Legends of Tomorrow cast picks the must-watch episodes for a quick binge
Can you believe it's been almost a year since we last journeyed through the timeline with the lovable screw-ups of DC's Legends of Tomorrow? To celebrate the CW superhero dramedy's long-awaited return, EW is launching Six Days of Legends. For the rest of the week leading up to the season 6 premiere on May 2, we're debuting new content tied to the show — from an exclusive new trailer, to interviews with the cast and creators, and more. Now you may be asking yourself, "Why now? Is there some major milestone coming up this season?" Well, to that we say, "Why not?"
Getting into DC's Legends of Tomorrow can be rather daunting. For one, the timey-wimey Arrowverse spin-off already has five seasons under its belt with a sixth one premiering this Sunday, which is a lot of television to get through. More importantly, though, the show has evolved so much over the course of its run.
Starring Arrowverse alums like Caity Lotz (Sara Lance/White Canary), Brandon Routh (Ray Palmer/Atom), and Dominic Purcell (Mick Rory/Heatwave), the show essentially began as a form of brand extension and followed this unlikely group of heroes, led by time-traveler Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill), as they chased an immortal madman around the timeline. However, Legends abandoned that premise (and a few characters) after season 1 and quickly started transforming into the idiosyncratic, heartfelt, pop culture-devouring, and plushy beast that it is today. (Think Community meets Doctor Who.) Sure, Legends is still a show about screw-ups defending the timeline, but nowadays, they go about that in the weirdest and often most-absurd way possible. In other words, starting from the pilot may not necessarily be the best place to start if you want to fall in love with the show.
But don't worry, because the Legends are here to help you. In the video above, showrunner Phil Klemmer and stars Caity Lotz, Jes Macallan (who plays Ava Sharpe), Olivia Swann (Astra), and Adam Tsekhman (Gary) pick their must-watch episodes for a Legends of Tomorrow quick binge — and you can check out their picks below, too.
"Aruba-Con" (Season 3, Episode 1)
Lotz advises you skip the first two seasons and jump right to the the third season premiere, which finds the Legends disbanded and working civilian jobs because Rip replaced them with the bureaucratic and less chaotic Time Bureau. "It is a lot of fun, and it is the first time that Sara and Ava meet," says Lotz, hinting at Sara and Ava's eventual coupling.
"Beebo God of War" (Season 3, Episode 8)
Picking up after the Arrowverse's 2017 crossover "Crisis on Earth-X," "Beebo God of War" finds the team mourning the death of one of their own. But in classic Legends fashion, the situation is way more complicated and wackier than that. The Legends end up crossing paths with a younger version of their fallen friend after he accidentally time travels to 1000 AD and gets captured by vikings while trying to buy popular Tickle-Me Elmo-like toy named Beebo. Of course, the vikings are in awe of this advanced technology and start worshipping the animatronic toy as god — and thus Legends' adorable mascot was born.
"If you don't understand Beebo, then you don't understand Legends," says Macallan, with Lotz referring to Beebo as the "star of the show."
"The Curse of the Earth Totem" (Season 3, Episode 12)
"312, because Sara and Ava go on their first date, and there may or may not be a first kiss. And everyone loves a first kiss," says Lotz about this entry, which also features pirates!
"I, Ava" (Season 3, Episode 16)
"This is really fun episode where we travel to the future in Vancouver, British Columbia — where we shoot the show — and learn about Ava's past as a clone," says Tsekhman, "We meet lots of different Avas and we have a cool Ava-on-Ava-on-Ava-on-Ava-on-Ava fight scene, which is really wacky and really fun."
"The Good, The Bad and the Cuddly" (Season 3, Episode 18)
"Beebo returns. This time not as a cuddly plush toy, but as a massive, Godzilla-sized avatar of the Legends, who use these magical totems to create a love energy that manifests itself as this big, giant, furry Beebo guy who kills a demon," says Klemmer. "I'm sure that makes perfect sense. You feel like you've seen it already."
"The Virgin Gary" (Season 4, Episode 1)
"This episode, we travel to Woodstock in the '60s where we meet a unicorn, a hallucinogenic spewing unicorn from Hell who will eat your heart out," says Tsekhman.
"Legends of To-Meow-Meow" (Season 4, Episode 8)
Macallan, Tsekhman, and Klemmer all agree season 4's genre-hopping midseason finale is a must-watch. After Constantine (Matt Ryan) and Charlie (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) break the timeline and thus all of reality, each act of the episode explores what would've happen if Charlie never joined the Legends, leading to hilarious parodies of Charlie's Angels and The A-Team and the Legends as puppets.
"Mortal Khanbat" (Season 5, Episode 5)
Directed by Lotz, "Mortal Khanbat" homages John Woo movies and pits the Legends against a resurrected Genghis Khan intent on conquering the world once again.
"We have Genghis Khan on a scooter in the '90s, bullet-time. There's Purgatory, there's Hell. It's action-packed, it's mad, it doesn't let up," says Swann.
"Ship Broken" (Season 5, Episode 11)
"All of the Legends are trapped on a broken ship, there's a dog involved, people are dying," says Swann. "There's mystery, intrigue, whodunnit. They're on a ship in space. Again, madness and crazy."
"The One Where We're Trapped on TV" (Season 5, Episode 14))
After season 5's big bads rewrite history and create a dystopian Brazil-like world void of free will, the Legends find themselves trapped on various TV shows (parodies of Friends, Downton Abbey, and Star Trek). Come for the meta gags, but stay for the hour's very poignant climax. (EW named this one of the best episodes of 2020.)
"You've got three episodes of TV and one classic film all within one episode of television. Can you beat that? Of course, you can't beat that," says Tsekhman.
Additional viewing
And if you loved those episodes, EW suggests you check out the following:
"Raiders of the Lost Art" (Season 2, Episode 9)
"Moonshot" (Season 2, Episode 14)
"Here I Go Again" (Season 3, Episode 11)
"Wet Hot American Bummer" (Season 4, Episode 4)
"Séance and Sensibility" (Season 4, Episode 11)
"Mr. Parker's Cul-de-Sac"/"Romeo v Juliet: Dawn of Justness" (Season 5, Episodes 6 and 7")
DC's Legends of Tomorrow returns Sunday at 8 p.m. on The CW.
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