Swamp Thing – Loose Ends

By starrymag | December 29, 2020

By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell

 

 

We open with Abby (Crystal Reed) and the creature (Derek Mears) at the swamp and the creature clutching Alec Holland’s skeleton. Abby tells him he’s sorry for what’s happened to him, but the creature tells him he was never Alec – he’s just a blurred copy of his consciousness. Abby tries to convince him that everything inside him is Alec as he has his memories and mind. The creature says he’s only stolen memories from a dead man. The creature says that all we wanted was to be human again. Abby wanted to help him, but if all that’s left of Alec is his consciousness there might be nothing left to cure. They’re interrupted by the green telling the creature they’ve got company. The men working for Avery (Will Patton) and Nathan Ellery (Michael Beach) have returned and they want revenge. The creature tells Abby to leave, but she makes him promise not to let them hurt him. He agrees and they part ways.

 

At the Woodrue residence there is good news and bad news. The good news is Caroline (Selena Anduze) isn’t dead after all. The bad news is that the overdose she took may have paralyzed her. The worse news is Jason (Kevin Durand) is duct taping her to a chair and behaving as if this is a perfectly normal thing to do. He’s promising they won’t be disturbed. Caroline, of course, can’t really respond.

 

Liz (Maria Sten) and Abby talk about recent events. Abby feels like she failed Alec. Liz tries to reassure her that she did everything she could for him. Also, she’s got news about her investigation: Avery had Maria (Virginia Madsen) committed. Abby doesn’t believe that Avery did this out of genuine concern and thinks Maria knows something about the men storming the swamp. She has to go talk to her, but Liz points out Maria might not want to chat. Abby says she’ll have no choice and leaves.

 

Jason tries to reassure Caroline that she’s okay. You know, aside from him having her tied to a chair. The overdose she took caused something called locked-in syndrome. It means her muscles are essentially frozen, which is why she can’t move or speak. But no worries, even though Jason couldn’t finish his experiment he kept the plant lungs. He’s going to save Caroline.

 

Avery goes to meet with Nathan Ellery and tells him his instincts are saying to keep Alec alive or his project doomed. This angers Nathan and he slams Avery into a truck. He says Avery’s instincts got half of his men killed. Avery reminds Nathan that they had a deal. Nathan says they never actually closed it. He then tells Avery he knows all about his ordeal with Lucilia. Avery says they can’t cut him out. Nathan says they might not have to with the way Lucilia has it in for him. He tells Avery to get his house in order and they’ll talk.

 

Lucilia (Jennifer Beals) races to Matt’s (Henderson Wade) side at the hospital. He didn’t die, but he was injured enough to need to stay in the hospital overnight. The doctor (Jennifer Gatti) privately tells Lucilia she suspects that Matt was drunk driving, but as a favor she won’t report it. Lucilia thanks her for her discretion.

 

Liz goes to see Daniel (Ian Ziering). She’s confused at Daniel’s scattered state and his hurried packing. Liz wants to thank Daniel for saving her and Abby, but she’s a little confused. He tries to explain the Blue Devil was more than just a character, but Liz doesn’t entirely follow. Daniel says that Abby is special and was his purpose for staying in Marais. Now, he’s out of reasons to stay. He’s leaving town to find his own destiny. With that said, he thanks Liz and asks her to look after things for him. He drives to the edge of town and remembers all the times he failed to leave. But this time he’s able to drive past the exit.

 

Maria is having a rough time of it in the asylum. She hears voices and her rant about how Avery should be in her place is interrupted by Madame Xanadu (Jeryl Prescott). Maria wonders what she is doing here. Madame Xanadu says she could hear how much pain she was in so she came to help. Maria asks her to make it stop. Madame Xanadu says she can, but the peace she craves can only be found in a place that’s hard to get out of. Maria is okay with that.

 

At the swamp Nathan and company are searching for Alec. Romero (David Galloway) splits off from the rest of the gang briefly, but unfortunately for him he’s ambushed by Alec. We cut away as he screams.

 

Abby goes to see Maria, but she’s too late. From her perspective Maria is talking to thin air. Inside Maria’s head she’s been reunited with Shawna (Given Sharp). Abby asks what’s wrong with her. Madame Xanadu says she’s at peace now.

 

Avery is drowning his sorrows at the Roadhouse. He tells Delroy (Al Mitchell) he seems to have run out of friends. Delroy isn’t surprised, but Avery says he’s always been there for the town. So, he shouts to the bar, the town will be there for him. Then, Delroy comments on how jumpy Avery seems. Avery doesn’t explain why…he just asks where Lucilia is. Delroy explains about Matt’s accident and says she’ll be at the hospital at his bedside.

 

Jason is trying to make some sort of substance for Caroline and he plans to test the organisms to find the right combination to free her. At first it seems that she’s going to be the test subject. Instead he ingests the mixture he made. It causes him to convulse and fall to the ground.

