishing.

Last season, the Legends faced immortal tyrant Vandal Savage. While he was a good villain overall, the whole “Kill Savage” storyline did feel a bit drawn out. This season, we have something much more exciting: the Legion of Doom. This season, Reverse-Flash teams up with Arrow villains Damien Darhk and Malcolm Merlyn to aid him in his plan. (Captain Cold will join the team later.) Seeing these villains interact is delightful, with Matt Letscher’s Eobard Thawne consistently serving as a highlight.

This season has also set up the mystery of Rip Hunter’s whereabouts. In the first episode, Rip seemingly died, but it was later revealed that he is alive in 1967…and he’s a director? We’ll surely learn more about this later in the season. Personally, I’m not that big on the Rip Hunter character, and I would have preferred if he had straight-up died instead. Oh well.

In conclusion, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Season 2A is fantastic. It cements the series as one of the best comic book shows of this current season. This season is taking what worked from last year and improving it with new things, like superior villains and stronger character arcs. It still struggles with the occasionally dodgy CGI, while I can’t say I’m invested in the “Search for Rip Hunter” story just yet. But overall, the first half of Legends‘s second season is a great expansion of the Arrowverse. I can’t wait until the show returns in January.

9/10

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of WOBAM! Entertainment.