Harley Quinn based on one episode: (DC Universe)
I had two thoughts while I watched the first episode of DC Universes’ new Harley Quinn series.
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The Flash: The Last Temptation of Barry Allen, Pt. 2 | 6 x08 (the CW)
After Barry lost his mental battle with Ramsey in the last episode of The Flash, Cisco devised a plan to defeat Ramsey and save the city. He explains his idea to shoot Ramsey with radiation and stop his ability to infect the citizens of Central City because at this point he is creating Blood Brothers and Sisters.
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Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans (review)
This movie was enjoyable for multiple reasons. Most specifically because it poked so much fun at the generation of kids that got pissed when Teen Titans went off-air in 2006 and eventually were replaced by Teen Titans Go! in 2013.
But I have to admit I felt silly when I realized the same actors are voice acting for both versions of the characters in both Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go! That made me laugh.
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Swamp Thing S01 E10: Loose Ends, Season 2?
The season finale of Swamp Thing was good. It left me curious. How could you cancel the series but leave the season with a cliff hanger?
I think there will be another season at some point. Whether it will be on the DC Universe streaming service or another network remains to be seen. But, if DC does not follow up on this show, they will be making a mistake.
But I digress.
In the previous episode, a lot of things happened. Daniel Cassidy transformed into the Blue Devil to save Abby and Liz, Maria was committed to a psychiatric hospital, and Caroline Woodrue overdosed on her medication because she couldn’t remember if she took it or not. Most importantly Swamp Thing and Abby found out that Alec Holland died during the explosion in episode 1.
This episode was supposed to sum everything up. However, I think this episode left more questions than answers.
Spoilers ahead
Jason Woodrue is unstable at this point due to his fixation on the mysterious healing properties of Swamp Thing due to the mutagen mixing with Alec Holland’s blood earlier in the season.
Caroline is in “locked-in” syndrome due to the overdoes and Jason is now using the specimens he took from Swamp Thing to try and heal her. But he decides to experiment on himself first. Recall, he extracted Swamp Things’ heart and lungs. So he decides to cook up the heart and eat it. Eating the heart causes him to seize up and pass out in front of a helpless Caroline.
“… a thing born from his death.” – Swamp Thing
Meanwhile, the Conclave is still determined to capture Swamp Thing and use him for the “good of humanity”. But, he is uninterested and vows to take the fight to them as they invade the swamp.
The Conclave’s representative Ellery sees Avery on the swamp site and kicks him out tell him that basically because of his wife’s shenanigans and his mistress trying to kill him, the Conclave sees him as a liability. Avery sets off on a mission to clear up his affairs so that he can rejoin to Conclave and finish he’s life work to use the swamp to his advantage.
This leads him to Delroy’s bar where he finds out Matt is in the hospital. He goes to the hospital and pleads with Lucile to get back with him and start fresh, but she is not interested and threatens to kill him if he comes near her or Matt again.
Matt is still unconscious, but when he wakes up he somehow knows Avery came by. Matt and Lucile make up (sort of) and he tells her to go home to rest. However, he unknowingly sent her to her assumed death. Avery broke into her car and waited for her. He then stabbed her in the stomach and drove her car to the swamp. He dumps the car in the swamp just in time for Lucile to regain consciousness and drown in the trunk of her car (so I think).
Always check the back seat folks!
After watching Lucile drown, Avery coughs up a swamp leaf. Perhaps he’s suffering effects from the treat Swamp Thing gave him when he was injured.
Daniel Cassidy is being haunted by the Blue Devil since activating its powers last week. Liz catches up with him just in time to see him off because he can finally leave Marais. He speeds down the highway and past the ‘Welcome to Marais’ sign. Where is he going?
“A peace from which you may never return.” – Ms. Xandou
Ms. Xanadu made an appearance in this episode. She visited Maria who was committed to the psych ward by Avery. While in the ward, she began to have episodes that made her condition worsen due to the dabbling she did with the dark swamp spirits to see her daughter, Shawna. Ms. X offers to ease her pain and puts her into a hypnotized state where her daughter is with her. I am assuming she’s going to stay that way forever.
Abby arrives just after the hypnosis and Ms. X directs her to see Avery. I guess she hoped to find Avery and Jason Woodrue together because she goes to visit the Woodrue home. However, she found him in a heightened sense of awareness with the nature around him and planning to shove the Swamp Things heart in his wife’s mouth (she’s still unable to move, but her face says she’s terrified).
Luckily, Abby called 911 and they arrive in time to save Caroline and arrest Woodrue (who has crazy strength now after eating the heart).
“Alec holland is gone, the question is who do u wanna be” – Alec Holland’s ghost
Back at the swamp, Swamp Thing has massacred the entire Conclave unit expect for Ellery. He leaves him alive to go tell the story of what happened and hopefully convince anyone hunting him to back off.
After he finishes his attack, Holland’s ghost appears and asks him to decide who he wants to be now that the truth is out. Swamp Thing wants to go deep in the swamp, but can’t bear to leave Abby behind. As a result of his feelings for Abby, he stays.
