#tho tbh nothing too spoilery??? very light spoilers

[joanofarchetype]

liveblog of the swamp thing pilot under the cut !!!!!!

Let me say that they gave Abby a solid introduction. It really tells us who she is not only in terms of her skillset (speaks French, high emotional intelligence as well as all the books smarts associated with CDC training) but it tells us how she wields her authority and that she's unorthodox and willing to take at times stupid risks to do the Right Thing.

Also this show very casually gives us a gay Asian CDC doctor in the first ten minutes who appreciates Abby's stupid risks and doesn't throw the rulebook at her, so we see her respected in her field and know she can form attachments

I like how they paid homage to Abby Arcane's classic outfit (red shirt, blue denim) but in the muted toned befitting of a modern paranormal horror, which is their slant for this show.

(That said, while it works for Swamp Thing because...swamp, I would love more idk, colorful horror tv shows? Stuff that's not necessarily bright, but maybe not so desaturated and cool-hued.)

Oh no I love Alec and his dumb cargo shorts

Everybody STOP there is a dog named Garou

He's sCRUFFY

Alec is a NERD he's so excited and also uses corny 80s mystery references?

Have I mentioned before how I'm really really glad Abby is the main character in this show

Sorry but this takes place in the small town of Marais, Louisiana, which I would just like to point out means SWAMP

In some parallel universe there's a sultry series of pulpy mystery paperbacks called The Thing from Marais

I can't get over Alec's fUCKING CARGO SHORTS AND FLIP-FLOPS???

Wow I love me a man who is brave even in cargo shorts — although one might argue that the act of wearing cargo shorts in 2019 is, in and of itself, quite brave.

Getting flashbacks to Children of Men tho with the flip-flops

Liz Tremayne is a black woman and I'm getting strong sapphic vibes

Virginia Madsen truly is at her best when she's playing antagonists, Witches of East End proved this

Not a spoiler btw, you knew the moment she was cast she wasn't gonna be playing nice with Abby

Crystal Reed is so incredible at emoting through restraint. Saw that in Teen Wolf and it's why I was so excited that she'd been cast as Abby Arcane. Didn't dream they'd give us this much Acting in the pilot tho

Sidenote I have to say I am genuinely verklempt over the elements of southern gothic utilized correctly? Like the aesthetic is perfect but they're already setting up the sociological elements like poverty, ecological exploitation & my guess is there's going to be some strong parallels to Cancer Alley in the works. And then this show gets genuinely GROSS which is my other favorite thing about southern gothic and Swamp Thing in general, and it's something DCU has shied away from in the past. One of the reasons I firmly believe Constantine on NBC got cancelled despite its perfect casting with Matt Ryan is it pulled its punches and gave us too much filler. It was at its absolute best when it just WENT for it, balls to the wall. Swamp Thing's pacing is great. This is a good pilot.

OH MY GOD

idk why my bitch ass is surprised I knew what I was getting into

GOD I love the elements of ritual sacrifice inherent in this mythos and how they're being extremely explicit with them. It's foreshadowed so perfectly early on.

it's already setting up all the themes of small town poverty and how that gets exploited first and foremost thru ecology? like the relationship to the earth itself as metaphor, which is very apropos for any exploration of sacrifice along the lines of James Frazer’s The Golden Bough.

i'm getting the sense there's gonna be a lot of parallels to Cancer Alley which is GOOD because it’s a problem and we need to talk about it put it in all the tv shows make the issue inescapable so ppl are aware and we confront the fuck out of it and every instance of corporations poisoning the water supply and getting off scot free (i.e. Flint)

it makes me think of the Zora Neale Hurston quote, “Real gods require blood.”

i also did NOT expect to be so quickly invested in their relationship, but they're both so well acted and they made their quick bonding moments realistic with even minimal dialogue/exposition and tbh alec is just so charming

Verdict: WATCH SWAMP THING