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Last week we ran down some of the greatest hits of the Legends repertoire. Two major items were missing from that list, but perhaps it was fate (or the Fates) because both popped up this week. First, theres the obligatory physical-manifestation-of-Gideon episode, a rare but reliably entertaining occurrence. If Gideon shows up, the episode in question is bound to be something of an event. And then theres the Legends episode that seems like a rompand is, in fact, at least sort of a rompbut which is also an exploration of a rich, complex theme. Some, if not all, of the shows best hours do exactly this, and I Am Legends, a promising, thoughtful, bonkers part one of an episode in the vein of Hello No, Dolly! and Guest Starring John Noble, does it very, very well. The theme, naturally, is death.

And actually, theres a third greatest-hit to add to the list: Sara Lance dying. Nobody does it betteror more frequently.

Sure, these deathsor most of them, at leastwont be permanent. (Gary will make it through, if only because no one else would remember to feed Gary Jr. II his fabricator veggies.) But I Am Legends, credited to Ray Utarnachitt, Leah Poulliot, and Emily Cheever (Cheever and Poulliot each making their TV writing debut) does an impeccable job of making those losses feel real and shocking. Some of that is down to sheer cleverness: The episode hinges on that chalice-granted immortality, which means they cant be killedsuper-zombies, if you will. It allows them to take risks they might not otherwise survive; thats heightened by a few other near-death experiences without the immortal touch. But its not all broad strokes, and the writers thread the needle gently. When Avas not popping up after being shot in the head and Mick isnt throwing himself out of the back of a moving car without even attempting to tuck and roll, the characters spend their time talking about memory, remorse, loss, and loveyou know, death stuffand thus the hijinks and more delicate thematic elements all emerge from the same place.

Theres also a very simple trick that I Am Legends pulls, and its essential to the success of this strong hour. Its that shot to the head that Ava takes, a shocking jolt, brutal and violent and comically impermanent. The Legends, Sara tells Ava, are all about improvisation; a solution inevitability arises even when there seems to be no way out. (Get in losers, were going Looming.) But Sara spends the episode in a state of ominous calm, and when Ava finally asks her about it, the tone shifts immediately. Up to that point, with the possible exception of Zaris slightly delayed return to the land of the living, its all Ava popping back up and ejecting the bullet from her body. But once that scene happens, once the Time Team starts to get sentimental as they wait for their one great hope to charge up, theres a definite shift. Its there before Zaris timer ever runs all the way out. They all know it. Eventually, even for time-travelers, death comes calling.

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Legends Of Tomorrow has nearly always** done a better job of exploring big ideas thematically than all of its Arrowverse brethren (and many other TV shows), specifically because it often approaches the heaviest stuff from a weird, funny angle. Its not that it takes mortality, love, and regret any less seriously than other such storiesAvas clone backstory, for example, has been both solid comedic fodder and an opportunity to explore issues of identity, memory, betrayal, and self-loathing. Yet it never stops being fun. Sara Lance was a death witch when the death totem possessed her. John Constantine threw himself a funeral. Rays remorse over fatally wounding Nora led to a dueling Damien Darhk heist. Zari died over and over again, but she still got the fun montage. I Am Legends, a very funny, very silly episode that sees a bunny-hopping Amy Louise Pemberton play Gideon as imagined by Gary as Gary Jr. II, carries on that fine Legends tradition. Its all fun and games untilwell, it never stops being fun and games. Its just that it was always bigger than that, too.

The episode does, however, raise some sticky time-travel issues. How does Saras power interact with time-travel? If theyre capable of changing the futureand weve seen endless evidence that they arethen what prevents them from changing Saras fate (and thus the fate of them all)? And since weve seen Sara prevent a future shes seen from happening (Zari, hide that fork), what makes this circumstance different? And while I doubt very much well ever see an answer to this, how does Saras SaraVision correspond to and interact with Gideons abilities when it comes to future events? If Sara gets a flash and the Legends find the encore/correct the anachronism/solve the mythery, would she touch the same person or object and find its changed? And for that matterapologies to those of you who only watch this show and not the rest of the Arrowversehow does SaraVision relate to Ciscos abilities as Vibe?

Still, Im content to mostly not think about it too much. While Sara takes a backseat here, by her own design, I Am Legends is a fitting approach to a story about the impending death of this particular character, who has died and died and died again, with a few comas thrown in for good measure. If anyone in this story has a practical yet emotional response to death, its Sara Lance. The apocalypse doesnt faze her, and neither does her own end. Shes content with her life, and she trusts her friends, and her co-captain, to do whats best and necessary, whether she comes back or not. (Which, of course, she will.)

If the A-story is that of the Legends moving unknowingly but inexorably toward death-by-zombie (just be glad Martin Stein was spared this particular adventure), then the B- and C-stories were Zari and Constantines side-quest and Garys adventures aboard the Waverider. The Zari/Constantine story is just an excuse to get them to bicker and make out; while they havent totally put in the work to sell that particular story yet, the actors have such solid chemistry that Im fine with it. And this is a particularly solid use of Adam Tsekhmans Gary, whose suitably bonkers sub-plot gives him things to actually do, rather than relegating him to punchlines and screw-ups. Both also concern themselves with mortality, as Gary survives electrocution in order to try to bring Astra back to the side of the good guys and Zari and Constantine talk about and then actually confront literal death. That, and Amy Louise Pemberton bunny-hops across the floor. Thats some good shit right there.

So yes, itll all almost certainly be undone. But the feeling, as Sara Lances journey over the last several years indicates, will linger. Death comes calling for all of us, and not always in a permanent way; it touches us through the deaths of others, accidents and illnesses that could have been much worse, the car that swerves just in time and the handrail that allows you to catch your fall. Assuming Charlie can best her sisters, the Legends will find that handrail. But the shortened breath and quickened pulse, the burst of fear or gratitude or boththatll stick around. At least, until they all get turned into puppets again.

* - I assume, despite steeling up, that Nate died as wellperhaps his strength just gives out? And while Constantine doesnt have a soul, he presumably also bit the dust.

** - We wont mention season one.

Excerpt from:

The Legends battle zombies and public transit in a rip-roaring meditation on mortality - The A.V. Club