The Blue Devil
Back for another week of action, Swamp Thing returns with another good episode, one that raises more questions around the direction the rest of the show is likely to take whilst deepening the character motivations for our main players in the show. The episode itself begins with Swamp Thing being attacked in the woods by armed guards after stepping into a bear trap. Avery’s guards do manage to escape being killed by Swampy and scurry onto a boat while Alec watches on with disdain from the shadows. After hearing about Avery’s attempt to scare Liz away, Abby heads to the hospital to confront him herself. He initially brushes off the accusations until realizing how serious she is. He half-admits to being involved before challenging her, telling Abby not to threaten him again or the next time he may not be as a forgiving. Sheriff Lucilia and her son Matt both realize they’re caught in Avery’s web of deception in their own way. While they discuss what to do next, back at the hospital our comatose patient, Daniel Cassidy, begins to experience serious side effects thanks to Woodrue tampering with his medication. Screaming, the man pulls the tube from his face while Liz watches on in horror. Abby, meanwhile, heads out to the swamp to speak to Alec. He tells her he’s never going to stop being hunted but before they can dive deeper into the conversation, he realizes guards are after him. Matt arrives and begins combing the area, trying to work out what’s hunting him when he happens upon Abby. She tells him to leave but Alec arrives and attacks him. Knocking the shotgun out of his hands, the Swamp Creature pins him to a tree but Abby pleads with him to stop. After some deliberation he does, prompting Matt to ask him what happened the night of the explosion. Swampy can’t remember though but before he can elaborate on that answer, Matt’s radio crackles to life. He decides to keep Alec’s presence a secret, for now. While Jason’s wife pleads with her husband not to throw away years of work for human experimentation with Avery, Cassidy arrives at the door, banging maniacally for him to answer. Outside they witness the man burst into blue flames before he’s knocked out and brought back to hospital. Here, Madame Xanadu offers her words of wisdom to make his healing process more tolerable. Back at Alec’s lab, Abby and Swampy discuss what to do next and she tells him that she’ll stand by him no matter what. Suddenly, a flower sprouts from Alec’s hand and coughs out a green cloud of dust, changing him back to human form again. While there isn’t much in the way of an antagonistic force to stop this week, what we do get is a lot of characterisation. Abby and Alec’s complicated relationship ultimately acts as the glue to hold everything together here, mirrored by the dysfunctional relationship Avery and Woodrue both share. Seeing Daniel’s transformation into the Blue Devil is certainly an intriguing one and so far, it’s been handled really well. Part of what makes Swamp Thing such an endearing show is this aforementioned characterisation. This intricate web of human emotion ultimately gives Swamp Thing a really grounded feel and much like Doom Patrol before it, this DC Universe show has its own vibe through much of its run-time. Another good episode for sure, Swamp Thing is consistently high quality and another show well worth sticking with.
