By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)
Just when I thought DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is to air on Thursday, I realized today that it aired yesterday. I glad my PVR is on autopilot. Now that intro is said and done, I’m loving the latest episode, “Raiders of the Lost Art.”
George Lucas (nicely played by Matt Angel) is pivotal to this episode. When I first saw the episode title, I wondered if it would play and riff on another fond episode, Magnum P.I. “Legend of the Lost Art.” Fortunately, it was not. This Legends episode has its own charm by showing how much an impact this filmmaker had on Ray Palmer and Nate Heywood. They would not be who they are without Lucas. This episode is a love letter to this filmmaking genius and contained plenty of moments to inspire him to make those memorable moments in A New Hope.
As most fans can attest, Star Wars and Indiana Jones were huge influences to many a geek, A bit of reference is made to Hamlet and I had to chuckle at Howard the Duck. Well, if Lea Thompson is in the film, I’ll see it. When this series does not take itself too seriously and has the two nerds being goofy, the episodes shine.
The backstory does have me curious. Rip Hunter was lost in time and he purposely did so in order to protect an important archaeological treasure. The Spear of Destiny is going to play an important role in the last half of season two and just why The Legion of Doom wants it so bad is to rewrite history. Unlike how it was used in the comics, where it granted the wielder the ability of mind-control in a massive scale, just what other uses this relic has remains to be seen. Rip Hunter possesses a fragment and I hate to think of what it can do if fully assembled.
As for how this weapon will bring Damien Darhk back as a threat in the Arrowverse will have me glued. Will his personal future be changed? Probably not. Thawne is the leader of the Legion of Doom and he has not revealed all his plans to his cohorts in crime. The next episode will see a fully realized villainous team, as three villains are not enough. Gorilla Grodd will come into play at some point. And if the writing team is borrowing slightly from the comics, the Justice Society of America will make a comeback and somehow the Grail Quest will factor into the story. The cup that contained the blood of Christ spilt by the Spear of Destiny might prove to undo what has been altered. Because magic has not been explored in this series much, I’m guessing the writers will be sticking to scientific explanations to how all of the tech works. Whoever holds this chalice might hold the answers to how the Lazarus Pit works too.
It’s a shame since hints have been made in the past to characters like Doctor Fate and John Constantine appearing. Just when they will enter the fray may not be until the finale (or next season’s story arc).
