Legends of Tomorrow: Leviathan Review

This Legends of Tomorrow review contains spoilers.

Legends of Tomorrow Episode 13

And we’re back in business. After last week’s rather inconsequential episode, it finally felt like Legends of Tomorrow got back to telling a story with some actual weight to it this week. If I’m reading this thing right, “Leviathan” is basically the first hour of a four hour season finale, and Legends has by far done its best work when it behaves as if it has no time to lose. Which it doesn’t.

Seriously, I will be shocked if the show leaves 2166 again before that final episode. They shouldn’t. It’s taken 12 episodes to get back here, this is where they need to be, and any further side missions will be nothing but genuinely annoying at this point.

“Leviathan” wasn’t perfect, but it moved. Not only that, it really looked great. I don’t think I could possibly have been more impressed with the titular leviathan itself. The battle between Ray and that thing is really, genuinely something I can genuinely say I’ve never seen attempted on just about any genre show in recent years, and certainly not with that level of competency. Hell, it’s something we aren’t even likely to see in a superhero movie any time soon. It was clever, it looked as good as something like this could look on a TV budget, and I’m pretty satisfied.

Not that this makes up for some of the stunning leaps in logic that came towards the episode’s climax. But I’ll get to that. Right now, I just want to sing this episode’s praises a little bit longer.

In many ways, this was Kendra’s episode, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she really becomes the focus of the final three, as well. I loved her exchange with Mick (I continue to be pleasantly be surprised by Mick Rory every week), I loved her resolve (well, until she lost it) to take down Savage once and for all, and I almost forgave all of the Kendra/Ray stuff that has been irritating me the last few weeks.

In fact…

“I don’t believe in fate, I believe in choices.”

That line, right there. Every now and then, Brandon Routh/Ray Palmer says/does something that just makes me throw my head back and quietly lament that Mr. Routh never got another crack at playing Superman. That’s a straight up Superman line, delivered with Superman’s resolve, by a guy who still looks a hell of a lot like Superman.

Anyway, it’s a great line, regardless. And for a moment, I felt that all the lingering Ray/Kendra awkwardness of recent episodes would turn out to be worth it, if only to get Ray to deliver this one line. We all know exactly what he was really talking about there. So, of course, just in case you had a hint of doubt left about it, we all know that it isn’t going to work out for this poor fella.

And right about there is where I feel things started to wobble. I do not understand the Carter/Savage logic happening there at the end. I suppose it’s entirely possible that it’s a bluff. But here’s my real problem…

Kendra’s “choice” here is complete bullshit. There is no choice. Hawkgirl has no compunction against killing, and the team is quite clear in the knowledge that this isn’t some superhero battle they’re fighting, it’s war. Savage has to die, nobody will complain, and it has to be Kendra who does it. It’s a war, and Kendra is a soldier.

But the idea that she would put one life, soul mate or otherwise, over the lives of billions right there, well…that just doesn’t sit right with me. If Kendra’s bond with Carter is strong enough to have endured for thousands of years, that’s something that operates on instinct, right? It’s in her soul, her gut. But if that’s there, so are her warrior instincts. And I feel like no matter what, that same Chay-ara part of her that tells her she loves Carter so much would also be screaming, “of course this guy has to die right now…do you have any idea how many times he’s murdered us?!?”

I just can’t find a way to justify any of this, because it all leads me back to two things: Savage is bluffing (re: Carter) and everyone is dumb and/or Kendra is screwing up royally here. It kind of undermines all the solid work they’ve been doing here.

And to follow that up with another watery-eyed Kendra says to puppy dog-eyed Ray “we have to talk” scene? Nope. Uh-uh. What is this, Smallville? Enough.

Cassandra Savage, on the other hand, was suitably creepy. But it was far too easy for Snart to flip her. This is something they could have teased out over several episodes if they didn’t waste our time with that Pilgrim nonsense last week. It would have been more effective. I do hope we haven’t seen the last of her, though.

Solid effort tonight. I have a good feeling about the final three. I don’t know why. I haven’t seen them, nor have I visited the future. If last week was this show’s low point, it really still wasn’t all that bad, was it? 

DC Universe Time Bubble

– Cassandra Savage isn’t from the comics, sadly. The Savage daughter that I really, desperately want to see on this show, and who would make such a perfect addition to this cast of characters next year is Scandal Savage, though. Holy moley, that needs to happen. 

– When I first saw the leviathan in the trailer for this episode, I thought they had actually brought Chemo to the screen. A really skinny version of Chemo. But now we know that giant glowing things can be done really, really well on Berlanti superhero shows, so maybe it will happen one day!

– That one bit where one of Savage’s underlings approaches him turned me into a dumbass 13 year old for a second.

UNDERLING: “Sir?”

VANDAL: “What!” (they lean in)

ME: “Make out! Make out, already!”

Mike Cecchini is too exhausted to write himself a clever byline tonight. Follow him on Twitter or something.