Legends of Tomorrow season 3, episode 3 review: Zari

Reviewing Tuesday’s episode of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.

Legends of Tomorrow introduces a new face to the DC Universe tonight, Zari Tomaz. The announcement of Zari’s introduction made some news when it was made, as Zari is apparently the first practicing Muslim superhero on T.V. That may be true, but it isn’t really made a big deal in the show tonight, which is in its own way a victory: these are faces that are a part of the ensemble without feeling like a “very special” member.

In terms of the episode itself, we get a pretty solid outing of Legends this week. The show always feels less confident when it goes to the future, possibly because they can rely on set dressing and basic historical tropes to get by. When it comes to the future, they’re in a position of having to create a world we have no familiarity with.

Even with that, the show sketches a fairly familiar future for us to visit: the totalitarian future where metahumans have been outlawed. Think X-Men, Days of Future Past, or, to a lesser extent, something like Blade Runner. Tracking a time-traveling assassin who has endangered Gary -the “dweeby one” according to Sara- (The water-bending Kuasa we saw resurrected in the stinger at the end of last week’s episode), the Legends travel this week to the world of Seattle, 2042. Rather than the desolate Star City future the Legends have visited before, the Legends arrive in a different kind of future. A.R.G.U.S. the definitely-not-SHIELD of the DC Universe, has outlawed all metahumans as of 2021, and in 2042, they track and capture metahumans who escape their wrath. One of these “metahumans” and the target of the time-displaced assassin is Zari Tomaz who wields an amulet which has a mysterious connection to Amaya’s own amulet.

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This comes at a point where Amaya is still struggling to control the animal powers contained in her own amulet. This episode doesn’t make a great argument for the subplot of Amaya’s amulet lasting all season. It involves two separate white male characters trying to explain African mysticism to Amaya, which while not a huge deal, just wasn’t a good look or particularly believable. Plus, it involves Nate being drugged by African potions and acting drunk for the second straight week, which is a weird thing to focus on back to back. The whole thing gets wrapped up pretty easily too. She just has to trust… the necklace that had her kill a bunch of guys a few weeks ago. Okay, I guess?

The team arrives and sends a team (Sara, Mick, Ray, and Jax) to help Zari, but they quickly become involved in a mass breakout of metahuman prisoners and an attempt to save Zari’s brother. This is only a misdirect, though, and in reality Zari’s brother died fighting A.R.G.U.S., and Zari escapes with a magical amulet that used to belong to him. In the chaos of a prison riot and a fight with Kuasa, the team is forced to flee, leaving Ray and Jax to track down and protect Zari as Kuasa continues her efforts to kill her. While essentially playing a Terminator, Kuasa brought a real sense of menace to the show, both in her power set (which further enforced the Terminator metaphor- the liquid shifting basically made her a low-rent T-1000 from Terminator 2) and in the actress’s physicality, radiated confidence and power, especially as she laid down several believable beatdowns. I would like to see them follow up on ideas they had for her character’s abilities, including whatever she did to Ray in their last fight. (Whatever she did lead Ray to comment that she tasted bad. That’s… troubling.)

Meanwhile, the Legends have to stay one step ahead of the Time Bureau, who have tracked them down on one of their adventures again with the help of the ever-present Gary, who I continually think of in my own head as the Time Intern- he seems like he’s just doing this for college credit and is in way over his head. After yet another subtext-laden standoff with Agent Sharpe, Sara pulls a daring escape and the team is able to show up in force to stave off Kuasa and return Zari to her home, only to recruit her as a part of the team, in yet another effective use of the whole “come, be a Legend, choose a life that matters” conversation.

All in all, its a pretty solid outing, but not something that makes the best use of most of the Legends of Tomorrow cast that characterize most of their best episodes. There’s none of the snappy, just-this-side-of-self-parody Sara Lance. Jax and Martin remain un-Firestormed all episode for reasons that increasingly felt like budget considerations. Zari looks like she’s going to be a solid addition to the team, but it doesn’t make a great case for why she’ll be valuable apart from being a part of a larger plot about the Totems.

Most Valuable Legend: Zari

Like I mentioned above, the episode itself doesn’t make the best case for Zari as a part of the team. However, the character herself is immediately really likable. The first time we see her, she saves herself and busts out of handcuffs. When the Legends meet her, she’s the only one with her head on straight, hacking the drone to be invisible. She then punks them and pulls a getaway that even Mick admits is cool. I’m interested in seeing how her gem and Amaya’s totem are related, and how she fits into the season’s arc, but I’m more interested in the badass John Connor-esque Zari than I am the one that wears a plot device around her neck.

Notes from the Waverider

“Prison Break? I’m in.” I never get tired of this show referencing the other work these actors have done
“I know you guys said you can handle it, but you can’t handle anything.” Gary makes a decent point.
“Come with me if you want to live.” “Yeah, I’ve used that one.” I like that the characters are as excited about time travel tropes as I am.
I am legitimately amazed at how bad at being a superhero Nate continues to be. He’s a literal man of steel, but is somehow less useful than a pyromaniac.
Zari Tomaz is a really interesting mix of Vixen and Adrianna Tomaz, who was introduced into the DC Universe as Isis, a member of Black Adam’s Black Marvel family.
Hearing Gideon say “Bollocks” surprised me a lot more than I thought it would. Same goes for “What a bitch.” Damn, Gideon.
The teaser for next week is 100% trading on the fact that It was a hit. I’m honestly pretty OK with that.
I would watch an entire spin-off show about Sara Lance having Road House style barfights.
Ray Palmer’s idea of a futuristic badass is Vanilla Ice with an eye patch. Of course it is.
I would like very much for Nate to not be intoxicated at all next episode. If for no other reason than I don’t think anyone who wrote this episode has ever seen anyone be intoxicated.

Next: 50 greatest super heroes in comic book history

Legends of Tomorrow returns on Tuesday, Oct. 31 at 8:00 p.m. ET on the CW.

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