Sunday, January 25, 2015

Constantine: Season 1, Episode 10


Constantine
Episode Title: "Quid Pro Quo”
Channel: NBC
Director: Mary Harron
Writer: Brian Anthony
Genre: Fantasy, Horror
Runtime: 43 min
Rated: TV-14
Original Air Date: January 23, 2015

In “Quid Pro Quo” we finally get some background information on Chas and his relationship with Constantine. After Chas' daughter's soul is stolen just prior to his visit the team gets together to get it back. It was odd placement for this kind of episode in the season; the finale is right around the corner and I was really hoping to get more information on the Rising Darkness. Instead we get a standalone episode that really tried to delve into the Chas character. Unfortunately, it was lacking the extra emotional impact that a family member in danger should have imparted on the audience, mainly due to the fact that this was also our introduction to the characters. If there had been more than a passing reference to Chas' daughter previously it would have helped greatly; instead she seemed more like any other random victim.

The most successful moments of “Quid Pro Quo” were the scenes setting up and dealing with the aftermath of Chas' immortality. We discover that he's not really immortal, he's become the vessel for 47 other souls as a result of a jokingly cast spell from John and a subsequent tragedy. Chas, knowing that he survived something that so many others didn't, dedicates his life to making sure that his extra chances don't go to waste. The audience sees the strain that this put on his marriage, with his wife Renee unable to accept the amount of time he spent away from home they eventually split. It seemed like an overreaction from her, but I suppose the writers needed to create conflict somehow and the easiest way to do that is to make sure that no one has a happy home life.

The antagonist in this week's episode was none other than Felix Faust. It seems strange that a fairly well known character in the DC universe would be dispatched over the course of one episode. With a chunk of the episode being devoted to the pursuit of a demon that had been tampering with Faust's plans there was little time to develop the character. In the end the demon-hunt doesn't even matter, Felix changes the terms of their agreement. I would have preferred seeing more evidence of how bad a guy Faust was. Yes, the audience saw more victims being taken to the hospital, but there was very little first hand information to convince the audience that he deserved his grisly end. I like to see my evil bad guys being really, really evil.

Ultimately Chas outwits the sorcerer, and does so just in time for his ex-wife to see him make the sacrifice. While I liked seeing Chas take things into his own hands it left John sitting quietly on the sidelines for the majority of the episode, especially the conclusion. This is something that I don't mind in small doses, but it's a fine line to walk between giving the side characters compelling stories and making sure the focus is on the main character.

Conclusion: “Quid Pro Quo” does a good job of explaining some of the complicated history surrounding John and Chas. The case itself could have used more setup to make me care about the newly introduced characters. Without that setup it seemed less like a family crisis and more like the monster of the week episodes that we've already seen.

Rating: 7/10

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