“Okay, full transparency: before going into this, I had zero knowledge of Swamp Thing other than he was a DC comics character and was supposed to be in that canceled Justice League Dark film. I also knew James Wan was attached to this project and it was going to be a DC streaming service exclusive. That’s pretty much it. And what did I think of the pilot of SWAMP THING, as someone was base knowledge of the character? I liked it! It’s not spectacular or anything, but it’s a solid start for what has the potential to be a cool series. That’s mainly due to one thing, an ace up SWAMP THING’s sleeve that no other superhero show has ever done before: horror. Here’s the scoop on SWAMP THING (pilot).

The episode opens with a chill, a scary situation. Three rednecks drive a boat on a swamp in Houma, Louisiana in the dead of night. I think you can probably guess what ensues, but let’s say something happens to them that stops their trip early. However, the main point I wanted to bring up here isn’t really what happens, but how. This cold open doesn’t feel like a comic book show at all, it feels like something out of American Horror Story. Yeah, okay, it isn’t precisely top-tier, high-brow horror, but it does the job. It’s like an excellent horror film that you might watch on a Saturday night. Nothing spectacular, but it conclusively establishes SWAMP THING as something unique within the world of DC. And, of course, since this is a DC Universe (streaming service) show, there’s a hell of a lot of swearing and mature language… *cough* F— Batman *cough*. But as has been said before, the show isn’t connected to TITANS or DOOM PATROL, so I’m hoping it establishes a different visual palette than those.

While the show opens with a horror sequence, for the most part, the pilot is focused on establishing the town of Houma and the characters that live within it rather than the scares. But when the frights do come, they work. Funnily, SWAMP THING has a lot in common with shows like SHARP OBJECTS and CASTLE ROCK whereby an inhabitant of an old town comes back after decades away and sees how much it has/hasn’t changed. Meet Abby Arcane, a CDC medical agent who returns to, you guessed it, Houma after decades away to investigate the outbreak of a new infection that is taking over the town. Along with her investigation, we meet a bunch of characters. Most notably Alec Holland, a person who is also drawn to the swamp virus for reasons I won’t get into… There’s also Abby’s friend in the CDC, Harlan; the wealthy family Mr. and Mrs. Sunderland, who have a complicated history with Abby; and a police officer, Matt Cable, among many others. All of them are solid characters, though nothing incredibly deep, they do the job. I particularly liked Abby’s relationship with Mrs. Sunderland, who still holds resentment for Abby after what she did to their family decades ago. It’s one of the highlights of this episode.

Anyway, back to the crux of the story: the infection. It is seriously gross. It’s vomit-inducing gross. It’s described as causing plant growth inside of people that create their bodies to be mutilated and mixed with plant matter to produce a hybrid of grossness. And I guess that’s part of why SWAMP THING feels so unique. There aren’t that many ‘scares’ in the pilot, but there’s a hell of a lot of weird, creepy s***! There are plenty of body-horror visuals that are perhaps even more desired than traditional horror elements. The world of SWAMP THING is what is established in this pilot, and it’s spooky.

Strangely, or perhaps thankfully, the character of Swamp Thing itself doesn’t indeed appear much at all in this episode. He’s more of a figure causing havoc behind-the-scenes and throwing the narrative into motion. The show is far more focused on the human characters than the monster. Since I am unfamiliar with the source material, maybe that’s what Swamp Thing is all about, but I always assumed the stories followed the big monster as he did vigilante duties. It is evident by the end of the pilot, however, that Swamp Thing will undoubtedly play a more significant, direct role moving forward.

I don’t know who will end up directing the pilot of SWAMP THING, but I hope DC captures someone with experience in the horror genre. James Wan is already Executive Producing; perhaps he can help out… Regardless, I also hope that DC establishes a different aesthetic for SWAMP THING than TITANS and DOOM PATROL. It needs to be its own thing, and I think they understand that. Give it the budget it deserves, and for the love of God, please don’t put a weird, early-2000s emo song in the trailer.“