Abby meets up with Swamp Thing at Holland’s old cabin and tells him that she’s not going anyway and they can face the future together. So I guess they are in love and now they are together, but I’m not sure.
End Credits and Season 2
During the end credit scene, Matt arrives at the police station to find it covered in plants and vines. He also notices Tyler (a fellow officer) down on the scene. Moments after a tree man rises from the ground and introduces itself as Jason Woodrue.
Jason transformed into this Tree Thing because he ate Swamp Thing’s heart. However, he is not friendly like Swamp Thing and attacks Matt Cable to end the scene.
This is why I am expecting a season 2 at some point. The episode is called Loose Ends but it didn’t wrap anything up.
Jason Woodrue is now a threat in Marais, Avery is still around after killing Lucile, and Daniel Cassidy’s fate is unknown. And let’s not forget that the Conclave probably won’t stay away from the swamp.
Episode 10 of Swamp Thing did not close all of the storylines. If anything it opened new ones. The rumor is that Swamp Thing was canceled due to financial costs. I say DC needs to invest in this story. It’s unlike anything that is available right now and this could be a great way to set themselves apart from Marvel.
Swamp Thing is different in a good way and needs to be invested in.
Why did I wait so long to watch Shazam!? (review)
I’ll tell you a key reason why I usually watch movies, television, and anime without reading reviews or checking hashtags for opinions.
Sometimes those opinions can turn into your own. If you watch something for yourself, you can have your pure thoughts on whatever it is you are watching.
Unfortunately, I didn’t watch Shazam! July due to other people’s criticism. That’s why I waited so long to watch it.
Shazam! came out in April 2019 and guess what, it was good!
Sure, I was more interested in the young Billy Batson’s progression versus his escapades as Shazam. But, his entire story arc was good.
We meet Billy in a very vulnerable state. He’s looking for his mother, he doesn’t trust anyone, and he’s thrust into a new environment when child services catch him in Philadelphia following a lead on his mother.
From there we meet the best part of Billy, his foster family. Most specifically his brother, Freddy. The chemistry between Freddy and Billy is great. They came off as bonded friends throughout the movie.
And the family’s positive and welcoming behavior throughout the movie made it easy to believe that he would trust them at the end of the movie to become his partners and fight the supervillain.
Speaking of the villain, Dr. Thaddeus Sivana was creepy and the 7 deadly sins were well designed. Plus, it was nice to see Philadelphia used in this type of film. You never really see it.
This movie had a lot of funny moments. However, the suit was not one of them. It threw me off. At one point it seemed like the writing poked fun at the suit.
There’s a moment where Billy is at the dinner table with his foster family and a comment is made about the suit Shazam is wearing. Billy responds that the superhero may not have had a choice in his outfit.
That is a funny way for the writing and directing staff to poke at itself. But seriously, you’re in a franchise where Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman have sleek, shiny suits. Shazam needs a better look in the sequel.
Besides the suit, I enjoyed the movie. I wish I hadn’t let people tell me it was too campy. Because it wasn’t. It was funny at times and heart-warming at other times. And it’s worth a watch.
Swamp Thing S01 E09: The Anatomy Lesson (review)
Previously on Swamp Thing, the bad guys came out on top. The Conclave, Jason Woodrue, and Avery Sunderland abducted Holland from the swamp and moved him to a mobile lab in Marai.
Abby was left out in the cold with no idea about her status with the CDC or the whereabouts of her friend Dr. Edwards, and it looked like all hope was lost.
Now, all hope is definitely lost because everything we’ve known up to this point is a lie!
Spoilers ahead
It’s important to remember that Jason Woodrue has a wife named Caroline and she is suffering from an advanced stage of Alzheimer’s. In this episode we see Caroline get progressively worse even while taking her medicine. Because she’s getting worse, Jason is motivated to experiment on Holland to develop a miracle cure for her.
As a result of Woodrue’s desperation, Holland is abducted from the swamp, placed on a table with power damping technology, and in a medically induced coma for exploratory surgery.
“You’re not a man at all. You’re a plant that thinks its a man.” – Jason Woodrue
At some point during this surgery, he wakes up. Despite expressing that he can feel everything Woodrue proceeds taking out organs, yanking them at points to observe them.
Woodrue concludes that Holland is not the man on the table. The man on the table is a memory shell made up of the plants from the swamp. He suspects that during the explosion at Skeeter Cove, Alec Holland died. However, due to the mutagens in the water affecting the plants, his DNA mixed with the mutagens and the plants formed this body and tried to replicate the human condition, specifically Holland’s memories.
WHAT!
So Woodrue’s theory is that the Swamp Thing is not Holland after all!
“I don’t care. I’m not giving up on Alec.” – Abby Arcane
While all of this is happening, Abby asks Liz to help her find where they are keeping Holland. At the same time, Daniel Cassidy wakes up at the hospital and finds the swamp stranger (the one from the movie set) at his bedside.
