Written by: Kevin Berge
The hierarchy of best to worst characters is almost in its right order. Just need to push Atom back a bit and take the Hawks off the poster entirely. (Image Courtesy of: comingsoon.net)
Quick Take: DC's Legends of Tomorrow Season 1 is a flawed but ambitious opening act for a series that diverges wildly from its parent shows in Arrow and The Flash while still carrying the balance of humor, drama, and action. Its characters are worth investing in even though the writing is slow to develop and takes several steps along the way that almost derail the series.
***DC's Legends of Tomorrow recently ended its first season on air. As it was the first season of the show, this is a spoiler free review of the season, giving new viewers the chance to figure out if the show is worth their time. Allusions will still be made to characters and events in the show though, so, if you have not seen the first season and want to be completely unspoiled on the series, you just watch the whole season first before reading.***
TV shows often fall into one of a few general categories. They can grow to be great, aspire to be great, or remain content in their wheelhouse. DC's Legends of Tomorrow is the middle category. It does not start strong, but it always holds promise. More importantly, the show is always experimenting and evolving in a way that makes it enjoyable to watch even in its failings.
Unlike Arrow and The Flash, the two CW series that Legends of Tomorrow takes its world and characters from, this is not a procedural superhero show. It is a hodgepodge of inspiration, using elements of its parent shows as well as Doctor Who, Star Trek, Terminator, and 100 different other sci-fi movies and television shows.
Where this series shines though even past the experimentation week to week is its star studded cast. It's actually impressive how many big actors the series wrangled together as they brought in many of the biggest supporting role actors of Arrow and The Flash and put them under one roof.
Time Master Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) arrives in Star City in the year 2016 with the plan to avenge the deaths of his wife and son at the hands of the immortal Vandal Savage (Casper Crump) by assembling a team of future "legends" in Atom (Brandon Routh), White Canary (Caity Lotz), Firestorm (Victor Garber and Franz Drameh), Hawkman and Hawgirl (Falk Hentschel and Ciara Renée), and Captain Cold and Heat Wave (Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell).
Each character has their own misgivings about being a hero and taking on such a grand responsibility as traveling through time to stop an immortal tyrant and save the world, and their growth into the roles as well as connections amongst their misfit ranks make this show work.
With time travel galore in the series, there are so many opportunities for the show to explore different places, times, and characters. Mostly in the first season, this means exploring retro scenes right out of Back to the Future and a few futuristic environments with robots and critiques of government control.
There are some hints of future plans though with a few exciting cameos along the way. The overall story of Rip's revenge and issues with his own fellow Time Masters takes a while to find its footing, but it is satisfying as a whole particularly as the writing comes together with the characters and finds its footing at the tail end of the season.
TV shows often fall into one of a few general categories. They can grow to be great, aspire to be great, or remain content in their wheelhouse. DC's Legends of Tomorrow is the middle category. It does not start strong, but it always holds promise. More importantly, the show is always experimenting and evolving in a way that makes it enjoyable to watch even in its failings.
Unlike Arrow and The Flash, the two CW series that Legends of Tomorrow takes its world and characters from, this is not a procedural superhero show. It is a hodgepodge of inspiration, using elements of its parent shows as well as Doctor Who, Star Trek, Terminator, and 100 different other sci-fi movies and television shows.
Where this series shines though even past the experimentation week to week is its star studded cast. It's actually impressive how many big actors the series wrangled together as they brought in many of the biggest supporting role actors of Arrow and The Flash and put them under one roof.
Time Master Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) arrives in Star City in the year 2016 with the plan to avenge the deaths of his wife and son at the hands of the immortal Vandal Savage (Casper Crump) by assembling a team of future "legends" in Atom (Brandon Routh), White Canary (Caity Lotz), Firestorm (Victor Garber and Franz Drameh), Hawkman and Hawgirl (Falk Hentschel and Ciara Renée), and Captain Cold and Heat Wave (Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell).
