The Chicago Way

"The Chicago Way" is the eight episode and mid-season finale of the second season of the American science fiction television series Legends of Tomorrow, revolving around the eponymous team of superheroes and their time travelling adventures. It is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with the other television series of the universe. The episode was written by Sarah Nicole Jones and Ray Utarnachitt, and directed by Ralph Hemecker. It was the 24th episode overall.

Caity Lotz stars as Sara Lance / White Canary, and is joined by principal cast members Matt Letscher, Brandon Routh, Arthur Darvill, Nick Zano, Franz Drameh, Brandon Routh, Dominic Purcell, Amy Pemberton, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, and Victor Garber.

Plot
Eobard Thawne, Damien Darhk and Malcolm Merlyn arrive in Chicago, 1927, and ally with Al Capone and his empire. Learning of the aberration, the Legends arrive and manage to keep Capone from murdering Eliot Ness. Ness is critically injured, so the team decides to obtain vital information on Capone's operation to secure history. Meanwhile, Mick begins having hallucinations of Snart, who belittles him for acting like his teammates. Sara and Martin are abducted by Eobard during their infiltration and raid on Capone's club. Malcolm offers Sara a chance to change her past in return for the amulet she took from Darhk in 1987, but she refuses. The team rescues the captives, but "Martin" turns out to be a disguised Eobard, who searches the Waverider at super-speed for the amulet while Malcolm and Capone's men attack the ship directly. Eobard barely escapes revenge at Amaya's hand, but Sara surrenders the amulet for Martin's safety. The Legends succeed in correcting the timeline. Eobard later shows his partners that the completed amulet projects a holographic map that can locate the Spear of Destiny, which is able to "rewrite reality itself". They must next locate Rip Hunter, who is revealed to be working as a movie director in 1967 Los Angeles.

Development and filming
The episode entered preparation on October 3, 2016, and ended on October 12, with a break for Canadian Thanksgiving on October 10. Shooting ran from October 13 through October 24. The episode was directed by Ralph Hemecker.

Writing
The episode was written by Sarah Nicole Jones and Ray Utarnachitt. Jones and Utarnachitt began writing the episode on September 29, 2016, and finished the day before filming began. The title of the episode is a reference to the film The Untouchables.

Casting
The episode stars Caity Lotz, Matt Letscher, Brandon Routh, Arthur Darvill, Nick Zano, Franz Drameh, Dominic Purcell, Amy Pemberton, Victor Garber, and Maisie Richardson-Sellers as Sara Lance, Eobard Thawne, Ray Palmer, Rip Hunter, Nate Haywood, Jefferson Jackson, Mick Rory, Gideon (voice), Martin Stein, and Amaya Jiwe. Additionally Victor Garber briefly plays Eobard Thawne.

The episode guest stars John Barrowman, Neal McDonough, and Wentworth Miller reprising their roles as Malcolm Merlyn, Damien Dahrk, and Leonard Snart. The episode also features fictionalized versions of Al Capone and Eliot Ness played by Isaac Keoughan and Cole Vigue.

Broadcast
"The Chicago Way" was broadcast on The CW on December 8, 2016, to an audience of 2 million viewers and a 0.7/3 share among adults 18–49. When accounting for seven day DVR viewership the episode gains an additional 1.37 million viewers totaling 3.17 million. Both with and without DVR numbers the episode is the second highest viewed of the season only behind the previous episode "Invasion!".

Critical reception
"The Chicago Way" received mixed but positive reviews from critics. IGN's Jesse Schedeen felt positively on the episode rating it a 9.2/10 and listing it as "Editors Choice". Schedeen claimed that the episode was the best way to wrap 2016, praising the decision to have the first battle between the Legion of Doom and the Legends. Den of Geek''s Jim Dandeneau gave the episode a 3.5/5. Dandeneau said that the episode would likely have done better if not for the 100th episode of Arrow, despite this he still enjoyed the Legion of Doom comparing it to the comics, Injustice Gang. Oliver Sava of The A.V. Club gave the episode a C+.