The swamp stranger shows him a vision of a possible future of Liz and Abby getting shot up via the Conclave while looking for Holland.
What is the swamp stranger exactly? He just comes out of nowhere when he feels like it.
Anyway, Cassidy fights the urge to be Blue Devil and save Liz and Abby but eventually, he succumbs to either temptation or guilt and goes to help.
In real-time, Abby and Liz find out about Caroline’s condition and conveniently about the mobile lab. So they go to the lab and almost get shot up, but this time the lights go out, the Blue Devil tears all of the Conclave soldiers to shreds, and then runs away after he’s spotted by Liz and Abby.
He must have passed out because he wakes up later in the episode in human form and sees all of the carnage he has caused.
Abby and Liz make it to Holland in the lab and watch him regenerate after being cut to bits. Then he stands up and says that he has to go back to Skeeter Cove to see if Woodrue is right. Abby follows him and Liz goes to investigate the group we know as the Conclave.
Meanwhile, Avery has Maria locked up in a psych ward because she tried to have him killed. Matt Cable gets drunk in a bar and then crashes into a pole while driving.
Don’t drink and drive folks.
“This ‘thing’ is what I am, Alec Holland is …” – The Swamp Thing
Abby and Holland make it to Skeeter Cove and Holland dives into the water. He slowly rises with a rotting skeleton in his arms. The actual corpse of Alec Holland. He died in episode one and was replicated due to the mutagen in the swamp.
How bazaar!
I think this is the biggest surprise of the season. Especially when you think back to Holland and Abby having the moment in the swamp where the Swamp Thing looked like Holland due to the pheromones he released.
How will they wrap up this season?
Will Avery get away with everything or is he in trouble now that Swamp Thing has escaped? Or will he have to answer to the Conclave?
What will Abby do now that the truth about Alec’s death is out?
Can Daniel Cassidy leave Marai now since he saved Abby and Liz?
Is Maria stuck in the hospital forever?
Is Matt Cable dead from the car accident?
Will Jason give up now that Caroline’s condition is worse?
And most importantly, what will the Swamp Thing do now since he’s not a real person?
I can’t wait until the season finale!
Previous episode – Swamp Thing S01 E08: The Long Walk Home (review)
Swamp Thing S01 E08: The Long Walk Home (review)
I keep asking the same question every week regarding Avery Sunderland.
Why do people trust this man?
His face doesn’t even come across as caring or trustworthy. Not to mention that he has betrayed or threatened almost every person that we’ve met during this season of Swamp Thing.
This week it became apparent that most of the people involved in the conspiracy in Marai are either greedy or naive and that is how they keep getting taken advantage of.
Spoilers ahead
Even though Lucille shot Avery twice with a shotgun before he fell in the swamp water, he only had a knee injury. He wandered the Swamp grounds and experienced hallucinations of Lucille and his father until Holland found him.
Now here’s the thing. At this point, Holland knows that Avery gave the order to kill him. He says as much when he’s talking to Avery. Yet, as soon as Avery promises to make him human again, he drops all angry and believes him.
How naive could you be?
This man tried to kill you! I can understand Holland is the good guy in this situation so he doesn’t retaliate, but you know Avery is not a good person. How could you believe him?
“The swamp would of let you die. I couldn’t. ” – Alec Holland
Now, I’m not sure if Avery had a change of heart after Holland saved him. But, he offers to bring Dr. Woodrue to the swamp to go over the options and see if his miracle serum (the one that nearly turned Daniel Cassidy into Blue Devil permanently) could help.
The Conclave already got to Dr. Woodrue and offered him a new lab, funding for research, and unlimited resources. So he’s pretty much been bought. So when Avery asks Woodrue to help, Woodrue talks him into capturing Holland instead.
Holland doesn’t know much about Woodrue, but he agrees to meet them and it ends up getting him shot three times with a shotgun (at the hands of Avery) and frozen in cryo-stasis!
Father vs. Sperm Donor
Matt and Lucille Cable are trying to keep up appearances around town because they know people will start asking questions about Avery soon. However, Matt is more focused on finding out Avery was his father. In his anger, he blames his mother for pushing away the man he knew to be his dad due to her obsession with Avery.
However, they don’t know that Avery is still alive and knows some information about Maria’s involvement in the plot to kill him.
“…your patient Alec Holland.” – Nathan Ellery
Meanwhile, the Conclave is running wild. They’ve followed Abby to Atlanta to have her talk Holland into coming to their lab. Of course, she refuses. But not before she tells her best friend, Dr. Edwards (the one that got the green flu a few episodes back) about Holland and his condition.
The Conclave representative, Nathan Ellery, tells Abby that Dr. Edwards went to Bangladesh, but I’m sure they just abducted him and he’s probably in danger. Hopefully, for convenience, he’s being held at the same facility they take Holland to. That way everyone can link back up easily.
After finding out that the Conclave knows where Holland is, Abby goes back to Marai only to find evidence of foul play.
