I know that, but semi-real fake addresses, intended to give a feel for the location, are annoying for locals. Like an ad (or was it in the show?) with a small apartment building in the foreground and the John Hancock in the background. I know that building and it’s both further north than that and considerably further inland.
Houses bigger on the inside than the outside have been a fantasy trope since long before Dr Who.
Yeah, but the combination of the bigger-on-the-inside house and the “psychic paper” card might have been a little much when taken together. (I’m still enjoying the show, though.)
Plus “manic British guy with younger female sidekick”.
Of course, in the episode, the homeless guy ran off with the psychic paper. (Not that Constantine seemed to notice nor care.)
We’ll have to see whether he gains a magical screwdriver at some point.
I don’t think it was actually psychic paper. We’ve seen John do a couple hypnotism type things, so I think the card was just a prop for him to use to trick the Hobo. It could’ve been any credit-card shaped thing.
But the fact that its unclear is what I think is the shows biggest problem. Constantine doesn’t really have well defined powers, what magic in general can and can’t do is really vague. So basically every conflict in the show may or may not be solved by John pointing at it and chanting in Latin, depending on how lazy the writers feel that day.
He does actually say, “It’s not a trick. Magic: and not the David Copperfield kind. The card’s charmed … it takes on the appearance of whatever its holder requires.”
The writers be what they may, I think the main problem is that there’s too many pieces for a monster of the week formula.
In something like Buffy or Reaper, you encounter the monster, do some research/thinking, and then in the conclusion we see what the result of their work was as their plan unfolds and they kick the monster’s ass. But in this show, they’re using a procedural formula. They don’t encounter the monster at the beginning. They don’t spend time coming up with a plan. Rather, we’re presented with a procedural. There’s a case, the investigators show up, track down the bad guy - a few more murders occur to spice things up for a few seconds - and then they finally catch up with the bad guy and catch him. But it’s more satisfying when the cops catch someone by pointing a gun at them, than it is for them to chant Latin.
Basically, trying to mix a monster-of-the-week with a procedural ends up giving short-shrift to both. They need to drop formula-based-writing or extend their episodes so that they have time to present a mystery, track down the monster, come up with a plan, track the monster down again, and defeat it via clever planning and technobabble that was introduced earlier.
Assuming that their writers aren’t particularly clever, the longer format would probably be the wiser choice. Do each installment as a 2 parter, with a 3 part finale, and they’ll have a much better show.
I assume Zed will eventually turn out to be Zatanna, but I doubt I’ll stick around that long.
Yep, it is the psychic paper thingy the Doctor uses.
Forgive a fan nitpick, but it’s not exactly the same. The Doctor’s psychic paper works on the principle of presenting to the viewer of the paper what would be useful based on the viewer’s beliefs/fears/etc. Constantine’s version seems to be completely driven by Constantine’s own projection (i.e. what the holder, not the viewer, requires). (Which would mean Constantine’s version would only fail if his magic fails, whereas the Doctor’s psychic paper can fail if the viewer is either too smart or too unimaginative for it to have an effect.)
Anyway. That said, yeah, the “bigger on the inside” bit and the card trick were similar enough to evoke a strong “Doctor” vibe with me, too. All in all, though, I’m liking the series so far just going on Constantine’s world-weary, sarcastic approach. I’ve never read the comics, so have no background preconceptions.
No, Zed’s a distinct and different character in the Hellraiser comic: Zed | John Constantine Hellblazer Wiki | Fandom
That was another good episode and showcases some of John’s dark side (though I realize from reading on the internet there is argument that his dark side in this story was toned down a bit from the comic book for the show version). However, I really enjoyed it and think it is beginning to hit its stride. I hope the ratings are good because I feel this is a show that really will get better as it figures stuff out.
I enjoyed it too (but then, I’m easy to please: I enjoyed the first three).
I do hope they don’t keep trying to out-gore themselves every week, though. I’ve built up a fair tolerance to TV-level ick after watching the full runs of both House and CSI, but I had to look away a couple of times for this latest episode.
Personally I enjoyed 3 of the top 4 (the 2nd episode, where they went to the coal mine I found utterly dull). I think the gore is, unfortunately, hear to stay. It makes the show seem more dark and edgy or whatnot. But I don’t find it as bad as CSI myself.
I feel like this week’s episode was an improvement. Perhaps because they brought back Papa Midnight, and recurring characters are more interesting and satisfying than random one-offs. Plus, Midnight was more than an angry mercenary type this time, so, added breath and character. It’s been decades since I read Hellblazer, but ISTR Constantine’s life was littered with reluctant allies and frenemies. Glad to see Midnight join the ranks, instead of simply being an angry thug in charge of other angry thugs, as he appeared to me in the ‘evil record’ episode.
More screen time for Chas. I like the actor, and his character has some 'splaining to to with regards to his remarkable durability. Looking forward to that.
I enjoyed the NO detective character, and his interactions with Constantine and Zed. Zed seemed less a zero this episode, thanks in parts to those scenes. Wonder what will become of her ‘vision’ of the detective in the next-to-last scene.
Damn you, Constantine writers, and your bait and switch!
I wanted a kuchisake-onna episode, not a Papa Midnight one! :mad: (Seriously, kuchisake-onna is one of my favourite legends, and I may have squeed a little when I saw her come on screen.)
That said, I do like how they’re using Papa Midnight here. As John’s reluctant ally and butting heads with him, he works really well, which both softens him a bit and helps unsoften John a little (at least when Midnight’s making a valid point, as he does in this episode). And the writers seem to be making more of an effort to have his voodoo resemble the real thing than in most of his comics appearances, which takes a slightly uncomfortable edge off him.
Back to the kuchisake-onna - I loved how Chaz handled her - screwing up the first time (her reactions to ‘no’ and ‘yes’ are consistent with the legend)* because, hey, Team Constantine aren’t omniscient, and figuring out a standard (and clever) ploy to keep her from finishing her stabbiness. (And again, it’s consistent with some of the variations on the legend.)
- The actual damage to her face, however, isn’t. I prefer the traditional ‘Glasgow grin’ style to the gruesome mess of this one, but this does better fit this version’s origin, anyway.
On a different note, I was slightly annoyed by the fact that to my ear, between Corrigan and Constantine, the kuchisake-onna’s real name was pronounced 3 different ways (which is why I’ve not referred to her by name)… Corrigan seems to say Osaki when he’s telling John about her, John says Misaki when he’s talking to the woman who cut her up, and then John says <mumble>zaki when talking to Papa Midnight.
I thought the acting was a step up - although it was like a tredge through snopes.com watching this episode. I would have preferred some original ghosts instead of urban legend redux.
Was it just me, or did any one else have a really hard time understanding the detective?
That said, I agree with what others said about Papa Midnite. He was much more interesting for this show than the last one.
I think the actors are getting a little bit better. The guy playing Constantine needed the most work at the start, and still needs a way to go, but he is improving. Constantine and Papa Midnite are difficult characters to portray, as they are by nature not sympathetic, nor within our realm of experience. I need it to be a bit better from the actors in the acting, and from the writers and producers. I don’t want to follow the damn map around for a monster and location of the week.