Legends of Tomorrow was often criticized for being too serious last season, especially considering its comical cast of characters, and they did change to be a bit more light-hearted this season. Having said that, they are certainly not shy of tipping their toes into serious subject matter, and in “Abominations,†they went all the way.
“Abominations†focuses on two subjects that often dominate America’s narratives in various instances: Zombies and racism. While the promotional material would lead one to believe that this was going to be a campy Zombie episode (cue The Walking Dead), it actually dove into the impact that zombies would have on aspects of the Civil War. No doubt, they did have quite comical scenes involving the undead; the meat of the episode involved some heavy topics.
The entire zombie outbreak began with an infected time pirate crash landing in Mississippi in 1863, just what that era needed, a zombie outbreak. Most noteworthy, obviously, is how Jackson is going to cope with such vitriol that is sure to come his way. There are a few scenes where Martin Stein attempts to explain to him that the hate he will see is like nothing he’s ever seen before, but Jackson was so adamant that he has seen it all.
The entire reason that Amaya and Jackson are even Mississippi and not stuck on the ship is because an agent of the Union troops was sent to steal papers that would reveal the Confederate’s movements. The best way to get the information was to fit in as the “help.â€
The showrunners did a great job in expressing the dire situation the country was in at the time.  There’s a scene where Jackson brushed against a white woman, and one of the slave owners took him to the basement to teach him a “lesson.†The thing that he didn’t realize is that the lesson he was going to teach him had the chance to change the entire course of history. When Jackson was in the basement, he met other slaves and found that, while they are treated as you would expect in that era, he saw that they all possessed one thing… hope. Even though he didn’t allow Amaya to save the woman who was getting whipped earlier, he vowed that this is the real aberration.
Elsewhere in Mississippi, we get some interesting scenes with Nate and Sara having to convince Ulysses S. Grant that there’s a hoard of zombies coming. Considering the word “zombie†didn’t even exist at the time, Sara proves it to him by bringing a living (dead?) zombie head. The team realizes that if they aren’t able to stop the zombie outbreak, then the Confederates would win the Civil War and, it’s safe to say, the entire country would be a shell of its current self. The best moment, however, isn’t when Nate takes a flare and ignites the nitroglycerin after zombies do pile on him, but when Ulysses S. Grant give Sara tips about being a leader. The moment is so calm amongst all the chaos, and it is awesome to see Sara learning to become an actual leader.
The last plotline was with Ray, Martin Stein and a Zombified Mick. Of course, during the first fight with the zombies, Mick was bitten and Ray’s cure didn’t exactly work. Finding out that, of all people, Stein is deathly afraid of anything related to zombies but, his fear of zombies channels two important aspects of both Ray and Stein himself.
Throughout this episode, Ray was trying to find absolutely any way to be a crucial part of the team. After having to let his suit be destroyed in the episode prior, he feels like the missing link. He has essentially given himself the duty of doing anything to prove his worth. In this episode, he is able to console Martin Stein and help him to overcome his fear, for the most part anyway.
Mick’s zombification really fits perfectly with his brooding nature, and it was quite hilarious seeing him going after the two. While he was a zombie for a large part of the episode, we actually do get a sentimental moment where he reinvigorates the spirits of one of the Legends.
Ray completely opened up to Mick about his perceived uselessness and Mick has the perfect answer. He says that he needs a partner and gives him Snart’s cold gun. Could we really be seeing a team-up of the most opposite Legends?
