Legends of Tomorrow S03E05 Review: Dracula

Legends of Tomorrow, Season 3, Episode 5: Return of the Mack

So after the last four episodes being a glorified string of filler episodes more geared to build up Zari and the Time Bureau more than anything, this one feels like the real first step to actually telling us the whole Mallus storyline of the season. And boy, what a huge episode we have to unpack here. What begins as a trip to the Victorian eras and seemingly discover the truth about Dracula ends up being them trying to uncover a cult that's apparently manipulated by one of Mallus's minions into trying to resurrect a mysterious body from the future -- Damien Darhk himself, as it turns out. Darhk is one of the most consistently entertaining actors in the Arrowverse, and while this is his third run as a seasonal villain, I for one am pretty happy to see him back. If nothing else, it'll let Sara kill Damien Darhk dead. 

There's a B-plot about Ray and Jax trying to come up with ways to break apart Firestorm, causing a fair amount of misunderstandings with Martin Stein, and also Stein's eventual acceptance that being Firestorm is as much part of his life as being a grandaddy... which makes me pretty scared since this kind of is implying that Stein's exit will be more... mortal than retiring. 

There's also another sub-plot about Zari basically realizing that she kind of needs to be a hero, which she ends up doing after getting tricked by Madame Eleanor, someone who can talk to the dead but apparently is just an acolyte of Mallus from the future. Or something. Also alongside Eleanor is Martin Stein's ancestor, Henry Stein, which is just Victor Garber with the most hilarious fake mustache ever. The two form the majority of the villains up until Darhk is resurrected. 

Oh, and Mick spends the entire episode being savvy with vampire tropes. Carrying a stake around everywhere, wanting to stake people, carrying garlic around his neck... as the one-time Dracula, Dominic Purcell is clearly having the time of his life in this show.

The episode also brings back Rip Hunter, who seeks to get the Legends' aid, and they have a bit of a difference in opinion. Sara wants to stop the ritual done by Madame Eleanor because hell no Damien Darhk is evil. But Rip, who shows up to beg the Legends' help, wants them to find out more about Mallus because the man's tunnel-visioned as hell, and when Sara refuses to do things his way, he locks them inside the Waverider and buggers off with his awesome time grenades to... do things... himself... somehow? I'm genuinely not sure what Rip's trying to do in this episode, actually. But he does betray Sara, in a matter of fashion, and the conversations that Rip and Sara have are actually some really great stuff in this episode. 

There's definitely a sense of trying to do too much, even if the episode does feel a lot richer for it. I did think that some of the subplots could've been trimmed down a little, but otherwise it's a neat little start of hopefully a far more well-conceived season-long arc for Legends of Tomorrow.

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• Present-day Damien Darhk was killed at the end of Arrow's fourth season. 
• Mick's many, many references to Dracula, as well as the behaviour of vampires, is of course, an actor allusion to his role as Dracula himself in Marvel's Blade: Trinity.