DC'S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW 6.12

 

RECAP - DC'S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW  6.12:  "Bored On Board Onboard"  

The Legends spend this week jumping from one game to another, as it's time to head back to Earth from their bowling adventure, only to have more obstacles thrown in their way.  We also get a return of someone we've not seen in a few episodes, and left with a cliffhanger for the next episode at the end.  We also see John continue to struggle with the dark magic he's been messing with.  So, with that in mind, we'll see just how much trouble our time travelling heroes get into this week...

Tensions were running high this week, due to the fact that the jump drive aboard the Waverider was damaged in last week's adventure, because John used his nifty new magic to manipulate the ship to jump to the point in space where the cosmic alley was.  So, in an effort to conserve energy for the long trip home (which amounts to about 3 days, roughly), all electronic devices were shut down to conserve power enough to get back to Earth.  We see Ava and Sara going over their wedding planner, where there was discussion about who they could invite to the ceremony, and Ava split guests up into 4 groups:  A,B,C, & D.  Somehow, Barry Allen makes the "D" list, and Ava's thinking is that IF Barry and Iris show up, chances of the wedding being crashed by a supervillain seems to be a 100% guarantee.  Even as they tell everyone to park the electronics on board, they're still debating guests, including Ava's fake parents, and Black Siren Laurel Lance, with whom Sara refers to as her sister from another world.  We see John and Zari upset because John barged into Behrad's yoga session and ruined the chi of Behrad, and they got into a spat.  Behrad's been looking at John a little differently the last couple of weeks, as he's seen a change in John.  

The team is bored, and Sara decides that they need to break things up with a little game.  Now, Gary had an idea for a board game earlier, but everyone blew him off.  Turns out, it's the best option for the team to pass the time until the ship arrives back on Earth.  They each choose characters, and Gary begins to set the stage, but John---still bored---decides to spice things up by casting a spell, transporting the team (except Gary and Mick...who was preoccupied elsewhere), back to his house, but everyone's decked out in costume according to their characters they've chosen.  The rules of the game are simple:  defeat the beast by finding out WHO the killer is, and they return back to the ship.  So, in much the theme of those "murder mystery" events, this is what the team is now involved in.  Gary is wondering where they're at, but begins to set the stage for the game by moving the pieces around, and being the narrator for the game.  

However, Gary gets interrupted by Gideon, who sends out an alert about another ship in the vicinity, and Mick, obviously annoyed, wants to blast the ship out of the sky.  However, he doesn't have authority to do so, and he misses the chance to destroy it.  The ship docks above the Waverider, and its passenger arrives aboard the Waverider:  Kayla.  She managed to avoid death on the alien planet that was inhabited by Bishop, and she isn't overly happy that she was abandoned by Mick.  She wants her ship, but it's back on Earth, and they have to take the long way back, because the jump drive is damaged.  Kayla offers to help fix it, so she can get what she wants.  So, before her and Mick go to work on the jump drive, Gary warns Mick to NOT trust Kayla, and to NOT let her know he's pregnant---she'll eat his head AND the babies.  Mick, not too enthused, goes to help Kayla.  

Back at the game, the team is eating dinner, getting into their roles.  There's some light bickering when the game claims it's first victim:  Ava.  The detective of the group is the one who gets bumped off, and she has to excuse herself from the game, as the rest of the team throw accusations as to whom the killer is.  Ava isn't allowed to talk as she leaves, and Behrad would just as soon leave the game, because he has no interest in playing, though he DOES accuse John.  However...things get real as Nate is stabbed from behind----for real.  He's dead, and no one saw who the killer was.  John just wanted to liven up the game a bit, but now it's taken a dark turn.  As they now have to take this game seriously---they know they ONLY way for the game to end is to solve the mystery...otherwise, they're stuck in this loop for good.  Sara then goes to check on Ava, with whom she finds has been killed for real.  And before Sara can take point and lead the team, she is also killed when the lights are knocked out.  When they come back on, everyone looks at their player cards, and Spooner shows hers that says that EVERYONE is going to die.  Spooner at this juncture takes the lead, and says that they're going to find out who the beast is, and kill him.  Her and Astra head upstairs to find it, while John is weak from his magic, and Behrad and him argue some more, and Zari is caught in the middle between her brother and her boyfriend.  John says he's heading into the attic to prevent anymore issues.  Brother and sister talk, and he apologizes, but he just feels that something is off with John as of late.  Zari admits that she actually loves John.  He's never seen her like this, and feels she needs to let him know.  

