From the source of the rising darkness to the intentions of the Resurrection Crusade, much is revealed in part one of “The Saint of Last Resorts.” And, fair warning, Constantine and company encounter some truly creepy demons on the way. I’ll try to stay away from them, but this review will contain minor SPOILERS.

The party is split yet again when John and Chas are summoned to Mexico City by Anne-Marie, a mage-turned-nun that witnessed John’s terrible failing at Newcastle, and Zed is left at the magical wheelhouse to fend for herself. Babies are being snatched from Anne-Marie’s convent by something supernatural, and it’s up to John to unravel the mystery before even more innocents are lost on his watch.

This episode does more plot-related explanation than pretty much any other episode before it. Not only is the cause of the frustratingly ambiguous “rising darkness” made public, but we also learn more about the as-yet named Resurrection Crusade that’s in pursuit of Zed.

The source of the rising darkness is finally revealed: La Brujería. Ancient practitioners of witchcraft the world was never prepared for, la Brujería were annihilated by God and even Hell wouldn’t give them a roof over their souls, according to Constantine. Also, according to Constantine, John has pretty much no means of directly combating Brujería magic. No one does. The ancient mages’ nefarious plans, then, seem all but guaranteed to come to fruition… But Constantine will find SOME way to fight them. Right?

Though I think it took way too long to reveal this vital and thoroughly interesting bit of information, the execution was excellently paced if not perfectly executed. I would have liked a few more hints at potential la Brujería involvement earlier in the series so that the mystery could have felt more meaningful for those of us already invested in the show. Instead, it feels like the writers have just been bided their time, deliberately not making a choice about which Hellblazer villain will come out as this season’s big bad. All that aside, the prospect of impossibly ancient magic users putting our hero to task is exciting.

Zed is surprised again by Eddie, the Resurrection Crusader who moonlights as a nude model for art classes at the local junior college, and takes him up on his date offer. Turns out, she regrets it. At dinner, she has a vision of Eddie in a white jumpsuit and the door to what appear to be a bank-vault/prison-cell closing behind him. She immediately decides that she should take him back to Constantine’s stronghold for questioning and that’s when I started throwing pop corn at the screen.

Okay, she wants to bring this guy back to Constantine and Chas so they can get some information out of him about the Resurrection Crusade…but neither Constantine nor Chas are at home. Zed gets a few good punches again against her eventual attackers, but is ultimately overcome. The whole scene felt half-assed, beginning with the HUGE Zed-would-probably-never-do-that moment of inviting such a suspicious character back to the place where Constantine keeps all his coolest magic stuff.

In an effort to keep the spoilers to a minimum, suffice it to say that this episode cannot be missed for those of us who have kept up with the Hellblazer so far. It reveals key information about where the hell the so-far vague plot is headed, and give us a few new, rich characters to love/hate, all while moving Constantine and Zed along an appealing emotional arc. Whip out your spell books, everyone, and sit down to a scary good time.

 

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