DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: “Marooned” Review

Time Pirates on the starboard bow.

You’d think a show with a relatively shorter season like Legends of Tomorrow wouldn’t have time for filler episodes, but apparently that’s not the case. Coming on the heels of “Star City 2046,” it was disappointing to see another episode that did nothing to directly advance the conflict with Vandal Savage. Last week’s episode had enough going for it that the lack of progression wasn’t an issue. This episode, not quite so much.

If nothing else, “Marooned” offered another change of pace for the series. The majority of this episode took place in deep space rather than on Earth. The whole thing played very much like an homage to Star Trek, right down to the conflict kicking off after a group of characters board an away shuttle and stumble across trouble. At least the writers weren’t shy about acknowledging their influences. There were plenty of solid Star Trek and Star Wars-related jokes on tap, including the requisite argument about whether Kirk and Picard were the superior captain (answer – Sisko). Even Gideon joined in by quoting C-3PO.

Filler episode or not, what really bugged me about the conflict this week was how much it banked on Rip’s incompetence as a captain. His entire crew recognized the obvious trap waiting for them aboard the derelict ship, and yet he blindly stumbled into said trap as if none of the lessons about trust and teamwork from the past few weeks have sunk in. Rip didn’t even have the good sense to bring in the heavy guns. He left Ray about the Waverider and then ensured that he couldn’t count on Firestorm either by making Professor Stein stay aboard the shuttle. He’s lucky Stein suddenly manifested the ability to be a one-man army of badassery.

Granted, the show is always in a tricky situation when it comes to the more powerful members of the team. There has to be a balance with characters like Atom and Firestorm so that they’re able to showcase their abilities but aren’t allowed to simply steamroll over whatever enemy the team are battling in a given week. But there also has to be a logic to what allies Rip brings along on field missions, otherwise he just comes across as an incompetent leader. Which is certainly what happened this week.

Rory has the right idea here.

For that reason and the simple random nature of the conflict, the time pirates didn’t make for a terribly compelling enemy this week. They allowed for a handful of solid fight scenes, sure, but there was little emotional or dramatic weight to Rip’s latest predicament. Luckily, this episode somewhat made up for that flaw by offering a glimpse into Ray’s past. It was great to see his relationship with his late wife in more detail and gain a better understanding of what motivates the character. Arthur Darvill delivered a very strong performance in his first scene as he obsessively re-watched the hologram message from his family and berated himself for failing to protect them.

This episode was at its best when it focused on the deteriorating relationship between Captain Cold and Heat Wave. Honestly, I wish that element had been the primary focus. This show has elevated both characters to heights they never achieved on The Flash. It’s allowed us to care about their tight-knit relationship all the more, a fact that paid great dividends this week as Snart and Rory finally had their falling out. Both Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell impressed throughout the episode, but nowhere more than in that climactic final showdown. Both actors really channeled that sense of losing the only meaningful friendship they’ve ever had. Early on, the idea that The Flash reunited the leads from Prison Break to play these characters was amusing. But now there’s a sense that maybe there was a deeper goal in mind. If you want to explore the breaking of a brotherly bond, why not hire the two guys who spent several years playing brothers?

“Marooned” ended on a great cliffhanger as Snart seemed to murder Rory in cold blood (pun intended) for the benefit of the team. I don’t for a moment believe Rory is actually dead. Decades of reading superhero comics has taught me that the less is shown in a character’s death scene, the less likely they actually died at all. But it will be interesting to see when and where Snart has stranded him. I wouldn’t be surprised if a vengeful Rory winds up defecting to Vandal Savage’s side and for the shattered bond between Rory and Snart to come back into play at the end of the season.

Unfortunately, this episode also felt the need to continue last week’s unnecessary subplot – the budding romance between Ray and Kendra. Is it too much to ask that Kendra stop moping about the ship and just go back to clobbering villains with her mace? This romance feels forced, particularly with Kendra supposedly still mourning the death of her 3,000-year-old soul mate. The best that can be said for her role this week is that she managed to refrain from reminding anyone she was a barista.