Legends Of Tomorrow season 4, episode 9 review: Lucha de Apuestas

Legends of Tomorrow has finally returned with its midseason premiere, but was “Lucha de Apuestas” worth that wait?

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow has been off our screens for just under four months. Following its whacky mini-crossover-themed midseason finale, the show finally made its return to The CW this week for its long-awaited midseason premiere.

So far, this season has dealt with the Legends’ battles against mythical and mystical beasts – all of which have been on the loose since Mallus’ release last year. That, paired with a more heavily-involved Time Bureau and the introduction of demon hunter, John Constantine, has ensured that it’s been a more colorful year than usual – but perhaps not even that could have prepared us for the madness that ensued in “Lucha de Apuestas”.

Night Of The Wolf

The episode primarily revolved around the aftermath of Mona’s involvement in the escape of the Kaupe known as Konane. While the security footage suggested that it was actually Mona responsible for letting him loose, she quickly begged to differ – revealing that the “men in black” tried to hurt him and, as a result, he lashed out and accidentally injured her.

With both the Legends and the Time Bureau on her case, she sent Konane to a different time in order to protect him. However, when the Legends finally believed her, they discovered that he was in Mexico City 1961 and had become a Lucha Libre legend known as El Lobo. Yes, it’s true.

With Sara and Zari both off dealing with the bigger issue, that left the remainder of the Legends (John Constantine, Charlie and interim captain Ray Palmer) to restore the timeline and ensure that former champion El Cura reclaimed his legacy. They successfully managed to do so, but not before the Time Bureau showed up and all hell broke loose.

In the end, Mona got Konane to safety but, just as they were about to depart to ancient Hawaii, he was shot and killed by one of the “men in black”. A genuinely unexpected twist, it sent Mona into a rage and, in an even more unexpected twist, she transformed into a werewolf before destroying the man responsible for taking her love from her!

My oh my, things have gotten mighty interesting in a hurry.

Daddy Issues

The Heywood family have unexpectedly turned out to be this season’s M.V.P.s. Once merely only spoken about, Nate’s mother and father have become real characters this year as they attempt to reconnect with their son. While their unusual relationship is, well, unusual at the best of times, the weirdness was kicked up a notch when Nate discovered that this father, Hank, was actually involved in the Time Bureau. However, while this initially gave them the opportunity to bond, things took a dark turn when it was revealed that Hank was using his “men in black” to recruit the mythical creatures for Neron – a reveal that played into the midseason premiere in a huge way.

Upon discovering that the Bureau’s security footage has been tampered with, Zari teamed up with former colleague Nate in a bid to figure out why Hank had done so. But first, they needed to obtain his phone so that they could prove he did it and, in doing so, figure out their next step. Of course, this meant that the pair of them went to the Hemophilia Fundraiser in which he was being honored. What’s most interesting is that they went together and discussed how awkward it would be if they had to pretend to be dating. I’ll let you read into that subtext there.

In the end, they successfully obtained the footage and discovered that Mona was telling the truth. Nate later confronted his father over the debacle and, after a little persuasion, agreed to trust him on the matter as long as he kept him informed in future. Of course, this was merely a rouse as Zari secretly copied all of the data from his phone during the conversation. But just what is the plan going forward?

Trouble In Time

The midseason premiere was very well-orchestrated in the sense that it crafted a compelling standalone adventure while placing it context with the season’s overarching story. However, the most important plot thread was the one that didn’t just affect the season‘s main storyline, but had repercussions on one of the show’s most integral overall narratives. And that was the relationship between Time Bureau Director Ava Sharpe and the Legends’ Captain Sara Lance.

The conflict here was well-engineered from the beginning because, in the opening scene when Ava was berated for her late-coming by Hank, she blamed herself for “gallivanting” with Sara. The two would later come to blows over the handling of the Mona and Konane situation as Sara, aware of the fact that Ava might lose her job if the latter wasn’t returned, chose to keep the fugitives out of Time Bureau custody for the greater good.

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Despite having a good reason for doing so, and dancing a passionate Argentine Tango with Ava to reveal all, Sara was unable to make up for the damage that the whole situation had done to their relationship. In fact, Ava was so far gone that she wasn’t even shocked by the reveal that Hank was responsible for the horrific treatment of their assets, claiming that her only priority was to protect human history. With that sudden change in behavior, Sara exited – leaving the future of Avalance in jeopardy.

Legendary Leftovers

• Sara and Ava danced a damn fine Argentine Tango full of slides, head flicks, a Gancho and, most importantly, passion! The Tango is always a great dance for couples to work out any underlying tension but, wow, they really went for it. That, coupled with their insane chemistry and the traditional music, made for one heck of a scene.
• Shoutout to the wrestling fans who marked out at all the manoeuvres that showed up. There was a Chokeslam, Suplex, Moonsault, most importantly, a Hurricanrana followed up by the Tiger feint kick (or as WWE fans would call it, the “619”).
• Are Nate and Zari actually going to become “a thing”? It certainly looks like it and, to be quite honest, that might be a great pairing – especially since there was a time when we couldn’t imagine Nate with anyone else but Amaya.
• I felt that the final fight between Sara and Ava was a little forced. The latter has been more open-minded since Sara came into her life, so the sudden change-of-heart regarding the cruelty of the mystical beasts was, to use Sara’s word, callous.
• Mona being a fan of Mick’s book (and yet completely unaware that he wrote it) was golden.
• Constantine standing there smoking while everyone fought around him was the most Constantine thing ever. What a legend.
• I lost it when one of the Time Bureau agents was thrown past Constantine in the melee to the sound of the classic Wilhelm Scream. A nice touch that just added to the hilarity.
• A great midseason premiere that did a strong job progressing the narrative while also reminding us how ludicrous the show can really be. We’ve missed you Legends!

Legends of Tomorrow returns to The CW next Monday, April 8, at 8:00 p.m. ET. Are you excited now that it’s back? Let us know in the comments below!