| "Waiting for the Man" | |
|---|---|
| |
| Air date | February 13th, 2015 |
| Writers | Daniel Cerone; Cameron Welsh |
| Director | David Boyd |
| Producers | Kevin Blank; Daniel Cerone; David S. Goyer; Dieter Ismagil; Romeo Tirone; Mark Verheiden |
| Starring | Matt Ryan; Angélica Celaya; Charles Halford; Harold Perrineau |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous "Angels and Ministers of Grace" |
Next — |
"Waiting for the Man" is the thirteenth and final episode of season one of the supernatural horror series Constantine. The series is based on the Hellblazer comic book series by DC Comics. The episode was directed by David Boyd with a script written by Daniel Cerone and Cameron Welsh. It first aired on NBC on Friday, February 13th, 2015 at 8:00 pm.
Synopsis[]
Brides of "The Man".
Just outside New Orleans, Louisiana, a frustrated red-haired girl named Vesta Whitney runs away from home and flees to an old abandoned carnival funhouse in the middle of the woods. She encounters three other girls, slightly younger than she, wearing white dresses. They offer to make her a bride of The Man, and explain how they are all his wives. Their "wedding rings" are noose marks across their necks. Vesta is intrigued and agrees to go with them.
Some distance away, a Creole man is having trouble getting his truck started. This is The Man. A security guard pulls up and offers to help. As he is searching through his trunk for some jumper cables, the Man comes up behind him and strangles him with his own cables. He brings them back to his home, which is adorned in all of the trappings of a Satanic ritual. The Man brands the security guard with a hot iron and then kills him. He then meets his future bride-to-be, Vesta.
Meanwhile, John Constantine and Zed Martin return to the Big Easy where they reunite with Detective Jim Corrigan. Corrigan is investigating the murder of a police officer named Dupree, whom John deduces was killed by spontaneous desiccation. Through this, John learns about the recent missing girls. Seeing as how Satanic ritualism is on the upswing now with the coming of the Blood Moon, John goes to the cemetery to unearth the dead cop. As he analyzes it, the spirit of his recently deceased friend Gary Lester, speaks through the corpses mouth and warns John that a bounty has been placed on him and that all of the members of the Brujeria are looking to collect.
"All I need is a hairball and a toothbrush!"
The Brujeria are not the only ones looking to cash in on John's head. Papa Midnite also has a stake in this and feels that the sacrifice of a "life for a life", will enable him to free the condemned soul of his sister, Cedella. He kills one of his followers and turns him into a Voodoo zombie.
John, Zed and Corrigan go to the Whitney household to interview Vesta's mother, Anna Kate. John decides to invoke a spell to "pierce the veil", enabling him to see through Vesta's eyes. This involves gargling a glob of Vesta's hair, brushing his tongue with her toothbrush, and electrocuting himself with a broken desk lamp. From this process, John divines that she was taken near an abandoned amusement park.
The three go to the amusement park where they cross paths with one of Papa Midnite's zombies. They fight up against the zombie, until Corrigan ultimately puts it down with his gun. John then pressures Zed for another vision. She is already sketchy about doing this, for she has already had a vision of Corrigan where she sees him dead. Regardless, she concentrates and comes up with a backwards street address: 4 Delano Street. This is where the security guard whom the Man killed lived.
"Ya think ya got the drop on me, eh?"
John goes to 4 Delano Street and begins surveying the area. Papa Midnite arrives and gets the drop on John, shooting him in the chest. As John lies dying, Midnite comes in close to finish him off. This is all a ruse however. Constantine expected Midnite and used magic to reanimate a corpse and then put a glamour spell on it to make it look like himself. He then beats Papa Midnite up and goes off to resume handling the case.
Meanwhile, the Man has Vesta in his house and prepares her for their upcoming wedding. She is receptive to the notion at first and even has a wedding dress, as the other brides encourage her to become part of the family. As the Man begins to invoke the Devil's Benediction, Vesta finally begins to show a little common sense, and realizes that this can not possibly end well for her. She runs out of the house and the man gives chase. He quickly catches up with her and knocks her insensate.
