(Scenes from Legends of Tomorrow Season 6, Episodes 6 and 7)
While Mr. Rory and Kayla are appropriating the Waverider in space, the other Legends are dwelling at Mr. Constantine's manor. He himself is contending with having so many people around. The irony is that the house is large enough to accommodate them. Where am I in all of this? Well, since the sorcerer doesn't possess a computer or any form of modern technology, Captain Sharpe has connected me to a 1974 cathode ray tube (CRT) telly. Three months and two days later, she turns it on, requesting, "So, what do you got for me, Gideon? Any time anomalies?"
I'm still fine-tuning with the aesthetics and a few faulty components. "Yes, it seems a massacre by a patient of the alien variety has taken place at Endless Meadows Asylum in 1956."
"Perfect," the captain pleasantly expresses. "Anything to keep my mind off Sara's rescue mission." She has spoken too soon.
"Um…"
"'Um'?" Her forehead crinkles as she taps her hand on top of the telly. "Gideon, you don't 'um'. What's 'um'?"
"When admitted to the hospital, the patient gave the name 'Sara Lance'." Captain Sharpe is shocked to hear this. At that moment, I hear cacophonous guitar notes playing in another room. Loud clattering and banging suddenly intertwine with it.
"I'm okay," Dr. Heywood shouts. "Don't tell John!"
Once the captain's perturbation has dwindled, she rallies the other Legends into the lounge. I aptly bring them up to speed. "According to records, the patient flew into a manic episode during a procedure, causing a massacre. Victims were found with sting marks and exploded hearts."
"We never meet the chill aliens," Mr. Tarazi comments.
"Okay," Captain Sharpe declares, "so we need to find out what it knows and why it's using Sara's name."
Miss Cruz mentions, "We should probably also make sure this thing doesn't kill a bunch of people."
"Right."
Miss Logue supposes, "You could—and please believe me, I am not trying to get you all massacred—bring it back here." This is after she turned them into objects last month.
"Mmm," Dr. Heywood mulls. "Speaking purely as a house guest, is bringing a rampaging alien back to John's house something we should run by him first?"
"No, definitely not," the captain asserts. Though I'm knowingly outvoted, I disagree. She, Dr. Heywood, and Miss Cruz travel incognito to 1956 Hunter, New York via a smuggled time courier. They bring around the patient, who bears a striking resemblance to Amelia Earhart, and seclude it in one of the bedrooms upstairs. A while after that, Miss Tarazi and Mr. Constantine return from having a full English breakfast at a nearby chophouse. "Oh, nice one, love," he says to her. "You know, I thought I was gonna go batty in this madhouse." The sorcerer has made a premature conclusion as they notice the sign "Welcome to Shady Acres Sanitarium" hanging over the balcony. "What in the bloody blazes has happened now? Astra!"
"Shhh!" She and the Legends are eating and monitoring the anomaly from the lounge. I can't see their faces because they have changed the channel, but I can still hear them.
"Who is that woman on my telly? Is that Amelia Earhart?"
"It's an alien shaped like Amelia Earhart that also used the name 'Sara Lance'," Mr. Tarazi discloses, "and she's totally knocked out on some pretty gnarly '50s 'ludes. We're waiting to see if she's gonna freak out and try to murder us when she detoxes."
His sister inquires, "Did you guys eat all the gluten-free mushrooms?"
"For the record, Captain, this plan is stupid," Miss Cruz opines. "Look, I say we go right in there and talk to it." Is this the same woman who is more trigger-happy? "Yeah, that's right. Turned a new leaf. Maybe I'm not a 'shoot first, ask questions later' kind of girl."
"Huh, that's great, Spooner," Captain Sharpe commends. "You're working on yourself. I am impressed."
"Yeah. Why just splat them when you can find out their deepest fears and exploit them?" Manipulation? How sneaky. Miss Logue is wickedly impressed.
"That was dark," Dr. Heywood states. "B, why don't you and Spooner go and play a little 'bad cop, Behrad cop', see if we get this Amelia talking?"
"I like your style, chief."
"Well, I'm off," Miss Logue expresses. "Something about watching a prisoner interrogated makes me nostalgic for the good old days back in Hell."
Captain Sharpe sighs in frustration. "It's gonna be fine," Dr. Heywood tells her. "Trust me."
She pleads under her breath, "Just please, please, please tell us where Sara is."
