Legends of Tomorrowhas been on a wild ride throughout its seven seasons. What began as a ragtag bunch of angry misfits – orrejects from other Arrowverse shows– traversing time to stop Vandal Savage has become a faded memory. The Legends are still a band of idiotic misfits, and still regularly break the rules of the time-travel, but they are less angry now. Instead, they and the series have embraced the outlandish and unrestrained freedom of their atemporal premise, undergoing many wacky adventures thatgivesLegends of Tomorrowits wonderful, unique niche. But through its evolution across 100 episodes, one thing inLegendshas remained constant from the start; the Waverider’ssupercomputer A.I.Gideon (Amy Louise Pemberton).
RELATED:DC Should Embrace Its Weirder Side In Its Movies
Well, not exactly. Even before the Waverider was mysteriously destroyed by a doppelgänger ship and a new, humanoid, Gideon was materialized from the debris by Astra (Olivia Swann) magic, Amy Louise Pemberton has popped up a few times to assist the Legends in visions (as with Zari (Tala Ashe) in “Here I Go Again”) or rounding the trio ofCharlie’s Angelspoof “The Sirens of Space-Time”. Evenin “Bishop’s Gambit” last season, Gideon was reconfigured into a Max Headroom TV-set, the Legends unable to operate without their friendly all-knowing observer of the timestream. But more fundamentally, Gideon has never been a monotonous machine, increasingly imbuing her exposition dumps with enthusiasm and a cheeky attitude which the Legends are known for.
Astra – relatively newcomer and always prickly – fails to see Gideon’s autonomous value. She feels this new bipedal version is only slowing them down from finding the other Legends before imminent danger, and bosses around Gideon like a lifeless machine. When they come across atantalizing strawberry-rhubarb pie(one apparently important to history), Astra demands Gideon help secure the sustenance while Spooner (Lisseth Chavez) asks her to make up her own mind. But “To Pie or Not To Pie?” – indulging in spontaneous cravings or adhering to pre-set rules – makes Gideon collapse over the decision. Astra and Spooner, via a magical spell that feelsreminiscent ofThe Matrix, must leap into Gideon’s mind to fix the malfunction.
This is the ingenious wayLegends of Tomorrowintegrates its 100th episode celebration. Being inside of Gideon means Astra and Spooner must jog her memory and personality through reliving key events ofLegends’own history. Gideon has been there since the beginning. Indeed, aside from Sara Lance (Caity Lotz – who also directs this episode), she’s the only cast member from back then.
Yet “wvrdr_error_100<oest-of-th3-gs.gid30n> not found” uses this opportunity to include several cast cameos (and a few conspicuous absences likerecently departed Mick Rory (Dominic Purcell)) of earlyLegends, with Astra and Spooner being ‘guided’ by the memory of the former mechanic and half of Firestorm, Jefferson “Jax” Jackson (Franz Drameh – using his natural British accent for no particular reason).
This anniversary episode delights in harkening back to, and gently poking fun at, Season 1, including a returning Hawkman (Falk Hentschel), who readily starts self-important fights with Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller) and Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh), or how Sara was far more brooding and featured a white-suede costume that she now rarely uses. “wvrdr_error_100<oest-of-th3-gs.gid30n> not found” isn’t exactly a clip show, since this is all new footage of “unseen moments” inLegendshistory, showing how Gideon has always been accompanying the Legends through their most important moments, be it saving the world or singing over Martin Stein’s (Victor Garber) grandson.
This is wonderfully demonstrated through how Amy Louise Pemberton interacts with these memories, gazing at them with nostalgic haze as she gets to re-experience them. Even as these “past” Legends interact with Gideon normally – i.e., as a disembodied voice without eye contact – the “current” Gideon walks amongst them as she recites her lines, reinforcing her presence throughout these moments.
Even Rip Hunter (Arthur Darville) – who often dragged down earlyLegendswith his turgid tragic backstory – evokes fonds memories as Gideon’s original captain. “wvrdr_error_100<oest-of-th3-gs.gid30n> not found” does not explore the full spectrum ofLegends’ trajectory – moments from the middle seasons are left relatively dry – buts it’s still a touching tribute to how Gideon and the crew have affected one another.
Not everyone is happy about such “evolution,” though, instead viewing it as corruption. Inside of Gideon’s mind is also a virus, Gideon’s original programming that attempts to regain control and purge her of such distracting humanity and relationships. Gideon’s prime directive should be preserving the timeline, but her “dark half” argues the Legends have ruined this, and have infected the emotionless A.I. with their impractical frivolity. This aspect is rendered as a genuinely creepy half-projection, an ethereal virtual presence that wants to revert Gideon back to her original design.
Taking Gideon away from Astra and Spooner – whom she distracts by turning the memories of the Legends against them,alaInception– this aspect taunts Gideon with the pain and suffering that comes with human existence, as well as the memory of Rip Hunter “reprogramming” Gideon to prioritize the Legends over the timeline and adapt to their (increasingly chaotic) ways. This demonstrates how such “evolution” was predetermined instead of organic, her affection towards the Legends seemingly just another line of code.
But just because something is “programmed,” this doesn’t make it untrue. As Astra and Spooner wade through the aggressive memories and rescue Gideon, they leap into more wholesome memories of the Legendsperforming karaokeor gossiping or partying. They remind Gideon of the high points of humanity. Gideon comes to understand life is not a binary – happy or sad, pie or no pie – but exists within the confusing tension between the two extremes. She does not even destroy her “dark half,” so much as accept it as part of herself. Gideon embraces the confusing and illogical experience that comes with being a person. After all, she’s already been a Legend.
“wvrdr_error_100<oest-of-th3-gs.gid30n> not found” is a surprisingly focused episode, considering the extend of cameos and memories it must cover. Although it doesn’t quite have room for the whole ensemble to shine, it does delve into the messy heart that has become core toLegends. Sure, it may not be as outrageous as certain exemplary episodes, and there’s certainly a helping of nostalgia that comes with such anniversary episodes, but it still manages to speak to an integral theme ofLegends; that shifting, liberated identities should be welcomed and embraced.
Alongside all this, the episode opens a new threat as the past Bishop (Raffi Barsoumian) – whom the Legends kidnapped todefeat his future self in the last season– has reawakened with dim memories of his excursion. Unfortunately, he also managed to secure a copy of Gideon, which reignites his own memories of what went down. Plus, he realizes what was Gideon’s worst fears by removing her personality matrix and resetting her. Bishop is now equipped with an advanced system and Gideon’s prime directive to “eliminate anachronisms to the timeline,” the biggest culprits being that pesky ragtag group called the Legends.
Legends of Tomorrowairs on Wednesdays on the CW.
MORE:Daniel Craig Doesn’t Hold Back With New Advice For The Next James Bond
