Aruba (Legends of Tomorrow)

The episode began filming on February 14, 2017,[1] and concluded on the 28th of the same month.[2] After the events of the previous episode, Doomworld, there was online speculation on some of the episodes plot point particularly how Amaya will be resurrected.[3] A few things about the episode were known prior to its release these include, Katie Cassidy would be reprising her role as Laurel Lance[4] and that there would be many deaths.[5] Both of these raised questions as Laurel Lance previously died in the Arrow episode, "Eleven-Fifty-Nine" (2016),[6] and the second was due to nature of the Arrowverse finales typically only killing off one character at a time.[7]

The episode title is a reference to Mick repeatedly requesting for the Legends to visit Aruba across the season. The episode was written by Phil Klemmer and Marc Guggenheim.[8]

The episode stars Caity Lotz as well as the rest of both the regular cast and recurring cast consisting of Brandon Routh, Victor Garber, Arthur Davil, Franz Drameh, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Amy Louise Pemberton, Nick Zano, Dominic Purcell, John Barrowman, Wentworth Miller, Neal McDonough, and Matt Letscher. They appear as Sara Lance, Ray Palmer, Martin Stein, Rip Hunter, Jefferson Jackson, Gideon (in a vocal roll), Nate Heywood, Mick Rory, Malcolm Merlyn, Leonard Snart, Damien Darhk, and Eobard Thawne[9] respectively serve as with the latter four playing a villainous role. The guest cast included Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance[10] and Jack Turner as J. R. R. Tolkien[11]

This is the final appearance of both Darvill and Letscher as series regulars due to them stepping down.[12] Darvill would return as a reoccurring character.[13] Letscher would return as a special guest in the season seven episode, "The Fixed Point".[14]

The episode premiered on The CW on the fourth of April in 2017 to an audience of 1.52 million people, it had a share of 0.6/2 among adults age 19-49.[15]

On August 15, 2017, the episode was released on both DVD and Blu-Ray as a part of the Legends of Tomorrow season two disc.[16] It has not been released as an physical individual disc. However it is available on Amazon Prime Video for $2.99.[17]

Critic reviews for the episode are primarily positive. IGN's Jesse Schedeen gave the episode a rating of 8.9 and said "Legends of Tomorrow wrapped up an excellent season with a satisfying, eventful finale episode."[18] Oliver Sava of The A.V. Club said, "Legends Of Tomorrow experienced a major upswing in quality this season by being playful and leaning into the campy fun of time travel, and the cliffhanger suggests that the creative team is going even bigger moving forward" and followed it up with a rating of A–.[19] In the Collider article written by Allison Keene the episode received a rating of 4 stars with the review of, "'Aruba' had its fun by allowing two sets of Legends to occupy most of the episode, killing off the 'spares' from the changed reality version of the future in often gory ways. Nate's egregious wig and the casual tossing around of the blood of Christ aside, the dueling characters were mostly a delight, particularly Mick Rory, who would of course be the one to pick a fight with his past self."[20]