Turncoat – Killer, liar... fake, is the new Rip Hunter as a George Washington murdering time quake sees the Legends confronting their former, now brainwashed Captain. Meanwhile, Nate and Vixen get better acquainted while Stein and Jax try to save a friend.
First of all, Mick’s opening credits narration..... can we all just pause for a standing ovation towards that lovable big lug (and no, he didn’t write this crap)? He continues to be on superb form throughout the episode. His every scene from making Washington a real American to revisiting the Mick/ray buddy dynamic was an utter joy. We even get those two riffing on Disney’s 1953 Ben Franklin animation, “Ben and Me”, with mini Ray riding around in Mick’s hat. The main historical story is a very Air Force One affair. At times, it goes full stinking bishop with the patriotism (“Let’s go save America”) but oddly seems to get away with it. The episode stays more historical than science fiction-based which keeps the stakes of saving George Washington feeling significant rather than merely serving as a ploy device for pitting Rip against the Legends. I particularly enjoyed the past to future imagery in some scenes. While the 18th century M16s are a good simple laugh, during the Wave Rider scenes, we get people walking with flaming torches down space ship corridors. It’s something you see every day and has a certain charm to it.
Much of the emotional content revolves around the team facing off against brainwashed Rip. I genuinely thought going in this would be the first 12 minutes before a Rip reversion as we so often get with character turns on these shows but fair play to the show runners for proving me wrong. Not only is evil Rip the villain for the whole episode but it actually seems like he’ll be a card carrying Legion of Doom member for at least a few more weeks; which is great considering how delightful this turn from Arthur Darvill is. It feels completely in keeping with last episode’s personality tweaking. So much of his old self is clear and present yet his motives have been twisted towards a more sinister purpose. We even get some rather curious insights into that through Rip’s dialogue. It implies that, more than anything, Rip’s faith and belief have been removed following the loss of his family. Hence he seems content to let history burn because trying to save it is futile. Although he condemns Rip to shooting a storm trooper, director Alice Troughton (Merlin) gifts him some satisfying moments of villainy, which plays off well against the team member’s lingering hopes of Rip’s recovery. Yes, Jax’s concluding Vendetta takes that too far. It leaves Franz Drameh stranded in harder edged dramatic material that’s tough sell minutes after man Vs rat, but evil time circumventing Rip is still a revolution for the show.
So this episode makes it very clear that Nate and Vixen are being paired off. While that initially triggered an eye role, they actually make quite a fun pairing throughout the episode from their ballroom dancing to Hitler interrupted memories (“Hitler ruins everything”) and hyperthermia with benefits. This may end up feeling like last year’s Ray and Kendra affair in being a pairing for the sake of pairings but for now, at least they get the benefit of a doubt. The part of the episode that didn’t really work was Ray’s mini adventure. While having him stuck miniaturised is a nice idea it ultimately gets crowded out in the episode and maybe, should have been saved for another time.
As Legends departs for a 2-week break with Christmas dinner of all things it’s a great time to reflect on how much of an improved show it has become this season as, more than anything else, it’s been committed to making itself fun. The show’s motto even seems to be, “Screw it, let’s just have a laugh with history and superheroes” and I am complete on board with that. Upon its comeback, not only does the Justice Society return but the show is even taking inspiration post-Crisis comics arc: Camelot 3000. Until then the Legends are coming.... the Legends are coming.