TV Show Review

TV Review: LEGENDS OF TOMORROW: Season 1, Episode 3: Blood Ties [The CW]

Casper Crump Falk Hentschel Legends Of Tomorrow Blood Ties 600x350

The CW‘s Legends of Tomorrow Blood Ties TV Show Review. Legends of Tomorrow : Season 1, Episode 3: Blood Ties drops one ball rather abruptly; if there were any who hoped the trailer’s shot of Ancient Egypt meant the show

would finally capitalize on its time travel element to feature some really exotic settings, they will be disappointed to learn the Egyptian scene is confined to one short flashback.

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This flashback does provide some exposition, though, in revealing that Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) has already been pursuing a vendetta against Vandal Savage (Casper Crump) for some time before assembling his team to do it, as he traveled back to Ancient Egypt and attempted to stab him to death. This scene also reveals that apparently, being immortal somehow enables Savage to speak English millennia before the language is invented. It’s been over a decade since Arnold Vosloo managed to speak the ancient language with subtitles translating in The Mummy; still longer since the far less-serious Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure upheld the proper languages of “ancient dead dudes”; how could we have fallen so far in the interim? They might have some leeway in an inability to study up on dead languages on just a TV budget, but in that case, even spewing actually-gibberish like “Mwoo, bootoobootoo roopoogoohoo!” and subtitling it might be better than just speaking English. Perhaps the show’s refusal to delve deeply into exotic settings is a blessing in disguise if that sort of klutzery is the result, but with three immortal characters whose struggle is tied to Egyptian mysticism taking center-stage, this “damned if you do; damned if you don’t” predicament to depicting history is quite tragic.

The bulk of the episode still takes place in the 1970s (in other words, the time the team is still in) which remain denoted mostly by playing clips of period songs–this time it’s “Fight The Power”. Things start with Rip Hunter and White Canary (Caity Lotz) infiltrating a bank in an attempt to steal Savage’s money, and shortly after learning his involvement goes much deeper than just using the bank for money, with staff secretly being assassins. Things break down and they get in a fight, which, like most fights, they escape from more-or-less unscathed, but with Sara questioning whether she’s too much of a loose canon.

Subsequently, various vignettes centering around sub-groupings of LOTs occur. Ray “The Atom” Palmer (Brandon Routh) puts his abilities to work saving Kendra Saunders (Ciara Renee) from embedded shrapnel, a squad sets off to rescue Hawkman’s remains from being used in a ritual by Vandal Savage, and Leonard Snart (Wentworth Miller) opts to steal a gem in order to alter his father’s history, in a segment that serves to humanize him a bit, but whose results leave more question than answers about how this series’ universe works.

Leave your thoughts on this review and this episode of Legends of Tomorrow in the comments section below. For more Legends of Tomorrow photos, videos, and news, visit our Legends of Tomorrow Page, subscribe to us by Email, “follow” us on Twitter, Tumblr, Google+ or “like” us on Facebook.

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Thomas Fairfield

Thomas Fairfield writes some things sometimes on some sites; this one included.
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