One of the greatest things about this season of Legends of Tomorrow is that it hasn't settled for picking a historical field trip with each episode. Everything contributes to the overall plot and plays out in the greater scheme overall. This way there is always room for a little bit of character development. Helen Hunt may not have mixed the characters and historical elements quite as well as previous episodes but it still served as a memorable romp for the Legends.
This is a case where you pretty much love the episode based on its title alone. It's clever but also very appropriate. The premise also allows for the writers to include historical figure, Helen of Troy, into the mix without having to include the location of Troy. Helena fits very well into the world of classical Hollywood and as the system of rival movie companies is a lot like the wars in Troy at the end, it is even more of a perfect fit. The early moments of the episode are a brilliant way of celebrating the movie classics especially with cameo appearences from historical figures like Cecil B. DeMille and Hedy Lemarr.
Helena of Troy, (Bar Paly), gets scooped up by Hollywood.
However, had the writers simply rested on their laurels and left the episode to mix the Legends with historical movie figures, the whole thing would have fallen flat. Thankfully then, Damien Darhk turns up with his group of baddies to spice up the conflict. I enjoyed seeing the two Darhks following their resolution in the previous episode and they came with Kuasa in tow. We still haven't recieved a big detail on what Mallus is up to and what he wants but we learn one key detail - the havoc the anacronisms cause are what Mallus wants. From this piece of information we have a key line through to the end of the season.
What also came as a benifit to the episode was the revival of the Sara/Damien fued and the slowly deepening conflict between Amaya and Kuasa. I am still not really sold on the whole totem thing that is going on, nor do I fully understand it. I think it also plays into why I'm not sure why the inclusion of Zari was neccessary and this is probably why this episode didn't work as well as some of the others have done for me. However, the famial problems between some of the characters is paying off nicely and it should be cool to see how this season ties into the Vixen web series.
Martin Stein, (Victor Garber), finally dons the Firestorm costume.
Ignoring the Hollywood elements, this episode also featured quite a funny Firestorm storyline. Both actors, Franz Drameh and Victor Garber made the most out of this silly little plot-thread. More often than not, the other characters reactions to the body-swap were more funny than the actual body-swap. This season has done a brilliant job of easing Garber out of the role while still giving him enough material he deserves to work with. And it only seems fair that we finally get to see Garber in the Firestorm suit and it allows us to see him in all his glory as the twilight is beginning to settle on this superhero. It all serves to remind us that his departure will weaken the Legends. In fact, unless Ray can magic up a way of giving Jax all the powers of Firestorm, the team will be without one of their heaviest hitters.
But the body-swap isn't just played for laughs, it also gives Stein the opportunity to meet his childhood crush - Hedy Lemarr. The script also made great use of Lemarr's duel work as an actress and an inventor and she is the one who makes Firestorm become whole again.
Sara, (Caity Lotz), faces off against Damien Darhk, (Neal McDonough), once again.
And that speaks to a bigger thing. It shows how strongly the female characters are written in this series and all those included in the Arrowverse. It was a really nice touch letting Helena see strong characters like Sara, Amaya and Zari fighting and it shows her that the world won't always be so dominated by men.
Of course, it would be pretty remiss of me if I didn't round things off with the cameo of Wonder Woman's home of Themyscira. I didn't think the Arrowverse would ever reference Wonder Woman quite that explictly. I wasn't even sure if that island existed in this world. This cameo makes for a whirlwind ending to Helena of Troy's arc in this episode and leaves the door open for some more Themyscira fun in future episodes...
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