At Ravenscar Asylum in Northern England, John Constantine tells the doctors attending him to make sure that the restraint straps are tight. She then puts a protective mouthpiece in Constantine's mouth and administers electrical shock.
Later, Constantine meets with a therapist, Dr. Roger Huntoon. Huntoon figures that Constantine delusional for thinking that demons exist, and Constantine says that the girl he failed to save, Astra, was dragged back to hell. The doctor insists that there are no demons and Constantine slams on the desk and tells him to make him believe that there aren't.
In group therapy, Constantine sits bored as another patient talks about his problems. Constantine notices several cockroaches running out of the room and follows them. There are more cockroaches on the walls and floor, and Constantine follows them up the stairs to the main room. He sees a woman painting and suggests that she stop, and then realizes that she has demon eyes. Constantine starts to go, insisting that it isn't his problem, and then turns and tries to exorcise the demon within the woman. She flies around the room as Constantine performs the exorcism, and he finally throws her to the floor. Constantine finally casts her out of the woman's body and explains what happens. The cockroaches move away from the wall and Constantine realizes that there's a message: "Liv Die." He says that he's been wasting his time and walks out.
In Atlanta, Liv Aberdine and another office worker, Max, are having Chinese takeout at the car rental agency where they work. Liv opens her fortune cookie and discovers that it's blank. Once Max leaves, Liv locks up and goes to her car, unaware that the lights are flickering. As she pulls out, her rear impact detector says that there's something behind her, although the camera shows nothing. Liv gets out and checks the back, but doesn't find anything. The car engine suddenly revs and then goes dead. She tries to start it without success and is forced to start walking. A nearby streetlight goes out and the pavement cracks as something moves toward her, knocking her over. A hole opens in the parking lot and flames burst into the sky. As Liv runs, a taxi pulls up in front of her and Constantine gets out and asks if she's in trouble. He introduces himself and says that he's not the one hunting her. Liv aims a can of pepper spray at him and Constantine says that if she doesn't listen to him then she'll be dead by morning. Constantine gives Liv his card and says that she can reach him when she feels the need.
Constantine descends down into the hole and catches a glimpse of something flying overhead. An angel, Manny, lands behind him and says that he wasn't the one responsible. Manny says that he was ordered to watch over Constantine, and reminds him that he damned a young girl to Hell. He offers to relieve Constantine's suffering, but Constantine says that he can handle a demon attack. Manny says that people can sense that something is on the way, just as police sirens sound in the distance. The angel flies away, leaving Constantine's question unanswered.
Liv calls a friend, Talia, for a ride to her apartment. She admits that Constantine creeped her out as they go inside. Behind them, a man catches the door before it can close. Meanwhile, Liv is going into her apartment and sees the man in the hallway. She goes in while the man draws a knife and puts the blade to the door. Liv opens a fortune cookie and discovers that it has a message saying "Trust me."
The lights in the apartment building flicker as the sigil carved into Liv's door glows with energy. Something bursts into Talia's apartment.
Later, Liv is woken up by a noise in the hallway. She goes out and discovers that the police are taking away Talia's body. As she turns back to her apartment, Liv sees the sigil on her door.
As the ambulance driver leaves with Talia's body, he hears something in the back and goes to investigate. Talia's body starts moving and the driver assumes that she's alive and tries to get her out. The lights go out and when he gets his flashlight working, he sees Talia's body, demon-possessed, as it lunges at him.
The next morning, Liv has the police take her to work. Constantine is outside waiting and she explains that Talia died. He offers her condolences and Liv shows him a photo of the sigil. Constantine explains that it's the Eye of Horus, a symbol of protection. She figures that the man she saw killed Talia. Constantine has the taxi driver get out and introduces him as Chas, his oldest friend... and the man who carved the sigil on Liv's door. When Liv says that she's a nobody, Constantine says that he knew her father, Jasper Winters, and promised to look after Liv. Liv points out that Jasper died before she was born, but Constantine tells her that Jasper only died a year ago. He gives Liv a bag and says that it belonged to him.
As Liv opens the bag, the medical examiner's ambulance drives past them and slams into the car rental building. They go in and Liv realizes that the ambulance hit her desk. Constantine confirms that Talia's body flew through the windshield. He's surprised that the demons are operating in the open, and asks who sent it. The demon shrieks and the electrical lights blow out.
Liv goes to see her mother and asks when Jasper died. Her mother finally says that Jasper was a boy she met at a concert, and he didn't want anything to do with Liv. Liv takes out a pendant that was in the bag, and sees her dead grandmother stroking the mother's hair. The vision screams and bleeds black blood, and Liv runs out. She drives away and finds Constantine on the road ahead of her. She brakes to a halt and asks what is going on, and Constantine says that she's waking up. He takes her hands and everything goes black and white. Liv sees people staring at her and Constantine explains that they're souls, trapped with no way out. A train comes toward them and Constantine refuses to let go of her hands. The train slams into them... and dissipates into nothing.
Liv realizes that it wasn't real, and Constantine explains that it was a ghost train. The pendant focuses her ability, an ability she inherited from Jasper. Rather than explain, Constantine says that they have to get away because the demons are hunting them. In the taxi, Constantine dozes off and Liv asks Chas what happened to her father. He only says that he died bravely, and Constantine cuts him off. Liv wonders if the demons want revenge for something Jasper did, and Constantine says that he doesn't care. The radio blares out and Chas realizes that he can't turn it off. The stoplight ahead shuts off and a truck slams into their taxi.
Constantine finds himself in a black void. Astra is there and Constantine hugs her, saying that the demon that has appeared—Nergal--can't have her. Nergal rips Astra out of Constantine's arms... and he wakes up, thrown clear of the taxi. A cable from a nearby pole comes loose and starts moving on its own, and Constantine compels the demon animating it to go. It drops to the ground and Chas gets Liv out... but the cable impales him from behind.
As Constantine leads Liv away, he says that they have to figure out what demon has marked her for death. She worries about Chas and Constantine tells her that things aren't always as they seem. He leads Liv to a mill house and explains that it belonged to Jasper, and gives Liv the keys. They go to the basement, containing a vast library and Constantine that Jasper stayed there to watch over Liv from a distance. He says that Jasper used the place to perform divinations, and takes out a large tome. Liv notices a map of Atlanta on the wall, and Constantine says that Jasper studied cartography and found trouble spots. He tells Liv to hold the pendant over the map, and then confirms that the demon is Furcifer, which draws its strength from electricity.
Liv's hand starts bleeding and the drops land on the map and move to a location on Edgewood Avenue. She figures that there's trouble there and wants to deal with it, but Constantine says that they need to focus on stopping Furcifer. However, he warns that to do so he'll have to use Liv as bait.
Later, Constantine drives to Ivy University to meet an old friend. Manny—occupying the body of a security guard---finds him. The angel stops time and explains that a demon from the inner circle is hunting Liv. Manny is surprised that Constantine knows so much, and explains that he will use the knowledge that Constantine gathers to save lives. Constantine points out that the angels damned him to hell and doesn't see why he should help. Manny tells him that he should help because he is damned to hell... for the moment. Constantine realizes what he's hinting at, but Manny leaves the security guard's body as time starts up again.
Inside, Constantine meets with Ritchie Simpson, a paranormal researcher. He wants to know what Manny is talking about, and Ritchie finally says that there has been a rash of unexplained phenomena. Constantine wants Ritchie to hack the power grid, but Ritchie refuses. He was at Newscastle with Constantine and can't get a decent night's sleep. Constantine says that the police are still looking for Astra's killer, and that it would be a shame that Ritchie was there. Disgusted, Ritchie says that he wishes Nergal had taken Constantine instead of Astra, and Constantine agrees.
At the bunker, Liv looks up in the mirror and sees the figure of her father there. He moves away while she watches, just as Constantine arrives with groceries. He explains that the mirror shows the past, not spirits, and gives her the clothing he took from her apartment. Chas comes in, shocking Liv, and Constantine merely says that his friend has survival skills. He then says that they're going to fight demons.
That night, Constantine meets with a guard and pays him, claiming that he's going to have sex on the rooftop. He gives him a light bulb with instructions to call him if it glows. They then go to the roof and Constantine paints a demon seal on the floor. He explains that once Furcifer enters the circle to get to Liv, Constantine can control it.
The guard is in his office when the power flickers.
On the roof, Liv asks Constantine where he came from. He finally says that his mother died giving birth to him, and his father blamed him for it. Every night he got drunk and beat Constantine, and Constantine says that he's going to find his mother one day. He taught himself spells and rituals, learning how to conjure dead things... but not his mother yet.
The lights flicker and the guard comes out. They realize that Furcifer has killed the guard and possessed him. Constantine invites Furcifer to come and get Liv, but it stops at the edge of the circle... and walks through. As it stares at Liv, Constantine cuts the power and starts performing an exorcism. The guard's body smokes and collapses... and then stands back up again, wearing Constantine's form of the future. Furcifer says that they will acquire Constantine eventually, and they depend on Constantine to provide them with fresh souls.
Furcifer blasts the fuse box, animating the power lines, and grabs Liv. It gestures to the sky and lightning flashes, and the demon boasts that it is at the heart of a city. Constantine fire a flare gun into the air and on the street below, Ritchie hacks the grid and blacks the city. Constantine lights the edges of the circle and Liv runs out of the circle, leaving Furcifer trapped inside. Astra steps out from behind the demon, begging Constantine to save her, and Furcifer asks if Constantine will fail the girl again. If Constantine releases it then it will free Astra. Constantine tells Liv that he's sorry and then prepares to release Furcifer. However, Liv uses the pendant and determines that Astra is a demon in the girl's form. She warns Constantine, who screams at Furcifer that he's coming for Astra and then he's coming for Nergal. He then exercises Furcifer and the Astra demon, and they disappear in a burst of flame that shoots up into the sky and then disappears.
Constantine collapses to the rooftop, winded. Liv asks if he's okay, and he tells her that his friend will driver her home. After a moment, Liv goes to where Ritchie is waiting. As he drives her home, Ritchie explains that a demon possessed their friend's daughter Astra. Constantine conjured Nergal to take the demon away, but Nergal tore the girl apart. Ritchie advises Liv to stay as far away from Constantine possible.
Ritchie passes the spot on the map that Liv identified earlier, and sees police cars. She gets out and discovers that someone has cut a teenage boy's throat.
Constantine is drinking in a bar when Chas comes in and says that Liz came by the mill house to get her bags, and left off the pendant before going to stay with a cousin in California. He warns Constantine that Liv isn't coming back and wonders if she'll be safe. Constantine assures his friend that he can put a cloaking spell on her, and Chas shows him the map. Liv divined numerous trouble spots and figures that Constantine should help, but the exorcist isn't interested. Disgusted, Chas says that he should do something about Astra by giving her life some meaning. After Chas leaves, Manny takes over the bartender and offers Constantine a drink. He knows that Constantine had Ritchie drive Liv past the spot deliberately to scare her off, and is furious that they lost a valuable resource. Constantine says that Liv had the right to see the risk for herself. Manny realizes that Constantine is going to help them, and Constantine tells Manny to pick up the tab and walks out.
Later, Constantine confronts armed men consorting with demons. At the asylum, a woman sketches him doing so.
Written by Gadfly on Oct 17, 2015