Legends Of Tomorrow season 4, episode 16 review: Hey, World!

The fourth season of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow bows out in glorious fashion with a completely bonkers (and surprisingly emotional) finale.

By the time Legends Of Tomorrow was renewed for a fourth season, the show had already tackled ancient prophecies, time fugitives and demonic possession so, when it was revealed that Season 4 would focus on magical creatures, we instantly bought it, lapping up the idea of the show venturing into even crazier territory than before.

Sixteen episodes later, and here we stand at that season’s conclusion, bidding farewell to one adventure as we eagerly anticipate the next – all while trying to comprehend the madness that we just witnessed. That, in itself, is why the season finale, “Hey, World!”, was everything it needed to be – even if it did have a few minor drawbacks.

Magic Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

The crux of the finale centered on humanity’s response to magical creatures and how, following Neron’s manipulative plan to turn Charlie into the Tagumo octopus on live TV, they had grown to fear them. Knowing what it’s like to feel like the outcasts of society, the Legends hatched an elaborate scheme to make humans see these magical “monsters” for the wonderful creatures that they are – and they planned on resurrecting HeyWorld (the magical theme park Hank planned to create for Nate) to make that happen.

That right there was the episode’s biggest selling point. The Legends weren’t just going through the superhero motions in a half-cocked attempt to save the timeline; they were doing it because they related to their fellow misfits, and that gave this ridiculous concept an emotional core – one that resonated with viewers rather well.

The performance of James Taylor’s “Sweet Baby James” at the end of the episode really highlighted that. It wasn’t a fancy production that brought a smile to our faces like “I Surrender” did a few weeks back. Instead, it was a heartfelt and tearful moment that allowed humans and monsters to come together to transfer their combined love into Nate’s body.

In the end, physical magic did not defeat Neron. It was Nate’s sacrifice that did that – an act that allowed him to return to the favor to Ray, whose sacrifice earlier in the season saved his.

“That requires magic beyond my means, mate,” John Constantine told Mick Rory when he warned him to bring Nate back. And he was right, because in a show that thrives on magic, mysticism and time travel, it was a different type of magic that both saved Nate and defeated Neron – Love.

There’s a lesson in there somewhere.

Tying It All Together

Speaking of emotional cores, you have to give credit to the writers for somehow managing to tie their goofy pantomime into some of the show’s more touching narratives.

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Nate’s ghostly reunion with his father was unexpected and yet it was completely necessary. The once-strained relationship between father and son was a major focal point of this season as the pair finally stopped arguing and allowed themselves to reconnect. And this was a fitting farewell to Hank – one that Nate (and all of us) had been craving since the character was killed off.

However, when it comes to unexpected emotional twists, Zari took the cake (when she essentially erased her own life from existence). As this was a character who had spent the past two years trying to find a loophole in time that would allow her to save her family from their barbaric future without destroying the timeline, the result of what happened isn’t all that surprising, but it was how well it featured into the episode that was really surprising.

Zari was unexpectedly given the chance that she longed for when Nate used the magical journal to create HeyWorld, as it would ultimately change people’s opinions of the unknown and, in doing so, create a better future – one where her family would live.

The nature of this show all but confirmed that Zari’s loophole technology would eventually allow her to save her loved ones, but it always felt like more of an endgame protocol that the show would eventually tackle in its final season. So to say that the resurgence of this narrative thread came as a surprise, well, that would be quite the understatement.

That being said, it was just another example of how well the writers mapped this season out and, despite the initial shock, it slotted into the bonkers storyline rather seamlessly. It has, however, left the Legends without the character now, as her desperation to save Nate took her out of the temporal zone, which ultimately led to this virtual time-remnant disappearing from existence.

Mixing comedy and tragedy can be dangerous and, more often than not, it flops dramatically. Somehow though, that doesn’t seem to apply to Legends of Tomorrow. And that was never clearer than it was here, as the writing team managed to employ both as they put a neat little bow on this season, while opening a new can of worms for the next.

The concept of the finale, as always, was outrageous. It was ridiculous. It was pretty unfathomable. But isn’t that what Legends is all about?

Legendary Leftovers

• I appreciate the effort that went into crafting the double entendre behind the title. “Hey, World!” isn’t just the Legends’ way of officially introducing themselves (and the magical creatures) to the world, it’s also a reference to the theme park itself. “Hey, World!” as in Heyworld… get it?
• The Monitor made a surprise appearance in the episode too, and it seems we should all be theorizing about what he has planned for the Legends in the Crisis (given that he has also shown up in both the Arrow and Supergirl finales), but it’s honestly hard to get past the fact that he was eating popcorn as he silently judged them!
• Wait, so Nate finds love again, only to have time rip it away from him… again?! Admittedly, the fact that they practically just recycled the whole Nate and Amaya story with the same character felt a bit underwhelming. Come on, hasn’t he been through enough?
• So, wait: Supergirl, Green Arrow and The Flash all declined the Legends’ invitation to film a promo for HeyWorld? Rude.
• The ensemble performance of “Sweet Baby James” was beautiful. Really.
• Nate’s reunion with his father was also beautiful. I’m not crying, you’re crying!
• It was lovely to see Casper Crump back as Vandal Savage. Only Ray Palmer could convince the season 1 Big Bad to stop torturing him and play Jenga instead.
• HeyWorld undoubtedly took its cues from Jurassic World. The concept of a theme-park for monsters is definitely out of the Jurassic Park play book, while the resort, and the beautiful bronze statue of Hank Heywood, were clear references to the 2015 reboot.
• This is my final review of Legends of Tomorrow Season 4. I have thoroughly enjoyed reviewing this whole season and eagerly anticipate whatever craziness the writers have in store for us in season 5. Thanks for reading – Peace out, Legends!

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow has now completed its fourth season and will take an extended hiatus from The CW, before returning midseason in January 2020, where it will have a major part to play in this year’s five-part Arrowverse crossover, “Crisis On Infinite Earths.” Are you excited to see what it has in store? Did you enjoy this season? Let us know in the comments below.