Legends of Tomorrow 1.06 “Star City 2046”

Our heroes get their first glimpse of the future and Star City is not what it used to be in the latest episode of Legends of Tomorrow. The Star City of 2046 is ravaged by crime as bands of outlaws, led by the son of Slade Wilson, Grant Wilson (Jamie Andrew Cutler), control the city. Wilson has made it his mission to reign down chaos on the home of his father’s greatest foe, Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) and he has succeeded in doing just that. Still, the Green Arrow fights on to maintain his city as best he can, but the man in green isn’t Queen, but Connor Hawke, aka John Diggle Jr. (Joseph David-Jones).

Rip leads Sara, Snart and Rory on a mission to find a neuromorphic prototype for Gideon that Palmer Technologies (now Smoak Technologies) was working on.  Rip and Sara encounter Connor and he takes them to Oliver’s old base of operations where all of Smoak Technologies’ projects were supposed to be stored and there they discover Oliver, hiding away from the world that has gone to hell in a handbasket. Meanwhile, Snart and Rory encounter one of the roving gangs and Rory sets himself up as their new leader. Heat Wave is having the time of his life in this world of criminals with no cops or heroes, but Snart pushes him to go find Sara and Rip, especially after Wilson puts the word out on the street that he wants them just as dead as the Green Arrow.

Oliver tells Rip and the others that all of the projects Felicity’s company was working on were stored at a warehouse at Adams and O’Neil (great Easter egg there) before she evacuated the city. That is the extent of the help Oliver will offer. Right now, he just wants to be left alone in his ruin. Connor goes with Rip and Sara to retrieve the neuromorphic prototype and they find it at the warehouse, but they also encounter several of Wilson’s men who have been scouring the city looking for them. The timely arrival of Snart and Rory saves their teammates, but Connor is taken prisoner. Wilson plans to publically execute the Green Arrow. Sara is able to get Oliver to suit up again after a much needed pep talk and appeal to step-up again and be the hero that Star City needs. In the end, Oliver and Sara, with an assist from the rest of the Legends, save Connor and dispatch Wilson. As Sara gets ready to rejoin the team, she says good-bye to Oliver and Connor as they set out to bring justice back to Star City.

All in all, this was a well done episode and one that I had been waiting for eagerly. I gotta admit, it didn’t let me down. Stephen Amell’s take on Oliver Queen as a broken man who failed to save his city, but then rises to reclaim it embodies the best qualities that the actor brings to this role. I know I rag on Arrow for not being as good as some of the other shows in the Arrowverse, but never for one moment think it is because of Amell. He is still one of the best actors to bring a comic book superhero to life I have ever seen and when he is given A material like this script, he just bats it out of the park.   Also outstanding is his namesake, Joseph David-Jones, who has his own need to seek redemption since it is implied he failed to save his father. I’ve read there is a chance that the Connor Hawke Green Arrow might show up in next season’s Legends of Tomorrow, and that would be great. I would love to see this character again.

This episode also shows how much Snart has come to care for his fellow Legends as he pressures Rory to help find Rip and Sara. On The Flash, it was hinted that Snart was a better man than he let on sometimes and we’re really getting a sense of that in this episode. Captain Cold and Heat Wave could pretty much run the Star City of 2046, and while Rory is down for that, Snart sees the bigger picture. While he comments to Rory that he wants to take down Vandal Savage to cement his reputation as one of the baddest bad asses of all time, I can’t help but get the sense Snart really is out to save the world. Meanwhile, Rory’s motivation remains pretty much what it has always been: to watch the world burn. It will be interesting to see how this conflict plays out, but one thing is for sure, Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell will make it interesting to watch.

The B-story for this episode involves Jefferson’s crush on Kendra and Stein’s efforts to help him woo the lady fair. It’s fun and all, and the scenes where Stein attempts to head off what seems to be Ray’s own infatuation with Kendra for the sake of his partner, and which backfire big time, are enjoyable enough, but I think I would have liked to have seen more Green Arrow in this episode. Indeed, if so much hadn’t been devoted to this subplot, maybe we could have found out what happened to the rest of Team Arrow once Wilson moved in and took over. Also, the romantic entanglements hinted at here seem like something that could have been mined for a few episodes. It’s a minor misstep, but one that doesn’t hurt the episode too badly. In the end, I still rank this one pretty high at 4.5 stars.