'DC's Legends of Tomorrow' shows that it's still capable of telling good stories without the campy humor
Spoiler alert for 'A Head of Her Time' - Episode 5 of Season 5 of 'DC's Legends of Tomorrow'
John Constantine (Matt Ryan) is a complicated character - or at least he ought to be. He is one of DC's most iconic examples of moral complexity and the best John Constantine stories leave you feeling unclean for liking the character or vindicated for judging him to be a terrible person. Constantine might have charm but what makes him work as a character is not the charm but the constantly unfolding revelation that he has made a lot of wrong decisions, for the wrong reasons and that the people around him are paying the price. Constantine is a slow-moving car wreck you can't look away from. He is the horror of a man gone wrong, desperately trying to feel like he's worth something.
In other words, he's a terrible fit for 'DC's Legends of Tomorrow' - on paper.
The show has managed to make the most out of him by downplaying his moral complexity and instead focus on Matt Ryan's charismatic performance. He's a charming devil introducing the Legends to the world of magic, flavoring dire warnings with a deep-voiced British accent. This side of Constantine is a natural fit for the show's general camp, and it never needed to be more - which is what made it a pleasant surprise when the show manages to tell a good Constantine story like we find this episode.
Losing Astra Logue (Olivia Swann) to hell is one of Constantine's biggest sources of guilt and on this episode, we find out that the fateful night left him feeling guilty about more than just Astra - he's also responsible for the death of her mother, Natalie (Alice Hunter). It's Natalie's ghost that's haunting Constantine through this episode, forcing him to acknowledge that not only did he botch the exorcism of Astra Logue but that the mistakes he made were because of his ego. Constantine chose magic over love and he wanted to prove to Natalie that he made the right choice - his hubris lost Astra Logue and Natalie took her life soon after.
Natalie's ghost isn't malicious, as it turns out, but her actions do bring Constantine great pain. Buried underneath all his charm, bluster and dramatics, Constantine knows that at the heart of his mistakes is his own selfishness. It's an effective selfishness, one that lets him get away scot-free while other people - both those guilty and innocent - pay the price for his crimes. It's rare that he's forced to confront it, but when he is, it's clear how much that it haunts him.
The story shows that Constantine can still be done well. It's still balanced - the story did not get dark enough to be entirely inconsistent with the tone of 'DC's Legends of Tomorrow' - but it gives Constantine a more nuanced motivation. This episode reminds us just how fascinating a character John Constantine can be - and more importantly, reminds us how good 'Legends' can be for more than just silliness.
The next episode of 'DC's Legends of Tomorrow' airs February 25, on the CW.