# Constantine [SPOILERS]



## Dannyalcatraz (Oct 26, 2014)

Ok, just watched the first episode.

I enjoyed it.  I think it is about as good a take on the story as you're likely to get on American broadcast TV.  Matt Ryan looks the part, sounds the part.  Thank God for that!  Good SFX, too.


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## Homicidal_Squirrel (Oct 26, 2014)

I liked the show. It was interesting. I don't know much about Constantine, but I found the way the character was played a bit annoying. Is Constantine supposed to have an accent? It felt as if the only reason to cast a British actor as Constantine as to make him 'edgy' and 'cool.' I've noticed that some movies and TV shows use British actors because they have an accent, as if that will cover up boring characters. I found it particularly annoying that Constantine kept on calling almost everyone, including the demons 'mate.' I can live with the accent, especially if the character is supposed to be British, but the overuse of 'mate' needs to stop - or at least be toned down. 

Other than that, it was a pretty good show. I liked it. I'll keep watching it, hoping the writers tone down the 'mate' stuff.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Oct 26, 2014)

What you're seeing is the character back at its conceptual roots.  John Constantine was actually originally visually modeled on Sting, and he was written as a classic working-class, abrasive, irreverent, chain-smoking Brit from Liverpool.  For some reason, dark-haired American actor Keanu Reeves was cast in the movie role, and allowed to be Keanu.  Thankfully, they didn't bleach his hair or try to make him do a British accent...


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## Morrus (Oct 26, 2014)

Yeah, they've dropped the smoking and the Liverpool accent.  Isn't he also supposed to have terminal lung cancer?


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## Homicidal_Squirrel (Oct 26, 2014)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> What you're seeing is the character back at its conceptual roots.  John Constantine was actually originally visually modeled on Sting, and he was written as a classic working-class, abrasive, irreverent, chain-smoking Brit from Liverpool.



But was he always calling people 'mate?' Like I said, I can deal with the accent, especially if there is a reason. The constant '...mate,' and the way he has to accentuate it gets annoying fast.


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## Morrus (Oct 26, 2014)

Homicidal_Squirrel said:


> But was he always calling people 'mate?' Like I said, I can deal with the accent, especially if there is a reason. The constant '...mate,' and the way he has to accentuate it gets annoying fast.




Fairly common speaking style here in the UK, mate. Sorry you don't like it!


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## Homicidal_Squirrel (Oct 26, 2014)

Morrus said:


> Fairly common speaking style here in the UK, mate. Sorry you don't like it!



I thought Brits were supposed to be sophisticated?

Anyway, was the demon in the show supposed to be a significant demon or some villain of the week type?


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## Dannyalcatraz (Oct 26, 2014)

Honestly, there were so many demons & devils that popped up in the series, including Lucifer himself, that I can't recall who all the major players were.

And yes, JC did have terminal lung cancer.  As I recall, he died of it...but he got better.

Morrus, you're going to have the better ear for British accents- for obvious reasons- where would you place his?


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## Morrus (Oct 26, 2014)

Homicidal_Squirrel said:


> I thought Brits were supposed to be sophisticated?




Did you?



Dannyalcatraz said:


> Morrus, you're going to have the better ear for British accents- for obvious reasons- where would you place his?




Wikipedia tells me the actor's Welsh, so he definitely isn't using his own accent - sounds Yorkshire-like to me. Sean Bean. I'm only going off the trailer, though.  It hasn't shown here yet.


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## Richards (Oct 26, 2014)

I liked it.  I figured I would just from the trailers, after having seen that they got the basics of John Constantine right (unlike the movie - ugh!).  The only thing that appears to stray - heavily - from the comics is Chas's seeming ability to defy outright death.  I'm not sure where they pulled that from, or where they're planning on going with it.

I've heard they aren't going to be featuring John's chain-smoking habit, though, so I don't imagine lung cancer will be coming up as a plot point.  Bummer.

But I'm in.  Looking forward to the rest of the series.

Johnathan


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## Morrus (Oct 26, 2014)

Huh.  Turns out there's no broadcaster showing this in the UK at all.  Guess I won't be seeing it unless it appears on Netflix.


