If people are surprised to see the Legends of Tomorrow so soon after their Season 6 finale, which aired only last month, none are more so than the Legends themselves. After defending Earth from the Zaguron invasion and saving the Fountain of Imperium, the Legends’ plans for a peaceful conclusion was yet again foiled by another Waverider swooping in and destroying their own time-ship.
“The Bullet Blondes” does not answer who was on this other Waverider – an alternate version of the crew perhaps? Or the Legends themselves from the future? – or why it destroyed their ticket out of 1925 Texas, instead focusing on the reality of them being marooned in one point in time. Legends of Tomorrow is known for its time-hopping hijinks, so without a Waverider – or any portable time-couriers to create handy windows like in “The Satanist’s Apprentice” – the group must think on their feet with limited resources. They do not even have a Men in Black neuralyzer to memory wipe the suspicious Odessa locals sniffing around the house of Spooner’s (Lisseth Chavez) mom, Gloria.
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The Time Bureau had a suggestion for time-stranded agents, Ava (Jes Macallan) remembering it was to create an even bigger distraction to swallow up surrounding unexplainable events. Specifically, to “create a [literal] circus.” This left-field logic perfectly fits within Legends of Tomorrow, and Zari (Tala Ashe) jumps at the chance to distract herself with a makeover after the mysterious resurrection of John Constantine (Matt Ryan), tearing apart Gloria’s curtains and sheets to sew together a delightful spectacle. Meanwhile, Nate (Nick Zano) uses his superpower of “being a white man in 1925” to retrieve the Waverider’s indestructible black box from the local sheriff, impersonating famous historical figure J. Edgar Hoover.
But Spooner is rightfully concerned about all these hijinks. She’s well aware that the Legends work through escalation, and that their solutions often involve digging bigger holes around the ones they are currently in. And this time, her mother is at the center of it. Her concerns are validated when the real (future) FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover catches wind of his impersonator, and Astra (Olivia Swann) attempts a “resurrection spell” to piece the Waverider back together. It proves too much for Astra, leaving her bedridden, and the other Legends (garbed in circus gear) have to hide amongst the furniture as Hoover comes to investigate Gloria’s house.
Luckily, the magic key that Constantine left Zari in “The Fungus Amongus” comes back into play, leading the team to a “pocket dimension” of Constantine’s house they can hide out in. Still, this area saves them from Hoover, but gets them no closer to leaving the 1920s. Worse, the black box Nate recovered was empty, Mick Rory (Dominic Purcell) – who left in Season 6’s finale – having taken the spare time-courier for a beer run and never returned it. All that remains inside are some edibles for Behrad (Shayan Sobhian) and an old Time Bureau manual. Ava clings to this textbook, intent on following the rules of time travel and not making an imprint on history, but also spots that the inventor of time travel, Dr. Gwyn Davies, lived in New York City during the 1920s.
Far from decreasing their attention, Sara (Caity Lotz) plans to increase it, albeit away from Gloria’s house. She suggests the Legends ditch their circus act and go on a “crime spree,” becoming bank robbers to draw Hoover away from Texas and simultaneously fund their excursion to New York. Most of them – save for Zari, Astra and Spooner – subsequently become “The Bullet Blondes” in a sequence that reinjects some energy into the first Season 7 episode. Ava and Sara’s sexy and stylish robbery is complimented by classic Legends comedy of Ava requesting the exact amount of money they need (any more might impact the timestream) and Nate arguing with an outside bystander about their gang name.
But that bloodhound Hoover is already on the “Bullet Blondes” trail, blocking them on their route back from the bank. Through a series of mishaps, Hoover ends up with a bullet in his own brain. Ava has been nervous about “small footprints” in history, and now an enormous landfill has opened up through killing a huge historical figure like Hoover. Ava is sent in a fit, but furiously collects herself with an emergency plan to have Gary (Adam Tsekhman) disposes of the evidence by eating Hoover’s body while heading to New York. Her addiction to True Crime podcasts having prepared her for this moment.
Despite being stuck in one time era, Legends of Tomorrow still manages to spread out its cast. Zari remained behind in Constantine’s pocket dimension to collect herself and reassess things out of the limelight. Similarly, Astra needed to recuperate at Gloria’s house, and overcome her insecurity about being less experienced at magic than John was. But Spooner wisely points out that Constantine was unreliable towards the end, and that the team does not need another one of him, but rather Astra’s own version of her best self. As she and Astra both admit they are each other’s best friends, the last of her magic leaks into the Waverider wreckage, and summons the final missing member of the Legends; the A.I. computer Gideon (Amy Louise Pemberton), now in human form.
“The Bullet Blondes” makes it clear what Season 7 of Legends of Tomorrow will not be. It won’t be as episodic or “monster of the week” heavy, sticking to the same time period as the Legends search for a way out, instead of many different settings being infused by magical creatures or resurrected evil spirits or aliens. But it’s also unclear at this stage how the rest of the season will turn out, given the various groundwork that had to be set up this episode.
“The Bullet Blondes” somewhat bounces from one idea to the next, but after the brief “circus” detour, it picks up steam and energy when landing on the 1920s bank robbery. Plus, it’s clear the cast have their chemistry and tone easily sorted out, able to quickly switch between goofy comedy and sincere emotional support for one another. The Legends latest mishap may see them scrambling from one plan to the next, breaking the pre-set rules along the way, but “screwing things up for the better” is just what they do best.
Legends of Tomorrow airs on Wednesdays on the CW.
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