BWW Recap: CONSTANTINE and the Darkness Beneath From A to Zed

Creatures terrorize a mining town and John tangos with a new leading lady on this week's episode of CONSTANTINE, "The Darkness Beneath" Let's dive into the spellbook shall we?

Home in Pennsylvania, a man showers. His pipes make noises, the water stops and then flames shoot out, burning him alive (please say this ep is about the dangers of fracking).

Back at the Jasper's magic lodge, John CONSTANTINE (Matt Ryan) is practicing his card skills. Chas (Charles Halford) has been using his psychic to play the lotto. He hands John an envelope of cash. John shows Chas a blood drop on the map that is this week's episode. It's a mining town in Pennsylvania. Chas tells John he's on his own. Seems there's a succubus in that state that still holds a grudge (Chas is getting more interesting by the minute).

John arrives and literally bumps into the show's new leading lady, Zed Martin (missing the comic character's signature streaks of white; played by Angelica Celaya). She immediately recognizes John as the man she has been feverishly sketching. He thinks she's some sort of grifter seeing an easy mark. He holds her drawing of him up to the sun (distracting her) and disappears. She's nicked his wallet, though.

In the town pub, John notices the town's flag (what American town has a flag?) has a dragon on it. John finds this ironic, given the mining boss' flame-broiled shower. He jokes that maybe the town has a dragon. Another bar patron overhears and tells John it wasn't a dragon that took the others.

Interest piqued, John sneaks into the mine. Something is moving along the floor and walls of the mine. It's kind of creepy. John hears knocking, takes a pick axe and taps the wall. The entire mine shakes and he runs out.

Back in town, John crashes the wake. He sneaks into the bathroom where the miner was killed. He unscrews the shower head and, using an aspirin bottle, grabs a sample of black ooze coming out of it.

He is soon joined by the widow who hits on him (is the body even in the ground?) and when John rejects her, she throws him out of the house. Miners come to her defense, there's a bit of a scuffle. John tells the mine owner that there's something unnatural happening in the mine. The owner tells John to stop scarring his workers.

Zed is waiting for him at his hotel. They argue and when they touch, there is some sort of psychic connection. She can see and feel his pain and wonders "what kind of person can be motivated by such things."

To further test her, he pours some of the goo into her hands. She screams in pain and we see her reliving the earlier incident and the goo burning a hole in her hand. He wipes the goo off. It was all in her mind. He sneaks out a window, leaving her in the room.

In an abandoned church, John interrupts a couple of teens making out ("In a church?" he tells the teens). He shoos them off and, using some of his own blood and water in a thermos, recites an incantation and pours the liquid over his head. Looking through the water, John sees a dark creature.

Back in her apartment, Zed finds John asleep on her couch. They fight again. There's some sexual tension that comes to an end thanks to a siren announcing a mine collapse. John confronts the son of the owner in his truck, warning him. The truck doors lock and it fills with mud. Claws rise up from the goo, pulling the son under. Zed uses a crowbar to pry the door open and saves John's life.

John is certain they are dealing with Coblynau -creatures of Welsh myth believed to be spirits of dead miners who protects other miners. Something is controlling them and making them do evil things, though.

At first they think it's the former minister whose son died in the mine. He tells the pair it isn't him. He may have lost his faith, but he's not a murderer.

All of the victims were management. Only two of them are left at this point, the owner and his remaining son.

John and Zed head back to the mine. The owner and his son are already down there and so is a Coblynau. John has Zed paint a symbol on the wall that breaks the evil spell controlling that single Coblynau. The owner is dead, but the son is not.

John tries to warn Zed off, but she tells him she isn't scarred so easily. John gives the preacher the honors of blowing up the mine.

John confronts the person who cast the spell -the widow. Turns out, she is a gypsy. She summons more Coblynau to kill John. John summons the spirit of the husband she killed. Dead husband bursts up through the floor of the porch and drags her down to hell. Lesson: do not screw with CONSTANTINE.

Back in the hotel, Zed is waiting on the bed. John kicks her off and falls asleep. She watches him.

Across town, the preacher re-opens the church; his faith is restored. The coming darkness has been stemmed a tiny bit.

And with that, we close the spellbook on the second episode of CONSTANTINE. What did you think of John's new leading lady?

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Photo Credit: Tina Rowden/NBC