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"Swan Thong" is the thirteenth episode and final episode of the fifth season and 82nd overall of the American science fiction television series Legends of Tomorrow, revolving around the eponymous team of superheroes and their time travelling adventures. It is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with the other television series of the universe. The episode was written by Keto Shimizu and Morgan Faust, and directed by Kevin Mock.
| "Swan Thong" | |
|---|---|
| Legends of Tomorrow episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 14 |
| Directed by | Kevin Mock |
| Written by |
|
| Production code | T13.21915[1] |
| Original air date | June 2, 2020 |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
Maisie Richardson-Sellers, stars as Charlie, she is joined by principal cast members, Caity Lotz, Jes Macallan, Nick Zano, Matt Ryan, Dominic Purcell, Amy Louise Pemberton, Matt Ryan and Tala Ashe.
Infiltrating the Fates' temple, Sara Lance kills Atropos by throwing her into the Loom of Fate, destroying it. As a result, Sara loses her powers and regains her sight. Traveling four months into the future, the Legends find Lachesis rebuilt the Loom as a smartwatch app and imprisoned Charlie in The Museum of Bad Ideas, who has been convinced that everything wrong with humanity is her fault. Freeing her and taking her back to the ship, the Legends find that the Loom really is destroyed and Lachesis is using Gideon as a cover. Lita helps Charlie see good can come from chaos and inspires her to join the Legends in shutting down Lachesis' app and killing the final Encores at the museum. Realizing Lachesis is human without the Loom, Charlie forgives her and tells her to live the one life she has. The previous timeline's Zari realizes her presence is slowly killing Behrad, so she returns to the totem. Returning to 1970s London and her band, Charlie also leaves the team. Astra begins her second chance at life by moving in with Constantine and giving him his soul coin back. Unbeknownst to the team, Sara is abducted by aliens.[2]
Development and filming
"Swan Thong" was directed by Kevin Mock. The episode entered preparation on January 8, 2020, and ended on the 16th. Shooting began the next day and ran until January 29, 2020.[1] A scene featuring a same-sex kiss between Charlie and Zari was shot. The pairing being a popular ship by fans of the series. However the scene was cut for time.[3] Reportedly, the cameo by Sisqó was not confirmed until four days before filming began.[4]
The role of Zari Tomaz in the episode was initially much smaller; it was not until Tala Ashe began performing against herself was the role increased to be a major character in the episode. However due to technical constraints it was decided that this would be only temporary and that one of the two Zari's had to be written out.[5]
Writing
"Swan Thong" was written by Keto Shimizu and Morgan Faust.[6] Shimizu and Faust finished the production draft on January 13, 2020. The second and third versions of the script were finished on January 14 and 15 of 2020. The fourth and final version was completed on January 16, the final day of preparation.[1] Several alternative titles for the episode were considered including, "The Hateful Fates", "One Mans Trash...", and "Fight at the Museum."[7] The final version of the title is a reference to the Sisqó song, Thong Song. Sisqó cameos in the episode as himself.[8]
Casting
The episode stars Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Caity Lotz, Tala Ashe, Jes Macallan, Nick Zano, Matt Ryan, Dominic Purcell, Amy Louise Pemberton, Courtney Ford, and Olivia Swann as Charlie, Sara Lance, Zari Tarazi, Nate Haywood, John Constantine, Mick Rory, Gideon (voice), Marie Antoinette, and Astra Louge.[6] Additionally, Tala Ashe portrays Zari Tomaz, the version of Zari that was part of the Legends prior to the events of "Hey, World!".[9]
This is the final episode of Legends of Tomorrow to feature Maisie Richardson-Sellers and Courtney Ford as a series regulars.[10] Richardson-Sellers left the show to work on her career as a filmmaker,[11] with her first directing credit being the short film "Sunday's Child".[12] Both Richardson-Sellers and Ford eventually returned to Legends of Tomorrow. Richardson-Sellers as a director, directing the episodes "There Will be Brood" and "The Fixed Point".[13][14] Ford as Nora Darhk in the 100th episode, "wvrdr_error_100<oest-of-th3-gs.gid30n> not found".[15]
This is the final episode to guest star Shayan Sobhian as Behrad Tarazi and Adam Tsekhman as Gary Green as the two were both promoted to series regulars for the remainder of the show.[16][17] Former series regular Ramona Young guest stars as Mona Wu, this is her final appearance as the character.[18] Sisqó guest stars as himself.[8]
Music
The closing moment of the episode feature a punk-rock version of the song, "Mr. Parkers Cul de Sac" which was written by James Eagan and previously appeared in an episode of the same name.[5] American rapper Sisqó performs his song, "Thong Song" in the episode.[19]
Promotional
The episode was teased on Twitter by show-runner, Keto Shimizu.[1] The trailer was released on May 26, 2020.[20]
Broadcast
"Swan Thong" was first broadcast in the United States on The CW on June 2, 2020.[21][22] It originally aired to an audience of 730,000 live viewers with a .2 share among adults 18–49.[23] The episode was the eight most viewed of the season when only counting live viewership. When accounting for seven day DVR viewership the episode gains an additional 530,000 for a total of 1.26 million viewers.[24]
Critical reception
Allison Shoemaker of The A.V. Club rated the episode a B+. She found the episode "reasonable satisfying", praising the "heart breaking moments" and the musical number. However Shoemaker found herself disappointed with the episodes moments of "hesitation", instead choosing to "not pull on threads". She praised Maisie Richardson-Sellers performance as Charlie calling her exit "top notch". However Shoemaker felt that certain scenes "lacked gravitas" leaving heart-felt moments, empty.[25]
Jim Dandeneau of Den of Geek found the exit of Zari Tomaz to be one of the best moments calling it "beautifully acted" and labeling Tala Ashe the seasons "MVP". Dandeneau called Zari Tomaz's exit one of the episodes best moments, describing a bittersweet feeling as "Nate had yet another love interest ripped from him".[18]
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