Since the Legends are doing what they generally do, time-hopping from time period to time period, it was only time before they landed in the 80s! The show has always done a great job of portraying the time period they are in with accuracy, while keeping it entertaining. In “Compromised,†this certainly follows that line. Between Damian Darhk’s sleek Miami-Vice inspired clothing to the way the show was presented and accompanied with old school news broadcasts, they definitely did just enough to hit that portrayal, which is something I feel is tough to do. It would be easy to be completely overboard and have a show ape that feel, but the show was definitely still Legends of Tomorrow. It was just now accompanied by the 80s.
Where episodes in the past threw a ton of characters at us, this episode really only introduced one, Obsidian (played by Lance Henriksen). Introducing Obsidian allowed us to see the slight fracture there was between the JSA when Amaya left to pursue Rex Tyler’s killer. Obsidian seems like he could be quite a unique character to have more than a one episode arc, sadly that’s not the case. His introduction was a decent part of the episode, but we never really learned his backstory, nor did we learn anything about his powers. It’s understandable to assume that they didn’t want to bog us down with another character, but he seemed like a pretty crucial part of the JSA that it would have been nice for just a little more. Besides getting just one episode, the character had some pretty sweet powers and was played extremely well by Lance Eriksen.
The main Legends all got ample time continuing their storylines that were launched in the various episodes prior. Sara still has her vendetta against Darhk, and it plays out through the entire episode. Her bloodlust, for him killing her sister, continues to drive Sara to want to finish Darhk once and for all. Of course, her bloodlust has put her and the team in some dire positions, but she finally found out how to deal him a deep blow; tell him what is to come of his future. It really plays to his egotistical nature, as the only thing he can say after this is that Reverse Flash has to help him change his destiny, which really lies with the main problem of her telling him about his future and giving him the ability to alter it.
Younger and current Stein also play a role in the ever questioning of what effect every action has in this universe. Stein has a pretty familiar set of sequences with his younger self that really mirrors that in season 1. Stein has to convince his younger self to pull himself away from his work and to actually focus on his marriage. It would have been an interesting set of scenes for the two, except it was far to similar to season 1’s interactions.
The most interesting subplot of this episode was with Ray and Mick. While the two could not be more dissimilar, they both share in the fact that they have lost something close to them. Mick lost his partner, Leonard Snart, and Ray lost the thing that made him a hero, his Atom Suit. Mick’s insistence that Ray could become a standin for Snart was quite hilarious, but really nailed down that fact that he is hurting deep down inside. We always assume Mick is some brooding tough guy that is affected by nothing, but this episode proves that he is much more than that. As for Ray, he is still searching for a place in the Legends, and strangely, Snart was the one who forced him to realize that each member is as much of a part of the team as another.
