Mick "Insert New Name Here" Rory: Not so Useless After All

[Miss Dee]

I thought it was time He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named-Only-Once got his own thread. We're up to - what, three nicknames now? "Heatwave", "Chronos", "Mr. Rory"...did I miss anything?

Legends has done some neat stuff and some lame stuff this season, but I think the journey of Mick is probably the most awesome arc they pulled off in this first year.The guy starts on Flash as Captain Cold's mercenary, immoral and more psychotic friend; he gets pulled into this Legends stunt by Snart with the promise of filthy lucre, except he's not allowed to actually take it when the opportunity comes. He gets pissed off, finds out from Rip that's he's only here to make Snart happy and is otherwise considered completely expendable, and decides to screw them all by delivering them up to time pirates. Failing in that, he's actually taken out back and (supposedly) shot by Leonard like you'd put down a rabid dog.

I figured at that point this was probably the last we'd see of Heatwave. To be honest, I had figured Dominic Purcell's time on LoT was probably much the same thing as his alter ego - the show wanted Wentworth Miller, and hired Purcell on a lark because it was cute to have the Prison Break brothers play together on the Flash in a little Easter egg and it was now time for him to say goodbye and go home. I was oddly disappointed because I liked Mick more than I had expected, but I didn't think much of it.

I don't know if this was planned out from the beginning or if Purcell's performance convinced them there was more that could be done with the character, but his arc since then has been amazing. It was set up a little when he tried to protect Ray as much as he could in Russia - that was necessary, to pull back the psychotic layers and show that there was someone with decent instincts under there who was warped, maybe, but possibly also not beyond all redemption.

So The Time Masters rip him apart and sew him back together into their puppet Chronos - acknowledged by Rip as a BAMF to deal with - and once (barely) caught he overcomes his programming as he starts to invest in the team. We meet unloved little firebug Mick, and he tries to help him through his pain and confusion. The Time Masters try once again to fry his brain and turn him into Chronos (the Terminator) again - but it doesn't take, he successfully resists. He's been forming a reluctant friendship with Ray throughout all this - who is like a happy puppy cheerfully licking him into submission - which pays off when he knocks Ray out to ensure he doesn't sacrifice himself for the team, thereby putting his own life on the line.

He gets tempted into his old life once the mission against Savage appears to fail, but in pursuing it he realizes it doesn't fit anymore when he kills his new partner for taking out an innocent. Previously he was the rabid dog that Snart had to leash up lest he do that very thing himself. But not anymore; he'll kill to exact his brand of justice and in self-defense, but he can no longer do it indiscriminately or for fun or profit. It doesn't take Ray much convincing to get him to come with him and find the team and the Wave Rider again.

Now he's a full-fledged member of the team, respected in his own right. He's instrumental in taking out Savage. He finds an earlier Snart and pulls the plug on their old relationship by urging him to become his own hero, essentially saying goodbye to the only friend he had and turning his back on his old life. Heatwave is gone; Chronos is gone... Mick Rory is left; a little too violent still, a lot of rough edges, but a full person with a dry sense of humour and a new purpose in life. He's now all in with the crew of the Wave Rider and the next mission, whatever it might be and whenever it might take him.

It's a beautiful arc. We can all be forgiven if we think that's the end of Mick Rory's journey and he'll take a back step in Season 2 as one of the supporting actors while someone else gets the personal growth.

BUT WAIT! A mysterious stranger appears on a future Wave Rider and introduces himself as a member of the Justice Society of America sent back in time to warn them. And who sent him - Captain Rip? The Flash? Mayor Snart? No, it's "Mr. Rory". M-I-S-T-E-R Rory.

Does the current Mick strike anyone as the type to inspire use of an honorific like that from anyone younger than Martin Stein? Especially by someone who sounds like he's a representative of a very important group who's in high enough standing to be picked for such an important mission? Not to me; you'd call him "Mick" or "Rory" like you would your buddy - he's that kind of guy.

Now there are a million explanations that you could come up with to explain it, but I'm personally hoping that there's more journey for Mick yet, that we get to see him become the kind of person you would choose to address as "Mr. Rory". Is he an elder statesman, maybe even the current leader of the JSA? Have all the rough edges been smoothed away by confidence and experience?

I'm really grateful that LoT gave us such a meaty story, and I'm hella impressed with Dominic Purcell, who still had to sell it to everyone. I'd heard from Prison Break fans that they didn't think much of him as an actor, but I'm wondering if his gravelly voice makes people make the same mistake as they do with Sylvester Stallone, and think he's only good for playing meatheads. I'm not saying he's Robert Deniro, but I'm not sure I'd buy this arc from just anyone. I think Purcell has done a phenomenal job of convincing us Mick Rory is just a hot headed thug...until he's not.

Edited May 21, 2016 by Miss Dee

[Sakura12]

I don't think Mr. Rory is a name since that is his actual name. Gideon always calls them Miss Lance, Mr. Jackson, Mr. Rory etc...

