As a two-part episode, split over Constantine’s mid-season break, “The Saint of Last Resorts” (Part 1) is an excellent first half of the overarching episode eight that features both religion and a number of dark and scary mythical creatures that further expand and deepen the season’s “Darkness Rising” theme. John (Matt Ryan) and Chas (Charles Halford) head to Mexico after a reluctant request by another former friend of John Constantine to investigate the disappearance of new born babies and the deaths of their mothers. The circumstances that John Constantine finds himself are at once both surprising and dangerous. Whilst Zed (Angélica Celaya) remains back at the mill house this allows us to get a glimpse in to some more aspects and people from her personal life.

At the heart of this episode’s story is the need of evil to prey on the pure as personified by the new born and it’s both tense and scary. In this case the evil that John is set against comes in the form of the Invunche, created by and the servants of the Brujería witches (both from the folklore of the Chiloé Island in Chile), who are kidnapping new born babies from a convent in Mexico. We discover that these two entities are involved with the rising darkness and find out that this involves a plot to tear down the barrier that keeps mankind safe from the beasts and entities of hell. There is a real sense in the episode that Constantine is up against a real evil and a dark predator that has him worried. It is great to feel John’s sense of trepidation and anxiety at the Invunche and why they are on earth. They are a great adversary and look truly menacing in the episode with their twisted and deformed limbs and head. It is again testament to the visual effects of Constantine that they look so good.

A nice little touch from the episode was the attention to detail that the show lovingly provides when Chas and John arrive at the convent to meet Anne-Marie, they turn up at the front steps of the convent in a green VW Beetle taxi that is so widespread in Mexico. We’ve already seen the yellow NYC taxi and I can’t wait to see how they introduce  a London Black Cab or an Indian Tuk Tuk.

Zed’s side story is good and is established through her male suitor from her art class in “Blessed are the Damned”, Eddie (David A. Gregory), who is still trying to set up a date with her. Once she succumbs to his charms and good looks we realise that Eddie is not all that he seems as does she following a vision of him. With this we are introduced to Eddie’s companions and Zed’s “family” the Resurrection Crusade. Back at Constantine’s base they try to capture Zed to bring her back to her father we are treated to a great little chase sequence through many of the nooks, crannies and vast open (TARDIS-like) spaces of Constantine’s mill house. As Zed attempts her escape we hear that she is called “Mary” but ultimately Zed is drugged and captured by the Crusade.This should add further intrigue and possibilities to her character into the second part of this episode and in later episodes of this season. The adventures of Zed, especially the exploration of the mill house and her run in with the Resurrection Crusade, are excellent and sets up a more intimate story-arc for her character and it is good to see her involved in the episode even though she has not headed off with Constantine. Also, unlike other episodes this season it is good to see that at last Zed’s absence from the main arc for this episode is explained to the audience. This is a positive development on why certain characters pop in and out of episodes.

The excellence of the episode, however, revolves around who embroils John and Chas in the case; after Constantine experiences a sort-of vision quest from a reluctant Sister Anne-Marie Flynn (Claire van der Boom) from the convent who is all too familiar with John’s special skill set.  We discover that Anne-Marie is the third member of John’s ill-fated “Newcastle Crew”, which also includes Ritchie Simpson (Jeremy Davies) in “Non Est Asylum” and Gary Lester (Jonjo O’Neill) from a “Feast of Friends”. This gradual introduction to the members of the crew allows a deepening of John Constantine’s back story without the usual forced flashbacks. The difference in this situation is Anne-Marie is also an old flame of Constantine, who partied hard, enjoyed punk music and who had intimate moments with John, and isn’t just another member of the Newcastle crew. This adds a lovely dynamic that is one of the strongest aspects of this episode. Claire van der Boom provides the perfect balance of introspection and cold steel to her eyes as she lays her gaze over John again and Matt Ryan delivers the perfectly tortured responses, which are brilliant.

Both Anne-Marie and Constantine still suffer guilt from the events of Newcastle but Anne-Marie’s is coloured with a disdain for John’s exploitation of the other members of the team and his choices after the loss of Astra (Bailey Tippen). This leads to some great reflections between the two protagonists about their personal relationship and on their involvement in the disaster that was Newcastle. In these moments the other element of Anne-Marie that also works really well in the episode is her strength as a woman with a strong will of her own and a clear idea of right and wrong; this brings a great counter point to Constantine’s wit and sarcasm since it renders his disarming weapon useless. Her toughness also contrasts nicely with the poor Gary Lester from a “Feast of Friends” and this is where the episode’s twist comes. She is unwilling to allow herself to be sacrificed like Gary Lester and calls it out to Constantine as she escapes with the rescued baby. In this instance she sacrifices John to the Invunche bearing down upon them with a shot to the gut leaving her former lover in a dangerous and perilous situation as part one of the episode closes.

Overall, this is another good episode of Constantine. The story surrounding the convent and baby kidnapping is sufficiently eerie and disturbing, especially as it adds a new enemy in the form of the Brujería to the rising darkness story arc. The episode opens up a new side to Zed on her own away from John and begins to flesh out her back-story with the mention of her father and her kidnap by the Resurrection Crusade. We also get another piece of the puzzle to the Newcastle slow-burn and of course to Constantine’s back-story with the arrival of Anne-Marie Flynn, which is the best part of this episode. The episode is an excellent introductory first part to the story arc which set up a lot of different and intriguing areas to be explored in part two of “The Saint of Last Resorts”. This is an exciting opportunity to find out how these different threads play out: What will happen to Zed? Will we meet her father? Why is she called Mary? What is John’s fate? Will there be any form of redemption between Anne-Marie and Constantine? What we do know is that John Constantine will find himself in even greater peril in Part two and we can’t wait to see how it plays out.

Constantine, starring Matt Ryan, Angélica Celaya, Harold Perrineau and Charles Halford, airs on NBC in the USA and will return on Friday 16th January 2015 for the second part of “The Saint of Last Resorts” at the earlier time of 8pm EST/7pm CST. Constantine is also available in the UK through Amazon Prime Instant Video the day after broadcast on NBC in the US.

Review copy of Constantine – The Saint of Last Resorts (Part 1 and Part 2) provided by NBC