“Legends of Today”

The Flash kicks off the second annual two night crossover event with a story that introduces us to Vandal Savage (Casper Crump), Hawkman (Falk Hentschel) and Hawkgirl while still finding time to progress the lingering season arc.

Kendra is the catalyst for bringing the two teams together as she is targeted by Vandal Savage while on a date with Cisco. After a brief fight Barry concludes that his powers are more mystical than scientific which is completely out of his wheelhouse so he decides that enlisting Oliver and his team to help out is the best plan as they have experience with the mystical side of things. How Barry reaches that conclusion after seeing Savage throw some knives is beyond me but I appreciate the commitment to get the plot moving without dwelling too much on giving reasons for Barry to ask Oliver to help.

Once the two teams are together the plot really begins and it’s a lot of fun while it happens. There are a good amount of scenes of the characters simply interacting and bouncing off each other. This was great to watch as the actors all work really well together so it’s good to see them celebrate the universe they have built by simply having some fun. Diggle’s reaction to seeing Barry’s powers is always amusing.

There appears to be some tension between Barry and Oliver this time out. It isn’t to the level that they are going to be in direct conflict but I think it’s a result of Barry’s increasing confidence as he settles into a leadership role. He has gained more experience and doesn’t idolise Oliver as much as he used to so the dynamic between them has changed. Part of it has to do with Oliver’s personality shift as well. He’s a much lighter character who has found renewed purpose so his relationship with Barry will have changed as a result.

Cisco was an important part of the episode as his relationship with Kendra is what kicks this whole thing off. He has a lot to deal with in finding out about Kendra’s origins. They haven’t spent much time together but there’s a sense that he really cares about her and all of this is going to make continuing a relationship with her problematic. The standout comedy moment of the episode was his conversation with Thea about hair but he had great banter with all of Team Arrow. Cisco could easily move over to Arrow and fit right in.

It’s interesting that the side of the crossover story on The Flash felt more like an Arrow story with most of the action being set in Star City using more of the Arrow characters. It appears that the second part will be mostly set in Central City which will flip the Arrow side of the crossover to feel more like an episode of The Flash. I like that the two shows are connected enough to make these transitions feel natural and the general structure is more like a live action crossover comic than I’ve ever seen on television. Of course the main purpose of this story is to set up Legends of Tomorrow but it doesn’t feel at all forced in this instance as the characters all contribute in meaningful ways.

The mythology of Hawkman and Hawkgirl was really clearly explained when Hawkman shows up to encourage Kendra to “emerge”. he introduces himself as Prince Khufu though the name Carter Hall was mentioned. It is made clear that Hawkman has basically cast off that name as he knows who he really is and has embraced that. He is adamant that Kendra does the same by accepting her true identity as his soulmate Shiera. The DC TV universe is going with the Golden Age versions of these characters which is as good a backstory to go as any. With the mystical storytelling playing out in Arrow this season it fits with what this universe is trying to establish. Tying their reincarnation story to Vandal Savage is a good idea as well as it keeps the large stakes firmly connected to the characters involved. This does feel like a natural opportunity to have John Constantine on board since this would definitely be his area of expertise but I guess we can only have so much awesome in one story.

Kendra/Shiera goes through the arc that you might expect when having all this information dumped on you at once. At first she is overwhelmed by meeting the Flash and Green Arrow then has her mind blown by the appearance of Hawkman and the explanation of her true origins. It’s a lot to take in and Ciara Renée puts that across well. The hints at her true nature are always there as she conducts herself bravely throughout. I loved the scene where she discovered her wings and flew for the first time. It looked great and the music was awesome.

Hawkman doesn’t have much to do beyond spewing exposition. It’s information that needs to be put across but it could have been handled better than him being chained up and explaining things. He and Kendra don’t really have much in the way of chemistry but I suppose that’s the point since she is only starting to come to terms with her identity. I think he will have more to do in the second part of the story.

Vandal Savage is pretty engaging as a villain so far but suffers from a lack of screen time. His introduction coming off the freighter was really cool but him randomly showing up to be quickly thwarted doesn’t help his case as an engaging villain. This only serves as an introduction for the character so I’ll cut it some slack for now. He’s certainly mysterious enough to remain interesting for now and stacks up pretty well against the other immortal villains that have been introduced.

Caitlin and Harry move along the story that has been building up all season. Harry is working on a serum to enhance Barry’s speed and enlists Caitlin to help him develop it. Jay returns to voice his concerns over the serum but Harry persistently insists that more drastic action needs to be taken to take on Zoom. He comes from a point of view of science where Jay comes from the perspective of being chosen to be the Flash. I’m surprised that Jay is more unwilling to try it given that he is a scientist. I think it would have worked better had he simply disagreed with letting Harry experiment on him. Jay’s role in this season has been pretty underwhelming considering how often he has been missing. It was cool to see him with limited powers for a little while so hopefully this will expand later. It’ll be interesting to see how Barry reacts to having this resource at his disposal.

Patty is getting to the point where people need to start being honest with her. She has discovered that Harry exists and that Joe is somehow involved. The only way out of this is being told some version of the truth as she is too smart to be fobbed off with another simple excuse. Her relationship with Barry is lacking enough in angst that there’s still time to prevent it from going down that irritating road.

It seems to be a trend in the crossovers for Oliver to come across the child he never knew he had. The sampling is only two but it happens at the end of this episode again. Oliver clearly knows that this is his child but it remains to be seen what will be done about it -if anything- in the second part. It feels more like something that should be dealt with on Arrow since it’s a problem specific to Oliver Queen.

Another issue I had is with the notion of secret identities. Cisco instantly referred to Barry by name when he saves him as the Flash and the next scene has Kendra in S.T.A.R. Labs while Barry is out of costume. No mention is made of the fact that Cisco casually compromised Barry’s identity. This is only compounded by the fact that Oliver lets Kendra into the Quiver -I’m going to call their HQ that from now on- without knowing her at all. Both characters are established to be far more cautious than that so it doesn’t make sense for this not to be mentioned.

The issues I had were very minor issue in an episode that was otherwise excellent. This feels like the first part of a two part story so this does most of the setup for what will hopefully be an all action conclusion. I’m looking forward to seeing the next part.