By this point, John, Zed and Corrigan make it back to the funhouse to find the Man dragging Vesta across the ground. John orders him to freeze, but the Man tries to run. Zed appears and knocks him to the ground with a shovel, at which point, she begins beating him repeatedly. Corrigan has to pull her off before he goes too far. He then places the Man under arrest. John bristles at this notion of taking him alive, to which Corrigan has to remind him, that he is simply a man - not a ghost, or a demon, to which John replies, "Is he?". He posits the idea of what might happen if the man were to escape. Corrigan takes John's cue and undoes the handcuffs. As predicted, the Man begins to run away. A gunshot is heard in the middle of the night and the Man is no more. John goes into the house where he finds the bodies of the three young brides in bed. With the Man gone, their spirits can now leave to find peace.
Zed is NOT happy.
Sometime later, Corrigan and Zed are at a bar. Zed confesses that the reason she had been giving him the cold shoulder is because she saw a vision of him dying, and her visions always come true. Jim seems non-plussed by this, and says that if he is going to die, he is going to make every moment count and begins kissing her. Constantine walks into the bar and witnesses this, which puts him in a foul mood.
As he exits, he receives a visit from Manny. Manny laughs at John and his apparent jelousy. They talk more about the Rising Darkness and Manny tells him that they can win this war. It is not an impossible task. Angry, John girds himself for what is coming, and says he won't stop until he sends every demon bastard back to Hell.
Later, in Houma, Louisiana, members of the NOPD pick up Papa Midnite outside the dead security guard's house. As they arrest him, time freezes and Manny appears. He sets Papa Midnite free and tells him that the bounty on John Constantine has been lifted. Midnite scoffs and asks him if he is working for the Brujeria. Manny laughs and says, "No. The Brujeria work for me". He then extends his angel wings and flies off into the night.
Cast[]
Principal Cast[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Matt Ryan | John Constantine |
| Angélica Celaya | Zed Martin |
| Charles Halford | Chas Chandler [1] |
| Harold Perrineau | Manny |
Guest Stars[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Annalise Basso | Vesta Whitney |
| J.D. Evermore | The Man |
| Julie Ivey | Anna Kate Whitney |
| Emmett J. Scanlan | Jim Corrigan |
| Michael James Shaw | Papa Midnite |
| Madison Bailey | Caroline |
| Zach Hanner | Guard |
| Cassady McClincy | Amberly |
| Thom Scott, II | Dwayne |
| Jed Sloe | Homeless man |
| Zamani Wilder | Waynetta |
Notes & Trivia[]
- This episode is production code number 3J5563.
- At the time of its initial broadcast, the future of Constantine was uncertain. NBC had not ordered a second season and the show's status remained "on the bubble". In April, 2015, the website Buzzfeed issued a premature article announcing the show's cancellation, but the story was quickly recalled, leaving fans to speculate as to whether or not they would see their British bad boy again. [2]
- Actor Charles Halford, who plays the role of Francis "Chas" Chandler, is credited in this episode, but does not make an actual appearance. Chas appeared last in "Angels and Ministers of Grace".
- This is the first and only episode of Constantine directed by David Boyd. Boyd is also known for directing episodes of Friday Night Lights, Sleepy Hollow and The Walking Dead.
- This is the third and final episode of Constantine written and/or co-written by Daniel Cerone, who is also co-creator on the series. He also wrote the series' pilot episode, "Non Est Asylum", as well as "Rage of Caliban".
- This is the second and final episode of Constantine written and/or co-written by Cameron Welsh. He also worked on episode 1x04, "A Feast of Friends".
- This is the second and final appearance of actor Emmett J. Scanlan in the role of Detective Jim Corrigan. Corrigan was introduced in episode 1x05, "Danse Vaudou".
- Actor Jonjo O'Neill, who played the part of Gary "Gaz" Lester in "A Feast of Friends" and "A Whole World Out There", provides the voice of Gary as spoken through a reanimated corpse in this episode. Jonjo is uncredited for his participation in this scene.
