Legends of Tomorrow season 3, episode 9 review: Beebo the God of War

Legends of Tomorrow aired its final episode before the midseason break.

Too soon, Legends of Tomorrow. Coming off a stellar crossover and the gut-punch that was Victor Garber’s departure from the show, Legends of Tomorrow goes into its winter break with an episode that might have been better earlier in the season, but comes too close in time to the material it’s calling back to have the resonance that it so desperately wants to have.

Fresh off of the Nazi-bashing adventures of Crisis on Earth-X, the Legends team is back at it again. But first, we open with a younger Martin Stein, in 1982, waiting in despair hope to bring back Beebo, the hot holiday toy, for his daughter for Hannukah. Faced with the terrible odds of getting the last one, he pulls a neat trick with a bow and arrow and knocks it into his hands, and he is chased out of the store, only to be pulled randomly back into the time of the Vikings. Aboard the Waverider, Citizen Cold (Captain Cold’s heroic Earth-X doppelganger) is serving as a grief counselor, specifically trying to get the team to express their feelings to a giant Martin Stein muppet. Jax specifically is the most hurt, still feeling guilty about his inability to prevent the Professor’s death.

Soon, the team is called to deal with their most serious Anachronism yet: an anachronistic Martin Stein’s alteration of Viking culture changed history, leading them to colonize America (now known as New Valhalla). Specifically, the Beebo toy they bring back is interpreted by the Vikings as a war god, which inspires the Vikings to persevere in their conquest of North America, where in normal history they left. The team liberates Martin from his capture by Lief Erikson and his sister, Lyddis, who now worship Beebo, but this doesn’t fix the anachronism. Martin reveals that Lyddis is suing Beebo to control the Vikings, and the team resolves to go back in to get the toy during the Viking’s Yuletide ceremony.

Faced with a rapidly solidifying anachronism and a still-emotional team, Sara calls in Agent sharp for help and they infiltrate the festival as Vikings. Because the team are lovable screwups, but still screwups, Mick is immediately caught when they attempt to steal Beebo, and put on trial, while Sara and Agent Sharpe flirt and outdrink Vikings. Mick is quickly condemned by a vote of “Beebo hungry!” and sent to the pyre, only to be saved by Citizen Cold. Nonetheless, the team is once again caught trying to steal Beebo, this time when Amaya hugs Beebo.

Back on the Waverider, Jax struggles with his desire to warn Stein about his death and save his life, while attempting to return Professor Stein to his own time. Meanwhile, the Legends on New Valhalla engage in a throw down with the Vikings, which leads to Beebo’s destruction, breaking its spell on the Vikings, only for Damien Darhk and his daughter to arrive cosplaying as Norse Gods, inspiring the Vikings to resume their conquest. The team withdraws to figure out how to fight Darhk.

Jax delivers Martin back home, and tries to change history with a letter, only for Martin to try to refuse the letter. Jax gets him to take the letter. Meanwhile, Mick deals with Citizen Cold’s continual attempts to get him sober, only for Snart to realize that he’s trying to replace his own version of Rory, and the pair have a major fight. When Agent Sharpe is unable to secure the Time Bureau’s aid on this mission, she also reveals that not only was Rip Hunter imprisoned after the Legends turned him over, but that their enemies are organizing. She leaves the team when she is ordered home by the Bureau’s Director Bennett.

Sara decides to go down to New Valhalla alone, but the team talks her out of it, and they devise a new plan, using Nate’s seeming invulnerability to Darhk’s magic, Zari’s wind powers, and Beebo himself (operated by the Atom) to scatter the Vikings and attack Darhk. The plan works, thanks in no small part to Citizen Cold and Mick teaming up to fight Nora. However, Darhk breaks through, only to be stopped driven off with the help of a returning Agent Sharpe. However, this is not before Sara receives a vision of Mallus himself, who threatens to break free and cause unimaginable pain.

Back on the Waverider, Sara describes her vision as a total absence of feelings, filled only by Mallus. Sharpe leaves to warn the Time Bureau. Meanwhile, Jax finds that Martin still dies in 2017, and goes back to find out why. After delivering the Beebo to Stein’s daughter, he finds that Stein burned the letter, refusing to cheat death and deciding to be happy with what he has, urging Jax to live happily. Jax returns to the Waverider, and is confronted by Sara, with whom he shares a moment remembering Martin. Jax announces he is leaving the team to deal with his issues. Sara responds to his wishes for a quiet departure by throwing him a Christmas/goodbye party.

