After a fairly solid, if not entirely remarkable, pilot episode the show has already settled into a rhythm. And it's a surprisingly familiar one. The end of the pilot jettisoned the tacked on female cohort, only to have this next episode start with Constantine acquiring a brand new tacked on female cohort. Granted she's slightly more interesting than the last one, but it feels like a lateral move at best.
The show has also appeared to settle for a "monster of the week" style format. While it's the type of format that the character most lends himself to, I'm just not sure it's one that works anymore. This kind of show had its heyday back with X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Back then it was enough just to have a new weird occurrence or villain each week because it was stuff that by and large audiences hadn't seen on TV before. But between those shows and Fringe, Grimm, Supernatural and a half dozen others the format has really been played out. I don't think there's any supernatural threat that can be thrown at Constantine that audiences won't feel like they've seen somewhere before. It's the trap that "Elementary" fell into: sticking well conceived and well acted characters with run of the mill story lines (standard police procedural mysteries in that case) which didn't allow those characters to shine as they should.
What this leaves is everything hinging on the characters. Thankfully Constantine himself is still quite watchable and fun to be around. The new addition of Zed is pretty much a wash, she's got good chemistry but the character doesn't feel like she's adding much to the process yet. Personally I really would have liked to have seen Constantine hoof it alone, at least for a few episodes.
It's still a fun show, and it's hardly a waste of time. However it doesn't really bring much that feels really new or fresh. I'll continue to stick it out for now, but if this episode represents the standard of the show then I'm not sure I'll be around all the way through this season.
The show has also appeared to settle for a "monster of the week" style format. While it's the type of format that the character most lends himself to, I'm just not sure it's one that works anymore. This kind of show had its heyday back with X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Back then it was enough just to have a new weird occurrence or villain each week because it was stuff that by and large audiences hadn't seen on TV before. But between those shows and Fringe, Grimm, Supernatural and a half dozen others the format has really been played out. I don't think there's any supernatural threat that can be thrown at Constantine that audiences won't feel like they've seen somewhere before. It's the trap that "Elementary" fell into: sticking well conceived and well acted characters with run of the mill story lines (standard police procedural mysteries in that case) which didn't allow those characters to shine as they should.
What this leaves is everything hinging on the characters. Thankfully Constantine himself is still quite watchable and fun to be around. The new addition of Zed is pretty much a wash, she's got good chemistry but the character doesn't feel like she's adding much to the process yet. Personally I really would have liked to have seen Constantine hoof it alone, at least for a few episodes.
It's still a fun show, and it's hardly a waste of time. However it doesn't really bring much that feels really new or fresh. I'll continue to stick it out for now, but if this episode represents the standard of the show then I'm not sure I'll be around all the way through this season.
