21 pop culture moments in 2017 that spoke to the zeitgeist
By Amy Woolsey
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow — “Zari” — Image Number: LGN303a_0370.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Dominic Purcell as Mick Rory/Heat Wave, Franz Drameh as Jefferson “Jax” Jackson, Caity Lotz as Sara Lance/White Canary, Victor Garber as Professor Martin Stein — Photo: Bettina Strauss/The CW — © 2017 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Legends of Tomorrow
After a rough freshman year, The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow course-corrected, refining the team dynamic and adopting a more episodic format. In the process, the time-traveling superhero caper became what it was always meant to be: an elaborate excuse for pop culture homages and period outfits. Episodes from 2017 involved cameos by young George Lucas and J.R.R. Tolkien, a moon walk, a Singin’ in the Rain-style tap dance number and a Furby-like toy deified by Vikings.
Yet, amid the wacky adventures, there’s still time for poignant musings on the nature of history. The Legends constantly struggle to balance their responsibility to preserve the past with their longing to “fix” it. One week, the show might force respected thespian Victor Garber to utter the phrase “nasty in the past-y” (I’m not even joking when I say the man deserves an Emmy); the next week, it will produce a gem like, “That’s the irony of time-travel: in spite of it, we still find ourselves living with regret.” It never loses sight of where it began: with a bunch of oddballs escaping from dead-end lives and discovering purpose with each other.
Legends of Tomorrow has addressed current events in various ways. This season, it introduced Zari (Tala Ashe), a Muslim-American hacker-activist. “Doomworld” contains a passing joke that implies Donald Trump is the president in its villain-created alternate reality. My favorite hour of the show’s run is “Turncoat”, a Revolutionary War-set arc that depicts George Washington as the sort of person who calls himself a “gentleman”. At the climax, Mick Rory (Dominic Purcell), a vaguely sociopathic arsonist, gives a pep talk about what it means to be American that’s more inspiring than any presidential speech:
"We’re misfits, outcasts, and we’re proud of it. If they attack in formation, we pop ‘em off from the trees. If they challenge you to a duel, you raid their camp at night. And if they’re gonna hang you, you fight dirty, and you never, ever, give up. That’s the American way."
This show is a Beebo-given miracle.