Mr. Tarazi and Miss Cruz disguise themselves as sanitorium workers. He serves the extraterrestrial a cup of tea. She aggressively draws the bedroom curtains open. The latter reacts to the bright sunlight with harsh hisses. "Rise and shine, mia."
"Baby steps," the former reminds the survivalist. He directs his accommodating nature back to the Amelia Earhart doppelganger. "Maybe we can get you those easy-wakey lamps. For now, there's tea."
She queries, "Tea?"
He sits directly across from her. "We're taking this nice and easy."
"Where… am I?"
"You're at Shady Acres, the chilliest sanitarium there is." While Mr. Tarazi confers with her, he soon notices the replica uneasily peering at Miss Cruz. "Oh, don't mind her. We're just here to ask you a few questions."
"What kind of questions?"
"Easy ones."
Miss Cruz slams her hands on the table in intimidation. "Do you ever get the urge to freak out and attack people?"
Mr. Tarazi implicitly warns her to compose herself by yanking her coat. "What she meant to ask is, why do you use the name 'Sara Lance'?"
"'Sara Lance'. Doesn't ring a bell." The doppelganger addresses the survivalist, "I don't think I like you very much. You're not very nice." Yet, she holds up the empty teacup, quoting Oliver Twist, "May I have some more?" Miss Cruz refills it with tea reluctantly.
"Say, how did you end up at Endless Meadows?"
"Wish I had an answer for you. Last thing I remember, I was soaring over the Pacific. Me and my navigator, Fred, almost done our flight around the globe."
"That does sound like something the actual Amelia Earhart would say," Dr. Heywood says.
"Or she's just a very good shapeshifter," Captain Sharpe deduces.
The blitzed resident begins sniffing the unsettled survivalist. Mr. Tarazi resumes speaking, "Well, the important thing is you're back in one piece, right?"
The former drawls, "Don't know if I can say that about my plane back."
"She's got to be talking about the pod," Dr. Heywood surmises.
"Right," the captain agrees. "Guys, find out where its pod is." Mr. Tarazi follows her lead. According to the suspect, she has landed it at 37 Locust Street, Rye, New York.
"I love when aliens give exact addresses."
"Yeah." She informs the others, "Okay, keep it calm and friendly. We're gonna go check out the pod." Captain Sharpe and Dr. Heywood survey that exact location. Meanwhile, the resident now appears to be livelier. She reiterates her story over and over. Miss Cruz notifies Mr. Tarazi that she has dosed the second cup of herbal tea with caffeine pills. "At least she's not freaking out, right? I can try to read her mind once she settles down."
"Blacked out. Strangest plane I have ever seen." "Amelia Earhart" restlessly approaches them, saying, "You can never know what a person is really thinking, even if you open their brain."
"Yes," Mr. Tarazi confirms. "That's technically true, Amelia."
"Just keep her calm, right," Miss Cruz whispers. "She's under no threat."
Suddenly, the door flies open and an irate Captain Sharpe storms in. She confronts the caffeinated patient. "You! Drop the pretense and start talking."
"Whoa!" Mr. Tarazi ventilates, "I thought we weren't supposed to rile up the residents."
"She stole the Waverider! She's from the planet where Rory took the ship."
The survivalist quickly restrains the captain. "Ava, I wouldn't do that. She's pretty awake now. She's definitely awake."
Captain Sharpe continues provoking the mindlessly grinning doppelganger. "How the hell did you get our ship? Tell me where Rory and Sara are!" She pushes her to the floor. "Where the hell is Sara?!" Soon, "Amelia Earhart" shows her elongated tongue and attacks the . Mr. Tarazi briefly subdues the former with his totem, but Miss Cruz's tranquilizers put her into sedation.
"Get tranq'd, Greeny," she mutters. Afterwards, they secure her prior to returning downstairs. The survivalist insists, "I know that's an alien, but I just can't sense it." Mr. Constantine proposes using a spell that can incite repressed memories. He warns that he has only used it on humans.
"Okay, fine," Captain Sharpe concedes. "But we'll do it back at the Waverider where Gideon can help us if anything goes wrong." She slaps the palm of her hand on the top of the telly, causing the channel to revert to my face.
I comply, "Splendid." The sorcerer recommends enlisting the services of Miss Logue as his new apprentice. The captain instructs the others to convey the replica onto the ship. Less than an hour later, I'm reinstalled to my familiar spot.
