Review: Legends of Tomorrow season 7 is the show’s best season in years

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow season 7 has arrived on Netflix.

Normally, yours truly might refer to a popular show’s comeback as being “long-awaited”, but truthfully we didn’t have to wait all that long for Legends of Tomorrow season 7. Its premiere on The CW came just five weeks after the show’s sixth season concluded, meaning that the gap between each season’s Netflix debut hasn’t been that long either. But it did manage to avoid any kind of oversaturation because, aside from using its predecessor’s cliffhanger ending to jumpstart its own story, the two seasons were arguably the most different in the show’s long history.

While everyone loves the laughs that Legends provides us with, season 6 did push the boundaries of believability a little too far for some, with what started as one of the Arrowverse‘s few forays into space resulting in former Flash villain Mick Rory becoming father to 48 alien babies. Only on Legends, right?

The seventh season, on the other hand, tries to ground things a little more, resetting the show’s tried and true formula in the process – to surprisingly enjoyable results.

Legends of Tomorrow season 7 resets the show

For six seasons, the titular group of outcasts and misfits have traveled their way through time in the hopes of stopping evil time tyrants, a group of supervillains, magical unicorns and even a demonic time demon. No matter how original the threat was, the formula was the same. And even the best of formulas can get repetitive after a little while. Season 7 switches that up, forcing the always animated heroes to do something they aren’t all that used to doing: Stand still.

Stranded in 1925, the eclectic group of “weirdos with truly random superpowers” have to find their way in a very different time, all while trying to find their way home to stop the evil Waverider that destroyed their Waverider and avoid any potential damage to the timeline in the process. Now, this is Legends of Tomorrow, so you can bet that there is some (or a lot) of damage along the way as Sara Lance, Ava Sharpe and the rest of the crew find a new way to mess things up for the better.

A show like Legends can have some real fun in any time period (and it has done so many times) but allowing it to stick in one or two particular ones gives it a chance to really dive into the concept in a way it never has before. Suddenly, you have all these badass heroes trapped in an alien environment without any of the technology they used to guide them available simply because it hasn’t been created yet. It’s a premise you can really lean into, and the show does that a great deal, making references to events and characters of the time period(s) they are in, with the sets, costuming and overall aesthetic holding up even in the prolonged capacity.

But in something of a surprising twist, slowing Legends down truly allows it to shine. Characters are tested in ways they haven’t been before and plenty of new dynamics rise in the midst of it all, gifting the show with moments that are either really poignant or downright hilarious (or in some cases both). Friendships are formed between characters that hadn’t yet crossed paths in any significant way, and the arrival of some new characters from different time periods add some refreshing new perspectives, which is pretty powerful considering much of the season is set in the past.

New faces, new places, and we’re off to the races

Speaking of new perspectives, one of Legends of Tomorrow season 7’s greatest attributes is the arrival of two major characters from performers we’re already familiar with. While the show does miss John Constantine’s supernatural energy and quick-witted charm, Matt Ryan’s new role as Dr. Gwyn Davies allows the veteran actor to try something different and he excels at it, as the bumbling creator of time-travel itself is without question one of the most endearing characters Legends has ever introduced.

Similarly, seeing long-time series regular Amy Louise Pemberton actually get some long overdue spotlight in a physical capacity, as a human variation of Gideon is constructed from the wreckage of the Waverider by Astra, makes for an incredibly fulfilling storyline. Moreover, it presents the show’s most informed and reliable character, Gideon, with the same kind of challenges that the rest of the team face in this new setting, ensuring that there are no technologically-advanced loopholes along the way.

Legends doesn’t just play around with its new normal in season 7, it goes all in on it, allowing the show to produce one of its freshest seasons. Yes, it’s still silly and it meanders into some questionable moments along the way, but it doesn’t take it too far and undermine its own poignance, allowing room for plenty of authentic drama and character growth at the same time. What we have here is an example of the show doing what it does best: Entertaining with heart. And you won’t have to look any further to find that than its truly phenomenal 100th episode.

All in all, Legends abandons the crutch of its concept in season 7, taking the story and characters into uncharted territory to produce what is unquestionably its best season in quite some time.

Legends of Tomorrow season 7 is now available to stream on Netflix.