While the team doesn't win their initial skirmish (obviously), they don't exactly get clobbered either. It makes Sara's sudden lack of confidence in the team's abilities come off as a little bizarre.It does allow for an internal struggle to complement the external and it does give her a nice arc, but it still feels a little random.
On top of that, all Mallus does is fly around. You'd think there would be some reference to the collapsing timeline or something, but no. The episode decides to settle in the old west instead. The setup has its upsides, but it still feels lackluster given the circumstances.
The episode does bring a whole lot of supporting characters. Old adversaries and allies both return to up the scale of the impending conflict and it works well. It makes the episode feel like a culmination of all of the events that had preceded it. While Jax doesn't get a whole lot to do, it was still nice to see him back and he does get some good lines and moments in here and there.
Speaking of good moments, both Rip and Damien get to make the heroic sacrifice play. You'd think that it would feel like overkill or redundant, but both are distinct and land for different reasons. In both cases, they feel like the best conclusion for these characters' stories, though I'm sure the Arrowverse could find ways to bring them back if need be.
Now, there were two points that I had been aware of before watching this. The first is that Mallus loses to a giant Beebo. I was actually dreading the finale because I thought it was going to be dumb, but it kind of worked. Yeah, it's silly as hell, but it wasn't in that cringe-inducing way that I was expecting. It helps that the fight itself was actually pretty exciting, which is impressive given the circumstances.
The final climax managed to draw from "Ghostbusters", the fourth season of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", and even Captain Planet. Yeah, they say Voltron, but come on, Captain Planet is the much more appropriate comparison given the way they talk about bringing the elemental powers together to form a perfect champion.
The second thing was the retconning of the "Vixen" series. I thought that they were going to somehow phase Mari out to simplify things and keep the franchise to one Vixen, but that isn't what happens. It turns out that, due to Amaya and Nate's changing of the timeline, Kuasa grew up happy with her family. As such, she and Mari share the totem. Considering the team gives Kuasa back their totems at the end, I have a feeling Kuasa might go back to bearing the water totem so that Mari can bear the spirit totem, but we'll have to see how that plays out.
While her redemption here is more timey-wimey ball induced, it still feels like a fitting conclusion, given the fact that she was already on a positive change arc anyway.
Not surprisingly, the day is saved and it seems like the team got a legitimate win with a well deserved happy ending. They even take a trip to Aruba, much to Mick's chagrin as he wanted to be by himself. Sadly, the celebration is short lived as the inevitable sequel hook reveals itself. Constantine shows up to berate Sara for letting the demon out, as it has apparently allowed other creatures to come out as well.
I'm all for more Constantine and it's a logical plot hook given that he's going to be a regular now, but it seemed like a lazy way to end the episode. There was no umph like there was with "Guys, we broke time" or the JSA making contact with the team to warn them about what's to come. It felt a little perfunctory. If anything, I think letting the season end with the team on a high note could have been an interesting twist. Also, minor quibble, but putting Matt Ryan's name in the opening credits really took the steam out of that surprise appearance. The show producers have been smart about that sort of thing before, so I'm not sure why they didn't do the same here.
All in all, this episode was a mixed bag. Underwhelming at points, but never lacking in charm or fun. It could have been more, but it does deliver what you come to expect from an episode of the series.
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