Friday, September 11, 2015

My Review of Constantine's 1x09: "The Saint Of Last Resorts Part 2"


Written by Mark Verheiden
Directed by Romeo Tirone

Constantine (to Chas/Zed/Anne Marie): "I don't know about you lot but I could murder a bloody drink."

The second part to this story and it was arguably a better version than the first one. Namely because we got John having to be possessed by Pazuzu and a whole manner of chaos came into play as Constantine found himself spending some time in a Mexican prison after killing a gang and even a few more once threatened in prison as well.

On the plus side, at least we had Chas, Zed (yeah, she escaped pretty quickly in the episode) and Anne Marie to spring him out of the joint, tie him up and drive the demon king out of him but not without Pazuzu playing on all of their insecurities beforehand though.

I have to give Matt Ryan his dues in this one. He's been great since the show's beginning but this episode really did push his Constantine just that bit further and he truly excelled during the possession scenes and the quieter moment at the end with Anne Marie as well, who thankfully made it out of the episode alive. I actually do want to see her again. I also liked that both her and Constantine somewhat made their peace at the end of this one as well.

As for the Zed plot, it quickly fizzled out but given that a possessed Constantine is now aware of her backstory, at least it'll get addressed in the remainder of the season. I think Zed really did come through in this one as well and I liked her moments with Anne Marie and Chas too. As for the hints of more danger ahead - bring it on!

- I'm sure some male viewers were pleased with both Zed and Anne Marie's methods for distracting prison guards in this one. I liked that neither of them were competing for Constantine though.
- Manny briefly popped up just to be unhelpful and then buggered off. That felt like a step backwards from his last appearance.
- Now that we know more about Zed, it's also time to learn more about Chas and it seems we will in the next one.
- Still hoping we get to see one of Constantine's former male lovers. Had this show been renewed we might have.

A great ending to an impressive two parter. "The Saint Of Last Resorts" definitely provided some great scares, insights into character motivations as well as the further hints of more impending disasters on the horizons.

Rating: 8 out of 10

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