A trip to the 1970s goes wrong and traps the Waverider in a time loop.
Tropes:
- Accidental Misnaming: Zari forgets the name of the film Groundhog Day and calls it Hedgehog Day.
- Accidental Murder: In one loop, Sara mistakes Zari and Ray for flies and crushed them both.
- All Just a Dream: Most of the episode is a simulation Gideon stuck Zari's mind in while she recovers from being poisoned by the time engine's runoff.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Thankfully averted; anytime Zari tells someone she's stuck in a time loop they believe her, though the first few times she's vague enough about it that they don't realise what she means.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking:
- Ray's theory in why Zari is acting strange. Normally in each loop it's a scientific babble, but in one loop, it's "Too many donuts".
- The security measures to Mick's secret: a bear trap, the chest is rigged to electrocute anyone who touches it, and the typewriter itself will squirt ink on the transgressor's face once they open the chest.
- Big "OMG!": Zari and Nate, when he steps into a bear trap in Mick's room; exaggerated and played for laughs.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: Averted. Damien Darhk comes with a very simple but brutal plan to take out the Legends; he hides a bomb in an anachronism knowing they would bring it on board. All he has to do is wait. But double averted, when it's revealed that it's all just a simulation created by Gideon.
- Bottle Episode: Apart from The Stinger, this episode only takes place on the Waverider.
- Brain Bleach: Hearing Amaya and Nate have sex nearly makes Zari throw up, and she requests "Kill me now."
- Brutal Honesty: Shortly before her "death", Zari gives every team member a very blunt piece of advice.
- The Bus Came Back:
- Gary, who hasn't been seen since early in the first half of the season. Subverted when it turns out to just be a simulation of him.
- Rip reappears for the first time since being arrested by the Time Bureau.
- Wally West appears having last been seen this season in the first installment of "Crisis on Earth-X".
- Gideon's human avatar, not seen since last season (excluding a brief image cameo in the season premiere).
- Butt-Monkey: Gary continues to be this, spending most of the episode trapped in a trash compactor. And it turns out he's only in there because Gideon thought it was funny.
- The Cast Showoff: Tala Ashe does, in fact, play the violin.
- Character Development: Zari gets over her animosity towards Sara and learns the importance of working with The Legends. Invoked, since this was the point of Gideon putting her in the simulation.
- The Chains of Commanding: Simulation Sara admits to finding it difficult having to be "the boss" and bark orders at Zari, since she actually cares deeply for her and sees a little of herself in her.
- The Chessmaster: Gideon is really pulling a big number this episode to get Zari to bond more with the rest of the team.Zari: I am terrified and in awe of you, Gideon. Who knew that you were such an evil genius?
- Conspiracy Theorist: After a number of loops, Zari makes some pretty bold conclusions on who could be responsible for the explosion and why. Nate even calls her out on it.
- Continuity Nod: Zari puts on Hawkgirl's helmet.
- Damn You, Muscle Memory!: When Zari tries to hold her back, Sara instinctively twists her arm around. She instantly apologizes.
- A Day in the Limelight: For Zari.
- Death Course: What Zari and Nate have to survive to get access to Mick's...typewriter.
- Despair Event Horizon: Zari has a total breakdown halfway through the episode due to her inability to stop the loops, and ends up trying to shoot herself.
- Doom Magnet: The reason Sara is initially reluctant to ask Ava out is because her relationships have a habit of ending badly.
- Driven to Suicide: In a rather dark moment, Zari eventually has a breakdown after going through the loop too many times and tries shooting herself.
- Ear Worm: After a mission to The '70s, Mick Rory has ABBA's "Waterloo" stuck in his head, and doesn't hesitate to use the memory-erasing gun on himself to wipe it out.
- Easily Forgiven: Zari does not appear angry at Gideon for putting her through the loops, even though at one point she tried to commit suicide to make them stop.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Mick of all people correctly guesses where the bomb is.
- Funny Background Event: In one loop during the "fun montage", Zari simply stands behind an arguing Ray and Mick and holds up cue cards with what they say say/do on them.
- Genre Savvy: A rare Groundhog Day Loop episode where the characters know of Groundhog Day and the like, and are able to advise Zari throughout her loops accordingly.Zari: [after many loops already] Groundhog Day. Exploding ship. Personal hell.Nate: We're stuck in a time loop! It was only a matter of time before we do one of these.
- "Groundhog Day" Loop: The plot of the episode. And, of course, the gang have to openly reference it. At one point, Ray also references the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Cause and Effect". Nate is visibly annoyed that that was what Ray thought of. The trope is also brutally deconstructed, as the endless loops wear Zari down mentally until she has a total breakdown, just like Bill Murray's character in the trope-namer movie.