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## Homicidal_Squirrel (Oct 26, 2014)

Morrus said:


> Did you?



Yes. Your surprise tells me this is a terrible lie and Brits are savages.


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## Ryujin (Oct 27, 2014)

I hadn't seen the original pilot but according to a friend who saw both it, and the first episode, it's essentially the same thing. The key difference is that the girl doesn't stick around in the first episode, when she apparently did in the pilot.

Interesting call-out to the Golden Age DC comics with the girl being the daughter of Doctor Fate though (the helmet).


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## Lindeloef (Oct 27, 2014)

Homicidal_Squirrel said:


> Yes. Your surprise tells me this is a terrible lie and Brits are savages.




Just listen to some Cockney accent for 3 mins


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## Deuce Traveler (Oct 27, 2014)

Homicidal_Squirrel said:


> Yes. Your surprise tells me this is a terrible lie and Brits are savages.




I think they prefer the term 'soccer hooligans'.


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## Umbran (Oct 27, 2014)

Ryujin said:


> I hadn't seen the original pilot but according to a friend who saw both it, and the first episode, it's essentially the same thing. The key difference is that the girl doesn't stick around in the first episode, when she apparently did in the pilot.




Well, the teaser for next week had her in it for a moment, with Constantine and Chaz checking out the map again....



> Interesting call-out to the Golden Age DC comics with the girl being the daughter of Doctor Fate though (the helmet).




Her father had the helmet, but that doesn't mean he was Doctor Fate.  At least, his name doesn't seem to match any of the extant DFs...


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## Lindeloef (Oct 27, 2014)

Deuce Traveler said:


> I think they prefer the term '[-]soccer[/-] football hooligans'.




fixed it for you


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## Umbran (Oct 27, 2014)

Morrus said:


> Yeah, they've dropped the smoking and the Liverpool accent.




So, for the American ear, would a Liverpool accent be more... John, Paul, George, and Ringo?


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## Morrus (Oct 27, 2014)

Umbran said:


> So, for the American ear, would a Liverpool accent be more... John, Paul, George, and Ringo?




They have Liverpool accents, yup.


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## Ryujin (Oct 27, 2014)

Umbran said:


> Well, the teaser for next week had her in it for a moment, with Constantine and Chaz checking out the map again....




IMDB only shows her in one episode, so I guess she didn't test very well.



> Her father had the helmet, but that doesn't mean he was Doctor Fate.  At least, his name doesn't seem to match any of the extant DFs...




I haven't read a Doctor Fate comic in more than 40 years, but I thought the possessor of the helmet *was *Doctor Fate? Then again there's the whole thing about her not really knowing her father, so the real name could be anything.


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## tomBitonti (Oct 27, 2014)

Found it interesting, but, the fallout to bystanders is pretty terrible.  He cares about the one girl, but no-one else?

I do wonder how well this will work as a series.  The whole damned-soul storyline will be trying if carried on too long without overall development.

Not that I disliked the eye candy, but would a woman really change into a nightgown after seeing a creepy guy in the hallway?

Thx!

TomB


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## Ryujin (Oct 27, 2014)

tomBitonti said:


> Found it interesting, but, the fallout to bystanders is pretty terrible.  He cares about the one girl, but no-one else?
> 
> I do wonder how well this will work as a series.  The whole damned-soul storyline will be trying if carried on too long without overall development.
> 
> ...




The reason why he was looking after her, but not trying to protect against collateral damage, was pretty well explained with the expression "repaying a debt." Constantine is a very morally ambiguous character.


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## Umbran (Oct 27, 2014)

Ryujin said:


> I haven't read a Doctor Fate comic in more than 40 years, but I thought the possessor of the helmet *was *Doctor Fate? Then again there's the whole thing about her not really knowing her father, so the real name could be anything.




Constantine is the one who named the father.  You want to suggest he didn't know the real name of the guy he owes such a debt to?

Doctor Fate's helmet has occasionally spent time sitting around between wearers, so it being there is not telling.


