Recap: LEGENDS OF TOMORROW Ties up 1975 With a Blood Ritual

Episodes 103 “Blood Ties”

[photos: Cate Cameron/The CW]

Rip Hunter really isn’t good at this whole time travel thing.

Besides lying to his team, he’s also lying to himself, thinking that he can be the one to stop Vandal Savage. As we see in this episode, he’s overestimated his chances before and got his head handed to him. Now, he’s trying a new tactic, one that may very well give Savage an advantage in the future, if nobody’s careful.

Turns out Rip (Arthur Darvill) has tried to kill Vandal Savage (Casper Crump) before, four thousand years ago in Egypt. It didn’t go so well, mainly because Rip hesitated when it mattered. Now, riddled with guilt and frustration, he’s still chasing after his chance to rid the world of the immortal.

Savage, for his part, has been busy planning a ceremony that would let him share his longevity with his followers. And it involves the blood of the recently deceased Carter Hall.

So, while Ray (Brandon Routh) and Professor Stein (Victor Garber) work to save Kendra (Ciara Renée) from the dagger fragments still in her bloodstream, Rip and Sara (Caity Lotz) figure to weaken Savage by stealing his bank accounts, only to find the highly-valued prize in the super-secret bank isn’t money. It’s Carter’s body. So their new mission, after being captured, is to retrieve Carter. Action Set #2.

Note: Caity Lotz can do karate kicks in an evening gown. And she looks great doing it.

Jax (Franz Drameh), tasked with the repair of the jump ship, gets talked into helping Snart (Wentworth Miller) and Rory (Dominic Purcell) steal the Maximillian Emerald so Snart’s dad doesn’t go to jail for it.

That’s our setup, and the one thing that was bugging me about the episode — throughout the entire episode — was the desktop computer at the bank where Rip and Sara first meet Savage’s flunkies for Action Set #1. This is 1975. The desktop computer proliferation, as best as I can recall and research, didn’t happen until after that, following the introduction of the microprocessor. It’s a minor quibble, but it’s still a quibble.

And I’m pretty sure they never moved that fast in 1975. Or 1976. Or 1977…

This is also the episode where we have Rip Hunter saying, “I’ve seen men of steel die and dark knights fall…” which could be taken to mean any number of things, depending on the context. Of course it’s a reference to Superman and Batman (off-limits), at least to the fans in the crowd. But it could also mean the strong men fighting Savage have all perished, and a “dark night” of woes descended on the land. It works either way.

Also noteworthy is the Wanted poster featuring Jonah Hex. It’s in Rip’s office. You can see it in the background.

I also like the depth that’s being added to Leonard Snart. Yes, he comes off as self-centered, only concerned with the next big score, but underneath is someone deeply troubled by his past, and his efforts to save his father give him some dimension that gives you a sense that maybe one day he could have the word “hero” on his resume.

Except for the whole thing back-firing, of course. Because maybe Leonard Snart and his sister are products of a fixed point, that their father has to abuse them in any timeline, and no amount of effort will change it. So Snart, Sr. goes to prison anyway, where he’ll learn to be the terrible person Snart, Jr. has grown up enduring. It’s interesting, too, that his motivation is again the protection of his sister, who in 1975 hasn’t even been born yet. The question then becomes: what will Dad Snart do with the glimpse of the future he got from his son?

The other quibble I have: where did they bury Dr. Boardman and Carter? With headstones, no less. If it’s a regular graveyard, there’s bound to be paperwork and questions. If it’s private property, whose? If it’s just a park somewhere, the presence of headstones will raise an eyebrow or two, surely.

Did anyone else notice that Vandal Savage quoted Khan Noonien Singh? “Everyone here has been sworn to live and die at my command.” I see what you did there, Marc Guggenheim and Chris Fedak.

And now, we’re off to 1986. Grab your parachute pants.

Legends of Tomorrow airs Thursdays at 8/7c on the CW.