With two episodes left for the season, how will they wrap this story up? It seems like things are getting more convoluted.
Questions:
Where is the Conclave lab that Holland is being transported to?
Is Dr. Edward dead or just in captivity?
How will Abby figure out where Holland went?
What will happen when Maria, Matt, and Lucille find out Avery is still alive?
When will Daniel Cassidy make another appearance?
The Flash on the CW | Season 6 (trailer)
Swamp Thing S01 E06: The Price You Pay (review)
Blackmail, tricks, and half-cocked explained bargains. That’s what this Swamp Thing series is made up of. That doesn’t make it any less interesting.
Spoilers ahead
Do you remember the friendly stranger that helped Holland become one with the green last week?
I’m beginning to think he’s not so friendly after all. We meet him again this week in a flashback with Daniel Cassidy. Last week he was knocked over the head during an attack on Liz. This left him in a coma with little brain activity.
In the flashback, we’re finally somewhat exposed to his life as a stunt double in Hollywood. He’s in the middle of a gig when a “friendly stranger” that Daniel believes is a part of the directing crew starts to chat him up.
While talking to the stranger, Daniel says that he’d give anything to play Blue Devil.
Be careful how you word things, people!
The stranger takes him seriously and tells him he needs a person to make themselves available for a new job staying in Marai. He gives no specifics or time frame. They just shake hands and BOOM, “miraculously” Daniel is recast as the lead Blue Devil.
Be careful what you wish for, people!
Fast forward to now, Daniel is in a coma and a nurse walks in to administer some blue liquid into his IV line.
Apparently, Liz is a very heavy sleeper because she was right there in the room. Either she didn’t hear the nurse or she wasn’t curious enough to squint her eyes open and say, “What’s that?”
“What did they do?” – Daniel Cassidy
The blue liquid jump-starts Daniels brain activity, he wakes up, jumps up all frantic and starts burning up.
Turns out that Dr. Woodrue is behind the blue liquid with his human experimentation. That concoction was synthesized from Hollands swamp DNA and now Daniel is 3 seconds away from turning physically into Blue Devil.
Daniel runs away to find Woodrue, but he’s challenged by Avery who thinks Woodrue has figured out a brain healing cure. Not that Avery really cares. He just wants to please his investors.
The Conclave maybe?
Caroline Woodrue ends up stabbing Daniel with a tranquilizer to keep him from transforming. He ends up sedated back at the hospital where Ms. X tells him that she can’t relieve him from his destiny, but she can ease his pain.
So, him turning into a Blue Devil is inevitable. Poor guy.
“I’ll always care about you, but if you accuse me of something like this again, I won’t be so forgiving”. – Avery Sunderland
Liz ends up telling Abby about the intimidation tactics of Avery that caused Daniel to be in a coma in the first place. Abby straight up confronts Avery and tells him to stop trying to hurt people and to leave her friends alone.
That was very brave of her, but it won’t stop the wheels that are already in motion.
Abby goes to meet Holland in the woods at the same time that Matt Cable is investigating animal attacks. It’s actually not animal attacks, it’s Holland trying to ward off bounty hunters from Avery.
He’s attacked four hunters by this point which prompted Lucilia to send Matt to the sight.
Abby is too trusting! She’s suspicious of all of the right people, but still too trusting of the wrong people. We’ve seen that with her letting Woodrue see her research data and now she’s revealed Holland’s true identity to Matt! And poor Holland, he’s lost all of his important memories so all he knows is that Matt is a friend to Abby.
But honestly, Matt is being blackmailed by Avery and that blackmail is the reason that Matt attempted to kill Holland in episode one. But, the only reason he was able to be blackmailed in the first place is because of Lucilia.
YUP!
His mother is a dirty cop and even though she’s literally in bed with Avery, he threatened to out Lucilia of all of her wrongdoings if Matt didn’t do his bidding.
Yikes.
“I’m not going to give up on you. You’re still Alex Holland.” – Abby Arcane
Matt ends up leaving the woods because Abby asks him to keep Holland’s secret until she figures out how to cure him. However, I think he’s going to report back to Avery.
I really hope not. I’m rooting for you to not be a total scumbag, Matt!
This leaves Holland and Abby alone. I think pheromones surround them or something because a flower blooms in Hollands plant hand and then Abby can see Holland as his former human form.
Aww, love.
But seriously, I have some questions.
Will Matt tell Avery about Holland’s identity even though he’s technically working for him by force?
Will Lucilia stop sleeping and watching out for Avery now that he has blackmailed Matt?
Are the Conclave, Avery’s investors, and the swamp stranger related?
Previous Episode: Swamp Thing S01 E05: Drive All Night (review)
Swamp Thing S01 E05: Drive All Night (review)
Why did this show get canceled?
It just keeps getting better and better each week. It’s explosive, creepy, mysterious, suspenseful and slightly predictable all at the same time.
