Thursday, February 02, 2017

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 2x10: "The Legion Of Doom"


Written by Phil Klemmer & Marc Guggenheim
Directed by Eric Laneuville

Malcolm (re Eobard): "He is not our boss!"

And now we've got something a little different on our hands. Did anyone want an episode where the focus was more on the villains than the heroes? Even if you didn't that's exactly what this episode served up and as a result, a lot of fun was had on screen.

Adding Malcolm Merlyn into this show when he had long since worn out his welcome on Arrow has turned out to be a stroke of genius so far. His presence on this show and grudging team up has breathed new life into the character and seeing both him and Damien bicker and question Eobard's authority was a highlight along with their own plans for Rip/Phil.

This might not have been Rip's episode. He spent most of it being tied up and intimidated by the Legion of Doom while later regaining his memories and being sent to assassinate George Washington as part of this week's cliffhanger. I did however love the whole bank scene moments with Damien and Malcolm nearly succeeding until things went spectacularly to pot.

Of course, the two of them did get an advantage when Eobard was forced to admit that he was also fleeing from a zombie speedster (Black Flash) intent on killing them. By the end of the episode, the playing field between the three had become more even and it even seemed like a grudging respect was developing between the lot of them.

Having an episode that mostly focused on the villain point of view was an interesting move and it really did pay off here. Is it a little weird that I even felt a tiny bit sorry for Malcolm, Damien and Eobard? And that's taking into the fact that they were being horrible to Rip this week?

As for the heroes themselves, well on the plus side while they didn't get Rip back, they did at least manage to finally deduce that their mysterious speedster was Eobard. Granted, it was Stein who figured out in the end but this along with Rip in killer mode and things are certainly pushing along nicely for the gang.

The other highlight of the episode was also getting to see Lily in the Waverider. I know she's only had a handful of appearances so far but I really do like the character and I also liked that the aberration issue was dealt with rather quickly as well.

- We got some flashbacks to Eddie's suicide/sacrifice in this episode. The character will be appearing again in The Flash fairly soon.
- I thought we were meant to see Snart become a member of the Legion of Doom. Has the idea been scrapped or do we have to wait a bit longer?
- Having Damien narrate the start of this episode was a nice move. Worked well with the tone they were setting too.
- Chronology: 2025 Zurich, 2017 Central City and 1776 New Jersey.

The Legion Of Doom was an episode for the villains and it was the most fun we've seen with all three of them. The decision to team up these guys has worked brilliantly and having them go from bickering to banding together properly should make things interesting for the remaining episodes.

Rating: 8 out of 10

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