- Headbutting Heroes: Zari and Sara are not on good terms at the beginning of the episode.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Zari is willing to use herself to contain the bomb blast to save the others. Thankfully averted as this leads to Gideon ending the simulation.
- Hidden Depths:
- Mick is writing a sci-fi romance novel. It's even described as pretty good.
- Gideon also shows some very manipulative tendencies (in a positive way).
- Zari ends the episode with the newly-learned ability to play the violin.
- Internal Reveal: Ray reveals to Sara, Constantine's belief that Mallus will eventually take control of her and the team needs to be ready to kill her if it happens; she takes it pretty well.
- It Amused Me: Gideon's reason for including Gary in the simulation just to keep him in the trash compactor the whole time.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
- At point when told about the time loop, Nate says "It was only a matter of time until we did one of those."
- After the "fun montage", Zari calls it exactly that to Nate when he asks about it.
- During said montage, Zari looks right at the audience when she puts on the Hawkgirl mask.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia:
- Mick is so determined to get Waterloo out of his head that he flashes himself with the memory gun.Amaya: Did it work?
Mick: Did what work? Why am I holding the thingy? - Amaya and Nate are avoiding their relationship problems by using the memory gun to erase their memories of having sex.
- Mick is so determined to get Waterloo out of his head that he flashes himself with the memory gun.
- Loophole Abuse: Sara concludes that changing Zari's past isn't technically against the rules, since from Sara's perspective, it's the future and changing the future is perfectly okay.
- Mood Whiplash: The episode on a whole is funny and wacky and heartwarming...and then we see Zari put a (thankfully unloaded) pistol to her head and pull the trigger.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Mick destroys the device Gary used to create the loop, putting them in a dire situation due to the bomb exploding in just 5 minutes.
- No Antagonist: This episode does not feature any appearances of the Darhks nor the Cult of Mallus. Instead, it is focused on Zari experiencing a time loop in a simulation.
- Noodle Incident: We never find out the details of the team's mission that takes place prior to the episode, involving Napoleon and The Battle of Waterloo, a cassete tape sent by Damien Darhk, and the team dressed in Disco Gear. The team apparently had to act out a performance of Abba's "Waterloo".
- "Not So Different" Remark: Sara sees a lot of herself in Zari — specifically the wish to bring back a deceased loved one by changing history. This is why she's so hard on Zari about it: She's worried that if Zari does find a way, the temptation to save Laurel, consequences be damned, will be too hard to resist.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: The team sans Zari return from stopping Napoléon Bonaparte from recording Waterloo. Apparently, a musical performance was involved.
- Power Perversion Potential: If the sounds are to be believed Amaya's animal totem and Nate's steel abilities make for fun sex.
- Script-Reading Doors: The doors of various Waverider rooms are quite smart, like the library one closing just as Nate and Amaya are starting to get fresh anew, to Zari's relief. Or Mick's door opening just enough for him to slip his head, and closing as soon he pulls back, with no obvious input from the characters.
- Seen It All: Sara's reasoning in particular for believing Zari's warning about the Waverider right away; after everything the Legends have experienced, a member trapped in a time loop is hardly beyond the pale. Zari trying to kill herself without hesitation ironically helped her cause.
- Shipper on Deck:
- Zari encourages Sara to ask out Ava. She also encaourages Nate and Amaya to finally sort things out between them.
- Honorary mention to Gideon, who accurately surmised the two pairings were inevitable.
- Skewed Priorities: Mick, as per the norm, gives one when Zari takes the bomb and isolates herself inside the library with a forcefield. Mick's immediate concern is that he left his beer in there.
- Something Only They Would Say: When Ray and Sara don't believe Zari's story after she wakes up, she proves it by making Ray reveal Constantine's orders to Sara.
- Speed Sex: Referenced by Zari when Nate tries to determine why he and Amaya would erase their memories of having sex.Nate: She probably wants to forget how awesome it was.
Zari: Or how short. - The Stinger: Rip Hunter recruits Wally West in China.
- Taught by Experience: Trying to play the Stradivarius repeatedly in the simulation led to Zari mastering it when she emerges.
- Time Loop Fatigue: After Zari's "fun montage", she ends up exhausted and tries to commit suicide. Luckily, the gun she tries to shoot herself with isn't loaded.
- Troll: For whatever reason, Gideon decides to play dumb after Zari asks her to confirm her story to Ray and Sara.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Sara lays into Zari for trying to find ways to "hack history" — she's trying to find out how to stop her native time of 2042 from becoming a dystopian hellhole.
- You Have to Believe Me!:
- Zari's initial desperate claims that the Waverider is going to explode are ignored, at least four times according to the montage.
- Averted at the end when Zari has crossed the Despair Event Horizon and is convinced Sara won't believe her, only for Sara to do so instantly.
