Constantine Episode 1.10 Quid Pro Quo

At the mill house, John urges Zed not to worry about the cult members who kidnapped her, but she dismisses him - she knows the Resurrection Crusade will find her. This confuses John - nothing ever seems to rattle Zed - until she mentions that the leader of the cult is her father. Before John can press further, they notice the scry map bleeding in New York followed by a dozen reports of unexplained comas. More importantly, New York happens to be the exact location of Chas' weekend with his wife, Renee, and his daughter, Geraldine, and when he arrives he finds the latter lying on the floor in a comatose state.

John and Zed rush to Brooklyn. A quick look at Geraldine's body reveals celestial burn marks, meaning someone separated her soul from her body, the Holy Grail of black magic. Armed with one of Geraldine's dolls, John contacts a trusted medium - but another mage hijacks their séance and uses a powerful spell to burn the medium to a crisp.

John identifies the ancient spell and Zed touches the book, allowing her to identify a hidden railroad yard full of steaming cauldrons and experimental magic... and old nemesis Felix Faust, a lifetime apprentice finally making the jump to chief conductor. He confesses to stealing Geraldine's soul and offers a simple exchange: bring Faust a rogue demon named Karabasan and he will return Geraldine to Chas. In spite of Chas' desire to kill Faust then and there, John agrees. Faust is far too powerful to combat at this stage.

Chas' frustration causes a flashback of him and John drinking at a concert venue, both inebriated and in good spirits. To help protect Chas on his inevitable drive home, John employs a spell from the days of Merlin before he stumbles out of the venue with a lady on his arm. But when errant pyrotechnics from the stage catch fire and burn up Chas and 47 other concertgoers, John's spell seems moot. Except Chas doesn't die - the spell keeps him alive and ingests the remaining souls. In other words, the average cat may have nine lives, but Chas has 47. Not only does this action save Chas' life, but it tightens his bond with the other souls; he believes his duty is to honor each and every one of them.

To lure the elusive demon Karabasan out of hiding, Zed agrees to act as sleeping bait - but the plan backfires when John's lighter fails to spark, and Zed nearly pays the price before an improvised attack using energy dispersion destroys the demon. Unfortunately, Faust maintains that the deal was to send the demon to hell, not destroy him, so he reneges on their agreement and offers new terms.

Chas erupts at the prospect of another deal and, outside the railroad yard, punches John unconscious, vowing to end the charade on his terms. He returns to Faust and offers up all his remaining souls in exchange for Geraldine's. Faust remains incredulous - until Chas proves his mettle by slicing his own throat and dying right in front of Faust.

Back in the hospital, comatose patients arrive in droves as the outbreak worsens in Brooklyn. Zed stays with Renee and an unresponsive Geraldine, and in a touching moment attempts to connect with Geraldine's soul using her psychic abilities - only it results in a burst of pain and Zed drops to the ground. As doctors rush in, Renee discovers a scrap piece of paper with Faust's address...

Chas regenerates and impresses Faust enough to strike up a deal, only when they shake hands to make it official, Chas ties the mage's wrist with unbreakable sinew from Achilles' heel, a tool he snagged from John's bag. Locked together with Faust, Chas pulls the pins from two grenades as both John and Renee run into the railroad yard. John protects Renee from the massive explosion that obliterates Faust and Chas, but she's nonetheless traumatized. While they wait for Chas to regenerate, John fields questions from Renee about her husband's work and emphasizes the many lives Chas has saved - including Geraldine's.

Back at Renee and Geraldine's house, Chas returns to a warmer welcome. He sits down with Geraldine and shows her photos of the souls that he inherited and tells her personal stories about each one. Meanwhile, John visits an exhausted Zed in the hospital and explains she effectively blew a fuse when she channeled the spirit of Geraldine. But before Zed falls back asleep, she mumbles something surprising: a message from John's mother that her death wasn't his fault.