4 Reasons Why You Should Be Watching ‘Constantine’ on NBC
Looking at both San Diego Comic-Con and the New York Comic-Con, one would be correct to assume NBC’s freshman series Constantine, based off the DC Comics series Hellblazer would be a smash hit. It had all the promotion a show could ever need and had enough pre-premiere buzz to warrant a sure bet it would last the season until the inevitable renewal. In fact, the night of the premiere it seemed all but assured.
And then the next week happened, and almost everything went to hell.
The showed dropped significantly in the ratings, and any sort of fire and passion amongst geeks went ice cold almost instantly. I can’t tell you what happened, because I don’t know. I would guess that Halloween is basically a really awful time to premiere or release anything because who the hell stays indoors on Halloween? And then I remember The Walking Dead and realize nothing is sacred.
Either way, no matter the reason I will be damned if a show as fun as Constantine gets the boot during the age when a TV show like it should be thriving. Here are four solid reasons why you should be tuning in or setting your DVR on Friday nights.
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1) We’re exploring another corner of the DC Universe.
Back at the New York Comic-Con, executive producer David Goyer said Constantine is comfortably exploring the occult corner of the DC Universe. Is this ambiguous statement meaning they’re open to a crossover with other DC series like Arrow or The Flash? Unlikely, although I’m sure those discussions have happened behind closed doors. But dwelling on what Goyer said, Constantine serving as a platform to explore the weirder underbelly of DC means all eyeballs should be on the show. While the blockbuster Arrow and the freshman The Flash have superheroes covered like a blanket, DC has a whole other side where the supernatural lives and breathes. Constantine — should it be successful — is where we can maybe see Zatanna, Swamp Thing, and the Justice League Dark come to life. We just got Papa Midnite, and his clashes with Constantine alone should get anyone excited. Who wouldn’t want to see more?
2) It’s already the most visually unnerving show on broadcast television.
It’s been toned down just a tad since the pilot, but the Friday night slot has proved beneficial to Constantine in a way no other show could take advantage. Taking a page off Hannibal, Constantine is primed to bring some super fucked up darkness to broadcast TV, which I stress could only have happened in this current television age. Right in the pilot, besides the standard creepy corpses and nasty cockroaches, there were some great scares and demonic creatures that show up which makes it hard to believe this is the same channel Jay Leno used to tell jokes on. The episodes since have relaxed on these scares, but there is no doubt that should they get the audience they want, there is nothing stopping them from going berzerk.
3) It’s faithful to the source material.
While of course it isn’t word for word, and in fact the show began introducing a character who has never existed in the Hellblazer titles before, Constantine is presenting a rather faithful recreation of the source material while making smart, creative liberties necessary in any adaptation. Star of the show, Matt Ryan, downright looks like Constantine and, most importantly, is British! His primary motivation — redeeming Astra’s soul — is almost taken for word from Hellblazer. And, to reiterate the last point, if they continue it’s possible they will reveal more about that fateful night Astra was taken which will present dark material unheard of on broadcast television.
But even if it doesn’t, take a look at everything else! Zed IS Zed, Chas IS kinda Chas, and Constantine is definitely Constantine.
4) The freaking Sex Pistols.
In the most recently aired episode, Constantine hunts for a possessed vinyl record that plagues anyone who hears it agonizing pain until death. Constantine puts on an MP3 player and cranks up the Sex Pistols. According to David Goyer at Comic-Con, this was the first time the Sex Pistols was heard on broadcast TV.
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OK, maybe that last one isn’t too much of a solid reason, but Constantine, despite all warts — and believe me, there are warts — has demonstrated it can be and is a fun romp through the supernatural. It’s not a unique premise, sure, but the source material Constantine derives from is rich with potentially fantastic arcs that can be portrayed wonderfully through the TV storytelling form. The show, proven how it can faithfully and intelligently adapt material, should be on everyone’s radar since all the great Hellblazer stuff can finally make its way to TV. Who wouldn’t want to see Swamp Thing on the same network that had Johnny Carson? Constantine has a fun world, a great central character, and a core cast with chemistry improving with each passing episode.
The episodes individually, I will admit, have not demonstrated excellent television storytelling. The second and third episode are exceptionally mediocre, but altogether — thanks to the strength of the pilot — will have you convinced to stick with Constantine. And if the previews are to be believed, it will get better.
Don’t let this potentially great show slip. If it died, that would be bollocks and I would damn you all to hell.
Constantine airs on NBC, Fridays at 10 PM EST and 9 PM CT. I am not sponsored or reimbursed by NBC or Warner Bros. in any way, I just want you to watch the damn thing.
