DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-Ray review
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-Ray/DVD I reviewed in this blog post. The opinions I share are my own.
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is absurd. It’s the show that refuses to stick to the rules of the rest of the Arrowverse right down to its shorter episode count and the characters rarely actually wearing their superhero costumes.
At times, the series’ seeming refusal to play along with the norm for a superhero series is frustrating. And some of the supporting characters are a mix of insufferable or obnoxious. I’ve walked away from this show more than any other, but after having the chance to sit back with no distractions and just binge the complete fourth season, I’ve come around and think it was the best of the Arrowverse offerings last season.
Season Review:
The Legends are in bed with the Time Bureau. Literally in the case of Director Ava Sharp and Legends’ leader Sara Lance. Instead of randomly going off in search of time anomalies, the team now has a strong alliance with the Time Bureau in taking down these threats to history. And also dealing with the fallout of breaking magic. Good thing John Constantine (Matt Ryan) decides to join the crew to help them navigate the ever-changing rules of magic.
Ryan’s Constantine series was way too short-lived, but the Arrowverse team has been smart to utilize him in a variety of ways from an animated series on CW Seed, guest spots on Arrow to a full-fledged season role on Legends. Of all the various Arrowverse shows, Legends clearly makes the most sense for Constantine’s acerbic wit and Ryan’s charismatic performance. This is a show with murderous puppets, fairy godmothers and giant teddy bears.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpc2NNpvC8U
On paper, the team dynamic is a little shaky this season. Only Sara, Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh) and Mick Rory (Dominic Purcell) remain from the original cast and the Legends lack the heavy hitters of previous seasons with the departures of Firestorm, Captain Cold, Rip Hunter and Vixen. Nate (Nick Zano) has joined the Bureau leaving the team short-staffed. At least Zari (Tala Ashe), the fun addition to the cast in Season 3, has stuck around and the team gets some reinforcements with Charlie (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) and Nora Dark (Courtney Ford).
Surprisingly, the Time Bureau actually makes for a good partner for the Legends with the added dimension of Sara and Ava’s relationship. The show has always been progressive with its LGTB representation and this season a key subplot explores Constantine’s relationship with Desmond (The Boys’ Christian Keyes) that plays into the character’s comic book roots.
Another strong point of the season was the relationship of Nate and his father, Hank (Back to the Future’s Thomas F. Wilson in a savvy casting move)
Legends brings more diversity to the show with the addition of Mona (Ramona Young), a plucky creature handler at the Bureau. Young is a likable performer, but like the clueless Gary, Mona is written too often like a fangirl tweeting and making gifs and memes of the show than coming off like an actual person. A werewolf subplot to add some depth doesn’t do much either.
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Throwing in supporting characters to play comic relief is odd anyway since the main cast provide all the humor the show needs from Charlie’s punk rock attitude, Ray’s endless optimism, Zari’s over it demeanor and Mick’s budding side hustle as an author. The latter results in a hilarious running joke.
From a Bollywood-inspired musical number, a Friday the 13th summer camp riff, a Smokey and the Bandit homage, a trip to IKEA and a surprisingly tender look at the Hiroshima fallout, Legends does a little bit of everything this season. Impressively, most of this craziness works. Naturally some jokes don’t land, but considering the wacky subject matter, the success/fail rate of the comedy is solid.
Unlike some of the other Arrowverse shows, Legends built up nicely on earlier subplots tying everything together in a rewarding fashion for viewers who went along for the unpredictable and fun ride.
Synopsis:
After defeating the demon Mallus by cuddling him to death last season, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow join John Constantine and Ava Sharpe’s Time Bureau to save their world – and their legacy – from magical creatures from myths, fairytales and legends who have escaped and infected history. As the Legends time-travel across historical events and encounter famous figures, they now have to contend with an added shot of magical craziness!
With Blu-ray’s unsurpassed picture and sound, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray release will include 1080p Full HD Video with DTS-HD Master Audio for English 5.1. The 3-disc Blu-ray will feature a high-definition Blu-ray and a Digital Copy of all 16 episodes from season four (Available in the U.S.).
CONTENT AND SPECIAL FEATURES:
All 16 one-hour episodes
- 1. The Virgin Gary
- 2. Witch Hunt
- 3. Dancing Queen
- 4. Wet Hot American Bummer
- 5. Tagumo Attacks!!!
- 6. Tender is the Nate
- 7. Hell No, Dolly!
- 8. Legends of To-Meow-Meow
- 9. Lucha de Apuestas
- 10. The Getaway
- 11. Séance & Sensibility
- 12. The Eggplant, the Witch & the Wardrobe
- 13. Egg MacGuffin
- 14. Nip/Stuck
- 15. Terms of Service
- 16. Hey, World!
Special Features:
- DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: Legendary Storytelling (3.16 minutes) — this brief feature is odd as it connects more to Season 3’s events and not Season 4.
- Post Production Theater (5.06 minutes) — this is a real behind the scenes look at how the production team fills in the gaps when additional shots are required. It’s kind of a neat feature and shows the team working to flesh out the episodes.
- Gag Reel
- Deleted Scenes
- Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature
Oddly, the Legends portion of the San Diego Comic Con panel wasn’t included in the special features. Since Legends didn’t take part in the crossover there’s no Elseworlds additional episodes here. That gets addressed in a hilarious scene in Legends of To-Meow-Meow and then referenced again in a great moment in the season finale.
Compared to the Arrow, Supergirl and The Flash bonus features, Legends definitely comes up lacking.
Photo Credit: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment