“Pilot: Part 2” is episode two of season one of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.
In the first episode, “Pilot: Part 1”, Rip Hunter admitted a few things to those he had recruited – when a time travelling bounty hunter called Chronos turned up and opened fire on them, killing Dr Aldus Boardman, the man they had come to see. And who Kendra had insisted they take with them when she found out that Aldus was her and Carter’s son, from a former life. Hunter admitted that this wasn’t an official mission and those he had recruited weren’t legends – but actually people who wouldn’t be missed from the timeline in a hundred years. Hunter also admitted that this was personal for him; the woman and boy Savage killed at the beginning of the episode were his wife and son. Despite this, everyone decided to continue; for one thing, if they were changing the timeline anyway, maybe they could become legends. Boardman had also told his ‘parents’ that Savage had killed them originally, and now every time he kills them again, it fuels his immortality.
The Waverider arrives in Norway, on October 19th 1975. Rory complains that he doesn’t like flying, especially in whatever this thing is. It’s a timeship. Using Boardman’s notebook, Hunter has theorised that Savage will be here and if they capture him then Boardman won’t have died in vain. It would also be a very short series. Kendra wants to know why they can’t just go back and save their son; Hunter tells her that they can’t change events in which they participated, or time would fold in on itself, creating a temporal vortex. Which Ray says sounds way cooler than it is.
Sara wants to know what Savage is doing; according to Gideon, he is attending a large meeting of terrorists and fringe groups who have gathered to buy illegal arms. Rory comments that this sounds like a vacation. Snart states that arms dealers and terrorists aren’t exactly their kinds of people – but they are the next best thing. When the question arises as to what to wear to a black market arms bazaar, Hunter tells them that the Waverider has a fabrication room and Gideon can fashion temporally indigenous… fashion. Jackson comments that he has a room that makes clothing and Hunter replies ‘Doesn’t everyone?’ (Which sounds very reminiscent of a line from Doctor Who.)
Ray is talking about a plan when Snart interrupts him, asking if he has any experience in this type of thing before answering it himself with a thought not. Snart states that he is calling the shots when Hunter interrupts and asks if they’ve forgotten he’s in charge. Snart hasn’t forgotten; he just doesn’t care. Hunter tells them he is a Time Master; discrete alterations to the timeline is what he does. Rory points out that everything Hunter told them about the mission was a lie. Which is the sort of thing that doesn’t do much for someone’s trustworthiness. Hunter tells them that none of them have ever encountered before and that they are making a big mistake. To be told that they did that when they trusted him.
Sara, Stein, Snart and Rory are heading into the meeting as buyers. Sara notices that the guard on the door is checking credentials – and they don’t have any. Rory tells her to trust them, as they have this, and Snart bumps into someone. When Snart is asked for his ID, he hands over the one he just stole. The guard doesn’t think that Snart looks very Arabic though, and the name on the ID is. At which point Stein comes up and asks if there’s a problem, as he doesn’t like delays. He claims they are the operational arm of Scimitar and lists the things they have done. Professor Stein is pretty good at sounding dangerous; Rory says he’s a special kind of crazy – and that he likes it.
Jackson is with Carter and Kendra, disappointed that he isn’t inside. Snart tells him to hang back; when they see Savage they will bag him. One of the other people attending the auction is Damien Darhk. There’s no sign of Savage and the team is deciding they have made a mistake when Savage does appear. He isn’t attending the auction – he’s holding it. The item being auctioned is a variable yield nuclear warhead with a one megaton yield. Bidding opens at $100 million, and bidding is done by firing a gun into the air. Which does not seem like the safest thing to do at an illegal arms auction. Savage detects that Carter and Kendra are near and focuses on the others; Stein says that have to bid to blend in. So Rory shoots in the air. Sara asks what the problem is – the problem is no-one else is bidding. They have just bought a nuke for $125 million.
Darhk approaches and asks who they are. Stein replies that, as of a few seconds ago, he is a nuclear power. Darhk tells them that he doesn’t recognise them or their organisation, and he knows everyone. Savage comes over as well and the auctioneer points out that they still need to pay for the nuke. Stein says he wants to first confirm it’s genuine, as he’s uncertain they could have obtained enough fissionable material in this era. ‘Era’? Oops. Savage questions the term and Stein tells him it was a figure of speech. Savage, given that he announces that he will give a 25% discount to the organisation that brings him their heads, is not convinced by this response.
Rory asks if he can burn some stuff now and is told he can. Sara, Rory and Snart are doing very well at taking out anyone who approaches. This isn’t really Professor Stein’s area of expertise – but he has a miniaturised Atom in his pocket. Savage is watching what’s happening, and he’s smiling. Carter and Kendra swoop down on Savage to capture him, but he tells them that he doubts they can apprehend him – and stop a nuclear explosion. There’s a two minute countdown. Ray tries going inside but the counter goes down to 30 seconds. He says that there is a failsafe. Firestorm comes down to take the nuke and a piece gets knocked of Ray’s suit by someone he is fighting. Stein tells Jefferson that they need to get the nuke to a minimum safe distance. Then wait for the warhead to go off, at which point Jefferson will have 0.6 seconds to absorb the released energy. Which he does. Firestorm can absorb a nuclear explosion? That’s pretty impressive.
