Legends of Tomorrow Season 3, episode 10 recap: Raising hell
After a two month break, Legends of Tomorrow returned with an episode that revealed a lot about this season’s villains.
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Although it’s frustrating to have your favorite shows take an extended mid-season break, Legends’ hiatus seemed to do the show a lot of good. Although the series has been really good this year, it has lacked momentum. As a threat, Mallus has seemed a bit abstract and impersonal. “Daddy Darhkest” addressed that problem head-on. By the end of the episode, I had a much clear sense of who the villain is and why he is a personal and existential threat to the team. If not for one bum note in its final minutes, this episode would’ve been just about perfect.
The episode opened with John Constantine (Matt Ryan) attempting to exorcise Mallus from the body of a young woman who was being held in a Star City asylum. Constantine failed and learned that Mallus was trying to corrupt Sara (Caity Lotz). This brought us back to the end of “Beebo the God of War” and Sara agreeing to help Constantine. The Legends arrived at the asylum and learned the woman they were trying to save was a younger version of Nora Darhk (Courtney Ford). Kuasa (Tracy Ifeachor) appeared on the scene to ensure that the exorcism failed.
Although the Arrowverse has never been super concerned faithfulness to the source material when bringing comic book characters to the screen, Matt Ryan’s Constantine is absolutely perfect. In addition to looking just like he stepped out of a Steve Dillon page, Ryan nails Constantine’s unique blend of intelligence, bleak wit and mystery. Also, it was nice to see that as opposed to his short-lived NBC incarnation, the Arrowverse Constantine is unabashedly bisexual. Given how great this version of the character is and Ryan’s chemistry with the rest of Legends, I’m hoping he becomes a permanent addition to the show’s cast.
“There’s always more crap to endure.”
In the throes of possession, Young Nora (Madeleine Arthur) told Sara she would soon be in Mallus’ service and transported Sara, Constantine and Leo Snart(Wentworth Miller) to 1969. Nate (Nick Vento) used Snart’s freeze ray to capture Kuasa. Mick (Dominic Purcell) tasked Zari (Tala Ashe) and Ray (Brandon Routh) with finding the rest of the team and Amaya (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) with questioning Kuasa. In the past, Snart was captured by the asylum’s staff and Mallus began messing with Sara’s mind. Also, Constantine and Sara totally hooked up.
Kuasa told Amaya that she embraced evil in order to get enough power to protect her people. Zari and Ray got Nora out of the asylum and attempted to help her reconnect with her humanity. Unfortunately, Mallus quick repossessed her and quickly overwhelmed them. Sara let Mallus possess her so Constantine could use the demon as a power source to send them home. Amaya seemed to be getting through to Kuasa until Nate interfered and allowed her to escape.
One thing that really made this episode stand out was that he gave almost all of the Legends something to do. Even better, a number of subplots were set up or expanded upon. Sara learns her history with dark magic left her vulnerable to Mallus. Mick proved to be a capable field leader and Sara’s absence. Amaya found that Kuasa wasn’t completely irredeemable and that she and Nate still have trust issues. And Ray and Zari once again showed why they’d be an awesome couple. Legends is at its best when the entire team is engaged in the action.
“Helping you with Mallus was good for me too.”
With Sara’s help, Nora broke free, but Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough) appeared and convinced her to submit to Mallus. Zari told the Legends that Mallus was afraid of her power and Constantine noted that the totems could be the key to stopping the demon. Constantine warned Ray that Mallus would inevitably overwhelm Sara. Snart departed the Waverider with the intent to marry his boyfriend on Earth-X. Agent Sharpe (Jes Macallan) told Sara that Rip (Arthur Darvill) had escaped from the Time Bureau.
Another interesting thing about this episode was that it showed how much the Legends have changed over the years. Zari and Ray worked really had to save Norah, even though they knew what her future holds. Similarly, I liked that Amaya wouldn’t give up Kuasa. That characterization stands in sharp contrast to the fix-on-fail approach the team had in its earlier years. Now with some experience under their belts, the team practices a more holistic version of heroism. That difference really helps the show stand out from the rest of the Arrowverse franchise.
Next: Legends of Tomorrow season 3, episode 9 recap: Love, grief and Vikings
While this episode was great in almost every way, it did have one major stumble. Snart’s departure felt like it came out of nowhere. While I was really happy to see Wentworth Miller on the Waverider again, his second run was a real disappointment. He sort of helped the team cope with Professor Stein’s death and helped out on a few missions but that was it. As such, I really don’t get why he was brought back at all. My only hope is that Miller will return so this version of his character can get a proper send off.
Next week, the team gets stuck in a time loop. And for some reason, are dressed like extras from Saturday Night Fever.
Legends of Tomorrow airs on The CW Mondays at 8 p.m.