“Abominations” is episode four of season two of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.
The episode opens with a small ship in the timestream, the pilot of which looks rather ill. He is contacting someone, saying that they are all dead. The heist went off easy and they got the TX90 from 2235 as contracted, but one of them got infected. The ship is currently crashing towards Earth. After the ship crashes into a field., the pilot awakens coughing, clearly very sick. He continues with his message, saying that he has activated the temporal beacon. He clambers out, saying he doesn’t know where or when he is. To be promptly surrounded by a bunch of armed Confederate soldiers. It’s Mississippi, 1863. Then the pilot changes.
In the previous episode, “Shogun”, Jax and Professor Stein had stumbled across a secret compartment on the ship – and found a message from Barry Allen decades in the future, one addressed to Rip. They are currently listening to it again, and Barry is saying that he can’t put any more lives in danger. Rip needs to keep this secret from the rest of the team. War is coming. At which point Jax turns it off, because they have listened to the message many times. Even though nothing more is known yet. Jax wants to know how many times they are going to listen to it; Stein replies until it makes sense. Apparently it doesn’t as yet.
Sara contacts them – they haven’t told the others yet – and Stein sounds a bit strange when he answers. She wants them to come to the library. They have the message from the crashed ship, a time pirate. They need to rescue a time pirate, in case he ends up somewhere he shouldn’t and does something he shouldn’t, causing an aberration. Well… that’s probably happened.
In 1863, Ray tells everyone that this is the bloodiest year in American history, and they should watch their backs. Sara wants Ray to watch from inside the Waverider, as the Atom suit had to be destroyed, because it was being worn by a Japanese warlord. The professor suggests Jax stays behind – to keep Ray company. Although it probably has more to do with the time period and Jackson’s skin colour. Jax tells Stein that he has been black his entire life and can’t think of a single time period where he would not face racism (there are probably more than a few).
With Ray behind on the ship, the others discover the crashed ship and Mick torches it. Jax says that this is one of their easiest missions ever, nicely jinxing things. At which point they hear someone shouting for help. The professor tells Jax that he had to say it. There’s a man running being chased by Confederate soldiers and, despite supposedly not interfering with historical events, the decision is made to save the man and Firestorm blasts the Confederates.
Nate realises that the man they saved is dispatch, a former slave who provides information to the Union army. The man’s name is Henry Scott from Trenton, New Jersey. Then behind Scott the Confederates start getting back up again. Only they do not look normal. The professor says not to say it but as the Confederates rush them, it is said – they are zombies. Stein knows that zombies are a myth but he has an irrational fear of them. Given the myth just attacked them, perhaps not so irrational. Unfortunately Scott was injured and he tells them his orders before he dies.
When they return to the Waverider, Ray had missed things going wrong. TX90 is a futuristic bioweapon whose effects are similar to, well, zombies. Then Mick collapses and has to be taken to medbay. The future has already changed – the Union surrenders. Not just because of the zombies but because Scott was going to steal the Confederate battle plans from a plantation and take them to General Ulysses S. Grant. So Grant won the Battle of Champion Hill. It needs fixing and Jax says that he will fix it – there is a reason why blacks were used as spies. Because they are invisible. Sara doesn’t want Jax to go alone, so Amaya accompanies him.
Sara and Nate head towards the Union army; he tells her to let him do the talking. Because his male and, well, time period. Then Union soldiers surround them. Time to talk. Jax and Amaya arrive at the plantation just in time to find the master about to whip one of his slaves. Amaya wants to intervene, but Jax says they can’t blow the mission. Whatever their personal preferences. Mick is strapped to a bed in medbay and he asks Ray to fix him. Ray injects him with a vaccine. Which doesn’t work. Mick breaks free and Ray and Stein flee the room, Ray trying to stun Mick as they leave.
In Grant’s camp Nate is a bit excited as he did his sophomore thesis on the Civil War. He tells Sara that amongst the combatants on both sides were 300 women in drag. They are taken to see the general, who thinks they are Confederate spies. Nate claims he is a Union colonel – Sanders – but this doesn’t work. Sara says they aren’t Union, but they aren’t spies wither. Grant’s company is in danger from a horde of zombies. An unfamiliar term; according to Nate it won’t be understood for another 70 years. Sara admits it’s hard to explain and easier to show. She leaves, but if Sara is not back for any reason, they can feel free to shoot Nate.
Professor Stein is freaking out onboard the Waverider; Rory was threatening enough before he came one of the walking dead. And his fear of zombies is not irrational. Ray reassures him that Mick will be knocked out. Besides, if Stein doesn’t help and Ray gets bitten, the professor will end up facing two zombies.
Jax has sneaked into the plantation building disguised as the ‘help’ – a slave – and Amaya has remained outside. She isn’t happy about not helping the woman. Inside, Jax bumps into one of the guests, grabs her hand and apologises. The plantations master, Collins, is not happy about Jax touching the woman’s hand and addressing her directly. Nor at the insinuation he might be a liar. Nor at Jax walking off. In Grant’s camp, Nate is still trying to explain zombies and Grant is asking what one is. At which point Sara returns with a severed zombie head to show the general. On the ship, Stein and Ray are outside medbay. Not thinking to ask Gideon what Mick might be doing. They open the door to medbay. Which is empty. As the professor points out, if Mick was unconscious – wouldn’t he be there?
Grant’s camp is under attack and he cannot spare any more sharpshooters; he has to think of the battle to come. They will be out of ammo by dawn. Sara contacts the Waverider, but Ray and the professor have been chased into the galley by the infected Mick. So backup from there is out. Jax has been taken to be chained up by Collins – who hits Jax in the face before he leaves, knocking out his earpiece.
So, Sara and Nate are in a camp under attack by infected Confederate soldiers. Jax is currently chained up finding that there are definite degrees of racism. Stein and Ray are trying to deal with the infected Mick – and, of course, all the main lights are currently out. Because how can you have a zombie in a spaceship if it’s brightly lit? There also ends up being a plea for, if the person is dead, that they stay that way. Sara also gets some leadership advice from General Grant.