'Legends of Tomorrow' Season 5 Episode 13 Review: A rushed episode that shines in its quiet scenes
Spoilers for 'DC' Legends of Tomorrow' Season 5 Episode 13 'I Am Legends'
The Legends are about to embark on what may be their most fun episode yet. Scattered as a team and placed inside multiple television shows, parodying several at once, mixing meta with mischief while the fate of the world is at stake. It's peak 'Legends.' Unfortunately, that's not for another episode and what could have been a fun homage to zombie films instead makes this week's entire episode feel like a rushed setup for what comes next.
The Legends are about to activate the Loom of Fate with their recently gained immortality. Before they can get to that, the Fates summon a horde of zombies and Astra Logue (Olivia Swann) betrays the team. It's the first note of the episode's rushed quality, as both these events happen offscreen, with very little explanation. It feels like a scene from last episode was missed, or cut out, and the lack of proper explanation seems strange even for a show that rolls with its bizarreness as much as 'Legends' does.
The team isn't stuck in the past, they're trapped in England, without their ship, and a spontaneous zombie outbreak apparently has taken over most of Britain. Where have the zombies come from? Are they infecting real people? How much of Britain is infected and is the virus spreading? None of these questions are even addressed as the zombies are just an excuse for the Legends to do a perfunctory homage before they're all viciously and surprisingly murdered.
Where the episode's strength lies is in its more quiet moments. The relationship between Zari Tarazi (Tala Ashe) and John Constantine (Matt Reeves) is further developed, and despite what feels like a forced kiss scene, the chemistry between the two feels genuine. The Legends take a roundtable moment in the quiet before the storm that is a series highlight and regretfully doesn't last longer. Even Gary Green (Adam Tsekhman) and Astra get to share a heart-to-heart that is one of the few well crafted emotional beats that Astra's been allowed to have.
It's one of the season's rougher episodes. The death of the Legends should feel like it has more impact than it does, and the episode as a whole feels like it's merely meant to take the show from the last episode to the next instead of being an enjoyable watch in its own right. The zombie gimmick is a great homage for fans of the genre, but it ultimately turns out to be little else.
The next episode of 'DC's Legends of Tomorrow' airs on May 26 on The CW.