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Celebrating 1,000 NCIS-franchise episodes

S01.E07: Blessed Are The Damned

Meredith Quill

By Meredith Quill
in Constantine [V]

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Xantar

Xantar

So Zed really was in art class last episode! But this time Chas is off duty dealing with family business or something. I'm starting to think this show doesn't have the budget to actually use all the actors they hired. Fortunately, it looks like both Chas and Zed are showing up next week. Which means probably no Manny.

 

Credit where it's due: I didn't see the twist coming with Imogen being fallen. I wonder what happened to all the people who got healed. Did the blind guy go blind again? If so, why didn't the preacher die again?

 

There was a lot of theological discussion about human free will going on. Is that part of the Hellblazer comics?

 

I do like that Zed got to show a lighter side to her personality. Of course she has a dark and troubled past that's catching up to her. It better be something more than a standard crazy ex-boyfriend or gambling debts.

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thuganomics85

thuganomics85

Yeah, I noticed that it feels like they almost can't have all four of the regulars in the same episode, so I wonder if budgets or something has to do with it.  It's too bad though; I really want to see the entire trio on cases more often.  I think their is potential in a Chas/Zed pairing, if they would let it.  I can just see both of them bonding and sharing looks, whenever Constantine is being his normal roguish self.

 

Glad we got more Manny, and went into more details about angels in general, and the dealings that go on involving both Heaven and Hell.  I was actually surprised over the reveal that Imogen was one of the "Fallen Angels."  Nice one, show.  Good casting too. The actress was beautiful, but kind of had an almost inhuman look about her, and she handled both the "nice" and "evil" bits, pretty well.  Glad that Manny helped it in the end.  I'm assuming the difference between possessing humans like he did with Zed, and when he's just wandering around (when only Constantine can see him), is he can only actually interact with other beings and objects when he posses a human being.

 

Not surprised they did a revival church story-line.  I do wonder what happened when all the people he healed turned back.  Do they get their diseases, again?  And, I guess Zachary didn't die again, once he lost the feather, so I wonder how all that works.  And, was that Sarah character his sister?  They really didn't look related; I thought they were married the first time I saw them.

 

Should have known Zed's potential love interest would end up being shady. 

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Altered Reality

Altered Reality

Another great episode.  Man, they really better get a second season!

 

Things I liked:

 

Opening sequence.  Starting with a resurrection? Yeah, that's a statement.

Zed and John talking over one another and Zed's obvious excitement about her vision.

John packing for the trip.  All kinds of protection?  Yeah, he's an optimistic cuss isn't he?

Eco location and finding the angel.

The angel, beautiful and otherworldly and those wings! 

How the first golum moved, that was well done.  And sort of creepy.

John figuring out what actually happened while trying to hold back the golum horde.

Manny and Imogen talking about what she's been feeling.  That description of pain was so apt!

The fallen angel reveal.  She's still beautiful and otherworldly, but now kinda creepy too.  Loved her dress :D

Manny deciding to man up, or angel up so to speak.

John and Manny debriefing each other at the mill house (mind, when I saw what John was putting away, I thought, ewwww he's keeping that???? Guess it has properties that could come in handy for fighting evil, but ick!)

Zed's tub.  I want that tub.

 

What I didn't like:

 

Snakes!  Way to many snakes.  Between the bugs in A Feast of Friends and the snakes here, I'm watching this show from between my finger a lot.  Says something about the show that I'm willing to stick with it in spite of that.  They just need to do an episode from a suspension bridge and they'll have covered my top phobias ;D

No Chas!  I missed him tonight.  He'd have been a big help holding off the golums.

Snakes, did I l mention the snakes?

Manny and Imogen talking about how angels would have done so much better than humans.  I'm thinking if all angels are that arrogant, maybe not so much.  Oh and considering you'd probably have the Fallen as co-residents, really not so much.

Snakes!

The male model and his apparently nefarious reasons for asking Zed out.  Not cool dude!

 

Is next week the last episode being shown before the winter break?  The preview has me worried already and I'm concerned we're about to get a cliffhanger. 

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HalcyonDays

HalcyonDays

Good episode, I quite enjoyed it.

