Constantine season 1, episode 12, “Angels and Ministers of Grace,” aired tonight, and Manny got grounded (literally).
The episode begins with a woman, Taylor, getting drugs from a shady character to help her cope with her brother’s death. Before she shoots up, the lights begin going out around her, and a monster injects the drugs directly into her chest. Though she appears dead, black veins cross her face and she, miraculously, wakes up.
John visits Zed in one of the strange rooms in the Millhouse, which takes form as a little garden out in the middle of the woods. Zed tells John she doesn’t think she’s ready to use her powers again, but Constantine tells her she doesn’t have a choice — there’s a war on.
Manny shows up at the house and tells John about Taylor. John does his best to piss the angel off, and it certainly works. Manny destroys the scrying map, saying it’s just a crutch. Then he disappears before he gives John anymore useful information. At least we can always count on that.
John gets Chas to agree to being stabbed by a screwdriver so they can get into the ER at the hospital. When the doctors are distracted, Zed touches Taylor and sees an angel bathed in bright light. When Zed lets go, the woman crashes and Zed has a seizure.
John and Chas check out Taylor’s body, performing a spell that shows her body full of dark matter. Meanwhile, Zed finds out she has a tumor in her brain. Zed thinks maybe that’s what’s causing her visions, but John doesn’t want to believe it.
Someone else isn’t having a good day at the hospital, either. A drunken maintenance worker named Duncan gets attacked by the same creature that attacked Taylor, and we see black veins cover his face as well.
Outside, Manny shows up and John goes crazy. He may put on a good face, but he’s terrified for Zed. “No, fix it, or I’m not working for you,” he tells the angel. When Manny says there’s nothing he can do, John puts a spell on him that (temporarily) turns him human. That keeps the angel grounded, but it also means he has no power.
The duo find the body in the janitor’s closet, and Manny’s human body can’t quite handle the smell. John digs inside the chest cavity and literally finds a heart of darkness. Manny explains the story of how a sorcerer became so powerful, even The Almighty had to get involved. The sorcerer was turned into a stone that was a concentrated memento of his power, which was then smashed with a sword and swept away in The Great Flood.
Apparently someone found one of those pieces. John sends Manny to do some digging, much to his displeasure (“When I get my wings back…”). Back at the Millhouse, John pulls out a part of the black diamond that Jasper had hidden away and tests it on Chas. It makes him stronger and brings out his rage, but luckily John is able to make him drop the stone, and then everything goes back to normal.
Manny gets a little distracted by his nurse. Manny lets her have her way with him, and when he meets up with John, Constantine can totally tell what Manny just did. He has no problem rubbing salt in the wound, and Manny’s guilt is apparent.
Once they get past that, however, they take a look at Manny’s research. Both the victims were drug addicts who had a second chance but threw it all away. Their prime suspect is Morris, a man who’s had a skin graft and had to get a checkup because he got into yet another fight. They believe he’s killing people because he’s mad at the people who are ruining their lives after a second chance.
Meanwhile, Zed talks to her doctor, and it seems she doesn’t want the tumor out of her head. Manny visits with her, and although she doesn’t see him for who he really is, she can tell he’s not really a doctor. He implies that her powers are from God, and that gives Zed plenty more to think about.
John goes after Morris, but when the monster attacks the other man, John realizes pretty quickly that he was wrong. He gets knocked out, and when he comes to, Manny tries having a heart-to-heart with him. John feels guilty about Zed’s tumor — feeling it’s his fault she has it — but before he can wallow for too long, the pair finally narrow down the real killer. It’s Zed doctor — the man who has shrapnel in his chest and got a second chance at life. The piece of shrapnel is actually a piece of the black diamond, and he’s unable to control his anger when he sees someone wasting their life.
The trio are running from the doctor, and Zed realizes her vision meant they need an angel to defeat the monster. John releases Manny (because he could actually do it any time he wanted), and Manny bathes the doctor in heavenly light, releasing him from the shrapnel’s power and taking him “home.”
The episode ends with Zed praying in a church. John joins her and tells her something no one else knows: every morning he imagines everyone he cares about is dead. It’s in hopes that when it really happens, it’ll lessen the blow. Wow, John. That’s pretty morbid even for you.
Manny shows up, and Zed can now see him. She’s decided she’s not having surgery because the pain is worth helping John. She asks Manny once again if her visions come from God, and Manny all but says those exact words.
