Friday, March 04, 2016

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 1x07: "Marooned"


Written by Anderson Mackenzie & Phil Klemmer
Directed by Gregory Smith

Cold: "People change."
Heatwave: "You think you're some kind of hero but deep down, you're still the same punk kid I saved in juvie. You don't have the guts to kill me. Kill me. Only one of us is walking out of here alive."

And that escalated pretty badly, didn't it? Last week we saw both Cold and Heatwave at odds with each other over Star City 2046 and this week, Mick could barely tolerate being around Leonard and was happy to then go on a rescue mission/obvious trap with Rip, Stein and Jackson while Cold stayed behind and worked/flirted with Sara some more. Of course, it only got worse from there.

Sometimes I do have to question what passes for a brain cell in Rip's head. For a man leading a suicide mission against Vandal Savage, he repeatedly has said and done some rather stupid things and this week he truly excelled himself by basically telling Mick that he was little more than a meat head. Mick was already in a dark place and Rip's moment of tactlessness was enough to send him over the edge and actually side with the Time Pirates this week.

It's interesting that they tapped into Mick's darker side this early-ish into the season and the end scene where Cold took care of him certainly shocked me. I don't think Mick will be dead, more just put on ice for a few episodes but saying that, he's also one of the few characters I'm not seeing making it out of this season alive though. Unlike Cold, I don't think Mick will change for the better even though he's had his moments in early episodes this season.

Still while this episode ended a partnership with Cold and Heatwave, was another one started with Sara and Leonard? They've had some flirty moments in previous episodes and when they nearly froze to death in this one, they were both sharing some rather intimate information. I'm totally down with this pairing. There's a natural chemistry and it could be fun as well.

Similarly fun were Ray and Kendra. Last week, I didn't really feel it but this week among the shameless Star Trek references, it was felt a lot more natural and rather lovely actually. Also can I point out that Kendra has really come to life as a character in the last few episodes? Ray has also had some good moments this week too.

As for the main plot - we got some nice flashbacks exploring Rip's time as a Time Master, falling in love with Miranda while in the present day actually helping to save Captain Baxter from those Time Pirates and getting a bit of a heads up as to where Vandal Savage was currently located. To be honest though, I'm cool with another delay or two before the gang encounter Savage as well.

- Jackson made some Star Wars references in this episode as well. He also had a joke at Stein's expense about the latter's former weed smoking ways.
- Kendra's fighting skills really seem to have come along since her training sessions with Sara. She definitely kicked those Time Pirates around the place.
- I kind of hope we get to see Baxter again in another episode. I liked that she softened towards Rip as the episode ended.
- Chronology - no specified idea really. It was a space episode so I guess none was given but it's a trip to the 1950s next week.

Marooned was clearly meant as the bottle saving episode as this is clearly not a cheap show to make. Bottle episodes can be great in forcing the writers behind them to be a bit more creative and between some great character moments and a nice exploration into Rip's past, this one worked. The Time Pirates weren't too threatening a foe but worked reasonably well enough for the episode.

Rating: 8 out of 10

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