After an awkward start in its first season DC’s Legends of Tomorrow quickly transformed itself into the funniest and one of the most acclaimed series in The CW’s Arrowverse franchise. By blending a wholehearted embrace of the zany silliness of classic superhero comics with healthy doses of self-awareness and historical satire Legends became a unique and beloved superhero series ever produced for live-action television, and it delivered many of the Arrowverse’s wildest moments during its seven-season run. But perhaps no scene was as unbelievable as the one in Season 3 in which telepathic ape and recurring Arrowverse super-villain Gorilla Grodd (David Sobolov) went back in time to attempt to assassinate a young Barack Obama (Lovell Adams-Gray).
Legends of Tomorrow began as the fifth series in the Arrowverse (before Supergirl was retroactively added to the franchise). Spinning off from Arrow and The Flash the series began when Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) recruited a team of superheroes (all of whom had previously appeared on Arrow, The Flash, or both) to accompany him on a time-traveling mission to defeat Vandal Savage (Casper Crump), an immortal super-villain who conquered the world and murdered Hunter’s wife and child in the future. The series received mixed to negative reviews throughout its first season. Although the production value and much of the ensemble cast was praised, viewers were harshly critical of the characterization of Savage and his archenemies Hawkman (Falk Hentschel) and Hawkgirl (Ciara Renée).
Detractors of the series also pointed out the ineffective nature of the team, which repeatedly failed at both specific missions and their overall goal of protecting history from change. Moving forward the series took these criticisms to heart. Savage and the Hawks were written out of the series, although Crump and Hentschel both made brief returning cameos years later. From the second season on the series focused on the team, now led by Sara Lance/White Canary (Caity Lotz), fighting to protect history from time-traveling enemies. It turned a previous weakness into a strength by further emphasizing the bumbling nature of the team, which itself often wound up changing history both intentionally and not, as a source of humor and by the third season had fully embraced its status as a comedy.
Who Is Grodd?
Like his comic book counterpart, Grodd is best known as an opponent of The Flash, and he was introduced in the Scarlet Speedster’s series. Before the events of the series Grodd was a test subject at S.T.A.R. Labs where he was experimented on by Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh) and U.S. Army General Wade Eiling (Clancy Brown). But when Wells discovered the inhumane nature of Eiling’s experiments, which were meant to explore the possibility of creating psychic abilities, he shut them down. When the particle accelerator exploded Grodd was exposed to dark matter, which mixed with the chemicals Eiling and company had already exposed him to, increasing his intelligence and giving him telepathic superpowers, after which Grodd escaped S.T.A.R. Labs and took shelter in the sewers beneath Central City. Sometime after this, he was recruited by Wells, who was actually Eobard Thawne/the Reverse-Flash, Barry Allen/The Flash’s (Grant Gustin) time-traveling nemesis. After Team Flash discovered his real identity, Thawne dispatched Grodd to battle them as a distraction in the first of what would be several encounters between the team and the gorilla.
Grodd first encountered the Legends when he was transported back in time to the Vietnam War, causing drastic changes to history. During their battle Grodd leaped onto the team’s time machine, the Waverider, before Professor Martin Stein (Victor Garber) activated a time jump, causing Grodd to fall towards a burning forest. He was rescued by Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough) who recruited Grodd into the service of the demon Mallus. Mallus needed changes to the timeline to be made in order to break out of the interdimensional prison holding him and dispatched Grodd to make one such change by killing Obama in 1979.
Grodd vs. Obama
Grodd briefly chases Obama across the campus of his university before beginning to choke him. The Legends then intervene, with Ray Palmer/the Atom (Brandon Routh) quoting a catchphrase from The Flash when he tells Obama to “Run Barry, run!”, using the nickname the future president was currently going by. Ray uses a shrink ray to miniaturize Grodd, who is then captured by the Legends. It’s a wonderfully ridiculous scene that demonstrates the carefree, self-aware humor that made Legends so enjoyable.
Obama’s involvement in the episode doesn’t end with his rescue, however. Sara later returns to the college to get his help with a leadership dilemma she is having. After realizing that Mallus escaping would doom his daughter, Nora (Courtney Ford), Darhk offered to work with the Legends to defeat the demon. Sara was reluctant to either work with him or hand him over as a prisoner to Hunter’s Time Bureau given that Darhk killed her sister, Laurel/Black Canary (Katie Cassidy). After taking in all the time travel and superhero craziness Obama reassures Sara that such an unprecedented situation calls for an “unorthodox approach,” which is what the Legends specialize in. In reply Sara says, “I really miss you,” before erasing Obama’s memory of the whole experience, stating out loud what many of Obama’s supporters were feeling in 2018 when the episode first aired.
This talk makes Sara realize that a temporary alliance with Darhk is necessary. This kind of plotting further exemplifies what made Legends so special. Featuring Grodd and Obama in the same episode is more than any other similar series would even dare to attempt, but the fact that their encounter serves as a way to give Sara the outside perspective she needs and not just as a gag shows how the series mastered delivering outrageous humor without ever losing focus on its main characters’ development. The whole storyline, which could have been incredibly cheesy and/or offensive, also winds up being a tasteful, loving tribute to the former president.