Season 1, Episode 1:
Non Est Asylum
John Constantine has been having a hard time lately. So much so, in fact, that he's decided to check himself into an insane asylum. Whilst dealing with shock therapy (that he volunteers for), therapists who won't believe him (and vice-versa), and a demon possessing a woman in the art room, he struggles to come to terms with something terrible that happened to Astra, a little girl. It's not her death that troubles him so much as her damnation. As it turns out, John had been showing off while attempting to exorcise her - and in the process, damned her to Hell. He'll be following her due to his role, but not just yet. Trying to forget doesn't come about the way John hopes it will, though - as he finds out, he has work to do...Tropes present in this episode include:
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: In the comics, Richie as the member of Constantine's old crew least affected by what happened to Astra Logue. Here, he's started using marijuana to cope with it and discusses having nightmares.
- Badass Boast: John gets a spectacularly grouchy one:John: I'm a nasty piece of work. Ask anybody!
- Blasphemous Boast: Furcifer gets one. Given that he's a demon, it's not all that surprising.Furcifer: In this place, I'm God!
- Bedlam House: Averted. Any harm done to John by Ravenscar is self-inflicted; not only does John willingly check himself in, he also signs up for shock therapy, and desperately tries to believe his therapist when he's being told that there are no such things as demons. The worst thing that can be said about them is that they could stand to do something about the lighting.John: So you keep telling me! Now make me believe.
- Blessed with Suck: Liv has visions. Unfortunately for her, they're nasty ones.
- Blood Magic: Liv does this to a map, enabling John to track down future threats.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Liv briefly calls out her mother for hiding the fact that her father was alive until last year from her (and for never talking about him).
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: John, upon seeing a possessed patient, can't quite bring himself to walk away. He complains, instead.
- Demonic Possession: Given the subject matter, this naturally happens more than once. The patient that John exorcises, Talia, the security guard...
- Disappeared Dad: Liv was born form a One-Night-Stand Pregnancy and never met her father, although it's revealed that he watched her from afar sometimes.
- Dropped After the Pilot: Liv, due to her unpopular status among critics.
- Dull Surprise: Liv. It contributed greatly to her status as The Scrappy, which resulted in her being Dropped After the Pilot.
- Exact Words: The angel who pops down to speak with Constantine says that John can call him Manny. We have no idea if that's his actual name.
- Good Is Not Nice: John's a Jerkass who has exactly zero issues with callously insulting people around him and blackmailing his old friend, Ritchie.
- He Had a Name: Constantine gets angry when the victim he failed to save is repeatedly refers to as "the girl" by the psychiatrist.Constantine: Astra! Her name was Astra.
- Ignored Epiphany: Liv reacts to her My God, What Have I Done? moment by... promptly bailing and never being heard from again. In her defense, she does leave John the map, which she had used her Blood Magic on.
- It's Not You, It's My Enemies: The reason Liv's father never approached her, fearing drawing her into the life. Richie advises her that this was a valid sentiment, pointing out how people tend to die around Constantine and she still has a chance at a more normal life, causing her to give John the map and leave.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: John's Establishing Character Moment is to grumpily free a young woman from possession, then glibly blame the resulting mess on her.
- MacGuffin: The amulet Liv is given by John.
- Maternal Death? Blame the Child!: John was the receiving end of this from his abusive drunkard of a father.
- Misfortune Cookie: Downplayed; Liv gets a fortune cookie while eating with a coworker, and it's blank. Her second one avoids this, advising her to trust "him", leading her back to Constantine.
- My God, What Have I Done?: More like, "My God, what have I not done?" as Liv indirectly allows the death of a boy by not following up on her map.
- Mythology Gag:
- Demon John pops up as a trick of Furcifer's.
- The shiny helmet Liv picks up in the old mill bears quite the resemblance to one worn by another magic-wielding DC hero.
- Much of Zed's art consists of Hellblazer covers.
- Nervous Wreck: Ritchie is so haunted by what he's seen that he's on multiple prescription drugs in a vain attempt to self-medicate.
- Our Angels Are Different: Manny (mostly) has to possess the bodies of people to talk to John, is a Time Master, and has Supernatural Gold Eyes.
- Play-Along Prisoner: John willingly checked himself into a psychiatric hospital, and easily leaves the building as soon as he has a reason to do so.
- Puppy-Dog Eyes: John, when confronted by the fake Astra.
- Running Gag: John is less than pleased with his business cards saying "Master of the Dark Arts." He's getting new ones made.
- Seers: Liv can see spirits. It's In the Blood; her father could do it, too. Also Zed, but we don't learn that until the next episode.
- Serendipitous Survival: Liv ran into Constantine outside her place of work, and decided to question him about the murder in her apartment. Doing so saved her life, as the demon Furcifer drove a car right into her place of work, and would have killed her if she had been sitting at her desk at the time.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: John realizes that he's been wasting his time in the hospital and bails. Later: Liv does this, upon realizing that she can't handle John's life.
- The Call Knows Where You Live: A minor example; John is thoroughly set on trying to ignore and forget about his experiences, until a fellow patient ends up possessed.John: Oh, bollocks.
- Tell Me About My Father: Liv wants to know about Jasper. Her mother doesn't really want to talk about it, but Chas and John are (slightly) more accommodating.
- You Should Have Died Instead: Ritchie thinks this of John, only it's more that he wishes John had been Dragged Off to Hell instead.
