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Sunday 6 May 2018

Constantine 1.2 "The Darkness Beneath" Review

                                              Image result for constantine the darkness beneath
Heading for Pennsylvania but Chas can't come cos of that succubus case and the outstanding warrant.   Zed is pissed by Constantine and this was no chance meeting.  "It's you...you're you...I dream about you."  Not exactly the first thing you wanna tell a stranger.  He's not that impressed and commenting on her looking at him from behind the window "like some long lost lover (!) tongue in his ear and in his pocket I bet."  Yeah okay, steady on with all this stuff now it's only your first meeting!  Ha.
Constantine: "that observation always ends the same way and it's never in my favour."  In response to her dreaming about him.

Zed: commenting on the picture she drew of him says how his "eyes are much darker in this one."
Constantine: "in light I always find mine..." answers that is.  Poking holes into the eyes "from one artist to another." (!)  That was pretty spot on.  Well he didn't find his wallet that's for sure and for such a master of most everything, didn't even realize it was missing.
She looks at his driving licence: UK
1) C. 2. J,3, 10-05-82
4a - 01-12-06.
4b. 01-12-15
4c DVLA
5 CONSTANTINE 10-1-ABFC!"!-1
7
8 England - UK
9 B,BE,C1,CIE,D1,DIE
F,K,I,n,P with a triangle
As for his licence picture, he looks like that?!! ha. Of course all these letters and numbers stand for various?? meanings and restrictions involving vehicles etc.  Had to laugh at his licence picture!  Yeah typical UK licences have loads of numbers to classify different categories. Also there's always a signature which happened to be missing on his one.

Irony that the man died in the shower leaving behind scorch marks since the town symbol is a dragon.  Constantine breathed more coal air than fresh in Liverpool.  Beware Tommy Knockers is what I said as he gets three knocks back.   As well as bringing a ready meal to a wake as only Constantine could.  See more strawberry blond hair colour than just blond.
Zed finds there's good energy to the honeymoon suite  She says he dropped his wallet and the $90 are missing from it.  Not like he's rich or anything so he really did need that money.  But he can win it back in some poker game somewhere.  They check out each other's trash.  A good view of Matt's triangle tat on his back in that scene and going shirtless for absolutely no possible reason!! Though I can think of many!

Zed has more visions concentrating on pain, and desperation.  And you can see their chemistry here being so up close and personal.  Here we go, Constantine being wet again.

Zed: "leave when I want you and show up when I don't want you."  He tells her who he is and she's on the run and he comments on the demons, "things in your paintings are real...They answer with something far more deadly than a charcoal pencil."  Ooh I don't know, pencils can be pretty deadly.
He talks of Coblynau the spirits of dead miners.  (See later.) As well as the Rising Darkness.

He's all muddied now which will call for getting wet some more and his "piss off nothing to look at here!"  Also Constantine gets very wet in this scene and episode and oh, let's not forget the shirtless scene and dirty too with all that mud that is!  Uses his wits to ward off evil.  "Darkness is spreading everywhere."  He works alone cos that's how he works best and obviously everyone who trusts him dies.  Zed says she was waiting for him, he found her and she doesn't know exactly what he's found.

Constantine: "I suppose it would be liberating to take a leap of faith, to shrug off the burden of proof - of the promise of hope...it takes trust to turn darkness to light and those who trust risk putting their faith in their own hands.  And there are those who'll pray for you and then there are those who'll prey on you and no matter how careful you are, sometimes you just can't tell the difference."

'ere be dragons as a warning.  We get to meet Zed finally and it's a tumultuous encounter in many ways since she's been drawing him vigorously and this meeting must've struck like lightning to find him here.  Of course Constantine's taken aback by her - not just by the look s of this beautiful stranger.  But also the mystery surrounding her and more importantly her interest in him.  She could be a nemesis after all.  Yet the sparks flew between them reinforcing the producers choice in casting Angelica - that fiery temperament too.  Zed is someone who can spar with Constantine, keep him in line as much as possible; but also be that 'new' friend he needs in this Rising Darkness fight, which won't be easy.  Battles with evil never are.

