TV Review: DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Pilot, Part 1
Derek Spicer
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I have a few thoughts on part one of the pilot. First, if you watch Arrow and The Flash, like I do, on a regular basis, you will have no trouble following any of this. I imagine most people watching Legends of Tomorrow do, but there are many I’m sure who don’t or at least don’t follow the other two shows closely. If you don’t follow the shows closely, you’ll be really lost and confused. That’s the big issue with the pilot.
It gives almost no time for character development by pushing the protagonists straight into the fight with no greater context as to who these characters are. Rip Hunter gives a voice-over description of each member as he collects them at the beginning, but you know very little beyond that. Arrow and Flash characters, like the Arrow himself, make scattered appearances throughout, and you’re just supposed to know who they are. By doing this, it limits the show’s potential audience pool to hardcore fans, at least initially.
This show does have a lot of potential, but it needs to quickly establish it can stand on its own without having to rely upon its parent shows. I’m also still not sold on Casper Crump as Vandal Savage. They certainly established him as evil enough by having him shoot a child in cold blood from point-blank range, but he seems a little too cartoonish and doesn’t come with the gravitas you’d expect from an infamous DC villain.
The Verdict
This show has a lot of potential, but the show needs to build its world, build chemistry within the team, and establish its time-travel rules quickly or risk being a one and done season show. Part two next week will, hopefully, go a long way towards doing so.
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