DC'S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW - Season 4.3

REVIEW:  DC'S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW - SEASON 4, EP. 3: "Dancing Queen"

I will say this about our Waverider Gang---they are NEVER at a loss for giving us a little action, a little drama, and A LOT of humor!  I love that this show just tosses the rulebook out the window, and just has fun with itself.  Don't get me wrong---there's a couple of plot lines we're seeing fleshed out this season, but for the most part, this show is a raucous romp, and just a good time.  This week's installment was no different.  After a killer unicorn, and a disgruntled Fairy Godmother---what could they throw at us next?

We go to one of my favorite times in history---1977.  The height of the Punk Rock Movement in both America and the UK (where this tale takes place).  We see the Queen hopping around a punk rock club dancing to the Sex Pistols' Anarchy In The UK, (which, I have to say---to set the stage for this week's episode---I thoroughly enjoyed!), throwing about the Crown like it was a balloon or something, and she's getting smashed.  The Legends see the magic anomaly through the headlines in the British papers, and know they have to find the magic voodoo behind it.  There seems to be a punk band behind the mischief:  a band called The Smells.  Constantine points out one of the band members to be a leprechaun, and off they go...as the more rebellious members of the team:  Sara, John, Mick and Zari find joy in this mission, poor Ray---Mr. "Straight as an arrow", is there to be the getaway driver juuuust in case things go south---and they do...by their own hands.  

In the club where the Smells are playing a set (seriously...with the musical numbers we're getting the past two episodes...just make a damn musical themed show already!), Mick and John get into a scuffle about who is and isn't rebellious.  Mick thinks anyone with a tie and a button down shirt can't be trusted, and John feels Mick is just a joke, get right down to brawling, and--in turn---cause a full blown club riot.  The band, wanting NO PART in it, escape out the back only to bump right into Ray in the van.  They pile in, and Ray takes off with them.  They wind up back in their little hidey-hole, where Ray tries to "get in" with them by calling himself "Rage" because he HATES disco music, (though, mind you, while the wails of Punk were emanating from the club, Ray's got freakin' DISCO playing from the radio---and he's groovin' to it!).  The team then let's Ray know he's now undercover and running point on this gig.  He ends up befriending the female member of the group, Charlie.  But Ray's gotta go through initiation to be a part of the gang.  That means that he has to help them pull off their next prank:  stealing one of the royal dogs from the Queen.  

Knowing Ray isn't exactly the thieving type, Sara helps him out by intimidating the dog walker AFTER disposing of the Queen's guards.  The walker then just has Ray take one of the little porgis, and off he goes, when the guards give chase.  He succeeds in his mission, and gets a tattoo for his efforts, thus becoming one of the gang, (and Zari, when finding out about this, was hoping it was a Tramp Stamp...comedy, I tell ya!).  Ray then talks to Charlie to find out why and how they do what they do, when he discovers she's a shapeshifter.  She's not necessarily evil, just hates to see the little guy suffer.  Their next caper is to make off with the Queen's jewels.  At this point, the team knows they need to stop her.  Ray, who's convinced she isn't as bad as they're making her out to be, gets exposed when they discover the disco music in the van (oops!).  Charlie sticks by him, though.  And he lets her know that his friends will come after her to stop her.  He then shows her his Atom suit.  

We then see Ray attack the team, trying to help Charlie, when we suddenly find Ray stumbling from behind some curtains, and realize that Charlie knocked him out, and stole his suit, and she's impersonating him, trying to escape.  He manages to get the suit to stop functioning with a command, and Charlie is busted.  Constantine is ready to send her to the depths of Hell, when Ray intervenes on her behalf.  She shapeshifts into different members of the team to convince them she's not horrible...just wants to fight the system.  She then shapeshifts into the one member of the team that's one---Maya.  It's then that Sarah puts a halt to the attack, and Constantine goes up to her and strips her of her powers.  They then take her to the Waverider, where she's put in containment until they know what to do with her.  Ray is in trouble, but not just for sticking up for Charlie.  Because he finally confessed to being the one who let Nora Dhark out of prison...because he believes she CAN be a better person.  Sara realizes that Ray IS a bit rebellious in his own right, and tells him he BETTER be right about Nora.  They then head back to the Time Bureau, where Sara tries to enlist the aid of Nate in figuring out what to do with Charlie.  Nate also confesses that the reason he wanted to stay at the Time Bureau is that the Waverider reminded him too much of Maya.  As Sara hears this, she realizes it's a bad idea for Nate to come back with her at this time, knowing Charlie has taken on Maya's form and is now stuck in it, thanks to John's spell.  

