Avery Sunderland owns Marais, is the dirtiest player in the game and his empire is crumbling.
That’s not even the best part of “The Price You Pay.”
This episode should be remembered for the Phantom Stranger stealing this show for the second episode in a row. As well as two incredibly shot action scenes of Swamp Thing being hunted like he is an ordinary crocodile.
Last week it seemed Daniel Cassidy was going to be a classic victim of wrong place wrong time. This week with via flashback we learn just how he came to Marais and his deal with the devil.
Macon Blair returns as the Phantom Stranger with a new look, this week he resembles a more familiar looking Stranger. It’s Blair’s tone and delivery of his lines, so calming and smooth. Watching him spin what he is selling to Cassidy is a thing of beauty. Allowing Cassidy to play himself, in the end, the Phantom Stanger only had to lead his horse to water. Cassidy was the one who made his choices he just didn’t know it. A flawless interpretation of the character from page to screen as Macon Blair nails this role.
Seeing Cassidy’s backstory unfold was better than I was expecting. Grounding and simplifying Blue Devil while connecting him to the supernatural part of the DCU is a thing of brilliance. One more win for this writing team. The writers of this show know the DCU and I would put their knowledge above any other DC writer’s room. They really know these characters inside and out.
The hunting of Swamp Thing was some of the better action scenes in the series to date. Seeing Swamp Thing using the elements around him is really impressive. He takes down one hunter with what I could best describe is a porcupine bark punch, it was something out straight out of an Injustice video game. The SPFX and creativity are such a bonus in the show. Not once in the few fights Swamp Thing has had has he fought in a similar way. Seeing Derek Mears charging in full costume never gets old whether it is Swamp Thing or Jason he chargers like a bull and it is nothing short of intense.
Swamp Thing and Abby are really wonderful on screen together. Call me mushy but combine this with just seeing Peter and MJ in Spider-Man: Far From Home I can’t get enough of comic book couples. Derek Mears does a great job acting through the suit, those red eyes are so mesmerizing. He and Crystal Reed are really displaying some great chemistry that I’m totally buying. The only thing missing is Abby’s silver flowing hair.
Swamp Thing is really picking up steam. Swamp Thing is now being hunted, the word is getting out, and the wrong people are learning Alec Holland is very much alive. When people find out that Holland is alive and is Swamp Thing it will turn Marais on its head. It’s all coming together and it seems it’s all about to collapse on Avery Sunderland.
We are just beyond the halfway point in season one and Swamp Thing is ramping up the drama as well as the action. “The Price You Pay” is the most balanced episode yet suspense, horror, and mystery.
What else could you ask for? – Peter Verra
GRADE: A
