Last Refuge (Legends of Tomorrow)
| "Last Refuge" | |
|---|---|
| Legends of Tomorrow episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 12 |
| Directed by | Rachel Talalay |
| Written by |
|
| Production code | 4X6362 |
| Original air date | April 21, 2016 |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Last Refuge" is the twelfth episode of the first season of the American science fiction series Legends of Tomorrow. The episode was written by Chris Fedak and Matthew Maala and directed by Rachel Talalay.
The episode features the Legends fight an assassin known as "The Pilgrim" who travels through time trying to kill their younger selves. Faye Kingslee guest stars as the titular character.
"Last Refuge" aired on The CW on April 21, 2016 to an audience of 1.78 million viewers and was critically panned.
Plot
[edit]Due to the Legends disruption of the timeline, the Time Masters send an assassin named known as the Pilgrim after the Legends. She sets out to kill the team's younger selves to erase them from time.
In 1990, Central City the Legends protect Mick Rory's younger self managing to barely defeat the Pilgrim. Back on the Waverider Gideon uses the Pilgrim's temporal distortions to predict her next move. After they manage to successfully rescue Sara Lance's younger self, Gideon loses track of the Pilgrim, allowing her to take out any of the team members without them knowing. Rip Hunter reveals that she only has one chance to kill each Legend before Ray suddenly being bleeding internally. Kendra stays with Ray while the rest of the Legends travel to 2014 Star City. The dying Ray proposes to Kendra and she says yes. The Legends once again barely defeat the Pilgrim.
Afterwords Rip decides to abduct the rest of the team's infant selves to prevent the Pilgrim from killing any of them. They are successful, bringing the infants to Rip's adoptive mother for her to look after until they can stop the Pilgrim. The Pilgrim kidnaps the team members' loved ones, threatening to kill them unless the members give themselves up.
Rip agrees to give up his younger self from before he became a Time Master, thus preventing the team's formation, in exchange for everyone's safety. The Legends, the Pilgril ,and young Rip meet at an abandoned Time Master base to make the trade. The Legends hand over young Rip before attacking the Pilgrim directly. The Pilgrim freezes them all in time but the young Rip stabs her to death.
Running out of time, Rip reveals that the Legends only have one more opportunity to stop Savage, at the peak of his power in 2166.
Production
[edit]"Last Refuge" was written by Chris Fedak and Matthew Maala and directed by Rachel Talalay.[1][2] It was the first episode of television that Maala ever wrote.[3]
The episode's plot takes inspiration from the plot of The Terminator (1984). The movie is directly referenced in the episode.[4][5]
Casting
[edit]The episode stars Arthur Darvill, Caity Lotz, Wentworth Miller, Dominic Purcell, Victor Garber, Franz Drameh, and Ciara Renée as Rip Hunter, Sara Lance, Leonard Snart, Mick Rory, Ray Palmer, Martin Stein, Jefferson "Jax" Jackson, and Kendra Saunders, respectively.[1][6] Faye Kingslee guest stars as the episode's villain, The Pilgrim.[7] Paul Blackthorne makes a guest appearance as his Arrow character Quentin Lance.[8]
Mitchell Kumman and Aiden Longworth appeared as younger versions of Mick and Rip.[2][9] The young Sara was also portrayed by Lotz.[8] Eli Goree appeared as Jax's father, James Jackson.[10]
Release
[edit]"Last Refuge" first aired on The CW on April 21, 2016. The episode was viewed by an audience of 1.78 million viewers down around 200 thousand from the previous episode, "The Magnificat 8".[11][12] The episode was viewed around four thousand less then the following episode, "Leviathan".[12][13] When accounting for seven day DVR viewership the episode was seen by 3 million viewers.[14] "Last Refuge" was the second lowest viewed episode of the season overall.[15]
Critical reception
[edit]The episode was met with negative reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 57% of 14 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.92/10. The website's consensus reads: ""Last Refuge" finally presents the Legends with a formidable adversary, only to immediately disarm her and undermine the entire episode."[16] The romantic subplot of Kendra and Ray was heavily disliked.[5][9][17]
Comic Book Resources's Dan Caffrey felt the main story had a good premise but the episodes subplots were boring. Caffery noted that the sole exception was Mick's as the audience was familiar with the character allowing the emotional beats to hit properly.[18] Nerdist's Blair Marnell felt that while the Pilgrim was the best villain the series had so far, she was still very generic. Marnell felt the various subplots were poorly executed; singling out Jax's dad missing out on his birth as the worst.[10] Den of Geek's Rob Leane rated the episode 2.5/5. Leane praised the acting feeling it was one of few redeeming factors.[5] Vulture Angelica Jade Bastién disliked the episode, noting that the logic of the episode did not work and the Time Master's plan made no sense.[19]
Writing for The A.V. Club, Oliver Sava rated the episode a D+. Sava wrote, "The design is as lazy as the action staging". It is The A.V. Club lowest rated episode of the series.[3][4] The review was later quoted to in the season four episode "Wet Hot American Bummer". In an interview with The A.V. Club, Ray Utarnachitt stated the review stuck with Maala and he would frequently quote it.[3]
IGN's Jesse Schedeen offered a positive review rating the episode a 7.8/10.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Last Refuge - DC's Legends of Tomorrow". CBS News. 2016-04-16. Archived from the original on 2024-12-08. Retrieved 2024-12-08.