Mr. Constantine and Miss Logue are strapping the catatonic pilot to a gurney in the dim lab. A lamp is overhanging her head. "When you mine the depths of another psyche," he advises her, "move swiftly and deliberately."
"A little space, John."
"If your concentration wanders, distracted by some fleeting memory of an ancient alien world, then you'll do irreparable damage to her mind and yours."
She pointedly turns to look at him. "The only person distracting me right now is you."
"Apologies, love," he affirms, feeling humbled.
"Yeah, I can do this," Miss Logue exhales. "Got the greatest magic tutor in the world."
"Seems like a big deal," Miss Cruz claims as she and Captain Sharpe arrive. "Why don't you just handle it yourself, John?"
"Yeah. No offense, Astra," the latter seconds, "but if this can go bad, rather let the expert do it."
"No danger. Not at all," Mr. Constantine maintains. "How is Astra gonna learn, anyway?"
"All right, showtime," Miss Logue remarks. She performs the spell, which affects the electricity on board. The pilot's eyes open upon impact. "It feels like a real Amelia Earhart memory. She's setting off on a journey around the world, the thrill of defying the odds."
"I'm-I'm confused," the survivalist discloses. "It's an alien, ain't it? Shouldn't its memory be about its home planet?"
"In the clouds, she's perfectly free. Then a bright light, unconsciousness. She's on an operating table against her will. Someone is experimenting on her, altering her. She has escaped; she's ostracized. She doesn't know where she is. She's intensely alone. She does what she can to survive." As more of her memories are uncovered, Amelia Earhart's grunts become more forceful.
Captain Sharpe utters, "Where's Sara? Astra, we need to know if she's seen her."
The sorcerer disputes, "Oh, this creature, Amelia, she's exhausted. We should end this right now."
"John, we need to know."
"She has a visitor," Miss Logue divulges. "Sara Lance."
"Did you say Sara?" Yes. The captain smiles a bit. "Is she okay? What is she doing?"
"Trying—There's some sort of divide in her memories, a firewall I can't cross."
"Push through, Astra. Please, we need more."
"I'm trying to push past—I'm fighting—Bound. Breaking free. Anger! Attack!" Simultaneously, Amelia Earhart's human appearance is irrevocably flayed. In her place is a feral extraterrestrial.
"Sever the link," Mr. Constantine obtests. "Sever the link!" Releasing itself from its fetters, the snarling alien unleashes its fury onto the lab. It disarms Miss Cruz of her weapon and screeches at her. Undaunted, she responds in the same way. Captain Sharpe grabs the survivalist and flees along with the sorcerer, who drags a worn-out Miss Logue out. He accesses the security lock on the lab's doors.
In the parlour, Miss Cruz drinks a glass of whiskey. She watches the surveillance footage of the ongoing rampage alone. Mr. Tarazi finds her. "Word to the wise: Gideon's mezcal is high-grade toilet water." I take light offense.
"I never drink it. Mezcal, I mean. Or toilet water." He sits on the table's edge. "You seem down, bad cop. You wanna talk?"
"Look, you don't wanna be friends with me. It'd make killing me that much harder."
He jokes, "So, you figured out my secret plan to kill the Legends?"
"No." The survivalist points at the raging creature. "That thing stated out human. Something took it out, and now—"
"Hey, Spoon," Mr. Tarazi reassures, "you're not like Amelia, okay? We did the scans."
She faces him, recollecting, "I spoke its language today. I've never done that before. My powers have been growing ever since I joined y'all." Miss Cruz stands up amidst her dismay. "What are you gonna do if I don't just talk like them anymore? What if I start to fight like them, sting like them?"
"Let me tell you a secret. It's the only way I survived in this job. Don't think about your past, and don't think about your future. You have to live in the now. I know it seems crazy to say on a time machine, but the past and the future don't really exist. There's only right here and right now."
His words soothe Miss Cruz's concerns. "Thanks, B."
"Oh, and word to the wise, Gideon's blueberry kush is…" His nonverbal communication indicates favorability. Much appreciated, Mr. Tarazi. As he leaves, the survivalist returns to her seat. She unexpectedly loses her smile and rushes out.