Back on board the Waverider, Mick has helped Kayla regenerate a new tentacle for her real body, as she was injured on the alien planet.  They use the printer to make a new one, thus sucking more power from the ship.  Kayla, unbeknownst to Mick and Gary, has placed some device near the jump drive, and she has fixed it to get them working.  When the printer is being used once again by the floating tentacle, Gary finds it in the medbay, and starts fighting it.  Kayla turns on Mick, and says that she's doing what she's doing because he left her for dead on the planet, and the person that saved her...she's doing it for him.  So, we see some human feet being printed, as Gary continues to fight Lefty the tentacle.  Mick eventually fesses up to Kayla that he's pregnant.  She's taken aback for a bit...removes his hat, to which we've seen a full head of hair on his head----she then uses a nerve pinch move to knock him out.  

Back at the game, John is in the attic, having tried using the potion to garner his strength...because his attempt to gain a quick exit out of the game for the team resulted in him being left weakened.  Even the potion he took wasn't helping.  The beast has since killed off Spooner and Astra , which Behrad had found when John and Zari found him.  But now John is trying to bring the beast to him....and then he appears.  In a black cloak and mask, they fight, and John rips off the mask....only to find the beast is:  John himself.  The beast says he is the dark aspect of John's personality that's caused him much pain and strife.  The beast then grabs John, ready to finish him off when Behrad and Zari bust into the attic, and Zari takes the fireplace poker Behrad gave her, and she stabs the beast in the back of the neck.  The team then magically appears back on board, as the game ends.  

In the aftermath, the team realizes that they've made it home, but they have to reboot the power on the ship to get things back running.  Ava and Sara find Mick.  He's alive, but out cold.  John is weak, and says he's going to crash at the house to recover.  Zari says she'll meet him later.  Behrad apologizes to John, and tells Zari that he's going to visit the parents.  Zari heads to John's with some food she prepared to help him heal, and he's out cold sleeping.  She then sees the back of his neck...where she finds a hole in it----in the exact spot where she drove the fire poker into the beasts' neck---and makes the connection. 

As Sara and Ava tour the ship, and Gideon gets rebooted....Sara hears some strange music coming from the medbay---and when she goes to peek in on the music....she's shocked at what she finds.  

This episode gave us a "Jumanji" kind of feel, except that there were no wild animals running about the ship.  It was a murder mystery that got real very fast.  But this was made to heighten the drama.  The stakes needed to be high...especially to give John's story continued weight.  His dark side is getting stronger and stronger.  John can't get rid of the potion now...he's addicted.  Try as he could when he got home....he couldn't part with it.  John's magic has defined him as a person.  And he's always walked that fine line between the light and the dark...keeping that balance.  But lately, he's leaning into the dark, and that's bad news for everyone on board, but it also serves as a way to gain John's mystique back as a serious character, dealing with much darker and more macabre things, and get him back to his original incarnation when his show was on the air.  Plus...it will help send him off from the team after this story concludes.  And while Matt Ryan will stick around, he'll be playing a much lighter character, and will put Constantine to bed.....for now.  And we now also have the backdrop of his relationship with Zari.  This adds a little more to this story, as Zari has come to terms with her feelings for John....with us KNOWING there is no happy ending for them.  There can't be.  He needs to go off on his own, and battle the demons that not only plague the earthly plane----but also within himself. And Behrad will continue to see it...and will be forced to protect his sister should John go rogue.

Elsewhere, we now know that Kayla is alive and well (well, we never really thought she was GONE, but wondered when she would reappear), but she got help escaping the planet----and we knew HE wasn't going to be gone before the end of the season.  Bishop IS back, and that's the feet we saw being printed before the end of the show.  And now with Kayla as his muscle, he's going to be able to carry out his plan...but he really wants Sara along for the ride, because SHE is still HIS prize.  HIS key to universal domination.  As for Kayla....now that she knows Mick is pregnant---what will this mean for them?  Will she kill him, or will she see a future with Mick?  And with her, is there a chance he takes off with HER at the end of the season, and this is a way to write Dominic Purcell off the show?  And will he be around for the birth of his grandchild?  We've got a lot of questions to answer before the season ends, and we're getting closer.

This season as kind of meandered along, but with THIS episode, it looks like we're about to pick up some steam, and the final arc of this story SHOULD be better.  We haven't quite gotten the comical aspects as we have in the past, and it's been toned back a little...or it just hasn't been as funny.  I DO like that they take the time to add some heavy storytelling in the form of drama on the show.  Can't be a superhero show without SOME stakes at hand.  Now, it looks as though we're getting it with Bishop back.  

What about YOU, kids?  What did YOU think of this episode?  What do YOU see panning out for the future of the Legends?  Will Ava and Sara have a wedding without villain interference?  And will it be blamed on Barry & Iris?  Laurel?  Who knows.  Subscribe and comment with YOUR opinions and theories.  

Until then....Time is on our side.