Swamp Thing: Five terror takeaways from DC Universe’s Episode 2

Alec puts his new abilities to the test in the second episode of Swamp Thing when a little girl wanders into the swamp and needs his help to escape.

To begin with some sad news, DC Universe has pulled the plug on Swamp Thing. Unfortunately, it appears there was an accounting error that ended with Warner Brothers deciding to cancel the series after only one episode.

Luckily, the rest of the first season will continue to air as planned through the DC Universe app but it is disheartening to know we won’t be getting a second season.

With that said, the second episode has aired and Avery Sunderland is becoming more sinister by the minute. Plus, Susie goes missing from the hospital and Abby is forced to track her down before its too late. Let’s dive into the five biggest takeaways from the episode.

5) Abby and Avery Sunderland have a strange relationship

The difference between how Maria Sunderland greets Abby versus how Avery Sunderland greets Abby is like night and day. Where Maria was all frigidity and threats, Avery invites Abby into his home with a warm hug. He once viewed Abby as a daughter and even apologizes for Maria’s behavior and his reluctance to defend Abby against his wife’s cruelty.

Yet it is clear Abby doesn’t trust Avery, nor should she. He’s not inclined to let her investigate Alec’s old workshop. He claims there is nothing of use to her inside. They partake in a mental chess match with Abby threatening to get a court order but “of course, by then, all that proprietary information might be gone.” Avery Sunderland is a master manipulator and Abby can see right through him. “You always had a way of making a ‘no’ sound like a favor.” She remarks.

I’m guessing we haven’t seen the last of these two together but Abby’s visit unsettles Avery, who doesn’t like the fact the CDC is poking around.

4) Doctor Jason Woodrue is responsible for the mutagen

We get a confirmation in this episode that Avery Sunderland is indeed behind the spreading disease in Marais. He hired Doctor Jason Woodrue to create an accelerant to make the trees grow faster. If the trees grow, they’ll drain the swamp water, which would then lead to more land to develop, more plants to develop, and from the plants would come drugs, cosmetics, and other money-making items.

The problem is, this accelerant is doing something far more sinister. Avery understands the people getting sick could be traced back to them. If that’s the case, he’ll make sure Woodrue (both Woodrues, though I don’t understand what his wife was doing there exactly) go down with him.

3) Something vast and dark is growing in the awful rot of the water

Maria pays a visit to a mysterious woman named Nimue because she believes Shawna is calling out to her from the other side. Nimue puts her hands on Maria’s head and channels through her, she sees something dark and disturbing jump out at her and falls to the ground screaming.

Then Nimue recites something akin to a prophecy, stating there has been a shift in the balance between the light and the dark. Clearly, she recognizes there is something insidious in the swamp waters of Marais. She warns Maria to let go of her daughter but obviously, Maria can’t. Holding on to the pain of her memory is how she keeps Shawna alive, even if it is killing her inside. I wonder if Shawna somehow ties into everything going on with the swamp? Why else would she be calling out to her now?

2) Matt has feelings for Abby

In the entire 14 odd years Matt has known Abby, he’s been carrying a torch for her. His mother, Lucilia Cable, warns him about getting his heart broken. Once everything clears up in town, Abby will leave and return to her life in Atlanta, leaving Matt behind. He claims to realize that but as his mother points out, he wears his heart on his sleeve and will do anything for those he cares about.

I sense there may be something of a love triangle brewing between Abby, Alec, and Matt. Especially because Abby finds one of Alec’s work journals from the day they met and confesses he found her “quite lovely.” They obviously shared a bond, even in their short time together. But so do Matt and Abby.

1) Abby knows that Alec is Swamp Thing

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Susie goes missing from the hospital after having some kind of psychic episode in which it appears she was connected to the swamp and potentially, to Alec. In her haste to get to the point to which she was summoned, she stashes away in Warden Robi’s boat. Unfortunately, he comes in contact with some more of the goons hired to dump accelerant in the water and gets stabbed through the face, brutally, with a fishing hook.

The same man who killed Robi attempts to capture Susie. She makes a run for it. Sensing someone in trouble in the green, Alec awakens as Swamp Thing to protect her. Again, they appear to share a psychic connection. When Matt and Abby arrive to rescue Susie, the little girl tells Abby that his name is Alec.

Visiting Danny to take a look inside of Alec’s room but the cops were already there, in and out in 20 minutes. They took his computer back when he got fired. (DVD store) Alec had a work journal. Dog named Garou. Danny offers to show him the journal entries.

Odds & Ends

• Who is the terrifying girl Abby saw in her nightmare at the beginning of the episode? Was it Shawna?
• Friday the 13th reference: Susie being chased under the dock by the murderer who stabs his knife down through the wood.
• LGBTQ representation: Abby’s friend Liz, the reporter, appears to have a girlfriend!

New episodes of Swamp Thing premiere Fridays on the DC Universe app. Sign up today right here to catch up on the full season.