Constantine Season 1 Episode 3 Review: The Devil's Vinyl
Henry A. Otero
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Tons of twists and turns this week on Constantine Season 1 Episode 3.
Though I thought I had things figured out early on, I loved the way the writers went in a completely different direction. Seems like that's going to be part of this show's formula and I've got to say... I like it!
The introduction of Papa Midnight was excellent. He's going to make a powerful adversary no question about that.
The show kicked things off this week in Chicago. For most of the installment I had no clue what was going on. Who was this mysterious woman? Did she enter a bar? Why were there dead things hanging everywhere? That last one I still have no idea about... creepy atmosphere perhaps?
She retrieves a bible from wall, and inside there's a vinyl record. It was clear right away that Moonrise Studios and Willie Cole would play a major part in this particular adventure. However, the clues took a while to fall into place.
The minute she handed the record over to that engineer and tells him not to listen to it, I knew that's exactly what he would do. We humans are nothing if not predictable. I'm not sure why the record had that freezing effect though. If you caught something I missed, please share it in the comments below.
So John and Zed didn't exactly partner up, which surprised me. Instead, she had a vision and drew the supernatural safe house. Inside, John is chanting naked and covered in blood. He's performing some kind of spell Chas informs us, but I'm not sure what that was all about except to remind us you can't flash a person's arse on broadcast TV.
Each one of these stigmata represents a place where something bad is going down. Supernatural brush fires if you will. Me, Chas and a few others we're the bucket brigade.
Constantine
Naturally, the music producer was a friend of John's. He actually produced the only Mucus Membrane record ever released. That was a fun bit of trivia. I always forget Constantine was part of a punk band in his youth, but that angle worked for this episode. He tells Zed to see if she gets anything from touching the man's photo and she smells Jasmine. The woman's name, really? I don't think any of us could have come up with that one.
Anyway since Chas had not met Zed, John tells him she may be legit or have other motives. We find out later Zed was not listed in any law enforcement databases. Does our sexy psychic have an ulterior motive?
The scene at the morgue was creepy as hell. We've seen this kind of thing before, but the "hand of glory" and incantation was a different spin on it. I wasn't expecting all the bodies in the morgue to be affected and begin screaming. Were you? The corpse can't give away too much info or the episode would last 10 minutes. Instead, it says "the voice," "acetate" and "moonrise."
Zed is not only gifted with supernatural powers, but she seems way more capable than even John. After saving his life several times and solving the first mystery using Google, John would be a fool not to keep her around. She tells him "Moonrise" was an old blues record label. Conveniently the owner is still alive.
At the nursing facility where the owner of Moonrise lives, John uses a charmed card to pass as a Health and Human services agent. This was very Doctor Who, but I loved it. I'm sure that bit's going to come in handy in future episodes.
The old man, Marcus, knew all about the "acetate" and this is where some pieces begin falling into place.
I had an old recording studio. Willie's legend was he had sold his soul to the devil. Never put much stock in that. Turns out the acetate, it was working and recorded something when he died. The voice of the deceiver.
Marcus
We learned Marcus tried to destroy the thing, but nothing worked so he sealed it up inside that wall at the old Moonrise Studios. Enter Jasmine and the last name Fell on the check she paid him with. Ah okay, now I'm getting it.
Still not sure what to make of Manny though, but it's cool the way time stops when he's around. When the old man claimed he saw an angel, I knew Manny had come for him. Does that make him the angel of death?
Ian Fell turned out to be a metal head also discovered by Bernie. Zed theorizes he sold his soul as well.
The devil used to be an angel. That's why he's called the first of the fallen. You ask a holy type and they'll tell you the soul is the purest expression of God's love. The spark of creation. Every time the first takes a soul he's exacting revenge. Paying back the almighty for casting him out.
Constantine
Though we knew a woman, Jasmine, was the one dealing with the record I didn't connect her to Ian Fell. Maybe I was tired, but the fact she was his wife and struck the deal to save him from cancer (not for fame) was a cool twist. She confesses everything and John heads out to meet Anton.
Anton was just a pawn, it was Papa Midnite who was behind all this. Interesting that Midnite claims the "acetate" was a sort of "get out of hell free card." Guess even a powerful voodoo priest needs some leverage over the first of the fallen. I really liked Michael James Shaw's take on Papa Midnite and can't wait for the character to appear again. Perhaps he'll work with John next time?
Midnite sends his goons to the Fell mansion for the acetate. Jasmine turns it over. Again a bit predictable those idiots touched the thing and it possessed them. The fact they played it at a club was awful, all those bodies lined up outside.
The vision of the white tiger Zed saw was pretty random, until Chas makes the connection with the local college radio station's name.
At the station, John rushed inside to stop Midnite's goons from playing the record, but I figured his headphones would fall off. Papa Midnite arriving and blowing out the speakers in the room was unexpected. He was there to claim his prize, but John refused to let him have it.
There's only one true way to deal with our recording. I drew on the disc's own dark magic to send it back to hell where it belongs.
Constantine
Funny how John's powers seem lame one minute and yet at other times he manages to create a crater that opens all the way to hell. Hey at least the demonic record was gone right? Was that truly the voice of the first of the fallen? The devil himself?
Constantine gets Anton to break the deal by eating the contract. Jasmine's soul is released. All's well that ends well, but what's Papa Midnite doing burning that Constantine voodoo doll? Whatever it is, it can't be good.
What did you think of "The Devil's Vinyl?" Was that's the deceiver's voice on the acetate? What's the deal with Manny the angel? Papa Midnite is bad news, what did you think of him? You're up, please share your thoughts on this week's installment in the comments below.
Remember you can watch Constantine online right here via TV Fanatic if you've missed an installment.
