Legends Of Tomorrow, S2E3

“Shogun” is the first filler episode of this season of Legends of Tomorrow, but it’s a thoroughly enjoyable one. Reeling from the loss of Rex Tyler, Amaya stows away on the Waverider in order to confront the Legends. Instead she becomes a part of the team and winds up developing a bond with Sara and, more surprisingly, Mick. Meanwhile Ray and Nate’s heroic mettle is tested as they’re temporarily marooned in Feudal Japan, and Martin and Jax learn some secrets about the ship that the show isn’t ready to share with the audience yet.

Sara and Amaya team up for the greater good.

Though the episode opens with Amara’s sneak attack on the Legends, her quest to find Rex’s killer is not the biggest story this week. It did, however, give us more insight into her backstory as well as provide a better look at Mick’s personality. Mick challenges Amaya’s perception of what a hero should be without even trying, while her steady character inspires him to step up when necessary. One of their final moments revolves around the existence of ninjas, and yet it feels like a triumphant breakthrough for both. Her scenes with Sara are also charming, as the two women quickly confide in one another and are even fighting in tandem by the episode’s end. Regardless, story this week mostly serves to tease the season-long arc and introduce the latest hero on the team: Citizen Steel.

Ray must defeat his own armor.

Nate realizes his new powers – and introduces them to the team – by knocking Amaya out at the start of the hour. But even though he is the eyes through which Feudal Japan is viewed, Legends of Tomorrow is actually more focused on Ray at the moment. The question of who Ray Palmer is without his Atom armor has been building since the premiere, and it finally comes to a head when he is forced to train Nate to use the very same powers he had hoped to gain for himself. Once again, he learns that it is the man who makes the armor and not the reverse, but the question remains how he will fight alongside his teammates if his Atom suit is permanently destroyed. Presumably he will construct something new, but hopefully we see him continue to prove himself in the meantime.

Nate spends most of the episode being taken care of by a young Japanese woman named Masako and her father, and he eventually convinces the other Legends to help him protect her and her village from the local shogun. The romance between them is unnecessary, but it is very sweet. More importantly, it leads to an exciting present-day connection when Masako’s last name is revealed to be Yamashiro. I was concerned about the team coming in and acting like saviors to helpless villagers, but Masako and her father were both well-developed characters and Nate handing her the katana at the end felt both poignant and earned.

Jax and Professor Stein take a back seat for most of the episode, but they do come upon a rather interesting mystery. As Jax shows off his engineering skills and patches up the Waverider, Gideon makes him aware of an extra compartment that Rip Hunter never told him about. Upon finding it, they receive a message from The Flash‘s Barry Allen – except the message is dated 2056. Barry pleads with Rip to keep what he’s about to say a secret, and it looks like it’ll be a secret from even the audience for the time being. Will it lead Legends of Tomorrow into the four-way crossover later this year, or is it some pertinent information about Eobard Thawne? It’s a tantalizing tease whatever the outcome.

Legends of Tomorrow was firing on all cylinders this week. “Shogun” had a wonderful balance of zany adventure, humor, and sympathetic character moments. The dialogue was especially strong this week, with several laugh out loud moments. Mick got a chance to shine for the first time all season, while Ray and Amaya each showcased new layers of their strengths and insecurities. Despite not moving the plot of the season forward much, the time spent in Feudal Japan did not feel wasted at all.