A lot of information was given to the viewer this week, including the fact that Avery Sunderland is a scumbag on purpose and he’s been bending the town to his will for far longer than we’ve been led to believe.
Spoilers ahead
During my recap of episode 3, I assumed that Sheriff Lucilia Cable was covering up for Avery Sunderland in some capacity. I was wrong, but now I’m right.
Let me explain.
In episode 4, Avery tried to feel Lucilia up in his dining room while Maria was upstairs drowning in her grief. Lucilia said no, leading me to believe that they once had a thing. Well, it turns out they still have a thing. And they meet up to do that thing at a hotel in Marais. We find that out right away during this episode (Drive All Night).
However, what surprised me the most is what happens when Lucilia gets a lead about who blew up Holland in the swamp. She visits Remy Debois and he reveals that Matt, her son, actually pulled the trigger while standing in Avery’s boat. This was his attempt at blackmail, but she immediately shoots him down.
So we find out that Matt did Avery’s bidding in killing Holland. My previous theory pegged Avery as the type to do his own dirty work, which he is, but apparently just not that time. Since my theory that Avery did it himself is debunked now, I have another one.
Matt is being black mailed by his father! His father is Avery!
I wouldn’t put it past Avery. He’s sinister. Just because he likes Lucilia doesn’t mean he’s above it. Who cares if he did give her a ring once. Plus, he has stock in a lot of the real estate in Marai’s. We find that out when he threatens Liz at the town bar because she’s now investigating the disappearance of Haas (the banker). He also has goons try to intimidate her while leaving the bar, but Daniel (the Blue Devil) comes to her aide.
“What’s in here, nobody can take away but you.” – Friendly Swamp Stranger
The supernatural aspect of the Swamp Thing is ramping up. The “green” appears in the form of a friendly stranger to Holland and helps him calm down long enough to hear the warning coming from the swamp.
Through Holland, we find out how Shawna Sunderland drowned. Something drug her down until she drowned in the swamp. Abby couldn’t save her. As a result, Abby was spared by the darkness in the swamp but pushed out of the town due to guilt.
Shawna is the representation of the darkness. She possesses Susie Coyle and draws her mother and Abby to the swamp. Maria is actually trying to drown herself to be with her daughter, but Abby tries to save her. However, Maria has a V for Vendetta so she turns and tries to drown Abby. Eventually, Holland comes to Abby’s rescue and disappears when Matt Cable shows up.
Ms. X (or Ms. Xanadu) tells Abby that there is a supernatural door open, Shawna’s soul has been corrupted by the darkness of the swamp, and she’s come to kill her. Abby is hesitant to believe her because when she was 8, Ms. X told her how to take care of her mom, but her mom still died. That’s actually Abby’s motivation for becoming a doctor.
Lastly, Dr. Woodrue’s curiosity about the specimen Abby showed him made him go investigate Hollands old lab. As you know, Abby gave him access to information in order to use science to figure out what is causing the mutation of Holland. But now that Woodrue figured out that there is something special going on and he’s been instructed to capture whatever being the specimen came from to do more research.
I’m wondering if Daniel (the Blue Devil) is going to aid Holland against Avery and the darkness or if he will act as another foe during the show. Remember, he’s bound to the town but forces we haven’t been introduced to yet. Could they instruct him further?
We are halfway through the season, and it seems like Woodrue and Holland are the only characters getting important information. Everyone else is still clueless. Unless you count Sheriff Lucilia, who probably already knew her son was involved in treacherous deeds.
We’ll see.
Swamp Thing S01 E04: Curse of the TREE ZOMBIE! (review)
During this weeks episode of Swamp Thing, I was even more convinced that Avery Sunderland fired the rocket launcher that blew Alec Holland up in the Swamp in episode one. He’s resorted to even more dubious tactics since then and now there’s a little girl involved!
Spoilers ahead
This week we pick back up in the Marai swamp in Ocheo Forks. We’re introduced to a new character named Todd. He and a friend or his dad, I’m not sure, are searching around the swamp for something rare.
They find it, but not before a Tree Zombie jumps down, attacks Todd from above, and scratching his arm. Apparently, it wasn’t an actual Tree Zombie, just a dead corpse with a strong fear demon attached to it.
Todd ran away and went to work the next day as if nothing happened. He works with Liz (the town reporter) and her father Delroy at their restaurant. Unfortunately for Delroy, Todd starts hallucinating that a snake is on his arm.
Todd starts stabbing at his arm with a knife and eventually shoves his arm down the garbage disposal until he faints.
He dies, but not before scratching Delroy and transferring the curse of the Tree Zombie to him.
Alec is still in the swamp. The leaves, trees, and vines are communicating with him. They tell him that the swamp has darkness in it.
When I heard this, I began to think that Alec is in the swamp, but he’s not the Swamp Thing. There are two entities in the swamp. One is Alec and the other is whatever haunted the Tree Zombie and caused Todd to lose his mind.
Abby, being the curious doctor she is, goes to visit Ocheo Forks where Todd was exposed to the Tree Zombie and runs into Alec. He’s still in his feelings about her dancing with Matt last week, but he entertains her anyway because … love.