After Jax leaves, Sara finds the Waverider has a stowaway, one who needs Sara’s help to deal with a demon possessing a little girl. That man? JOHN CONSTANTINE. welcome to the Arrowverse, Constantine. You will definitely be a complete bastard to everyone.

Overall, another fun episode, with a number of really solid character arcs built in. Snart and Mick Rory’s mini-arc about both Mick’s drinking and Snart’s inability to get over his friend’s death was really solid, and could have used more breathing room. In addition, Sara and Jax’s more quiet moments of mourning play out really nicely. Jax’s attempts to change the future, only to find that it wasn’t what Stein wanted was predictable, but his conversation with Martin, who instructs him to live his life, just as his elder version did, is sweet. Equally well done and underplayed is the firm determination Sara has not to lose anyone else. It’s a believable reaction from a hardened assassin and makeshift den mother like Sara.

As I said, the main problem with the story of an anachronistic Martin Stein is that its just a week ago that we saw Victor Garber say goodbye to the team. Basically, there hasn’t been even one episode to mourn him, or even to feel what the characters feel: his absence. Having Stein come back, albeit younger and in the full flush of family holiday spirit, can’t possibly hit us as an audience because as far as we know, Stein just left. With that perspective, it’s hard to empathize with these characters as they work through their feelings of loss.

One final note: Coming off last week, I didn’t realize that Citizen Cold would be running with the team. That said, his contributions to the team are immediate and make you realize how much Wentworth Miller brought to the show while he was on it. Miller’s comedic timing is great, as is his banter with Mick Rory, and his continual attempts to make this band of mostly screw-ups better and more emotionally adjusted people are amazing. Wentworth Miller and Matt Ryan as Constantine will both make incredible additions to this cast, and will undoubtedly be great to watch bounce off the rest of this cast going forward.

One more thing: While I’m on record as firmly in favor of Legends of Tomorrow working more on one-and-done episodes that focus more on the fun than anything else, I’m beginning to worry about the bigger plot about Mallus and/or the Totems. We’re at the mid-season finale and there’s nothing about either plot that has been particularly developed or made more interesting. As it is, what we seem to have his Damien Darhk doing a redo of the Legion of Doom storyline with his daughter and Grodd. I’m totally OK with that, and if they all feed into one storyline, I’ll be totally down, but as it stands we have a lot of unconnected strands, and the further we get into the season without any real work to make them feel important, the smaller the chance they all come together at the end of the season in a satisfying way.

Legends of the Week: Citizen Cold

It seems only right to celebrate the return of Wentworth Miller to the team, for however long it lasts. Miller is a perfect fit for the show, able to nail the comedy with his exceptionally dry deadpan and unique way of speaking. He’s also really good in an action spot,

Notes from the Waverider

• Beebo is a pretty solid take on the “big gift” of the holiday season, and a specific take on the infamously difficult to get “Tickle Me Elmo.”
• Legends generally does pretty well with taking a less is more approach with the time periods they visit. The Vikings are one of a rare few instances where they just didn’t have the juice to make the setting work.
• Playing the Arrow theme when Young Martin shoots the toy bow and arrow was a solid gag.
• Another solid laugh? Citizen Cold with that puppet. Honestly, the shot of Wentworth Miller with it alone was the best joke of the night.
• Gideon all but confirms the Anachronism rating system is nonsense by declaring this one a 12 because she feels like it.
• Every Viking is doing their best to audition for the next Thor movie.
• “He’s so damn huggable.”
• Agent Sharpe and Sara are flirting hard at that Viking party, and Sharpe basically states that she likes girls. I’m fully ready for this relationship, you guys.
• The Arrowverse is full of bad wigs, but Damien Darhk’s Odin wig is especially bad.
• Jax’s goodbye speech is both really nice and a decent thesis statement for the whole series. Broken pieces that don’t belong on another show fitting together to make something else. Its a nice moment of self-awareness for the show in a way that feels very earned.

Next: 50 greatest super heroes in comic book history

Legends of Tomorrow returns in 2018.