061: Constantine 1x08 "The Saint of Last Resorts" - Praising the Flesh Tree

Well, that was...unexpected.

SPOILERS UP TO (and including) CONSTANTINE 1x08. Additional spoilers for Serenity (2005) and Red Dragon (2002).

In this episode:

• Fio has returned to discuss Constantine 1x08 "The Saint of Last Resorts," including the exploration of Zed's backstory, the Rising Darkness reveal(?), and TREE MADE OF FLEEEEEEEEESSSSHHHHH \m/ .
• Subbing Zed into the series in the repilot had its problems, and in hindsight the cracks are really easy to spot.
• The source of the Rising Darkness™ is revealed! And...it's not as effective as it should be.
• Locke & Key Digression (because Fio will always go out of his way to namecheck Ksenia Solo)
• Fio and Ian will be accepting applications and donations to their new organization, People for a Better Usage of Chas Chandler. (Only joking. Please don't send us applications.)
• Also, what we plan to do (or not do, as it were) over the break. While we're at it: when does Constantine come back?

THERE'S ALWAYS AN ADDENDUM:

• Happy holidays!
• Highlights from Fio's timestamps:
• The fact that we don’t really have a face to pin the rising darkness on is an issue for this show. This danger is being caused by a shadowy cabal, however they don’t feel oppressive or powerful enough to be a real threat, given that Constantine seems to solve all of the problems caused by the rising darkness tidily within nice 45 minute chunks.
• As I was typing that you said “General spooky shit is happening. Why? Who knows.” Which sums up the philosophy of this show pretty well.
• I get really uncomfortably excited about that skin tree.

Music:

• Intro music: "This is My Design" - original song, music by Ian. More on this as it develops.
• Outro music: "Raining Blood" - Slayer | YouTube | iTunes |

(Header image taken from http://screencapped.net/tv/constantine/thumbnails.php?album=14&page=11)

http://archive.org/download/AMOT061/AMOT061.mp3

060: Constantine 1x07 "Blessed are the Damned" - Goosing the Tension

SPOILERS UP TO (and including) CONSTANTINE 1x07

In this episode:

• Vic returns to join Ian in discussing Constantine 1x07 "Blessed are the Damned," including the preacher, the angels, the skeptic, and--wait, is this a folk song?
• We thought the preacher was handled well in this episode--although we were a bit confused about who the woman with him was for a while.
• Also, we were fans of the ghouls, although neither of us recalled that was what Constantine called them while we were recording.
• Throughout the episode, we hit several topics about the series overall: how to do adaptations, wardrobe selections, and utilizing characters to their fullest extent.
• Also-also, Vic points out how this episode works as great metacommentary for the writing on the show.

 THERE'S ALWAYS AN ADDENDUM:

• Hey, we're on time this week!
• Thanks again to Vic for filling in.
• I'm just gonna go straight to the highlights from Fio's timestamps:
• An easy excuse for genre shows, making up reasons that one character can’t solve the problem. Like, what was up with that necromancer in the Hobbit that meant that Gandalf couldn’t just snap his fingers and fix 90% of the problems?
• Vic is referring to Metron, one of Jack Kirby’s new gods, not the Metatron
• Don’t we get enough stuff about fallen angels with the goth dark angel oc everyone made when they were 13? Or was that just me?
• OH MY GOD THAT EPISODE OF COURAGE IS AMAZING

Music:

• Intro music: "This is My Design" - original song, music by Ian. More on this as it develops.
• Outro music: "Evil Angel" - Breaking Benjamin | YouTube | iTunes |

(Header image taken from http://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view-screencaps.php?tv-show=constantine-2014&episode=s01e07)

http://archive.org/download/AMOT060/AMOT060.mp3

059: Constantine 1x06 "Rage of Caliban" - This Angel Character

C'mon, NBC. You know you ship it.

SPOILERS UP TO (and including) CONSTANTINE 1x06

In this episode:

• Christina joins us once again!
• Discussion of Constantine 1x06 "Rage of Caliban," including its original placement as episode two and how the move affected the episode and the season up until this point, John and Chas getting some bonding time, Manny and his obnoxiously cryptic ways, and the Creepy Kid Checklist™.
• We spend a good amount of time just talking about the series as a whole before getting into the specifics of this episode.
• We're really interested in seeing how next episode goes, especially when it comes to exploring Manny's character.
• Please give us the Newcastle incident. PLEASE.
• Also, we would really appreciate it if Constantine was portrayed as bi. For a variety of reasons.
• This episode basically handed an easy parallel to the writers between the case of the week and Constantine, but the writers really failed to capitalize on it.
• We also make several digressions while making comparisons, including ones into FOX's Gotham and--of course--NBC's Hannibal.

THERE'S ALWAYS AN ADDENDUM:

• Once again: apologies for the lateness.

Music:

• Intro music: "This is My Design" - original song, music by Ian. More on this as it develops.
• Outro music: "Cherub Rock" - Smashing Pumpkins | YouTube | iTunes |

(Header image taken from http://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view-screencaps.php?tv-show=constantine-2014&episode=s01e06. I'm sorry; I was originally just looking for a good picture of John taking the sword away from Chas so I could make a joke about backing away from character development, and then I saw this one.)

http://archive.org/download/AMOT059/AMOT059.mp3