Distract attorney Eric Matthews arrives at the Houma courthouse and tells the reporters that he can secure an indictment against Arcane Industries because he isn't in Arcane's pocket. He dismisses Arcane's claims that he's grandstanding and goes into his office. Arcane is watching the newscast and promises his henchman Deputy Javert that he'll find someone to kill Eric that couldn't be connected to him: Swamp Thing.
Later, Eric returns from fishing and drops his boat off with Tressa. Her assistant jokingly tells her that she has Eric hooked and Tressa goes inside.
Will is cleaning his truck when Abigail comes over and pours her natural car wax on the hood. She refuses to look at her reflection and goes to make lunch and Will receives a summons from Swamp Thing. He finds Swamp Thing searching for a tangle of roots, and Swamp Thing explains that it was part of the bio-restorative formula that he lost in the explosion. If he can find it then he can reencode his DNA and regenerate as a human being. The wind picks up as the environment responds to Swamp Thing's anger, and he continues digging. When Will looks away, he discovers that his friend is gone and there is duck weed in Swamp Thing's footprints.
That night, Tressa and Eric go to Hugo's for dinner with Dr. Hollister, who sells Eric on Tressa's virtues. She finally kicks him to shut him up, and Arcane and his date come over and gives Eric a bottle of wine as a gift. He tells the DA that he's instructed his staff to cooperate with him because they have nothing to hide, and goes to his table. Eric refuses to accept a bribe, and suggests that they go for a walk.
Abigail visits Will at the restaurant where he works with something for him to eat. He notices something on her face but Abigail refuses to look in the mirror at it. Will hesitantly eats her sandwich.
Tressa, Eric, and Whitehead walk on the docks and Tressa sends Whitehead to get the car. Eric figures that Whitehead is trying to turn the dinner into a date, and a moss-encrusted creature grabs Eric and drags him into the water. Tressa screams, and Will and Abigail here her and come to investigate. Eric is dead on the rocks below, and Will sees the creature leave via the water.
The police arrive and take statements, and Whitehead tells Tressa that Eric's neck was broken. Tressa is terrified that the creature is still out there. A local says that he saw the killer heading for the swamp and forms a mob to go after it. Arcane, satisfied, watches from the sidelines and takes his date to get some cheesecake.
Swamp Thing continues searching for the formula and finally locates it. He hears someone approaching and hides, It's another Swamp Thing, holding a machete and roaring defiantly. Swamp Thing confronts his duplicate, and the other Swamp Thing says that he's the worst of him. The new Swamp Thing says that he's a killer and enjoyed it, and swings at Swamp Thing. Swamp Thing easily avoids the blow and figures that Arcane is involved. The newcomer swings again and embeds the machete in Swamp Thing's shoulder, and Swamp Thing pulls it out and breaks it. His counterpart tries to run, and Swamp Thing slams him into a trunk and realizes that he's bleeding blood... and that the new Swamp Thing is a mutant. Arcane promises to reverse the mutation process and pay him $100,000 and Swamp Thing tells him that he'll be dead in a week. The mutant doesn't believe it but then moans in pain, and Swamp Thing warns that the man's body is rejecting the mutation.
Will examines the beach below the dock, and Abigail joins him. He doesn't know if Swamp Thing is the killer, and he suggests that she wait inside. Abigail realizes that he's looking for duck weed. There's no duck weed in the footprints that the killer left, meaning that he wasn't Swamp Thing. Relieved, Will hugs Abigail and thanks her. The local gather outside the local cafe, armed with guns.
Arcane is practicing a kata in his factory when Graham comes in and tells him that the townspeople are going into the swamp to find the killer. The scientist tells Graham that the mutant will die when his blood ignites if he hasn't already.
Swamp Thing gives the mutant the formula to eat and reverse the mutation, but the mutant figures that it's a trick. He's astonished that Swamp Thing is trying to save him, and Swamp Thing warns that it will take him years to undo his own condition. The burning begins again, and the mutant tells Swamp Thing that he was one of the men in the Holland laboratory when it blew up. Swamp Thing tells him not to talk himself out of a miracle and feeds him the formula.
The townspeople head into the swamp.
At Tressa's place, Will loads wooden crates into the back of his truck and Tressa says that she should be helping the mob. Will tells her that the mob is after the wrong person but she refuses to trust him and runs off. Abigail tells Will that the mob is almost at the bridge, and Will tells the townspeople to calm down. Their leader tells them to bring a truck through, and Will sets his truck on fire.
The mutant staggers out and says that he killed Eric, but someone stopped him from killing again and saved his life. As Arcane watches from the crowd, the mutant says that he won't use the antidote and deprive his savior of the chance to become human. He says that the real killer is still among them. Arcane takes a gun from the mob leader, Hammett, and shoots his man dead. The mutant returns to his human form, and they realize that it's Javert.
After the mob leaves, Will looks at the ruins of his truck. Abigail realizes that Javert wasn't Will's friend, and Will tells her that he hopes his friend can find his own peace. Abigail looks at her reflection in the rearview mirror, and explains that the government wouldn't let her have mirrors to make her feel no good. She breaks the mirror and says that she doesn't care, but Will tells her that they don't need a mirror to realize if they're good. He tells Abigail to look at him looking at her.
Swamp Thing takes the formula embedded in the root, hoping that one day it will lead to a cure for him.
Written by Gadfly on Jul 10, 2017