Legends of Tomorrow Season 4 Episode 5 Review: Tagumo Attacks!!!

This Legends of Tomorrow episode review contains spoilers.

Legends of Tomorrow Season 4 Episode 5

As a huge fan of Power Rangers and it’s associated Japanese special effects shows I was hyped for this episode. Meeting Ishiro Honda, the director of the original Godzilla? That’s the perfect fit for Legends of Tomorrow! The Godzilla franchise spawned the kind of loveably goofy shows that compliment Legends perfectly.

So it’s a shame to say this one was a bit of a let down. It’s still fun enough because I’m pretty sure Legends of Tomorrow is incapable of being anything but a joy to watch but it had a lot of unrealized potential. They had such a great premise in using Ishiro Honda but he only gets one really meaty scene to work with. Him recounting the events of Hiroshima was touching to see but it’s implied by the end episode he’s pretty much over it. Dealing with a tragic memory like that should never feel that easy to get over and I wish Legends had been a bit more sensitive to that. 

The rest of the episode is fun, how could anything with a giant octopus monster not be, but it doesn’t tie together. The three plots of Tagumo, Ray/Nora, and all the shenanigans at Thanksgiving/Time Bureau are fine individually but don’t add up to a greater whole. They don’t thematically tie together or have a consistent through line. They’re all just kind of a wacky. That’s okay, but Legends has done such a great job with this in the past it feels lacking here.

The Ray/Nora plot was easily the weakest of the three, with little tension to speak of. I enjoy Nora not wanting to give into the evil side of her but it never seemed like she was going to do anything but help Constantine. Turning herself in was a nice little twist so maybe what this sets up will be worth it in the future.

Nate’s wacky Thanksgiving with Ava in tow was incredibly cute. There’s just something to Nate’s resignation about having an awful thanksgiving that really made me laugh. He’s been through this a million times before, he doesn’t have the energy to get worked up about how bad it is. Ava being along for the ride was a great touch, with her learning more about how real families operate, although we were criminally robbed of hearing the many, many things she was thankful for.

I am delighted Mick’s writing is still a topic the show is interested in and made good use of. If this season of Legends is going to give Mick more depth and expand him beyond the cartoon bulldog of a man he is then I’m all for it. Teaming him up more and more with Zari is also a good move, with her willing to call him on his crap more than most. She’s even sympathetic to him, which none of the other Legends could really pull off, but she’s able to get to the heart he’s buried deep down.

Maybe doing more of a romp fit the campy nature of a large chunk of the Godzilla franchise, but it’s a shame this episode didn’t hit those emotional depths Legends has been excelling at this season. All the elements were there but it chose to lean more into the comedy. That’s okay once in awhile but if that was the case I wish Legends really went for it and wasn’t so disjointed.

Still, we got Mick inspiring Ishiro Honda to make Godzilla. Mick is more of a creative genius then he gives himself credit for! And that Back to the Future reference was so easy but you know what? It was perfect.

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Shamus Kelley is a pop culture/television writer and official Power Rangers expert. Follow him on Twitter! Read more articles by him here!