 

Loved the idea of the Fallen Angel and trying to manipulate the ignorant humans. The actress did wonderful with the pitiful, sad hurt angel, then switching to evil. Nicely done. She did look ethereal (is that the right word?) Liked her interactions with Manny too, where even he is in awe of her being on earth. So what, are these angels and Fallen Angels another species or something? Like not quite human but human or more supernatural human?? Liked the twist though.

 

I'm worried about Manny. He said that he would face consequences for killing Imogen. Imogen had also killed - it sounded like a human just for fun, which is why she is Fallen? Or she ended up in Hell for murder, then became a Fallen Angel. But Manny has killed now too, but it was a Fallen, so what happens to him? Damn, I'm confused about the mythology.

 

I love the snark between John and Manny. Love it. Zed too, I like her character and it was nice to see her kind of think spiritual in terms of her powers.

 

The preacher/snake thing - totally reminded me of an X-Files episode. Just a laugh at how gullible people are that they could actually believe that someone's leg regrew an entire leg? The hell? But I guess when it happens in front of your eyes, who am I to snark??

 

And on a shallow note - that guy who was the model in the Figure Drawing class - bring him back...yum...Looks like he's some minion working for some shady guy, so he will be making another appearance. Looking forward to it and what shady guy wants with Zed and John.

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Bruinsfan

Bruinsfan

I had Imogen pegged as a fallen angel from the start - why would divine power used in a faith healing turn someone bestial and murderous? (Stigmata or spontaneous combustion from too much power I could see...) But still, kudos to the actress for doing a great job both before and after the reveal.

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Cirien

Cirien

Good episode, I quite enjoyed it.

 

Loved the idea of the Fallen Angel and trying to manipulate the ignorant humans. The actress did wonderful with the pitiful, sad hurt angel, then switching to evil. Nicely done. She did look ethereal (is that the right word?) Liked her interactions with Manny too, where even he is in awe of her being on earth. So what, are these angels and Fallen Angels another species or something? Like not quite human but human or more supernatural human?? Liked the twist though.

 

I'm worried about Manny. He said that he would face consequences for killing Imogen. Imogen had also killed - it sounded like a human just for fun, which is why she is Fallen? Or she ended up in Hell for murder, then became a Fallen Angel. But Manny has killed now too, but it was a Fallen, so what happens to him? Damn, I'm confused about the mythology.

 

I love the snark between John and Manny. Love it. Zed too, I like her character and it was nice to see her kind of think spiritual in terms of her powers.

 

The preacher/snake thing - totally reminded me of an X-Files episode. Just a laugh at how gullible people are that they could actually believe that someone's leg regrew an entire leg? The hell? But I guess when it happens in front of your eyes, who am I to snark??

 

And on a shallow note - that guy who was the model in the Figure Drawing class - bring him back...yum...Looks like he's some minion working for some shady guy, so he will be making another appearance. Looking forward to it and what shady guy wants with Zed and John.

If I had to guess Manny won't be banished for killing Imogen. If anything it's interfering in Zed's death which would get him a smack. By the sound of Imogen was already tainted before she killed a human for the sake of it.  I don't think Humans can become angels though. Wouldn't Imogen have said something like that?

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mjc570

mjc570

I just love Matt Ryan (and his accent!) in this show - casting him was brilliant.  I didn't see the movie, so to me, he is perfect as Constantine.

 

I thought this was a very good episode, with the pacing just right.  I liked the fallen angel, the way it became clear that it was not a divine, but a  satanic power that was effecting the miracles. 

 

And, on a shallow level (what can I say), I enjoyed the male model eye candy.

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shrewd.buddha

shrewd.buddha

That was a good one. Kinda makes me wish the show was getting a full season.... wish they had started with this level of story from the beginning.

...Tho the lead actor still isn't pulling off a jaded, world-weary vibe. He still comes off as trying to do a stand-up act (to me, anyway).

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JayKay

JayKay

I kinda had an inkling that there was going to be some dark twist when Constantine was all "puppies and angels are lies" to Zed towards the beginning. So when the barn angel appeared my first thought was "what if she's a bad angel?"

