“Bad Blood” is an underwhelming episode of Legends of Tomorrow

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is like any other show: it’s going to have its underwhelming installments. “Bad Blood” was one of my least favorite episodes of the series, and I think that was largely because the entire cast wasn’t together. Instead, the episode focused on John Constantine (Matt Ryan) and Spooner (Lisseth Chavez) traveling to 1939 Spain to get John’s powers back.

After learning about the Fountain of Imperium, John was desperate to once again become an all-powerful being. The fountain is sort of like the Lazarus Pit, except that one brings people back from the dead. Of course, restoring John’s powers this way comes at a price.

While I wasn’t crazy about this episode, I still enjoyed it more than I would a bad episode on any other show. There were some hilarious moments (especially with Gus the alien), but overall it just didn’t do it for me.

And with that, let’s dive into the major moments from this week’s episode — beware SPOILERS below!

Legends of Tomorrow travels to 1939 Spain

“Bad Blood” kicks off with Constantine trying to get the painting of Aleister Crowley (Matt Lucas) to tell him where the map to the Fountain of Imperium is. Apparently, he shared it with some banker, who happens to be a vampire as well. When Noelle (Melissa Farman) shows up, Constantine tricks her into giving him the map. On her way out she hands him a potion, ominously saying that he will be begging her for more.

I had no idea what this potion was actually supposed to do because they didn’t do a good job of explaining it. I assumed it would have some bad effects, but I didn’t realize it was going to turn out to be an addictive drug.

Constantine seeks out Spooner’s help to decipher the map, which leads them to Albacente, Spain after the Spanish civil war. Only those worthy can drink from the famed fountain. Constantine is willing to do whatever it takes, which involves finding a man that goes by the name El Gato (Leo Rand). John reasons that El Gato has survived many assassination attempts, so he must have drunk from the fountain.

Spooner and Constantine head to a local bar where they’re mistaken for fascist spies. They convince the owners otherwise, and then things really get interesting…

Legends of Tomorrow deals with Gus and a pregnant Rory

Meanwhile, on the Waverider, Behrad (Shayan Sobhian), Nate (Nick Zano), and Gary (Adam Tsekhman) try to help Gus the baby alien fall asleep. He’s like a less cute version of Beebo, but you can’t help but find him adorable anyway.

After falling asleep, Gus awakens shrieking. He’s going through “growing pains” according to Spooner, which we see a lot of that later in the episode. Within moments, Gus goes from a baby alien to a raging, hormonal teen. Zari (Tala Ashe) and Behrad use their totems to get Gus out of the ship.

Rory (Dominic Purcell) learned last week that he’s pregnant after having sex with Kayla, who impregnated him after putting her tentacles in his ear. He’s in absolute denial about it and won’t listen to Lita (Mina Sundwall) when she asks him to go to the medbay to talk to Gideon. It takes Lita faking labor to get him there.

Side note: That bump on his neck is so gnarly that it made me cringe for a couple of hours after the episode. So not necessary! In any case, Gideon examines Rory and learns that he has 48 eggs (yuck!) in his skull, and unexpectedly, Rory comes to terms with being pregnant. He was even sort of…emotional.

Legends of Tomorrow uncovers the mystery of El Gato

John learns more about El Gato from the tavern owner, who informs him that instead of a magical fountain, there is a magical donkey in the next town over. If you drink the milk from his udders it gives you powers…but of course this is all a lie. This guy is clearly El Gato, and Spooner and Constantine both agree that something shady is afoot. They sneak back into the tavern and end up in a wine cellar, where they find a young boy named Fernando (Ricardo Ortiz). They suspect that he may have drunk from the same fountain Constantine is looking for.

Their conversation is interrupted when a group of soldiers walks into the tavern asking about El Gato on Hitler’s behalf. Captain Noriega (Alexander García Soto) is the leader of the group. He knows all about mythical weapons and artifacts, including the Spear of Destiny and Loom of Fate.

A fight breaks out in the tavern after the Captain and his men get aggressive and start attacking the patrons. El Gato is shot but Fernando comes running up and heals his wounds with the touch of his hand. Spooner is captured while Constantine runs out. He gets close to taking the potion the vampire gave him earlier but chooses not to and goes back into the tavern.

Spooner tells Fernando not to worry. She reassures him that superheroes are on their way, and he asks about the JSA. That was a fun reference. It makes sense that they would come up, because around this time in 1939, the JSA was very much a thing.

Constantine the priest

When Constantine returns to the tavern, he pretends to be a priest sent from the Vatican. He questions Fernando in order to learn where the Fountain of Imperium is.

It turns out Fernando did indeed drink from the fountain, but when he tells Spooner its location telepathically, she lies to Constantine about it. But the more urgent matter is getting out of the tavern, so Constantine signals the owner to take out her rifle. We get a shootout where all the men are killed, but Noriega survives with a hurt leg.

Spooner, Constantine and Fernando make a run for it, but she wants to go back to help the rest of the family. Constantine refuses because without his powers he’s useless and needs to get his magic back if he wants to be any help at all. I’ll admit, this was quite an emotional speech from Constantine as he vowed to help those who can’t fight. I got teary-eyed!

The Fountain of Imperium

Fernando takes Constantine to the fountain’s location, but when they arrive, they find that it has been dried out. Desperate to regain his powers, Constantine suggests that Spooner use her connection with the boy to transfer his powers over to him. The boy agrees to do it, but in exchange wants help finding his mother.

The power transfer fails because instead of going into Constantine they go back into the Fountain. Apparently, Constantine isn’t worthy enough for this power, which is enough to push him over the edge and take the potion he got from the vampire earlier.

It looks like the potion gives him a trippy acid trip. He’s able to fight off Noriega and his men and ends up killing all of them before passing out. It’s not a pretty sight and makes me wonder what’s in store for Constantine’s future.

Constantine and Spooner head home after taking Fernando back to his family. They’re both drunk, which leads to some interesting revelations. He tells her to tell the Legends that their mission was a success and that he was able to get to the Fountain.

It looks like John has succumbed to the dark side because of this potion; later, the vampire returns to give him an entire case of it in exchange for the Crowley portrait.

Constantine has officially turned to the dark side, folks — I don’t think Zari is going to like this very much.

And that’s a wrap on this week’s episode of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow! There is a short hiatus before it turns in August, and I think it comes at a great time. I didn’t enjoy the show as much as I usually do, and in the off-chance that there may be another bad episode, I’d rather it be in a few weeks.

After this episode, however, I am interested in seeing how Constantine’s “powers” are going to manifest and what it will mean for the Legends. Is he going to turn pure evil now? Will he become a threat to all of them?

Tune in on Sunday, August 8 to find out what happens on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow!

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