Swamp Thing Episode 4 opens with a pair of locals in the swamp, hunting for a cypress grove that the industrial loggers might have missed. While clearing scrub to get to the trees, one of the loggers dislodges a corpse from a tree. It falls on the other logger, Todd, scratching Todd’s arm. Along with the corpse is a key to room #211 at the Hotel Herperos. After the loggers flee, the Swamp Thing tries to touch the corpse, but his plant matter recoils from the rotted body.
The Darkness at the Edge of Town
The next day, Todd shows up late for his shift at Delroy’s. The scratch on his arm is irritated. While washing sinks, Todd hallucinates that a rattlesnake has slipped into the dishwater and coiled itself around his arm. Todd freaks out, stabbing at the snake but only managing to stab his arm. Panicked, Todd shoves his hand down the garbage disposal. Liz and Delroy try to stop Todd’s bleeding. In the process, Todd scratches Delroy.
Liz calls Abby to come out to the bar as the sheriff wraps up the death investigation once Todd has bled out. Delroy has a hallucination as well. He sees the robbers who broke into the place when Delroy was 12 years old and killed his mother when she put up a fight. Delroy grabs a gun from behind the counter and shoots at the intruders he sees. When he is out of ammunition, the sheriff tackles him, getting scratched in the process.
Danny’s Calling
At the crawfish boil, Danny asks Xanadu if she has any more of an idea what exactly Danny’s supposed to do. He made a bargain and arrived in town 8 years ago, bound to Marais until he is called into action, but he doesn’t know what that mission is. He thinks it’s to help Abby, but would like some clarification. Xanadu says the cards are unclear right now. There is a darkness in the swamp. A storm is coming that will change the fortunes and fates of everyone in this town, not just Danny.
When Sheriff Cable is hallucinating, she pulls her gun in the crowded town hall. Abby tries to help the sheriff snap out of it, but finds herself in danger. Danny tackles the sheriff, saving Abby, but Abby is scratched by the sheriff in the confrontation. Abby heads to the swamp, away from people, to return the darkness.
A Plant that Moves like an Animal
Alec told Abby that whatever darkness is being passed from person to person belongs in the swamp. The pollution in the swamp has upset the balance between the dark and the light and the darkness has escapes. When Abby returns, infected, to the swamp, she has visions of her father trying to take her away from her mother — nightmares that plagued Abby as a child. Alec embraces Abby, drawing the darkness out of her and returning it to the corpse. The swamp opens up and swallows the corpse, reclaiming the darkness.
Abby is not done trying to figure out what happened to Alec and how to reverse it. Alec provides her with a tissue sample. In the lab, Abby’s data don’t make any sense to Woodrue until Abby shows him. The cells are plant cells, but they behave like animal cells. Woodrue is fascinated and explains that he is the best person to figure out what’s going on with the sample. Though she distrusts Woodrue because he is on Avery’s payroll, she lets him take over the research, telling him to contact her first with whatever he finds.
A Child in the House
With the folks stricken by the green flu doing better, the CDC is out of crisis mode and mostly withdraws from Marais, leaving only Abby behind. Avery and Maria visit the hospital and announce that they are hosting a celebratory crawfish boil at the town hall. At the hospital, Maria is taken by Susie, now orphaned, who is awaiting her uncle to adopt her. Avery makes sure that Susie attends the party, where he tells Maria that Susie’s uncle is a drunk and already has 4 kids of his own to take care of. That evening, they take Susie home with them, where Avery tells Maria that they can provide for Susie better than her uncle can.
Knowing that Maria is taken with Susie, Avery tells her that he thinks the CDC abandoned Marais too soon. He’s concerned that the green flu is not fully cured nor that there won’t be effects later on. That’s why he needs Maria’s money to keep Woodrue on the payroll, so that Susie can be properly taken care of, which will allow Avery to continue to finance Woodrue’s research in the swamp.
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