‘Swamp Thing’ Season 1, Episode 2 ‘Worlds Apart’ Review: The Creature

The show goes on despite Swamp Thing‘s cancellation. As the search for the occupant of a sunken boat ensues, the green flu’s patient zero escapes. Meanwhile, the man responsible for the swamp’s plant life acceleration arrives. When they finally find patient zero, the creature reveals itself to a familiar face.

On Friday’s episode of Swamp Thing, Susie Coyle (Elle Graham) has visions that urge her to find the Swamp Thing (Derek Mears). Meanwhile, Abby Arcane (Crystal Reed) tries to gain access to Alec Holland’s (Andy Bean) lab. Because of the green flu, Avery Sunderland (Will Patton) has Jason Woodrue (Kevin Durand) reverse engineer the plant accelerants. In the swamp, Susie meets Swamp Thing and reveals the truth about his identity to Abby.

The Culprits

DC Universe

Avery is responsible for the plant accelerants that Abby and Alec found. He hired Jason and his wife, Caroline Woodrue (Selena Anduze) to create the accelerants. The accelerants, in turn, would turn the local plant life into harvestable raw material for cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. However, the accelerants became the cause of the flu and Avery ordered Jason to fix the problem. Also, he made it clear that Jason and Caroline would be the ones to take the fall should the CDC find the connection between the accelerants and them.

Avery indeed is a businessman. He is the man in town that may technically have a position in the government but is powerful and influential. Morais is one of those towns where the people live simple lives, and there is this one family or individual that has all the fame and fortune. Soon enough, Avery and his wife, Maria Sunderland (Virginia Madsen) are sure to send Morais down in flames. Avery went too far to make a profit, and Maria unleashed a different hell on Morais as she contacted Madame Xanadu (Jeryl Prescott) to talk to her dead daughter, Shawna Sunderland (Given Sharp). Maria somehow brought Shawna back to the world, albeit in a creepy zombie form.

Lovers

DC Universe

The show has an underlying romance theme that will soon affect the story significantly. Side characters like Abby’s old friend, Liz Tremayne (Maria Sten) has a girlfriend, Margaux (Kelly Walker), whom she met when she crashed at Liz’s place. Also, a part of the show makes Matt Cable’s (Henderson Wade) attraction to Abby apparent when his mother, Sheriff Lucilia Cable (Jennifer Beals) warns Matt about his feelings for Abby.

On the other hand, we have Abby discovering Alec’s video journal entries, thanks to Daniel Cassidy (Ian Ziering), the owner of a local hobby shop where Alec made his stay. [Fun Fact: Daniel Cassidy is also Blue Devil, another DC Superhero.] One of Alec’s videos shows him confessing that he found Abby ‘quite lovely.’ Watching the footage made Abby emotional, especially since she liked him, too. At the end of the episode, something happens that would shock Abby— and would probably make her go back to the swamp alone.

Tortured Soul

DC Universe

While under Dr. Harlan Edwards’ (Leonardo Nam) care, Susie has a vision about the creature. The creature aimlessly roamed the swamp, afraid. It did not know what happened to it; neither did it understand it, either. As Dr. Edwards dismissed it as a dream, Susie continued to think about the vision. Eventually, Susie escaped to the swamp to find it. Abby and her team frantically searched for her, just as frantically as she ran away from two men who collected Avery’s Accelerant boxes. In a beautiful, gory sequence, the creature tore the man to shreds with vines that it manipulated.

It remains a mystery how Susie managed to talk to Swamp Thing. He is incapable of speech, at least for now. The connection between Susie and Swamp Thing is apparently due to the green flu, which at first almost threatened to kill her. He does not say a word as Susie goes to Abby; he merely looked at her in anguish. Now that Susie told Abby that the creature is Alec, he has more of a chance to live and understand his new self, given that Abby would wish to help him. She likely will help him despite his gruesome unique appearance.

‘Swamp Thing’ Season 1, Episode 2 ‘Worlds Apart’ Final Verdict

Blue Devil’s easter egg appearance was a sweet treat to the fans, especially after news about Swamp Thing‘s cancellations made many (including myself) feel bad. This episode’s action scenes were also top-notch, revealing Swamp Thing‘s powerful abilities. Much like in the comics, the show works under the premise of having Swamp Thing stand in between the humans and the environment, saving them from each other. At this point, it is safe to say that Alec will have to learn more about himself and the swamp, but in more of a personal level rather than scientific. Luckily, he is sure to have Abby by his side, although others are likely to pull her away from him as well (fricken Matt, probably).

Swamp Thing continues Friday, June 14th at the DC Streaming Service.