The Saint of Last Resorts

"The Saint of Last Resorts"
Information
Episode number	8 of 13
Original airdate	December 12, 2014
Written by	Carly Wray
Directed by	T.J. Scott
Guest stars
Claire van der Boom as Anne Marie Jose Pablo Cantillo as Hugo Lopez David A. Gregory as Eddie Paloma Guzman as Luisa Teresa Yenque as Pia Lopez
Chronology
Preceded by	"Blessed Are the Damned"
Followed by	"The Saint of Last Resorts: Part Two"

"The Saint of Last Resorts" is the eighth and midseason finale episode of Constantine. It aired on December 12, 2014.

Synopsis

An old flame named Anne Marie sends John to battle an ancient, evil goddess that brings him closer to the source of the Rising Darkness.

Plot Summary

At the mill house, Zed creates sketches from a recent string of nightmares. John identifies the monsters in her sketches as Invunche: unstoppable, evil beings, all supposedly extinct. Anne Marie appears to Zed and John as an astral projection, to call in a favor from John. She explains that something inhuman killed a new mother and stole her baby. John agrees to help, but instructs Zed to stay in Atlanta (and specifically inside the mill house). She reluctantly hangs back.

John and Chas arrive at a convent in Mexico and John is surprised to discover that Anne Marie has become a nun. They determine that whatever stole the baby covered its tracks. Local superstition requires the burial of a newborn's placenta, which they use as a link to the baby's soul to determine that the child's still alive. John and Anne Marie head to the site of the placenta burial and discover human fruit growing on a tree. This sign indicates ancient ties to the Garden of Eden, a literal translation of "forbidden fruit." John explains to Hugo, the father and widower, that Eve had sisters who turned down Adam's proposal in favor of serving an eternity in Hell as goddesses. They need to know which sister is behind it.

Another newborn from the convent winds up missing - but it's no coincidence once John recognizes the baby is Hugo's son's. To find out why the killer is targeting Hugo's family, John goes against Anne Marie's advice and summons the evil outside the convent, only for another nun named Luisa to interrupt him. John realizes she is the sister of Eve, and when he calls her by her name, she transforms into a hideous demon before his eyes. She lunges at him and holds him under water - until he stabs her side and she rushes away. Once recovered, John fills in Chas and Anne Marie - that nun was actually Lamashtu, Eve's younger sister. Lamashtu tends to feed on babies, so the fact that Hugo's baby still alive is suspicious.

It turns out that Hugo has Chilean lineage and a connection to La Brujería - ancient, powerful warlocks with magic not even John can match. They were thought dead, but John asserts that La Brujería could be behind the Rising Darkness. To track down the stashed babies, John devices a trap for Lamashtu: a dead chicken disguised as a baby and covered in some of Hugo's blood. Since Lamashtu will recognize John from their run-in earlier, Anne Marie volunteers to make the offering.

But when Lamashtu arrives, Hugo rushes her with a gun - John stops him, stating that shooting Lamashtu will certainly kill Hugo's child. Anne Marie takes the gun and follows John and Chas into the sewer, where Lamashtu escaped. Moments later, they discover the two babies alive in cages - and an enraged Lamashtu. She demands they return the babies, but John seizes the moment and threatens to kill one of the babies himself unless Lamashtu reveals the plan for the Rising Darkness. Lamashtu relents and explains that soon Hell and Earth will become one. Although terrified at this prospect, John keeps his cool - and casts a spell on a medallion that contains the soul of Lamashtu's betrayed friend Pazuzu. In a wild and furious swarm of blue flames, the spell vanquishes the evil sister of Eve.

Meanwhile, in Atlanta, Zed ventures out to purchase some art supplies and encounters Eddie, the model from her art class. He charms her at a bar - until she grazes his hand and sees a vision that suggests Eddie's not who he seems. But rather than run away, she invites him to the mill house - where she blindsides him with an interrogation. In turn, Eddie calls her Mary (her real name?) and mentions that her father wants her back. By the time Zed ties him up, it's too late - Eddie's friends break into the mill house and call her bluff on threatening to kill Eddie... by killing him first.

An intense chase through the mill house ends in one of Eddie's friends falling into a bottomless room. But Zed's not quite so lucky with the other one - he finds her and sedates her with a quick puncture at the neck. She collapses to the ground...

Back in the Mexican sewer, John, Chas and Anne Marie head for the exit - but stop when they hear... crying? Is another baby trapped? A quick investigation reveals it's not a baby - it's an Invunche! Impossible to kill or outrun, Anne Marie resigns to one last option... sacrifice. She shoots John and rushes away with the babies... and he slides to the ground, awaiting his certain fate as the Invunche creeps toward him...

Trivia

• The Invunche first appeared in the 1985 comic Swamp Thing #37, which also featured the first appearance of the character of John Constantine, and which introduced the secret society of the Brujería. Sister Anne-Marie also first appeared as an associate of Constantine's in Swamp Thing #37, though her character in the comic was considerably older.