Wednesday, February 14, 2018

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 3x10: "Daddy Darhkest"


Written by Keto Shimizu & Matthew Maala
Directed by Dermott Downs

Constantine: "You want to tag along for an exorcism?"
Sara: "Yep."
Constantine: "That's out of the bloody question, luv."

The first thing John Constantine probably should learn is that saying no to Sara Lance is a no go area. She wanted to tag along to an exorcism and along with Earth X Snart, she got her wish. Sara also got another encounter with Mallus and of course, a not so surprising moment with Constantine during the halfway point of this episode.

While I would've preferred to have seen John hooking up with Leo (though I did appreciate the flirting he did with Snart to begin with), the sexy times between him and Sara were actually pretty fun. When was the last time we saw two bisexual characters hook up with each on a network show? I honestly don't remember.

Hooking up to one side (and Sara's comments on John's prowess to another), this episode was about Constantine needing the Legends help with a distressed girl named Emily who was rotting away in an asylum in Star City. It didn't take long though for the episode to reveal that the girl actually is Nora Darhk and through Mallus, the latter was powerful enough to send Sara, John and Leo back in time for the second half of the episode.

Not too far back in time - just to 1969 where a younger version of that psych doctor looking after Nora was more than happy to perform a lobotomy on Leo before being later revealed as a member of the Mallus order when Damien popped up in the presence to take Nora away from Zari and Ray. Speaking of Zari and Ray - those two really do work well together.

I liked that both of them tried their damndest to actually help Nora and the tragic part was that had Damien not popped up when he did, they might have actually changed Nora's fate for the better. It also tied into Amaya's desperate attempt to actually help Kuasa this week, only for the latter to try and kill Nate. Except that Kuasa did actually back down, so I'm guessing that Amaya might have a chance of actually reaching out to her granddaughter by the end of the season.

The strongest aspect of this episode along with our bisexual trenchcoat wearing exorcist being at his absolute best was the fact that things are advancing with the Mallus storyline. Nora is a crucial part of it and Zari is one of the six totem bearers (Amaya and Kuasa being two others I assume) and that might factor into Mallus's eventual downfall. There's also the fact that despite appearing fine, Sara too will also succumb to Mallus's power as well, which was why Constantine was quick to make sure that Ray kept on to the anti magic weapon he had.

Of course with all the Mallus stuff affecting most of the storylines and John just being a one episode (and a bit) guest star, the episode also saw the departure of Leo, who decided to go back to his Earth and marry his Ray. I am hoping we see those two guys again in the future but in the meantime, I'll be looking forward to what Wally will bring to the team when he soon shows up on the Waverider.

- While Sara/John might have hooked up this episode, the signs of her and Ava getting it on soon were also being fired at us in a big way. Oh and Rip has managed to escape from Time Bureau prison.
- The six totems are Air (Zari), Spirit (Amaya), Water (Kuasa) as well as Fire, Earth and another unknown one for now.
- For those who didn't actually watch Constantine, the basics about John were nicely covered (Astra, soul being damned to Hell etc). Now we just need the CW to release his animated series and be done with it.
- Chronology: Star City, in both 2017 and 1969.

Daddy Darhkest was a great return for the show. It slipped nicely into the horror territory while also adding some extra dimensions to both Nora and Kuasa's characters along with advancing the Mallus a bit more for viewers. Constantine's appearance was every bit as brilliant as his previous stint in Arrow and we got some beautiful character moments as well.

Rating: 9 out of 10

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