Freakshow

"We're bringing the circus to the circus."

—Sara Lance

"Freakshow" is the second episode of the third season of DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and the thirty-fifth episode overall. It aired on October 17, 2017.

Synopsis[]

The Legends find themselves in 1870 to fix the anachronism which happens to be at P.T. Barnum's fledgling circus. However, Nate and Ray accidentally free a saber-toothed tiger, creating a bigger problem. Meanwhile, P.T. Barnum is on the hunt to capture Nate and Ray to make his show even more exciting for the crowd.[src]

Cast[]

Starring[]

• Victor Garber as Professor Martin Stein/Firestorm
• Brandon Routh as Dr. Ray Palmer
• Caity Lotz as Captain Sara Lance
• Franz Drameh as Jefferson "Jax" Jackson/Firestorm
• Maisie Richardson-Sellers as Amaya Jiwe
• Amy Louise Pemberton as Gideon (voice)
• Nick Zano as Dr. Nate Heywood/Steel
• Dominic Purcell as Mick Rory/Heat Wave

Guest starring[]

• Billy Zane as P.T. Barnum
• Jes Macallan as Agent Ava Sharpe
• Adam Tsekhman as Agent Gary Green
• Tracy Ifeachor as Kuasa

Co-starring[]

• Christa Andersen as Hildy/Bearded Lady
• Avionne Marie Dean as Foyinsola
• Lincoln Hall as Boy
• Paul Lazenby as Burly Clown
• C. Ernst Harth as Clown
• Robert Underwood as Father
• Shawn Stewart as Large Townie
• Keri Adams as Bethany Snow
• Jason Day as B'wana Beast
• John Ennis Graham as Belgian Soldier

Plot[]

6 months ago, Amaya is in Nate's apartment preparing chocolate-covered donuts as a birthday surprise for him when he enters his apartment. After unintentionally spilling a portion of the chocolate sauce, Nate heads out to buy some doughnuts. When he returns, he discovers that Amaya has left.

In the present, Ray and Jax wake Nate up from his dream to examine the Time Bureau technology that Mick stole from Rip. Ray tells the pair that he reverse-engineered the technology and now the Legends will be able to locate anachronisms. He also reveals to Jax and Nate that he built a shrink ray. They gather with the rest of the team and investigate their new anachronism map. The Legends decide to deal with the anachronism in Wisconsin in 1870 at P.T. Barnum's circus.

Searching the circus, Ray, Nate, and Jax discover that the anachronism is a sabretooth tiger. When Nate opens the creature's cage so Ray can shrink it, Ray sneezes and accidentally grows the feline.

Back on the Waverider, Gideon informs the Legends that the anachronism has elevated from a level one to level four. Sara realizes that they need help and uses the jump ship to travel to 1942 to find Amaya. Amaya tells Sara that her life is complicated and she can't help the team with their mission. As Sara is leaving, Amaya asks Sara whether Nate would know that she is returning and Sara says and does and that he is thrilled. The two women board the Waverider and Nate gives her a cold welcome. Ray gives the two women his shrink ray, so they can stop the sabretooth tiger.

At a bar, P.T. Barnum and one of his entertainers are talking about how the circus will have to shut down unless they find a "show-stopper". A drunk Nate is about to get in a fight with someone else in the bar, so he steels up which catches the attention of Barnum. Barnum approaches Nate, Jax, and Ray, and Nate reveals to him that they all have different abilities.

In the wilderness near the circus, Sara and Amaya locate the sabretooth tiger and are able to use the shrink ray to shrink it down to the size of a little cat.

While Jax and Ray are on their way to the Barnum's tent, Sarah and Amaya run into Nate in the cargo bay of the Waverider. When they ask him where Jax and Ray are, he reveals to them that he, Jax, and Ray were headed to a circus for a private show.

The next day, Jax and Ray wake up in cages. They insist to Barnum that they can't use their abilities and attempt to persuade him to let them go. However, he doesn't let them go and insists that they will be useful to him.

While searching for the Jax and Ray, Sara, Amaya, and Nate noticed they are being watched. Sara approaches the person watching them and discovers that it is Gary Green, a Time Bureau Agent.

Back on the Waverider, Mick is making a sandwich and the sabretooth tiger starts whimpering, so he lets it out of its confine but it gets away. Stein asks Sara why they have taken Gary prisoner and she reveals to him that Gary works for the Time Bureau and that Ava Sharpe probably sent him to spy on them. Gary then admits that Ava sent him to spy on them.

Amaya and Nate discover Ray and Jax, but before they are able to free them, they get shot by darts that knock them out. Amaya and Nate awake in the cage and she reveals to him that she left in the wake of seeing her granddaughter, Mari, spare a few lives in Detroit and then learning from Rip that if is she stayed in 2017 for too long, Mari would disappear.

Ava calls to check in on Gary and he tells her that the Legends have things under control and that he doesn't need backup, while in fact being held at gunpoint by Sara. Nonetheless, Ava still boards the Waverider so Sara sends Martin and Mick to free and rest of the Legends while she holds off Ava. Ava tells Sara that she is placing Sara and her team under arrest.

