DC's Legends Of Tomorrow Season 1: 6 Ups And 6 Downs From 'The Magnificent Eight

Jonah Hex shines as DC's Legends head to the Old West.

by Andrew Pollard
DC's Legends of Tomorrow Jonah Hex
The CW

Whilst sister shows Arrow and The Flash have been on hiatus lately, The CW’s DC’s Legends of Tomorrow has been ploughing ahead, seeing the show’s titular group of Legends travelling to the future, the past, and anywhere in between.

With The Hunters having now set their sights on the team, Rip decides to take them into hiding. To do so, the destination of choice in this latest outing is the infamous Old West. Coming up against no-good pesky bandits and gangs, it doesn’t take our familiar faces long to happen upon another familiar comic book name when they encounter the grizzled Jonah Hex.

Deciding to use their time in the Old West to make a difference to the community that they find themselves in, the Legends can’t help but make a splash on the timeline, drawing the apparently-clinical Hunters to their location.

Despite offering the unique and intriguing setting of the Old West, it’s fair to say that The Magnificent Eight was a mixed bag in terms of episode quality. So with that said, let’s have a look at what this latest Legends outing got right and what it maybe didn’t do so well.

12. Downs...

DC's Legends of Tomorrow Jonah Hex
The CW

Finding Trouble

One of the more contrived parts of The Magnificent Eight was in how the Legends team can’t help but get themselves involved in whatever trouble of the day is happening in the time period they land in.

This isn’t necessarily an outright down of this episode, but maybe more indicative of the show as a whole, how it’s starting to become a little formulaic. Now, sure, so many shows of a similar ilk have a very clear formula, but the key is to still find some freshness is the story being told whilst also hitting the familiar tropes that are needed.

Whilst it did make for some new set pieces and moments, the main team getting involved in the troubles of the day once again just felt like maybe a step too far this time, particularly when Ray Palmer’s all-smiling, all-heroic act is at the forefront and starting to get a little stale already.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.