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## Umbran (Oct 27, 2014)

tomBitonti said:


> Found it interesting, but, the fallout to bystanders is pretty terrible.  He cares about the one girl, but no-one else?




Yeah.  That's John Constantine.  Mundane issues like a city dealing with a few minutes without power are not his concern.  The mundane world is supposed to have ways of dealing with that stuff - Constantine mucks in on the matters the mundanes *can't* manage.


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## Ryujin (Oct 27, 2014)

Umbran said:


> Constantine is the one who named the father.  You want to suggest he didn't know the real name of the guy he owes such a debt to?
> 
> Doctor Fate's helmet has occasionally spent time sitting around between wearers, so it being there is not telling.




Nope, but I might suggest that concealing his real identity might be part of the debt owed. Or that he's not one of the many who have previously held the title; just the most recent. Or, as you suggested, not Fate at all. I'm leaning toward the first, but leaving other possibilities open.


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## Umbran (Oct 27, 2014)

In any case, I found the first episode.. okay.  A bit frantic, to be honest.


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## SteveC (Oct 27, 2014)

So I watched the first episode with my wife, and she's given me the green light to record it, and will watch at least three more.

I thought the portrayal of John was pretty good. I read the comic back in the day, but I (sadly) remember the movie much better. I thought the portrayal was pretty decent, and we'll see where they go.

So I have a pretty good friend who lives near London, and they're originally from the southern US. They absolutely love using "love" since it's so natural to him. John's using "love" and "mate" all the time amused me, since that's what my friend does, although in a horrible mash-up of the London academic speak with a southern drawl in his case.

But yeah, pilot held my interest, hoping for more, will keep watching.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Nov 23, 2014)

Still watching, still liking!


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## Dog Moon (Nov 23, 2014)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> Still watching, still liking!




Me too!


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## Ryujin (Nov 23, 2014)

Yup, quite enjoying it.


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## Elf Witch (Nov 23, 2014)

I am still watching and still enjoying it. I really liked last night episode.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Nov 23, 2014)

Yes, especially with the foreshadowing of the fate of Jim Corrigan.


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## Ryujin (Nov 27, 2014)

Apparently they've already stopped production on additional episodes for Constantine.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Nov 28, 2014)

True, but it's ambiguous at best.  The most recent episode had a huge jump in ratings, shortly after the decision not to order an additional 9 episodes.  

http://deadline.com/2014/11/constantine-stop-production-13-episodes-season-1-nbc-1201294518/


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## Knightfall (Nov 28, 2014)

Morrus said:


> Huh.  Turns out there's no broadcaster showing this in the UK at all.  Guess I won't be seeing it unless it appears on Netflix.



Wow. That's just lame.


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## Knightfall (Nov 28, 2014)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> True, but it's ambiguous at best.  The most recent episode had a huge jump in ratings, shortly after the decision not to order an additional 9 episodes.
> 
> http://deadline.com/2014/11/constantine-stop-production-13-episodes-season-1-nbc-1201294518/



well, that's disappointing. Stupid NBC... they better not cancel it outright.


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## Ryujin (Nov 28, 2014)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> True, but it's ambiguous at best.  The most recent episode had a huge jump in ratings, shortly after the decision not to order an additional 9 episodes.
> 
> http://deadline.com/2014/11/constantine-stop-production-13-episodes-season-1-nbc-1201294518/




Which is why I was careful not to say that it was cancelled


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## Scott DeWar (Nov 28, 2014)

Morrus said:


> Huh.  Turns out there's no broadcaster showing this in the UK at all.  Guess I won't be seeing it unless it appears on Netflix.




I watch this on hulu, so you should be able to see it after all!


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## Dog Moon (Nov 29, 2014)

I hope it's not cancelled. It's one of the four shows I look forward to every week!


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## Scott DeWar (Nov 29, 2014)

its on hulu.


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## Ryujin (Nov 29, 2014)

It was good to see one of my favourite spots in Birmingham, Alabama on the last show; Vulcan Park and the statue of Vulcan. It's one of those local landmarks that is rarely mentioned when a show is set in a particular city.


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