1.1 Non Est Asylum I’m no Master of the Dark Arts, but reviewing a TV pilot is a bit of a psychic exercise in itself. Reviewing a pilot of a show with a history as momentous as Constantine’s is like doing a psychic reading, exorcising Nergal, battling lung cancer, and trying to bang several attractive women and attractive men all at the same time. How can we possibly tell from 45 minutes of screen time whether Constantine will do justice to the greatness that Hellblazer built up in over 25 years of edgy storytelling, scathing social commentary, and fearless leaps into the horror of the human psyche? We can’t. But I’m going to try anyway. As this episode offered ample exposition, there isn’t much need to explain things to the uninitiated, but I will offer a little history from beyond the fourth wall. John Constantine made his first speaking appearance in Saga Of The Swamp Thing #37 in 1985. He received his own series, Hellblazer, in 1988; it was first published by DC, then was moved to Vertigo at the imprint’s launch in 1993. Hellblazer was Vertigo’s longest-running title when it ended in 2013 and was replaced by the ongoing New 52 series Constantine published by DC. An alternate version of him also appears in the ongoing Justice League Dark. Does this pilot episode live up to that legacy? Well, no. Of course not. But it’s the start of something that might, given time. And that is all anyone could reasonably expect it to be. The episode begins with John Constantine (Matt Ryan) at Ravenscar Asylum trying to fight off his depression over past events at Newcastle. There, Constantine attempted to save a possessed 9-year-old girl named Astra by summoning a more powerful demon to fight off the one possessing her. But the demon he summoned, Nergal, dragged Astra into hell, and now Constantine lives in torment over having sent a child to eternal damnation. Though Liv was originally planned to be a series regular, she was replaced late in the game when the showrunners noticed that she is super annoying. The new female lead will be Zed (Angélica Celaya) who we can probably assume is the woman at the end of the episode doing all that Hellblazer cover art. Sadly, her hair is not silver nor is she half bald, but I have high hopes that she will be a dynamic force in the show even if they decide to cut out her new-agey female naked parties. Constantine’s wry sense of humour makes him hard not to like, and the horror elements of the episode offer some scary images. References to the comics and a use of character and backstory that is fairly faithful to the source material will please long-time fans. But Non Est Asylum never rises above the tropes of the occult genre that Hellblazer helped define. The guilt-ridden Newcastle backstory is nothing we haven’t seen in dozens of other anti-heroes with tragic pasts. The demonology is cut from the same cloth as that of a thousand horror movies. The psychic abilities of the “good guys” are fun to watch but not particularly fresh. Granted, most of these are elements taken out of Hellblazer. But Constantine has yet to tap into the messy, primal, lyrical human drama that takes Hellblazer above its sometimes clichéd building blocks. Yet the people behind the Constantine TV show offer enough homage to the source material that we can surmise that they are not just here to capitalize on a name with a built-in fan base. This show’s team might really understand why Constantine is such a powerful force in comics culture. The challenge for them will be translating that to the screen. In the meantime, Constantine is worth sticking around for. It may not have achieved greatness yet, but it’s not half bad either. (By the way, if you didn’t catch it, Constantine’s phone number is (404) 248-7182. Call him if you’ve got any demon problems, or if you just want him to make some snarky remarks at you over the phone.)
