DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Review: Daddy Darhkest (Season 3 Episode 10)
It’s been a long hiatus, but the Waverider and its crew of heroes are back with a surprise guest and a demon problem on Legends of Tomorrow: Season 3 Episode 10, “Daddy Darhkest.”
We return at the moment we left in Legends of Tomorrow Season 3 Episode 9, “Beebo the God of War” with Constantine appearing and asking Sara for help. It’s always interesting to add new characters into the mix of an established ensemble and it works well here.
Of course, the last time Constantine and Sara met he was busy saving her soul from an evil hot tub (seriously, go watch it) in Arrow Season 4 Episode 5, “Haunted”. And, really, the less said about that bit of silliness the better.
Matt Ryan gives another impressive, admirable turn as the demon banishing Constantine. It can’t be easy to play a character so infrequently and yet still be able to give a consistent performance across 3 different shows and several years.
I will say, however, that closed captions are your friend if you experience difficulty understanding Constantine thanks to his accent.
The reveal early in the episode that the girl Constantine is trying to save is actually a young Nora Darhk before she turns evil is a good twist. That surprise and the total creep factor of the possession scenes builds a nice sense of tension that carries through the episode.
However, the plot requiring Sara to submit to demon possession does not hold together well.
It seems an extreme choice, especially since possessing Sara is essentially Mallus’ goal. Sara, Constantine, and Snart’s lives are not in danger in this moment and it isn’t as if the Legends have not dealt with team members lost in time before . . .
Logically (I know, I know it’s a show about time travelers and demon possession), it doesn’t make sense to me. Nor does Possessed! Sara immediately being able to draw the rune to send them home while her soul is in Mallusville.
If Mallus works through Nora to create the spell in the first place wouldn’t he also be aware Sara is doing the same thing to send them back? Why would he let her do that?
To be honest, these story choices seem a bit lazy. The writers need Mallus to possess Sara and do not care if it makes much sense. This is nothing new with Arrowverse shows, it is just the first time it’s been this annoying during an episode of Legends of Tomorrow.
Along these lines, there is a Sara/Constantine hook-up from out of nowhere. While I understand it is in the nature of both characters to do this, it does not work for me. Their quick coupling is not meaningful to the plot or the characters and seems to exist solely for the purpose of having an OMG! moment, which is my least favorite reason for making story choices.
Also, Caity Lotz and Matt Ryan do not really have that kind of chemistry.
While parts of the Sara/Constantine/Mallus plot are not great, the focus on Nora Darhk is a highlight of the episode. I’m a fan of Ray and Zari teaming up and their attempt to save Nora effectively makes her a much more sympathetic character. We also learn about Zari through her interactions with Nora, which is really nice writing.
When Damian appears and convinces his young daughter that Mallus’ possession is good for her, it is the most evil he’s ever been as Damian Darhk. There is just something so sinister about a parent using their own child this way that makes this moment more evil than anything involving Sara’s possession.
This is the first time I truly hated Darhk – in a good he’s-the-villain way.
The Good
Mick, staying true to character, watching football back on the Waverider through all the demon related excitement.
Zari and Ray teaming up to find their fellow Legends and help Nora. Ray’s optimism and Zari’s cynicism make for an interesting, well-balanced duo. They play off each other really well.
I’m happy to see the Kuasa storyline moving forward. Connecting the totems to the Mallus plot is interesting as well.
Amaya’s hair gets a 13/10 in this episode. It is distractingly fabulous and I’m jealous.
The Bad
Leo Snart leaving the Waverider.
Okay, this one is a nitpick but at the beginning Constantine picks up a newspaper with the headline, “Man Walks On Moon,” and reads out a date of January 1969.
The moon landing was in JULY 1969, so this is a big goof. It strikes as laziness again. They want the date to be in January to match better with intended original air date, but for some reason also felt the need to have a big historical event on the cover and it doesn’t matter if it makes sense. Argh.
What did you think of this episode of Legends of Tomorrow? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
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Legends of Tomorrow airs Mondays at 8/7c on The CW.
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Jennifer Ann
Jennifer works in public history and digital marketing. She has a borderline academic interest in how historical time periods and events are presented in popular culture. When she is not over-analyzing story arcs and character growth in her favorite shows, she enjoys lazy weekends avoiding housework and spoiling her dogs.
One thought on “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Review: Daddy Darhkest (Season 3 Episode 10)”
I must rate DCs Legends of Tomorrow Daddy Darhkest as 2.00 stars out of 5.00. I was fooled. An episode titled Daddy Darhkest had me thinking that the character to focus on would be DAMIEN DARHK. Not so! They focused on the village whore Sara Lance with her inconsequenal sex life being on full display. First a meaningless fling with Constantine (explain how an avowed homosexual and an avowed lesbian hook up) and then before Constantine was gone a minute and Sara had a change to dry out she wants a fling with Agent Sharpe. Even Gideon was part of the fracus in trying to hook up Sharpe and Sara. Next,, you had boorish Mick watching sports and drinking beer with Mallus and Nora running amok. They could have used him. Then you had Ray and Zari (who have no chemistry together on screen) trying to play daddy/mommy to Nora. Go figure. And then you have Nathaniel wanting to liquidate Kuasa because he is but-hurt that he and Amaya are no longer an item. Useless melodrama between the two that goes nowhere. This who episode should have aired as episode 3 because in episode 5 (Return of the Mack)) we see an adult Nora resurrect her father Damien Darhk with Mallus’ help, so I can’t understand how this episode airs after that one. I think I’ll call it a day on DCs Legends. Useless romantic parings out of nowhere that add nothing to the story, far too much comedy, that makes the characters look like bumbling idiots ala the three stooges while always managing to have them find ways to win, little chemistry among the characters, and no scientific grounding in terms of the laws of physics and princples of logic. But when using a time ship, guess logic and science go out the window. I’ll stick to Arrow and Supergirl for now. But Supergirl will be next on the chopping block for me as they have gone to far overboard in using Dumb-El and Alex.
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