Legendary: Season 1 Episode 5 “Remember The Times” – Recap/ Review with Spoilers
As the competition picks up, sadly, it isn’t until an elimination battle you really get to see the performers truly go OFF!
As the competition picks up, sadly, it isn’t until an elimination battle you really get to see the performers truly go OFF!
| Director(s) | Rik Reinholdtsen |
| Writer(s) | N/A |
| Aired (HBO Max) | 6/18/2020 |
| Introduced This Episode | |
| Guest Judge | Kelly Osborne |
This content contains pertinent spoilers.
Recap
March Of The Mummies – House of Gorgeous Gucci (Jeter), House of Lanvin (Carlos)
This episode, there is a cut back from using the time before the competition to dive into the backstories of the dancers, and instead, there is focus on the terms and techniques. For March of the Mummies, the first category for the “Remember the Times Ball,” performers are tasted with doing old wave vogue. Meaning it’s very much about lines and poses, not so much about the theatrics which has made modern vogue the spectacle it is.
Now, as is the case often on “Legendary,” without being in that audience, feeling the energy and the bass beat, you miss out on how spectacular the performances are. However, there is a need to nod the outfits. Carlos, for example, had an ace outfit, and the winner of the competition, Jeter, from the House of Gorgeous Gucci, gave you good mummy and definitely challenged Carlos, who seemed like he could have won.
Warrior Guardians
While the first category didn’t give us background, when it comes to the second, which is supposed to be focused on floor routines, we do get that from the House of Ebony. Mind you, nothing lengthy or in-depth, it is just noted when Xa’Pariis came out to their mom, they got kicked out and why that leads to the attitude they are known for. But, outside that, we also get a moment from mother Eyricka, who gets to briefly talk about being who she is in the public world and also dealing with the perception that comes from being trans – including being around family, specifically kids.
But, aside from those two moments, the episode is largely about performance, and when it comes to the floor routines, most of them are miss more than hit, and sometimes in one performance. House of Ninja continues to not really live up to Willi Ninja’s name and seemingly are getting by due to putting Chise front and center. Escada, as they sadly are half of the time, may have their performance hyped up by Twilight, but that energy isn’t there when it is go time.
From there, we got Gorgeous House of Gucci who, after a long string of praising Delicious, it seems we’ve reached a category that doesn’t favor her but instead Jeter, who ends up being one of the stars of the episode. Following them is Ebony, who continue to use Shorty as a crutch, but that’s better than Lanvin who decides, since Mother Eyricka is more of a boogie than dance girl, rather than let her presence be known, while the kids go off, they bring things down to allow her to keep up.
Making the only truly good performance being the House of Balmain.
Now This Is What We Call A Battle – House of Lanvin (Makaylah) v. House of Ebony (Shorty)
With the Houses of Gucci, Escada, Ninja, and Balmain safe, it means the House of Ebony and, surprisingly, the House of Lanvin in the bottom two. Showing that, despite consistency or past performances, it truly only matters what you did that night. Well, maybe at first.
For with Makaylah and Shorty giving it their all, with more energy in their performances than what we’ve ever seen on this show, as Law Roach said, they left it on the floor. Not only that, they set a precedent that is going to make all future performances likely pale in comparison.
However, despite this being the episode when both houses should have been safe, just due to the flips, twerks, and the high energy, the House of Ebony is dismissed. Thus leaving Shorty in tears and nearly everyone in the ball emotional.
Review
Highlights
That Vogue Battle
Often, the best thing about “Legendary” is the looks and because you can’t feel the bass, can’t feel the energy of the crowd, the performances are cute, but only one or two really make you gag. Balmain did that with the second category, but it wasn’t until Shorty and Makaylah got to perform without being held back by their house that we truly got what we needed.
This pushes you to realize, perhaps the issue with “Legendary” and the performances is that there is such a focus on teams, that it forces so many to perform in a category that doesn’t serve them. Something we’ve heard multiple times to the point it makes you wonder if it is truly the luck of the draw week to week.
Miscellaneous Thoughts
May be “Legendary” may want to focus on major areas, like New York, LA, and maybe franchise out for international locations, so that a House can show up in full and really showcase themselves. If not have it where they take an established ball and just give them a budget. Make it so they can have the lighting, sound, and space to do things the next level – and then keep it for future purposes. You know, rather than commercialize and then hope for the best, truly invest in the culture with there being long term benefits.
But, you know, we are still at the point of giving people pats on the back for having shows that highlight the few while barely investing in the community those few came from. Never mind being borderline exploitative of their stories and doing little to aid those who didn’t make it like the special few.
Overall
Trajectory – Neutral
With Jeter, Makaylah, and Shorty’s solo, “Legendary” shows that its weakness might be focusing too much on team competitions rather than letting the stars of each house shine. For there is only so much they can do to compensate for the fact members of their house can’t always excel in multiple categories.
