“Killing is never easy, especially for a good man.”
- Sara
It seems that each week is going to serve up different pairings of the team and I have to say I enjoy that aspect of the show quite a lot. For one thing, it makes it easier to blog. This week’s episode divided the team up into three little subplots. First, we had Mick, Snart and Jax teaming up (if a bit reluctantly on Jax’s part) to head to Central City to steal a huge emerald. Jax is tasked *due to being a mechanic) with fixing the ship’s shuttle. I love how Rip just assumes Jax can fix t because he’s a mechanic. But, Jax actually manages to get the ship working again and thanks to our two bad boys, they even have an access key to operate it. I’m sure Rip won’t miss that too much. Jax doesn’t want to steal things but he does agree to be their wheelman (for lack of a better term). At first it seems that Snart is just being selfish by stealing the emerald but we quickly learn that his father got caught sealing said stone and spent five years in prison. Snart hands over the emerald after having kind of a touching moment with his younger self. He thinks he’s averted the terrible future ahead of him and his sister (in which his father becomes abusive) but it turns out that his father gets arrested trying to sell the stone to an undercover cop. I guess somethings just can’t be changed. It was nice to see that Snart actually has feelings and maybe deep down is just a hurt little boy (at least explaining some of his actions).
While the bad boys are off trying to steal precious gems, Kendra is fighting for her life. The knife used to tab her broke off some pieces and they are making their way to her heart. Ray and Stein take it upon themselves to find a way to save her. Ray end sup shrinking down and going into her bloodstream, Magic School Bus style to destroy the fragments from the inside. But he freezes up when one of the pieces of debris hits him. He later explains that he built the suit so he wouldn’t have to lose anyone again (like his fiancée during the whole siege thing on Arrow a couple seasons back thanks to Slade Wilson). Stein acts like he finally remembers Ray and gives him a great pep talk and Ray manages to save Kendra’s life. It was nice to see both of them be so vulnerable in different ways.
The main arc of the episode though comes down to Rip and Sara. Sara points out that thanks to the League of Assassins she’s got some pointers on taking down super strong opponents. If you can’t cut off the head, go for the heart. In this case, Vandal Savage’s money. Thanks to a little digging by Gideon, the pair finds where he’s keeping his funds. Or so they believe. After using a ruse to get into the bank, Rip does some computer hacking but only comes up with something called “the Vessel”. That’s all well and good but Sara points out the bankers are all trained killers and she kind of goes all Lazarus Pit crazy for a hot minute. Back on the ship, she explains to Rip about how the Pit changed her and calls herself a monster. Rip doesn’t think she’s a monster. He considers that title belonging to himself because he had a chance to kill Savage once and hesitated. The pair get some information about the Vessel out of the man they’ve kidnapped (it is Carter’s body) and so they change plans and head to the gathering to try and rescue the corpse. Sara points out that changing plans isn’t the best move but Rip is on the warpath. He’s angry at himself for failing once and just generally in a bad mood.
Things don’t go well for them at the gathering. They get spotted rather quickly (although they do look rather glam in their finest dress) after putting in a quick dance and Vandal explains in a bit of an Evil Speech of Evil that he has lots of followers who think he’s a god and by desecrating carter’s body (basically drinking his blood) his followers can experience longer life, too. Well damn. That’s not good for our heroes. Luckily, Gideon has sent out the rest of the team for an assist. It kind of comes down to Kendra freaking out and chanting along with the bad guys to tip them off about what’s going on. Ultimately, the team gets Carter’s body and rescues Rip and Sara. Even though it doesn’t really do much, Rip does finally get to kill Savage. But he kind of makes the mistake of telling the bad guy the names of his wife and child (and Savage has seen a picture, too). It made me wonder if Rip was somehow responsible for his family’s death.
The team buries Carter in a cemetery and then Rip gives yet another rousing speech about having to work together. He faults himself for most of the mess ups but he’s committed to being part of the team going forward. And he promise Kendra that she’ll be ready to take down Savage when the time comes. The team (and I’m guessing Sara in particular) is going to train her. I thought this episode showcased Rip as a character quite well and further explained his motivations. He is definitely a more complicated person than we were initially led to believe and he’s definitely rather ruthless when he needs to be. He’s no Rory Williams, that’s for damn sure. But I think this episode also showed just how many different dynamics the team has and how everyone is capable of a little touch of redemption if they really go looking for it. I have a feeling this mission is going to be good for everyone involved (well maybe not Savage but that’s fine by me).
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