There’s no mistaking from the end of Constantine episode 5, “Danse Vaudou,” that the show has some specific plans for Jim Corrigan’s future.
For anyone unfamiliar with the Hellblazer comics, you may have missed the — ahem — glowing hint at Jim Corrigan’s impending fate during the dying moments of episode 5. If you’d prefer to remain in the dark about the potential direction the show could take with him, avert your eyes now. We’re heading into spoiler territory!
Still with us? Then read on.
You’d be forgiven for scrambling over to the DC wikia following the end of “Danse Vaudou,” just to get your hands on any scrap of information about just who Detective Jim Corrigan is. But that’s where things tend to get a little murky, as more than one Jim Corrigan exists in the DC universe — yeah, confusing, we know.
But this is not the corrupt officer of Gotham City Police Department fame, or even the oft-ally of superhero Black Lightning. No, this Jim Corrigan has a very different, very specific destiny to his name. One that will have even the most stoic of DC fans vibrating in their seats.
When we’re introduced to Corrigan in episode 5, he’s not the clean-shaven, New York City detective from the pages of Hellblazer that we’ve come to know. Instead we’re treated to a bearded, rougher-around-the-edges Corrigan, who hails from the South. It’s a clever, visual way to give the character age and the world weariness he needs to stand against John Constantine.
By the episode’s end, and following some conversations that reveal a little more information about the mysterious Zed, the two seemingly begin to part ways. But as Corrigan does the gentlemanly thing, taking Zed’s hand to kiss the back of it, she has a vision. He appears to her with a ghostly green glow surrounding him, bleeding from some pretty mortal wounds — which is where things start to get very interesting.
We all know the Spectre is on the cards for Corrigan’s ultimate fate, but the show will likely be deviating from his comic book origins, if Zed’s vision is to be believed.
In the comics, Corrigan meets his end via some mobsters, who place poor ol’ Jim in a cement-filled barrel and drop him into a river, which isn’t particularly consistent with the battered and bloodied version that we saw in “Danse Vaudou.” This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as it opens a whole new world of possibilities for Corrigan’s character, and how he’ll eventually become the vessel of justice.
As John has continuously warned us through the course of the season, people who get tangled up in his life typically end up one way — dead. We need only look to Gary Lester’s fate to be reminded of that. So, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to imagine that this theme of collateral damage would extend to Jim Corrigan.
Though we may not see the “final battle” against the Rising Darkness by the season’s end — though we’re remaining hopeful for NBC picking up the show for a second season — it is entirely possible that John may call in the cavalry to fight the good fight. We could see Jim Corrigan going out in a blaze of glory, fighting alongside Constantine’s tentative allies. However, this wouldn’t fit neatly with the themes of revenge, justice, and anger that come hand-in-hand with the Spectre.
More likely, and the theory we are ultimately banking on, is that Corrigan will meet his end away from the core story. Now that Zed and Constantine have introduced him to the supernatural, and all the evil that comes along with it, Corrigan may go off half-cocked in order to protect and serve against these new threats.
Corrigan may have untold years of service to his name in the force, but he is woefully underprepared and lacking the information he requires to successfully tackle demons, spirits, and everything in between. Constantine may have opened his eyes to a new, scary world, but he’s hardly given Corrigan the tools to deal with it.
With the kind of character Corrigan is, he will be unlikely to leave these threats alone, or turn a blind eye to them — and while he may be able to get by with some luck, we’d imagine the danger would eventually catch up with him, leaving him dead in the process.
Would this leave him angry? Probably. Wanting revenge? Undoubtedly. And as a by-product, it will open him up to the Spectre choosing him to exact justice against the criminals of the world — both supernatural and otherwise.
However we get there, one thing is for certain, it is going to be worth the journey.