Boldness, humor and lightness. If we had to choose three words to describe this second season of DC's Legends of Tomorrow, we couldn't fall more accurately. After a first season slightly sluggish in its plot and its villain especially, this season 2 comes to raise the level and far surpasses in quality the beginnings of the team.
DC's Legends of Tomorrow is an unclassifiable series among the series of the Arrow-Verse. Bringing together a whole host of supporting roles to propel them into their own show was a tough challenge. The first season suffered some failures it must be admitted, despite a desire on the part of the writers to detach themselves little by little from an established universe to build a new one. After the departures of Hawkgirl, Hawkman and Vandal Savage, a brand new chapter opened for our Legends.
A welcome boldness
What series at the moment can boast of taking viewers in the middle of the Second World War, on the Moon or even in the middle of feudal Japan? Have you ever met in the same season the director Georges Lucas or the writer J.A.A. Tolkien? It is this audacity and freedom of tone specific to the writers of the series that allow these different trips in time. This leads our heroes to make a whole bunch of impromptu encounters, which beyond a history lesson, like the character of Nate (Nick Zano) allow us to dream.
This second season is also there to introduce us to characters in perpetual evolution. While for example Mick Rory (Dominic Purcell) was only one villain among many, he is propelled to the rank of true hero throughout this season. His corrosive humor, naivety and phlegm make him the best character. His interactions with others always give rise to flowery and well-felt dialogue. Evolution is also a question with the character of Sara Lance (Caity Lotz). From assassin she passes to commander of the Waverider in the absence of Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) and proves to be an endearing and indispensable person. At his side, Jax (Franz Damreh) brings his mechanical expertise and his duet with Martin Stein (Victor Garber) is most respectful. The latter also discovers a girl (fruit of a temporal aberration). Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh) in the costume of Atom remains the geek surety of the series even if he is this season accompanied by Nate Heywood, the grandson of Commander Steel. Finally, to complete the picture, Amaya (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) aka Vixen first belongs to the Justice Society of America in 1942 before joining the team.
Finally real villains for this superhero series!
Who says plot necessarily says big bad and it is a real meeting that we attend with the Legion of Doom, consisting of the Reverse Flash Eobard Thawne (Matt Lescher), the ruthless Damian Darhk (Neal McDonough), the archer Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) but also Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller) who joins them at the end of the season. Charismatic and really scary supervillains. Their plan: to find and assemble the Spear of Destiny, the one that pierced Christ in order to change reality. The return of all these characters already seen in the other series makes the fan-service card play the fan-service card and we ask for more! A real threat and real stakes is what could be missing in the first season. The shot is corrected in the best way!
Gaps…
Despite the absence of Rip Hunter for a good part of the season (and with his departure in the finale?) We are dealing with a close-knit team. The different episodes are of good quality, despite some slowness it must be admitted. But producing only 17 episodes also helps move the story faster. The time travel is well mastered and the scenery pretty good. An effort has been made on the side of special effects and this is to be welcomed. A downside? We missed Leonard Snart. He who had become the hero of the first season by sacrificing himself for his friends appeared in a few episodes but his presence alone justifies the viewing. It also allowed the plot to focus on other characters, so that was a bad thing for a good one. Then there was the crossover between the four series of the Arrow-Verse, Invasion! A jubilant and exciting moment!
In conclusion, this second season of DC's Legends of Tomorrow is a success. She perfectly assumes her role apart and assumes her fun and entertaining side. Despite a large number of characters, she knows how to manage them and the team works wonderfully. The different cameos or returns give fans what they expect every week, where The Flash or Arrow can get bogged down, LOT fully assumes. A solid and touching season. To see if the events of the final will have an impact in the other series, because we must admit that dinosaurs in 2017, this is not trivial…
