Swamp Thing – Drive All Night

By starrymag | November 17, 2020

By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell

 

 

The episode opens with Maria (Virginia Madsen) making tea. She’s on the phone with Avery (Will Patton) telling him about how well Susie (Elle Graham) is adjusting and thanking him for the idea to take her in. Avery says it should be him thanking her for agreeing to fund Dr. Woodrue’s research. The phone call is cut short by noises Maria hears coming from upstairs. She assumes Susie’s awake and tells Avery she’s going to check on her.

 

When Maria goes into Susie’s room Susie tells Maria that there was someone standing over her that looked very angry. Maria asks her who it was and Susie responds that it was the girl from the pictures downstairs. Presumably this means Shawna, but considering the girl in question has been dead for over a decade Maria dismisses it as a nightmare and offers to get Susie a warm blanket for comfort. When she returns Susie is gone. She searches and ultimately she goes into the bathroom where she finds a mini flood. Once she reaches the bathtub she pulls out a body she assumes is Susie but instead she finds Shawna (Given Sharp).

 

Shawna accuses Maria of trying to replace her. Maria insists she only ever wanted her. With that says she takes Shawna into her arms. But before the camera cuts away we see that she’s holding Susie with her eyes glazed over.

 

At the swamp we see a flashback of pre-creature Alec (Andy Bean). He’s gathering samples and believes he’s onto something. Whatever it is, he says into the recorder, that he believes it’ll change his life. Technically, he wasn’t wrong. In the present we see Alec (Derek Mears) in his creature form wandering through the swamp. When he touches the water and trees he can see things that have happened there before. Apparently, the swamp is a popular spot to dump a dead body in Marais. He stumbles upon a man in a fishing boat and tries to persuade the him (Macon Blair) to leave, but he doesn’t and isn’t the least bit rattled by Alec’s appearance.

 

Daniel (Ian Ziering) is speeding down the road heading out of Marais. Once he reaches the “Leaving Mairis” sign he stops and gets out of the car. He shouts that he’s held up his end of the bargain and should be allowed to leave. Then, he starts hearing whispers. When he tries to put his hand past the leaving sign his arm catches on fire. Having been given an answer,  Daniel says that he was put in Marais to wait for Abby (Crystal Reed) and he helped her. After the rant he reaches into his trunk and glares at what appears to be a monster costume and says playing the monster wasn’t worth all the grief.

 

On Avery’s end he’s not at a meeting as he said but at a motel with Lucilia (Jennifer Beals). We learn that they were pretty serious before Maria came to town. Lucilia implies that Avery married Maria for her bank account. Also, he’s dodging phone calls from Liz (Maria Sten) and Liz has been calling the Sheriff, too. Liz is pushing for an investigation into Alec Holland’s death. Liz says she’s going to look into it.

 

In the lab Abby is studying the samples she took from Alec. Talking into her recorder she says that the sample cells regenerate at rates that defy the laws of biology. She starts to say that she wonders if she’s dealing with something beyond the scope of science before she’s interrupted by Dr. Woodrue (Kevin Durand). Dr. Woodrue mocks her for thinking there’s something about the sample that can’t be explained by science. However, he wants to know where Abby got the sample. Dr. Woodrue says the cells could be a major discovery and could be used to treat a host of diseases. Abby thinks he’s just interested in the possible glory and tells him the matter is confidential. A phone call from Susie prevents her from having to answer about whether or not the sample is Alec related and she heads over to the Sutherlands at Susie’s request.

 

Delroy (Al Mitchell) goes into the Roadhouse and finds Avery making turtle soup in his kitchen. For obvious reasons he finds the sight confusing. When he asks what he’s doing there Avery reminds him that he owns the property the restaurant is on. This leads to some thinly layered threats and Avery making it clear he wants Delroy to talk to Liz. The reporter in question walks in and tells Avery that bullying her father isn’t going to work. She pointedly questions him about the missing banker and the presumed dead Alec Holland. This leads to an outburst from Avery who says that hypothetically if he was capable of doing what she believes he did it’d be dangerous to get in his way. Liz tells Avery she’s not afraid of him and to stay away from her father.  With that Avery leaves and tells Liz to enjoy the soup.

 

Dr. Woodrue gets a tour of Alec’s old apartment and notices the not so human footprints. He pulls a few twigs from the footprints and puts them in Alec’s microscope. When he sees the cells he says it’s possible that he’s been thinking too small.

 

Back in the swamp the stranger and Alec share another conversation. The stranger says he’s just there to help him understand the things he already knows. He mentions that some of the trees are over a thousand years old and they’ve seen some things. Alec realizes that the trees hold memories and now Alec can see them. Alec doesn’t understand why he’s seeing so much death, but the stranger says the trees are warning him of danger from the past returning. With that said Alec gets a vision of a teenaged Abby (Melissa Collazo) in the water screaming for Shawna.

