REVIEWED: SEASON 5 (ALL EPISODES) | WHERE TO WATCH: NOWTV, SKY GO
Since its second season embraced the silliness of the show’s concept – a bunch of B-list superheroes and supervillains are recruited to keep the timestream free of anomalies – Legends of Tomorrow has become the shining star of The CW’s DC Comics-influenced Arrowverse. Taking a ridiculous, almost meta approach to the science fiction and fantasy aspects of the show, the crew of the Waverider have defeated sorcerors, demons, and, well, mostly sorcerors and demons with the use of giant plush toys and song and dance routines, returning the world to as near to normal as things get in the Arrowverse.
Following on from a Season 4 which saw fight a war against the demon Neron, the Legends return to Hell in Season 5, trying to send back a succession of ‘encores’ – history’s worst monsters given new life on Earth by John Constantine’s biggest regret, Astra. Consigned to Hell as a child after a misguided attempt by Constantine to bring back her dead mother, Astra has plotted her revenge and will let nothing stand in the way of claiming Constantine’s soul. Unfortunately for her, the Legends have grown quite fond of the magician, and they’re not giving him up so easily. As if that wasn’t enough, the team have to deal with Zari, but not the Zari who was on the team before being overwritten by her dead brother Behrad at the end of Season 4; this is a different, self-centered Zari, who may also hold the secret to bringing back the original one! As if that weren’t complicated enough, Charlie is revealed to be one of the Fates of Greek legend, and she suspects her sisters are trying to get the band back together and restore the loom of fate, with dire consequences for free will!
It all sounds absurd – and, quite honestly, it is – but showrunners Phil Klemmer and Shito Kimizu manage to keep a tight rein on the outrageous concept, and still leave room for plenty of interplay between the cast members, with Mick finding out he has a daughter, Ray and Nora trying to have a normal relationship in the most abnormal of circumstances, and Sarah dealing with the loss of one of her closest friends as the season kicks off. This is soap opera in the best way, with an experienced cast and crew knowing exactly what they’re doing, and doing it ridiculously.
Unlike some of the other Arrowverse shows, Legends wasn’t affected by the Coronavirus, and got to end its season as planned, with a hint of what’s to come in 2021 in the finale’s closing moments. They may need a few new recruits, too, as four (and a half) Legends say their farewells during Season 5, but if there’s one thing this show has always done well, it’s make new characters feel as though they’ve always been a part of the team.
Legends of Tomorrow knows what it is – it’s trash TV – but there’s nothing wrong with trash TV when it’s done as well as they do it here; there’s very little that will stay with you in the manner of recent superhero shows like Watchmen or Doom Patrol but sometimes a little disposable fun is all that you need.
