Constantine 1.04 “A Feast of Friends”

I’m a bit nonplussed by this last episode, to be totally honest.

After weighing it for a full day after actually watching it, I’ve come to the conclusion that accurately reviewing the episode and my feelings on it and not spoiling the fuck out of it are mutually exclusive.

This episode is heavy. Like <insert inappropriate comment about random overweight celebrity> heavy. It doesn’t start out that way, of course – in the beginning it starts like the last two episodes, with a monster of the week… though this monster is, notably, a bit darker than the last two. In addition, as if to draw attention to this episode’s gravity, John makes mention of the “rising darkness” that had previously been seemingly tabled.

Rising darkness or not, however, the darkness dwelling within this episode is the darkness dwelling within the human heart. The darkness of weakness, addiction, and betrayal, mired in the dusky twilight gloom of necessity and willpower.

This episode knocked me on my ass. While it’s competent from the get-go, it picks up steam around the third act and starts to pull itself together into something sinister. We learn more about John in this episode: More about his personality and his past, more about what he won’t tolerate, more about what he’s willing to do, and more about the man he is. While mention of John’s being hellbound has been mentioned more than once now, this is the episode that really drives the concept home. It makes Constantine the hero that the world needs, but not one that can truly sustain itself in a world of right and wrong, of devils and judgments and hard choices.

While I mentioned in my last two reviews that 02 and 03 were not quite as intense as the pilot episode, 04 makes up for that by being the most grimy and heartbreaking episode yet (I teared up at the very end – this isn’t something that just happens all willy-nilly). My confidence in this show isn’t fading in the least bit, and as long as it doesn’t start habitually jumping the shark (hi, Supernatural), I think I’m going to keep enjoying it for quite some time.

Notice: No, I didn’t read the comic arc this episode was based on. Yes, I’m keeping it that way.