Netflix Review: Legends of Tomorrow

I’ve been doing brainless data entry-type things this week. Until today . . . Today the cooking madness begins, but before that, it was nothing but mind-numbingly dull BLAH.

So did I?

a. fall asleep with my eyes open?

b. repeatedly bash my head into my keyboard?

c. multitask and inhale season one of Legends of Tomorrow in its entirety, immediately followed by the six episodes of season two that had aired?

*whispers* Legends of Tomorrow . . .

Admittedly, the first two options were near misses, but that was b/c it didn’t occur to me until halfway through the first day that—EUREKA!—I could Netflix binge and do the various things that needed doing at the same time.

And HOORAY for that, b/c Legends of Tomorrow was frickin’ awesome.

So awesome that it’s probably my new favorite show, which is surprising, b/c I didn’t like several of the key players in their previous roles on other DC series.

Like Captain Cold, who annoyed the crap out of me with his mustache-twirly, OTT Bad Guy voice in The Flash.

But in LoT, he gained depth.

The reasons behind his villainy were slowly but steadily revealed, most of the time, under the guise of indulging old habits. It was a roller coaster, but only b/c I’d started to care, rather than merely tolerate.

By the time I was caught up, he was a definite favorite.

I had more serious issues with (Black)White Canary:

I hated her on principle in Arrow, b/c View Spoiler »hooked up with her SISTER’s boyfriend. « Hide Spoiler

And NO, I don’t care how much torment and heartbreak she suffered as a result of that decision. Cheating is my #1 RAGE button, but what she did . . . ughhhhhhh.

But again, in LoT, I loved her.

The distance from the other involved parties allowed me to appreciate her for who she was outside of her previous poor life choices.

Then there’s The Atom, whom I’ve loved since he was in that single Superman movie back in the day, and who is so adorable as Ray Palmer that I’m grinning like an idiot just thinking about him.

BUT.

He never seems to get the girl which baffles and annoys the hell out of me. *frowns and squints*

Whatever. He’s my first pick. Over Oliver Queen, Barry Allen, hell, I’d take him over Batman. And #ilovebatman

Martin Stein was another character I had an established affinity for, though I’ll admit a lot of that was based on prior love for Victor Garber (b/c Alias), and early in the season, that love was tested . . .

Stein could be . . . condescending and elitist, which was negative fun, but he was a work in progress, and I thought his character development was expertly handled.

Those are the characters I had already developed opinions about when I started LoT. The rest of them were either new or hadn’t been enough of a presence elsewhere to make an impact.

Rip Hunter was new.

He’s also probably my least favorite person on the show. I don’t want to go into too much detail, b/c I don’t want to spoil anything, but suffice it to say that I found him to be . . . consistently shady.

Firestorm wasn’t new, but he was only briefly on The Flash, and unlike the other half of his superhero self (Stein), I didn’t have an existing affection for him.

And I still don’t. He’s a distant second to Rip Hunter, but distant or not, that makes him my next-to-least-favorite legend.

He was just . . . tedious.

Yes, I thought it was obnoxious for Stein to roofie him into the initial mission, but I thought the necessity was more obnoxious. And he’s the character who struggles with confidence, which is also irritating.

I don’t actively dislike him, but I don’t like him either.

Then there’s Hawkman and Hawkgirl:

Honestly, I don’t like them much more than Firestorm, but as the death-is-impermanent aspect of their existence aggravates me on a cellular level (b/c once you’re dead, you’re DEAD), I recognize my bias.

Also, it’s cruel to have people bound together as soulmates and then tear them apart as often as LoT does with these two. That was also an emotional roller coaster, but not in the fun and exciting way it was with Captain Cold.

With Hawkman and Hawkgirl it was just exhausting.

Fortunately, Heat Wave fared better.

Oh, it was rocky. Especially in the beginning. But by the end of season one, and even more so in the handful of episodes I’ve seen from season two, he was revealed to be even more complex than Captain Cold, and while he’ll never be mistaken for brilliant, he’s definitely not the dummy he’s frequently mistaken for.

And his crankiness is hilarious.

As for the show itself, the basic premise is simple: Time Lord Rip Hunter goes rogue and gathers a band of misfit heroes, excuse me, I mean, legends, to stop Super Villain Vandal Savage from destroying the world. There are a lot of pit stops along the way—the time spent in the Wild West with Jonah Hex is particularly fun—but ultimately it’s about good prevailing over evil, and what’s not to like about that? Highly recommended.

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