Rip makes a ‘triumphant’ return to the Waverider. Ray gets lost in ’60s Berlin with the Dahrks. All three of them…

This is just a joy from start to finish. Whether it’s the Legends not quite noticing Ray has gone missing, Ava and Sara sorting out the work/life balance, Wally discovering how a little light thievery can save the world or Ray being adorable there is nothing here that isn’t great fun.

This episode is also smart as all Hell, literally. Legends uses speedsters in the cleverest way of any non-speedster centric show: sparingly. Wally is the big gun on this team and while he hasn’t figured it out yet, Sara has and deploys him brilliantly here. It’s neatly backed up by Arthur Darvill’s best 10th Doctor impression as Rip and Keiynan Lonsdale’s gentle, open hearted take on Wally. He’s a Legend through and through@ brave, kind, uneasy and he fits in perfectly already.

But the truly wondrous stuff here is the main plot. The Dahrks, with newly captive Ray in tow, travel to Cold War Berlin to stop the younger Damien killing the man who invented cold fusion. It goes sideways, instantly, and they’re forced to go on the run from the authorities, younger Damien and the complexities of their plan.

First off, this is flat out hilarious. Courtney Ford and Brandon Routh, married in real life, are massively funny every time they’re onscreen together, Ray’s sweet natured doofus perfectly counterpointed by Nora’s long suffering determination to be evil. Plus McDonough gets to absolutely cut loose this week. Chatting to the corpse of the startup bro he just killed, tying out a Dumdum Dugan-esque bowler hat, delivering the deathless line ‘I am gonna KICK.MY.ASS.’, fighting himself in an Andy Warhol wig. This is McDonough’s episode, the others are just living in it.

Secondly, this is another of the smartest episodes any CWverse show has produced this year. The  inherent contradictions between Darhk’s plan and his sincere love for his daughter are dragged out into the light here and not even he can avoid them. They’re wrapped up in a quiet little time too, as Darhk’s battle with his younger self sets him up on the path to becoming the man his younger self has to fight. It’s complicated, poignant stuff that never loses sight of the evil they do, but also shows us why they’re doing it and the tragedy of how close they are to being heroes instead. It’s heady stuff, and executed with casual, shambolic charm as only the Legends can do.

Verdict: Hilarious, sweet, twisted, brilliantly terrible wigs. This episode has it all. And please, give Ford and Routh a detective show. They’re an amazing double act. 10/10

Alasdair Stuart