 

At the swamp the search continues for Romero. They find him strung up in a tree. At first they run towards him, but then Nathan realizes that Romero is bait. He explains the creature is hunting them. With that said, the veins start attacking the group.

 

Abby arrives at Woodrues’ house and is horrified at the scene she finds. Jason is upright again, but she’s more concerned about Caroline.  She notices the empty bottles and immediately wants to get her to a hospital. Jason insists; however, that this is a private matter. Abby tries to call an ambulance, but Jason knocks the phone out of her hand and says he’s taking care of his wife. They struggle and he throws Abby against the wall. He says he’s the only person who knows what’s best for Caroline.

 

Matt is asleep and Lucilia tells him she’s sorry for everything that’s happened. Then, Avery shocks her out of the moment by saying Matt is a fighter. Avery has a gun and Lucilia does as well. She asks if they can do this away from Matt. They step into the hallway and Avery says he comes in peace. Lucilia is doubtful, but Avery says every son fantasizes about killing his father. It’s a father’s job to forgive him. He tells her that it’s over between him and Maria and they can finally be a family. But stabbing Matt was a dealbreaker for Lucilia…along with blackmailing him into killing Alec Holland. So, it’s a no on the marriage front.

 

Jason is cooking on the stove as if he doesn’t now have two hostages and Abby tries to talk to him scientist to scientist. She asks him to explain what he plans to do with the plants. He says the material he’s harvested can’t be found anywhere else on earth. Abby realizes the materials are from Alec and blasts Jason for torturing him. As far as Jason’s concerned though, there is no him anymore – just a plant with regenerative properties. Regenerative properties that he will use to save his wife. With that said, Jason tries to feed the materials to Caroline. Abby tries to stop him and Jason throws her against a wall and chokes her. Fortunately, the police arrive and taser him. They traced the call she made.

 

The fight at the swamp continues. Nathan thinks they should leave, but Shaw (Jake Busey) wants to stay. He says the creature killed Romero and wants to make it pay. Shaw starts shooting into the forest and is skewered with a very large vine for his efforts. The other men do the same and a few are skewered as well. Alec appears and the remaining men run.

 

The police take Jason away and Liz arrives on the scene. She heard about what was happening on the scanner. Abby explains that Jason lost his mind. Liz says there’s a lot of that going around lately.

 

Matt wakes up and Lucilia promises him everything will be okay.  Matt doesn’t seem so sure. He says he knows that Avery is still alive and was here. Matt is actually glad because now he doesn’t have to live with the guilt of having killed him. Lucilia doesn’t want him to take that burden on. She says she should have been honest with him. She shares that they’ll get through this together. For now he says she should go home. She places a guard by his door and heads out.

 

Once Lucilia is in the car she’s greeted by Avery’s voice in the back seat. He says he loved her and then stabs her through the stomach. He says he’s sorry it had to be this way, but one of them had to die. He takes her to the swamp, places her in the back of the car and then drives it into the water. As Lucilia screams Avery watches the car sink to the bottom of the swamp. He then returns to his own car and coughs up a leaf.

 

Nathan seems to be the last man standing and runs for his life only to be tracked down by Alec. He tells Alec that he could do so much for people, but Alec says that people trapped him like an animal and cut him up. Why would he do anything for people ever again? Nathan says he has a plan. Alec tells him to leave and tell everyone what he’s seen and to stay away. Once Nathan is gone Alec comes face to face with the human (Andy Bean) version of himself. He tells Alec he’s not real, but Alec says they both know that’s not true as he’s only physically dead. Alec Holland’s soul is very much alive. The two Alecs talk and the creature version laments that to men like Nathan he’s just a thing. The human Alec reminds him that they’re a person to Abby. Then, human Alec tells creature Alec that there’s no going back so they have to figure out who to be now.

 

Abby goes to Alec’s old lab and is pleasantly surprised to find them there. They have a much needed talk. Abby tells Alec she cares about him – not just the human him, but the him he is now. She understands this has been hard for him, but she still feels he’s worth knowing. Alec says he thought about going into the swamp and forgetting about everything that made him human, including her, but then he realized he didn’t want to do that. When Abby asks what stopped him, he says he couldn’t handle the prospect of never seeing her again. And he tells her the war is still raging, there’s still danger. Abby promises she’s not going anywhere, so they’ll face it together.

 

Matt goes to the police station and says he’s just there to get his stuff. Due to the unusual darkness and the quiet he assumes that Tyler (Justice Leak) is playing a joke on him. He realizes how serious things are when he sees Tyler’s body on the floor. He grabs his gun and goes deeper into the station to find vines and roots everywhere. Then, he sees Jason who has become a creature like Alec. Except Jason says he doesn’t understand why Alec was so desperate to become human again. We cut away from the sound of gunshots and Matt screams.