SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for "The Chicago Way," the latest episode of "Legends of Tomorrow."


Never say The CW doesn't know its way around a cliffhanger. On the heels of two dynamite twists from "The Flash" and "Arrow," "Legends of Tomorrow" closed out its fall finale with a twist of its own. While the subject of the reveal may not have been shocking, it's the context in which he's found that's so unexpected, making for a delightfully bizarre ending to the first half of the season. So welcome back, Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill)! Love the accent.

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After an intense battle with the Legends aboard the Waverider, the ever-growing Legion of Doom trades the life of Martin Stein in exchange for the amulet Sara snagged in last week's episode. It turns out that the two similar amulets are actually halves of one amulet, which becomes a compass that can lead them to the Spear of Destiny. To get there, however, they need a certain former Time Master, presumed dead.

That's when "Legends" cuts to a familiar-looking man in a trench coat running down a dark street, careening into trash cans as epic music plays. And then someone yells cut, and a nebbish, cranky American film director throws a fit in 1967. Exasperated, he sits back down in his director's chair as the camera pushes in, and we see Hunter's face, looking equal parts annoyed and sheepish.

While many fans likely suspected Hunter would be back soon (something also suggested by on-set photos), both the place he's found and the manner in which it's revealed offer plenty of surprises. Having Hunter directing a movie or television show in which a character clearly modeled after him stars -- that's quite the piece of misdirection. Better still, the drastic changes in Hunter's appearance and voice made him close to unrecognizable until the camera pulled in close. We'll have to wait to see the role he'll have to play going forward, how he landed in the '60s, and what he's got to do with the Spear of Destiny.

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Airing Thursdays at 8 pm ET/PT on The CW, “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” stars Brandon Routh as the Atom, Victor Garber and Franz Drameh as Firestorm, Caity Lotz as White Canary, Maisie Richardson-Seller as Vixen, Dominic Purcell as Heatwave and Nick Zano as Citizen Steel.