'Legends of Tomorrow' Season 3, Episode 5: 'Return of the Mack'

Going by this episode's plot hook, you might expect a standard, entertaining stand alone episode.  Seeing the team travel to Victorian era London to battle a vampire is an easy sell for most viewers.  I'm guessing this episode aired around Halloween because it takes on a spookier tone than other episodes. It helps it stand out while also keeping the show entertaining and fun.

While the vampire is revealed to be something of a Scooby-Doo-esque hoax (I'd say this is a spoiler, but the episode's pretty old at this point, so I don't think there should be a problem) we do get some supernatural goings-on as the plot involves an apparently legitimate psychic conduit and a resurrection ritual.  

A vampire would have made for a good one-off adversary, but instead, the episode builds up to the season's big bad, the oft mentioned "Mallus".  We don't see him, exactly.  Like Savitar, he starts off as a creepy disembodied voice (courtesy of John Noble) that is speaking through another person.  He even refers to himself as a god.  Is this a future Legend who is trying to create the circumstances that lead to his/her own existence?  I don't know, we'll have to wait and find out.  

In the meantime, he gets a nice forboding introduction, as Rip is dead set on proving he/it exists.  The Time Bureau believes he's a myth, but apparently the Time Masters were terrified of even the idea of Mallus' existence.  

It was nice to have Rip back.  It's not the warmest reunion, but it did seem like the characters were on the way towards mending fences.  Sadly, the way this episode ends, there's no apparent chance of that happening.  It's a pity.  Darville was great, but he does offer up a grim warning about what the team is about to face before he is dragged off by the Time Bureau. 

As far as sub-plots, there is some progression in regards to the "breaking up" of Firestorm.  Again, the plot relies heavily on the team needlessly keeping secrets from one another.  On the plus side, Jax's short term memory loss did provide some levity.

It's going to be sad to see Garber leave.  He has such a strong presence and often acts as the emotional cornerstone for both the team and the show.  I don't know how you're going to fill those shoes, but I pity whoever gets stuck with that gig.  

For some reason, and for the third time now, the idea of being Firestorm in 2018 is never brought up.  The hero can continue to exist and Stein can see his family, everyone wins, yes?  I guess this team is dead set on being time traveling superheroes now.

I did like the Curtis cameo.  It's nice to see small overlaps like this with shared universes.  Given the premise, this one is usually pretty compartmentalized, but they found a way to work it in without it feeling shoehorned. 

The plot does lag a little in the middle, less because of slow pacing, but because it seems like the story is getting a bit too convoluted for its own good.  It evens out as the episode progresses, but it is still a weak spot.

The inclusion of the song which inspired the episode's title was also forced in both instances.  While "the mack" could return to who was resurrected, it seemed like it was only included so that the name made sense.  

Really, though, that's a nitpick. 

This was a strong debut for the season's big bad.  The other Arrowverse shows seemed to have held off, and waited for the episode just before the big crossover to really get their arcs moving.  This gives them a bit more room to build up hype for their own plot before we get to that upcoming event (which I'm looking forward to, of course).  Hopefully, we see that momentum carry on as we move further into the season.

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