Will and his new girlfriend Justine are walking through Houma, and they jokingly argue about why they didn't approach each other. Justine's father John Smithson arrives and tells Justine to go home with him. That night, Will goes to the diner where Smithson works, and offers him crawdads as a peace offering. Smithson agrees to hear Will out.
A man, Rogiewicz, and his girlfriend Candy pull up to the diner. He tells her to keep the truck running while he goes in, and insists that he doesn't have a choice. Candy says that they can just leave Houma, but Rogiewicz says that he'll look for him no matter where he goes and make him pay for crossing him. Rogiewicz gets out and goes into the diner.
Smithson is telling Will that he liked him before he started dating Justine. Rogiewicz comes in and pistol-whips Will unconscious. Smithson goes for a rifle and Rogiewicz shoots him. He then puts his revolver in Will's hand and goes back to the truck... only to discover that a panicked Candy has driven off.
Later Will is arrested and the prosecuting attorney, Drew Kingdon, arrives to talk to him in his cell. The prisoner in the next cell warns Will that Drew is looking to put another way another criminal. Drew warns Will that Smithson was a popular man in Houma and the press will watch the case carefully. Will says that there a man came in with a gun, and he and Smithson seemed to know someone. He offers to identify the shooter, but Drew figures that Smithson stepped in and shut Will down so Will killed him. Will grabs him through the bars and insists that it didn't happen that way, and Drew assures him he'll make sure the jury knows about Will's temper and his troubled childhood history in Philadelphia.
Drew comes out of the jailhouse with his daughter Katie, and tells the press that he's going to make sure that Smithson's killer is put away. They ask how he manages an election campaign and prosecuting criminals, and Drew promises that he'll continue dealing with the criminal element. Will comes out on bail and Will claims that he's innocent and leaves as Drew promises to prioritize the death penalty.
That night, Swamp Thing breaks into the diner and relives what happened there. He then goes to the Kipp house and says that he knows what happened. Swamp Thing explains that Smithson was being pressured to sell his property and Will will come through it, but Will isn't convinced. The creature warns that he will do everything he can to prove Will's innocence.
Drew is leaving the courthouse when Swamp Thing grabs him and drags him to a bridge. The prosecutor passes out, and when he wakes up he finds himself tied to a chair in a fog-filled void. Will throws water in his face and Drew figures that he's dreaming. The teenager says that Drew knew that they arrested the wrong man, and tells Drew to do his job and serve the people. Drew insists that Will is guilty just like the other punks that he's dealt with, and Will reminds him of the capital cases that Drew has prosecuted. The first one he prosecuted started Drew's career, and the prosecuted man John Kevin Casey appears out of the shadow. Drew prosecuted him as an adult because he was one day over 18, and used a jailhouse informant to get Casey convicted. Will points out that thanks to Drew, Casey never made it to his 19th birthday.
Swamp Thing returns to the diner and experiences what happened between Rogiewitz and Candy. The swamp then shows him Rogiewitz's tracks leading away.
Anton has Rogiewitz--his security guard--locked up in his lab. He complains about Rogiewitz's bungling and tortures him with electroshock when Rogiewitz claims that Smithson had a gun.
Drew promises Will that he'll be vindicated if he's innocent, but Will says that there were other innocent people that Drew convicted. Another dead man, Paul Stanzler, steps out of the mists and says that he was guilty of burglary but not murder. He lost his job and needed money, and his buddy killed the man and skipped the state. Drew knew that Stanzler didn't own a gun.
Swamp Thing follows the footprints to Arcane's complex.
Drew insists that Will is blaming someone else for what he did. He says that people like Will find relief when they're punished, and Will says that he's guilty of using innocent people to build his career. Diego Difonzo appears and Drew insists that Diego torched his warehouse and killed his employer. Will says that Drew received information proving that Diego was miles away but the prosecutor buried it. Drew is forced to watch as they execute Diego.
Anton is working in his lab on a vat of acid when Swamp Thing grabs him and explains that Will was arrested for a murder that Anton's man committed. He threatens to kill Anton if he doesn't help clear Will's name, promising that he'll do anything to help his friend.
Will asks Drew what he was thinking, pointing out that he corrupted the legal process. Drew says that he was following a higher law and making a better world. He finally admits that he killed innocent people but no one mourns for them. Katie steps out and says that her father isn't like that at all. Will cuts Drew free and the prosecutor stares at his daughter in shock as she runs off.
Drew goes after her and finds himself in a warehouse. A workman sprays fog at him, and a reporter asks him about his admissions of falsifying evidence. Will steps out and says that it looks like the end of Drew's career. He calls out the three "dead men", who were family members of the dead men. Katie stares at her father in anger, and refuses to go home with Drew. Drew promises that Will will go down for it, and Justine tells Drew that Anton turned in the man who killed her father. She tells Will that her father would have been proud of him and they hug as Swamp Thing looks on from the shadows.
Written by Gadfly on Nov 26, 2017