Posted in: DC Universe, TV | Tagged: cw, Dominic Purcell, entertainment, Gorilla Grodd, HRL, Legends of Tomorrow, Mick Rory, television

Legends Of Tomorrow Season 3, Episode 7 Recap: Welcome To The Jungle

This article contains spoilers for the DC's Legends of Tomorrow season three episode 'Welcome to the Jungle'.

'Welcome to the Jungle' was a very interesting episode of Legends of Tomorrow. We knew early about the two twists. I ran a story back in the end of September showing that they team was going to Vietnam, it would involve Gorilla Grodd, and that we'd meet Mick Rory's dad. At the time, I didn't realize the potential significance of that meeting. But I'll get back to that in a moment.

The episode takes place while Sara Lance is recovering from her fight with Eleanor Darhk in Hollywood. The team is trying to decide what to do while they wait for her to regain consciousness and randomly pick to go after an anachronism in 1967 Vietnam. This is a move Rory isn't happy about, but won't say why. The team splits into three. Rory and Nate go off to figure out what happened to a missing company of U.S. soldiers, while Ray, Zari and Amaya pose as journalists looking into the 'monster' story that's going around. Jax and Martin stay on the ship. Martin is trying to figure out how to split up the Firestorm matrix and has called on Isaac Newton, Galileo Galilei, and Marie Curie to help him figure it out.

Ray and the others are taken to a small camp where U.S. and Viet Cong soldiers are working together and are introduced to the reason why: their new god that will bring peace to mankind, and that god is Gorilla Grodd. Meanwhile, Nate and Rory run into another group of soldiers lead by Dick Rory — Mick's abusive father. We see quickly how much the two are alike. We also see the effect Dick's abuse had on Mick. He used to burn himself, and finally he'd burned down the house with his father in it. But this isn't that version of his father yet. This is the version of him before the ravages of war push him too far. Character-wise, it's a big episode for Rory.

Grodd plans on starting World War III, and the trigger is that he's set a trap for the United States President, Lyndon B. Johnson, to die in a minefield. Jax races out and saves the president by walking him through the field and getting him to safety. Amaya tries to talk Grodd down and almost gets through to him before the soldiers with both Rorys attack. He reads their mind about the time ship and goes after the Waverider. Martin is able to fly it with Gideon and dumps Grodd off in the direction of a napalm blast.

Meanwhile, there is a moment when Dick Rory is about to kill a bunch of people he thinks are traitors — but Mick stops him by making him realizes that it would push him too far. It would take away what's left of his humanity. The team gets back to the ship, and Jax is given Lady Bird Johnson's Pecan Pie recipe as a thank-you for saving the President. Sara is awake and Mick seems a bit less hostile — except to Isaac Newton. And we learn that Damien Darhk snagged Grodd out of that time before he hit the napalm… and looks to be recruiting him.

Now, back to the fact that Mick ran into his father. When we broke the news that it was going to happen, there wasn't the other episode for context. But they pointed out in the show itself that the odds of Mick running into his Dad are astronomical. Then add in that Martin's ancestor was involved in the Damien Darhk resurrection and that a young Ray Palmer found a baby Dominator, and you have a pattern. Someone is going after the team in the past. I get the feeling that this might be personal. Maybe Mallus is someone that knows the team, or at least believes it's in his best interest if the team does not exist.

We will likely have to wait to find out anything more as next week is the two-night, four-show Arrowverse crossover event, Crisis on Earth-X.

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