'Legends of Tomorrow' Recap: 'Invasion!'

​Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

I think it's safe to say that this year's superhero crossover event on the CW, was nothing short of a rousing success and the best one they've put together to date. After all, this was four nights of pure geek heaven with action and adventure, touching moments and enthralling storylines and the crown jewel of this event was last night's grand finale. 

Because this episode of Legends of Tomorrow is the one that put the 'Invasion!' front and center as the Dominators made their move, and in the process we were able to learn everything about their nefarious plans, but in order to get all the details on what these sneaky aliens were up to, our intrepid heroes, fresh off of their escape from the mothership, decided an eye for an eye was appropriate here and it was high time to kidnap and interrogate a Dominator to uncover their plans and the easiest way to accomplish such a feat...was to go back in time to when they last appeared on earth in 1951. Mick brought Cisco and Felicity along for the ride and it's a good thing he did since Heat Wave, his crew and the alien they managed to knock out were captured by the U.S. Government.

That meant it was up to Cisco and Felicity to save the day and not only did they deliver, getting everyone out of the secret government bunker, they were able to have a quick word with the captive Dominator and learn that these visitors had grave concerns about the Meta Humans suddenly appearing on earth. But with Army reinforcements on the way, Cisco made the call to cut their chat short and let the alien go and help him return to his ship as an act of good faith and upon returning to 2016...well Cisco quickly learned that his decision meant nothing. Because in an effort to try and hammer out a truce, Cisco vibed to that alien's exact location to use his act of kindness as a bargaining chip, only to learn that he in essence screwed with the timeline without giving it any thought, along with the fact that there would be no peace or deal with the Dominators and their ultimate plan was to rid our world of meta humans with a specially designed bomb. 

But why did the Dominators have such hatred toward earth's Meta Humans? Well the answer to that arrived while Cisco tried to broker a deal because the government agent that Mick ran into in 1951, summoned Barry and the remaining heroes to inform them that Barry's decision to mess with the timeline made the Dominators consider all Meta Humans to be a dangerous threat. But there was a way out of this mess...if Barry surrendered himself, the aliens would leave earth alone. Of course the always good hearted Barry planned to give in to their demands but his friends wouldn't let that happen. Mistakes or no, he inspired this rag tag team of heroes to do something special and everyone united together in a grand plan to stop the bomb and drive out the Dominators and in a stunning sequence filled to the brim with thrills and chills...earth's heroes saved the day.  

These CW's superhero shows however, are big on heart and while that took a backburner to the action and adventure, there were a few gentle moments to be found as well. Professor Stein found a way to love and protect a daughter he never knew existed and Cisco finally made peace with his anger when it comes to Barry and when all is said and done, I am still in awe of this episode. There was no deeper meaning to be found here and there didn't need to be, this story was about bringing us an hour of fun and it delivered on that front and to top if off...they found a handy way to keep Supergirl in the mix for future crossovers and on a quick side note, kudos to the writers for that sneaky and hilarious Brandon Routh/Superman Returns joke at the end there. Either way, I'm actually sad this crossover event is over. It was such a blast to watch and it has opened my eyes up to some new shows since clearly I need to give Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow another glance to pass the time until next year's crossover comes along. Until then.

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