Beware the Tommyknockers - three knocks back - hey I said "knocking".  Superstitious characters more like imps and are the Cornish version of leprechauns.  They first came to light when the Cornish mined the Western Pennsylvania coal mines in the 1820's.  "Knockers" aka "knackers" signified the knockers on the mine walls before cave ins occurred.  They were thought of as both good and bad.
Constantine talks of Coblynau - in Welsh myth they are also gnome-like (akin to knockers) aka mine fairies and described as extremely ugly.  In this episode the description of these is more akin to (Tommy) knockers.  Yay me being spot on again.  St Asaph: Bishop and Abbot of Elvae (Elwy) in Wales - for whom the see is named.  (Also a city in Wales.)
Heddwich, Pennsylvania is a Welsh mining town.   Hence the numerous Welsh references such as the flags, St Asaph and being set in the Welsh Barony of Western Pennsylvania.

Zed won't leave his side even if she is running away from her own past and future in some ways and he does try to put her off in all fairness.  She doesn't take the hint or advice.  Needing to know what her visions and sketches mean and yes she is mad enough to walk this path with him; someone has to and she's sassy and badass enough.
Chas has won his bet on the horses - how they earn a living.

Zed's broom will ward off evil, the on he gives her by the campsite, as long as the bristles point up.  Constantine recites St Patrick's Breastplate aka a prayer of protection.

Most of the paintings are close reproductions of the comic covers art.  Zed obviously wouldn't look mush like the comics, if at all, but her visions are the key.

Also Constantine gets very wet in this scene and episode and oh, let's not forget the shirtless scene and dirty too with all that mud that is!

Obviously with Zed and their 'bumping' into one another; of course.  "John thinks she's stalking him, she's got a picture of him that she's been drawing, and he's like, 'who is this woman?'  Then he find s out she's got some kind of that abilities going on.  He's got this case and he feels that she could be useful."

Zed in Matt's words: "she's feisty.  She's someone with this special ability, with a secretive past who's slightly tormented."  {As is he.]  But driven - John inspired her in many ways and she's also very intrigued by him and what he does.  Especially as the questions come thick and fast - not only who she is - but why was she the "chosen" one - getting visions of him now - a complete stranger and obviously the Rising Darkness would be the pointer to finding out answers about this.  [If only we could have had answers.]

As for Zed seeing stuff at the mill, Angelica's answer was entwined with a double meaning: "Zed sees more that she likes to see."  Yeah John naked!!
Her fave location was the Army surplus store in 1.10.  Her fave scene was "John and Zed on the couch.  Being real."  I won't go there!  Ha.
"Zed sees more of Constantine than he would like."  That was just in 1.2 alone!  More to come.  Her fave scene when "John turns into Zed's drawing in the pilot."

Angelica on Lucy being replaced in the pilot episode: "I don't like this whole thing of replacing people - I don't think anybody replaces anybody else.  Everybody brings their own magic to the show.  The executive producers said maybe Liv will return in season 2.  I don't think Liv was replaced - it was more of the direction of the story they wanted to go in."  That's similar to what Bruce Greenwood said for the Dirty Dancing remake when he took over Jerry Orbach's role of Dr Jake Houseman in the original movie.  Each actor brings a part of themselves to any role they play.  Be it the same character role or a new character.  No two actors can play in a scene the same way especially if those roles are relatively different.

Get the feeling season 2 may have been a little jinxed, what with everyone from the producers to Angelica mentioning it in interviews.  A case of don't count your Constantine before season 2 was actually in the works and confirmed.  It's not really a superstitious thing cos sometimes things just are fated to play out that way.

Angelica didn't like the snakes - the two boas around her in art class and she wore a dress for that scene.  Rather snakes than spiders!  "I was feeling the ice cold blood of the snakes all on my skin - one boa - didn't want to constrict."  They tied it around her waist, it fell to the floor and she thought it would bite.  It did nothing.

Angelica: "it's a crash - a crash of emotions - thoughts - a crash of everything - a big WTF moment for Zed and Constantine is such a master of talking his way out of things and manipulation...but Zed is prepared for that."

"There's big tension there.  They can't keep their eyes off of each other with everything that's going on with both of them, Zed feels protection, camaraderie and admiration for Constantine...within that it's tough when you're battling life and death and heaven and hell to have something going on there!"

The show could be classed as having two pilots as Zed had to be introduced in 1.2.  But 1.4 was the definitive ep for the show - where it all clicked and fell into place.  Reinforcing the crux of who Constantine is and these characters.  Humour masking his darkness and guilt.  Demon hunting comes at a cost and one that Constantine paid over and over and continues to do so.  But not in monetary worth - but human loss.  That at the expense of his friends too!  Everything comes down to budget and money cos money talks to networks!

Reviews from My Matt Ryan book posted here cos not everyone will read that! 

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