Constantine Episode 1.02 The Darkness Beneath

A quick inspection of the scry map reveals a fresh drop of blood over the small Welsh mining town of Heddwich, Pennsylvania. This could only mean one thing - it's worth a visit from the world's preeminent demonologist. So John bids adieu to Chas and journeys to Heddwich, where the town mourns the latest in a string of strange deaths, each one linked to the local coal mine. The most recent victim, Lannis, died in the shower - flash fried after black slurry spewed out of the showerhead and erupted in flames.

On his way to investigate, John bumps into a woman carrying a charcoal sketch... of him. He keeps his cool despite her immediate fascination with his existence (she claims he appears to her in visions) and manages to slip away without her following him. The odd encounter aside, he interviews a string of coal miners who all complain of an incessant "knocking" in the mines - a complaint he confirms when he makes a solo trip to the mine and barely escapes with his life. He knows this for sure: whatever's in there is a not-so-natural disaster.

John poses as a reporter to gain access to the funeral reception and chat up Lannis' widow, Beth, an odd woman strangely disaffected by her loss. While she describes her sad-sack history of squelched dreams as a young Romani girl, John steals a sample of the slurry from the showerhead. Before he can sneak away, Beth makes a flirtatious move on him. John kindly declines, and she immediately turns on him - tossing him out of the house and into a scuffle outside with the mine boss.

Nursing a sore jaw from the boss' right hook, John heads back to his hotel to find another surprise - the artist from earlier. Her intrusion comes honestly (she lifted his wallet), and he finally learns her name: Zed Martin. She again explains how she receives uncontrollable visions, sometimes accompanied by feelings. John remains skeptical - until she grips his arm and channels the guilt and private pain that consumes him. Johns nails her condition as clairsentient and tests it by placing the stolen slurry in her hands - Zed sees the vision of a cross, Lannis' shower and intense fire. She screams, overwhelmed by the pain, but before she can recover, John again sneaks out...

...and passes the cross from her dream on his way into a church. Inside, he casts a spell and pours water over his head, summoning the demon - and it works, for a brief, frightening moment, solidifying a presence in the town. Later, he surprises Zed by breaking into her apartment and sleeping on the couch. This time, he vets her with a requisite set of pointed questions. He knows what she's running from, does she? He warns her that the things in her paintings - they're real. And they're not afraid of a charcoal pencil. Amazingly, Zed remains unfazed. Looks like they're a team.

A mine collapse siren interrupts them and sends the pair to the quarry, where workers sprint out in fear. John zeroes in on a manager, one of the men involved in the earlier scuffle, and confronts him in an SUV. He pressures the manager to close the mine - as long as it stays open, this demon will continue to take lives. But before their discussion can progress, the car fills with slurry, locks from the inside and hands thrust from below - and pulls the manager under. John struggles to stay above the rising slurry - saved only by Zed, who cracks the door open from the outside. For the manager, however, it's too late.

The experience confirms it for John - these are Coblynau, spirits of dead miners. Normally protective and passive, Coblynau knock on quarry walls to warn of danger. Although their presence could be due to the Rising Darkness, John senses a human touch. Someone must be conjuring them.

He and Zed crash an emergency town meeting, and she remembers a barfly (and former priest) named Ellis who left the church after his son died in the mine. Could he be after revenge? John helps Zed channel Ellis using his regular bar stool, and it leads to Ellis' campground - but he's not the cause. Ellis points out that all the deaths above ground weren't miners. They were the bosses. And there's only one boss left.

They race back to the quarry just in time to catch the Coblynau mid-strangle on the coal boss. Unfortunately, even after sending the demons away, the boss dies. John decides on the only solution left. With Zed and Ellis' help, John loads the mine full of dynamite and blasts it closed to prevent any more deaths - but what about the human conjurer?

John stops by Beth's house - Lannis' widow - and announces that he knows she conjured the Coblynau. Her history as a Romani gypsy should have tipped him off. She conjures the Coblynau and instructs them to attack - except John redirects them and conjures Lannis' own spirit to drag her into the earth.

Exhausted, he returns to his hotel to find Zed, once again, in his room. He levels with her, warning her how people who trust him tend to die off. Zed, though, after months of seeing visions of John, refuses to walk away. She wants to know how to control her powers - and more about John. As for John, he lets her know the only thing he wants...

Sleep.