When they return to the Waverider, everyone is arguing over whose fault it was that things went wrong. It’s mentioned that at least there is one less nuclear device and Hunter gives them a slow crap. He is not impressed. He tells them that they have exposed their selves and powers to Savage, so have lost the element of surprise. But they have a larger problem. Savage sent one of his cronies back to the site of the auction., and Hunter asks them to guess what they found. Ray notices a bit missing from his suit and says ‘Woops.’ Hunter continues, saying that this element of technology from the future allowed Savage’s development team to develop a weapon far more destructive that anything in this time. And shows them a hologram of Central City on 2016 – in flames. Or, as Hunter states, what used to be called Central City; he has no idea what the neofascists who took control of it are calling it now. Yep, that’s definitely a woops. The others ask Hunter if they can correct this somehow and he tells them that this is Gideon’s forecast of the future. Time is like cement; it takes a bit to set permanently. They have until Savage’s development team manage to reverse-engineer the Atom technology. At which point this becomes history. Perhaps they should have listened to Hunter when he said he knew what he was doing when it came to changing the timeline discretely.
Carter is looking through Boardman’s – his son’s – things when Kendra comes in. She asks where their son is; he is in cryostorage in the med bay until they can properly bury him. She also asks what Carter is looking at. It’s a newspaper clipping that was in Boardman’s pocket, regarding a private collector who purchased a knife. Kendra says she’s seen the knife before – it’s the one Savage used to kill them in their first life.
To recover Ray’s tech before it can be reverse engineered means they have to find it. But they don’t know where he went. However, Ray says they don’t have to find Savage, just the missing bit of his suit. The suit shrinks because it’s made of an alloy which mimics the intermolecular compression of dwarf star material, and emits alpha particles. So they just need to track them. Only it’s said that alpha particles are unheard of in the 1970s (they weren’t) and they need a tracker (it’s not that simple; a piece of paper will stop the particles). Stein says that he was researching a way of tracking them, so they just need to talk to him. Well, 25 year old him (how come this ship from the future can’t track alpha particles?).
Kendra and Carter enter and tell the others about the dagger. They say that they learned in Central City (in “Legends of Today”) that an object associated with the night of their deaths can also be used to kill Savage. There’s an inscription that also needs translating. They need someone to steal the dagger and Snart says that okay, he will do it. Rory accompanies him and Ray says he will come as well. Snart says he already has a partner but Ray convinces them to let him go. Snart tells him not to drop any more future tech. Stein is heading for his lab as he was developing a particle tracker. Hunter tells him to take Sara and Jefferson to act as intermediaries and interacting with his past self could have catastrophic effects on Stein’s future.
So those three head to Ivy Town, in period-suitable clothing. Jefferson asks if people actually wore this crap; Stein says they also smoked a lot of pot in the 70s and it had a deleterious effect on the fashion from the era. Stein says it’s imperative they don’t let on they are from the future. Then sees his younger self and comments that he forgot how handsome he was. Young Stein comes over and asks Old Stein if he knows him. Stein replies no, introducing himself as Professor Elon Musk. Young Stein asks if he’s sure they haven’t before; his future self says no, but he’s very familiar with his work. That he is one of the leading experts in the field; he is corrected by himself who says he is the leading expert in the field. Sara starts flirting with Young Stein.
Kendra and Carter are trying to decipher the language on the dagger. Kendra hasn’t got her memory back yet and Gideon says it’s a language lost to the ages. Carter says it’s a language only known to the clergy; he may have his memories, but he never knew that language.
Savage is at a facility of his and he has concluded that those from the auction were not only not from around here – they are from the future. He’s told that’s impossible, but replies that so is immortality. One of his scientists says that the piece of the Atom suit is a miniaturised missile guidance system capable of deploying high explosive ordinance. Savage gives him 24 hours to reverse engineer it. The man starts explaining that it would take weeks, even months – which is pretty valid, given that it’s over four decades in advance – but Savage picks it up saying it looks simple enough to him. You just press this button… and zaps the man across the room. So, Savage is one of those bosses.
Young Stein is telling Sara, Old Stein and Jefferson that he will make a million dollars from his device. When he leaves, Stein is really embarrassed by his younger self. Sara says that she can’t believe that was him and Jefferson says he never knew Stein was cool. Stein replies that he wasn’t cool, he was an arrogant little snot. He also asks Sara to stop flirting with him when he comes back (time travel can mangle grammar) because this is right when he meets his future wife and doesn’t want to be tempted by a sexy assassin from the future.
The attempt to steal the knife starts going badly from the outset. Snart and Rory are discussing how to take out the security system when Ray says his parents had the same model and disarms it from a box. Only he hasn’t; that was a dummy. Which summons armed guards. When breaking into somewhere, and you have professionals along, listen to them. Inside things don’t go much better, especially when Snart and Rory start stealing everything. Things go further downhill.
All told, not a terribly successful mission. Lots of mistakes made, mostly because no-one on the team is really working as a team yet. Most don’t work in groups larger than two. Those who actually have the needed knowledge are not listened to. However, by the end, people finally start pulling in the same direction. It took a lot to get them to doing that though.