Who's watching Constantine (TV Series)? (Review)

Not Constantine, because copyright laws are scary yo!

So when NBC announced they were trying its hand at the comicbook adaptions with Constantine, I was skeptical. Isn't NBC known for Law and Order and Talk Shows? I watched the trailer and cued my Hulu account to update me on new episodes.

Constantine for non-comicbook fan boys is an antihero-magician of the DC universe. A detective of sorts that is too-sly for his own good, because everything he touches bad things seem to happen. He is a conundrum, because he isn't all good and he isn't all bad. Per history, he is a bisexual, chain smoking, foul mouthed demon chaser, unwanted by Heaven and sought by Hell. Aside from watching the movie adaptation with Keanu Reeves and reading the new 52 Dark Justice League, this is all i know of Constantine.

The TV Series: They got the right actor. Matt Ryan is Constantine. Period. He exudes that cockiness with the right amount of character empathy that makes you want to return to watch, and he's British. (Even Keanu couldn't fake that accent). They have the right director, Goyer, who had a hand in some good Comic book adaptations. They have tiny Easter eggs that fanboys like me love (example cameos by Doctor Mist, Papa Midnite, and Felix Faust to name but a few). So how can a supernatural Detective show with some good scares (like Brothers Grimm, but darker) go wrong?

The series may not be renewed for a 2nd season and here are some reasons why:

1) Constantine is fresh out an asylum after a botched exorcism kills a little girl and he is immediately informed by an 'angel' of some raising darkness throwing things out of whack. Great. So why does it become a freak-of-the-week storyline week after week? Every demon, ghost and poltergeist has something to do with this raising darkness, but as the season wears on, they get stuck with cameos and fillers. The pacing just didn't work.

2) Side plots: Constantine has companions on his misadventures, Chas and Zed. These two characters are rather mysterious. I went through five episodes and there has yet to be an explanation as to why these characters are mysterious. Chas appears and reappears out of then air and can come back from the dead like a zombie. Why? Why is Zed lying about her interest in working with Constantine? The writers set these kind of plots high up on a shelf and only address it when they want to. You can't string viewers along for so long (see what i did there, alliteration and rhyming).

3) It has been noted that the episodes have appeared out of sequence, probably because NBC noticed slipping ratings and tried to salvage what it could. If the series was presented as it should've, I believe the right character building tone would've been struck earlier on. Constantine would've been established as an demon-expert-mage exorcist right away and the Zed/raising darkness whatever is happening story line would follow the 'big bad' method of season antagonist. Build the environment first, then introduce the elements at play, not the other way other.

If this series gets offed, its ok. Didn't you hear? CBS is producing a Supergirl series and Daredevil is coming to Netflix. There isn't a lack of comic book movies and shows in 2015.