Rip Hunter gives Sara Lance a contingency order: if they cannot rescue Stein, she must kill him to prevent the future knowledge of the Firestorm matrix from falling into Soviet hands.
Picking up immediately after "White Knights," the team remains in 1986 Soviet Russia: [S1E5] Fail-Safe
Reviews at the time were mixed to positive. Some critics praised the character dynamics—particularly the unlikely bond between the optimistic Ray Palmer and the hardened Mick Rory. Others found the writing for the villain Vandal Savage to be a weak point, though the cliffhanger ending was widely cited as a series highlight that built significant excitement for the following episode. Rip Hunter gives Sara Lance a contingency order: