Waverider hovers in the timestream and Gideon warns Zari that Sara didn't give her the power to alter her software. Zari orders Gideon to reroute the power to its CPU before the team gets back, and Gideon says that the team has just returned on the jumpship. The lights flicker as the Legends come in dressed as 70s disco band members. Mick arrives dressed as a French soldier with a recorder of Napoleon singing Abba's "Waterloo" and smashes it. Gideon confirms that the battle of Waterloo is back on track, but then her hologram flickers out. Ray discovers that Gideon's neural core has been checked, and Zari finally tells them that she uploaded a simulation program to Gideon's neural core to discover that there are any other loopholes in history that she could exploit. She explains that she's trying to stop 2042 from becoming a dystopian nightmare. Sara warns her that they're in the business of fixing history, not exploiting it, and orders Zari to fix what she messed up. Zari points out that her membership is a temporary measure, and Sara tells her to leave if she doesn't like it. Ray trips and Sara repeats her order to Zari.
As Zari fixes the core, green goo shoots into her face. Gideon doesn't come back online, and a burst of energy shoos through Waverider and blows it up. Zari finds herself on the bridge with Sara telling her to leave if she doesn't like her captainship. Sara and Ray don't remember repeating the conversation, and Ray trips as Sara repeats her order to Zari.
Zari visits with Mick and discovers that he doesn't know anything about déjà vu. She then goes to the study, and finds Amaya and Nate talking about giving into the temptation of being together. Amaya says that they have to forget what happened. Nate says that he can't and Amya tells him to try. One Amaya leaves, Zari asks Nate if he noticed anything weird happening. She then asks Ray, who doesn't remember anything. Zari finally goes to repair the core, avoiding the spurt of green fluid. Waverider explodes and Zari finds herself on the bridge with Sara telling her to leave if she doesn't like her captainship. When Zari tries to explain what happened, Sara instinctively twists her wrist.
Ray takes Zari to the medbay and she explains what happened. He doesn't believe her and gives her a mild sedative. Zari passes out and finds herself back on the bridge with Sara telling her to leave if she doesn't like her captainship. The hacker calls everyone to the bridge and says that the ship is going to explore in an hour. Zari avoids saying how she knows and tells everyone to go over Waverider. Sara has Mick carry Zari to the medbay and Ray speculates about what happened. Zari wakes up from the sedative, realizing that she's developed a tolerance, and staggers out into the hallway. Nate confronts her and asks what's going on, and Zari figures that nothing she does makes any difference. The ship starts to shake and Zari tells Nate that they're all about to die. Nate tells her to find him and says the words "Groundhog Day", as the ship blows up.
Zari finds herself on the bridge with Sara telling her to leave if she doesn't like her captainship. Ignoring Sara, Zari gets a pocket watch from the study and tells Ray not to trip. Zari finds Nate and Amaya talking about forgetting what happened. Once Amaya leaves, Zari tells him "Hedgehog Day." Nate finally realizes that she's talking about "Groundhog Day" and she explains about the time loop. He says that they're friends and he'll try to help her. Nate figures that they need to get off the ship, but Zari warns that Sara won't believe them. She figures that the explosion started inside Waverider. Mick is doing laundry, and Nate figures that it's suspicious. Meanwhile, Mick wipes his memories to get the song "Waterloo" out of his head, and Amaya takes the memory flasher. Zari and Nate see the entire thing, and Zari suggests that Amaya wants it to help Kuasa. Nate goes after Amaya, and Ray arrives with a laundry basket. He worries about Sara's temper but won't say why.
Zari goes to find Nate, who is talking to Amaya. Amaya says that they can use the memory flasher so they both forget what happened between them. Before they use it, Nate and Amaya have sex because they're going to forget anyway. As Zari winces in disgust, Waverider blows up.
Zari finds herself on the bridge with Sara telling her to leave if she doesn't like her captainship. She then finds Nate and tells him "Groundhog Day", and triggers his memories of what happened. They go to find Mick at the point where Zari saw him before with his laundry. They go into his room and see a suspicious looking box. Mick has set a bear trap, and on the next time loop, Zari sets it off first. When Nate touches the box, he's electrocuted. On the next loop, she defuses the trap first. Inside is a typewriter, and purple ink sprays in their face. They heck the paper and discover that Mick is writing a sci-fi romance novel.
On the next loop, they check Ray. As he works in the lab making tea, Sara comes in and complains that she's tired of playing mom with Zari. Once she leaves, Zari and Nate come in and Ray blurts out that Constantine told them to kill Sara if Mallus takes control of her again. They wonder if Mallus made Sara blow up Waverider, and explain to Ray about the time loop. Sara is the only one they haven't checked out, so they need Ray's help.
Zari and Atom follow Sara to the jumpship and Atom prepares the nanite gun. He then shrinks himself and Zari to 2", and they fly into the jumpship. Sara calls Ava to complain about her reckless teammate. She wants to tell Zari how important is to the team, but Zari doesn't make it easy. Sara describes what happened and figures that if she learned how to hack history then she'll try to save Dinah. She's tired of having to be the bad cop, and Ava commiserates. She suggests that she should go over and Sara figures that she's super busy. Zari and Atom wonder if Sara realizes that Ava is crushing on her. As they talk, Sara hears them and mistakes them for a fly, and crushes them.
On the next loop, Zari tells Nate that they've been stuck in the loop for a while. He suggests that she take a break and have some fun because she doesn't face any consequences. Zari eats whipped cream, dresses in armor, takes Mick's fire gun, learns how to play the costume, reads Mick's novel, and tries on costumes.
On the next loop, Zari tells Nate that she's losing her mind and nothing is fun anymore. She goes to the bridge and prepares to shoot herself with Mick's Napoleonic flintlock, but the gun misfires. Sara says that they should talk it through, and agrees to believe her. Zari explains what is happening to her and that she's the only one aware of what's happening to them. Sara agrees to help and asks how much time they have left. They search Waverider to find the bomb, and Amaya realizes that Zari saw her and Nate together. The Legends realize that Mick didn't check the trash compactor, and find Gary inside of it. He says that he tried to portal onto the bridge but his time courier broke and he got stuck. When Gary holds up a gadget, Mick figures that it's the bomb and destroys it. Gary explains that it's his chrono-repeater that he used to save himself by creating the loop but got stuck in the compacter. The Time Agent says that he got an alert that Waverider exploded, but couldn't warn them so he used the chrono-repeater to give them time to find it. Without the repeater, there are no more loops and they'll blow up for good in five minutes.
Sara tells the team that they have five minutes. Gary sys that the bomb originated in 1975, and Mick suggest that it's the song. Sara realizes that it's the recorder that Mick smashed, and they find the bomb inside. Zari figures that Damian put the bomb inside, and Sara warns that they can't eject it with Gideon offline. She asks Zari if she learned anything to defuse it, and Zari seals herself off behind a force field so she and say what she has to. She tells them that Mick should follow his heart and keep writing; Nate and Amaya to treasure what they have but not have sex between missions; Ray that the world would be a better place if he was so polite, but he has to tell Sara why he's afraid of her; and Sara that she's infuriating because she is the team's soul but she should ask Ava out.
Zari tells her teammates that they're her family and they deserve to be happy, then uses her amulet to summon a whirlwind to contain the explosion. Amaya and Nate try to break through the force field without success, and Zari tells everyone that she loves them. The counter reaches 0 and everyone but Zari disappears. A woman steps out and tells Zari that she's Gideon. Gideon explains that Zari is in the medbay unconscious and healing.
They go to the medbay and Gideon explains that the green goo is a highly volatile substance and Zari is lucky to be alive. Gideon unloaded Zari's mind into her cortex, and when Zari tried to use the cortex to sort through the possibilities of changing 2042, Gideon realized that Zari was the one constant. To save 2042, Zari must work with the Legends but after her fight with Sara, Zari inevitably left the ship. Gideon changed the simulation so that Zari would bond with the team. The bomb was just a plot device that Gideon incorporated into the scenario. Everything that Zari saw was true if not real. Zari wonders why Gideon put Gary in the scenario, and the AI admits that she thought it would be funny.
Zari wakes up in the medbay, and tells Sara and Ray what Gideon did. Gideon tells Zari that she doesn't know what Zari is talking about, and Sara and Ray assume that she's delusional. Zari tells Sara to ask Ray what Constantine told him about her, and Ray admits that Constantine told Ray to kill Sara if she was possessed by Mallus. Sara agrees and invites Zari to get some coffee. Zari tells Sara that she's afraid of being tempted to save Dinah, and explains that she had to know if there was a way to save her brother. She figures that she'll need a team and Sara agrees. Sara figures that saving Zari's brother wouldn't alter history because it is her future. Zari advises Sara to ask Ava out, and love is worth the risk.
Later, Zari tells Nate what happened in the "time loop". She explains that they used the flasher to forget having sex during the mission, and they need to work it out for real. Once Zari leaves, Amaya admits that she used the flasher the way that Zari said. They agree to talk about their feelings and leave the flasher on the desk before having sex.
Zari tells Mick that he has a lot of writing to do, and advises him that the ending needs a rewrite. Mick goes back in his quarters, and Zari gets the violin and plays using what she learned in the simulation.
Nate and Amaya have sex.
Sara talks with Ava.
Mick works on his novel, incorporating Zari's suggestion.
In China in 2018, Rip finds Wally meditating. He introduces himself and says that he needs Wally's help to save the universe.
Written by Gadfly on Feb 25, 2018