In Review: Swamp Thing – Drive All Night

Synopsis: Haunted by the ghost of her childhood friend who re-emerges from the swamp, Abby is forced to confront both her past as well as the dark forces playing in Marais.

Review: Virginia Madsen gets a fair bit to do in an episode, which lifts the lid on Abby’s past and reveals why her relationship with Maria Sunderland is strained.

The Story

Alec continues to struggle to come to terms with his new identity as Swamp Thing but gets a little help from a mysterious stranger who is looking to enjoy the Swamps.

Meanwhile back in Marais Maria Sunderland is absolutely thrilled to be looking after young Susie and Avery is more than happy with the fact that she is distracted so he can continue to use her money while banging the sheriff. But Maria’s brief respite from the grief of losing her daughter gets interrupted when the ghost of her daughter possesses young Susie and gets Maria to drive her back to the Swamp.

Realizing that Maria is in danger from the evil spirit of Shawna Sunderland. Madam Xanadu gets Abby to go after her, which leads to Abby having several flashbacks about the day the Swamp took Shawna.

Meanwhile, Avery Sunderland has learned about the sample that Abby got from the Swamp Thing and has ordered his scientist Jason Woodrue to go after it.

The Acting

Virginia Madsen puts in a show-stopping performance as the grief-stricken Maria, who will do just about anything to have her daughter back. The scene toward the end where she is momentarily possessed and attempts to kill Abby was really powerful.

Overall

This for me is the strongest episode to date in terms of the mythology set in and around the swamp. We get a few more clues to what Avery is up too and also see that he most probably has Sheriff Lucilia Cable on side. Given that he has been sleeping with her.

We also get the backstory concerning Abby and her childhood friend Shawna, which explains her connection to the Sunderland’s.

But who is the mysterious man who spoke to Swamp Thing at the start of the episode and how does he line up with everything else that’s been going on?