Legends of Tomorrow aired its season finale last night, with episode 5×14 “Swan Thong.” Unlike its fellow Arrowverse shows, though, Legends was able to close production prior to the pandemic, so this was the conclusion to the story as intended. And it featured a major change to the status quo, as one of the show’s longest-running cast members said goodbye to the team as a series regular.
The cast member in question is Maisie Richardson-Sellers, whose character Charlie was written out in “Swan Thong.” Co-showrunner Phil Klemmer spoke to TV Line about the move following the airing of the episode, revealing that the actress’ exit has been in the planning all season. The forewarning allowed them to build up a satisfying ending for Charlie, but at the same time, leave the door open for her to return whenever she likes.
“This was something that was well over a year in the works,” Klemmer said. “We knew that [Maisie] was wanting to make her mark as a filmmaker on her own, and so that allowed us to craft a story that would, hopefully, make for a satisfying conclusion. The finale was sort of all about her. For me, it’s so bittersweet, bringing it back to that punk club and The Smell… The good thing is that people are allowed to come back and have come back.”
Richardson-Sellers first joined the Waverider crew back in season 2, as Amaya Jiwe AKA Vixen. Amaya’s time on the time ship was cut short, though, when she returned to her own place in history in the season 3 finale. This same episode introduced the star’s second role, Charlie, a shapeshifting fugitive who copied Amaya’s form. In season 5, we learned that Charlie is really one of the Greek fates, Clotho. In the season finale, she helped the Legends defeat her evil sister Lachesis. Afterwards, she elected to settle down in 1970s London with her rock band, The Smell.
The actress is the third longtime regular that LoT has lost this year, following Brandon Routh (Ray Palmer) and Courtney Ford (Nora Darhk) being written out earlier in the run. At least this was Richardson-Sellers’ own choice, though, unlike Routh and Ford, who’ve been open about how hurt they were to be given the boot by the writers.
Legends of Tomorrow will return for its sixth season in 2021.
