Even the least suspected characters can turn to darkness in this week’s instalment of Legends, which sees a host of life-altering decisions.

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Starring Brandon Routh, Caity Lotz, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Tala Ashe, Jes Macallan, Courtney Ford, Amy Louise Pemberton, Ramona Young, Nick Zano, Dominic Purcell and Matt Ryan

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In the latter half of this season, Legends has become quite skilled at managing its mammoth cast through the existence of several plots throughout the episode. This episode treats us not just to the driving force: the A-plot that pushes the main action of this series forwards (the Neron of it all), but also a romantic B-plot and a predominantly humorous C-plot, with a casual Book Club D-plot thrown in for good measure. This being Legends, of course, none of these take themselves especially seriously, as it has pretty much written itself into a corner comedy-wise, and is essentially a sitcom at this point.

The C-Plot: Charlie & Mick

The main thrust of humour this week comes from Charlie and Mick devising a get-rich-quick scheme in the form of attending a convention as Mick’s alter ego Rebecca Silver in exchange for $20,000. He and Charlie spend a long time picking out Rebecca’s look, as well as training Charlie to satisfactorily answer fan’s questions. Beneath all of the bluster, it is clear that Mick does care about his fans and is deeply grateful to them, as is demonstrated by his reveal when Mona bursts in and tries to expose Charlie as a fraud. A largely inconsequential plot all things considered, and it is becoming increasingly apparent that Mick, Mona and Charlie are usually relied upon to hold up this side of the episode, which does make one wonder why they need exist within the show at all, separate from the fact that the writers would have to put them in the spotlight to write them out?

The B-Plot: Zari & Nate

Zari and Nate get sent on a 1930s Indiana Jones-themed investigation. They quickly suss out that they have been pushed together by Sara on a form of date, and they embrace the situation. It soon turns into somewhat of a farce as they attribute everything to Sara’s meddling, including some very real Nazis who are on the hunt for the same object they are: a giant egg. Zari and Nate are brought closer together, though we have to wait until the end of the episode to see them finally locking lips, finally giving some legs to the concept of them as a couple, which once seemed rushed but now feels earned from all the anticipation. The recovered egg on board the Waverider, it transpires, is a dragon egg, which is bound to cause problems in the following episode.

The A-Plot: Ray, Neron & Gary

This brings us to the main substance of the episode, being Ray’s battle against Neron’s possession. It’s somewhat alarming to see the charming and witty Ray having to battle something so serious. During the episode it tonally shifts from serious to amusing, as we see Ray’s reactions to his body working without his conscious control, such as when his hand tries to suffocate Nora when he visits her in her room. We see Ray’s desperation throughout the episode as he tries to rid himself of Neron using science, and then with Gary’s help. Eventually, in order to protect Nate from harm, Ray agrees to surrender himself to Neron. Seducing Gary into subservience through reuniting him with his lost nipple, Neron (now in full possession of Ray’s body) disappears with Gary and Constantine in tow.

Gary’s arc has been a strange one. He’s definitely been an odd character on the periphery, and I doubt if anybody is too shocked by his turn to the Dark Side, considering the way that he has been treated by the entire team. He has constantly been dependable and on the sidelines, but has been treated horrendously by the team and only used when he is convenient for their goals. It is unsurprising then that he allies himself with someone who treats him with importance and even gives him gifts. Still not really an excuse because Gary has always sort of been a creep, but there you go. He is now a massive pain in the side of the Legends, and I am sure they will be reconsidering their relationship with him moving forwards.

Meanwhile: Honourable Mentions

Nora spends the vast majority of the episode in bed, recovering from the incident with Neron in the previous episode. Sara tries to involve herself in Ava’s interests by joining her, Mona and Nora’s bookclub, though it turns out that Ava doesn’t really read, but rather drinks and listens to Mona dominating the conversation. The end of the episode sees Ava giving Nora a Time Bureau badge and enlist her help in defeating Neron after he escapes the Waverider with not one, but two, Legends.

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Musings

It’s nice to see some sort of heart to Mick, though I still feel that he is drastically underused – the same for Charlie.

Just when I think that Mona is bearable, she pulls the kind of stunt that she does in this episode, where she lacks any sort of impulse control and instead just launches into a childish tantrum when something doesn’t go her way. What kind of mature and responsible adult chants at a public event against her supposed friends? Abusive, much?

Sara and Ava having a bet on Zari and Nate getting together is adorable.

How is Constantine so blind? We all saw the graphic effects in the previous episode, it should be obvious that Ray is possessed by Neron? Quite why Ray didn’t have the foresight to enlist the help of Constantine and Nora to get rid of Neron is an entirely separate issue, however.

The structure of episodes to allow for multiple plots is delightful, but when there are big bads things are going to get messy. It’s just not plausible that it isn’t all hands on deck for that kind of mission. They tried to do it last week with Zari, Charlie, Mona and Mick holding down the fort, but you would have thought that they would have needed all of the Legends at once for such a credible threat.

Nora finally getting to be part of the Time Bureau can only be a good thing. I look forward to her development from here, as she’s been sadly underused this season for a member of the main cast.

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All eyes are on Legends to see what the next three episodes will bring. Is there any saving Ray Ray? Will all of the Legends make it out of this situation alive? Will Mona ever be anything other than irritating and whiny? Tune in next week to find out.