Swamp Thing Rises in Pilot Episode(Spoilers)

Dr. Abby Arcane of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Epidemic Intelligence Service returns to her hometown of Marais, Louisiana from the Congo to discover the cause of a virus now spreading across the town. There she meets Alec Holland, a disgraced biologist, and together they seek to discover the mysteries of the new virus from the surrounding swamp lands. This is how the first episode of SWAMP THING presents itself. It’s a ‘Columbo’ mystery as Alec Holland puts it. It’s also a Vertigo-esque comic book environmental horror story reminiscent of both the Len Wein and Alan Moore comic book runs.

Coming after both the TITANS and DOOM PATROL series on DC Universe, SWAMP THING presents itself in a different light from those two successful comic book iterations. This is dark fantasy horror that is not covered by the previous two series. It has a personality of its own, and this is gearing up to be another hit for DC Universe.

At their first meeting, you can already see the chemistry between Abby and Alec. The tragedy that besets Marais has brought them close together. Before they can get any closer, Alec gets shot and killed while retrieving the accelerant from the swamp that is the cause of the virus spreading in Marais. Thus we have here the origin story of Swamp Thing. Alec rises from the swamp after being shot and is transformed to this plant-like creature. Abby clearly doesn’t recognize him, and runs away in fear from Alec at first seeing him in his new guise.

I’m sure in succeeding episodes we will see Abby mourning Alec and discovering at some point that Alec is the creature that rises from the swamp. Two mysteries remain though after the pilot. What is the cause of the spreading illness? Who killed Alec Holland? My money is on these two mysteries being linked. I also think that this has something to do with the Sunderlands who are the resident rich and influential family in Marais. Of course, if you are familiar with Swamp Thing comic book mythos, then you know that Avery Sunderland is one of Swampy’s antagonists. Though how this will work out in the series is something that will build a lot of intrigue.

There is are also two other characters of interest for discerning comic book fans. One is Xanadu. In the comics, Madame Xanadu is depicted as a master of divination. I can understand why they would use her in that capacity also in SWAMP THING. The other character is Susie Coyle. Though her name last name is Coyle, there is another Susie in DC comic book lore: Suzy Linden. I’m wondering if they are building Susie to be like Suzy who makes regular appearances in the Black Orchid comic book. She is the patient zero for this new virus that is spreading. And, it appears that she is being focused on in the story a lot. Could we see another plant elemental other than Swamp Thing emerging?

The pilot episode of SWAMP THING is a horror mystery story that places its main characters at the center of finding the answers. This is a totally different animal from TITANS and DOOM PATROL that came before. The focus is on what happens when humanity plays around with natural forces. This gives rise to monsters of man’s own creation. It will be interesting to see where the series takes this premise. For now, revel in the rise of SWAMP THING.