First Impressions - Constantine: 'The Saint of Last Resorts'

This is by no means a deeply intense dissection of the episode.

It's just my quick comments and notes after seeing the episode only once (a la AoS).
Spoilers after the jump.

You've been warned...


Episode 8: 'The Saint of Last Resorts'

The Good: I love watching John work. I've been thinking about this lately: actors that get roles in (super hero, comic book, whatever you wanna call 'em) projects have to become really familiar with certain props. Stephen Amell, Colton Haynes and Jeremy Renner deal with bows. Chris Evans has the shield. Hemmsworth has the hammer. RDJ has chestpieces. Adrianne Palicki has the batons. Scarlett Johansson's got the bracelets. What does Matt Ryan get?

Effin' chickens...

...bloody skin-pears...

...and dead-guy candle-hands and stuff.

You never know what he's gonna need or use, and Matt doesn't seem to be bothered if he gets wet, or dirty, or bloody. 

That's awesome. 

* 

Did I see Rockne S. O'Bannon (of Farscape fame) in the credits? Yes...yes I did.

* 

Chas. Chas is cool.

Charles Halford is doing a great job making this unable to die guy likable. I thought he looked familiar...

...turns out he was Agent Shaw on AoS last season.

Speaking of Chas, seeing the 6' 4" tall Halford climbing out of the itty-bitty green Mexican cab was hilarious.

*

I liked the revelation that the nun was one of John's previous companions.

If I'm not mistaken, she's also the one who got him started on the occult end of things in the first place. She was also there at Newcastle, which is why she became a nun. This brings up further proof that John (on the show at least) is an interesting twist on The Doctor. (Like House, from House M.D., is a twist on Sherlock Holmes - without ever saying so outright.) John's 'mates' fall by the wayside, or sacrifice themselves to make up for past mistakes, or spend the rest of their days institutionalized in part because of John. But also in part because they chose to follow him in the first place. Which brings me to...

* 

...Zed.

I have no idea what happens to her in the books. I know she's in the early issues, but I haven't read them. However, it's easy to tell that at some point, Zed will pay a price or make a sacrifice of some sort because of her relationship with John. Which is sad, because she works. Maybe what happens to her won't write her off the show. 

Maybe she'll be like Chas, who clearly had something happen to him but stays with John anyway. 

* 

Zed going on a date and then bringing him home (more on that in a minute), but later kicking his ass.

That was some good TV right there.

Then there were the two other people who show up (again, in a minute) only for Zed to lead one of them to the Pit of Despair. That was cool too.

Okay, it wasn't called the Pit of Despair. But you know what I mean.

* 

I didn't know Eve had a sister.

I always thought of Lilith as Adam's first wife. Given the circumstance, I guess they could be considered sisters, but Lamashtu? Not only is she another sister, but she's one of at least two other sisters? I'm okay with that.

The Bad:

Back to Zed.

John tells her before he leaves the house that he's "setting the traps" so she'd be safe...wait for it...as long as she stays inside the damn house. 

(sigh)

So for a while, she explores the house. Makes sense, and I'd have done the exact same thing. Hence she finds the door to the Pit...

...okay, fine. The Emptiness Room.

Next thing we know, she's at the art shop buying supplies. The traps aren't there to keep her in, but did she even realize that leaving the house would nullify the traps? Was she going stir-crazy or was she just bored and decided that the traps weren't necessary? I could call this a WTF?, but her leaving the house actually furthers the plot, because it lets the other two in, so I'm just calling this a Bad.

The WTF?: I've got two.

1) Why did Zed bring him home? Why didn't she just kick his ass outside the restaurant? To catch him off guard? Then why not go to a motel? The hell?

2)

Sister Anne-Marie.

First, she took Hugo's gun. Didn't know nuns could touch guns let alone use them (outside of a Robert Rodriguez film), but whatever. Then she shoots John. 

That's right. She. Shoots. John.

She shoots him to attract/distract the Invunche so she can get away with the baby, leaving John to bleed out as the beastie approaches. 

That's a dumb-ass way to cliff-hang.

What they should have done was have John take the gun, tell Anne-Marie to go without him (thus acting the hero) and have the camera follow her to the ladder with Chas when they hear the gun go off. 

Just sayin'...

Adorkification Moment:

We saw some of Zed's drawings at the beginning of the episode, 

which included (and focused on) the Invunche. Fine - 

 - but I could have sworn I saw a sketch of Corrigan/Spectre off to the side of the room.