DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow Season 2, Episode 8 Recap: “The Chicago Way”
By Steve Lam
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DC’s Legends of Tomorrow’s mid-season finale had the team facing off with the trifecta of evil—Malcolm Merlyn, Eobard Thawne, and Damien Darhk.
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is now officially on hiatus. However, before leaving us for the early part of winter, the show gives us an exciting episode that included a villainous team-up and the introduction of a new storyline.
Legendary Recap
In 1927 Chicago, Damien Darhk and Eobard Thawne meet Al Capone on the docks. The two make a proposition, but Capone wants none of it—that is, until he sees what they can do. Malcolm Merlyn soon joins them.
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Nate and Ray fight it out in the cargo bay. Ray needs a tune-up on his suit and this is the only way to test the adjustments. Sara enters and plays mom—she scolds them and warns them to stop their horsing around. Yes, it’s a humorous sight.
Martin thinks about Lily and tries to lie to Jax about it. It doesn’t work because Martin is a horrible fibber. Jax thinks Martin should tell Sara. Their little counsel time is over when the time aberration alarm goes off.
Gideo warns the team of an aberration occurring in 1927 Chicago. The team arrives in Union Station and spots Eliot Ness. Ray follows the famous agent and warns that his life may be in danger. Ness thinks there’s nothing to worry about after two police escorts arrive.
Ray didn’t know that the cops in that time period were extremely corrupt. Sara commands her team to stop Ness. Martin, still daydreaming about his daughter, misses his chance to intercept them. By the time the team gets to Ness, the cops have him in the back of a car, driving off.
Sara wants to know why Martin slipped up. Just as Jax is about to reveal Martin’s big secret, Gideon interrupts them with some disturbing news—Capone becomes Chicago’s mayor.
Ness is brought to the docks where he’s about to be tied to concrete.
Mick makes a comment which immediately alerts Nate to Ness’s whereabouts. Ness will most likely be drowned at a place notoriously named Cadavers Cove.
At Cadavers Cove, Capone says a few words to Ness and drops him into the water. The Legends arrive and quickly take out Capone’s men. Amaya pulls Ness out, but he’s unconscious.
On the Waverider, Ness is in the infirmary where Gideon treats him for severe hypoxia. Nate alerts the team to an even bigger problem—Ness was to attain Capone’s ledger from his bookkeeper, which ultimately convicts the gangster.
Sara makes the call for Nate to pretend to be Ness. Nate will assemble a team of agents at the bureau and raid Capone’s main speakeasy—the Chelsea Club. Sara wants Mick to go along, but Mick refuses. Sara allows Mick to stay, with Amaya babysitting him. Sara, Martin, and Jax will go undercover at the club instead.
Amaya is curious as to why Mick refused to go on the mission. It seemed odd that he would sit anything out. He thinks playing the part of a cop is no fun. When Amaya leaves, Mick hallucinates Leonard.
At the club, Damien reveals himself to Sara, Martin, and Jax. Before the two can become Firestorm, Eobard speeds in and breaks them apart. As Nate and the agents raid the place, Eobard kidnaps Sara and Martin.
The team rendezvous on the Waverider. Nate now knows that the whole Capone aberration was a distraction. Jax reveals the stash of weapons they found—one of them being a speedster gun. As Nate and Ray argue on strategy, Mick steps in and comes up with an idea—they need to execute the mission like criminals.
Sara and Martin are being held at one of Capone’s warehouses. Merlyn tries to broker a deal with Sara. If she gives him the amulet, he’ll give her back nine years of her life. He reveals that things were set into motion when he planted the bomb on the Queen’s Gambit. Sara rejects his offer and a frustrated Merlyn leaves. Martin, feeling guilty because he chose to live with his aberration of Lily, commends Sara for her selfless act. Sara says she had good mentor—Martin.
Amaya and Mick ambush one of Capone’s trucks and use it to infiltrate the warehouse.
