‘Swamp Thing’ Season 1 Episode 6, ‘The Price You Pay’ Review: Hunted

Swamp Thing is no longer human; at least not physically. Separation from society, riddled with a strange new body and abilities, can quickly drive one insane. In Morais, however, these two things are not the only causes of trouble. After a strange case of possession, the show brings us a different angle of the story: where one forcibly tries to control something no one completely understands.

On Friday’s episode of Swamp Thing, Alec Holland/Swamp Thing (Andy Bean/Derek Mears) defends himself from hunters. Meanwhile, Liz Tremayne (Maria Sten) tends to Daniel Cassidy (Ian Ziering) who fell in a coma. As Avery Sunderland (Will Patton) continues on his shady profit crusade, Jason Woodrue (Kevin Durand) works non-stop for his project’s continued funding.

Mysterious Calling

DC Universe

Initially, Daniel was a stunt man for the movie, ‘Blue Devil.’ However, thanks to Phantom Stranger’s (Macon Blair) intervention, he landed the starring role. Of course, Daniel happily and eagerly accepted the job. Still, the implications did not seem clear to him. Phantom Stranger did mention that he needed someone to stay in Morais in his offer, in exchange for a ‘good word.’ With that said, Daniel then ended up there, an unsuspecting lab rat to Woodrue’s ‘magic potion.’

In all honesty, it did not seem that Daniel’s role in the series had much plot importance at first. His character’s introduction happened in a way that it looked like an easter egg to the fans. As the story progressed, so did Daniel’s involvement in the series. Although in other media, Blue Devil and Swamp Thing have no team-ups. Still, the twist done to his origin story is acceptable. He did make a deal with a mysterious, magical figure, and he did have a suit. The only main difference is that in the show, his purpose seems to lean in towards helping Swamp Thing save Morais from the darkness it faces. Notably, Madame Xanadu (Jeryl Prescott) does calm Daniel by placing her hand on him, so that could as well serve as the demon-related part of Daniel’s transition to Blue Devil.

Protectors

DC Universe

The Cables are in deep trouble with Avery Sunderland. While Lucilia Cable (Jennifer Beals) secretly sleeps with Avery, Matt Cable (Henderson Wade) does a job for Avery to save his mother’s career and reputation. Other than the sex, Lucilia also does favors for Avery. For leverage, Avery has compiled enough evidence to lock Lucilia up if it came to it. Using the same thing, Avery has Matt kill Alec. The Cables argued in the sheriff’s office before a report comes in that sends Matt to the swamp. Reportedly, local hunters got injured by a massive creature, so Matt needed to find the beast.

To Matt’s surprise, Abby was at the swamp when the creature suddenly shows up and grabs him. As if that was not enough, Matt also learns that the beast is Alec. Thankfully, Alec does not recall him as his shooter, but as a person who helped Abby. Regardless of this positive outcome, Matt now lives with the knowledge that the man he was supposed to kill lives, only as a different creature. With that in mind, he closes the door to the Sheriff’s office, telling Lucilia that they need to talk.

Truthseekers

DC Universe

Abby’s unrelenting fearlessness is her greatest strength, but could arguably be her closest chance to danger. She does not think twice about confronting Avery. Also, Abby does not hesitate to defend Alec from whatever threat that came to him. She has to watch out, however, since influential people are coming after her. For instance, we have Jason, who knows that Abby is not revealing what she knows about the swamp. Avery, on the hand, is starting to lose his tolerance for Abby’s actions. Lucilia somehow fits into this sphere of threats, since she not only sees Abby as a threat to her son, but she will undoubtedly kill anyone who seems like a threat to him.

Self-Defense

DC Universe

At the beginning of the episode, supposedly expert hunters Mike (Scott Deckert) and Fraser (Laurie Fortier) Landry head to the swamp on a contract. They did not know it yet, but they picked a wrong time and creature to hunt. The poor hunters leave with nothing but gory injuries afforded to them by Swamp Thing, in exchange for their tranquilizers and bullets. When someone shows up with a gun the second time around, Swamp Thing does not hesitate to pin Matt to a tree and disarm him. Luckily, Matt was not there to hurt him, at least after Abby explains what happened to him.

Alec truly has no one besides Abby. Yes, he has the stories of the trees to study and relive, but he is still human in some aspects, hence his need for social interaction. Also, the weight of carrying the trees’ stories in his mind must be quite unbearable, given the town’s dark history. For some reason, however, the episode ends with Alec creating a flower that suddenly changes him to his human form and transports both him and Abby somewhere else. Explicitly, one can infer that it is a hallucinogen/ability of some sort, but it is good that we get to see more of Abby and Alec’s romance. After all, that is something the show decided to delay developing up until this point.

‘Swamp Thing’ Season 1, Episode 6 ‘The Price We Pay’ Final Verdict

It is starting to feel like the show is banking on a superhero team-up of some sort. Daniel almost turned into his Blue Devil form while Alec continues talking about darkness approaching Morais. Also, it is essential to note that Phantom Stranger has a part in bringing both Swamp Thing and Blue Devil to Morais as well. Since both characters are magical, it is safe to speculate that Swamp Thing will deliver a menacing, magical antagonist to oppose the heroes-to-be.

Swamp Thing continues Friday, July 12th at the DC Streaming Service.