'Legends of Tomorrow' Recap: 'Crisis on Earth-X, Part 4'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

​Every journey has it its end, and that is unfortunately a fact that few of us ever want to accept, especially when it comes to our favorite stories and the characters that inhabit those wonderful tales. Because often times, a journey’s end involves sorrow and heartbreak and last night on Legends of Tomorrow, all of that came into play as we said goodbye to a beloved character during the finale of the epic ‘Crisis on Earth-X’ saga. 
 
The character in question? Doctor Martin Stein, a man who has been with us since the early days of The Flash and despite the fact that he and the others escaped Earth-X quickly enough to get the good Doctor aboard the Waverider where Gideon could hopefully heal his wounds, it was simply too little, too late. There was no coming back from his injuries and in a tearful and beautiful moment, Stein said his goodbyes to his surrogate son and made use of the serum that Cisco designed to free the both of them from Firestorm’s effects, and faded into the great beyond.
 
Granted, we all knew this moment was coming, since Victor Garber had announced earlier this year that he was leaving the show, but I think we were all hoping for a happier exit, not this tear induced nightmare. But at least there was some good to be found in Doctor Stein’s farewell. Because his death galvanized these ailing heroes and they were more than ready to not only avenge his loss, but to put an end to this Nazi threat once and for all and just like that, we were privy to some of the most stunning action sequences I’ve ever seen on the CW.
 
Because these heroes were not messing around, and they beat the ever-living hell out of the Third Reich, dropping one super villain after another, and the true magic of this sequence is that every respective hero was able to deal with their evil counterpart and of course, since everyone worked together in impressive fashion, they were all able to save the day. But let’s be honest, despite the end of the Reich and the happy ending we enjoyed with Oliver and Felicity and Barry and Iris finally tying the knot, this was in many ways a pyrrhic victory since the Legends lost one of their own.
 
When all is said and done however, this was an absolutely epic crossover event and I’m honestly not sure that the CW can ever quite top this one. I mean come on, there was action and adventure, laughs to be found and tears to be shed, it was just a perfect story through and through and I’m truly sad that it’s over since sprawling and powerful stories such as this are just so hard to come by. Either way, it’s back to regular adventures from here on out and we’ll have to wait another year to see what wonders await us in the next crossover event. Until next time.

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