They agree to work together to find out:
a) What is happening to him.
b) Remove what is terrorizing the town.
Alec gives up a sample of his DNA for research. However, I think Abby makes a terrible decision when she lets Dr. Woodrue help her with the research.
I understand he’s a biologist, but he’s definitely on Avery’s payroll so this can not end well.
“This ‘Thing’ belongs here in the swamp” – Alec Holland
Back in town, Delroy experiences his haunting. It’s a recount of when his mother was killed by burglars when he was a boy. He almost shoots Liz, Abby, and Sheriff Lucilia but no one dies. Lucilia does get scratched next and ends up freaking out at the towns fish fry hosted by Avery and Maria Sunderland.
Lucilia thinks her son has been shot in the line of duty and starts pointing guns at everyone. Luckily, Abby gets scratched next and takes the haunting back to the swamp.
Abby is not immune to the hauntings and starts to freak out while being attacked by a man with no face. But, Alec is just in time and takes the haunting away from her. He puts it back on the corpse and leaves it there.
I wonder why he didn’t move it somewhere else. Someone could easily come to the same area and get exposed to the haunting again. But I guess we’re not supposed to think about that.
Alec and Abby save the day and the town is safe for now. The patients in quarantine can go home, no one is haunted, and little Susie Coyle is being adopted.
By whom?
Avery and Maria Sunderland!
Avery conned Maria into funding his research with Dr. Woodrue under the assumption that he is trying to make sure the “Green Flu” is fully out of Susie’s system. And he didn’t stop there! He paid off her uncle so that he would not claim her or speak to her again.
Not to mention, he burned the body of Haas (the banker) and buried him in the swamp.
What a dubious, dubious man.
Ms. X (the psychic, witch doctor) can sense a storm coming to affect the destiny of this town and everyone in it. While talking to Daniel (also known as Blue Devil) Ms. X states that Daniel made a bargain to stay in the town of Marai until called upon.
Could he have made that bargain with the Conclave? Haas made it seems like a secret organization, but we didn’t get any more information about what it is this week.
Theory
The same reason Daniel is in Marai, is the same reason Avery is obsessed with researching the swamp.
Alec tells Abby that the swamp is poisoned and now it will bring death. Is the Conclave the reason that the swamp has been poisoned?
During my first analysis of this show with episode one, I asked if this series was worth saving. Honestly, if the suspense and craziness keep building up as it has been, I think so. We’ll see what happens next!
Review: Swamp Thing S01 E03 | Avery in financial ruin, Holland’s new powers
Swamp Thing S01 E03 |Financial ruin & new powers (review)
Every episode of Swamp Thing is an information dump. This has been a good experience so far and I’m enjoying it. However, the conspiracy is proving to be very complex. So every time I think I’ve figured out exactly what is going on, something else weird happens and it throws me off.
As a result, I am bent discovering the major conspiracy before the show reveals it in episode 10. I don’t know if I will be successful, but it will be exciting to try.
Also, Swamp Thing continues to succeed in creeping me out without fail.
In this most recent episode, I have come up with another theory. You may remember in the last entry about Swamp Thing, my theory about Avery Sunderland being the mastermind behind the swamp contamination was proven correct.
Now, in episode three, I have decided that he did not hire anyone to kill Holland as I once suggested. I think committed the murder himself.
Spoilers ahead
We need to remember two things. First, Avery Sunderland took a financial hit when his swamp experiments caused people to get sick. Second, Avery Sunderland fired Holland when he got to close to the truth about what caused the swamp to mutate.
In episode three, Liz, the journalist in Marais confronts Gordon Haas, a bank supervisor, for giving loans to Sunderland off the record. So Sunderland has been funding his research but falling into debt as well.
As a result of Liz bringing this up to him, Haas decides to visit Avery’s home unannounced an threaten to expose him if he does not pay back the money in 24 hours. This causes Avery to visit Haas’ house unannounced later in the episode and try to intimidate him into giving him more money.
The intimidation tactic goes wrong and Avery ends up killing Haas with a golf club. So my theory is Avery Sunderland blew Holland up in the swamp himself. He didn’t need to hire anyone because he’s already a psychopath and is more than willing to get his own hands dirty and then wash them in the sink.
I also think the sheriff, Lucilia Cable, is in on the conspiracy in some way. In this episode, she keeps urging her son, Matt, to stay away from Abby. Remember, Abby and Matt saved Susie Coyle when she ran away to the swamp to save Swamp Thing/Holland.
She keeps saying that Abby is bad news. Sure Matt has a crush on her, but Abby is doing legitimate work in trying to cure the infected patients in Marais. So why would the sheriff have an issue with her?
It’s because she had a fling with Avery in the past (or present, I can’t tell yet) and she doesn’t want Abby to get to close to the ultimate truth to cover for Avery. She even tells Matt that they will close the cases as accidents if 24 hours pass and there is no further evidence.