Even so, the reveal was awesome and I like the mythology of how angels think and work. I especially liked the camaraderie between Manny and Imogen because they were like siblings right off. In a way, they kind of are. It's a little sad to think that the angels could get along fine if it weren't for humans.

Manny killing Imogen was the only divine intervention we've seen and it was a violent act that none of the desperate people in the church prayed for. Only Constantine. How appropriate on all levels.

I fell in love with the magic mechanics during the voodoo episode and the Holy war rulebook we got a glimpse of this ep didn't disappoint. I've been blah on Manny most of the time, but the compassionate angel twisting himself into a pretzel to help humans without crossing the line is a good angle. I'd love to meet more angels, light or dark.

And I want to rifle through all of Constantine's mystic doo-dads and make someone label them. How badass would "Mortal Heart of a Fallen Angel" look on a knickknack shelf?

I'll be bummed if this show doesn't get renewed.

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ZoqFotPik

ZoqFotPik

(edited)

I wonder what happened to all the people who got healed. Did the blind guy go blind again? If so, why didn't the preacher die again?

I'm pretty sure all of the healed people reverted. The Blind guy was sitting a pew in front of the Preacher's Sister in the last scene. He had his cane and his eyes looked like the had complete cataracts.

 

The story of pastor being killed by one of his snakes, was naggingly familiar and so I had to look it up.

I don't know if you watch it, but that happened on Justified a year or two back. The Preacher was played by Joseph Mazzello, Sledge from "The Pacific" and the Little boy from "Jurassic Park".

 

I have to give the show credit, many other shows would have done some kind of wet t-shirt thing with Zed while she was running after getting baptized.

 

ETA:

I'll be bummed if this show doesn't get renewed.

I've really started to like the show but in all honesty, with the way the ratings are going, I'll be surprised if the show doesn't get pulled before  all 13 episodes air.

Edited by ZoqFotPik
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Zahdii

Zahdii

(edited)

Boy, Zed is so pretty.  Even her unusual eyebrows, which look overly plucked and yet full at the same time only serve to accentuate her beauty and are also very expressive.  Girl got lucky in the looks department for sure. 

 

As much as John is teaching and changing Zed, she's doing the same for him.  I wonder if/when he realizes that.

 

John said that when the angel gets her feather back everyone goes back to 'their mortal form'.  Well, except for the guy who got killed after killing two other men.

 

So what was it in Zach's life that made his heart 'not quiet', as his sister put it?  Oh, he drove drunk, hit and killed someone.  Never told anyone because he didn't want his father to look at him "the way he always did".  Hearing that, John realizes that Zach wasn't on his way to heaven when he died, he was on his way to hell.  Lovely.  Too bad Zach is so busy feeling sorry for himself that he ends up forcing John to fight off the 'healed' people who have "turned" instead of helping to prevent Zed from returning the feather to Imogen.  I'll chalk it up to his mixed emotions due to his guilt for killing someone, his feeling that he never measured up to his fathers expectations, and the flush of power the feather gave him.

 

Imogen is talking to Manny in the barn and things are coming down to the wire.  She gets him to almost commit to what, blasphamy(?) by encouraging him to talk bad about mortals.  He's been watching over humans for thousands of years and they still can't stop falling down.  He's starting to realize that maybe angels aren't all that when Imogen says she wants this world back, "just for ourselves".  I guess that means no humans. 

 

The actress playing Imogen did a wonderful job of being holy, weary, and fragile up until then.  But as she's talking to Manny about reclaiming the world for angels, her hidden strength and resolve start to appear as she thinks she might be able to recruit another angel to her cause.  Manny's confusion and uneasiness about the turn the conversation has taken is obvious.  I can only think that he didn't quite figure it all out because he just couldn't believe that Imogen was bad.  He felt protective of her, he felt they bonded; but he's not able to fully grasp what is happening because despite everything else he's not ready to throw in the towel and jump ship.  (Yes, I've mixed up a few metaphors there.  Call it my writing style...) 

