Season 1, Episode 9:
The Saint Of Last Resorts, Part 2
When we last left John Constantine, he was in a bad way. Shot by Anne-Marie in the side and left for dead, he now resorts to channeling Pazuzu, Lilith's former lover, into himself. Of course, this requires casting away his usual protections, but never mind that! Except Manny does mind, and when the Invunche is scared away, he gives John a What the Hell, Hero?. You see, John never even bothered to ask him for help, and Manny's pretty pissed off that John would resort to letting a powerful and infamous demon possess him without even checking to see if Heaven would help him, first. So, off he pops, and so does John... and unfortunately, John pops off into the middle of gang territory. Pazuzu doesn't like it when his host is threatened, and the next thing John knows, he's killed all of the members of the gang (and disemboweled at least one of them), and is getting arrested by the police.
Whoops.
Tropes present in this episode include:
- As the Good Book Says...: Manny quotes Corinthians as he calls John out.
- Call-Back: The "Make it nice and tight" line comes up again.
- Cliffhanger Copout: Averted! John has to resort to being possessed to escape the Invunche, which has lasting consequences throughout the episode.
- Cutting the Knot: How Chas gets inside the prison — he simply punches a guard.
- Demonic Possession: Invoked by John in order to survive against Pazuzu.
- Determinator: How Zed manages to escape — she never gives up.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Anne-Marie gets John out of prison by projecting an image of herself, topless.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: The "brothers" of the gang members John killed go after him for revenge. It doesn't end well for them.
- The Ghost: Judith, a member of the Newcastle Crew briefly mentioned in this episode and implied to be just as messed up as Richie and Gary. She was originally meant to appear later (and in fact the script for her unfilmed episode is available online) but is reduced to this due to the show being Cut Short.
- Gory Discretion Shot: What John does to the gang members inside the chapels isn't seen, but blood pools out from underneath the door.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: John has this reaction once he's exorcised.
- Large Ham: Pazuzu!John, once he starts talking.
- Moral Myopia: Anne-Marie has the nerve to call John a "selfish wanker" for allowing himself to be possessed... after she shot him. Zed calls her out on this.
- Mushroom Samba: How the group buys time against Pazuzu - by getting John high.
- Shoot the Dog: John wants Chas to do this to him if he runs out of time.
- Swallowed Whole: The British officer who gets swallowed by the man he gave information to, with shades of You Have Outlived Your Usefulness.
- Tears of Blood: What Anne-Marie has in Zed's vision.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Manny tells John off for summoning a demon without even asking him for help, first.
- Zed calls Anne-Marie out for shooting John... and reveals that he's been working with Manny, an angel.