There is a moment in the episode where Sheriff Lucilia is interviewing Avery for the investigation into Hollands death. They almost get intimate, but Maria makes a bump sound and that sends Lucilia running out of the door.
Abby and the Swamp Thing
Meanwhile, Swamp Thing is having flashbacks and hallucinations about one of the men he tore apart in the last episode. As a result, the swamp bugs bring him back to life and he goes on a vendetta to find Swamp Thing and avenge his death.
He crosses paths with Abby, who in the middle of searching through Hollands research for a path to a cure for the infected patients. She’s being undermined by the CDC who sent in another doctor, Eli Troost, and she wants to find a breakthrough.
Not to mention, Avery has his biologist, Jason Woodrue, at the hospital as well doing autopsies and researching the plants on Eddie Coyle’s body.
During this time, the bug swamp zombie attacks her and asks her where Swamp Thing is. Swamp Thing appears to be tracking Abby somehow because he appears out of nowhere and uses his powers to release the man’s soul from the swamp bondage and makes him rest in peace.
We find out that Swamp Thing doesn’t remember who he is or anything that happened before the explosion. He does manage to give Abby some useful information.
The swamp is not attacking, it’s fighting back. Which makes sense because Avery is the one who put a foreign body in the swamp in the first place.
This prompts Abby to change the treatment course for infected patients. They stabilize and she earns the trust of Dr. Troost in the process.
She also inadvertently gains the affections of Swamp Thing who is clearly stalking her as of the end of the episode. Abby goes to the town bar to decompress and meets Matt Cable there. They end up dancing and of course, Swamp Thing sees this. So Matt is probably going to end up dead or injured at some point due to this love triangle.
But the true story in this episode is Avery. He is out of money. He’s killed his bank connection. His wife has financially cut him off, and he’s tied up in his swamp adventures.
What does a man on this type of edge do next? And what is the Conclave? Haas mentioned telling the Conclave what Avery was doing before his skull was bashed in.
Might the Conclave have something to do with Daniel? He’s a new character that we were introduced to by the voodoo witch doctor. His tarot card reading hasn’t changed in 8 years.
Fool, hanged man, wheel of fortune.
But recently he met Abby and thinks she may be the key to change his destiny.
I guess we’ll see how they are all connected in episode four.
Episode 2: Review: Swamp Thing S01 E02 | My theory confirmed
Swamp Thing S01 E02 | My theory confirmed (review)
Last week, I watched Swamp Thing for the first time. I watched it without referring to any source material and without any preconceived notions. The only thing I knew about the series was that it had been canceled. With only one episode available, the Swamp Thing series on DC Universe would end after episode 10.
After watching the first episode, I had a few opinions but I didn’t see anything that would warrant such a hasty cancellation. I actually enjoyed episode one. So I’ve decided to continue watching it. Episode two turned out really weird, so I’ll start with the easy stuff first.
Spoilers ahead
Last weeks episode left me with a theory of my own regarding Avery Sunderland. The first episode set him up as the wealthiest man in the town and we found out that he was Holland’s employer. This led me to believe that he had to be the person hiring boats to drop the mutagen accelerant in the swamp.
I was proven correct in this episode. Turns out that Avery is the reason that the accelerant is being dumped in the swamp. Apparently, he consulted two scientists (Jason and Caroline Woodrue) to find out ways to make use of the swamp.
The accelerant was their idea. It was supposed to help the swamp thrive, but of course, that backfired and now the townspeople are dying. Jason Woodrue stands firm that an accelerant would not cause disease. He pretty much said blame the swamp for doing swamp things.
Avery is definitely the big bad! All through this episode, he made strides to keep people from investigating the swamp and the dumping. He denied Abby the help she asked for to find Holland (who is presumed dead as far as the characters are concerned). He also threatened the scientist he consulted with blackmail, and he admitted to those same scientists that he is “handling business” to keep his name away from the swamp problem.
So, if we read between the lines, we can deduce that Avery had Holland killed by the mysterious man with the rocket launcher from episode one. Remember, Holland went up to Avery after a town hall meeting and told him that something was happening to the water. This must have prompted him to kill Holland so that he would not figure out the full scope of the conspiracy.
Little does Avery know, he created a swamp monster with a vendetta.
Here is where weird things start. Apparently, patient zero (Susie Coyle) has a psychic connection with the swamp.
I don’t understand how because she was not in the swamp when the initial attack by the vines happened. But okay.
In the last episode, when her father (Eddie Coyle) revived on the autopsy table, Susie had a moment where she called out to the dead corpse that was being controlled by vines. In this episode, she escapes the hospital in order to go meet the Swamp Thing.
The first time she tries to escape the doctor catches her. He asks her why she is trying to leave. Susie says it’s because the man in the dark is scared and needs her.
What could he possibly need from her? Does she hold the cure?
Eventually, Susie does escape and the sheriff’s office and doctors are looking for her in the swamp. Abby is scared because she has seen the Swamp Thing before and no one has believed her up to this point about the dumping, the monster, or the Holland conspiracy.
