Swamp Thing – Season 1 Episode 9 Recap & Review

The Blue Devil

With the finale on the horizon and pangs of sadness beginning to seep in given we’re not going to be experiencing any more Swamp Thing in the near future, all the pieces are set into motion for a climactic finish to this twisted tale.

Jason Woodrue speaks to his wife about curing her illness and she tells him about a bad dream she had. Meanwhile, Abby tries to work out how high up the chain this operation goes, with Woodrue and Avery beginning to experiment on Swamp Thing after having moved him to a secure location.

Meanwhile, Daniel Cassidy experiences visions of Liz and Abby being gunned down by armed guards and he’s told he’s the only one who can stop them, courtesy of Phantom Stranger who shows up. As he throws a rubber mask to him, Cassidy’s transformation into the Blue Devil creeps ever nearer. Eventually the transformation is complete and blue flames rise into the air.

Liz and Abby begin asking questions at Woodrue’s place. After getting nowhere, given his wife has late stages of dementia, the two piece together the evidence they find and work out where Holland is being stored. Lit by sickly green UV lights, Jason continues to experiment on Holland and figures out he’s actually a plant that believes its a man.

Pleased that their experiments are moving in the right direction, Avery arranges for Maria to be taken to a psychiatric ward. He goes to visit her soon after and she asks him which judge he managed to bribe to get her in. Avery smiles, replying that she needs all the help she can get before leaving her to her fate.

Abby and Liz eventually do find the right facility and sneak inside. However, they’re followed by armed guards; the same ones we saw from Cassidy’s visions earlier in the episode. Before they can shoot Liz however, he arrives, blue flames and all, and distracts the guards. Liz and Abby find Swamp Thing and free him from his restraints. Silently, he returns to the swamp with Abby, determined to find out the truth. He creeps into the water and uncovers the real body of Alec Holland, setting it down on the ground and apologizing to Abby who looks on in horror.

With more action and a great pacing all the way through the episode, Swamp Thing delivers one of its best episodes of the season. The intricate power plays between the characters and the faithful adaptation of the source material combine to make Swamp Thing a real force to be reckoned with. While it may not have the creativity of Doom Patrol or the star power of the Marvel franchise, Swamp Thing has been a really impressive, solid series throughout, one that’s managed to successfully adapt the comic in the best possible way.

Quite what the finale will hold remains to be seen but given what we receive here, Swamp Thing feels certain to close out with a bang.