Swamp Thing: Darkness on the Edge of Town

SWAMP THING goes full environmental horror in ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town’ when a mysterious illness starts to go spreading around by scratch contact. It all started when Todd goes exploring in Ochee Forks in search of new ground to exploit in the swamp. A corpse falls on him when he tries to cut down a tree. The corpse accidentally bites him, and upon his return to Marais, he starts seeing his greatest fear. In his case, it’s snakes. Todd ends up dead with his self-inflicted wounds to kill the snake around his arm, but not before he scratches Delroy, Lizzy’s father, thus transferring the ‘darkness’ (as Swamp Thing calls it) to him. Fortunately, Swamp Thing gives a solution to this new virus, and suggests to Abby that it has to be returned to the swamp. How does Abby return it to the swamp? She gets scratched by Lucilia Cable who was the latest victim of the transfer. Abby rushes back to Ochee Forks in the swamp to return the ‘darkness’ to its original host. Though, she experiences her own darkest fear first before Swamp Thing steps in to finally get rid of the virus.

One other thing occurs with Abby’s interaction with Swamp Thing this episode. She is able to get a sample of Alec’s body tissue for examination. Abby takes it back to Marais to examine and possibly explain in order to cure Alec’s current state. With the help of Dr. Jason Woodrue, Abby finds out that the tissue sample is plant tissue, but it’s organized like animal tissue. Dr. Woodrue swears to make a further analysis without informing his employer, Avery Sunderland.

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There is another continuing mystery of SWAMP THING explored in this episode, and it revolves around Daniel Cassidy‘s presence in Marais. In his conversation with Madame Xanadu, we find out that Danny has been in Marais for eight years because of some bargain he made. He now believes that part of the bargain involves Abby Arcane’s safety. That bargain of Danny’s is bugging me a bit. Could this have something to do with an eventual appearance of the Blue Devil we know and love in the comics? In the comics, Danny is connected to demonic forces that result in his alter ego, Blue Devil. Could this be a variation of his origin that would result in the coming of Blue Devil? I’m getting goose bumps just thinking about it.

Image is not mine and used for review purposes under the conditions of free use.

Finally, we have Avery plotting something nefarious while he is manipulating Maria’s emotions. Maria appears to have gotten attached to Susie Coyle, patient zero of the initial virus that was spreading. At episode’s end, Avery has paid Lee Coyle, Susie’s uncle, for Susie to stay at the Sunderland home. Maria doesn’t know anything about this. And, it appears that Avery is using both of them for his own ends. Of course, Avery doesn’t know that Maria is also in contact with their daughter-in-creepy-form, so this is shaping to be a very interesting plot point of the series.

‘Darkness on the Edge of Town’ is reminiscent of those environmental stories that show us what happens when we invade nature’s sanctuary. We inevitably release unknown threats because of the invasion. This episode is just an extreme interpretation of that moral, and it’s a scary one to behold. There are many downsides to continued exploitation of our natural resources, and here SWAMP THING shows us the horrific consequences. In the end, going back to nature is the cure, and this episode emphasizes the importance of doing so.†