[squidprincess]

Doesn't Rip use "Mr. Rory" sometimes too?  But I think it does mean something that a member of the JSA is using a respectful title.  Or that Mick would be comfortable with it.

[Miss Dee]

Gideon says "Mr. Rory" because she's programmed to do so. Stein and Rip use it in much the same way a teacher would address a student. All three address everyone in this way when the situation calls for it. In the latter two cases it's a way of putting distance between you and the addressee while putting yourself in the "superior" position.

But I don't think that fits the situation when Hourman used it. Basically, "Mr. Rory sent me" sounds like "The boss sent me" - at least that's what it sounds like to me, in this context.

[Starfish35]

Apparently Dominic Purcell got injured filming Prison Break.  Ouch!  

http://tvline.com/2016/06/03/prison-break-dominic-purcell-injury-production-delay/

Edited June 3, 2016 by Starfish35

[Sakura12]

Ouch. I'm glad he's okay. 

[kirinan]

Dominic Purcell is one of TVLine's MVPs of the week. 

[MarkHB]

1 hour ago, kirinan said:

Dominic Purcell is one of TVLine's MVPs of the week. 

Cool. I'm not sure that'll get Kara to call Mick,   but it's still well deserved.

[Miss Dee]

I'm dying to see more interaction between the two. They sparked incredibly well.

And yay for Purcell getting HM from TV Line! He's consistently entertaining week to week and never falters; he deserves some love.

[immortalfrieza]

I'm actually not liking how Mick's developed since his return from being Chronos, despite finding Mick hilarious and awesome it feels like a completely wasted opportunity. Mick was brainwashed by the Time Masters into being their top hunter, which included years of training and indoctrination, and the writers don't seem to have done anything with it. The writers had the opportunity to show how the experience changed Mick and how much smarter and more badass the training and running around the timestream doing the Time Master's dirty work made him, but instead they pissed that away by just giving him his heat gun back and making him back into the dumb muscle he was at the start of the series with the only thing that's really changed about him is that he's somewhat less psychotic. What probably hammered this home for me more than anything was how doubtful Mick was that he could even pilot the Waverider, despite having piloted a timeship himself as Chronos.

Edited February 16, 2017 by immortalfrieza

[Miss Dee]

I know. I think it was because they wanted to keep the character more brawn than brains. At least for a while, so the audience could get invested in the character as is. After all, Mick has a fair bit to overcome: the loss of his family so young (did he lose any siblings? He never mentions it if so) at his own hand (and Progeny, I think it was, suggests it was accidental rather than a deliberate killing). The early branding as a villain and psychopath (I'm guessing at that one). The constant drilling by his environment that he's dumb, only good for muscle. I'm guessing as well he's never been given a decent education, based on what seems to be a large presence in juvenile lock-up (that's where he meets Cold, right?)

I think part of the reason Mick is so well liked (besides the funny lines and Purcell's charm) is that there's a real underdog quality to him. He has to prove himself to the people around him all the time, and he's still not fully liked or trusted. He has intelligence, but it's never noticed and he's never given credit for it. He's constantly making bad choices emotionally, but he's never been given the tools to make good ones. I think that's why I'm as invested in the character as I am. I want to see him make good. I want to see him grow. I want to see him truly happy in who he actually is - not just happy for who he thinks he is, as in Star City 2046. And that's more powerful if we get a thorough grounding in just how far he is from where he could be - more than, say, half a season in the first year of the show.

So I think they pulled back because while the Chronos reveal was necessary for the Snart vs. Rory arc - and it was maybe their most powerful arc that season, so they were right to do it - they didn't want to commit to altering Mick's trajectory so early and completely. Which - okay, I get it, but it was such a lost opportunity not to have him grow from the intellectual power and experience he gained as Chronos!

There is a bright side, though: Gideon hinted that she's been doing "brain damage" control on Mick's head. Part of that might have been to "lock up" that part of his brain so that he can cope without losing his mind. If that's the case, they can bring back the Chronos effect anytime they're ready - like when Mick finally has a handle on his life and is in a good place. At least, that's what I'm hoping.

Another long post! I could write a bible when it comes to Mick. He's such a fascinating character.

[bettername2come]

If you had told me during season one of The Flash how much I would come to love Mick Rory, I would not have believed you. But he is so damn loyal to his team, even when that team included the Flash! He was the first to want to go rescue Ray (love their dynamic). I do hope we get some kind of bonding time out of him and Rip both being brainwashed.

[Miss Dee]

Credit where credit is due: a lot of that is because of Dominic Purcell. Even when Mick doesn't have a lot to do, Purcell absolutely makes the most of it and elevates the material he's given. LoT is lucky to have him.

But in reading reviews and comments on other sites about the series premiere, it struck me how many people were commenting that they really liked Heatwave even though they hated him in The Flash. So the writing and direction for the character have really contributed too.

