Hasitha Fernando reviews the seventh episode of Swamp Thing…
Albeit temporarily, Abby sees Alec in his old human form and together they try to locate the source of the ‘darkness’ which has overwhelmed the Marais swamplands. With the help of Dr. Woodrue, Maria concludes a lucrative business deal with the mysterious Conclave Corporation. An unsuspecting Avery Sunderland meanwhile, gets more than he bargained for when he visits the bayou backwater with the town sheriff to capture the Swamp Thing…
Wow. Now that was an episode packed with twists and surprising revelations! Where do I begin? Let’s unpack this in chronological order, just like it took place onscreen. The episode picks up immediately where the erstwhile one concluded; with Alec reverting back to human form much to Abby’s great surprise. As I asserted in my last episode’s review this was a hallucination induced by the otherworldly flower generated by Swampy. Together the duo venture into the heart of Marais in search of the source of the ‘darkness’ and the ‘rot’. Eventually things go sideways when Abby gets attacked and infected by one of the vicious plant life-forms in that area. Alec infuses her bloodstream with the healing powers of the ‘green’ to counteract the infection and is able to save her. In my opinion this was like a taste of what will take place in the shows’ finale; which is a showdown between the forces of light and darkness. The ‘green’ will undoubtedly represent the good with the ‘rot’ taking the place of evil.
In the last episode we found out that Matty in fact murdered Alec at Avery’s behest. And apparently Matt complied to keep mother dearest safe. To tie off all loose ends Lucilia and her son lure Avery to the heart of Marais’ swampland in order to dispose of him. Well, not all goes according to plan and the first bombshell of the episode is eventually dropped; it turns out that Avery is the biological father of Matt! Amidst this hullabaloo Avery stabs his son- a touching gesture- and gets away, but not before receiving multiple gunshot wounds from the trigger-happy momma. Out of choices to make Lucilia drags Matt to the Sunderland residence along with a local doctor for treatment. At first, I was rather confused as to why the snobbish Maria even allowed them inside the premises in that state. And then the second bombshell is dropped on us; Maria and the Lucilia have been conspiring against Avery all along! Damn… Truly ‘Hell hath no fury, as a woman scorned!’ Maria’s aim was to gain control of the Sunderland Corporation while our town sheriff just wanted to get rid of Avery once and for all. So, an apparent ‘win-win’ for all. But of course, as we found out, Avery is still very much alive and kicking at the conclusion of the episode, albeit a little worse for wear.
As the hallucinogenic property of the flower wears off Alec slowly reverts back to his grotesque monster physique. And he bids Abby a solemn goodbye by saying that ‘she must move on with her life.’ It was nice to see Andy Bean return with a longer screen time in this episode. He injects his character with pathos and humor virtually stealing every scene he’s in. Love him. Can’t wait to see the guy in this year’s IT Chapter Two, due to come out in early September.
Virginia Madsen truly shone in her portrayal of Maria Sunderland. Gone is the emotionally volatile ghost-tortured lady. In her stead, a strong-willed purpose driven business woman has appeared. Quite the turn turtle indeed.
Once again, a solid episode comes to a close. The performances are great as always with the stand outs being Andy Bean and Virginia Madsen who shone in their respective roles. With all the drama behind-the-scenes I’m surprised that a cohesive narrative remained for the TV series to push forward but boy, am I glad. This is one great TV series which keeps getting better.
Hasitha Fernando