In the library, Mr. Constantine guards a resting Miss Logue on the couch. Miss Tarazi shows up and asks about them both. While he guarantees his apprentice's recovery, he is feeling insufferable. He laments how the other Legends nearly destroyed his manor. Complaints aside, his girlfriend supposes the sorcerer's encouragement of Miss Logue because he lacks the power to do the task. The latter wakes up, validating the assumption. She admits taking the lead as she had enough of playing second fiddle. Furthermore, Mr. Constantine owes her a favor. To ensure Miss Tarazi that "everything's perfectly normal for him", he snaps his fingers, igniting his thumb. She playfully lets her beau know she has "other uses" for him before leaving. Unbeknownst to her, Miss Logue has recited the spell to cover for Mr. Constantine.
Miss Tarazi finds Miss Cruz wincing in the corridor. "Spoons, you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." She walks past her without saying anything.
The latter continues on her way, commenting, "Everyone's being weird today." The survivalist, despite the impending risks, advances towards the lab. She unlocks the doors and enters with a flashlight. The alien, formerly known as Amelia Earhart, snarls at her. They converse in its language; five minutes in, the survivalist becomes livid and fights it. The swift alien manages to subdue her; however, the captain finishes it off before it can critically harm Miss Cruz. Miss Tarazi stands not far behind. The survivalist hastily stands up.
"It spoke of Sara," Captain Sharpe dreadfully verifies. "What did it tell you?"
Miss Cruz grimly responds in English, "I'm so sorry. It killed her." The solemn captain nods her head a few times prior to crying effusively. Miss Tarazi holds her friend in comfort. Captain Sharpe inconsolably sequesters herself in her quarters. Captain Lance's demise shadows the alien attack on the Waverider. I've calculated the probability in which her abduction is averted. The results are disappointingly inauspicious.
When humans experience severe heartbreak, they undergo depression, insomnia, and a loss of appetite. Captain Sharpe has been exhibiting these symptoms for 6 hours and counting. She lies in bed among twenty-five used tissues, alternatively sobbing while looping David Bowie's video of Captain Lance. Knowing that night was the last time she saw her worsens her affliction.
I notify Dr. Heywood about the captain's condition. He requests me to make her favorite quiche, which he carries along with a bowl of fruit salad to her quarters. The door is open; he knocks on its hinge. Captain Sharpe doesn't fully acknowledge him, but she pauses the video. "Just wanted to check up on you. Gideon said you haven't eaten."
She sniffles, "Not hungry."
"Hey, but you gotta eat." Please?
"What's the point? She's gone, Nate. I'm just… I'm just done, okay?"
"Okay, well, if you need anything, I'm here for you, too. We all are."
"Thanks. How's everybody else doing?"
"They're grieving in their own way." After he leaves, the captain replays the footage. I disapprove of how she is mentally torturing herself.
In the galley, Misses Cruz and Logue as well as Mr. Constantine are passing around a bottle of my "high-grade toilet water" mezcal. "How is she," Miss Tarazi asks the rebounding Dr. Heywood.
He places the rejected food tray on the counter. "Worse. She still won't eat."
"What about that bloody video," the sorcerer inquires.
"Still watching it on a loop."
"We gotta do something," the survivalist voices.
Miss Tarazi disagrees, suggesting, "We just need to give her some space. When I lost Behrad, that's what I needed."
Dr. Heywood incidentally looks around. "Speaking of, where is B?"
"He won't leave the lab," Miss Cruz replies. "He's taking Sara's death almost as hard as Ava."
"All right. So, we'll give Ava space, but, as your reluctant default interim captain, I am ordering the rest of us to stay together for moral support. I'll go get B."
"You know what? I'll come with," Miss Tarazi offers. "Consider me your reluctant default interim co-captain."
"What about Rory," the survivalist queries to Mr. Constantine. "If Sara's dead, then…"
"Mick Rory is like a cockroach," he answers. "The bugger will survive anything." In a manner of speaking, Mr. Rory has withstood his share of obstacles.
Dr. Heywood and Miss Tarazi enters the lab, but Mr. Tarazi isn't there. His "thinking music" is playing in the background. "Gidget, where's my brother?"
"He's not on the Waverider," I inform them.
Dr. Heywood picks up a piece of rolled-up cannabis from the ashtray on Mr. Tarazi's desk. He sniffs the burnt end. "This is his thinking weed."
Miss Tarazi tries to assess his contemplation. "As your reluctant default interim co-captain, we need to work on our shorthand because I don't understand what you're saying." They stumble upon an intricate equation on the whiteboard. The words "Back to the Finale Part II" are enclosed in a circle surrounded with arrows. "Oh no."