- ^ a b Sage, Alyssa (2016-03-29). "TV News Roundup: 'Legends of Tomorrow' Casts Young Heat Wave, Shark Week Sets Premiere Date". Variety. Archived from the original on 2016-03-30. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
- ^ a b c Barsanti, Sam (2022-06-14). "How a scathing review made The A.V. Club part of Legends Of Tomorrow". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 2024-06-01. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
- ^ a b Sava, Oliver (2016-04-22). "Legends Of Tomorrow hits a new low with a nonsensical Terminator riff". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 2024-06-01. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
- ^ a b c Leane, Rob (2016-04-22). "Legends Of Tomorrow episode 12 review: Last Refuge". Den of Geek. Retrieved 2024-12-10.
- ^ Walker, Alice (2016-04-22). "Legends of Tomorrow Review: If I Could Turn Back Time". ScreenRant. Archived from the original on 2019-02-10. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
- ^ Bastién, Angelica Jade (2016-04-22). "Legends of Tomorrow Recap: Pitiful Paradox". Vulture. Archived from the original on 2022-10-03. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
- ^ a b Abrams, Natalie (March 18, 2017). "Exclusive clip: Can the 'Legends of Tomorrow' save themselves?". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
- ^ a b c Schedeen, Jesse (2016-04-22). "DC's Legends of Tomorrow: "Last Refuge" Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 2017-02-12. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
- ^ a b Marnell, Blair (April 22, 2016). "DC's Legends of Tomorrow Recap: "Last Refuge"". Nerdist. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
- ^ Porter, Rick (April 15, 2016). "Thursday final ratings: 'The Blacklist' adjusts up". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on April 16, 2016. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
- ^ a b Porter, Rick (April 22, 2016). "Thursday final ratings: 'Big Bang Theory' and 'Bones' adjust up, '2 Broke Girls' and 'Legends of Tomorrow' adjust down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on April 23, 2016. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
- ^ Porter, Rick (April 29, 2016). "Thursday final ratings: 'Grey's Anatomy', 'Big Bang Theory' adjust up; 'Odd Couple', 'Mom' and 'The 100' adjust down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on May 1, 2016. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
- ^ Porter, Rick (May 9, 2016). "Broadcast Live +7 ratings: 'Empire' and 'Big Bang Theory' lead for April 18–24, 5 shows double". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on May 11, 2016. Retrieved May 14, 2016.
- ^ "DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season One Ratings". TV Series Finale. May 20, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2024.
- ^ "DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1, Episode 12". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 2024-06-18. Retrieved 2024-06-18.
- ^ Marnell, Blair (April 22, 2016). "DC's Legends of Tomorrow Recap: "Last Refuge"". Nerdist. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
- ^ Caffrey, Dan (2016-04-21). ""DC's Legends of Tomorrow" Recap: Rip Hunter's Old Stomping Ground Becomes a "Last Refuge"". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on 2022-01-04. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
- ^ Bastién, Angelica Jade (2016-04-22). "Legends of Tomorrow Recap: Pitiful Paradox". Vulture. Archived from the original on 2022-10-03. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
