Quid Pro Quo Plot Summary:
Upon his return to New York, Chas (Charles Halford) discovers his daughter has become possessed and is thrust into a coma. He turns to Constantine (Matt Ryan) and Zed (Angélica Celaya) for help. The gang discovers a former lowly mage named Faust (Mark Margolis) is behind all of it — and he will only release the girl’s soul if Constantine does his bidding.
One of the best aspects of last week’s mid-season premiere of Constantine was that the characters of Chas and Zed were fleshed out a lot more than they had all season. In ‘Quid Pro Quo’ we get the full story of Chas – why he can’t die, why he’s such a devoted follower of Constantine and why his marriage is in shambles.
And it’s the right move to make for the series.
For the entire season we have had our full focus on John Constantine with hints at what’s going on with Zed. Chas has always been “that guy” the sidekick who’s always willing to go into danger, get killed, come back and have Constantine’s back 1000%. This is all fine and good, but did we really ever care about Chas? He’s kinda been like Constantine’s loyal golden retriever. He’s got some personality, but outside of being loyal and a fun presence, there hasn’t been much to him. ‘Quid Pro Quo’ not only reveals a lot about Chas, but it makes the audience really care about him.
Charles Halford knocks it out of the park. He brilliantly plays the spectrum of Chas’ emotions and shows us that this cabbie can be just as explosive as Constantine – and just as unpredictable. In fact, one of the big reveals about Chas is that he and Constantine are a lot like. They run into danger without thinking, worrying about the consequences later. Halford really plays up Chas’ imposing nature – remember this is a big, burly dude. It’s something we’ve forgotten about because he’s been such a quiet, soft-spoken character. We forget this guy is a complete bad ass. But he isn’t all fists and foul language, as we see the paternal, emotional side of Chas. Halford is able to channel the self-sacrificing quality every father should possess — the willingness to blow themselves up in order to free their daughter’s soul.
We don’t get a ton of Zed and Constantine, but when we do we get a lot of juicy information that gives us some insight into both of their pasts. If the series continues, the paths that open up could be really interesting threads for the series to explore.
‘Quid Pro Quo’ is another killer installment of Constantine that allows us to further invest in this brilliant supernatural series.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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Bill Bodkin is the Owner, Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of Pop-Break. Most importantly, however, he is the proud father of a beautiful daughter, Sophie. He is beyond excited that Pop-Break will be six years old in 2015 as this site has come a long, long way from the day he launched in it in his bachelor pad at the Jersey Shore. He can be read every Monday for the Happy Mondays Interview Series as well as his weekly reviews on Law & Order: SVU, Mad Men and Hannibal. His goal, once again, is to write 500 stories this year (a goal he accomplished in 2014). He is a graduate of Rutgers University with a degree in Journalism & English. Follow him on Twitter: @PopBreakDotCom
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