Written by Marley Ghizzone
‘LAST REFUGE’ PLOT SUMMARY:
The Pilgrim (Faye Kingslee) targets the team and chases them through time. As a countermeasure, Rip (Arthur Darvill) decides the only way to save their future selves is to kidnap themselves as babies before the Pilgrim can kill them.
Legends of Tomorrow has a problem with time. The time travel rules were not set in stone or even, it seems, talked about before the show was created, so each episode can do whatever it pleases. As a pretty stringent type A, I believe rules are of utmost importance. You can’t wing something as complex and cliché as time travel, because if you do it becomes convoluted and uninspired.
“Last Refuge” has the Pilgrim on the hunt for the team’s younger selves. For the most part, time travel doesn’t factor in but the Pilgrim has the power to control the time around her. Where did that rule come from? It’s just thrown in there as a plot device and it’s extremely obvious. It also creates the longest stop-motion scene where the camera swoops in and out of the team stopped in time. It goes on forever and I still don’t get why.
Franz Drameh is so bad. The attempt to give Jefferson Jackson a backstory and a rounded out personality is noble. But his emotional scenes are the worst thing in the world and I hate watching them. They aren’t written with ingenuity and Drameh does not have the skill to carry them out.
Ray (Brandon Routh) and Kendra’s (Ciara Renée) relationship has been ruined. They’ve had relationship drama and issues every episode now. It’s diluting the awesomeness of “Left Behind” and turning every plot point and theme to the easy, over-tread territory of relationship woes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX_erm0gGBA
Even so, the entertainment level of Legends of Tomorrow has gone up. Unlike the first half of the season, I actually like watching the episodes even when they have issues. “Last Refuge” is fun to watch.
Learning about Mick’s (Dominic Purcell) childhood, as well as Rip’s (Darvill) is interesting. I know it’s been an episode since Mick came back to the team, so this is a bit delayed, but I’m so happy he’s back and that he’s a good(ish) guy again.
I think that Legends of Tomorrow needs to find a better villain. The Pilgrim is at least semi-interesting and has cool powers, even if they are based in nothing. She also has clear goals for why she is doing what she was doing. Savage (Casper Crump) is such a nothing villain. He brings nothing to the table and creates zero suspense.
“Last Refuge” isn’t the best episode but it definitely isn’t the worst. Without Savage in it, the storyline ends up being more of a standalone. It doesn’t add much to the overall season arc but does inform character a bit. On the flip side, without Savage in it the team actually has a concrete reason to do what their doing, making “Last Refuge” more focused and definitely watchable.
Legends of Tomorrow has its flaws, but as the season has progressed it has gotten waaaaaaaay better. It’s falling more and more in line with the other DC shows. “Last Refuge” isn’t flawless but we can’t all be Beyoncé.
Rating: 5 out of 10
[php] wp_link_pages(array(‘before’=>’
‘)); [/php]
=========================================================================================================
