DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Season 4, Episode 11: Seance and Sensibility
Some shows -- sister shows Flash and Arrow in particular -- like to pretend that some of their episodes are these huge step in an over-arching seasonal plot when in reality they're just better-disguised filler. The meta-of-the-week episodes during the Thinker season, in particular, felt particularly drab as episodes that are treated and hyped up to be important end up being just nothing but filler -- leaving with a sort of sensation that left me feeling unfulfilled. Blueballed, as it were."Seance and Sensibility" is the exact opposite. In that it presents itself as a wacky hijinks filler episode, but ends up being far, far more than just a Bollywood musical homage. So there are three plotlines that take place in this episode -- going back to the past to try and fix something that's wrong in the time of author Jane Austen; dealing with Kamadeva, the Hindu god of love; and Constantine having to channel Hank's ghost to figure out just what the dead man's dying message is. All while this is going on, Ray sneaks Nora Darrhk into the ship, Nate has to come to terms with his dad's life and Neron continues to do spooky demon shit.
None of these sub-plots are powerful enough to carry a more serious, heavy episode, but none of them are so bland as to be brushed aside either. It's interesting, again, how the show writers made Legends of Tomorrow so easy to swallow while also making it relatively fulfilling at the same time. It's these sort of episodes that perhaps The Flash and Arrow could've used more of, things that are just genuinely fun japery while also giving plot developments (particularly Nate's frustration with his dead dad, as well as Mona's... whatever Mona's doing) time to sink in.
The heavier stuff happens on the Nate/Mick/Constantine part of the episode, as 'heavy' as this episode can get, anyway. Nate's refusal to even give his dad a decent speech in his funeral, thoroughly refusing to give him a second (well, third) chance and convinced that his dad is just this government conspiracy, magic-people-enslaving fascist, makes him very much pissed-off at everything that's going on and even refusing to entertain Constantine's suggestion to summon Hank's spirit in a seance.
Constantine channeling Hank Heywood's ghost through Mick is more for plot benefit than anything, and it's basically just leading the audience and at least one member of the cast in the direction that there's this Neron fellow they have to fight. Neron, his weird holeface and his ownership of Desmond's soul manage to be all spoopy to Constantine at the end of the episode, but it's... it's definitely not the most important thing in these scenes. That would be Nate, being grumpy and pissed off and disappointed at his father... and while it is awfully convenient that Hank is actually a super-duper-decent-guy, Nate's confusion when he finds out that Hank is just trying to basically do a magical version of Zoo Tycoon, discovering the weird side to his father and finally calling him 'dad' instead of 'Hank'... it's definitely touching, and Nick Zamo sell the hell out of that scene. It's awfully convenient and definitely a bit of an ass pull. As much as Nick Zamo sells the acting of this scene, and as much I like the bizarre out-there subversion of making a magic theme park... the fact that Hank Heywood has been pretty much played up as a nasty villain throughout this season up until this episode is really inconsistent with this random revelation.
Meanwhile, in the past, apparently a lot of scandalous relationships are happening during a wedding, caused by Kamadeva, the Hindu god or love. Or rather, a random guy called Sanjay who picked up the ashes of Kamadeva, granting him the ability to basically cause everyone around him to succumb to their most base desires and passions, and it's essentially a love-vs-lust moral without the 'lust' part being too creepy? Love-vs-passion, I guess? While the whole Jane Austen thing honestly feels just handwaved to give credence to the time travel plot, with Mona being an Austen fan just sort of played out over two conversations... it's neat, I guess?
The rather unfortunate implication of using a still-relevant religion's god in a time travel magic show is honestly sort of unfortunate, though, and I imagine the episode would've faced far worse pushback if it ever featured, say, the Legends arresting Saint Peter or something.
Anyway, Zari's apparently in love with Nate but refuses to entertain the idea of love, and not just because of sitcom hijinks but because she comes from a post-apocalyptic future. And while she was initially able to resist Kamadeva's charm and put him in the brig of the Waverider, overnight Kamadeva manages to use his powers to make... well, Charlie, Zari, Sara and Mona get into really really exciting wet dreams. Meanwhile, Ray, who's snuck Nora on-board with a lot of hilarious awkwardness that comes with a geeky boy scout like Ray sharing a room and later a bed with a woman he clearly is smitten with... they end up really boning really hard.
And then Zari decides to give in to love and passion (and no small part due to all the teasing her teammates throw her way... "smash the criminal/smash Nate" jokes, anyone?), and basically engage in a huge Bollywood number with Kamadeva as they decide to get married. Mona, fresh off of a motivational speech from Jane Austen, decide to put a kabosh to what is basically Zari making a rash decision based on love, and it's... it's a neat way to explore both the whole "don't be a stickler, embrace your passions" and "love at first sight doesn't mean you have to Disney-princess-marry-prince-charming-in-a-single-day" morals without giving any real unfortunate implications.
The musical number is honestly sort of shoehorned in just to give the cast something audaciously wacky to dick around with, but it's just kind of entertaining, y'know? Overall, a pretty enjoyable, if utterly bizarre, episode.
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