- Actor J.D. Evermore is also known for playing a man named Harley, who is part of a group called the Claimers as seen in episodes from season three of AMC's The Walking Dead.
Allusions[]
- This episode is adapted from the "Waiting for the Man" story from the Hellblazer #4 comic book, which was written by Jamie Delano with artwork by John Ridgeway. It was first published in April, 1988. By and large, the TV treatment bears a strong resemblance to the original story, however there are a few notable differences.
- The original story is set in Liverpool, England, whereas the TV story is set in New Orleans, Louisiana.
- In this episode, the young woman who gets indoctrinated into The Man's polygamous lifestyle is named Vesta Whitney. In the comic, the character is Gemma Masters, who is actually John Constantine's niece, which is what prompted him to investigate her disappearance to begin with.
- Jim Corrigan has nothing to do with the original story.
- Chas Chandler was present during the events from the comic story, but he does not have any involvement with the TV story.
- In the comic, John Constantine meets Zed Martin for the first time during this affair. In the TV series, Zed has been traveling with John for quite some time.
- Jim Corrigan is a character seen in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Bernard Baly, he first appeared in More Fun Comics #52 in 1940. The comic version of Corrigan was a New York City police detective who was murdered by a gangster named "Gat" Benson. When Corrigan died, his spirit bonded with that of the Angel of Vengeance, and he returned to life to mete out justice as the host form for a being called the Spectre. In this episode, Zed Martin once again has a precognitive flash of Corrigan's ultimate fate. A green and white aura (the Spectre's colors) can be seen around Corrigan's body in the vision. If one pauses the scene at just the right moment, the shape of the Spectre's hood can be clearly seen surrounding Corrigan's head.
- The location that Zed derives in her vision, 4 Delano Street, is named for Jamie Delano, who is an English comic book author and the writer of the first twenty-four issues of the Hellblazer comic magazine. Most of the plot lines used in this series are based on Delano's stories.
- The final scene of the episode takes place in Houma, Louisiana. In the comics, John has traveled to Houma on many occasions and it is best known as the base of operations for former scientist Alec Holland, aka the Swamp Thing. In fact, John Constantine was first introduced in Saga of the Swamp Thing #37 in June, 1985.
- The voice that speaks to John Constantine from the corpse is that of Gary Lester. Gary Lester was an old friend of John's who sacrificed his life to defeat the hunger demon Mnemoth. He appeared in the episodes, "A Feast of Friends" and "A Whole World Out There".
Bloopers[]
- Per NBC policy, characters on prime time shows are not allowed to be seen smoking. The production crew on Constantine used clever editing during all scenes where John has a cigarette and make certain that he is never seen directly exhaling cigarette smoke on camera. However, there is one scene in this episode when John is walking up to the security guard's house that you can see him exhaling a stream of cigarette smoke.
Quotes[]
- Manny: I envy you. Truly. You know, it's not all harps and halos for us; we have rules to follow. But you, you have your choices. You can act on your visions if you choose to. Now, that's a gift.
....
- John Constantine: My point is we can all shape our destiny, but none of us get to escape our fate. So when my time's up, that's it.
....
- John Constantine: I stare into the face of evil every bloody day. It usually manifests itself as a demon, a malevolent spirit, a bloody zombie, but now...
- Manny: John, You've encountered human evil before.
- John Constantine: I have, but this is something else entirely. We now know what happens when the rising darkness meets the evil in humanity. There's not an evil in any realm more dangerous than that.
....
- Zed Martin: Do you believe in fate?
- Jim Corrigan: I don't know. I guess I just... think what's meant to be will be.
See also[]
External Links[]
Series links
Episode links
References[]
- ↑ Credited, but does not appear in this episode.
- ↑ 'Constantine' Cancellation Report Was Premature; Slashfilm.com; Tuesday, April 14th, 2015.
- ↑ io9.com; Constantine Officially Cancelled, But All Hope May Not Be Lost; May 11th, 2015.