Damnation: Episode 10 (Season Finale)
Does God forgive all those who repent and seek redemption, including murderers and scoundrels? It would seem that Damnation would have viewers believe so in the season finale, “God’s Body.” The characters are all guilty of something – pride, fornication, greed, racism, and debauchery. Apart from farming, drinking, resisting industrialization, and the occasional traveling carnival, the locals haven’t much else occupy their time. It’s tempting to create backstories and character motivations where none exist. If the majority of the residents in Holden County are simple people, it makes the differences in power and resources all the more extreme. Connie and Amelia both lost their respective spouses to horrible deaths which set them on vengeful paths. Revenge brought Connie and her trigger finger to town. Amelia and Seth arrived to correct what they perceived as moral and social injustices. The battles between good and evil aren’t always believable, and sometimes borders on cartoonish, which is a drawback to the show. I’d like have had a few more memorable scenes between episodes. Granted, if this is a true ensemble world, it’d be asking for the impossible. No one likes a showoff. I had to infer that brotherly love is the reason behind Creeley’s coming to Seth and the allied farmers’ aid, not so much as he’s avoiding the Black Legion, Edgar Hyde Pearce, or Tennyson Duval. The about-face isn’t inexplicable inasmuch as we’re to accept it to facilitate the next plot point. Their reconciliation felt contrived because of what we learned in the flashbacks and Creeley’s present-day predicament.
As God’s Body, the townsfolks that are willing to take up arms, are united against the forces of evil. The past is but a fading memory, and everyone is forgiven their transgressions against each other and an all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful deity in the sky.
