Following the triumphant reunion of last week’s “Back to the Finale: Part II,” this Legends of Tomorrow episode includes a desperate bid for “normalcy.” Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) is anxious over being a human-alien-clone hybrid, and although her co-captain fiancé Ava (Jes Macallan) is expectedly understanding about this outburst, Sara wants to keep it quiet from the team for a “classic Legends romp.” She even distracts Spooner (Lisseth Chavez) from detecting her stray alien signals by hilariously rushing through a classic Legends briefing.
The mission even takes them to the Wild West, a setting that Legends has frequently gone to before. Although the notorious outpost of “Fist City” turns out so sanitized and “normal” it becomes abnormal again, as any discontent and “rage” summons an alien worm to swallow residents from beneath (ala Tremors). “Stressed Western” somewhat stumbles with its premise, but it does provide the team space to work out their issues as they try (and fail) to keep their emotions in check.
When the Legends arrive at the outpost, the scene seems poised for a typical rowdy saloon brawl after accidentally spilling somebody’s drinks. But instead, the patron is courteous and buys them all root beers, with alcohol (alongside gambling, swearing, and fornication) not permitted in Fist City. Instead of being a den of dangerous outlaws like Red Dead Redemption or Deadwood, Fist City is full of buoyant, singing cowboys similar to Paint Your Wagon or The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.
This is thanks to outlaw Levi Stapleton who had become the new sheriff, controlling the crash-landed alien worm (which also poops out gold) to swallow up any aggressors or vices. Although why a degenerate outlaw would want to create a puritanical town remains unclear. Nor do the other residents appear particularly coerced into the smiling hoedowns or singing narration. It’s a fun subversion of familiar Western tropes, tying into the episode’s theme of ludicrously asserting “normalcy,” but the backdrop does feel underdeveloped.
Perhaps there’s a racial component. Stapleton “poses” as the righteous Marshall, while Bass Reeves – a historical self-freed slave who became the first Black Marshall of the Wild West, his arrests so prolific he allegedly inspired the Lone Ranger – is “wanted” and hiding out in the woods. Bass Reeves appears like an anachronism, conflicting with a white-washed account of history, despite actually being real.
He is played by Arrowverse alumni David Ramsey (John Diggle in Arrow), who also directed “Stressed Western.” Reeves gets disappointingly little to do in the episode, but Ramsey does handsomely direct it, including a Coen Brothers inspired shot when Stapleton shoots Sara right through the head in a duel. Don’t worry, her new alien DNA lets her quickly recover.
Despite the trouble-free town feeling underdeveloped, it does provide a solid setting for the Legends to work out their issues, even if (or because of) them trying to keep them pressed beneath the surface. Sara and Ava, for instance, try to pretend everything is “normal” and ignore Sara’s traumatic time away. But little moments, like Sara’s sudden craving for cherry milkshakes, or the bigger moment of being shot in the head, make Ava stressed about their new situation. “Stressed Western” doesn’t push this conflict too far, but that only makes it come across as the most realistic.
More forced is Astra (Olivia Swann) and Spooner’s tension, who are explicitly put in the “buddy system” to work through their issues. Spooner is still reluctant to embrace her alien-antenna powers – even wearing her tinfoil cowboy hat again – while Astra seeks out trouble and is baffled by Spooner not using every asset to her advantage. Their clash seems sudden and exaggerated, with Astra even pushing Spooner for not using her powers sooner, but it does eventually settle into a more harmonious pairing when they bond over their shared dead mothers.
Behrad (Shayan Sobhian) also starts flirting with Astra (hinted at in previous episodes), inviting commentary for his overbearing sister Zari (Tala Ashe) who warns him of his penchant for “bad girls.” The Tazari siblings have struggled with sharing the spotlight (as brought up in “Meat: The Legends”), with Zari’s tendency to be an “Instagram lifestyle influencer” alongside an older sister dictating Behrad’s life. The dynamic is harshly underlined even if it easily resolves itself, but the two still have unresolved issues from being siblings and roommates, and co-workers.
Zari feels superior for resolving her work/life balance with Constantine (Matt Ryan), even if he remains unsettled from being purged of magic in “The Satanist’s Apprentice.” He wants his own return to “normalcy.” Constantine is already annoyed at his old “apprentice” Gary (Adam Tsekhman) for hiding his alien nature, and so pesters him for the mythical “Fountain of Imperium” to restore his magic. Having Gary back with the Legends lets him awkwardly squirm and be the butt of jokes (including Sara blaming her stray alien signals on him), showing the added ingredient Tsekhman brings to the team. By the end of “Stressed Western,” Gary has agreed to lead Constantine to find the Fountain.
While all these emotions are simmering, Nate (Nick Zano) finds himself stuck in the middle trying to keep them cool. Nate has become the de facto captain for much of this season but rarely given his own spotlight to express himself. “Stressed Western” smartly turns this into a plot point, as Nate erupts over how nobody thinks of his feelings, relying on him to be the “chill” anchor despite his own anguish over Zari 1.0.
Nate can air these grievances with purpose, intentionally venting this outburst to lead the worm away from the others. It’s a well-balanced character moment, coinciding with Spooner overcoming his anxiety to mind-control the alien worm as Astra casts a spell the destroy it. The Legends work through their issues not by holding them down, but getting them out in the open and expunging them.
“Stressed Western” does line up these themes a bit too neatly, with each member pairing off to create largely manufactured issues, rather than them organically arising. Yet it’s also these group dynamics that makes Legends function as well as it does. The concept of a jolly, “Disney-fied” musical Wild West outpost isn’t taken full advantage of, but it does provide an appropriate setting for forcing things to normalcy, only leading to repressed feelings bubbling up and swallowing you whole.
Of course, the Legends are hardly “normal” to begin with, and it is their embrace of the weird that makes them so special. Ironically “Stressed Western” fails to embody that ethos by being largely unmemorable, but it’s entertaining to watch a standard “Legends romp” all the same.
Legends of Tomorrow airs on Sundays on the CW.