David Goyer and Daniel Cerone penned the pilot which is being directed by Neil Marshall (The Descent, Game of Thrones). Matt Singer plays the eponymous supernatural investigator; he’s joined by Lucy Griffiths, Harold Perrineau and Charles Hafford.
Shock managed to get its claw on the script for the pilot. While a fun read (it has a bit of a playful edge to it), it’s clear that NBC – the network behind the proposed seris – is eager to get in on Sleepy Hollow‘s success. I think a lot of what makes the Constantine pilot script work is, well, the character himself, yet, story-wise this series will need to do a bit more to separate itself from becoming the aforementioned Fox series or CW’s Supernatural. As long as it maintains focus on John and his personal journey/redemption and doesn’t devolve into “demon of the week” shenanigans, it will find its identity.
Now…things we’ve learned:
- The pilot takes place in and around New York City (which I don’t think has been known about until now).
- When we first find John, we learn he has voluntarily checked himself into a psychiatric clinic. He’s haunted by an incident in which he lost a 9-year-old girl to a demon who has dragged her soul to hell. This incident has a significant impact on his life and it’s hat is driving him. He checks himself out of the hosptial after six months to find something sinister is afoot in the realm of the supernatural.
- John’s a clever wise-ass. His business card reads “Exorcist, Demonologist and Master of the Dark Arts,” but as he tells his doctor, he should replace “master” with “petty dabbler” because he hates to put on airs. He also doesn’t like to talk much about his past; he masks his emotions with wry humor.
- We won’t see John in his classic trenchcoat right away, but he gets there.
- An angel – Manny – has been assigned to John to help ease his soul into damnation. John hates angels.
- Liv Parsons, a young woman who works at a rental car facility, gets caught up in John’s world when she discovers something is after her. Liv’s deceased father, Jasper, knew John and John owes a debt to him.
- Papa Midnite – an imposing Cuban man who can dream the future – is ailing when we first find him. He’s doing a lot of cocaine because he has to stay awake.
- Expect to meet “Chaz,” John’s driver who is a tall, sensitive, quiet type yet is quite knowledgeable about the supernatural himself.
- The pilot is brimming with possessions, ghosts (Liv discovers a way to see the dead) and demons and the story does an adept job at not losing its audience in the mythology. Liv is our conduit to John’s world of rituals, pendants, black magic and more and it handles the exposition well.
- The foundation is set for a long-lasting partnership between Liv and John. Now that she’s aware of the world beyond ours, she wants to use her knowledge to help others. But is John willing to assist her?
