Written by Davita Scarlett & Sneha Koorse
Directed by Tom Wright
Ritchie (to his students): "Suffering is unavoidable. Secondly, you must understand: suffering is caused by craving."
And for something a little different. With Chas and Zed missing from proceedings, John found himself in a new/old partnership of sorts with Ritchie (from the first episode) as the pair of them put old issues to one side to deal with a few murdered college kids and a spectral serial killer and sadist named Jacob Shaw.
This is the second episode in a row to give us a truly menacing guest villain and Shaw was pretty creepy as he killed a bunch of kids and forced them to play by his games in the house of horrors after they foolishly did a spell to cross realms. The results were death for most of them, save a girl named Lily whom both Constantine and Ritchie were actually able to save by the end of the episode.
Technically though, it was Ritchie who largely saved the day - dealing with lingering issues head on and besting Shaw in a rather satisfying manner with Constantine kind of playing more of a supporting role in his own show. Oddly enough, that's not actually a criticism as it worked well within the narrative and it's nice to see him repair another strained friendship this week too.
As for the alternative reality scenes, I have to give some props to the makers on this one. Shaw's house was suitably creepy and the more idyllic nirvana that Ritchie conjured up was pretty beautiful to look at as well. The visuals have been great in past episodes but this week were on extra fine form though.
- While Zed and Chas were absent from this one, Manny did pop up a little bit but again didn't really do much of interest.
- We also got to briefly see Gary Lester and there was a nice narrative on his death with both John and Ritchie.
- There did seem to be a breather from the season long threat as well. I couldn't recall any direct references.
- Is it me or is everyone getting an invite into John's little hideaway nowadays?
Definitely one of the stronger episodes we've had. "A Whole World Out There" mixed things up a little and while I wouldn't want Zed/Chas gone every week, it was nice to see John teamed up with someone else though.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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