Legends of Tomorrow Doomworld review S2, Ep 16

Doomworld was another fantastic Legion of Doom showcase episode. If it had more time to breathe it could have rivaled Legion of Doom as the season’s best episode. And yes, that was one heck of a villain monologue.

There was a noticeably rushed feel to Doomworld making it challenging to fully appreciate this status quo. Ideally, 2/3 of Doomworld would have been devoted to the Legion’s new world order and ending with Sara regaining her memory. From a storytelling perspective it would have flowed better, but also because watching the assembled Legion together was so darned amazing.

Much like the old Challenge of the Superfriends, a lot of the fun of Doomworld was just in watching the villains play off each other. And extra bonus points for remaking STAR Labs into the Hall of Doom. It’s always fascinating seeing what villains do when they win. Thawne was fully relishing the victory, whipping up fantastic new inventions and hobnobbing with the president and trapping the Black Flash in a containment cell.

[irp]

Merlyn was more subdued. He had his family (plus Thea) back … and his hand. And just for good petty measure, he’d stranded Nyssa in boring Midwest life. Snart and Mick were back to robbing banks, but with full control of Central City, the thrill of the heist was missing for Mick.

Predictably, Damien Darhk had the most fun. He was hunting down vigilantes with the help of his top assassins Sara and Amaya. Killing Huntress variant Felicity was a pretty shocking way to kick off the episode. We got one tremendous scene with Merlyn, Darhk and Snart, which was somewhat frustrating in that Season 2 wasn’t filled of this combination.

I’m curious how much Wentworth Miller’s Prison Break shooting affected his Legends availability. The show runners would have been better served shooting a bunch of sequences of him at a time to incorporate him in the mix sooner. It’s not like the Snart hallucinations Mick had amounted to much.

Mick was flip flopping between legend and doomer faster than a wrestler in the late 90s. He suffered the most from Doomworld’s accelerated pace. And after the trouble of restoring their memories, the Legends still didn’t trust him. It took Snart killing Amaya for Mick to finally choose a side. But by then it was way too late.

With the Spear destroyed and no chance to beat Thawne fairly, Sara suggests going back in time. That seems like a massive can of worms to open. If fixing things that go wrong are just a matter of hopping back in time, what’s the harm in stopping Darhk from killing Laurel? Or Snart sacrificing himself to save the team? Or saving any of the Justice Society from getting wiped out?

That’s a real tricky path and one that needs to be answered carefully. Otherwise all of the suspense of this season could be undone with one time trip. But first, someone’s going to need to ‘embiggen’ the shrunken down Rip and Waverider.

Doomworld made for another wholly satisfying Legion of Doom showcase. There probably couldn’t have been a better setup for next week’s season finale. Hopefully, Legends sticks the landing on a vastly improved sophomore effort.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Photo Credit: The CW