After a long wait and after every comic book based TV show of the season bar one has aired, the first episode of NBC’s Constantine, titled “Non Est Asylum”, aired last night. Turns out, it was pretty good, even if I do say so myself. While it didn’t exactly have The Flash levels of out-the-gate greatness, it does have some of the most potential of any of the comic book based TV premieres of the season.
So join me as we break down five thoughts of Constantine‘s “Non Est Asylum”
1. There Is No Asylum
The thing that is perhaps most notable about this episode is that it isn’t really an origin story for John Constantine. At least, not in the way the other DC shows seems to exist solely on telling the origin stories of their characters. Here, Constantine is already an established practitioner of magic and the dark arts and is already tormented by the life he leads.
That’s why this episode works so well. Constantine enters the episode as an enigma, having checked himself into a mental hospital, and throughout the episode we get to dig in a little deeper to who he is and how he came to be through his conversations with the other characters. It allows the episode to function both as a one-and-done story of Liv Aberdine as well as giving us an introduction to John himself and lead on to bigger and better things.
It also shows Constantine as a character with a deep history and one that isn’t exactly rose tinted, which brings me to my next point…
2. Petty Dabbler
Matt Ryan is why this show has a hope in hell of working. While the rest of the casts’ performances range from Lucy Griffith’s a little too wide-eyed damsel in distress to Charles Halford’s understated stalwart sidekick to LOST alumni Harold Perrineau and Jeremy Davies showing up a couple of times each to bring a little gravitas to the whole ordeal, it’s Ryan that really pulls this off.
From the title card shot of a solemn and destitute Constantine framed by the wild psychosis of his fellow patients in Ravenscar to being unwittingly pulled into the life of a magician to his acceptance at being damned to being alone in that life, Ryan nails the feeling of a haunted John Constantine and is easily the best thing about the episode.
Sure, some things are missing to make this the purest “Hellblazer” experience. John doesn’t smoke even though he does carry a lighter around (a compromise, I’m sure, to keep us happy with at least a nod to the habit) and producer Daniel Cerone did confirm that John won’t be bisexual in the show, which is a major stinger for me. But, I tell you what, he’s a damn sight closer to who Constantine should be that Keanu Reeves ever was.
3. Hear My Words
One of the often overlooked aspects of TV is the music. For some reason, even as TV edges closer and closer to the feeling of a film every week, the score of the episode still gets brushed under the rug. But not here. Bear McCreary is probably best known for his work on the Battlestar Galactica reboot, but he has also composed for The Walking Dead and Agents Of SHIELD and he composed the main theme for Constantine and it is fantastic.
With haunting strings, droning bass and an energetic and powerful tempo, the score of this episode brings a lot of atmosphere to Neil Marshall’s direction and entrenches the show in the world of the occult. With a short motif following John throughout the episode, it’s a fantastic piece of music and really makes up for some of the mistakes in the directing.
4. Front-Loaded Pilot: Or I Ran Out Of Episode Quotes
This episode is obviously a pilot episode and pilot episodes are usually unfairly burdened with having to dump a lot of information on viewers to keep everyone a level playing field. That also leads to this episode having a lot going on, especially in the first half, that it has to speed through in order to get going. That means scenes like Constantine’s time in Ravenscar and Liv’s visit to her mother don’t have the breathing room I wish they had.
Continued belowThankfully, the episode slows down in the latter half in order to give the characters a chance to actually talk and not just spout exposition at each other, but it’s still a bit of a slog in order to get there. And the actual confrontation with the episode’s major antagonist at the end is a well-staged and well put together climax that is a real highlight of the episode. Still, it’s a first episode and these things happen and the decision to only focus on Liv in this episode in order to bring John in on “What’s on the way” and then ditch her to solely focus on John should mean that the rest of the season will hopefully fare batter. Only time will tell.
5. At Least It Was Scary
When I first heard this show was picked up by NBC, I was pretty delighted. I may have my share of problems with Hannibal, especially it’s second season, but what that show gets away with in terms of graphic content should have allowed this show to plunge deep into Vertigo territory of horror. Now, it doesn’t quite get there in this episode, but there are definitely some stand out scenes.
There’s a scare lifted directly from the film Grave Encounters that honestly could have been done better and a scene involving a body bag that actually fucked me up pretty hard, but the best moment came at the top of the episode in Ravenscar. It was a great showcase in building suspense and tension and while it doesn’t have the biggest payoff, it’s still a great moment that pulls from Neil Marshall’s skills in building suspense from his work on The Descent.
It wasn’t a perfect pilot, I can’t even act like it was. It was definitely uneven in places, especially in terms of acting and pacing and the effectiveness of how scary it was, but when it worked it worked a damn sight better than most of the other comic book shows out there. I would say there’s a lot of potential in here to make a great show out of this if they can improve on what works here.
