Legends Of Tomorrow 6x5 : The Satanist's Apprentice review

 

            Be warned there will be *SPOILERS* involved in this review. With that being said let's get into it.

Legends of Tomorrow returns from it's week hiatus and boy oh boy what an episode to return with. We begin with Astra whom we see living or at least trying to live a normal mortal life. We see things like her waking up, choosing an outfit and just going about daily chores that any person would do. She does have a bit of a bad day on one of the days however as not only does she get refused a taxi because of having no money on her but she also gets splashed and covered in water by a passing car. When she's about to go home which is Constantine's house she is greeted by a neighbor. A well mannered gentleman who thinks she is the help. Not only that the man is taken aback more when Astra accuses him of being racist and looking down upon her. She did have a point here. Soon we're in the Constantine house and the past 3 episodes especially episode 2 and 3 are intertwined into this one as we see Astra trying to communicate with Constantine. He is preoccupied with Zari who after the events of episode 2 wants some ahem let's just alone time with John. We also see the return of Johnny C if even for a split second that is. All of this just further implants the idea of loneliness and anger within Astra as Constantine has failed to deliver on his promises over and over again. With John out of the house Astra decides it's time to get to work on things herself and comes across a mysterious painting in the attic. At first we hear it begin talking to Astra calling out to her telling her to come closer. Upon lifting the sheet that was covering the painting we learn that it is actually a person trapped inside the painting by Constantine. Named Aleister Crowley he is a a master of the Occult and magician among other things. He and Astra begin talking and eventually he convinces her to help him get out of the paining and in return he will teach her various spells of the dark arts. Things get very interesting indeed from here on out. 

At the end of episode 3 we saw Sara come into contact with a mysterious man who was seemingly the leader of the alien group who kidnapped Sara in the first place. Well it turns out he actually is the leader and is named Bishop. Plenty of revelations come to the forefront here as Sara gets seemingly saved from near death by the infected area she had got by being bitten by Amelia Earheart. When she wakes up Sara is chained to a bed and begins demanding answers. Not only is Bishop present but so is a nurse Ava clone. Bishop tells Sara of his master plan. A plan that includes restoring the Earth to former glory and balance. He talks about humanity being the disease that has done nothing but bad for the planet. From killing animals to corruption to money and everything else in between. He seems himself as the savior of the masses so to speak and intends on creating various creatures and monsters to help restore the balance and keep the peace. He also says that it was him who created the Ava clones. Which means this man has been an overarching villain since at least season 3. From the Ava clones to the Ava we know as a Legend. This kind of storytelling and world building is fascinating to me and just makes everything so much better. So with Bishop's plan in motion he asks Sara to serve by him and be a trainer for his new soon to be creations. She of course refuses and is left behind to mull things over while being made to watch a TV show which was funny. Sara does try to convince nurse Ava to help her but to no avail..at first!

The episode draws to a close back at Constantine's house as the master of the dark arts arrives back at the home. It's not long before Astra who had been learning basic spells from Crowley transfers the man from inside the painting into Constantine's body switching them in an instant. The body and demeanor of Constantine changes in an instant going from cigarette smoking, slang speaking dark arts master to a more refined more calm manner. Now with Constantine in the painting Crowley and Astra get to work on learning spells. It's basic stuff at first like turning bad fruit into money and jewels and creating an entirely new outfit for Astra. These spells are basic like I mentioned so in reality they don't do much and actually wear off pretty soon after using them. It's not long before the Legends arrive which like earlier directly ties into previous episodes. This time from the ending of last week where we saw the Legends locked out of the waverider with only Constantine's house available to go. Upon arrival they're greeted by Astra who soon loses her temper with them all as they all try and do different things in the house. It's not long before Astra has had enough and uses the same spell she used on Constantine to turn all the rest of the Legends into various household objects and even some food. Zari gets turned into a flip phone, Nate some cheese, Ava a folder filled with notes, spooner a fork and Behrad a lit candlestick. Crowley soon intervenes again and says that to truly free himself from Constantine's body and become one with himself he needs a living breathing human soul. This leads to Astra contacting her bigot of a neighbor from earlier stating that she has some art for sale. Astra at first looks set to go through with her plan but she fails at the final hurdle. Crowley doesn't fail however and takes the mans soul for himself. What follows is a magical experience of animation, sing-song and the revelation to Astra that having some friends around maybe isn't such a bad thing. With more power than before Crowley transforms the entire area into something out of an animated movie. Beautifully animated all around Astra gets turned into a cartoon princess who can't do much but sing. And boy can she sing! she ends up getting cast out to the attic where she finds Constantine still inside of the painting. Constantine tells Astra that her mother had a sort of lullaby / song that she would use to defeat and banish evil. It just so happens to that Astra had earlier found a journal / music book belonging to her mother Natalie. When she opens the book magic notes magically flow out and she begins to sing a soothing song that not only stops Crowley from stealing the souls of the other Legends but also traps the demented occult master back inside of the painting where he belongs. The animation gets washed out as Astra realizes like I said earlier that maybe having friends is not such a bad thing after all. This did feel a bit random as she was hanging out with the Legends last season albeit not of her own enjoyment. Just a little gripe I have with this episode but it's not enough to defer it from being easily the best this season. The episode ends back with Sara who it looks like is getting help from nurse Ava. They both go to the main control room of the Alien spaceship that we saw in the pilot episode. Soon enough we see that this isn't nurse Ava helping rather it's a trap as Bishop soon enters the room again asking for Sara's hand in partnership. Sara refuses again and beats up the guards that surround her. She goes up to Bishop and snaps his neck in a moment that I was not expecting. Sara then gets hit with a dart to the neck and falls to the ground. Upon waking up she is groggy at first but is then completely taken aback when Bishop walks into the room. Is this man unkillable?? or was it all just a dream perhaps?? we don't get to find out as the episode ends right there and then as Sara looks on in complete confusion along with the audience. Man what an episode. Totally and truly this episode was fantastic from beginning to end. Perfectly balanced, funny, real world situation at the beginning and an animation sequence that was top quality. The ending was also perfect as it just made you wanting more. Astra was the star of the show and finally got to showcase so much more than just being an angry, self centered person from hell, I really did enjoy this one. This is Legends of Tomorrow at it's absolute best!

★★★★★