Alec and Abbey see each other again. Photo courtesy of KSiteTV.
Please Keep In Mind That This Article Contains Potential Spoilers For “A Brilliant Disguise” and Events That Occurred Prior
Sadly the scenario set-up last week with Abbey and Holland turned out to not amount to much more than a gimmick. Seeing the two together as humans was interesting, but at the end of the day it didn’t amount to much when it came to the plot—or even emotionally for the characters. Even their overall plot didn’t go anywhere new (for the most part). A majority of it included more vague allusions to the mysterious darkness, and offered nothing we hadn’t already seen. The most noteworthy thing when it came to the two of them was the exploration of Holland’s newfound abilities. That was about it. It was all really just to get them both in a place where Alec could lose all hope of a normal life and then attempt to distance himself.
The more intriguing aspect of the episode—surprisingly—was the focus on Avery. More so, the focus on everyone’s attempt to kill him. The twisty nature of everything was done very well, and I very much enjoyed the final reveal that Maria was also in on the ruse. I thought it was very clever how the writer’s delivered this plot to us. Seeing all of his manipulation and greed backfire on him so hard, and so suddenly, was fantastic. I personally didn’t see it coming either. I mean when Avery thought Lucilia had brought him out there to kill him, I thought he was just being downright paranoid. Turns out he had plenty to worry about, and it wasn’t Alec Holland.
Lucilia and Maria plot Avery’s fate. Photo courtesy of KSiteTV.
I do have a lot of questions though. How much did Matt really tell his mother about Alec’s new predicament? Does she even believe it? Is that all now forgotten? How exactly did it go from Matt potentially revealing Alec’s fate, to then a sudden murder scheme? When it comes to Matt and his mother, their dynamic is certainly a unique one. It is questionable that Lucilia’s anger towards Avery for turning her son into a potential murderer, is to well…turn her son into a murderer for real? I also want to call out the complete swing-and-a-miss that was the (hypothetical?) reveal of Matt’s parentage. It was a dud, and really came of corny and lacked any emotional weight. Maybe it was all a last minute attempt by Avery to save his own life. If that was the case, the show failed to communicate that to the audience very well.
Maria had a big part to play in the plot to kill Avery. Even before his death she was working to undermine him and take over herself. As evidenced by her power plays against both Woodrue and The Conclave organization. I enjoy seeing this turn in Maria, and watching her explore things outside of mourning her daughter. That all being said, we’ve seemed to have forgotten about the very paranormal, and very traumatic events of two episodes ago. There was no real aftermath it seemed, especially for Maria herself. You’d think personally seeing her dead daughter possess would bring some negative side effects with it. Yet, Maria seems better than ever.
Alec and Abbey investigate the darkness. Photo courtesy of KSiteTV.
Despite all of their best efforts however, Avery is still very much alive—and he isn’t gonna be happy. While “A Brilliant Disguise” gave us a great twisty plot when it came to the assassination attempt against Avery, it sadly did very little to move the overarching story of the swamp forward. It’s a shame that we only have three more episodes left in the show. It’s clear that the show will never wrap anywhere close to how the creators wanted, and so many story lines will likely be left in the wind. But we aren’t at the end yet, and with “Brilliant Disguise”. With only three episodes left to go, it’s going to be interesting to see what the show can accomplish in its last remaining breathes.
You can catch new episodes of Swamp Thing when they air on DC Universe streaming network every Friday.
