A zombie apocalypse, a surprise hook-up, and brutal deaths in the latest Legends of Tomorrow

The rest of the Arrowverse has wrapped up for the year due to production shutdowns, but Legends of Tomorrow is still going strong — keeping the action rolling with a full-on zombie apocalypse and some jaw-dropping deaths. 

Spoilers ahead for “I Am Legends,” the latest episode of The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow, which aired Tuesday, May 19, 2020.

This is far from the first time Legends of Tomorrow has dipped its toe into the horror genre — heck, we’ve seen zombies from time to time already, too — but this one was some killer (pardon the pun) execution on the subgenre. We get the new-age, fast-moving zombies here (think 28 Days Later instead of Dawn of the Dead), and the framing and effects work is spot-on to really play into the terror of having a zombie outbreak dropped right on top of you.

The zombie apocalypse comes courtesy of Charle’s god-like sisters, who called in a favor with Astra and had her turn on her new pals, allowing the Fates to steal the Waverider and the Loom all in one quick twist. As for the Legends, they’re stuck in London with no access to a time courier to return to the ship, and the Fates start a zombie uprising to slow them down. Their mission is to reach an old Time Bureau safe house, and they steal a bus (and food truck) along the way to finally get there. Turns out without a space ship at their disposal, the Legends aren’t real good at getting around.

The journey takes them toe to toe with the undead at plenty of turns, which make for some stellar fight scenes with all the team’s myriad superpowers on display. We also get some bonding moments among the team, which aren’t uncommon, though they have an air of sadness hanging over them — which we later learn is due to the fact that Sara has seen a vision of her own death at the safe house. Yeah, Sara seemingly doesn’t make it through this one. But even though she can’t see what happens past her death, she has complete faith in the team to complete their mission and save the world. Which is no surprise, because Sara is the superhero leader any team would be lucky to have. Even in death, she fully trusts her crew.

Back on the Waverider, a hallucinating and electrocuted Gary (who teams up, in his mind at least, with the human version of Gideon) is all that stands in the way of Charlie’s sisters and Astra. With the odds stacked against him, he manages to steal the rings and keep them from the Fates for a bit — until he’s busted and threatened with impaling. But even then, Gary manages to hide the rings and hold out a while longer. He even reaches the inner-good in Astra, after the Fates broker her heart and showed her the eventual death of her mother if she did bring her back to life. Gary makes the point that she didn’t get to see all the years of new memories she’d get to make with her mother — which she realizes would still make it worth the resurrection to have that time, even if it is fleeting. Hey, that’s life.

In the end, the Fates kill Astra when she betrays them. Then they kill Gary. Yeah, those are some big deaths. Charlie uses the Time Bureau device to jump back to the ship, but after getting the rings from Gary, she then offers them to her sisters once confronted. Is she making a play to use her sisters to power the rings to set things back right with the Legends crew? Probably, but only time will tell.

Assorted musings

Credit: The CW

Constantine on the bus, with a “Smoking Will Kill You” sign hanging behind him. Also, the zombies ignore Constantine because his soul is already damned.

Hook-up alert: The sexual tension between Constantine and Zari came to a head this week, as the two hooked up after yelling at each other. This felt like a strange match at first, but the more we’ve gotten to know the new Zari, it really is clear to see how opposites attract. 

The team acquired immortality last week for 24 hours, which they’d planned to use to fire up the Loom of Fate. But, by episode’s end, their immortality runs out. But they took full advantage of it —with Ava even taking a Wolverine-style bullet to the head and getting back up from it. Yeah, it was a jolt.

"Co-captains for life." Just try not to tear up in that moment, when Ava and Sara realize fate is bearing down on them as the undead swarm the pub.

Gary got a hero’s moment, and of course it was a team-up with a rabbit and a hallucination. But hey, a hero nonetheless.

Next week: The team is stuck in fake realities made to look like different TV shows, ranging from Star Trek to cheesy sitcoms. This looks like a fun one.