Susie ends up on a boat with some men who have been hired to dump by Avery. They don’t know she is there and after they have a disagreement, one of them kills the other.
This death prompts the Swamp Thing to rise from the water and save Susie. He rips the boat henchman apart and Susie is saved. However, Abby finds them just in time and takes Susie away.
After they escape the swamp, Susie tells Abby that the Swamp Things name is Holland.
Oh, snap. Here’s more information for the town not to believe.
We also have a bit of story progression for Maria Sunderland. It turns out that she has been dabbling in voodoo and having a witch doctor communicate with her dead daughter (Shawna) for the last 14 years.
As a result, we see that Shawna has not been able to rest in peace and is stuck in a realm between the living and the dead. The witch doctor tells Maria to let her rest because the balance with the living and the dead is shifting. The witch doctor felt that bad things are happening in the swamp.
Here’s the thing. After this weeks episode, I need to understand if Swamp Thing is a sci-fi horror thriller or a supernatural horror thriller. The characteristics of Holland as the Swamp Thing remain horrific. He’s killing people and groaning in pain. Normal stuff.
However, with the addition of Maria’s seance in the swamp, I got confused. How does this play into the swamp? Was the swamp haunted before the accelerant was dumped into it? The first episode never shows Holland and Susie speaking, so how is Susie connected to the Swamp Thing? When did the connection start?
This episode may have muffled the identity of the show a bit. But, it was still interesting. There are so many questions that need to be answered. I’m hoping as I keep watching, the show can clear up some of the confusion.
Swamp Thing S01 E01 | Is it worth saving? (review)
Before I even had the chance to watch Swamp Thing on DC Universe, the show was trending on Twitter confirming the cancellation of the show.
I don’t know the history of shows that have been canceled, but the decision to cancel Swamp Thing after only one episode had been aired felt rushed. So instead of automatically assuming that the first episode was complete garbage, I watched it for myself.
The pilot episode of Swamp Thing gave me serious sci-fi horror vibes. There is a lot of suspense in the first episode and the creators did a great job making the contaminated swamp graphics gross and unnerving. It’s a great presentation.
What about the story?
It’s a good story. However, I think the pilot episode may have given away the biggest part of the series too early in the season.
Spoilers ahead
We’re introduced to the swamp as a dark and mysterious place in Marais, Louisiana right away. A group of fishermen and a tech genius were hired to drop some sort of device in the swamp. They end up being attacked by the swamp and killed.
One fisherman, Eddie Coyle, makes it home somehow and infects his daughter. His daughter goes to school, passes out with a bloody nose and becomes patient zero.
Dr. Abby Arcane is ordered by the CDC to leave the Congo, where she is fighting an epidemic, to come back to Louisiana and cure the mysterious illness in Marais.
She ends up entrusting a somewhat awkward biologist named Alec Holland who has been commissioned by Will Sunderland, a wealthy member of the community, to run tests on the swamp. Initially, Holland is meant to help discover positive means to help the community flourish, but he discovers a fertilizer accelerate that is “jacking up” the mutagens in the swamp and causing the town to become sick.
There is also a side story line about Abby’s past where a childhood friend of hers died before they graduated high school. It turns out that friend was the daughter of Will and Avery Sunderland. Avery is not happy that Abby is back in town. At first, she attempts to intimidate her to leave the town, but then she asks her to save the town in the same breath.
Earlier, I stated that the pilot episode gave away too much information. What I am referring to is the end of the episode. Abby and Holland figure out some new information and plan to go study it more at the hospital. They are hoping that it will lead to a cure. However, Holland wants to go fish out the devices in the swamp first because they are causing the sickness.
A mysterious “I know what you did last summer” man somehow knows that Holland is going to do this and shoots him in the chest two times with a shotgun then blows him up.
While watching, I thought to myself, “Oh he’s definitely the Swamp Thing”. I didn’t realize that with 4 minutes left in the episode, this theory was going to be confirmed. That took a lot of the steam out of it. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t find out, but maybe not in the first episode.
Technically, there could have already been a Swamp Thing and Holland’s character could have been a bait to throw off the viewer. I guess he still could be, but I don’t think so.
At the end of the episode, Abby boats out to the area where Holland should be and finds fire, dead swamp bodies, and moving swamp branches. Then the branches subside and the Swamp Thing reveals himself.
Here’s a question. Why did the swamp bond with Holland and not with Coyle earlier in the episode?
I hope that we find out this season.
My Theory
There are 9 episodes left before the season ends. My ultimate theory involves Will Sunderland. I think that he is the anonymous financial backer to the fishermen boats that are poisoning that swamp in Marais. He’s already been cast as the rich member of the community. And maybe he has a “V for Vendetta” because his daughter died all those years ago.
Is this series worth saving? We’ll have to see. This coming from someone who has not read the comics and is going off of the show alone. I definitely think the episode was attention grabbing.