Constantine has teased Jim Corrigan’s destiny as the Spectre — but what started him on the path to that ultimate end?
If you’ve yet to watch the Constantine season finale, beware. Here there be spoilers.
When we first met Jim Corrigan back in episode 5, “Danse Vaudou,” we were introduced to a world-weary but lawful man, who upheld justice in line with the rules of society as he knew it. When John Constantine came crashing into his life, bringing with him all sorts of demons and trouble, Corrigan’s world view shifted dramatically.
He no longer had to worry solely about the standard array of criminals that he was used to and had come to expect — now he had his eyes open to anything that seemed a little odd. Inexplicable, even, within the context of what was “real.” With the supernatural nipping around his heels in New Orleans, Jim Corrigan had been irrevocably changed by his experiences with John and Zed. But did his particular brand of justice hold firm in the face of that?
Arguably, yes. When we rejoin Corrigan in the season finale he is, on the surface, much the same man that we left in episode 5. More open to the mystical and strange world in which he’d found himself, sure, but steadfast in the belief that the justice system was justice.
But was that the kind of man that the Spectre would take notice of?
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The Spectre himself is a cosmic entity — the physical embodiment of God’s vengeance on earth. He exacts this vengeance through his permanent bond with a human host, in ways that are incredibly ironic in regards to his victim’s crimes. His justice isn’t swift or pretty, and it certainly doesn’t fall in line with Corrigan’s idea that the law is its own justice. The Spectre’s punishment for crimes committed, in his eyes, is absolute.
He is, in essence, the judge, jury, and executioner.
Enter the Constantine season finale. You may have been distracted by the, admittedly, surprising twist that John’s guardian angel is controlling the Brujería — but there was a smaller moment, a little earlier in the episode, that opened up Jim Corrigan’s path to the Spectre. Courtesy of one John Constantine.
When the man responsible for the murder and abduction of multiple young girls is eventually caught, and apprehended, Corrigan appears ready to take him into custody. For the man to be faced with the consequences of his actions in the eyes of the law. You can sense, however, the hesitance in him — and so does John.
John muses, out loud, what would happen if the man were to run. Corrigan is conflicted at that moment, caught between everything he has ever known and chosen to uphold as justice — and the cold, hard truth before him of exactly what this man is capable of, in John Constantine’s world.
With determination set on his face, Corrigan released him, and uttered the one word that ultimately sealed his fate as the Spectre — and set him upon the true path to that end:
“Run.”
We’re certain, should we see Constantine return for a second season, that this moment is the defining one for a turning point of Corrigan’s particular brand of justice — showing an echo of the cosmic entity that he will become. We previously had some theories about how Corrigan would meet his untimely end, which would eventually allow the Spectre to take control of his host body.
This finale moment would put him on the right path of a few of those theories, and we couldn’t be more excited about the untapped potential.
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