Legends of Tomorrow S03E06 Review: Plot Twist!

Legends of Tomorrow, Season 3, Episode 6: Helen Hunt

This episode started off as another 'ha-ha-fun' episode. And to some degree, it still is... but the earlier parts of the episode was particularly slow and comedy oriented, with Stein and Jax, the two halves of Firestorm, ended up having their personalities and bodies switched by Ray's disastrous attempt to purge Martin Stein of being Firestorm. Their mission is even more ridiculous, with the historical and mythological Helen of Troy -- a woman so beautiful that men go to war for her -- shows up in Hollywood and causes a battle between the historical film makers over her. Oh, and Stein-in-Jax ends up going ga-ga over his childhood crush, Hedy Lamarr, who they have to restore back to stardom otherwise, like George Lucas last season, many technological inventions will be fucked up and rendered non-existent. I'm not sure why she has such great powers over men (and just men, not the bisexual Sara), and it's never really established if the power is magical or metahuman in nature... but eh. 

And, of course, it's well done. Victor Garber acting as Jax-in-Stein and Franz Drameh acting as Stein-in-Jax are both amazingly well-done, and a constant source of comedy. Everyone's reaction from Nate to Zari to Damien Darrhk's absolutely hilarious reaction are all great, and both are just sources of great comedic beats. From Stein's body needing to go to the toilet all the time, to Stein's matter-of-fact explanation that Hedy Lamarr is his 'allowed cheat' in an arrangement with his wife, to Jax-in-Stein complaining about arthritis, it's definitely a fun moment for all. 

And, well, we get some usual hijinks as Damien Darrhk shows up to keep Helen in business just for... I'm not sure for what. But Darrhk, Kuasa and Madame Eleanor end up fucking over the Legends' plans to kidnap Helen and bring her back to her time. It's never quite made clear what Darrhk was planning to do with Helen in Hollywood, but eh. The new Legion of Doom's (for lack of a better term) mostly there to be an antagonist. 

There's definitely a female-oriented plotline here. Helen came from a time where women's mostly appreciated for her looks, but she doesn't appreciate the men fighting for her... and while Hollywood initially seems to be somewhere where she could 'be a star', she ends up still being a pawn fought over for her looks. She ends up seeing Zari, Amaya and Sara all be badass women, and ends up being inspired to be the same and control her destiny, culminating in her stabbing Kuasa with the dagger Zari gave her. It's hardly necessary, but it does show that she has grown into a more independent soul, I guess. Zari ending up taking Helen not to a place where she would be persecuted and used by men as a trophy, but drop her off at Themyscira, is a huge, huge YES moment for me, because... hey, Wonder Woman references are awesome. Arrowverse Wonder Woman? Please? 

Hedy Lamarr's storyline wasn't as necessary, although it's definitely a lot more fun thanks to Martin Stein's awesome gushing about her. It's a bit hard to buy that Hedy would just instantly become an expert in how Firestorm works after Stein rattles off a few basic outlines of what Firestorm even is, but it's a minor complaint because it's honestly kind of fun. 

Eleanor being revealed as actually Nora, Darrhk's daughter, is a huge surprise for me, and made this otherwise 'ehh, random vampire cult lady' take far more weight and explains why Nora was so insistent on reviving Darrhk in the past. She's also played by a pretty great actress herself, and I'm definitely a huge fun. Darrhk and Sara get into a bit of a cool swordfighting, which is awesome. Kuasa and Amaya's confrontation didn't feel as awesome as it probably should, but at least the two are trapped in an unique rivalry, where Amaya realizes that Kuasa is her great-great-granddaughter and she does have the potential to use her clan's sacred totem. 

Overall, a far more fun episode than I expected, and easily one of the better episodes of Legends of Tomorrow this season. 

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• The huge one has to be, of course, the presence of Themyscira, the home of Wonder Woman and the Amazons, which Zari drops Helen off at the end of the episode. What's particularly surprising about this is the fact that it's straight-up identified as Themyscira as opposed to skirting around the edges of the 'bigger' DC characters as they tend to do in CW shows.
• Helen of Troy herself has been mentioned several times in DC comics, but I don't think the historical Helen actually appeared in a major role as far as I can tell. 
• In the comics, Martin Stein did become the main body of Firestorm for a while, as opposed to his traditional role as the 'advisor' mind. 
• Nora Darrhk, a.k.a. Madame Eleanor, last appeared in Arrow's fourth season, but she was a wee little kid back then. 
• Ray reveals to Amaya that Kuasa is actually her present-day descendant, and Ray has fought alongside the modern-day Vixen in battles involving Kuasa in Vixen's season 2.