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TV Review: Constantine “Rise of Caliban” By: Brandon Wolfe The recent announcement that NBC has declined to order additional episodes of ‘ Constantine ’ beyond its initial 13-episode order, rendering the series unofficially canceled, is starting to sting a bit. ‘ Constantine ’ continues to gather steam. What felt at first like a blandly flavored supernatural time-waster is now inching its way toward becoming something worthwhile. Pity it’s a dead show airing. After an evocative opener where we are shown the aftermath of a bloodbath where the only survivor appears to be a young girl, we meet up with Constantine in bed with a young woman and being rushed out the window half-dressed when her boyfriend comes home unexpectedly. It’s a nice character building moment for our hero, illuminating the haphazard lifestyle he gravitates toward. From there, he and Chas head off to Birmingham to look into the massacre. A bit of magical forensics work tells Constantine that the little girl ...

TV Review: Constantine “Danse Vaudou” By: Brandon Wolfe “ Danse Vaudou ” is perhaps the best episode of ‘ Constantine ’ aired thus far. It’s the first entry where all elements come together into a largely satisfying whole. The story it tells is appropriately spooky and involving and the supporting cast finally begins to congeal a bit. It’s the first sign that the visible growing pains this show has been suffering through thus far might be starting to subside. We’re in New Orleans this week as we follow drunken cop Jim Corrigan out of a bar and into an alley to relieve himself. There he bears witness to a woman being slashed to death by another woman wearing a surgical mask over the lower half of her face. When Corrigan attempts to fire at the assailant, the bullets have no effect. Meanwhile, in an urban legend come to life, a man picks up a teenage hitchhiker out on a dark backroad not far outside of town only to have the young man vanish from the passenger seat and appear i...

TV Review: Constantine "A Feast of Friends" By: Brandon Wolfe Four episodes in, the question is starting to arise of whether ‘ Constantine ’ is still struggling through its wobbly first steps or if the largely rote series that seems to be emerging is simply what we’re gonna get. The series has some solid attributes, but its weaknesses are overpowering them. One can only hope the show will strengthen with time, but one can also only extend benefit of the doubt so far. A sweaty, squirrely man named Gary Lester is passing through customs at an airport in Atlanta and his sketchy demeanor pings airport security’s suspicions, hauling him into a backroom for inspection. When an antique container is found among Gary’s possessions, Gary implores the guard not to open it, which of course necessitates that the man open it immediately. Doing so releases a swarm of mystical beetles, which forces itself down the guard’s throat. Somehow, amid all this chaos, Gary escapes from th...

TV Review: Constantine "The Devil’s Vinyl” By: Brandon Wolfe ‘ Constantine ’ is still plugging right along. “ The Devil’s Vinyl ” is very much a case-of-the-week outing, but it allows the series to continue to color itself in. More so than last week’s episode, this entry provides a fair amount of detail on the world that John Constantine inhabits and the players that share that world with him. While the story at its core isn’t terribly vital, that which we are provided in the service of said story certainly is. We open with Zed tracking down Constantine’s lair, using the clues afforded to her in her sketched visions. After finishing some weird blood ritual that isn’t explained to us, Constantine is headed out the door to Chicago to investigate the odd circumstances surrounded the apparent death by suicide of a music producer that John befriended in his pre-demon days when he was embarking on a singing career. Zed, whom Constantine and his associate Chas still don’t entirel...

TV Review: Constantine “The Darkness Beneath” By: Brandon Wolfe ‘ Constantine’ is still in the process of putting itself together. Much of the legwork done in the pilot episode was all for naught as the show opted to change its course after that first outing was shot. As such, all of the material focusing on the character of Liv Aberdeen, the young woman initially being groomed to become John Constantine’s companion, was chucked out the window. This leaves Episode 2, “The Darkness Beneath,” with the task of setting Constantine up with a new partner, which it does in the form of Zed (Angelica Celaya), a young woman with some kind of psychic connection to Constantine, manifesting itself in visions that she sketches on paper. Zed meets Constantine when the latter comes to a mining town in western Pennsylvania to investigate a disturbance where a miner was immolated in his shower (Constantine’s other partner, the seemingly immortal Chas, stays behind due to an outstanding warrant f...

TV Review: Constantine“Non Est Asylum” By: Brandon Wolfe John Constantine , the “exorcist, demonologist and master of the dark arts” protagonist of DC’s ‘ Hellblazer ’ comic series, has made an appearance once before in the realm of live-action, portrayed by, of all people, Keanu Reeves in a 2005 film. Constantine , in the comics, is blonde and exceedingly British. Keanu Reeves is not those things. And though that film and Reeves’ performance are stronger than their reputations would suggest, such stark changes imposed on the character right out of the gate didn’t set him up to succeed with his fanbase. NBC’s ‘ Constantine ’ is, to its credit and forgive the dumb pun, hellbent on setting the character straight. Portrayed by Matt Ryan, the character is blonde and British as all get out, he maintains his trademark rumpled, trenchcoated look and possesses the proper surly demeanor. All that’s missing, despite his constant tinkering with a Zippo, is the character’s penchant for ch...

JOHN CONSTANTINE TAKES ON A RISING DARKNESS AS HE FIGHTS TO RECLAIM HIS SOUL – JEREMY DAVIES AND LUCY GRIFFITHS GUEST STAR – Based on the wildly popular comic book series “Hellblazer” from DC Comics, seasoned demon hunter and master of the occult John Constantine ( Matt Ryan ) is armed with a ferocious knowledge of the dark arts and a wickedly naughty wit. He fights the good fight — or at least he did. With his soul already damned to hell, he’s decided to abandon his campaign against evil until a series of events thrusts him back into the fray when an old friend’s daughter (guest star Lucy Griffiths) becomes the target of supernatural forces. Harold Perrineau and Charles Halford also star. See all the clips after the Jump... Please Leave A Comment-