Legends of Tomorrow S04E06 "Tender Is the Nate" Review

When Hank becomes skeptical of the large budget the Time Bureau has in place for the Legends, Nate arranges for him to come aboard the Waverider and shadow one of the missions. This makes for a fair few complications since the Legends were entirely unprepared for such an inspection and have yet to inform Nate of the Amaya-doppelganger on board. The discovery is about as awkward as you'd expect but also surprisingly anti-climactic given all the buildup to it. It's all quickly resolved by the time the mission is completed and Nate is resigned to quite literally resign from being an official Legend and simply stay at the Time Bureau in a more bureaucratic position.

The adventure itself offers some decent comedic moments, particularly with Hank being the one to serenade the Minotaur to sleep and save the day. Ernest Hemingway also makes a cameo appearance but it's considerably less interesting or exciting than some of the other brushes with history that the team has had. Hemingway takes a back seat to the more interesting characters and only really serves a springboard to entertainment when Sara punches him for being a sexist nuisance.

Back at the Time Bureau, the secondary story centers around Nora who is now in captivity after turning herself in. Ray attempts to sneak a letter to her delivered by the newly hired Mona but a series of mishaps sets off a set of alarms and Ava ends up locked in the prison cell with them. There's some bonding, cake eating (it's Ava's birthday) and a hilarious discovery that Ray has been in the room the whole time after accidentally getting stuck in the adhesive of the envelope. We'll try not to read too much into the larger implications of Ray being that easily beat by something as innocuous as envelope adhesive, and what that would mean for the battles the Legends face. What's entirely clear at this point with how this season has been unfolding is that this series has set itself apart from the other CW DC programming. There is an absurd and whimsical spirit to the writing, stories, and adventures that works because of how joyfully the writers and actors embrace it. There is heart and deep, meaningful lessons when the moment is write to incorporate them but this unique zest is what makes Legends the best of the batch in this shared universe.

"Legends of Tomorrow" airs on Mondays on the CW at 9/8c.