For Me, "Amazing Grace" Is The Best Legends Episode Thus Far

I'm about to write words I never thought that I would, and words that you probably never thought you'd read: ep 3.14 was inspired. Yes, it had all the usual Legends silliness and hammyness and SFX rendered on a Macbook, but here's what else it had: It had palpable veneration and love for Elvis Presley. How many historical figures have the Legends mocked? Most of them. Not The King. Second, it took pains to point out the tremendous cultural, historical AND SPIRITUAL importance of Rock 'n' Roll. The Legends usually steamroller over the backstory for This Week's Episode. Third, it showed the huge contribution that African Americans made to the birth of Rock, the USA's second (after Jazz) native art form. (Truth be told, for my money, the immortal Chuck Berry created rock 'n' roll, forging it out of what was then called rockabilly, a substratum of country/western music. Chuck added an electric guitar, the Chuck Berry Changedown and the Chuck Berry Duckwalk, and we had rock 'n' roll. But Elvis was to rock 'n' roll what Bruce Lee was to martial arts. He didn't create it. He just brought it into every freaking home in America. That's all.) Fourth, it showed how vital music is in sealing an intimate, romantic bond between a couple, when they find "their" song. Fifth, and I think the most impressive and important of all: it correctly showed us that Elvis sang Gospel with every bit as much passion and conviction as he did Rock. Not many people today know that he did. The episode did not take the easy route of staging a battle between the sacred and the profane in music, though it pretended that it was going to. The Lord rocks, people! Christian Music is the biggest music market segment in the US today, and there's a whole lotta rockin' going on in that segment! Poweful, spiritual, healing music comes in MANY forms, and a CW comic book show, to my delighted surprise, made that abundantly clear. As a bonus, the Legends actually let Elvis sing all four verses of Amazing Grace, which I think is the most beautiful and moving hymn, ever. Many people don't know the hymn has more than one verse. I loved it that The King choked up during the third verse, so the hymn was carried by his lovingly impromptu choir; how powerful and moving is that?; but then he came roaring back for the entire, literally glorious, fourth verse! I never, ever, ever, ever expected to see such a statement of inspiration and taste on a CW show. But, you know what? If, last week, someone somehow got a gun upside my head and said, "Choose now! Which CW show is going to have an episode that has inspiration and taste, or die!," I'd have picked the Legends. It is the only CW show that's not completely predictable, that seems actually to like itself and care about its audience, and to realize that it's okay to take chances and have fun. In short, it's a lot like Rock 'n' Roll🎸