At the circus, Barnum draws out Ying and Yang, Jax and Ray, and they perform to boos from the group. Martin asks Mick to create a diversion for him so he can merge with Jax, but Mick leaves due to his fear of clowns. Behind the stage, Barnum tells Nate that if Nate doesn't steel up, he will shoot Amaya.

On the Waverider, Sara and Ava are fighting, but they decide to take a break. While the two of them are getting a beverage, the small sabretooth tiger strolls by and quickly starts to become its regular size. Gideon then informs Sara that the anachronism has reached a level nine.

Behind the stage at the circus, Barnum is caught up with shooting at Nate and Amaya, so she utilizes her totem to take on the abilities of a bear break out of her pen, making Barnum stop. On the stage, Martin is trying to distract the crowd by making balloon animals. Jax comes out from behind the stage and he and Martin merge into Firestorm as Amaya chases Barnum onto the stage, almost killing him. Before she can kill him, Nate is able to talk Amaya down.

Once all of the Legends return to the Waverider, Gideon informs everyone that 1870 Wisconsin is anachronism-free. Sara and Ava talk aside and Sara asks Ava about a prior remark for hers, where she mentioned that Rip should give up his belief that the Legends could actually handle some threat. Ava tells Sara that information is need-to-know and then returns to the Time Bureau with Gary.

Amaya tells the rest of the Legends about how she has started to lose control when she taps into her powers as if the animal is in charge and not her and that caused her to kill a bunch of soldiers that came to her village one day. The rest of the Legends tell her not to be ashamed about that as they all have done things they are not proud of and they would crazy to let her leave the team again. Sara then informs the rest of the team that Rip is hiding something from them that even the Time Bureau is afraid of, which they all laugh about.

A hooded figure is walking in the wilderness and goes up to a lake. Water comes out of the lake and forms into a woman that the hooded figure addresses as Kuasa. Kuasa asks the hooded figure who they are and they say they are a follower of Mallus and that there is work to do.

Gallery[]

Videos[]

Production[]

Preparation ran from June 26 until July 5, 2017. Shooting began on July 6 and ended on July 18, 2017.^[1]

Trivia[]

• This is the lowest rated episode of Season 3 with a rating of 7.4 on IMDb.
• Victor Garber and Billy Zane previously co-starred in the film Titanic.
  • Martin Stein freaks out when Ray Palmer mentions dealing with an anachronism on the Titanic and claims that the creator of the ship should be shot. This is likely a reference to the fact Garber portrayed Thomas Andrews, the designer of the Titanic, in the film.
    • Ironically, Stein ultimately ends up dying as a result of being shot during the Crisis on Earth-X crossover.
• This episode marks the first live-action appearance of Kuasa.
• The episode contains references to a number of DC Comics characters, such as B'wana Beast, King Tut, and arguably, the Flying Graysons, as a group of acrobats dressed in identical costumes is seen among the circus troupe behind the Legends when Sara Lance and Martin discuss "King Tut's tomb".
• During the Central City flashback sequence of six months ago with Nate and Amaya, the Speed Force storm from "Finish Line" was being reported on the television by Central City media.
• P.T. Barnum calls Nate "Man of Steel", a nickname some people use for Superman.
• To get Nate's attention, Jax calls him "McFly". This is a reference to Marty McFly, a young time traveler in the Back to the Future franchise.
• It is revealed that Mick Rory has Coulrophobia, a fear of clowns.
• Ava Sharpe mocks Sara by saying, "Your threats may work on Confederate zombies, Quentin Turnbull's cronies, and speedsters, but you don't scare me." In doing so, she references the events of "Abominations" and "Outlaw Country" specifically, and all of the events of Season 2 generally.
• Even though this is the second episode of the season, it was the first one to be filmed.

Goofs[]

• The nickel-plated revolver that P.T. Barnum had and the type of colorful latex balloons shown did not exist in 1870.
• At one point, tranquilizer dart guns were used. However, they weren't invented until the 1950s.
• In the bar scene where Nate shows off his powers, P.T. Barnum buys everyone a round of drinks. In real life, P.T. Barnum was an advocate of the temperance movement. For example, he spoke in favor of abstaining from alcohol. Barnum even earned a living in this manner in the wake of bad investments circa 1850.

References[]

DC's Legends of Tomorrow season 3
"Aruba-Con" • "Freakshow" • "Zari" • "Phone Home" • "Return of the Mack" • "Helen Hunt" • "Welcome to the Jungle" • "Crisis on Earth-X, Part 4" • "Beebo the God of War" • "Daddy Darhkest" • "Here I Go Again" • "The Curse of the Earth Totem" • "No Country for Old Dads" • "Amazing Grace" • "Necromancing the Stone" • "I, Ava" • "Guest Starring John Noble" • "The Good, The Bad and The Cuddly"