Constantine S1E4 ‘Feast of Friends’ Review

MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD

This weeks Constantine, ‘A Feast of
Friends’, derived much of it’s content from the source material,
including a trait of John Constantine’s character that may not sit to
easy with viewers, but is as true to the comic book counterpart as it
can be, the willingness to sacrifice others for the greater good.

The episode opens with Gary Lester, an
old friend of John’s with connections to the tragedy at Newcastle,
arriving in the United States. He is stopped at customs and due to an
overzealous customs agent, unleashes a powerful hunger demon into the
world. The entity possesses bodies and consumes food until it wastes
the body away and moves onto another. Lester contacts his old friend
in hopes of righting his mistake and in so opens old wounds from
John’s past, namely Astra and her terrible fate. Constantine somewhat
reluctantly agrees to help as the demon rampages through the city
leaving a trail of bodies in its wake.

‘A Feast of Friends’ in my opinion is
the first episode to really capture the character of Constantine
perfectly. Previous episodes focused on his charming cynicism and
devil may care attitude but here a huge part of what makes
Constantine, Constantine is addressed. Primarily his willingness to
betray others in order to achieve his goals. While he does so for all
the right reasons, the impact of his choice is genuinely felt by the
closing of the episode. It’s a very brave move for the show to go so
dark with its main character so early in the series, and it works.
The trait adds another layer to the character, you understand his
decision, but it is still so harsh that you look at him in a
different light than before. It’s almost as if we are seeing a new
character onscreen, not as admirable than before but far more
interesting. Matt Ryan really sells this part of Constantine and you
believe completely that there is genuine regret there but also a
steely determination to beat the enemy and save the many, and
sacrifice who he needs to to do it.

Lester, played by Jonjo O’Neill, is a
genuinely sympathetic character, who spiraled into a life of
addiction after being traumatized by the events in Newcastle and
began searching for a way to atone for his past mistakes. Sadly the
atonement he is seeking comes in the form of a young man possessed by
the hunger demon and in trying to help he only makes things worse and
his actions lead to his ultimate fate. He is played well, pathetic
but at the same time possessed with an inner dignity, and you really
do feel for him by the episodes end.

Zed is sidelined this week and apart
from a few brief scenes makes little impact. But she fares better
than Chas who is absent from the episode, I feel introducing Chas so
early was a mistake given that he hasn’t done anything really
worthwhile since the Pilot, and even then it was minimal.