Legends of Tomorrow - 'Last Refuge'

"That's right, bitches. You're dealing with Celia Imrie* now."

After their Hunters proved to frankly suck, the Time Masters have pulled out all the stops and sent in the Pilgrim, a badass assassin chick in black, so-called because... Okay, I got nothing here. Frankly, I get the feeling she had a much more interesting backstory that never made it to the screen; at least not here.

The Pilgrim is a lethal opponent, her combat skills enhanced by nigh invulnerability and the ability to manipulate time and reflect attacks back at her opponents. Moreover, she targets her quarry not at their most dangerous, but in their youth. After rescuing Roary from the aftermath of a formative house fire, Sara from an attack at her father's precinct and Ray from an assault in his own office, the team opt to go proactive and kidnap their infant selves. Scene of the week is Martin and Roary pretending to be passing obstetricians in order to secure tiny Martin.

"Prenatal care is very important."
"He means post natal."

Jax meanwhile has a moving encounter with his father, who turns out to have been present for his birth, before rushing off to the deployment where he was killed by an IED, before the team fly off to deposit their infant selves in the care of Rip's foster mother Mary, a badass matron who runs a concealed refuge for orphans earmarked to join the Time Masters. Unfortunately, the Pilgrim is not out of tricks, threatening to target the team's loved ones if the infants are not handed over: Quentin Lance, Jax's father, Stein's wife and so on.

With this many special effects, we can't afford a background.

Rip offers his own younger self instead, a young orphan named Michael, but instead lures the Pilgrim into a crossfire. She holds off everything they can throw, until she is distracted by Michael - a lovable Cockney sociopath - shanking her with a pigsticker.

Unfortunately, the Omega Protocol is still in effect, and if their younger selves remain too long out of time, they will begin to fade from history and the memories of all who knew them.

'Last Refuge' has a lot of fun moments, but like 'The Magnificent Eight' suffers from the fact that the half-length season allows no time to introduce and develop the Pilgrim before dispatching her. She's tough, but all in all no more so than any other villain of the week (although a lot more formidable than the useless Hunters.) In addition, the joins on Legends' time travel are showing a little. There's a lot of assumption and convenience - in particular the apparent rule on 'one chance at removing each person' - and I'm not convinced by their assertion that they can remove the threat of the Omega Protocol by defeating Vandal Savage. Are they just convinced that the baby-killing Time Masters will just come around?

* Seriously, Celia Imrie is badass. On top of everything else, she was a Naboo fighter pilot for about three seconds.