Camelot/3000 – After Rip Hunter obtains a second piece of the Spear in the year 3000 the team track another to 6th century Britain, protected by an old face in the court of Camelot.... that isn’t meant to exist. Things get more complicated when The Legion shows up with an army of brainwashed knights.
This episode is drawing inspiration from the early 80s DC title of the same name but bares little similarity do it other than the idea of mixing Arthurian legend with ideas of a future time period. Instead it’s more 9 parts fantasy to 1 part science which is still great because we get to see the Legends have a blast in the middle of a literal legend. They use the characters of Nate and Ray to embody the views of history Vs mythology and it’s a lot of fun to see Nate’s bewilderment over being proven wrong. Then we have Ray geeking over every inch of Camelot. Any situation that lets Brandon Routh play an overexcited child inside the body of 6ft+ super suited man will always go full tilt and this is no exception. Routh is fantastic in his LARPing like efforts about the Round Table. He also continues the show’s trend of piling awesome film references into every episode. His sword upgrading will surprise no one but it’s still a brilliant moment; the look on his face is priceless, “it’s like a sabre.... made of light”. His one on one with Damien “The Darhk Knight” also feels a nod to Ray and Kylo in the climax of Force Awakens. We also get some fun plays on the more familiar lore of Camelot like the implied romance between a more warrior like Guinevere and Sara “Lancelot”. The aforementioned Guin also gets in a Théoden worthy rousing pre-battle speech.
There is also some good explanation and expansion over the spear of destiny story. Firstly we finally get some mcguffin logistics in place by confirming there 4 spear pieces and as of this week we’ve seen 3 of them. Then there’s some good tying together of their locations and protectors by linking back to the Justice Society of America. It seems their mysterious final mission vanishing act was in fact another time scatter like operation alongside Rip Hunter with members hiding and guarding the pieces at across time and space. This is an excellent idea in theory but it doesn’t really come together in this episode because the JSA members merely feel like accessories to the story rather than significant guest stars. Ok sure, Dr Midnight took a red shirt shift for the team; someone’s got to do it to make the stakes real (and they don’t live underwater in the year 3000?). Yet Stargirl as Camelot’s Merlin is little more than a speaking extra. Other than some brief conflict with Vixen over team loyalties she might as well not have been there and that’s not how the show should be using the JSA; we should care when they’re on screen but this week we really didn’t.
The Mick, Jax and Martin tech sub plot wasn’t the best but did find joy from the Mick/Martin dynamic as the doc gets put in his place when it comes to brain power. However it has brought my attention to a longer running gripe with these characters. For completely unexplained reasons we’re not seeing Firestorm on screen anymore. I don’t think it’s happened since Invasion. While both Jax and Martin have their merits as individuals (Martin in particular) we should still be seeing them Captain Planet up into The Nuclear at least every few episodes. Back to this week and the episode would have also benefited from spending a bit more time with its villains. Yes, both brainwashed Rip and Darhk ae well established but just like their legends counterparts we’re not here just to see them show up in a historical time period we want to see them being a part of it. Instead they pair feel more like an afterthought to the story.
Much like Flash’s venture into Gorilla City this week the episode should be praised for being a fun spectacle with good action set pieces but sadly takes the shine of its armour by overlooking the details. The episode does leave the overall season in a good position as it enters its final 3rd (Legends will finish earlier than the rest) heading towards a climatic showdown over the Spear of Destiny. The show’s off again next week returning on March 7th so we’ll see you in..... wait for it..... a “fortknight”.