The Darkness Beneath

"The Darkness Beneath"
Information
Episode number	2 of 13
Original airdate	October 31, 2014
Written by	Rockne S. O'Bannon
Directed by	Steve Shill
Chronology
Preceded by	"Non Est Asylum"
Followed by	"The Devil's Vinyl"

"The Darkness Beneath" is the second episode of Constantine. It aired on October 31, 2014.

Synopsis

Deep in the mountains of Western Pennsylvania, John is a small mining community's only defense against an ancient Welsh spirit. In the course of protecting these isolated innocents, John finds a vital new ally in a mysterious young woman named Zed.[src]

Cast

Starring

• Matt Ryan as John Constantine
• Angélica Celaya as Zed Martin
• Charles Halford as Chas Chandler
• Harold Perrineau (credit only)

Guest starring

• Leisha Hailey as Lannis Cadogan's wife
• James Le Gros as Ellis McGee
• Michael McGrady as Thad Bowman
• Cullen Moss as Owen

Co-starring

• Carl Palmer as Lannis Cadogan
• Barrett Carnahan as Nathan Bowman
• Rich Williams as Bartender Charlie
• Jackson Beals as Miner Ed
• Dakota Hood as Girlfriend
• Bob Jennings as Coblynau

Plot

Zed Martin.

In the small town of Heddwich, Pennsylvania, a Cadogan miner returned home after a hard day's work. In the kitchen, he found his wife preparing a meal for him, asking him to go wash up. The man wasn't going to listen to her at first, taking all his anger at the work out on the woman, but eventually he did. Mud began to fly from the tap during the shower, and the confused Lannis didn't know what had happened. Looking at the pipes, he heard a strange noise as suddenly fire sprang out of the pipes, burning the miner alive. Meanwhile, in Atlanta, John was waiting for Chas at the mill. The man was impatient, but his friend replied that he had to do a double shift and it paid off by handing him an envelope with money. Constantine quipped that Capnomy was not magic, then said he was going to Heddwich to sort out a mysterious and mystical problem there. Chas, however, reminded his friend how his last journey on a freight train with a derailed Succubus had ended. With that, John left, leaving Chandler alone.

Upon arrival, John watched the Cadogan funeral convoy pass through the city. Meanwhile, a girl has finished painting another picture of Constantine, wondering who he is. Upset with ignorance, she left the apartment, but after a while she accidentally ran into it. She quickly realized that this was the man she was dreaming about. The girl tried to find out who he was from him. The latter, however, tricked the conversation and then disappeared.

Sunbelt Rentals.

Before that, Martin took his wallet and reads his driver's license who he is. Constantine traveled to the deceased miner's house where a funeral was held. Wanting to investigate the matter, he entered the enclosed area of ​​the house and looked at the shower. After a while, however, he was noticed by the wife of the deceased, a gypsy who told John a short story about her husband. When she started flirting with him and he refused, she panicked. The same man became interested in several other miners gathered, who started a fight. After this fact, Constantine returned to his hotel apartment, where he found Martin.

The girl found his trail with the wallet stolen from the exorcist. She tried again to explain that she was only looking for answers. The man, seeing that she was empathetic, agreed to help her and tried to show her how to control her visions. In fact, he used it to solve the mystery of Heddwich. Then, taking advantage of her inattention, he left the hotel and went to the church she had indicated, where, after performing a special ritual, he saw Coblynau. After that, Martin went home and waited for her to return. When Zed returned from the bar, nervous, she ordered him to leave, but the latter offered to cooperate, noting that Zed's valuable skills would be terribly useful to him. The conversation was interrupted by the sound of a mine alarm signal, to which they both went. Before entering, they split up in the crowd, and John went to the car of one of the employees who, terrified, tried to escape. After a short conversation, the car jammed and the interior began to fill with mud. John, however, was saved thanks to Martin's swift intervention that found him. Then they both returned to town with new facts about the still dying miners. They also realized that it was not the pastor's responsibility, but someone else's responsibility.

Lannis Cadogan's wife.

Meanwhile, Thad Bowman and his son entered the mine and were attacked by Coblynau. It was too late for the owner of the company, but Constantine and Zed saved the young man by blowing up the mines. Before Martin had brought Ellis to press the button, thus being able to avenge her son. After that, Constantine went to deal with the town's main problem, which was the wife of a gypsy of one of the miners, who summoned Coblynau with her magic. Several of them gave the order to murder John, but he timely summoned Coblynau to her husband, who took the woman underground, leaving her fate unknown, while also indirectly saving the exorcist. Back at the hotel, Zed was waiting for the man in his apartment. The girl revealed that she would not give up, thus joining Constantine's team.

Trivia

Zed's paintings, including one of a four-headed creature.

• Seen among Zed Martin's drawings of her dreams about John Constantine are an original comic book design of Mnemoth and a four-headed creature, known in the comics as Ironfist the Avenger.
• This episode marks the first time that a main cast member was not present for the episode. The cast members not present were Harold Perrineau (Manny) and Lucy Griffiths (Liv Aberdine). This leaves only one cast member to appear in every episode: Matt Ryan (John Constantine).
• Capnomancy (otherwise known as Libanomancy) signifies a method of divination using smoke. Constantine uses this method to predict lottery numbers and procure money.
• At the end of the episode, Zed tells Constantine, "I've been waiting for you and you found me. I don't know what I've been waiting for and you don't know what you've found." This is a straight lift of dialogue from Hellblazer issue #4 Waiting for the Man where Constantine chats up a young psychic graffiti artist named Zed.

Goofs

• Constantine's driver's license on line 5 gives his number as "CONST6610-1-ABFC121-1". This is not a correct UK driving license number, which should consist of the first 5 letters of his surname and then his date of birth jumbled, followed by the first 2 initials of his first name (if only 1 initial the second will be a 9), then computer check digits (in case there is someone else with the same name and date of birth), then a space and the issue number. There are no "-" in the driving license number and the only space is between the driver number and the issue number. In reality, Constantine's license number would likely be "CONST805102J99AB 35".
• To distract the security at the mine, Constantine uses a nearby backhoe loader, dumping the rocks on its bucket. However, the lever he uses to do so is handbreak, not an attachment control lever.