“Nothing says payback like death by demon.”
- Constantine
So folks, we are back on the case with John Constantine and this week looks be in a doozy. We start in the small Pennsylvania mining town of Reddwich where the mine foreman gets burned alive in his shower. Whoops. To be fair, he was kind of an abusive asshole so he sort of deserved it. So Constantine decides to go check it out, after Chaz comes back after winning some money. But it’s going to be a solo mission as apparently there’s a warrant out in PA for Chaz’s arrest. Something to do with a succubus and a train derailment. Constantine gets to town just as the funeral procession is carrying the coffin down the street. In her apartment, the mystery woman who has been drawing John sketches out the scene of him down on the street. He runs into her (literally) and she acts all freaked out and confused and babbles a bit that she thought he wasn’t real and just all in her head. He pulls a disappearing act (to the bar where the wake is happening naturally) and she nabs his wallet. So she’s got a name now to go with the face. Constantine picks up a few useful tidbits about other similar deaths in town over the last year. Miners dying in accidents in the mine after digging to deep. So naturally, he goes to check it out all on his own and nearly causes a cave in and gets himself trapped.
He manages to get out and heads to the widow’s house with a random chicken dinner (I guess he felt he had to bring something). He slips back to the bathroom to investigate and runs into the widow who doesn’t really want to think about what really killed her husband. Constantine lies and says he’s a reporter and she tries to hit on him. She tells him a story about a young Romani girl who got lured away by a rich man with promises. I do feel bad for her but then she starts shouting about wanting Constantine out and he gets into a bit of a scuffle with the mine president and some of his boys. So Constantine heads back to his hotel suite (the honeymoon suite) and the girl is waiting for him. She hands back his wallet and IDs (but not the money she took) and she reveals he knows her name, Zed, from nabbing a receipt out of her trash. I have to say I really appreciated Matt Ryan shirtless in this scene. Not only because it got kind of intense and sensual but because he’s got some nice tats. Anyway, Zed can see things and feel other people’s emotions and she’s getting all kinds of negative ones from John. He does a little exercise with her to see if she’s got the powers she claims and she does. He pours some of the goop from the shower drain into her hand she sees the fire and then a tall cross at a church. Constantine ends up leaving Zed behind to go investigate. I’m real thinking he needs some back up. Running about alone is just not good form. He gets to the church and after scaring off a couple of scantily clad teens, he performs a ritual that allows him to the evil spirit lurking around the town.
That night Zed goes to the bar looking for John but she finds the town’s preacher. He talks to her about the fact that he never had much faith because of the mine and its curse. Not a very cheery fellow is he? She gets back to her place the next morning and Constantine is asleep on the couch. She wants him out but he says he had to check her intel first. Security reasons. He also did a little more digging on her and she’s running from something. We don’t know what yet but I am intrigued to find out. These two have an interesting chemistry. There are sparks of sexual tension and I’m assuming they’ll eventually go down that road but he is also looking for a partner. And she agrees. She’s ready to face all the crazy shit that he deals with. It appears they’re going to get their first chance when the alarm sounds that there is a mine collapse.
The pair races down and Constantine learns that the whole mine came down and people heard knocking. It seems they’ve found hell after all and something isn’t happy to be disturbed. So Constantine goes to confront the mining company president’s second in command in his car. Constantine explains that until they permanently shut down the mine and get out of town, people will still keep dying. It would appear this guy is next. The car starts filling up with mud and water and then a creepy black clawed hand emerges and starts to drown the guy. Zed manages to rescue Constantine but the driver is definitely no longer alive and kicking.
Constantine has figured out what the spirits are; souls of dead miners. They’re usually protective spirits to warn of danger in the mines but someone is bringing them to the surface. He also fills Zed in on the whole rising darkness drama. Zed points out that the miners are having an emergency meeting at the bar and they go to find that the ex-priest isn’t there. So Constantine has Zed use her vision power to find him at a river. He thinks because the priest’s son died in the mine that he is the one conjuring the spirits but as the priest points out, you have to have faith for that. Down at the mine, the company president and his son are going to look at a branch to get people back to work. The guy’s son is hesitant but the president just trudges right back in. Luckily, Constantine and Zed get there in time to ward off the spirit and save the son. Constantine decides they need to close the mine for good so they blow it up. And then he’s off to confront the real person who conjured the spirits. The shower victim’s widow. Which makes sense since she’s Romani and has magic. Just as the spirits are doing a number on Constantine, he summons her husband’s spirit and he drags her away. Another bullet dodged.
The episode comes to a close with Zed still choosing to stay with Constantine and the priest opening up the church again. I’m very excited to see where the show goes from here and I have to admit, I’m kind of glad that they got rid of Liv. She wouldn’t have handled herself the way Zed did and Zed’s powers are far more interesting.
No comments:
Post a Comment