Change has been circling around Legends of Tomorrow this season, ever since Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) was abducted by aliens in the first episode. How would the team adapt without its intrepid captain? How would other characters – specifically Astra (Olivia Swann) and John Constantine (Matt Ryan) – shift within their own new circumstances? Season 6 of Legends has explored both the positive and negative sides of “change.”
When Bishop (Raffi Barsoumian) is unable to remake the world according to his own image, he bitterly decides to reboot it by destroying the Fountain of Imperium. Without its mystical-alien protection, Zaugron pods begin falling down in 1925 Odessa, reading to hatch at nightfall and overtake the Earth. Bishop and a nigh-immortal Sara will be the only survivors, a new “Adam and Eve.” Sara has other ideas, and in Season 6’s finale “The Fungus Amongus,” she fulfills another long-gestating transformation; she gets married to Ava Sharpe (Jes Macallan).
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Tom King and Mitch Gerard’s Batman #23, “The Brave and the Mold” is a team-up between Batman and Swamp Thing. As they track down who killed Swamp Thing’s estranged father, Swamp Thing explains he isn’t too upset, given the cycle of composition means “dead is falling back into life.” He says this is “not dust to dust… this would mean… nothing changes… But… Life… Death…. All of it is…. The same…. All of it is… change.” John Constantine first appeared in Alan Moore’s seminal Saga of the Swamp Thing #37. After seemingly dying and decaying in “There Will Be Brood” last week, he now reappears as a mushroom.
Behrad (Shayan Sobhian) takes an immediate interest in this magic mushroom, perhaps predictably as the Waverider’s resident stoner. His claims that he can hear John after eating the mushroom fall on exasperated ears, who seem burned out on wacky hijinks while preparing for the alien invasion. Especially his sister Zari (Tala Ashe), whose grief over John’s death is mixed with anger at his betrayal.
Still, Behrad’s sudden arrival – having visited his parents for the past few episodes – mean the Legends have access to a time-courier. But they are still hindered by Bishop sharing some of Sara’s DNA, meaning he can predict her thought process. The solution Nate (Nick Zano) cooks up is a plan “so insane” Sara would never approve it; kidnap a younger version of Bishop and recruit him for their own ends.
Legends of Tomorrow embracing its zany, unpredictable plotlines as part of its team strategy is the most exciting part of “The Fungus Amongus.” Unfortunately, however, the episode never quite capitalizes on this potential. A younger Bishop is a fun idea to witness his future diabolic ego-trip, but mostly it’s a plot device to cure Spooner (Lisseth Chavez) of the poison affecting the Fountain. Young Bishop is quite literally pushed in a corner for the rest of the episode. But even after Spooner is revived, the Fountain’s defenses remain lowered, and the invasion is still eminent.
Sara finds out why once she gives in and eats the mushroom. Inside, she meets an ethereal John Constantine, who explains even after the Fountain is physically healed, it is spiritually malnourished. It has lost faith in humanity. But Constantine also advises Sara that “loving and being loved, that is the point.” He whispers to Sara the meaning of life, which she excitedly blurts out to the team back on the Waverider; “we are all connected.” The crew looks around disappointed. “It was really profound in the moment,” Sara admits.
But just because something is cliché doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Sara embraces this “carpe diem” attitude by asking Ava to get married, throwing together a wedding ceremony a few hours before the sunset and Zaguron pods open. Despite the sudden slapdash ceremony replacing Ava’s weeks of careful planning, Gary (Adam Tsekhman) tells her to just be honest and open and “herself.” He walks her down the aisle as Nate officiates the ceremony, their nuptials becoming an incredibly sweet sequence soaked with warmth and care. That they are preparing for battle only makes it more appropriate.
Bishop has to ruin this at the last second, darkening the skies early so the Zaguron pods erupt. The hordes corner the Legends inside the house of Spooner’s mum – who Spooner wisely advised to hide during the fight – as they are surrounded and overrun. Here the “we are all connected” wisdom takes on another, more literal, meaning as Spooner (through an awakening Fountain) becomes able to swap the Legends powers around. She gives Sara’s healing to a poisoned Behrad, Nate’s steel skin to Ava, and Astra’s magic to Sara.
This communal sharing of superpowers only accentuates the themes of shifting group identity, and the powerful friendship the Legends possess. It’s only made more literal as Sara and Ava finish their vows, the Legends encircling them as the Zagurons beat down the doors. When they kiss and are officiated, a giant burst of yellow energy appears, disintegrating the invading alien hordes. The declaration of love reignited the Fountain and its faith in humanity.
The world being saved by the power of love is perhaps overly sappy, but “The Fungus Amongus” earns it through the hurdles they have gone through, and the sincere cheesy sentiments Legends of Tomorrow has come to represent. Even the outwardly gruff Mick Rory (Dominic Purcell) refuses to abandon his newborn babies with Kayla or to flee from his friends. He persuades Kayla to stay and fight as “a family.” It means helps that their eggs hatch just when Bishop returns, furious that his plan failed, and promptly eat him alive.
In the aftermath, Sara and Mick – the two remaining “original” Legends from Season 1 – sit on a porch and drink a beer. They muse how, if when they first boarded the Waverider they could see themselves now, they would not recognize them. But change is part of life, and you can either futilely and pathetically seek to control it or let it take you wherever it leads. Mick leaves the Legends to take care of his kids with Kayla, another change to the team, but one that is met with acceptance and contentment.
Constantine also, somehow, returns. As Zari examines the Fountain mushroom patch, Constantine pops back up to say he’s now evicted from the Fountain but managed to sell his soul to someone else in Hell. It’s a somewhat odd addition, which undermines his tragic end in last week’s episode, especially since Constantine will cryptically “travel a different path” from the Legends going forward.
Moments like this prevent “The Fungus Amongus” from being an all-time classic. Plus, although the serious, sentimental relationships are welcomed, it would be nice to see more classic Legends anarchy play into the finale. Otherwise, the ending is well constructed and solidly performed (particularly the wedding ceremony), but lacks the uniqueness of, say, Season 5’s “Swan Thong.” Regardless, the Legends will be missed as fans wait for their return in Season 7 on October 13th. But given the season cliffhanger is a different Waverider destroying their time-ship, effectively stranding the Legends in 1925, it seems they won’t be going anywhere soon.
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