“The Justice Society of America” or Enter the Super Nazi
The beginning of this week’s episode finds the Legends in 1942 New York where they had just saved the past from a Nazi plot to kidnap Einstein and have him build an atomic (think: nuclear) bomb. Before they can reach their ship, they run in to The Justice Society of America who is comprised of Dr. Midnight, Obsidian, Commander Steel, Hourman, Stargirl, and Vixen (In DC Comics, the JSA is a precursor of the Justice League of America originally comprised of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern among others).
As with most superhero team meetings, misunderstanding and miscommunication abound, and a fight ensues. The Legends proceed to get their collective butts kicked and BADLY; the Justice Society are a well-oiled and organized team versus the collective of individuals that comprise the Legends.
We switch to Eobard “Reverse Flash” Thawne who’s also in the past working with the Nazi’s. There’s an amulet he wants access to that Herr Fuhrer, who had a penchant for the mystical and supernatural (you’ve seen Indiana Jones & The Raiders of the Lost Ark, right?) has in his possession. Klein, Thawne’s Nazi connect, says Hitler was loathe to give it up, so Eobard proposed a trade: the amulet in exchange for a super soldier serum, a vial of which he gave to Klein as a “proof of concept”.
Back at the JSA headquarters, the Legends have been released from their cell and are explaining what they’re doing in the past. Sarah tries to speak but Hourman assumes that Dr. Stein is the leader (because it IS 1940s American and Stein is an old white guy, whereas Sarah is just a woman). We also learn that the new addition to the Legends, Dr. Heywood, is the grandson of JSA member Commander Steel . Heywood wears Steel’s dog tags around his neck in honor of his granddad.
The teams kiss and make up, and the Legends hop back in their ship on to further adventures. During their after-action report, they realize just how organized the JSA was and how it was assumed that Stein was their leader. To avoid confusion in the future, they made it official and made Stein their leader. Afterwards while talking to Sarah, Dr. Heywood realizes his granddad’s dog tags which he NEVER takes off are missing. That means granddad wouldn’t be around to pass them on to his son who gave them to Heywood (think about how Marty McFly’s brother and sister were disappearing in the photo in Back To The Future).
Realizing something in the past had changed, the Legends turn the ship around and team back up with the JSA to prevent their pending deaths. They figure out Klein is going to be at a club and go undercover with Stein pretending to be an old German singer. When they get there Vixen is herself undercover trying to figure out the Nazi plans (what didn’t make sense, however, is that she was dancing with a Kraut and no one bats an eye with Jackson in the club.) The funniest part of the episode is when Palmer wouldn’t give a “Hail Hitler” salute; instead of doing so, he knocks out the Nazi who confronts him and a fight ensues. Good times.
The combined teams learned what Klein was up to: transporting the magical amulet. The JSA and Legends, working together, intercept the convoy to prevent the exchange with Stein back in the ship on overwatch. When things start getting fast and heavy on the ground with bullets flying, folks keep turning to Stein for orders and he freezes. Sarah who’s in the thick of things, noticing the vacuum, starts barking orders. Meanwhile Palmer and Vixen went after Klein who’d slipped away during the melee. Unbeknownst to them, he had the super soldier serum that he injected that turned him in to a 7-foot-tall Super Nazi and promptly whips their butts and captures them.
On the ship, Stein realizes his shortcomings as a leader and that Sarah is the one who needs to be in charge. The combined teams then devise a plan to rescue their missing compadres. Speaking of which, Klein threatens to shoot Vixen, but Ray convinces him not to with the promise of being able to duplicate the super soldier formula.
Ray and Vixen make their escape from captivity and run in to the rest of their teams who gained access to the Nazi facility. Knowing that his base is under siege, Klein takes the last bit of the super soldier serum and proceeds to chase down Commander Steel. Before Klein can get his mitts on him, Heywood shows up on motorcycle and whisks his gramps away with Super Nazi in hot pursuit. Just as he’s about to catch them, an allied bomb is dropped on his head thus ending the threat of the Super Nazi. The bomb also injured Commander Steel and Heywood, who we learned earlier was a haemophiliac. In order to save his life, Palmer came up with the bright idea to inject Heywood with the serum he had on him thus saving his life.
As the episode ends, we see Hourman locking up the amulet and as he does, Reverse Flash shows up and steals it killing Hourman in the process. What does the amulet do, and what will R.F. do with it? We’ll just have to find out in the future, so be sure to tune in to Atlanta’s CW every Thursday at 8! Follow me on Twitter, @ATLBlerd, and let me know your thoughts. We can also live-tweet the show.