Legends of Tomorrow S3 Ep. 10 Quick Thoughts

"Daddy Darhkest"

This week's mid-season return for Legends of Tomorrow was a solid Constantine episode as much as it was a decent new entry for Legends. Seeing Matt Ryan return in the titular role as the charming, yet absolutely messed up Constantine filled me up with joy as a fan of the unfortunately cancelled NBC series. Honestly, every scene involving John spewing out supernatural blabber or tossing out flirtatious one-liners was some of the most entertaining character highlights (2nd to Mick of course) of the season. It's safe to say that Constantine is by far one of the best new additions to the Legends roster and I'm more than happy to see that this episode actually acknowledges the NBC series as being supposedly canon. Suffice it to say, the more Matt Ryan, the better.

Speaking of the villain, Mallus has been quite the interesting season baddie this time around as we still have yet to see actually "see" him, yet his presence is heavily presented here. It's interesting having a villain that is essentially projected through other characters as a demon possessed host. Never would I have imagined any of the Arrowverse shows to dive into dark, supernatural enemies (Damien Darhk's powers aside), so it's actually pretty refreshing to have a character like Mallus as our primary antagonist. Hearing the satisfyingly creepy voice work of John Noble as Mallus was pretty entertaining as it was projected out of a young innocent Nora Darhk. I also liked the way in which Nora's destiny as a powerful future time traveling witch who will eventually resurrect her father is explained here.

Overall this was a pretty decent return for the series, but also a welcomed return of a highly beloved fan favorite actor-character combo via Matt Ryan as Constantine. I enjoyed the supernatural-horror elements of John Constantine's world surprisingly perfectly interweaving with the Legends' time traveling hook. Honestly, it would be in the show's best interest to bring him back especially for this particular story. Perhaps, if the ratings and reception is highly positive, Ryan can reprise his role more frequently, or even better, become a regular on the show. Here's to hoping. For now, I look forward to the upcoming CW Seed animated series.

Bonus Thoughts

1. Connections To Arrow

Aside from the news footage of the Green Arrow publicly killing Damien Darhk, there are other clever nods to the 4th season of Arrow which perfectly connects to the story at hand here. When Sara's being influenced by the dark magical forces around her, we're treated to quick blink and you'll miss it frames of her Arrow Season 4 death/resurrection (there are several nods to Arrow Season 4 in this episode). This was arguably one of the coolest and most creative editing choices on the show. Although, for those who haven't seen Arrow, I would've preferred that those 1 second frames be extended longer for the uninitiated. Also loved the white-black canary card that Constantine gives Sara as a symbolic confidence boost.

2. Water Bending

I spent most of my quick thoughts praising Constantine and Mallus, and that's mainly because everything else taking place didn't grab my attention as much story-wise. Everything involving Amaya and Kuasa could have easily been spotlighted in another episode giving more well deserved screen time to Constantine's fascinating supernatural component. I did however like the scene to where Kuasa uses her water shifting ability to slowly drown Nathan. Yikes! As I said, this could have been better suited in another episode. The only non-Mallus transitions should have been with Mick (who always delivers on the shows' comedic moments). More Mick yelling out at sports while the team misunderstands it as motivational words.

Episode Rating: 8/10