 

I wonder what would have happened next if Zed hadn't shown up just then and returned the feather to Imogen.  At least we got to see Imogen reveal herself as who and what she really is.  Time for more exposition from her to flesh out the story.

 

Really Imogen?  You were thrown out of heaven because of a "minor infraction"?  Killing a man just to see how easy it was could only be seen as minor to someone who was already evil.  Imogen has some ability to rewrite the past, for sure.  She sounds like she really thought that she didn't do anything all that bad, and TPTB overreacted big time.  But once she's fallen, she discovered she didn't like hell at all.  So she concocted a plan to try to get earth as her new home, sans humans of course.

 

Even if she'd succeeded in her plan, I don't think it would have worked out for her.  God's already cast her out and turned away from her, and then she went and rejected the devil.  One of them would have wiped up the floor with her, even if it meant turning the earth into a black hole.  But that wasn't necessary, as all it took was the mere human John casting a spell that prevented evil from crossing the garden hose circle he placed around the barn.  Well, that and another angel took her heart.  I guess that means that she's ceased to exist?  Or did her body disappear and her heart contains her soul now?  And John's going to be allowed to keep her still beating heart as a trophy?  That's unsettling.

 

It's interesting that Manny came to John to help sort out what had happened.  John is a thorn in Manny's side but Manny still recognizes that John is important to fighting the rising darkness.  So he's still trying to keep John on the right path, but I think that he's also seeking a brief moment of companionship from someone who would know what Manny's struggling with.  Imogen was cast out because she killed.  So did Manny.  He could be in heaven right then seeking advice and forgiveness, but he delayed that so he could talk with John again.  While Imogen gave up on humans and went her own way, Manny is frustrated beyond belief by humans but still he makes a stop to see John.  I think only a part of his stopover was a delaying tactic before he goes to face the consequences of what he'd done.  There was also some part of Manny who wanted to spend time with someone who really understood what had happened.  But in the end, he (IMO) was preparing John for the possibility that some other angel would become John's communication to God.

 

Great.  John put Imogen's heart in a glass jar that looks exactly like what I keep my flour in.  I'm seriously considering finding another container now.

Edited by Zahdii
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scarletregina

scarletregina

I loved this episode, except for one nitpick: Imogen says she fell because she killed a human. Angels kill humans all of the time. They are often God's assassins, so I don't get why it would be a big deal. 

 

Maybe because she did it just to see what it was like and it wasn't under God's direction? That would make some sense, but it still seemed like a weak excuse to me. If we'd gotten more details as to whom she killed (ie an innocent child or someone that was pure of heart/important in fighting "the darkness") I may have been more inclined to accept that reason. As it stood, it left me pretty meh.

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Bruinsfan

Bruinsfan

Eh, I'd think that exactly who she killed doesn't matter so much as why - it wasn't on orders or necessary to prevent evil being done, she just did it because she wanted to see what it felt like. Hard to think of a less noble reason than that, it's basically why a bunch of serial killers do what they do.

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kwerkee

kwerkee

(edited)

Angels are denied free will, no? Perhaps, the fact that she tried to think for herself was a blasphemy? Plus, for some reason, humans are God's favorite and heaven forbid (literally) if anyone but God messes with them.

Edited by kwerkee
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Actionmage

Actionmage

Sorry getting to the party late, but I enjoyed the episode a bunch!

 

I want to know more about Manny's rules, the Rules that he and God's angels are supposed to abide by. If Manny is not allowed to save a mortal from a Fallen, then what good is having these beings that are God's Chosen Warriors? As Mr. Actionmage likes to point out, the first thing angels say in the Old Testament is "Be not afraid!" They are fearsome.. Imogen was without a side--no Heaven, no Hell, no Earthly plane of existence. She had no one to answer to for her actions. Why would Manny be disciplined for saving a mortal in that instance? To me, the unnecessary loss of a potential believer is worse than just not being believed in.

 

As to why Zach wasn't dead? I have no idea. Maybe there was intervention we aren't supposed to know about? *g*

 

I'm still enjoying the cast and the cases. I do wish that all three would be allowed to tackle more cases together. The New Orleans case was fantastic!

