One of the episodes all Arrow fans had waited for was DC’s Legends of Tomorrow’s crossover with Stephen Amell in “Star City 2046.”   There were several gems throughout for fans of both shows, but the best effect would be watching “Star City 2046” and “Marooned” together as, of all characters, Heatwave takes center stage in both episodes.

**** Spoilers Follow ****

Arrow is the show that has lead the way for the CW’s success of superhero television shows, so there is no surprise that our Legends made a stop off in Star City, 30 years in the future.  The story goes that they crash landed, but regardless of why or how they are there, most every part of the episode seemed elevated compared to a standard episode.  We saw Star City void of civilization, a place of lawlessness and violence, a land in which Deathstroke’s terror reigns, a place where Oliver Queen and his Team Arrow was killed or run out of Star City.

Rip Hunter’s character is shown to be nearly bi-polar in these two episodes, first he nearly forbids Sara from trying to help the people of Star City because it is in flux and
therefore, not real.  Then in “Marooned” he spends nearly an entire scene watching his wife and child in a holoprojector, he is a broken man that doesn’t even realize his own hypocrisy with his team.  You can tell the work required by Rip with working within a team.  During “Star City 2046,” there was a break through when Sara leaves to defend her former city, and she basically told him that if she had to be left there then so be it.  Even Rip knows Sara’s importance to the team and to his mission against Savage.

We are introduced to both a new Deathstroke as well as a different Green Arrow who calls himself Connor Hawke, even though he is Diggle’s son.  Deathstroke is also the original’s son, Grant Wilson, who brought in a massive army, and is believed to have killed Oliver Queen.  We all know that Oliver Queen wasn’t killed, but at the beginning he was dead on the inside.  Sara is the natural leader with the Legends and she learned motivate people to be better together than they can be alone.  It is that skill which brings Ollie back into the fight against Grant Wilson and his army. Oliver Queen, Connor Hawke and most of the Legends were able to win the day against Deathstroke.  Interestingly enough, the Legends leave there with Oliver training Connor as the new Green Arrow, though I am fairly certain it’s not the last time Legends of Tomorrow will be seeing the Green Arrow.

Surprisingly enough, both Captain Cold and Heatwave were central figures in both episodes, especially Mick Rory.  Star City 2046 is a perfect place for our criminal Legends. In fact, Mick was the most at ease since the show began, while surprisingly Snart was uncomfortable. Since the first time we ever saw this team, Heatwave appeared to be the primary while Cold was taking a second seat, something extremely uncharacteristic for Snart.  Instead, though, Mick hit it on the head when in one of their arguments in “Star City 2046” he told Cold that the mission wasn’t about a “job” anymore, Snart believed in saving the world.  Never before had these two been at odds with one another which leads directly into “Marooned” where Mick and Snart were still very distant from one another, leading Mick to join the away team without Snart just to get away from him.  Unfortunately, it’s in this rescue mission when Heatwave is introduced to Captain John Valor and his Time Pirates.  Rip and his away team are easily captured and brought before another time master, Eve Baxter who looks at Rip as a traitor to time masters even after him and his team tried to rescue her and her ship.  Snart and Sara once more team up on the Waverider, which has become more and more a normal occurrence, one might even say she has taken the place of Heatwave and a distinct reason for Cold’s change of heart towards saving the world.  Each episode has shown them getting closer and closer.  They are easily my favorite two characters, watching their redemption stories keep me hooked into Legends, though I also appreciate Snart’s understanding of a team- never leave a team member behind, you take care of one another.  Something Sara still wrestles with, even after being part of Ollie’s team for a year.

Mick once more has the chance to return to his former life, especially after his falling out with Snart.  Honestly, I wasn’t sure how this was going to play out. So many shows will take you down one road just to have the character return to the fold, but Heatwave fully embraced the Time Pirates.  They gave him the means to return home and he would be able forget this suicide mission that Rip intends for all of them.  So he leads the time pirates to take the Waverider.  He betrays the Legends, most importantly, he betrays Leonard.

The saddest moments is when Cold realized that Mick was beyond saving, even more so with Snart’s POV of never leaving a team member behind.  The last scene is Cold firing his freeze gun at Rory on some undisclosed planet.  I know this won’t win me many friends, but the first time I ever understood why Heatwave was part of the Legends is when Capt. Hunter tells him that he was part of the package deal.  Cold is who he wanted to join him on his team, but didn’t think he would do it solo.  Do I think it’s the last we will see of Heatwave, probably not, but the next time we see him he will be fighting against the Legends and against Snart.

DC’s The Legends of Tomorrow continues Thursday night on the CW.