Each character has their own misgivings about being a hero and taking on such a grand responsibility as traveling through time to stop an immortal tyrant and save the world, and their growth into the roles as well as connections amongst their misfit ranks make this show work.
With time travel galore in the series, there are so many opportunities for the show to explore different places, times, and characters. Mostly in the first season, this means exploring retro scenes right out of Back to the Future and a few futuristic environments with robots and critiques of government control.
There are some hints of future plans though with a few exciting cameos along the way. The overall story of Rip's revenge and issues with his own fellow Time Masters takes a while to find its footing, but it is satisfying as a whole particularly as the writing comes together with the characters and finds its footing at the tail end of the season.
Just rebrand Legends of Tomorrow as the White Canary show already. We would all be better for it. (Image Courtesy of: screencrush.com)
As said, the characters are the highlights of the show as well as the acting. In this ensemble cast, there is no one true star, but there are clear headliners. Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) is a charismatic presence and good for comic relief though Ray Palmer is not well positioned in the series, too often shown to be naive with most of his story development moving him sideways.
Caity Lotz (The Machine) has the most emotional development to deal with in the course of the season as Sara Lance/White Canary and deals with it masterfully. She is immensely charismatic, has the action chops, and has strong chemistry with many of the best characters on the show including Rip, Snart, and Rory.
Outside of Canary, the best presences on this show are Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell (Prison Break). The two are a great duo, but they also stand out on their own. Purcell's Mick Rory is the funniest character on the show while his character develops surprisingly dramatically along the way. Miller's Leonard Snart is the charismatic core of the series, but he is equally impressive in the dramatic scene, wrestling with his role with both men originally villains.
When Firestorm was recast in the second series of The Flash, I was a bit worried that Franz Drameh's (Edge of Tomorrow) Jefferson Jackson would struggle to match Robbie Amell's Ronnie Raymond. While he is not quite the actor Amell is, his chemistry with Victor Garber's (Titanic) Martin Stein is even stronger. Garber is a fantastic veteran presence for the show who helps Drameh develop.
The main disappointments on the cast are the two Hawks. Ciara Renée (Big Fish (the musical)) as Hawgirl does not have the comic chops of her counterparts nor the dramatic chops with writing that also does her no favors. Falk Hentschel (Knight and Day) as Hawkman is fairly wooden with a dry character with too little development.
Casper Crump (Almost Perfect) is a mixed bag as Vandal Savage. There are times where he truly conveys his character's frightening menace, but his delivery is stilted and lacks the presence expected of a man with centuries of experience. He doesn't quite fit a bill for his role even though he has some great moments particularly when he revels in his villainy.
Caity Lotz (The Machine) has the most emotional development to deal with in the course of the season as Sara Lance/White Canary and deals with it masterfully. She is immensely charismatic, has the action chops, and has strong chemistry with many of the best characters on the show including Rip, Snart, and Rory.
Outside of Canary, the best presences on this show are Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell (Prison Break). The two are a great duo, but they also stand out on their own. Purcell's Mick Rory is the funniest character on the show while his character develops surprisingly dramatically along the way. Miller's Leonard Snart is the charismatic core of the series, but he is equally impressive in the dramatic scene, wrestling with his role with both men originally villains.
When Firestorm was recast in the second series of The Flash, I was a bit worried that Franz Drameh's (Edge of Tomorrow) Jefferson Jackson would struggle to match Robbie Amell's Ronnie Raymond. While he is not quite the actor Amell is, his chemistry with Victor Garber's (Titanic) Martin Stein is even stronger. Garber is a fantastic veteran presence for the show who helps Drameh develop.
The main disappointments on the cast are the two Hawks. Ciara Renée (Big Fish (the musical)) as Hawgirl does not have the comic chops of her counterparts nor the dramatic chops with writing that also does her no favors. Falk Hentschel (Knight and Day) as Hawkman is fairly wooden with a dry character with too little development.
Casper Crump (Almost Perfect) is a mixed bag as Vandal Savage. There are times where he truly conveys his character's frightening menace, but his delivery is stilted and lacks the presence expected of a man with centuries of experience. He doesn't quite fit a bill for his role even though he has some great moments particularly when he revels in his villainy.
For an immortal, near invincible supervillain, he's not quite... scary, is he? (Image Courtesy of: tvguide.com)
The same group involved with Arrow and The Flash are the helm of this series with Marc Guggenheim heavily involved in the writing, and they do a commendable job breaking out of the crutches they have on those shows. While the use elements of the shows including infrequent but effective flashbacks, the series never feels as tied down as those do in terms of formula.
There are still similar issues in the writing to the other series though. The writers do well with comic asides and quieter dramatic moments though they often get melodramatic with the less important drama. There is not a romantic subplot the Arrowverse terms hasn't largely botched in the writing department.
With the series diverging so much in tone and setting week to week, there needed to be more consistent direction for this series than is usually given to television shows. The episodes week to week often succeeded or failed based on the abilities of the director at the helm.
Some of the best episodes this season included "Pilot, Part 2" (directed by Glen Winter), "Left Behind" (directed by John F. Showalter), and easily the season's strongest entry "Destiny" (directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi). These episodes juggle quite a bit in terms of story and development but manage to succeed thanks to tight and effective directing that presents the characters well.
The action of the series also shifted wildly. With such a diverse set of heroes with different abilities, a lot of the action actually ended up being CGI focused with a wild, somewhat hard to follow action focus week to week. The more unique the action focus was, the more the series succeeded. Straight up brawls though were not as strong as in Arrow.
In total, Legends of Tomorrow struggles on arrival despite its cast. The writing wavered week to week with episodes that felt a bit too jarring in their shifts. However, the season was never boring with so many ideas thrown in throughout with a clear focus on finding consistency.
The episodes got generally stronger week to week as the series progressed, showing it was finding its footing. With the promise of more changes to the formula and cast going forward, it is certainly a show that intrigues and may be worth watching as long as you can stand by the characters through some rough early writing.
Personally, I enjoyed the series and was intrigued by its potential even though I slowly found myself losing focus until the series ramped up, after which I was fully invested. I can say with confidence that I'm all in for now though have reservations for the future if the series regresses.
There are still similar issues in the writing to the other series though. The writers do well with comic asides and quieter dramatic moments though they often get melodramatic with the less important drama. There is not a romantic subplot the Arrowverse terms hasn't largely botched in the writing department.
With the series diverging so much in tone and setting week to week, there needed to be more consistent direction for this series than is usually given to television shows. The episodes week to week often succeeded or failed based on the abilities of the director at the helm.
Some of the best episodes this season included "Pilot, Part 2" (directed by Glen Winter), "Left Behind" (directed by John F. Showalter), and easily the season's strongest entry "Destiny" (directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi). These episodes juggle quite a bit in terms of story and development but manage to succeed thanks to tight and effective directing that presents the characters well.
The action of the series also shifted wildly. With such a diverse set of heroes with different abilities, a lot of the action actually ended up being CGI focused with a wild, somewhat hard to follow action focus week to week. The more unique the action focus was, the more the series succeeded. Straight up brawls though were not as strong as in Arrow.
In total, Legends of Tomorrow struggles on arrival despite its cast. The writing wavered week to week with episodes that felt a bit too jarring in their shifts. However, the season was never boring with so many ideas thrown in throughout with a clear focus on finding consistency.
The episodes got generally stronger week to week as the series progressed, showing it was finding its footing. With the promise of more changes to the formula and cast going forward, it is certainly a show that intrigues and may be worth watching as long as you can stand by the characters through some rough early writing.
Personally, I enjoyed the series and was intrigued by its potential even though I slowly found myself losing focus until the series ramped up, after which I was fully invested. I can say with confidence that I'm all in for now though have reservations for the future if the series regresses.