Episode 3 of 13

This one was better than last week, very cool to see Papa Midnite appear on the show!

I liked the episode. The lady is also on Justified. The story was a classic seen before but this a good telling of it.

A couple of doctor who moments. House that is bigger on the inside and a magic card that acts like psychic paper.

The one thing I didn't like was cancer guy not reacting much to finding out his wife sold her soul to save him. He should have been freaking the F out.

Why did the vinyl get left anywhere that a child could get to it?

F'n TV show logic.

Just because the record killed a guy and froze a shelf doesn't mean it isn't kid friendly. It is racist like you that give demonic soul stealing records a bad name.

I'm not racist! I love black guys!

I realize that the show is still finding its footing but why do I feel like it's being dumbed down? The episodes just seem shallow for lack of a better word.

It was just the "Frozen" soundtrack.

I've never read the comic, but I am feeling the same way. Initially I thought I just wasn't getting it because it was so deeply steeped in the source material. However, I think you are spot on. The first episode had some flavor and touched on a much deeper story. Last week, not at all. This week, eh.

So much promise ... But I see a failure to execute leading to an early end for this one. How are the ratings?

Yeah, pretty much. The tv incarnation of John Constantine is superficially recognizable as the John Constantine of the Hellblazer comics, but he's been made more television friendly.

The John Constantine of the comics is a more ambiguous and mercurial character. His abilities and motivations are less clear-cut than his tv version; he is less driven and heroic, and is more of a supernatural shit magnet than the man on a mission we see on NBC. Granted, the tv version is closer to the comics than the Keanu Reeves one, but still doesn't quite get it.

I remember trying to explain John Constantine to one of my friends several years ago, and I said that John Constantine is Harry Potter who never went to Hogwarts and grew up to be one of the guys from Trainspotting.

Is there any particular good place to start with the comics, or are the stories mostly self-contained?

See, I think that is one of my problems ... I don't think they are doing a good job of conveying what his purpose is. Yes, they want us to see him as a driven hero on a mission, but they are missing the mark. They also aren't portraying him as the comic character is being described. He is actually coming off somewhat bland.

The pilot was the only episode that gave any insight into his character motivation. The last two episodes he just came of as Agent Mulder.

I said from the beginning having this show on NBC would kinda hurt it. I really wish it was on Fox or even the WB. NBC just seems to take the balls out of shows.

That said...I liked this ep. I loved that they used the old "Blues player makes a deal with the devil" legend as the basis. Papa Midnite seems to be more of a baddie than a Neutral character. ...but I guess we'll see how he plays out down the line.

Anyone that has read the comics would have instantly recognized the Hand of Glory. Once it was announced NBC had picked it up, I realized it wouldn't be quite the same character. I'm not sure the comic book character is translatable to a mass audience. It would be a very niche show, even on a no-holds-barred network like HBO or Showtime.

I did like them using the Sex Pistols for Constantine's charge. Most people picture Constantine as Johnny Rotten and the Sex Pistols are his favorite band. They didn't bother mentioning that fact in the episode.

Constantine isn't Johnny Rotten; he's Sting.

This is definitely a watered down Constantine but it's close enough to the real thing that it keeps me watching.

The 3rd episode of Constantine was one of my favorites...quite creepy, and I'm a big fan of both blues & rock music... - the scene where Constantine was playing Anarchy in the U.K. by the S#x Pistols (in order to drown out the demon record) was great, since, as was mentioned, I always thought Constantine looked kind of like Johnny Rotten...

Also, the bluesman who "sold his soul to the dev." in the episode was obviously an homage to the legendary musician Robert Johnson, who has also been referenced in film before - notably the Coen Brother's excellent O Brother Where Art Thou? film (2000), and an interesting '80's flick called Crossroads...