NBC’s Constantine May Be in Danger

The bad news: NBC is halting production after its original 13-episode order for Constantine. The good news: the show is still in the running for a second season.

Constantine had a modest start in its first few weeks. While its debut was successful enough, its performance over the next few episodes wavered back and forth. The 10PM Friday time slot has been receiving some of the blame for the show not achieving the ratings of its fellow DC-based series like The Flash and Gotham. However, this past week’s episode saw the show increase 38% over the previous week and hit its highest ratings since the premiere. This glimmer of promise may be what’s keeping Constantine contending for a second season.

While the first three episodes were still finding their footing, the most recent two have really hit their mark. “A Feast of Friends” featured a story pulled straight from the comics, as Constantine’s old friend Gary “Gaz” Lester comes to him for help in dealing with an insatiable hunger demon, and John’s infamously questionable tactics and morality come into play.

This week’s episode “Danse Vaudou” saw the return of Papa Midnite as he and Constantine were forced to team up against a greater force. We were also introduced to Jim Corrigan, a familiar face to comic book fans who know him as the future Spectre. This episode won my favour by using both Hellblazer references and real life urban myths, as well as by finally giving more substance to its supporting characters Chas and Zed.

At this point, the show seems to have settled in its ‘rising darkness’ plot, and if this episode is any indication of future ones we can look forward to an excellent run. To me, this is no different than the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. situation we experienced last year. It had a bit of a slow start, but about halfway through the first season it started to pick up, and now everyone who gave up on it is scrambling to catch up to an amazing season two.

This article was written for publication on the GCE by Alanna Smith