Constantine, Episode 3: The Devil's Vinyl
That is actually more like it. The general plot of this episode, with soul brokers and a cursed vinyl that compels you to play it but will kill whoever listens to it, is far more interesting than the previous one. It helps that the stakes to the whole thing, the people that Constantine and Zed need to protect -- the couple who had made the unfortunate deal -- are made relatively clear in the first fifteen minutes of the episode instead of the haphazard 'who's the bad guy' deal we had last episode.
It helps that we don't need much of the exposition and character introductions that so burdened the first two episodes. The focus is still very much on Constantine and Zed, but this episode gives them more room to actually muck around with more colourful magical artifacts and just feels generally funner while still retaining a sense of horror. We've got crazy stuff like the coffin nails that attract each other, we've got the playing card that turns into whatever helps the user out, the creepy hand of glory which gives a spectacularly eerie visual as all the bodies in the morgue are brought back to temporal life... far more fun than just the two of them running around a mining town looking for clues.
We also peel back more layers of Constantine beyond one-liners. We learn he was in a rock band, which isn't super-crucial or anything but is a hilarious detail. He has no problem dealing with Zed but is suspicious enough to have Chas dig into her. We see him struggle a little against using the cursed vinyl as a leverage to get his soul back, or just burn it back to hell where it belongs.
Zed's motivations for sticking around Constantine is explored a little -- she's trying to learn to control and understand her scrying powers. And, y'know, help out the people who're involved in all of this madness and all that stuff. We also see a bit more of her shrewdness with pickpocketing the morgue guard earlier on, showing that stealing Constantine's wallet last episode wasn't just a fluke. And her smart thinking managed to get her in time to do a big damn heroes moment to save Constantine from zipties and a hobo, because the show isn't crazy enough as it is.
Chas gets a couple minor roles introducing Zed to their mystical safehouse, and promises some more mysteries surrounding their base, including a corridor of doors. He also smashes the radio station's power unit as the most practical way to prevent the vinyl from being broadcasted. Manny shows up a bit to send off a dying man, and later on just to do another cryptic talk with John.
The main villain of this episode, however, isn't a demon. Yes, there's the cursed vinyl, but it's more of a plot device than anything. Papa Midnite, who I assume is based on a comic-book villain thanks to his name, is a voodoo priest that also happens to be a mafia boss. And the man behind Anton the Soul Broker (himself having a more hilarious name than Papa Midnite) and the concept of damnation is explored a bit more in this episode. Papa Midnite is smooth and cool, and has this never-miss shotgun he uses during his big damn heroes moment to rescue Constantine. Obviously Papa isn't a good guy -- he leaves Constantine to bleed out and plans to use the vinyl for nefarious purposes -- but he is a calculated element, and his 'professional respect' by giving Constantine the antidote to the anticoagulant on a nearby table to reward him if he escapes is pretty nice of him. And while he wants to use the vinyl as... leverage or something, he isn't about to let the two possessed goons broadcast it all over town.
That said, though, it was a gigantic coincidence that a deaf dude was around when the two goons played the vinyl in the club. And I thought that the red herring with the daughter being tempted by the vinyl not being followed up is... a bit strange. But whatever.
Overall a far superior episode than the previous two, and, y'know, far less jumpscares and far more crazy magic objects. Which is good for me.
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