'Legends of Tomorrow' Season 5 Episode 9 Review: Show takes a darker turn as Atropos makes her debut
Spoilers for 'DC's Legends of Tomorrow' Season 5 Episode 9 'Zari, not Zari'
Back from its break, 'DC's Legends of Tomorrow' isn't pulling any punches as Atropos (Joanna Vanderham) makes her first appearance with some pretty final words on how she feels about the Legends messing with Fate.
As Zari Tarazi (Tala Ashe) finds herself and Mick Rory (Dominic Parcell) learns that apologies are better than shortcuts, the Legends are forced to think about the consequences of their actions and see the dangers of fighting Fate.
It's one of the few episodes this season that doesn't revolve around a gimmick unless you count the "crossover" with the sets of 'Supernatural'. To get it out of the way, any fan expecting a full-on crossover will be disappointed, but the references are fun enough for fans of both shows.
It's a good thing because too much focus on 'Supernatural' would have detracted us from what is some major plot development on the show.
While the Encores were a fun villain-of-the-week format for the show, the team's Loom quest is far more interesting with much more powerful villains. They have compelling motivations, seeking to reapply Fate to humans not out of a need for power, but because they believe it's in humanity's best interests.
While their methods are ruthless and make them a formidable threat, their end goals aren't quite so cut and dry. After all, isn't the entire purpose behind the Legends to make sure that history continues the way it's supposed to?
Atropos makes for a great villain — a god not afraid to get her hands dirty. A seemingly insurmountable foe for the Legends to confront, though as Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) shows, the Legends still have a few tricks of their own up their sleeves.
Behrad Tarazi (Shayan Sobhian) was a shocking moment, really underlining just how high the stakes are this episode. However, while things got deadly serious in this episode, it still managed to bring a lot of fun.
Heat Wave's montage of memories with his daughter was delightful, especially with that quick Captain Cold reference snuck in.
Zari meeting the alternate timeline version of herself was especially fascinating and Tala Ashe deserves another round of applause for how well she plays two wholly different personality types for the same person.
Both Zaris have one thing in common, though — their love for their brother — and it's a shame that his death is something they both have in common as well. This episode was a real turning point for Zari, graduating from social media influencer to a full-on superhero.
The stakes have been firmly underlined this episode as it departs from weekly gimmicks. While it makes for a strong episode that shows that 'Legends of Tomorrow' hasn't forgotten how to be a straight-up superhero show, it hasn't forgotten how well it still balances the fun.
This episode may signal a darker turn for the series—- but it's not run out of laughs, yet.
The next episode of 'DC's Legends of Tomorrow' airs on April 28 on The CW.