The Legends have a lot to deal with in, “Hell No, Dolly!” including evil spirits, a rogue teammate, secrets at the Time Bureau, and the Voodoo Queen herself. There’s a lot going on at several different times in the city of New Orleans, and there are some changes coming because of it. It’s a busy episode.

 

The episode opens with John Constantine having a dream about his boyfriend. Charlie wakes him up, showing that a small portion of her powers are coming back. She wants John to reverse the spell he put on her, but the warlock isn’t feeling so inclined. Charlie is sure she’ll get her way eventually.

 

Sara and Ava flirt their way along one of ship’s corridors, and Ava isn’t too happy when Garima stalks by, since that means Mick still has the Diary of Bridget. Zari and Ray are both amused by this, and we see Ray is trying for a new look. Ray is appalled at Zari’s choice in cereal, which in a very strange way leads to one of Ava’s hobbies and the newest change in the timeline, Sara tells Gideon to take them to New Orleans in 1856, in pursuit of a killer who could walk through walls.

 

At the Time Bureau, Mona has a run-in with a strange and very rude man, and shows a regrettable lack of backbone. She ends up late to work and Gary reminds her of that in a really odd way. Nate asks what Gary is doing, and is surprised at the answer. This leads to a different conversation where we learn one of Gary’s big weaknesses, and Nate agrees to help him out, against Nate’s better judgement.

 

After going over the data on the “new” murders, and Mick grousing about Ava taking back the Diary, the team splits up again. John Constantine, Zari, and Charlie go in search of Marie Laveau, history’s recorded suspect, while Ava, Sara, Mick, and Ray go to the big party where the first victim is supposed to die. John gets a few more flashbacks about his lost love, Desmond, and then gets captured in true New Orleans style by one of Laveau’s associates. He wakes up in a coffin, batters his way out of that, and has a chat with Laveau herself. She reads John’s memories and seems utterly unfazed by the idea of time travel, asking John an uncomfortable question.

 

Sara’s team blends in at the party, more or less, while Mick keeps grousing about Ava. The other team reports in about John being missing, and we see how Sara has adapted to her newest crew member. Ray follows the best suspect they have so far at the party.

 

Marie and John talk about what happened (will happen? Time travel needs its own tenses) to her great-great grandson. This is when we find out John’s foe in this case is Neron, a fairly powerful demon in the DC Comics universe. Marie lays a charge on John just as Zari and Charlie arrive, and gives them a slim read on the suspected killer. Apparently they are looking for a Dybbuk, voiced by Paul (Pee-Wee Herman) Reubens. Ray asks a question that Sara answers as “Horror Movie 101,” a nice callback to her earlier declared interest in horror movies. Ray enters into a creepy setting right out of one of those movies, and gets blindsided. Why the man with no powers never has his powered suit with him while doing dangerous things like hunting a serial killer I have no idea.

 

John takes his leave of Madame Marie, after an exchange with the priestess. The teams compare notes, Sara calls a “Chucky situation,” and John gets Charlie’s help with his own project. Sara and Mick team up to defeat the evil spirit, and Ava is disappointed she doesn’t get to question it about who it is. Mona talks with the Hawaiian Konane and notices something’s wrong.

 

In 2018 New Orleans, John sends Charlie to distract his earlier self from meeting Desmond in the first place. She trades on looking like Amaya and gets the earlier warlock out of the way. Nate and Mona have a conversation that is a bit confusing about who she’s interested in, while a mistaken Gary listens in. Sara confidently states that the evil doll always comes back before she and Ava leave it totally unguarded (C’mon, Sara, you’re supposed to be the expert!) to go take a shower and have dinner. They also clash a bit over Mick’s thieving ways.

 

As Charlie and Constantine return to the Waverider, Constantine gets flashbacks indicating their mission wasn’t a success after all. Before they can get the jump ship back to New Orleans again, Zari chimes in, having Gideon take control of the ship and bringing it back. John fills in Zari and Charlie about the background of his relationship with Desmond, including the tragic end. Zari comments on the perils of time travel, and agrees to go find a loophole in history, which she’s shown a talent for in the past.

 

At the Time Bureau, Mona visits Konane, armed with a phrase book and some very halting Polynesian. The Konane listens, but then gives her a warning and shoves her toward hiding. Zari works on her task with headphones on as the spirit floats past behind her. Charlie confronts John in the cargo bay and calls him on what she thinks he’s doing. John reveals his new plan as the spirit gets to one of the cases behind them.

 

Sara tries to have a peace summit/dinner with Mick and Ava, which goes about as well as you’d expect. Zari tells John that he and Desmond seems to be a fixed point that she can’t find a way around. Zari gets a big surprise as we see something has changed with someone else on the ship. John enacts his new plan while Zari lectures Charlie about the consequences of meddling with history. We find out why Charlie has been so fixed on getting her powers back, and Zari mocks her motivation. Mona sees more bad news from her foe from the parking lot.

 

Sara and Ava have an emotional scene after the failed dinner and find out about the Dybbuk being on the loose. Ava also wishes she could be more loose like the Legends are. The power fails on the ship as Sara and Ava talk about their hobbies intersecting as John pushes ahead on his plan. In a tense conversation that must be a seriously long distance call, Zari tries to talk John down from the jump ship, and he tells her another important detail about what happened to Desmond.

 

Ava and Mick reluctantly team up to fight the spirit that is in a new vessel, which is another nice bit of Legends trivia. Sometimes I wonder if the writers wander the prop room and say, “Hey, we could use this again.” Things build to a head on several fronts as the team on the Waverider fights the Dybbuk, John completes his plan, Zari and Charlie try to get back to New Orleans, and Mona’s situation gets much worse. John gets what he wanted, more or less, and the effects ripple out to all the groups with some weird effects. This is where they leave us to head for the mid-season finale.

 

What I liked: John feels deeply and is doing what he thinks is right on the small scale. It’s selfish, but well within his character. Charlie, too, is being selfish, but I get it to an extent. There were several references to past events on the series that they worked in smoothly and naturally and I applaud whoever is in charge of continuity.
What I didn’t: The painfully awkward scene with Mona, Nate, and Gary was predictable and didn’t need to be in here. Mona’s surprise reveal of who she is interested in came out of nowhere. I don’t like the Mick/Ava feud, and I hope that gets resolved quickly.

 

It was a fun episode, which the Legends excel at. I’ll give this a high 3.5 out of 5.