Legends Of Tomorrow
Season 2 Episode 14: “Moonshot”
Directed by Kevin Mock
Written by Grainne Godfree
Starring Arthur Darvill, Victor Garber, Brandon Routh, Caity Lotz, Franz Drameh, Dominic Purcell, Nick Zano, Maisie Richardson-Sellers
Created by Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Marc Guggenheim, Phil Klemmer, Sarah Schechter
The CW
Air Date: Tuesday, March 14th, 2017, 9:00pm

Last week on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, evil Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) said the overridecode to Gideon and plunges the timeship into a whirlwind that landed in Jurassic World. Luckily, Ray (Brandon Routh) still had all his knowledge and shelter from when he was stuck there. He advised Nate (Nick Zano) not to get with Amaya (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) because of her destiny. Sara and Jax (Caity Lotz, Franz Drameh) entered Rip’s brain to get the secret spear info. Inside, they found evil versions of the team and a flesh and blood Gideon. Sara found the real Rip and talked him into fighting for freedom.

Spoilers below.

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow 2.14 “Moonshot” review: The team goes to find Henry Haywood (Matthew MacCaull) in 1965, right after Rip gave him his piece of the Spear of Destiny, but no dice. They look for him in NASA records, and find him in the thick of the Apollo 13 mission.

Ray: “Could your grandfather get any cooler?”

Rip is feeling a little bit useless. They managed without him and are continuing to do so.

They go to April 13th, 1970 – Apollo 13. Commander Steel is the flight director of NASA. He punches Rip in the face. He and Nate (and Amaya) are happy to see each other. Steel was very clever. He hid his piece on the flag on the moon that Neil Armstrong planted. That was ingenious, but something is wrong in that nothing is wrong. Apollo 13 was not in trouble because of a tank explosion. They are in trouble because Thawne is on board. He incapacitates the other two astronauts.

Jax, Stein, and Mick stay behind and pretend to be British (Mick doesn’t talk). The rest, including Commander Steel, get in the timeship headed for the moon. Ray flies over and Thawne catches him. Commander Steel wants to go back to his wife and son in the past.

Ray and Thawne have a fight and they accidentally press a shiny red button. Ray crashes on the moon, and goes to retrieve the piece of spear, having tied Thawne up. He leaps to the flag, triumphant. Then they tell him he’s stranded. They sustained damage trying to protect Apollo 13.

Stein starts singing as a distraction, and Mick joins in. Mick Rory – stealing scenes with very few words.

Ray is doing his Matt Damon in The Martian impression. Thawne wants a deal. Help each other for now, then become enemies when safe. He tries to be friendly. He talks about Cisco and Caitlin.

Ray: “Legion of Doom doesn’t have Karaoke Fridays?” Thawne says he’s just trying to live.

Amaya tells Commander Steel the real risks in going back. Nate, in turn, tells Amaya to find out more about her family.

They are able to rescue Ray and Thawne. Stein tells Mick the Waverider has no power. There is danger in reentering the atmosphere. Thawne tells them 38 degrees. Someone has to open the door and sacrifice their life. Commander Haywood volunteered and Nate is devastated.

Thawne escapes and Ray holds him until he has to run to escape the time monster that’s chasing him. Nate gets to talk to his dad as a kid and give him some comforting words.

Amaya asks Gideon to show her her future.

This episode was fun. In addition to having an endearing ensemble cast, DC’s LoT makes time travel, lighthearted fare. Although messing with space and time can have severely dark effects (looking at you Commander Steel and Rip), this team lifts the heavy with the optimism and puns. Even pessimist Mick goes along, although he’s in it more for the risk.

Kudos to Nick Zano for the portrayal of the real outpouring of grief at the death of his grandfather. I felt it. It felt like This Is Us at that moment.

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow airs Tuesday nights at 9:00pm ET on The CW.

The CW’s synopsis:

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow
Moonshot (Ep# 214)
HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM — When the Legends track Commander Steel (guest star Matthew MacCaull) to NASA Headquarters in 1970, they learn where Nate’s (Nick Zano) grandfather hid the last fragment of the Spear of Destiny. The team notices a time aberration during the Apollo 13 mission and believes that the Legion of Doom might be involved. As the Legends journey into space to intercept Apollo 13, the Waverider suffers massive internal damage and Ray’s (Brandon Routh) life is left in jeopardy when he is stranded on the moon. Meanwhile, tension grows between Rip (Arthur Darvill) and Sara (Caity Lotz) as to who is the leader of the team. Victor Garber, Franz Drameh, Maisie Richarson-Sellers and Dominic Purcell also star. Kevin Mock directed the episode written by Grainne Godfree (#214). Original airdate 3/14/2017.

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Videos

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow | Inside DC’s Legends: Moonshot | The CW

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow | Moonshot Scene | The CW

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