Constantine
Episode Title: "Danse
Vaudou”
Channel: NBC
Director: John
Badham
Writer: Christine Boylan
Genre: Fantasy,
Horror
Runtime: 43
min
Rated: TV-14
Original Air Date: November 21,
2014
“Danse
Vaudou” is an episode without a bad guy. This is a good thing and
a bad thing. There is no one for the audience to direct their
attention to and say “that's the guy!” during the episode, it
eliminates a bit of the audience's interaction with the show. It
should however allow the writers to focus on the atmosphere and
setting, without having to shoehorn a backstory in for random
evildoer of the week. Setting the episode in New Orleans was a step
in the right direction, as it's a city steeped in ghost stories,
traditions magical and otherwise, and plenty of creepy stuff. It was
a good idea, not executed to its fullest, as most of the episode
jumps from place to place, never showing the viewers what New Orleans
has to offer. “Danse Vaudou” could have taken place in Anytown,
USA, the results would have been the same.
The entire gang is back for this one,
and it was a better show because of it. While Zed and Chas play tag
with a couple of ghosts Constantine forges a temporary alliance with
Papa Midnite, due to Midnite's magic having some unforeseen
consequences. Zed teams up with Jim Corrigan, a homicide detective
who used to be in missing persons, to tackle one unruly spirit. The
highlights here are some hints of Zed's past troubles and an awesome
tease regarding another DC character. On Chas' side of things we see
more of his ability to not die, which is hopefully explained soon,
and some fairly funny banter with another ghost.
The true star of the episode though is
interaction between Constantine and Midnite. Constantine looks down
on voodoo as a “magical excuse for a party” and Midnite believes
that John is basically a thief of spells and traditions, taking the
tools but leaving behind the beliefs behind them. It is an
interesting philosophical debate between the two characters that I
wish they had more time to go into. Like the other episodes so far
in the series the action barely slows down enough to lend a little
atmosphere to the scene, let alone leaving time for a lengthy
discussion between characters on the virtues of their magical powers.
Upon the resolution of the main problem
in the episode, John turns to wider ranging concerns and convinces
Papa Midnite to ask a resident of the afterlife about the “Rising
Darkness” (can you hear the capital letters when it's said?) We're
basically told that it's coming, and that someone close to
Constantine will betray him. Unless a bunch of characters get
introduced between now and then, and the hints they've been dropping
have been a total red herring, this should surprise no one. I'm
hoping we learn more about the darkness and its purpose soon, the
vague hints from spirits and angels are not satisfying my curiosity.
Conclusion:
In an episode without a badguy the setting should've been a star,
but the city of New Orleans was wasted, ignored except for its title
card in the cold open. Having all the characters in one place was a
good thing, if only they hadn't been spread across the city. Luckily
the scenes with John and Midnite were enough to keep things
interesting.
Rating:
7.5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment