Constantine took a week off from its ongoing story, if you can say it has one, to delve into a multitude of horror tropes all at once. Chas and Zed sat this week out, but this week’s guest made up for it.
This week saw Constantine team up with Ritchie as some college students experimenting with some ideas of alternate planes of existence. There they find a man living in his “dream house” where he brutally kills and resurrects anyone who stumbles in.
By the end, Constantine and Ritchie dive into the house themselves in order to hopefully save even one of the students.
Positives
The dynamic between Constantine and Ritchie was excellent. The constant bickering, the deep knowledge of how the other works, and all the little details made for an excellent team-up. The pairing was one of the best teams the show has had, and I’d love to see Ritchie and John butt heads again down the line.
It was great to finally see Constantine really embracing its horror roots again. Sure, some of the horror tropes this week didn’t really nail it, but they were mostly solid enough for a tv screen outing. I was glad to actually be a little worried and creeped out again.
Negatives
The ending was anti-climatic and strange. The sun beat the killer? It was a bit unclear how he was actually taken down. Also the crucified hero shot with the nails in Constantine’s hands was a little heavy handed for me.
The rules of the house were really unclear. The killer can make versions of people after he kills them, and can make people to hunt. But he also could pull people back if he wanted to. But he really didn’t need to because he could make new versions. And he could be “out-willed” for control of the house.
The Verdict
“A Whole World Out There” wasn’t one of the best outings for Constantine, but even those weeks make good use of character pairs.