Speaking of Nate---his time at the Bureau has been anything but exciting.  In talking to Gary and Ava, he realizes how by-the-book they are, and that they do A LOT of nothing but paperwork....loooots and looooots of paperwork.  Quite the contrast from his hero days aboard the Waverider.  Gary himself tries to get Nate to see the "fun" side of the Bureau (Taco Mondays?!  Blasphemy!), and seems to have been smitten with the lunch lady.  They find out there's an anomaly out there, and Nate urges Gary to go with him to investigate.  They travel to a forest where upon they spot a sabretoothed tiger.  They manged to escape back to the Bureau to avoid being attacked.  Just as a side note---I KNOW these shows only have so much in a budget for special effects---and for the most part---they do pretty damn well.  But this tiger Nate and Gary stumbled upon---looked WAAAAY too fake and WAAAY to cheesy.  But I digress.  Anyway, they managed to resolve said problem, and to celebrate, Gary gets Nate a plant for his desk.  Now, the plant looks VERY familiar.  And when they grab lunch from the lunch lady again (who, sadly has to get the Men In Black zap treatment when she starts giving ideas about how to fix daylight savings time), the plant starts macking down on Gary's sandwich, and Nate notices.  The plant then goes all Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors, takes off out of the plant bowl, and bolts.  Nate and Gary give chase, and we later see them, covered in plant goo, hi-fiving for a job well done, though the office is a mess, what with plant goo all over the place.  Gary feels more like a member of the team, and Ava shows up, curious as to WHY the office is a disaster area.  Sara, having come back to try and get Nate back aboard the Waverider (as mentioned above), ends up providing distraction for Ava, by wisking her away for some girlfriend time.

The real serious aspect of this episode lies with John Constantine himself.  He's been wrestling with his own private demons (literal AND figurative), and made off for the bar where he sees his mother.  He never got to know her, because she died in childbirth---something his father never let him forget about.  This gave John a TON of animosity towards his old man, and as Zari catches up to him, we see his mom chatting with his dad.  John, harboring hate for his pops, goes to give the man his own mastectomy, only to realize he can't do it.  Apparently, the time paradox won't allow him to destroy himself.  However, didn't stop him from giving his father a good old right cross across the jaw.  Zari...who is able to sympathize with John's frustrations, having dealt with that in last week's episode, DID manage to give John a gift for his troubles....a picture of him and his Mom chatting before she sat down to talk to him, and before he laid out his old man.  

Once more, Legends gives us another entertaining episode that gives us some more depth to our heroes, but also doesn't bog down in too much seriousness.  John's story is obviously the heavy handed one, and we'll see what his internal struggles will do to the team as we progress through this season.  The fact that Zari was the one who came to chat with him and explain her own situation about her family, allowed the two to bond, which was nice.  This episode allowed us to see Ray handle some difficult situations with not only his usual humorous aplomb, but showed just how much the heart of the group he is.  Despite his bumbling good nature and overall goofiness---it plays well off the other members of the team, and when the situation calls for it---he shows he can hold his own, and be the voice of reason.  I like how much Sara has lightened up....it's been good too see.  Despite having such demons of her own to deal with, she's seemed to have found a balance.  Ava certainly helps, but it's like Sara has come out of her shell.  It's good for the team.  She can lead and kick ass with strength and conviction---but shows she has a heart, too.  

I swear...I don't think I've seen an episode in the last year and a half (if not longer), where at least ONCE in the show, Mick isn't sucking down a long neck.  It's got to be like Linus and his blanket from Peanuts.  It so totally fits with his character.  As much as we enjoy the goofball antics of Ray and Nate---Mick holds his own in the comic relief department.  As for Nate...he's still got his own humorous side...and now he has a new sidekick in Gary to get into more mischief with.  Will be interesting to see how well THAT dynamic continues to grow.  Lastly---it was probably for the best that Nate stayed behind---not sure how he'd take seeing Charlie morphed as Maya at this moment---especially when he's still trying to get over her.  Felt it was a good call for Sara to backpedal on that.  How Charlie will fit into the rest of this season will be interesting...unless they dump her off somewhere quickly.  

The other thing I just love about this show is not being afraid to go with the corny jokes (which, of all people, Sara was notorious this episode for), or the fun pop culture references.  It's just made this show so much fun to watch.  I laughed pretty much through the whole thing---it's like a comic book version of a Marx Brothers movie...one liners, sticky situations, and TONS of slapstick.  They're telling a story, and there WILL be some high drama coming soon, no doubt, but boy they aren't afraid to go tongue-and-cheek with this show.  One other thing....DAMN if Zari and Sara didn't look totally hot dressed up like punk rockers....gave me a drool moment lol!

Once again, immensely enjoyed the show, and can't wait to see what trouble awaits them this next week.  They've done such a fantastic job of giving us a theme to work off of each show.  STILL won't rest until they give us a musical, lol.  And hey---maybe they'll give us a John Hughes 80's teen like adventure---I'd be all down for that---wouldn't you?

Okay, kids---that's all I have for this week.  Love to hear from ya, so don't be afraid to drop a comment on me---I'd be eternally grateful.

Same time, next week....