***This review may contain minor spoilers***
Watch my SPOILER review on YouTube
The first, and apparently only, season of “Swamp Thing” showed a ton of promise, but the show wraps thing up abruptly and leaves quite a few loose ends.
Initially announced as a thirteen-episode season, and filled with story ideas that could pay off over multiple seasons and spin-offs, the powers-that-be came in at the last minute and forced the producers to wrap things up in ten episodes. While they did their best to give a satisfying conclusion, it’s obvious that a lot of things had to be jettisoned. The show felt like it was building to a big payoff, but instead it scrambles to tie up as many plotlines as it can, and the big bad never materializes.
The show looks fantastic. The Swamp Thing costume looks impressive, and the CGI looks great. While there’s rarely any scares, there’s some disturbing images: Mangled hands, homages to “The Thing,” and deaths scenes that wouldn’t look out of place as Mortal Kombat finishing moves. Between the violence and the profanity, this is yet another DC Universe franchise intended for mature audiences.
The plot is about what you would expect, from Swamp Thing’s origin to the evil business man behind it all, there’s not much really that unexpected. But, the strong acting and slight twists and turns make it a fun ride. It’s quite clear that a lot of the storylines are meant to be paid off in later seasons. Abby’s mysterious past, the unseen evil in the swamp and the Blue Devil’s higher calling are all intriguing. Unfortunately, once the show gets near the end, none of it seems to have any relevance to the main story. For better or for worse, they didn’t know the show would be cancelled right after the first episode aired, so there are quite a few dangling plotlines. While that ending is somewhat satisfying as is, they’re plenty to work with should they change their minds and bring the series back for more seasons.
The cast is pretty solid, with Crystal Reed’s Abby Arcane being the most engaging character. Andt Bean is also very likable as Alec Holland, but once he’s turned into Swamp Thing, Derek Mears plays him radically different, so it doesn’t really feel like the same character. Alec was fairly charming, but Swamp Thing spends most his time roaring and brooding.
“Swamp Thing” is an enjoyable show, with likable characters, and some dark material, but the premature cancellation creates an unfinished product, and makes it harder to get too invested in it.
**** out of *****