[Sakura12]

I think when most actors are given more to do they can add more to their character. Heatwave's sole purpose on the Flash was to be angry, burn stuff and follow Snart around. On LoT he's a main member of a team, while his alliances are still a little iffy he does come through for them in the end. I think while he might say he doesn't like them, I think he's come to respect them. Mick finally got the growth that Snart had on the Flash. 

[kismet]

Mick got the magical LoT infusion, it took him from a highly disliked or irrelevant character and made him a show favorite. Same thing for Ray. Both characters were not beloved on their original shows, then the LoT writers room works there magic and now I can't imagine the show without them.

[tofutan]

I came across this quote in an article about Snart: 

Quote

It could be argued that setting Snart back on his redemptive path made Mick into a better and more heroic character but that is a stretch. The Mick who found redemption on Legends of Tomorrow is the one from the future Doomworld who was then killed by Leonard Snart. The Mick who survived "Aruba" is not the same one who betrayed the Legends, eventually reunited them and then had to watch Amaya die. There's nothing to stop this Mick from betraying the Legends again so even the impact Snart returning had on Mick doesn't matter. 

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/legends-of-tomorrow/did-legends-of-tomorrow-waste-64099.aspx

I don't think the writers will ever think of that or see it that way, but it is an incredibly interesting thought. 

[Sakura12]

While that's true. This Mick also didn't feel like his team doesn't trust him. They never had that confrontation after he told Snart about their plan. Then he was the one that told Snart they became better men with the Legends. So I think he believes that. 

I would hope that the future doubles at least told them what happened. So the same mistakes are not repeated.

[Miss Dee]

I'd love to see a flashback in Season 3 where Doomworld!Mick tells Ray what happened and asks Ray to keep him from doing anything like that again.

[squidprincess]

I don't know that a warning from their future selves would really help.  I mean, how does that deal with the underlying problem of the team not necessarily trusting Mick?  Basically, the Doomworld team would be telling them that they were right not to trust him, because he would and did betray them after all.  (Arguably twice.)

Honestly, I really think that having Mick betray the team the way he did in Fellowship was a big mistake on the part of the writers, because in the end nothing is really resolved.  Mick didn't learn from the experience.  The team didn't learn from the experience.  All it does is show us that, for all of Mick's considerable character growth in season one, the man still has the potential to betray the team if he feels distrusted or unappreciated.

Perhaps if we have a flashback to Doomworld!Mick discussing what happened with regular Mick, coinciding with a more vague warning to the rest of the team about not taking Mick for granted from Doomworld!Sara or Doomworld!Rip (they seem like the most likely choices, since D!Ray and D!Amaya are dead), then there'd be a way to actually keep some development from that storyarc.

Edited May 15, 2017 by squidprincess

[Miss Dee]

I guess I was thinking that DW!Mick wouldn't want to tell himself what happened due to a mix of hampering his past self with a guilt he doesnt need to feel yet, plus the fear of altering his own future too much (which he knows is a danger, as he saw with Stein). And he wouldn't want the whole crew to know for the reasons @squidprincess stated above. Not to mention telling all this is exposing a vulnerability he has - the fact that he's loyal and attached to his current crew, secretly values their good opinion of him (when they have one), and never wants to be in a position to hurt them like that again. He would never want to admit all that to anybody, even (maybe especially) to himself.

But he might be able to bring himself to admit it to Ray or Amaya, who are probably the people he trusts most, as much as he can trust anyone at all. But Amaya might have to leave the ship and go back to her time, which leaves her out as a guardian for him. So he tells 1915!Ray that information instead, trusting that Ray would be able to stop his younger self from making such a terrible mistake if there were signs of it happening again, and swearing him to secrecy so the 1915 crew (including 1915!Mick) never has to know what he'd done.

Assuming Mick got into his reasons why he did what he did, Ray would be shocked, I think, that he didn't show any loyalty to a man who has showed loyalty to him and be doubly determined to do right by him in the future. It could make for an interesting story arc if they wanted to go there: Ray moving heaven and earth to stop history from repeating itself without ever being able to say why. More mundanely though, it would be a reason to jump start their friendship again if Ray had a reason to be as protective of Mick as Mick can be of him.

[kismet]

Months removed from Mick's betrayal and  still doesn't really bother me. It was needed for the plot and honestly seemed like something he might do in a moment of weakness. For me it was within his characterization to betray. The only place I think the writers misstepped was making the team so cruel in their words to him that triggered his vulnerability. Those seemed OOC.

[Miss Dee]

I don't know if it was out of character so much as heavy handed (there's no such thing as a light touch in the Arrowverse). But I understand why they did it; they needed Mick to be tempted into a villainous act without actually painting him as a villain again, which would have been the interpretation had he betrayed a team that respected and trusted him for loyalty to Leonard Snart.