The midseason finale for Legends of Tomorrow takes us to one of the most unique places in American history, the prohibition era, 1927 Chicago to be exact. While the show usually does a fantastic job of taking us to unique locations each episode, they really nailed it in this episode.
The aberration in this episode is spawned by none other than the recently revealed Legion of Doom: Malcolm Merlyn, Eobard Thawne and Damien Darhk. They tipped off Al Capone that Elliott Ness was about to roll his place and find the ledgers to put him away for tax evasion. No matter your thoughts on Legends of Tomorrow, the way they wove the Legion of Doom within the storyline was solid. The way the unlikely trio plays off one another allows for some strong characterization amongst the group; although, there is that sneaking feeling that each of them is solely in it for themselves, especially Malcolm Merlyn.
Merlyn really does seem like a wildcard, with this group, especially considering Darhk is pretty close to all powerful, but his history with Sara provides way too many great moments for him not to be apart of this villainous team. He finally reveals to her that he was the one that sank the Queen’s Gambit after Sara refuses to hand over the relic.
The entire episode featured a nice mixture of the typical hilarity we are accustomed to seeing in the universe, but it also featured some tense moments with characters that don’t usually get that much exposition, namely Mick.
Weaving through this episode, Mick keeps seeing hallucinations of his long lost friend Leonard Snart. The Snart he sees is his old cynical self, but he has an air of negativity about him. Before he sacrificed himself to save the team, he started to turn over a new leaf of sorts; he really started to come around to the importance of being part of the team all the while keeping him and Mick first. But now, Mick’s hallucination is always talking about getting out, and getting out now. Surprisingly, Mick is going against this idea, and later in the episodes forges stronger bonds with Amaya.
Since Mick was having a rough go of it and trying to drink his visions away, he sat out in one of the eras that was perfect for him. It was a bit sad missing out on some guaranteed hilarity, but it was nice to delve into the emotional side of Mick. We surely did get more of the grunting and broodiness that Mick always have to offer, but we also were given a deeper look into his psyche. The idea that Mick and Amaya are able to forge such a bond makes complete sense considering they both have taken on that outcast role. Amaya was never really part of the Legends, and Mick is the only true criminal of the team. The illegal booze that that Amaya snatched while chasing down Capone for Mick certainly doesn’t hurt either.
