DC'S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW - Season 4.2

REVIEW:  DC'S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW - SEASON 4, EP. 2:  "Witch Hunt"

The new adventures of our time travelling gang are just getting started---and more fun!  This week saw the team travel to Salem, Massachusettes of 1692---sight of the Salem Witch Trials, where they have to track down their newest magical beast to battle and vanquish....well...."beast" wouldn't quite be the term I'd use for THIS particular episode.  But It DID provide us with a lesson learned, like in the old Fat Albert cartoons...lots of laughs and fun, but if you aren't careful, you may learn something when you're done.

Ray has created a new system to track the magical beasts and anomalies causing havoc in time, and just as it's up and running, they get a hit:  Salem 1692.  Off they travel to prevent whatever magical beast is messing up history.  Meanwhile, Nate is back in 2018, having dinner with his Dad, Hank...trying to reconcile their relationship.  Doesn't go well when he balks about what he does when asked by dear old Dad....and having all his credit cards rejected because he's broke.  He winds up shacking up at the Time Bureau as Ava catches him wandering around in his robe.  She's concerned about the budget cuts, because she feels the Bureau might be cut period.  Nate says he'd help handle the situation (since, after all, his old man is the one doing the budget cutting).  He said he'd smooth things over.

Jane Hawthorne is the woman accused of witchcraft as the team lands in Salem.  And she's pulled away from her daughter Prudence (okay...a CW show with an episode about witches, with a character named "Prue" in it----sound familiar?!), and put in jail---facing a trial and eventual hanging.  The team then witnesses a flock of crows flying down and attacking the citizens.  They eventually get called off, and Prue wanders off into the forest, where the team meets up with her.  Constantine (who was reluctant to joint the crew, but finally decides "what the hell...they'll be useless without me"), shows up to cast a spell on Prue to find out what powers she has---turns out the magical "beast" they're looking for is----a Fairy Godmother.  

Nate, Ava, and Gary try to woo Hank into giving them the budget to continue with the Time Bureau, but haven't been able to get through to him.  Gary spills the beans about the Legends' success in stopping Mallus, but informing Hank of the magical beasts that have been released into the time stream.  Hank isn't buying it, and he shuts the Bureau down.  Ava goes to Nate to try and convince his Dad, and he says he has a plan.  Prove to his Dad that magic exists.

Back in 1692, the Fairy Godmother explains why she's there---to protect Prue.  She then starts breaking out into song (I thought I was watching a Disney movie, I swear.  I was wondering when the rest of the cast was going to break out into song as well).  Either way, Prue gets stowed on board the Waverider, while they try and find a way to vanquish the Godmother.  Noting that they can't alter history, Sara informs Zari that they can't save the June, because it would alter time.  Zari can't stand around and see Prue's mother get murdered, feeling that the prejudice has to stop somehow.  And if she saves Prue's Mom...as she promised...the world would be a better place.  

Zari, of course, can't stay out of it and let history run its course.  She goes to free June, but June has accepted her fate.  She tells Zari that she will forgive her accusers, because that is the only way to win.  Zari asks about Prue having to suffer, growing up without her mother, and June says that Prue is strong and she'll get through it.  If June fights, then what example does that set for her daughter?  The cycle has to end, and June feels this is the only way to do it.  Zari won't buy into it, saying that she can save her, and they must go as the guards approach.  Zari leaves but returns to June's trail, and, sure enough, interferes using her amulet powers to cause trouble.  She's then captured by the citizens, and they are sentenced to burn at the stake.

Sara sees Zari's in trouble, and she goes to rescue her.  As that is happening, dear Fairy Godmother gets on board the Waverider to free Prue, but John is there to try and stop her, revealing her TRUE intentions---to send these little bastards to hell for their wrongdoings by latching onto someone itching for revenge---Prue.  She manages to make John's mouth disappear, turn Mick and Ray into pigs, and grab Prue, where she intends to burn the town and the people down.  The Legends manage to get to Prue and it's Zari herself that convinces her that she's better than this...and Prue released the Godmother, and the day is saved, without harm to the timeline.  Later on, we see John try and work a deal with the Godmother to see if she'd help him in his quest against this unseen evil he's dealing with---she flat out refuses, and says she'd rather rot in Hell before she helped him...so, he obliges her.

While the rest of the team was out saving the day, Nate proved to his Dad that magic DOES exist by bringing back Ray as a pig.  At first nothing happened, but as the Godmother was defeated, her spells were reversed, and Ray returned to normal, although naked, in front of Hank....Nate also decided to come clean about being a super hero by showing off his powers.  Ava is approved the 4.2 million budget, and Hank finally sees the good work Nate is doing.  The end sees Ava offering Nate a chance to do some real work at the Bureau, and he takes her up on the offer when he decides to stick around when Ray is about to head back to the Waverider.

Zari and Sara have a heart to heart, as Zari learns that she can't save her mother from being killed, as much as it killed her to see herself and her Mom when she was younger from last episode.  Sara reminds her that she has those thoughts as well (referring to both Laurel and Quentin).  But if Zari needs to talk, she's there.  


Overall...this episode had it's usual amount of camp and slapstick, with the Fairy Godmother a GREAT choice for the "villain" of the week.  The breakout in song was just classic, and it was only hampered by the fact we didn't get a full musical number WITH the Legends themselves (Mick singing and dancing would've made me lose it).  It also had a touch of drama, as we got to see Zari see another child's mother about to be taken from her.  In her vain efforts to save June for Prue, Zari's own disillusions with the people of Salem were reminiscent of her own ordeal in the future with her own Mother.  But June's strength and stance allowed Zari to see that her own mother instilled in her the will to go on and be a force of change for the better.  It gives more depth to Zari, and allows her to grow, and gives her a renewed sense of purpose.  I think she will come to see Sara as something of a big sister, since they are kindered spirits in a way.

Nate's new direction is an interesting one.  Less super heroics, and more in helping the Time Bureau sort things out.  It also give him a chance to reconnect with his family, which was sorely needed for him to shed some weight of stress and anguish on his part.  I look to see the interactions with his father in the future to be fairly heartwarming, if not somewhat comical if Nate's powers and interaction with the Legends comes into play.  As a character, Nate was being less used anyway, and this will give that character a new direction, plus, it doesn't require him to be in the background doing nothing....as he'd pretty much done in the last episode.  Gary is still the perfect comic relief, and Ava gets to be a little lighthearted herself, which will be a good balance for her relationship with the often more serious Sara.  Although, Sara has lightened up more this season, and seeing Caity Lotz exercise her comic chops is a hoot.  

The cast has such great chemistry and synergy, and I love the fact that the show is becoming more of a wink and a nod to the audience, not taking everything too dramatic and serious, and just having some good old fashioned comic book fun with itself.  It's a good amalgamation between the seriousness and dark nature of Arrow, while embracing the more lighter portions of The Flash and Supergirl.  It allows them to be incredibly more outlandish, and isn't strict about adhering to too much grounded reality.  Of all the current DC shows, it's the one that's the free spirit, where the rules are looser.  I'm enjoying this season immensely, and look forward to the other surprises they have in store for us down the road.

As always, feel free to leave a comment.  I love hearing from you all and your ideas.  They make this all worth it!  

As always....Same time, next week.