‘Swamp Thing’ 1×02 Review: ‘Worlds Apart”
Last week on Swamp Thing (review here), Abby Arcane returned home to Marais, Louisiana. Much has changed, though so much hasn’t. As she investigates a strange disease outbreak stemming from the swamp, she meets Alec Holland, a biologist, and like-minded person. This week, Abby chases after Susie when she escapes from the hospital. Maria Sunderland toys with dark forces.
Let’s review!
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Swamp Thing’s Debut
After the explosion out in the swamp, Alec (Andy Bean) is officially missing. Both Abby (Crystal Reed) and Matt (Henderson Wade) are at the forefront in searching for him. His mother, the sheriff is another one that’s not too thrilled to see Abby either. Abby tries to tell her that there’s something out there, but they all think she’s just suffering from the explosion. They’re about to get a wake-up call when they realize that isn’t the case.
Susie awakens in the hospital able to see what Swamp Thing sees and all he wants to do is help him. Talk about the purity of a child. She doesn’t see a monster, but a confused being that doesn’t understand.
It’s Suzie that pushes the story along in this episode. When she runs off and Abby and Matt give chase, they do find her, but not before finding a few bodies along the way and then Swamp Thing himself. This slow build-up was such a good way to introduce Swamp Thing. It wasn’t just about the big reveal, but also how he came into being and what it was like for him.
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Letting Go is for Quitters
Maria (Virginia Madsen) is still holding onto her daughter though she been dead for years. By that, I mean she’s literally clinging to her ghost. Turns out, she’s been making regular visits to Madame Xanadu (Jeryl Prescott) who knows this is a bad idea. Yet, she reaches out for contact anyway and finds something disturbingly dark instead, then pleads with Maria to let Shauna go. If she doesn’t then she’s bound to let in some serious darkness. Does she listen? Of course not! Does it yield horrifying results? Hell yes, and we love it!
Maria may not be the only one that struggles to let go. It becomes evident that Matt still harbors a pretty good-sized torch for Abby. His mother warns him to be careful, but we can tell he won’t be.
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Professional Capacity
Though Liz (Maria Sten) warns Abby to stay away, she ended up going to see Avery (Will Patton) about Alec and getting into his lab. What starts out a welcome turns into a battle of wills. Avery in his own roundabout way say no and even says that whatever it is she’s looking for will be gone by the time she got a court order. Shady as hell, you guys. He’s probably the one that got Alec blown up out in the swamp.
“You always had a way of making no sound like a favor.” – Abby
Abby does what Abby does best and that’s investigating for herself. She starts with where Alec was staying, a one-stop movie shop owned by B-movie star, Daniel Cassidy (Ian Ziering). There, she discovers more than Alec’s video journals, but also that he found her lovely. This truly made his loss more tragic. All of the potential for the two of them and also him getting his big break in the science world and finding a cure went out the window. It adds a tragic wrench into things.
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Avery calls in the scientist responsible for the accelerant, Jason Woodrue (Kevin Durand) who’s well-known in the comics not only for his obsession with Swamp Thing but also as Floronic Man. Though subtle with an intimidating tone, he tells Woodrue to fix what it’s done to the people that are sick. Woodrue assures him that it’s not the accelerant doing this to people. This moment sparks the start of his curiosity about the swamp and The Green.
So much comes together in this episode and this is where Swamp Thing’s story begins while Alec Holland’s ends. And the ghost juju! Frightening but so fitting for this show with its monsters lurking in the swamp. Can’t wait for next week’s episode!
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