Nate works on a new device which Amaya quickly names the Time Seismograph. It’s appropriately named because it goes off right away, detecting a time quake. The team learn that something will happen in 1987 during a nuclear disarmament treaty signing between Reagan and Gorbachev. They deduce that someone is trying to stop the treaty, so it’s off to the glorious ’80s. Amaya and Nate get to the JSA Academy to find help, but they soon discover that it’s been abandoned for years. Amaya regrets leaving in 1942 after reminiscing about the team. At the White House, Martin almost runs into Young Martin. Ray and Mick see Damien as an adviser to the President. A dark cloud ambushes Amaya and Nate. Obsidian reveals himself, but Nate promptly knocks him out.
Sara, still out for vengeance for the death of Laurel, wants to take out Damien, but a Secret Service agent stops her. Mick knocks him out and they end up being surrounded by more agents. The debacle gets worse when Ray goes against Mick’s commands and they cross their weapons’ streams. Firestorm comes in for the save, allowing everyone to escape.
Yep, it’s not good that the Legends have now exposed themselves. Sara thinks Damien’s ascension to such a high role has to do with his working with the time traveler who killed Rex. She wants to tell Amaya that they’ve found the killer. Martin admonishes Sara and warns her that if Damien is killed almost 30 years before his actual death, the repercussions could be catastrophic.
Obsidian’s wakes up and is curious as to why Amaya never aged. He’s even more curious why she left them. She has her own questions too—like what happened to the JSA? After the war, the team was sent on mission, but Obsidian was excluded, due to the government not trusting him. The team never returned. Nate questions why Obsidian couldn’t go. Amaya quickly tells Ray to drop it.
The team still goes ahead and tells Amaya about their discovery. They think Damien is using the nuclear disarmament as a cover for something nefarious. They move to track him down.
Ray and Mick are on a stakeout monitoring Damien. Mick starts to get the feels and tells Ray that he needs to act like himself. Trying to fill Leonard’s shoes only reminds Mick of his old friend.
The two catch Damien meeting with a KGB agent where Young Martin abruptly enters the frame. Even though Young Martin is actually suppose to be at dinner with his wife, Clarissa. Things go awry when Young Martin identifies Damien’s friend as a Soviet. Young Martin ends up getting stabbed for his curiosity. At the same time, Martin falls over with a nasty wound. The two counterparts end up in the Waverider’s medical bay getting treated by Gideon.
Nate and Amaya ask Obsidian to use his old FBI contacts to track down Damien, but he refuses. Obsidian is afraid that Amaya would lose it the second she found Rex’s killer. Why is she so close to Rex? Amaya and Rex had plans to leave the JSA and start a life together. Obsidian doesn’t want her emotions clouding her judgment.
Ray gets some advice from Martin about being himself—just live and in the act of living, one will discover he is. Sara is now ready for the mission. Martin tells Sara that he cares less about disturbing the timeline, but more about her conscience. She vows not to kill Damien.
At the White House, the Legends arrive and get into position. Damien meets with the KGB and makes a quick trade for an unknown object. When the Legends and Obsidian enter, Damien threatens to blow the place up with his hidden explosives.
Mick and Ray clear the dining room and find the bomb strapped to the bottom of a table. Ray has no idea what to do, but Mick reminds him that he’s a genius scientist. Ray MacGyver’s a plan to use the cold gun’s components to disarm the bomb.
Sara faces off with Damien. Making good on her promise, she doesn’t kill him. She spares his life and leaves him with the torture of his not-so-bright future. Eobard speeds in and takes Damien to safety, but not before Sara was able to swipe the unknown object. In the dining room, Ray deactivates the bomb just in time.
Martin advises his younger self to cherish the time he has with Clarissa. The only thing that ever gave Martin meaning in life was Clarissa. Young Martin promises to make sure she knows he loves her.
Obsidian turns down an offer to join the Legends—he actually has a husband he needs to get back to. It’s implied that the US government purposely barred Obsidian from the JSA’s final mission because of its homophobic policies at the time. Amaya reveals to Nate that his grandfather enjoyed singing and that he was the one who kept the team’s spirits high.
Damien wants Eobard to change his destiny. Eobard one-ups the plan and offers to change both their destinies. He has Damien climb into a timesphere where he soon uses his speed to open up a time portal, and the two take off.
Legendary Moment(s) - The pairing of Mick and Ray is really working, and their interactions are one of the highlights of the show. I found myself laughing out loud to Mick getting in touch with his feelings and then pulling back. Queueing “I’d Just Died in Your Arms Tonight” by Cutting Crew on the radio was the cherry on top.
Thoughts for Tomorrow - “Compromised” was a great episode that embraced everything we love about the DC universe. The character interactions continue to be top-notch and the series keeps everything light with a bit of strategic humor. Like last week’s “Abominations,” this episode also had a slight social stance to it. The revelation that Obsidian was excluded from the JSA’s mission due to him being gay was well handled. It made sense for that time period and wasn’t shoehorned in to make a political statement. Writers, well done!