"Guys, we need backup." A potted Mr. Tarazi intends to revisit the night the Legends celebrated their victory against the Fates. "Oh no" is correct. The other Legends immediately prime themselves for 1977 London. "Gideon, stay with Ava." I accede to Dr. Heywood's order. Besides, I literally have nowhere else to go.
I preserve my vigilance of Captain Sharpe for the next few hours. Her refusal to break her fast is sustained. She has ceased her sobs after using a total of eighty-nine tissues. However, she is disinclined to rehydrate herself. A minimal amount of conversation between us is also present. Consequently, the captain doesn't know what the other Legends are up to. I only deviate from my supervision when Mr. Tarazi reappears on board. He entreats me to run a reverse model based on the disbursement of the alien pods. I execute it, though his plan is the onset of a looming ripple effect. Mr. Tarazi also collects a mannequin, a wig, a dress, some cosmetics, and a box of explosives prior to portaling back to 1977. Not desiring to learn the outcome, I refrain from eavesdropping on the Legends.
Captain Sharpe has watched David Bowie's video 136 times. I finally convince her to rehydrate. She sits erect on the bed for the first time today. The bereft captain is about to do her 137th viewing when a sudden interference occurs. "Gideon, what's happening?"
"My apologies, Captain Sharpe. It appears that the file has been corrupted." While this isn't good, I'm glad her nonstop viewing is terminated.
"No, no, no." She begins excessively pressing buttons on the controller to no avail. The captain lowers it as the static noise prolongs. I turn off the monitor without waiting for her to ask.
Unexpectedly, I spot the source of the video's infection standing in the doorway. "Ava?"
Captain Sharpe slowly lifts her head upon hearing the presumably deceased Captain Lance. "Is it really you?"
"Yeah, babe. It's me."
She sniffles but continues to look ahead. "I don't want to turn around because I'm afraid, if I do, you'll disappear."
Irrespective of this, Captain Lance walks closer to her. Her girlfriend inhales as she feels her hair being tucked gingerly behind her ear. The latter grasps the former's hand and slides hers up her forearm. "I'm not going anywhere ever again. I promise." Doing exactly what she's afraid to do, Captain Sharpe exhales upon seeing her estranged partner standing right behind her.
"Oh!" They hug as if they were apart for a century or even a millennium. "Are you okay?"
Captain Lance grins and caresses her co-captain's face. "I am now."
"I can't believe this." Neither can I, Captain Sharpe. The two captains fervently kiss and collapse onto the bed, while I discard my invalidated calculations.
I discover Mr. Green and Mr. Rory sauntering out in the corridors. The former claims, "Ava will want to know I'm okay too."
"No, she won't," the latter refutes prior to yanking him in the opposite direction. There's truly no need to disturb the captains.
"Do the rest of the Legends know you're here," Captain Sharpe inquires after they've made up for lost time.
"Not that you mention it," Captain Lance counters, "it's eerily quiet."
"Maybe they went to John's."
"Oh, nope. I know exactly where they went." Contrast to what Mr. Green has said, the co-captain is unsurprisingly cross at him upon encountering the men in the corridors. He takes accountability for his prior actions. In addition, Captain Lance and Mr. Rory avouch how the bespectacled offender did help get the former back to the Waverider. Captain Sharpe accepts his apology, especially since she hasn't forgotten how Miss Cruz was "recruited". Overall, Mr. Green's loyalty to the Legends is discernably unwavering albeit contested. I'll still be keeping an eye on him.
Upon landing the ship in Woolwich Common, the exact area it was parked four months ago, the warmly dressed foursome disembark to reunite with the others. I can predict how they will react. The Legends haven't been the same without Captain Lance. Speaking of whom, their recurrence is delayed for an unknown reason. It is during a quick read on their earpieces that I overhear the captain saying this:
"When I was up there in space, floating further and further away, I realized something. No matter where I go or when I am, I will never be lost because I have you. You are my North Star. You are my guiding light, and wherever you lead me, that's my home. Ava Sharpe, will you marry me?"
I initially assume the volume is turned off due to the pending silence. Instead, Captain Sharpe's answer loudly and clearly rings through the speakers. "Yes, yes! Yes, baby!" I soon detect an explosion in the far distance. Extravagant flares are soaring towards the sky. Recognizing the pyrotechnics as Mr. Tarazi's handiwork, I contently watch the spectacle unfolding. Last night was one of the worst. Tonight is one of the best.