Saturday, February 7, 2015

Constantine: Season 1, Episode 12


Constantine
Episode Title: "Angels and Ministers of Grace”
Channel: NBC
Director: Sam Hill
Writer: Christine Boylan
Genre: Fantasy, Horror
Runtime: 43 min
Rated: TV-14
Original Air Date: February 6, 2015

“Angels and Ministers of Grace” was a quality episode of Constantine. It was fun and emotional, just a good mix of the things that make a single episode work. Unfortunately what we're seeing here, going into the season (hopefully not series) finale, is a side effect of the uncertainty surrounding the show. There was nothing new in this episode about the Rising Darkness or Zed's family trouble. The lack of an order for the entire season has left the story lines feeling incomplete as the show is winding down. While “Angels and Ministers of Grace” would have made a great mid-season episode with another nine or ten to follow; it wasn't a great segue to what is the season finale.

Some of the best moments revolved around Manny, who was trapped in a human body by John. Why did John trap him? That part isn't entirely clear. Manny reveals that while occupying a human he is completely cut off from Heaven and his powers, making him of limited value during the conflict. I suppose John figured that if he forced Manny to stick around that he could release him from the spell at the most advantageous time. It's not really explained though and seems more like a temper tantrum from Constantine.

The driving force behind said temper tantrum? Zed is diagnosed with a mass on her brain and John doesn't handle the news very well. It was interesting to see the way John coped, or didn't, with the situation because this is the first of his friends/partners that we've witnessed the entirety of their relationship. The other friends, former and current, that we see John use, abuse, and sacrifice have always been part of that episode's story without being part of the story of John's life, as the audience knows it. To see him confronted with Zed's plight after we've watched them get to know one another made it heavier. It also led to a great moment for Matt Ryan as he described to Zed the way he gets through the day knowing the sacrifices he's made and might have to make again.

The conflict itself was resolved a little too easily. A Black Diamond that is basically evil condensed into actual substance gave a man the ability to punish those that are wasting their second chance at life. It sounds a little corny put into words, but the story behind the diamond was interesting and the deaths, especially the gory second one, did not seem like good ways to go. Manny's ability to just undo what the Black Diamond had done to its host made it seem like a cheap way to end the episode. The case this week wasn't the star of the episode though; the Manny moments and Zed trying to understand her power and its source outshone the case.

Conclusion: “Angels and Ministers of Grace” was a fun episode that explored the characters and revealed a great deal about them. What it didn't do was set the season up for a finale that seems meaningful to the overall threat of the Rising Darkness. Without knowing that this is where the season would end the writers haven't been given a chance to really provide closure for the stories they've begun. It leaves the episodes at the end of the season feeling hollow.

Rating: 7.5/10

No comments:

Post a Comment