Martin, no longer able to handle the guilt, comes clean to Sara and tells her about Lily. Sara is angered and disappointed. Damien enters and quickly takes Martin away for torture. Eobard uses a device that induces extreme pain to Martin.
The team arrive at the warehouse. Amaya finds Sara while Nate retrieves the ledger from the office. Mick hallucinates Leonard again. This time, Leonard tries to talk Martin out of helping. The whole team is finally confronted by Capone and his men. However, the Legends easily take them out and escape with Martin. Damien soon emerges, revealing that this was all part of a plan.
On the Waverider, Martin acts confused. Ray and Nate celebrate, but Sara is wary of the situation. Martin leaves to look into the amulet.
Watching the security cameras, Jax sees Martin using speedster abilities. He tries to warn Sara. It’s too late and she unknowingly enters the library. Jax retrieves Ray and Nate for help. As Sara talks to Martin, inconsistencies are revealed.
Nate enters pretending to pull Sara away for some team business, but Martin catches on. Martin quickly phases and becomes Eobard. Jax blasts him with the speedster gun, temporarily stunning him. Eobard overpowers Jax not knowing that Ray is shrunken down ready to strike. Ray gets a few good hits in and Eobard speeds away, locking himself on the bridge.
Eobard opens the cargo bay doors, allowing Merlyn and a few henchmen to board. Mick spots Eobard and grabs Amaya out of the way. He warns her that Eobard is looking for the amulet.
Soon, Eobard catches Mick trying to steal the amulet. However, the amulet box is empty. It was a ruse Mick created to distract him from Amaya, who blasts Eobard with the speedster gun.
Merlyn and Sara engage in hand-to-hand combat in the library. Sara gets the upper hand and holds a knife to Merlyn’s throat, wanting to know where Martin is being held.
Eobard recovers and grabs Amaya. When he’s about to vibrate his hand through her chest, his watch alarm sounds and he unexpectedly speeds off.
Martin is at Cadavers Cove, about to be executed. Sara arrives and saves him. She made a trade with Martin: the amulet for his whereabouts.
Nate and Ray meet with Ness. They fabricate a story where an imposter wanted to take Ness’s place to fight crime. Ness buys it. The two also hand Ness the Ledger, telling him that it’ll be a key piece which puts Capone away.
Amaya gives Mick a present for saving her life. It’s bootleg whiskey from Capone’s warehouse. She also gives him a parting kiss on the cheek. Leonard appears again and proceeds to taunt Mick.
Sara tells Martin that there are more important things than protecting history. She knows that family is important and wants to protect his.
Eobard, Damien, and Merlyn meet. Assembling the amulet, a holographic image of the stars and planets is projected. Eobard reveals that the amulet is a compass that’ll help them find the Spear of Destiny—the spear that was used to penetrate Christ when he died on the cross. The Spear can be used to rewrite reality itself. The first step in this plan is to find Rip Hunter.
We see what looks like a silhouette of Rip running from a soldier. Rip trips and falls over a garbage can. A voice yells “cut.” The director steps foot onto the stage—it’s Rip, with an American accent! It’s 1967 Los Angeles and they’re in the middle of making a film.
Next: Catch up with a recap of 'Invasion!'
Legendary Moment(s)
- The Legends facing off with Capone and his henchmen for the first time.
- Martin thinking he knew how to order bootleg liquor at a speakeasy and discovering that he only ordered club soda.
Thoughts for Tomorrow
The Al Capone portion, though intricate to Eobard’s plan, was a bit of a throwaway story. It was a chance for the show to have a bit of fun in the Roaring 20s. Now that we know what Eobard and his team (or, should I say “Legion”) are up to, we want to see what they eventually plan on doing with the Spear. Is rewriting reality the same as rewriting the timeline? Do they plan on completely changing the laws of physics? Also, is Rip hiding out in 1967 Los Angeles? Or is he seriously having an identity crisis—one of the side-effects of the atomic bomb explosion in the season opener?