 

Abby arrives at Sutherland’s house and is greeted by Maria. She’s wary and tells her she doesn’t want to fight and only wants to examine Susie. She hears Susie humming upstairs. The song is “Heaven is a Place on Earth” by Belinda Carlilse. This brings up some memories for Abby, but she’s focused. When she greets Susie she says she’s surprised that Abby came because when people need her she’s never there. She says that the song was her and Abby’s favorite and describes driving with her. She then calls her “Y-Bee.” It seems that when they were kids she and Shawna liked to call each other reversed versions of their names. A possessed Susie tells Abby she won’t let Maria replace her. Abby asks what she wants from her and Shawna’s ghostly form appears saying she wants to see her in the swamp and blames her for her death.

 

Abby goes downstairs and demands to know what Maria did. She accuses her of filling Susie’s head with stories about her friendship with Shawna. But Maria says that Madam Xanadu brought Shawna back and that Shawna warned her that Abby would try to take her away again. Abby is hurt that Maria thinks she wanted Shawna to die and asks if she really hates her that much. Maria doesn’t answer. Instead she tells Abby to leave. Once Abby is gone Shawna in Susie’s body asks Maria to take her to the swamp so they can be together forever.

 

While headed to her car Abby calls child protective services and leaves a message saying there’s a situation they need to discuss. She’s flagged down by Madame Xanadu (Jeryl Prescott) who knows that Shawna’s back and says Susie is in danger. With that said Susie and Maria drive by them presumably headed for the swamp.

 

Lucilia goes to interrogate a man named Remy (William Mark McCullough) about the night Alec’s boat exploded. When she tries to question him about if he saw anything on the docks he’s less than cooperative at first. Unfortunately, things take a turn when Remy implies that Matt (Henderson Wade) might’ve been involved in Alec’s death. Lucilia wants to know who else knows. Remy points a gun at her and demands $50,000 to keep the secret. At first she appears to humor him and then fires several shots into him, saying no one threatens her son.

 

In the car Abby wants to know what Madame Xanadu told Maria. She responds that Maria was in pain and she did what was asked of her, despite knowing it was wrong. Abby doesn’t buy that Shawna has been raised from the dead. Madame Xanadu explains she just opened the door. Abby says she knew Shawna better than anyone and whatever has gotten into Susie isn’t Shawna. Xanadu says darkness and Maria’s pain have twisted her spirit. Also, Abby and Xanadu have history. Abby says she can remember being eight and watching her mother take her advice over the advice of doctors.

 

Once at the swamp Shawna lures Maria into the water and says she’ll come if she really loves her. Apparently, Susie is no longer possessed as she runs to Abby for help. Abby sends her away to call the police and tries to reason with Maria. She apologizes for “killing” Shawna, but this doesn’t go over well. Maria tells her she shouldn’t be sorry and that she should be dead. She then attacks Abby. The two struggle in the water with Maria nearly drowning Abby until Shawna tries to pull Maria into the water. Alec intervenes and carries Maria to the shore where Abby gives her CPR.

 

Abby asks how Alec knew they were there. He says he saw her and then gives her a vision. We flash back to Abby two days before graduation with Shawna fourteen years ago. The girls are driving and blasting “Heaven is a Place on Earth” and Shawna is trying to get Abby to loosen up. It seems to be a tradition for local kids to jump off the bride into the swamp and Abby and Shawna haven’t done it yet. Abby is apprehensive, but Shawna climbs onto the bridge’s rail and tells her she doesn’t have to always be such a good girl. Abby’s unconvinced at first, but then tells Shawna her first and pushes her into the water.

 

When Shawna doesn’t come up Abby gets scared. She jumps in after her and screams for Shawna. Then, Shawna comes up and laughs at her friend. Abby is annoyed, but Shawna wants to enjoy the moment. That is until she feels something grab her leg. Abby thinks that Shawna is just teasing her again, but then she’s pulled into the depths of the water with Abby screaming after her. In the present Abby finally understands what happened. Alec says it was a warning. That is when help arrives.

 

At the Roadhouse Liz is clearly worried about her father in the wake of Avery’s threats, but Delroy insists he can take care of himself. Next to her is Daniel drowning his sorrows. He wants to know if Liz likes living in a small town. Liz explains she went to New York after college, but came home because her father had a health scare and that she just missed the town. Afterwards she heads outside and is approached by two masked assailants armed with crowbars. She tells the men she is unimpressed and fights off one of them. Seeing the commotion Daniel comes over to see if she’s okay, but while his back is turned one of the men hits him over the head. His partner is terrified and says he might’ve killed him and they run.

 

Avery rushes to the hospital to see Maria only to be stopped by Dr. Woodrue. He tells him the sample Abby found is from a living creature. He says if he wants the project to progress he needs to study whatever it is on the table. Avery gives him the name of the best hunter he knows and instructs him to find it.