 

I am hating that The Bad Folk are trying to honey trap Zed. That is not cool. ( I know, they're Bad Guys. Still.)

 

I'll second the choice to not go Wet T-shirt-palooza with Zed after the "baptism." Maybe it was more restrained because the wet clothes were in conjunction with a known holy rite?

 

I'm excited for the next episode!

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rainsmom

rainsmom

Imogen wasn't cast out for killing a human -- as menitoned above, angels do that all the time. She was cast out for interfering; she affected the future outside of what she was ordered to do. That's why Manny is worried.

 

Must add. I know the black angel was bad, but damn if she wasn't hella sexier in black than in white. Must say I'd love to have a pair of black wings like that!

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Cirien

Cirien

Imogen wasn't cast out for killing a human -- as menitoned above, angels do that all the time. She was cast out for interfering; she affected the future outside of what she was ordered to do. That's why Manny is worried.

 

Must add. I know the black angel was bad, but damn if she wasn't hella sexier in black than in white. Must say I'd love to have a pair of black wings like that!

Evil = sexy I love that her dress changed from Oscar-esque to rock chick

Angels are denied free will, no? Perhaps, the fact that she tried to think for herself was a blasphemy? Plus, for some reason, humans are God's favorite and heaven forbid (literally) if anyone but God messes with them.

Manny clearly thinks for himself. He just chooses to obey the rules. Imogen killed because she wanted to see what it was like. As other people have said that the kind of reasoning psychopaths use

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cyan

cyan

(edited)

I think it's the disobedience that's the issue. Manny interfered in the outcome of events, which is against the Prime Directive. Imogen interfered even more, but both of them acted as bad weather butterflies. I hope the story takes that somewhere, and aside from Manny being spanked by Bid Daddy, there will be some pleasingly horrible consequences.

 

I enjoyed the ep well enough, but I am so sick of the episodic format. The writers can't quite tie them to John. Even when there is a strong thematic tie to his character, they don't make a good use of it. Like the ep with the kid - telling us via Manny that John was abused as a child isn't character development, it's backstory. Now how does it affect John's choices in the present? Not in any way that I could see. Same in this ep - the angels were fun, but Constantine was kinda like an extra - if you replaced him with a totally random do-gooder, it would all still happen the same way. As the recapper said, all this juicy stuff Constantine's knowledge of heaven/hell vs. Zed and preacher's faith got totally sidelined. 

 

The series is called Constantine, dammit. Where is the damn title character in all of this? I remember back when, some Buffy writers talked about how even in MOTW episodes, their central question was, "what's the Buffy of it?", as in, how does it affect her and what are the choices she makes and how do her *choices* affect everything that happens?

 

The reason I watch is the character of John Constantine, who is unique even in the current anti-hero-rich story terrain. Every ep, I keep hoping that this is where they start developing him more, but so far they did it only in Feast of Friends. In this one, he is... present but not accounted for? Like, (mediocre) quips and smoking do not a character make. 

 

It's frustrating to watch writers bumble and waste fantastic story potential. I watched one of the behind the scenes clips on NBC and they had the ep writer, who was basically a kid. I was like, this is what you get when you hire someone's nephew to write the series. Someone who should still be in writing school. Don't put the money into special effects, put them into paying good screenwriters. 

Edited by cyan
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Knittzu

Knittzu

The series is called Constantine, dammit. Where is the damn title character in all of this?

 

 

This is why I didn't miss Zed last week. She's off at art school? Fine by me! Because when she's around, she seems to take over the whole show. If this wasn't called "Constantine" I would think it was a show about a psychic art student and her sidekicks.

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darkestboy

darkestboy

Loved the episode. Finally was nice to get some proper scenes with Manny where he had a purpose and wasn't just an annoying cryptic mouthpiece.

 

Imogen being a fallen angel was a nice twist too as it looked like Zachary was going to be main problem of the episode, until her intention were revealed.

 

No Chas but I did like that Zed was better fleshed out in this one along with the reveal of Eddie working with angels that are after her too.

 

Constantine himself felt like he had the least amount to do in this one and there was a lack of trenchcoat but overall, a very impressive episode, 8/10

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