Okay okay okay.
I’ve been seeing some discourse about Legends of Tomorrow & the recent Avalance pregnancy reveal. I don’t watch the show, but I’ve followed their storyline pretty closely over the years. I love the relationship, and it’s really cool that their romance is the emotional core of LoT.
I also am not a huge fan of kids. I don’t want any myself, and I think there are only a few shows that have done baby stuff well.
Point is: I am coming from a pretty neutral place when I say that the baby storyline makes complete sense for these characters. Not sure who I’m writing this for, but here’s a relatively unbiased, observer’s perspective.
Ava’s a clone. She had a whole arc about why she’s more than where she came from. She had her own development, but reckoning with that part of herself was undoubtedly aided by the fact that her love for Sara was something that couldn’t be manufactured- undoubtedly real proof she wasn’t just a copy. Sara can pull anyone but she wants Ava, and has assured her of that every step of the way.
Ava started as a hardass who wanted things to fit in boxes, and didn’t like insane ideas. She grew to tolerate- even enjoy- chaos because of Sara and the Legends. And what’s more chaotic than having a kid? NOTHING
I think there’s a deleted scene from season 5 where Sara tries to apologize for the mess she and her team have caused and Ava cuts her off to say:
And I know we’ve moved past the clone shit, and that adoption is equally valid, but it must be emotional for Ava to know their kid is actually going to be equally their own. (And I do firmly believe they’ll take in kids who need a family down the line.)
Sara was one of those people who was super free, but scared of commitment. She’s had flings with other men and women, but none stuck because she spent so long believing no one could love all of her. She wouldn’t let herself imagine any sort of future like that. Until Ava came along, and stuck around. And loved not in spite of all her fuck ups, but because of them. And has told her many times over that she wants to be the person Sara can come to when things get to be too much.
Ms. one-night-stand Lance allows herself to imagine a life with Ava. And even though they hit some rocks because of Sara’s fears, they worked through them, COMMUNICATED, and came out stronger. Sara proposed! When Ava got erased momentarily in 7x05, Sara was honest and said that the pain of seeing her disappear extended beyond just losing her; it was like her entire life went away too. I don’t recall her ever being as vulnerable as she is with Ava.
She’s been the captain for a while, has always been been a protective figure, but I think this storyline is a really, REALLY cool way to explore more nuanced emotions.
Sara has an innate desire to protect everyone, but now she has to recognize that it’s not just her life on the line anymore. Compounded with the loss of her powers, she will have to learn how to navigate dangerous situations in different ways.
She’ll still definitely kick ass, of course. But, narratively, this will open the audience up to a new side of Sara. Which is damn impressive for a show in its seventh season.
I don’t know if that all made sense, but I do hope that LoT comes back for at least another season so we really get to see how Ava & Sara navigate this new phase of their relationship.
