Legends of Tomorrow Season 1 Episode 13 Review: “Leviathan”

Check out Our Review [WITH SPOILERS] of Legends of Tomorrow Season 1 Episode 13: “Leviathan.”

Remember when Arrow first premiered and it was clear that CW and DC was doing a ‘Nolan-esque’ real world take on the legend of Green Arrow? Remember the rule of no powers and very few costumes? Imagine, that this all evolved into the spectacle gifted to fans on this week’s DC’s Legends of Tomorrow as a group of costumed superheroes (and villains) time traveled in their spaceship to take on a futuristic despot and his army in addition to the despot’s really big robot. Is that enough genre tropes for you? Oh, how things have changed.

This week, Rip Hunter’s Legends take the fight to the future and try to assassinate Vandal Savage just days before Savage murders Rip’s family. Hawkgirl gets her iconic magic mace as she and the rest of the Legends race to get to Savage before it’s too late.

The main theme of the episode is fate. We learn that Hunter has tried to save his family many times by going to this same timeline in order to save his loved ones, only to watch them die again and again. Rip proves his heroism by refusing to give in to time’s whims and tries one more time with his friends by his side. This time though, Hunter has some wildcards in the form of Len Snart and Mick Rory. Sometimes it takes bad to beat bad, and the two rogues kidnap Savage’s daughter Cassandra. Recognizing a child of an abusive father, Cold begins to give Cassandra a sympathetic ear and prove to her that her father is a monster. Ironically, it is the liar that gifts a broken woman the truth and gains the Legends a valuable ally.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter how many children of Savage make the face turn as the time despot unleashes a giant honkin’ robot to take out the Legends. We’re talking big. And yeah, the special effects on the robot? Not awesome, but it still really nails that early 80s Doctor Who aesthetic that Legends does so well. To combat this robot, Ray Palmer does a power-reversal and gets big – very big – to indulge in a Kaiju slugfest for the ages. Wonky SFX aside, this is a comic book come to life. One very cool addition to this battle was Jax. The young man who makes up half of Firestorm coached Ray through the fight. It is usually Jax who has a mentor in his head when he is Firestorm, but this week, Martin Stein is injured, so Jax plays that Stein role for Ray. Some nice, flipped parallel continuity there.

Atom wins his battle against the bot, Hunter wins his battle against fate, Snart wins his battle and gains an ally, but it is Hawkgirl’s battle that truly matters because now that she has her iconic mace, she can destroy Savage once and for all. And she almost does too, until one of Savage’s soldiers unmasks and reveals a resurrected Carter Hall. Now, Hawkgirl must choose whether to end Savage or let him live so he can help return Carter’s memories. Hawkgirl chooses love and Savage is taken captive. This can only mean bad things for the Legends, especially Ray who now has to compete romantically with the man his lady has loved for 4000 years.

A loaded episode and a celebration of many genres as DC’s Legends of Tomorrow stretches its budget to the breaking point.