Swamp Thing season 1, episode 2 review: Worlds Apart

Swamp Thing continues to be a good show despite its shocking cancellation. Some spoilers ahead.

Previously on Swamp Thing, someone left Alec Holland for dead deep in the bayou. Holland emerged after the vines manipulated by whatever force is at work in the swamp grabbed hold, turning him into the mossy half-man, half-plant title being.

New to his form, he is out of sorts, not knowing why he has become this — neither do we quite yet. Furthermore, his transformation gives him a psychic link with the infected girl at the hospital, Susie, who escapes to find him.

Abby recovers from her experiences in the pilot to continue her investigation into the swamp virus which now intersects with the mystery of what happened to Alec and the disappearing Susie. Retracing Alec’s steps, she goes to Avery Sunderland for help, which unlocks more secrets of the Sunderland and their operations in the swamp.

Give us more

James Wan and his team of showrunners have no problem giving viewers more and more although the production has no future. True, episode two was already in the can before the plug was pulled but the cast grew more than expected. Jason Woodrue (Kevin Durand), in addition to his wife (Selena Anduze), and Daniel Cassidy are introduced almost simultaneously, and they are palpably lived in personalities.

We meet them and know who they are. Woodrue, better known as Floronic Man and Seeder, is a twitchy nerd who clearly prefers plants over people (serious foreshadowing there). He takes time to nurture a Japanese elm he notices is in bad soil, barking orders to hired help. Also in league with Sunderland, Woodrue thinks he is the best in his field and never makes mistakes, which will help when he has to fix what’s broke.

Cassidy is more straightforward. A former action star, he milks his celebrity to promote his video store which is in the boondocks. And The Blue Devil is put right out there; in fact, it’s everywhere. Posters and logos pop up as soon as Abby comes looking for Alec.

That in mind, as interesting as Cassidy and Woodrue are, they’re background noise at this point to Abby and Alec.

Rick and Abby

Crystal Reed is the obvious star and Abby is clearly the main character. She fills that slot because somebody realized what Peter David figured out about Rick Jones when it came to the Hulk. Rick is a big part of the story for a simple reason: it’s his journey. If not for Jones, Bruce Banner wouldn’t have brazened the gamma bomb and become the green guy. Both their lives were completely changed and Jones grew as a person staying by Bruce’s side all those years, repaying a debt.

Technically, Holland is the catalyst character pulling Abby in new directions, but he mutates into the big green monster and she plays the Rick Jones role — her arc — on a mission to find him — her dramatic need. A great character, she inverts the sidekick mold to evolve noticeably across two episodes.

It’s a shame a show such as Swamp Thing can’t get a break in a viewing landscape where comics, superheroes, horror brought to us by the likes of The Walking Dead, and fantasy exemplified by Game of Thrones dominate. Whether you have DC Universe or not, seek it out and show some support.