'Legends of Tomorrow' Recap: Jonah Hex and a Shootout at High Noon

Warning: This recap for the “The Magnificent Eight” episode of Legends of Tomorrow contains spoilers.

If you’re going to make a show about time-traveling superheroes, you’d damn well better be able to make sure your Wild West episode is on point. And Legends does just that, mixing cowboy hijinks with some past life exploration and a laser-fueled action sequence with the team diving behind wooden barrels to dodge futuristic bounty hunters.

The Plot

The team retreats to the town of Salvation in 1871 to avoid the The Hunters. They quickly find themselves in trouble with the Stillwater gang and Ray finds himself protecting the town as their new sheriff.

Dr. Stein saves a young boy from tuberculosis against Rip’s warnings (he turns out to be a young H.G. Wells, arguably the world’s first science-fiction author). Kendra and Sara track down an old woman who turns out to be one of Hawkgirl’s previous lives and tells Kendra that any love that is not Carter is doomed. Rip reveals why this era means so much to him and stops the Stillwater gang by beating them in a shootout at high noon. The Hunters appear moments later and are also defeated, but not before informing them that The Pilgrim is now after them.

Related: Catch Up on ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ With Our Recaps

Rip’s Struggle

It’s clearer now why Rip tries to keep his heroes from… y'know, hero-ing. Most any of us would be tempted to help people with future knowledge if we were stuck in the past and it would get to be kind of an addiction. It’s also clear why he’s an absolutely terrible Time Master.

Return of the Heat

How do you feel about Heat Wave’s sudden turn from bounty hunter to hero? Strangely, it seems to work. Maybe, like time in the DC universe, the show’s chemistry wants to flow like it’s supposed to. Rory being a loose — but not unmanageable — cannon is the way things are supposed to be. Ray says something optimistic, Snart says something sarcastic, Rory offers to punch something, Sara offers to kill something, Rory says “what a woman.” It’s a time-tested formula and it’s nice to see it back.

Hawkgirl vs. Hawkmaturewoman

It had to happen eventually: Kendra runs into a previous life — played by stage legend Anna Deavere Smith. It’s a fascinating idea and a great way to change things up from the standard flashbacks. Again, we hear that things stay the same, no matter how hard we try to change them. Obviously, the point of superheroes is to change things for the better, but the show keeps telling us things can’t change. So even if we see them win, there’ll always be that nagging thought that, once the show’s over, things are going to slowly go back to the crappy way they’ve always been. Of course, if that were true, the Time Masters would be completely unnecessary. Maybe they’re the ones ruining things in the first place?

In Defense of Good Guys

On the other hand, H.G. Wells (Glen Gordon) would have died if it weren’t for Martin’s intervention, so maybe they’re destined to be wherever they end up? It’s all very wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey, but small victories like this one help soften the blow of the team’s constant failure to stop Vandal Savage. Even though it was obvious that the young boy would be saved and he would turn out to be someone famous, it’s the sort of things that’s time-travel shows can and should do regularly.

Inside Comics Moment

Jonah Hex began as a pretty straightforward cowboy anti-hero in the ‘70s, but by the '80s, the comics had him time-traveling and meeting modern-day superheroes — so he’s the perfect choice to be Rip Hunter’s foil in the Old West. Quentin Turnbull — the man who destroyed Rip’s Calvert in Legends — is actually an old foe of Hex’s who blames him for the death of his son.

Legendary Thoughts

* You know why The Hunters were beaten so easily despite their vaunted reputation? That is correct: Because the name sucks. If you want something done right, first it needs a cool name.

* Any episode without a barroom brawl, frankly, is a disappointment. Could’ve use some more Captain and Tennille, though.

* Captain Cold clearly establishes his Han Solo cred in this episode. Somebody print up “Snart Shot First” T-shirts pronto!

* Line of the Night: “What’s the harm in us just… taking a look around?” “With this group? Clearly, you haven’t been paying attention.” Naturally, it’s Martin who ends up causing the most trouble in this era, so this also gets Most Ironic Line of the Night.

Legends of Tomorrow airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on The CW.